The Second IBM

When it comes to collectibles, rarest is such a loaded word: in a hobby where 25-30 Test Colors are distributed yearly, even being unique doesn’t guarantee value or even interest.

For an item to be truly valuable nowadays, there has to be more to it than mere rarity or uniqueness.

Prior to the early 1990s, Marney Walerius’s original Gray Appaloosa In-Between Mare qualified on both counts: it was not only (apparently) unique, but historically significant as Breyer’s first failed attempt at replacing the Old Mold Mare in their product lineup after the legal dispute with Hagen-Renaker.

Then a second piece – a Woodgrain, this time – showed up in California in the early 1990s, and turned the hobby on its head. What was once an unattainable oddity was now, hypothetically, available. It was no longer a thing that could be acquired and owned by one person sequentially, it could actually be something that could be collected by multiple hobbyists.

So ironically, by being less “rare”, the In-Between Mare probably became even more valuable!

I don’t have any idea about the exact number of In-Between Mares floating around the hobby, because of the simple fact that many hobbyists have a hard time distinguishing the Family Arabian Mare from the Old Mold/Proud Arabian Mare: a mold that bridges that gap could also be sitting in many collections completely unrecognized.

It is just not rare enough that I still have hopes of finding one on the secondary market, someday: a “new” one turns up on the market every four-five years or so, more often than some other items I can think of (#82 Donkey with Baskets, ahem.)

I had a momentarily breathless moment a few weeks ago when I spotted a Woodgrain FAM at a local flea market, from a far enough distance that I thought my moment had come, but she wasn’t so it didn’t.

I didn’t have the $1000 to hit the “Buy It Now” option on a Woodgrain IBM on eBay a few years back, and I certainly don’t have the money to buy the one up for auction now.

Not that I hadn’t given it some thought: the Woodgrain at auction is that “second” piece I mentioned/pictured above. I would love to have something with that kind of provenance and historical import, but alas, my bank account still says Not Today.

Meritus

Here’s a photo of the knockoffs, from a manufacturer called Meritus:

As far as I know, Breyer didn’t do a whole lot to combat companies making knockoffs of their molds back in their Chicago days. The reasons are obvious: a high percentage of their own molds at that point were knockoffs themselves. If they did decide to pursue, the manufacturers that Breyer copied from might have started getting ideas, too. Things could have gotten very messy - and very expensive - in a rather short period of time.

Pot, I’d like to introduce you to kettle.

One company that they apparently did fight - and win - against was Meritus.

At some point I did buy a Mint in Box Meritus horse - I think it was the Classic Arabian Stallion - for my archives. I no longer have either the box or the horse, but I do remember that the legal disclaimer sticker that was slapped on the box had a rather wonderfully indignant tone to it.

It was something like: Those jerks made us put this stupid sticker on the box! Except a little more polite and legal-sounding, though not much.

I can’t locate the original ad or sales list that I bought it from, but here’s a clip from one of Marney’s sales lists, ca. 1984, where she was selling some herself (click to enlarge):

The reason I believe Breyer pursued legal action in this case was that Meritus copied no ordinary molds: they were the Classics Quarter Horse and Arabian Families. These were molds leased from a company - Hagen-Renaker - that sued them back in the late 1950s.

If they were not legally obligated to do so, Breyer may have felt it was the right thing to do anyway, to keep in Hagen-Renaker’s good graces. And possibly to keep from losing the leases.

I’m not sure if I’ll be keeping these particular guys. I’d love to locate another Mint in Box example with the legal disclaimer, again, for my knockoff collection; I’m not sure why I got rid of it in the first place.

Oh, Gee

All I can say of the past few days is that I am ever so glad that I decided against writing a novel this month. (Spare time? What’s that?)

There’s been a bit of discussion on Blab over how next year’s Vintage Club bonus Stablemate came to be. For those not in the know, it’s a G1 (Hagen-Renaker, Maureen Love mold) Draft Horse.

Especially since it’s considered common knowledge that the leases for all the Hagen-Renaker molds were not renewed, quite some time ago. As far as anyone knows, they still haven’t been, though there’s much speculation that maybe there’s been a change in their legal status.

I have no idea if that’s the case. Recent history suggests a more mundane answer: leftover bodies in the warehouse. You know, like the Reissues that appeared at BreyerFest this year, and reappeared on the web site a short while ago, which now appear to rather conclusively be from old molded stock.

As for the quantity in question (500), well, you can store an insane number of Stablemates in a very small amount of space. One of my all-time favorite memories of the "good old days" was at one of Marney’s garage sales, when I plunged my arms into a giant drum full of hundreds Stablemates. My arms were covered in little scratches made from tiny ears and hooves, and I was totally okay with the damage.

I can’t remember the exact dimensions of the drum (three feet deep, at least) but there had to have been several hundred bodies in it, easily. The Draft Horse is on the smallish and more compact side, so 500 pieces in a single drum? Entirely plausible.

(They were 25 cents apiece, by the way. Not rubbing it in, I just know some of you were wondering about it.)

In fact, this little tidbit, from page 303 of the updated Fifth Edition of Nancy Atkinson Young’s Breyer Molds & Models had me tossing and turning one night last week, as I was doing a research project unrelated to the blog. From the entry for the Stablemates Thoroughbred Lying Foal mold:

"However, whereas normal Breyers are made from opaque white cellulose acetate, the keychain foals were cast from a colorless transparent cellulose acetate to which color - amber and black - had been added, according to Stephanie Macejko (conversation of March 1995). Stephanie noted that Breyer molded many experimental foals (which are now in storage) before achieving nicely colored ones…"

A bunch of swirly, allegedly unattractive G1 SM TB Foals now in storage? Is it any wonder I couldn’t sleep? (Wouldn’t they make awesome party favors at BreyerFest next year? Paint them solid silver or leave them as is, we’re not fussy.)

Anyway, back the Vintage Club Drafters…

I am not privy to the legal details involved, so everything that follows is speculation. (I am also not a lawyer.)

The lease could relate specifically to the use of the mold, and not the pre-existing bodies. If that's the case, then Reeves is free to do what they want with the unpainted bodies they have on hand, but is forbidden to mold more.

Extra bodies are a consequence of the molding process, and stockpiling molded bodies for future use has been a standard operating procedure since the beginning of recorded Breyer time. Therefore, it might be difficult to argue that Reeves couldn't sell items molded under the terms of the original lease, especially if both the lessor and the lessee were aware of that procedure when the leases were originally drawn up.

Even with the most sophisticated inventory management systems, it is impossible to predict exactly how many of an item will be needed, or how many will end up damaged or otherwise spoiled. Operating costs also dictate that they have to run a certain number of pieces from a mold every time they drop it, too. (This is why whenever you see a small run on a mold that’s been out of production for forever, it’s either made out of stockpiled bodies, or a precursor to a larger run in the future.)

The argument that they don’t constitute finished/saleable merchandise wouldn't hold up either, since Reeves has been putting unpainted Stablemates in their Activity Kits for years.

What all that pseudo-legalese means is that everyone out there getting all hot and bothered about the possibility of the return of Proud Arabian Mares: you might want to take a deep breath put a few more ice cubes in your drink. There's a very real possibility that nothing has changed.

Betting on the Ponies

I’ve had a lot of "Where am I? What day is it?" moments this week: I’ve essentially either been at work, or asleep, since 3 a.m. Tuesday. (Don’t ask.) Mercifully, I have this evening off, though I plan on spending most of it catching a few more snores before starting it all over again at 3 a.m. tomorrow.

(Blast these early assignments!)

It appears that the Taskin model is going to be a Store Special, after all. I haven’t followed up on the links though, to confirm, so take it with a grain of salt. No confirmation on the piece count, from what I’ve seen, but I expect it to be in the 500-750 range. The most recent Store Specials were 750 pieces, but the Dusty didn’t sell all that well, so 500 pieces wouldn’t be out of the question either.

I haven’t given much time or thought to BreyerFest, otherwise. It is about that time of year when they start peppering us with the PR though, isn’t it? I’m curious to see how they handle this in the post-JAH era. Since I’ll be on this work routine for the next couple of weeks, you guys will probably get the scoop on the latest BF news well before I do.

From what I can see, most of the current BreyerFest speculation seems to be focusing on potential pony-based SRs. A Bouncer is a no-brainer, and the 2004 XMAS SR Highland Pony Piper also a very distinct possibility, especially as the designated "Nonplastic" release.

I know there’s a lot of "hatin’" concerning the Traditional Hackney mold, but I wouldn’t rule him out as a possible mixed/crossbred pony, to compensate for his chunkiness. Most of us would prefer a new plastic Hackney, it’s true, but I think it’s more likely we’ll see one as a new resin in the "Breeds of the World" series, if at all.

(Did you know that the H-R Brookside Stella was among the molds considered for release by Breyer, back in the 1970s? I’m assuming the technical challenges posed by the mold put her out of contention. But oh, if only…)

I wouldn’t object to an SR of the original old Shetland, but I wouldn’t be shocked if they didn’t. No disrespect intended towards the Shetland Pony mold, but I think we’re long overdue for a new mold Shetland, and I wouldn’t be surprised if one shows up in the very near future. BreyerFest? Maybe.

If it’s not, I’m hoping it’s a Dales Pony. There’s a chance they could take the cheap and easy route, and just slap an appropriate paint job on the Piper mold, but I’m really hoping the fact that they specifically name dropped the Dales in the BreyerFest writeup in the last issue of JAH means a new mold is in the works.

You have no idea how much this idea excites me: I don’t know what it is, but I just love Dales Ponies! They most closely approximate my image of the ideal pony: sturdy, sensible, versatile, a little on the big side, a bit shaggy (but not excessively so), who also cleans up well if need be.

If I were a nonclumsy Nonplastics collector, I’d have an entire army of Hadrians.

Getting late (relatively speaking.) Time for bed.

Terrang

Alas, this weekend’s trip to the flea market did not improve my mood. In spite of the nice weather and lack of competing local events, most of the regulars didn’t show up. And those that did were the crazy ones - not "will show up in a snowstorm" crazy, but "I bury my money in a coffee can in the backyard" crazy. Not a single Breyer, Hartland or H-R in sight, either. Bah!

On the positive side, I did manage to score some interesting new research materials, and track down a couple of new leads. I hope to have a little spare time next week to work on them; the rest of the family wants to take a field trip down to the library where some of material is located, coincidentally. (Not so odd: the main branch of the Detroit Public Library is pretty awesome, actually, and right across the street from the Detroit Institute of Arts. Which is one of the greatest public art museums in the world, people. Totally worth the trip, even if you’re not interested in model horses.)

In the meantime, here’s another little dip into the deeper end of my archives. It’s a real-life photo of the racehorse Terrang. I’ve published it before in my Sampler a couple years back, but it’s worth reprinting here. You don’t see photos of the actual horse very often - I haven’t found any other, but it’s been a while since I went looking.


This photo (credited to Allen F. Brewer, Jr.) is from the book American Race Horses 1957, published by the American Thoroughbred Breeders Association. This book is chock full of all sorts of Thoroughbredy goodness: you’ve got Gallant Man, Round Table, Bold Ruler - and look, Silky Sullivan as a two year old!


(Photo credit also to Allen F. Brewer, Jr. The caption reads "Already his was a come-from-behind style.")

Terrang’s half-brother Swaps makes an appearance, too, in the lengthy entry on Iron Liege, whose famous Sports Illustrated birth photo is the frontispiece. When Sports Illustrated was launched, one of their publicity stunts was to follow the career of a foal for three years, up to the Kentucky Derby. (Boy, did they get lucky!)

Three of the five Love Thoroughbreds in one book - it’s no surprise that this book has become a treasured part of my archives. (It’s also special because it was Dad who happened to spot it in a pile of books at the flea market. He was a big horseracing fan back in the 1950s, when he was a kid.)

Terrang’s not so well known today, at least on the level of a Man o’ War, Swaps or even Kelso. That’s too bad, because Terrang had a very respectable career as a handicapper and stud. I won’t go into the finer details of all that; his Wikipedia page is a decent place to start:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrang

The 1950s were truly one of the great golden ages of the sport, and over time many very good horses have lost some of space in the spotlight to the great ones. Thank goodness Hagen-Renaker - and later, Breyer - saw fit to bring him back a little of his lost glory.

Let it Rain

Now I’m not only not getting anything done, I think I’m regressing. This time it’s genuinely the puppy’s fault: I had to baby sit her yesterday, and in the space of two minutes, she came close to destroying our basement as we know it. All because she absolutely, positively had to chew on the quilt I was working on - and that I now have to partially disassemble and repair, among other things.

Little stinker is lucky she’s cute. Happy thoughts, think happy thoughts…

Here’s a happy thought - a Lady Liberty I picked up in the Pit this year:


I’ve really taken a shine to the Rain mold recently. People don’t realize just how hard it is to adapt a two-dimensional animated character into a three-dimensional one. I’m not talking about the popular trend of making cartoons into live action films, a la Garfield, Scooby Doo, or Yogi Bear: frankly, I think virtually all those attempts to make cartoons "realistic" or set in the real world fail from the get go. By trying to make them realistic, they do not look like the characters they’re meant to represent.

(Have you seen any of the Yogi Bear movie stuff yet? Classic nightmare fuel, if you ask me. Those eyes! Argh!)

That’s because cartoons aren’t meant to be - or should aspire to be - realistic. It’s not a lesser medium, it’s a different medium with different goals and aesthetics. Realism isn’t a big part of the equation.

It’s important to point out that realism and three-dimensionality are two different things. Cartoons have been dealing with the issue of three-dimensionality since the silent era - both from a merchandising standpoint, and within the cartoons themselves (stop-motion, multiplane cameras, dioramas, live footage, or rotoscoping.) The most successful attempts at incorporating three-dimensionality into cartoons are the ones that don’t sacrifice the character’s inherent cartooniness.

Good, successful examples of that can be found in vintage ViewMaster reels. Here’s an interesting, older discussion about them:

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/cartoon-culture/hanna-barbera-in-3d.html

The person responsible for creating the beautiful sculpts featured in those reels was Martha Armstrong-Hand. Some of you might recognize the name, because at one time she sculpted for Hagen-Renaker, working on both more realistic items (such at the DW Persian Cat "Starlite" and her kittens) and on more cartoony ones (such as the Disney licenses.)

I don’t think it’s a coincidence, either, that Kathleen did work for Disney, too, in their Imagineering department. In the translation to 3D, Rain’s cartooniness has not been compromised. I created some line art of the Rain mold a few years ago as illustration fodder for my Sampler, and was amazed at how well it translated back into being a two-dimensional character:


That’s why I find the Rain mold so fascinating. She’s not the least bit realistic, but I find her a more accurate, and more satisfying rendition of the character than the more "realistic" attempts made on the Classic and Stablemates Scale pieces.

We’ve only seen her in her original release (in both a standard plastic, and "chalky" version) and as Lady Liberty, and her overtly nonrealistic nature probably limits her potential for a lot of releases in the future. Though with next year’s BreyerFest theme being "FairyTails," I could easily see her making a very lovely Unicorn. (In an equally nonrealistic color, naturally. None of this white or pearly-pastelly nonsense!)

Before I go back to repairing the damage done to the basement, yes, I am aware of my picture being on Breyer’s Facebook page. I kinda figured it would happen, considering the photographer specifically stopped me and asked to take it.

The Details, Again

Sorry about that. I couldn't find the picture I wanted to use for my next topic, so in addition to all of the other junk I had planned to finally deal with, I had to sort through my research slush pile, too. This made me a little cranky and not in any humor to write. (And the picture is still missing. Fooey!)

Onto the next topic.

Have you noticed that Reeves seems to have dropped the ball on the history details, lately? They were doing decently there for a while – a few minor errors here and there that were probably just typos – but the most recent Daily Breyer postings on their Facebook page have been really sloppy. Not one, but THREE of the Hagen-Renaker Maureen Love sculpts have been featured (the Classic Mustang Stallion, the Classic Swaps, and the Stablemates Thoroughbred Mare) with wording that suggests they were sculpted for Breyer in 1975 or 1976. Again!

As I've said before, the lack of mention about Hagen-Renaker could be some sort of legal technicality related to the terms of the leasing contract, but the wording could have been so much better. Instead of “sculpted in 1975 by Maureen Love Calvert” it could have read “sculpted by Maureen Love Calvert and released by Breyer in 1975.”

Similar words, with quite different meanings: the former says that Maureen sculpted them in 1975, implying it was for Breyer, while the latter leaves room for H-R: Maureen sculpted it, and Breyer released it in 1975. If the leases should be renewed in the future, the latter statement would not need the extensive rewriting of history that the former would need. (Can you tell I've had some legal training?)

Anyway, as recent controversies have highlighted, Reeves really needs to parse their words a little more carefully. Not just because of the possible legal ramifications to the company, but because it affects collectors directly, when it comes to something like Collectibility Judging.

As a recent commenter pointed out, it's a real problem when the Collectibility judge decides to stick to the “official” sources for their information. While it may seem like it's nitpicking on my part, it's not, if either the judge or the shower relies on the Facebook page as their reference. It's an “official” page, written by actual Reeves employees, and is thus given a measure of credibility that a shower's personal research may not. Even if the shower's information is correct, and the “official” information is wrong.

It's not just the H-R molds they've been getting wrong, either: they also gave the Traditional Man o' War a release date of 1969, instead of the correct date of 1967. Kinda weird, since it's something that's never really been a point of dispute, since most of us history buffs have copies of the dated 1960s pricelists that make most of the release dates from 1964 through 1969 fairly clear. (Most, but not all. You know the drill.)

Here's another missed detail that I just noticed last night as I was doing a little paperwork for the newest members of the herd. Notice something “off” about the Pony Gals Stablemates packaging?

Here's a scan from the back:


And here's a scan from the front:


Since when did Big Ben become a Stablemate? Or is there something they're not telling us about the upcoming G4 molds? ;)