Friday Afternoon Fever

Very short show recap: went in with a goal of ten placings, three NAN cards, and a rosette, and did considerably better than that. It’ll be a couple of days before I know the exact total because I am not unpacking the car until at least Tuesday. 

I did run into a little bit of difficulty getting home, partly because I am directionally-challenged and partly because there was an extremely inconvenient political rally near my house that you might have heard about. After got home, I basically slept for twelve hours straight; I should be back to “normal” (night shift person here) by tomorrow.

But let’s talk about a more pressing issue of our time: Discoheart!

My first thought when I saw this guy was “Oh dear, they’re doing the Decorator Khemosabi joke again.” It was pretty obvious he was an actual model and not a Photoshop job, so my assumption is that he’ll eventually end up as an auction piece, perhaps in the BreyerFest Silent Auction – like the Decorator Khemos did.

I have to admit that I’ve been kind of surprised by the unusually strong positive reaction to him, considering how roundly mocked the Ram was. But calling the Christmas Deco Ram “Montana” a failure is also a stretch. 

A failure for speculators looking for short-term profits? Most definitely. Aesthetic failure? Maybe. But Reeves evidently sold most of the seemingly extravagant 490-piece run without having to resort to multiple waitlists. Any time a company can make money that easily is not a failure. 

And the color is obviously a win!

Fireheart is definitely Decorator-friendly, as the late 2022 Stablemates Club release Helios amply demonstrates. But the minute I realized that Discoheart was an April Fool’s joke, I tossed him in my very large“things to be mildly annoyed about” file and moved on with my life. 

(I also happened to be in the middle of rewriting all my live show documentation when he dropped, which probably helped with my attitude.)

I have no doubt that the mold – either his Traditional incarnation, or his Stablemate ones – will be made available in a multitude of Decorator colors in the near, and not-so-near, future. 

I am already imagining the impending anguish and furor of future Web and Club Specials like Silver Filigree Fireheart, Benasque Blue Filigree Fireheart, Ocean Blue Fireheart, Rose Gold Pinto Fireheart, Pearly Dappled Pink Fireheart, Holographic Silver Fireheart, Halloween Fireheart, and (my favorite) Sparkly Translucent Embedded Glitter Christmas Gambler’s Choice Firehearts “Fire” (Red) and “Ice” (Clear). 

Though, as you would expect, I most look forward to seeing him in a Vintage Club release in an original Rearing Mustang color. Line-shaded Gloss Albino? Gloss Charcoal? Any of the Old School Deco colors? Think of the possibilities, people! 

(FYI: none of these actually exist yet, I am not aware of any plans for them existing, and there is no guarantee that they ever will. But you know my luck with accidentally predicting things, so take it all with several grains of salt and a margarita chaser.)

February in Michigan

First, here’s a lovely photo of that actual Hartland Arabian I was talking about last time, sent in by loyal blog reader Penny:

One of a handful of my Hartland Grails, right there. Along with the Pearl Arabian, the Blue Roan Polo Pony, and all the missing bits and pieces in my Tinymite and Barkie collections. And a complete, mint-in-box Nativity Set, too!

(I will find them, eventually. No worries.)

Anyway, I’m still in a bit of a writing funk: the crazy weather and my Seasonal Affective Disorder are doing its usual serious number on my creativity. Which is why I laugh whenever I read about people participating in NaMoPaiMo. Just about the only truly creative thing I am capable of working on in February is my taxes!

Well actually, I did buy some fabric at the local Salvation Army Store yesterday for a quilt project, but that’s at least a half-dozen sewing projects down the road. It was a good price and almost the exact amount I will need, so I bought it anyway; I also happened to find one other thing there worth buying:

The Bay variation of the old Breyer Donkey! There are several holes drilled into her from a previously attached harness, as well as a few light rubs and slight seam splits, but as my “first find” of the year, I almost felt obligated to bring her home.

I already have a this particular variation of the Bay Donkey – some (like this example) are Five-Gaiter Sorrel, others are more red – so it’ll be heading to my sales list momentarily. I only hesitate because I’m not sure how to classify her: with all of her issues she’s most likely a body box prospect, but as you can see she’s just a tad bit better than that.

She might be a good prospect for the “White Elephant”-style sale I was thinking about having at BreyerFest this year.

It started out as a good-natured joke among friends, but I think I might actually do it: having a flash, semi-organized 9 p.m. Saturday night sale at the CHIN of otherwise hard-to-sell models at seriously marked down prices?

With fun giveaways – maybe a free mystery grab bag with every purchase? – and other silliness, like buttons and magnets and horse-shaped cookies?

And instead of calling it a White Elephant Sale, we’d call it a “White Khemosabi Sale”, because seriously, that mold is almost the hobby equivalent of, yes?

It’s something we already sort of do – everyone’s looking to make a last-minute deal on Saturday night anyway – so why not have some fun with it? It might also be a good way of helping newer hobbyists acquire some inexpensive models that might not necessarily be “A-List” molds or who may need a bit of work, but still have a bit of life and love in them.

I kind of want to design a logo for it and start planning things for it/about it, but it being February, mustering any energy beyond watching cat videos on YouTube is a stretch. I made myself some French Toast today and felt like I conquered the universe! February in Michigan, in a nutshell...

Cyber Monday Foofaraw

I was out most of the day on work and work-related business, so I missed all the Breyer Cyber Monday web site crashing drama. And the Mini Falhófnir.

That one I am a bit bummed about, since I missed out on the handful that were in the NPOD in July, too. Always just beyond my reach, annoying little Fluffernutter….

Breyer straight up confessed that the crash was due to unexpectedly high traffic, which was undoubtedly influenced by the Sonny-Banff-Ashquar triple play on Black Friday. Nothing like few thousand hobbyists, constantly refreshing the site, to test (and discover) the limits of your server capacity.

There’s some speculation that there were going to be more limited SR drops on Monday, but were cancelled after the Stablemate Falhófnirs because of the technical issues. It wouldn’t surprise me if that was the case.

As far as what those surprises could be or when they will be dropping in the near future, your guesses are as good as mine. Though I am hoping/expecting at least two things: something related to the AQHA Anniversary horse (maybe those notorious “… and more!” horses?) and at least one more holiday oddball release, like a Zebra, Elk or Khemosabi.

And why not Khemo? Last year’s BreyerFest Silent Auction Decorator Set was fairly well-received, after the initial foofaraw died down; surely a few dozen Silver Filigree or Silver Charm Khemosabis could generate similar enthusiasm, with the same crowd at least.

Might make for an interesting experiment too, to test the limits of what speculators would buy. Much like what happened with the Boxer Rolly last year, but on an even more daring scale: there are some hobbyists who do collect the Dog molds, but Khemo? That is a much smaller pool.

It always shocks some hobbyists to hear this, but it’s true: some molds are far more popular with the public than with hobbyists. The Khemosabi mold, like the Bassett Hound and Lady Roxana, is much more popular outside of the hobby than in it.

It’s not that we have better or more discriminating tastes, it’s that different markets are looking for different things, plain and simple.

Not better. Not worse. Just different.

I wish more hobbyists would pause to think about that before piling on the latest releases.

In On The Joke

Tuesday was not shaping up to be the best day of my week; alarm clocks should not be allowed to be set to go off at 2:30 a.m.

And it just about lived up to my expectations. I’ll spare you the particulars; it felt like the kind of day that was constantly running up to me, poking me in the eye, and running off.

The day was almost salvaged with a couple of side trips to stores with excellent Breyer selections; I didn’t buy anything, but just looking at pretty horses did wonders for my mood.

On the way home, I stopped at a couple of thrift stores too, and found one wonderful not-a-horse thing that gave me crazy ideas about a certain contest entry - putting me in an almost giddy mood, I daresay. Take that, Tuesday!

When I arrived home, however, I made the mistake of reading the online comments to Breyer’s April Fool’s Day joke about Khemosabi.

Whatever holidays you want to celebrate I am completely fine with - especially if chocolate cake is involved. I’m rather fond of Towel Day, myself.

But I have always - and continue to be - apprehensive about April Fool’s Day. It’s not just that it hurts people who either cognitively or philosophically obligated to accept everything they see, hear and read at face value, but that some people will continue to believe the joke or prank was real - no matter what the evidence (or the perpetrator!) says.

The hobby seems especially prone to this (certain Yahoo Groups spring to mind). Not only is it painful to witness, it leads to lots and lots of posts refuting bad data

Look, Reeves is VERY aware of Khemosabi’s awfulness, and they've known about it for a very long time. I know for a fact that they considered retooling the mold as early as 1992. I was a party to a conversation back then with the Powers That Be.

Really, no fooling.

Think about it: he’s only been used twice since his original release - once as a Christmas Horse, and second in that crazy Dappled Rose Gray that I mentioned before. Neither one I’d consider a "realistic" release.

There is a tiny bit of truth to the prank: this single set of models will be made available at BreyerFest - via the Silent Auction. Judging from the reaction I’ve been seeing on Blab, the set will be fetching a healthy price, too. I might put in a bid, just for the heck of it.

And who knows? If the interest keeps up, we just might end up with a Silver Filigree Khemo for Christmas.

The Icon

Other than being "grullo" instead of Chestnut, here’s Gossamer!

Sweet! I’ve already penciled him in on top of my BreyerFest buy list. And if they do a 50/50 Gloss on him, I’m going for two!

As I discussed earlier this month, sometimes when a detailed or realistic paint job is put on a less-than-realistic mold, the effect can be disconcerting. But here, I like how Reeves overcomes that by using a pinto pattern that walks the line between being realistic and fantastic.

A similar effect was achieved on earlier examples of the #766 Arabian Stallion on the Khemosabi mold, that have the high contrast crazy splatter/resist dappling. They toned it down on pieces later in the run, presumably to please the folks who prefer the more realistic, regardless.

I also like the little Vintage nod on the saddle, with the gold dotted trim mimicking the trim seen on some (but not all) of the earlier snap saddles.

As I mentioned before also - and what Reeves gets wrong - is that this is NOT the first BreyerFest Special Run of the Western Horse. The first was the Solid Metallic Gold given out as prizes back in 2003 for the T-Shirt/Costume Contest. I can understand how it might have slipped down the memory hole; it was part of an early contest with lower-than-average participation, they didn’t make a whole lot of them, and they rarely come up for sale.

(‘Twas years before I decided to start participating in that sort of thing.)

I am going to presume that the piece run is going to be significantly larger in this case, though I wouldn’t doubt it’ll be on the lower end of what we’ve been seeing. Models with molded on tack - newer molds or old - don’t sell as well as tack-free ones, no matter how pretty the paint job.

Will he sell? I think so. He seems to be polling well among his target audience: hobbyists like me, i.e. history buffs and nostalgic olds.

Hobbyists tend to think of the Palomino Family Arabian Stallion as the one true "Icon" of the Model Horse World, but for the rest of the world, it’s the Palomino Western Horse. It’s true that the more common releases of the Western Horses (and Ponies) can be difficult to market in more standard model horse venues, but that’s definitely not the case everywhere else. I’ve never had an issue, for instance, selling Palomino or Black Pinto Western Horses on eBay.

Among a younger audience and/or those less interested in the history, the reaction was decidedly less warm. There’s a lot of the usual "Why couldn’t that color be on [my favorite new mold from the last five years]?"

Which I find annoying, but then again, I made the mistake of wandering onto the NAMHSA-Discussion Group earlier this week. Even the happy little spring birds chirping outside my bedroom window seem annoying after reading that. (They were arguing over the definition of a word? Exit, Stage Left…)

The Unsellables

I spent most of my waking hours over the weekend organizing the last of the tax paperwork: I sold more, it’s true, but I also bought more, and the difference between what I bought and what I sold is going to be almost identical to last year’s difference.

Funny how that works!

My downfall this year, again, was the retail end: too many store impulse buys. If my schedule continues the way it has been, though, that shouldn’t be much of an issue going forward. (Though I hear rumors of models reappearing at Tuesday Morning. Must. Stay. Away.)

A lot of what I sold was older, lower end items, and quite a bit from the dreaded period from the late 1980s through the mid-1990s: aka, The Age of the Unsellables.

Don’t let the online community fool you: now THAT was the true dark ages of Breyer quality control. Reeves had just taken over production and shipped it to New Jersey - with some, but not all of the Chicago crew. (Just the handful who were willing to move from Chicago to New Jersey.)

Coupled with the fact that Reeves had no idea what it had gotten into - well, it showed. Rough seams, undistinguished paint jobs with masking issues, questionable choices for sculptors, and problems with the plastic itself that later morphed into Shrinkies and Oozies.

Things didn’t seem so bad at the time, because there were some genuine bright spots. The first BreyerFest was in 1990. Models like Breezing Dixie and Precipitado Sin Par were early and moderately successful attempts at more complex paint jobs. Detailed, handpainted eyes and hooves reappeared on certain releases, as did Vintage colors, like Gloss Charcoal on the 1992 release of Memphis Storm.

The darkest parts were the new molds that they gave us: headshakers like Khemosabi and Rugged Lark, and pieces like Roemer and Misty’s Twilight that were more conceptual and "artistic" than realistic. While I didn’t have any problem with more artsy-fartsy molds, the increasingly complex and realistic paint jobs Reeves was putting on them did feel incongruous.

There is room for both approaches, but it’s rather hard to pull off on the same model.

By the end of the decade, however, we had molds like the Silver and the Huckleberry Bey, both of whom are still popular - almost too much so, in Silver’s case. While they may not be up to the almost too rigorous standards of today, consider that only ten years separates them from the likes of Khemo or Rugged Lark. They hardly seem like products of the same company, in retrospect.

Anyway, back to the selling aspect. I haven’t had too much trouble selling "Unsellable" Era models: at the right price, in the right marketplace, you can sell almost anything. I’ve found that New in Box items from that era sell moderately well at low - but not unreasonably so - prices.

For out of box items, it all depends on condition and relative quality - is it a good piece compared to others of the same kind? Is it something that at least has moderate value as a body (Adios, Lady Phase, G1 Stablemates, Love Classics)?

Fortunately for me, most of the items I resell from this era I pick up from my usual haunts, so my emotional and financial investment is not very substantial to start. For what they are and for what I invest in them, I do fine.

There is no model so homely that it cannot be loved by anyone.

Edge Case

I used to fantasize about what the homeliest, least desirable Special Run in the world could be. At one point, I thought a Metallic Lime Green Khemosabi with Magenta points could be it.

What would most hobbyists do, presented with a model like that - something really rare, but also really homely? Especially if the quantity was very low, and the price was very high? What desire would win out?

You’d be able to find at least a handful of people to buy such a thing, because some people would buy anything, some people would buy it for sheer absurdity of it, and some people actually even like Khemo. (He does have a nice head and neck.) Even so, I couldn’t see more than a handful selling, because Metallic Lime Green Khemosabi, yo.

At least, that was what I thought until this week.

Naturally I thought I’d at least have a shot at the Marshall. It’s a Polled Hereford Bull: not many people collect those, beyond the standard one (and in very rare cases, the Woodgrain as two.) It’s Gloss Splash Spot Black Pintaloosa: again, not all that popular a color combo, especially on a Bull, for Heaven’s sake. And the price was a heady (though not completely unreasonable) $225, $75 more than the last super-scarce Bull SRs, last year’s Vault Sale Logan and Colton.

He’s as close as Reeves has ever gotten to actually issuing a Metallic Lime Green Khemosabi.

Alas, in spite of my best efforts - and those of several others entering for me - there will be no Marshall at my doorstep by Christmas. My little herd of Polled Hereford Bulls shall be leaderless. I’m not even going to entertain thoughts of wait lists.

I briefly considered buying one second hand, but the prices I’ve seen so far are far out of the range of what I’m willing to pay. The price I paid for my half dozen PHBs, combined, doesn’t add up to the minimum bid most Marshalls are starting at. And I certainly haven’t seen many willing to trade it for anything.

I’m trying to take solace in the whole affair by looking at it as a lab experiment of my hypothetical Lime Green Khemosabi in action. Actually, a better term for this is "edge case": as something pushed so far out to the edges of known or acceptable parameters of its particular case that it challenges what those parameters actually are.

Looking at the fact that there were over a dozen Marshalls up for sale less than 24 hours after the notifications went out, I think I now know the answer to the question of the Lime Green Khemo: Money beats weird and homely.

I think it is interesting that in recent cases when items similar to this have been offered on a "first-come, first-served" basis, the likelihood of immediate reselling appears to be less than when it is offered on a raffle basis. There were immediate resells of Logan, Colton, and Ghost but not half of their 40 piece runs. Most of the people who did buy them kept them, or sold them discreetly (i.e. not on eBay or MHSP), or at least not immediately.

And in the case of the Christmas Kitten "Angel", it actually took a few days to sell out at all.

I think this is because the primary (though not sole) motivation of buyers in online direct sale situations is its emotional value: a desire for the object in and of itself.

In the case of raffles - online and offline - many people look at them strictly in terms of financial value: whether they really want the item or not is irrelevant. All that matters is that it has value to other people. The cost to enter these raffles is nil, financially and emotionally.

There has always been a market for Bulls in general, and that may be skewing the numbers slightly. Yet I had heard no hue and cry for a PHB SR, and most everyone thinks it funny when I tell them that one of my "Design a Test Color" fantasy models is a Wedgewood Blue PHB. (The other being the FAS Yellow Man o’ War.)

Some Marshalls have resold, and will resell. But then, what of the rest? Will the prices die down to a more reasonable level?

I'm not so sure I could buy even if it did, but I will refrain from saying anything further. I’ve cried the few tears I allow myself for such things, and made some Christmas cookies. And even though I am not a particularly religious person, I will pray also that the next weird-ugly-rare SR is not a FAS Yellow Man o’ War.

Rehabilitating Khemo

In other less than important news, I had my first official "BreyerFest Nightmare" for the year. Remember those dreams you used to (or maybe still do) have about high school? Showing up for class to discover that there’s a huge test you didn’t study for, a term paper due you knew nothing about, or suddenly realizing that you’re naked?

Yeah, like that, except with forgotten horses, money and reservations instead of tests and term papers. There’s been the occasional BreyerFest dream with missing clothes, but those don’t seem to elicit the same amount of terror as forgetting to bring my paperwork or not setting my alarm clock for the NPOD.

What it means, though, is that I really need to get my act together re: BreyerFest. All I’ve done so far is a preliminary sketch of what I’m going to do for the Happy Ending Contest. I guess I know what I’m doing this weekend! (Depending on the weather, of course.)

Since I still haven’t processed the new archival stuff yet, I’ll have to resort to another show and tell. Since the Lady Roxana went over so well, we’ll go with another less-than-lovely: Khemosabi! And not just any Khemo, but the #766 Arabian Stallion, in a most peculiar variation of an allegedly realistic color: Dappled Rose Gray.


Slightly later examples are less challenging to the eyes. Toning him down, I think, was a mistake. Everyone - from the top down - is very, very aware of the mold’s shortcomings. Putting an ordinary paint job on him doesn’t camouflage them. If you're going to release a new Khemo to the world, you might as well - as the saying goes - "go big, or go home."

As far as what exactly went wrong with the mold itself - well, it was the confluence of many, many bad things. You had a sculptor who wasn’t quite up to the task, inadequate or inappropriate reference materials, issues with the moldmaking process itself, and Heaven knows what else. (Gypsy curse? Bad Chinese food? Zombies?)

He did not turn out how anyone hoped, or intended.

There was discussion by the powers that be, early on, about remedying some of the mold’s aesthetic issues, but I think the decision was ultimately made to just … let it go. Hardcore hobbyists may have found him laughable, pathetic and sad, but the general buying public was much more forgiving: the original release of the mold as Khemosabi ran for a fairly respectable six years. No need to fix something that the rest of the world didn’t think was broken.

And a few years later, after he was originally discontinued in 1995, there was a surprisingly robust run on the original Khemo on eBay. Fan of the flesh-and-blood Khemosabi started snapping up the plastic versions at a healthy clip, for increasingly robust price tags: $100+ price tags on NIB examples were not unusual.

There’s only been one other release of this mold, as the 2003 Christmas Horse "Silent Night." His paint job wasn’t any great shakes - a light, fleabitten gray - but his snazzy green and gold outfit, dripping with tassels, made up for the lack of drama.

I’m sure there are a few test color Khemosabis floating around out there, though I haven’t seen or heard of any. I wouldn’t turn one down, if I was offered. (Everything - even Khemo - looks better in Gloss Charcoal or Silver Filigree, right?)

Old Timer Cull

The end of last week was a rough one, whew! Multiple shifts, sleep deprivation, home remodeling, a mild sinus infection and a death in the family. (I knew her, but not well, even though she lived nearby. Like most family matters, it’s … complicated, and that’s about as much as I’m comfortable sharing.)

Let’s spotlight another treasure from my collection: the Old Timer cull!


Culls, for the otherwise uninformed, are unfinished or partially painted models that somehow escape the factory. Somewhat more "finished" culls - like this fella - were reportedly donated to orphanages and other child welfare organizations.

This one is pretty old: he has no USA mark, and he has tons of shading, typical of early alabaster Old Timers. (Some of them have so much gray shading, in fact, that you could almost classify them as "light smoke" or slate gray.) Another feature that gives away his age is the lack of "infill" in the upper corners of his headstall: just the straps are painted, not the area inside them. I don’t know when this detailing changed, but it happened very, very early in the original run. (A handy visual tip to keep in mind, if all you’ve got to judge an Old Timer by is a not-so-great photograph.)

There are several things wrong with this old boy. First - and most obvious - is that his blinkers are missing. In this case, they weren’t broken off, they were never added in the first place. The slots where the blinkers were to be inserted are free of any traces of glue or broken blinker bits.


The blinkers were molded separately and attached late in the production process, after most of the painting had been completed. There are two reasons why it was done that way. One, making them integral to the mold would have been problematic, because thin and projecting pieces of plastic like blinkers would have been prone to warping and breakage during the molding process. Second, it made painting the eyes a lot less challenging for the painter!

He’s missing his hat, too, an occurrence so common that Reeves could probably make a tidy profit in selling spares. (Hint, hint.) Being a cull, it’s just as likely he never had one to begin with. The gold detailing is missing too - all of the rings, buckles, keepers and chains are unpainted.

As you may have guessed by now, the Old Timer is an extremely complex, and expensive, mold to produce. There’s so much work that goes into an Old Timer that rumor had it that Breyer/Reeves was losing money on every one they made. However, customer demand was so great that they felt obliged to continue production even after it ceased to be profitable.

This brings up an interesting point: the models that collectors might see as being the most popular aren’t necessarily the most popular among the general, non-hobbyist public - and vice versa. We see it happen from time to time online (remember the bizarre run on the Khemosabi mold on eBay a while back?) And it happens in the physical world, too, especially with Old Timer. Some of the antiquers I deal with will slap a premium price on an Old Timer - and they know they’ll get it, eventually. The "serious" collectors will walk away, but the casual collectors? They’ll consider it.

The same dynamic explains the inexplicable prices found in your average antique shop. They’re catering to dilettantes and interior decorators, not the serious hobbyists. Occasional trips to your local antique malls are a lot less stressful, once you keep that in mind.