Matte Black Dapple

I spent most of yesterday working in my garden: the weather was pleasant and cooperative, and I really needed to work with my hands. All it needs now is weeding and watering: I’m hoping that Mother Nature takes care of the latter over the next few weeks because I don’t have a whole lot of time to spare. 

(My schedule changed again this week, and while it’s not a huge change, it’s still a little bit disorienting.)

I know he is old news by now, but I’m still a little bummed I didn’t get picked for the Matte Ulysses Test Color. It’s not that I wanted him more than any other of the Test Color Drawings to date, I just thought I’d have a better shot at him than with other molds, colors, and mold/color combos.

In this instance I definitely saw more grumbling about the price than usual: does the mere absence of a Gloss Finish justify a $1000 price tag?

Remember the prices of the Vintage Club Matte Claude variations were bringing a few years ago? Those make the Matte Ulysses seem like a deal in comparison. 

(I just want to “win” one of these things someday. I am not going to be picky!)

I find it fascinating that there’s such a disparity between the interest in Matte variations of Glossy releases versus Gloss variations of Matte releases. It’s been so ingrained in us that Glossy = More Valuable/Valued that it sometimes blinds us to the reality that this is not always going to be the case.

It’s also interesting that they considered releasing him in a Matte Finish at all. Other than other Test Colors (like that dreamy Black Roan Appaloosa Saddlebred Weanling from last year) I don’t think Matte Black Dapple has even been a thing. Heck, other than the Warehouse Find Dapple Gray Stock Horse Mare, even Matte Resist Dapple Grays haven’t been much of a thing, lately.

Anyway, I have to skedaddle – I have to type up some stuff for work tomorrow, in addition to having to get up earlier, too.

It's that time of year, again...

Just about everything’s been uploaded, downloaded, printed, prepped and packed. Packing the new car’s been a challenge – the configuration is completely different than the previous car, so figuring out what goes where has been…a puzzle, both literally and figuratively.

(I’d also like to thank our local crazy-awesome independent dollar store Debby’s Dollar for the assist this year with making the trip more affordable. And for the candy: come try the mystery taffy!)

I think I’m way more chill about BreyerFest at this point than I ought to be. I don’t even have the nagging feeling that I’m forgetting something, though I almost certain am.

Since I’m on a slightly tighter than usual budget, and I have too much darn stuff anyway, I’ll probably keep shopping at the Clarion to a minimum. That doesn’t mean I won’t take a look anyway, and if the right thing magically appears in front of me (like the Golden Charm Man o’ War) all that will go out the window.

I might buy slightly more than average tickets for the Saturday Raffle item North Star. The Duende mold hasn’t done anything for me one way or another, but that color is really something. He’d make a nice companion for my Showboat, for sure!

No plans on attending the auction – definitely not in my budget ballpark – but I know who I like: the Bay Roan Varnish Appaloosa Dundee!

Sine the Few-Spot True North I loved so much last year got top dollar, I would not be surprised if the Dundee does, too. The Legionario in a magnificently executed Gloss Primitive Red Dun will go pretty high, too. I mean, just look at him!

I would buy that color on almost anything. (Hint, hint.)

Other big moneymakers will probably include the Gloss Bay Marwari, because it’s Gloss Bay, and the Rainbow Croi Damsha because that Gloss Rainbow Overo Pinto paint job makes a lot of people lose their minds. (Personally I can take it or leave it.)

I know there’s been some speculation that there’s at least one “surprise” that’s being withheld from us – like they did with the Silver Charm Surprises for the 25th anniversary. I have no special insight on whether or not that’s going to happen (really, honest!), but I wouldn’t put it past them, either.

Frankly, I can’t get too excited about it because I haven’t even gotten a Glossy Surprise model since 2012 – an extra-limited something-something? Nah. 

Alejandro

I just realized that I kinda-sorta collect the Brishen mold. I have an NPOD Sample of the Bay Pinto Gypsy Vanner, the BreyerFest Store Specials Dag Dia and Albion, and probably soon the Brick and Mortar Special Alejandro, even though I know I shouldn’t:

https://www.breyerhorses.com/alejandro

The name reminds me of Lady Gaga’s video of the same name that I won’t link to here, because its Evita-meets-Steve-Rude’s-Nexus vibe is not quite family-friendly enough for this blog.

Although I don’t think it was intentional, they did name one of their Special Runs (Astru) after a Hungarian Black Metal band, too. It makes me wonder what they’re actually listening to in the offices in New Jersey.

But anyway…

His color, for those of you not up on your horse color genetics, is Mulberry Gray, a relatively rare color in Breyer’s repertoire. There have been some Tests like the Moody Andalusian from 2016, and the Original and Reissue of the Legionario III #880 Medieval Knight. The #1498 Lusitano on the Esprit mold was called Red Roan, but is technically Mulberry Gray, as well.

The mold has some conformational issues, but I think Reeves has done a remarkable job in designing paintjobs that highlight the mold’s strength as a more fantastical creature in the spirit of Esprit and Ethereal.

I’ve described the Pinto Gypsy Vanner as a Lisa Frank-style horse, Novelisto D and Dag Dia as personifications of Lightness and Darkness.

Alejandro? His mane and tail make him look like he’s literally on fire.

And I can’t look away: in fact, I think I love it.

There are already a few too many Rarities and Glossies with the Brishen mold and all its variants to make actively collecting the mold impractical.

To be realistic, it really isn’t practical for me to buy any horses at all right now, other than the occasional stray Stablemate. If I happen to find him sometime this week or next, during my travels, I will get him.

But that’s a big if.

Ooh, Sparkly!

Surprise – two of the models in the bag of bodies weren’t bodies after all:

The little one is a Fontanini Nativity Horse (Schleich-like), and the other is the Majestad release of the Legionario. I hadn’t seen a Majestad out of the box and without the goofy wired garland before, so who he was threw me for a bit. Then I recognized the oddly linear shading on his face, the slight pearliness to his finish, and the lack of a brand.

In fact, for being another Aged Gray Legionario, he’s a lot more “different” than I initially thought. Props to Reeves for that! Tempted as I am, I am not keeping him, especially since I didn’t get the chance to do as thorough a herd culling as I wished this year.

(Though my body box will be almost as epic as it was last year. I am totally rocking the cheap box lots this year...)

Fiona and Rory came today, too (not the best pictures, I know):

Totally digging those little holographic blankets! I’m such a sucker for fancy, sparkly fabrics.

While on one hand I can see the Fiona and Rory merely as a part of a “series” of Classic Mare and Foal sets designed for the online market – like the Unicorns, and the Pinto Arabians – I also have to wonder if part of the reason for the existence of this series is as a way to experiment with the viability of newer paint colors and finishes.

Fiona and Rory are very subtly iridescent – not something I can capture with my weak photographic skills, but they’re definitely there, especially on the Foal.

I can’t recall seeing this bit of shimmer on any of the other, newer Black releases, but if this is something they’re thinking of implementing on other releases, I’m all for it.

(Momentarily fantasizes a “Midnight Blue-Black” Valegro. Mmm.)

Incidentally, iridescent paints are not something new, or newer, in the world of Breyer: the first time they were officially used – however briefly – was on the original Kitten releases back in 1966! Most, but not all, have iridescent eyes.

But more on that next time.

Bollywood Surprise

I’m up to my elbows in tax paperwork and Spring Cleaning here. (The latter somewhat ahead of schedule and against my will.) So it seems like a good day to engage in a little BreyerFest speculating, it being the last week before the Early Bird Deadline and all.

(In spite of my insistence that I wouldn’t, I know.)

Things the Bollywood Surprise won’t be: Othello, Silver, Lady Phase, a Mare and Foal set, or a random assortment of molds. It probably won’t be a Nonhorse mold or the Marwari, either. The former because most people attending BreyerFest want horses, and the latter because I just can’t see them doing that.

They kinda-sorta promised us a Polo Pony of some sort in a blog post back in January – in fact, it was one of the first “hints” they gave us – but I think that’s what makes it unlikely to be the Surprise, in whatever form it takes. There are still a few more Special Runs to go, and Reeves has a habit of saving the most obvious ones for last – like they did with the Gloss Dapple Gray Percheron Versailles, for the French-themed year.

The “Bet you'll never guess which model this is!” clue makes me think it’s a Vintage mold we don’t see very much or very often anymore.

The theory wouldn’t necessarily exclude Legionario (introduced in late 1978), who is the current popular choice for the Surprise.

But wasn’t one of the Chinese factory escapees a while back a Translucent Running Mare? That’s where I’ll put my imaginary betting money, then, since (a) last year’s Surprise assortment included a Translucent Deco, and (b) a Running Mare would be plenty surprising.

Nobody ever expects the Running Mare!

Other than a few Auction pieces, she’s never made an appearance as a BreyerFest Special Run. The majority of her production releases have being either Matte or Solids (and usually both) so in spite of the fact that she has come in over 30 distinct colors over the past 50+ years, there is still a lot of room for experimentation.

Quality Control and Production Thresholds

Here’s my Wailua:

Not quite as dramatic or showy as some I’ve seen, but otherwise I have nothing to complain about here. I especially like the subtle warm hints in his mane and tail, and the slightly different shade of gray on his hooves.

(Those details at the edges get me again!)

As for the conversation going on about the fact that this run appears to have been manufactured in New Jersey and not China, there’s something to be said about that. But as you might suspect, my line of thought runs a little contrary to popular opinion.

I am a little concerned about mold maintenance, especially with older molds (the Hesses) that are basically handcrafted artisan pieces. (Most of the “loss of mold detail” that gets complained about is actually overly-enthusiastic post-molding finish work, though.) And I do wish that they had another layer of Quality Control to catch a higher percentage of the garden variety “oopsies” before they get on the boat.

While I am not happy with the idea that the bulk of production has moved overseas, I haven’t had any significant issues with models made in China either – or at least, not any more problems compared to U.S. production pieces, on average. (I’ve sent a few things back, but it’s not a regular occurrence.)

Some of the issues we do see are a result of higher expectations, and the ever-more-complicated paint jobs that are a consequence of that.

Part of the research that I do on a semi-regular basis (i.e. when I get time to do it) is writing down detailed descriptions of the paint jobs for each release. Early releases can get summed up in a couple of sentences. A typical vintage Charcoal:

Body-shaded Charcoal, brown undertones; masked white mane and tail; four stockings, airbrushed, with pink hooves; extensive bald face, airbrushed, with pinked muzzle and nostrils, with some gray shading in nostrils; gloss black eyes, sometimes with hand-painted eyewhites.

But Darjeeling’s color description? That one’s going to be so long it might have a subplot. The more complicated something is, the easier it is for things to go wrong.

As to why some Web Specials – like Wailua, and previously the Croi Damsha Bramble of Berry Pony fame – are now being made here, I think it’s simply a matter of math.

It’s not cost-effective to do paint jobs at that level and (relatively) error-free on higher production Regular Run models that are supposed to retail in the 40-50 dollar range.

For a low production Special Run that retails for 160-180 dollars, however? Then it would be, especially since the purchasers of those particular pieces are expecting something close to perfect. Producing those items in the U.S. will cost more, but the extra costs will be offset by the reduced number of returns and customer service calls.

So no, I don’t see this as a harbinger of large-scale production returning the U.S. any time soon. All I am seeing is that the maximum quantity threshold for U.S. production has increased from around 200 to around 350. Maybe even a little higher than that (up to Club-level quantities?) but not much.

Wailua, and Other Business

Today is going to be a bit disconnected, since I’m still recovering from a bit of who-knows-what from last week. (There have been a lot of unexpectedly extended naps over the past few days!)

First up is Wailua - Second release in the America the Beautiful Series, all designed by Sommer Prosser:

Ooh, a Gloss Legionario! It is true that Gloss Finishes are a rare feature on Legionario releases; other than Tests and Samples, the only ones I can think of are Decorators like the 1991 Gold Florentine Raffle piece, and the Silver Filigree Grane of Gotterdammerung.

My only (tiny) quibble with him is that it’s yet another flavor of Gray. It is in keeping with the theme of the series – his mane is like a waterfall, and the dapples like water bubbles – but darn it, it’s still left me pining for a nice Dark Dappled Bay or Pinto!

On the plus side, the appearance of a relatively low-quantity piece run does suggest that more Legionarios may be in our future. The last widely available Legionario release (excluding the Exclusive Event Excalibur in 2014) was 2009’s Spanish Flamenco Set.

If there’s a Legionario SR at BreyerFest – Surprise or not – I am all in. I’ve entered every day for Wailua, too, but I haven’t been picked for a Web SR since Astru, so I am not hopeful.

Second, another previously unknown In-Between Mare has appeared on eBay. Needless to say, I won’t be participating in that exercise of financial futility.

It appears to have surfaced in the Chicago area, which is in keeping with the history we think we know about it: that a small test batch was made, whatever was made was mostly destroyed/reground when they did not pass muster, with a handful of survivors circulating locally.

The slow drip-drip of IBMs into the marketplace is just more fuel for the fire that that understanding of its history is wrong, or incomplete. (I still favor the notion that whatever was made was not destroyed, but simply mixed into the earliest distributed batches of the “new” Family Arabian Mare.)

Third, there’s the news that this year’s NAN has been cancelled.

In this house, whenever things get real quiet, it usually means that Vita has been up to some serious no-good – stripping the guest bedroom bed, eating an umbrella, or picking your coat pocket for cough drops and candy wrappers.

Just a couple of weeks ago I was thinking the same thing about NAN and NAMHSA.

I can’t say that I necessarily saw it coming, but it is also not a surprise, given the lack of meaningful communication and what recent changes and announcements have been made (like the switch to a one-judge system, and keeping the event in Kentucky for multiple successive years).

I don’t know if I’ll attend the event that they have planned for the Thursday before BreyerFest, since Thursday is already the busiest day of that week for me. I might just to attend the Open Meeting, but like the last time there was a serious controversy, I think by then it will be too late, with opinions too calcified for any progress to be made.

The First and The Last of Legionario III

I am very tired today (not model horse related) so even though there’s been a lot of Breyer-related news the past few days, I’ll just do a brief update of my last post on the latest on Legionario variations.

Here is a picture I probably should have included last time, comparing my newest Legionario acquisition with my oldest one:

Quite the difference, eh? The Legionario in the foreground was an eBay purchase who came in a 1978 Sears Wishbook Shipper box, which means he was a pre-catalog release.

Early Legionarios didn’t all look this amazing – my childhood Legionario was acquired fairly early in the run, too, but he looks a little more like Dorsal Stripe Guy than Mr. Fabulous. Except with pinked hooves and no dorsal.

And no rubs: while he might not be as flashy or distinctive as these two, my childhood Legionario (who is currently in storage, the pity) is in immaculate condition. These two fellahs above, alas, are a long way from seeing the showring.

Legionario's Dorsal Stripe

Apparently a Black AQHA Anniversary Horse was spotted on eBay today(?) (Long day at work, feeling kinda fuzzy still.) If that’s the case, then the timing is rather interesting: the Grullas started turning up at the beginning of September, and the Roans at the beginning of October.

I wonder if that means the “…and more” will be turning up at the beginning of December?

I knew I should have stopped at the toy store on the way home today, darn it. Gotta hand it to Reeves, for making me so excited about a mold that rarely elicited more than a shrug from me before. Now I’m actually pausing to look at Poco Buenos and Jet Decks on eBay!

Anyway, in slightly less exciting news, my latest vintage box lot turned out to be mostly bodies. The paint jobs were fine – just the usual yellowing and grime – but most of their mouths were sawed open.

Ugh. I never went that extreme with my model horse modifications as a kid, other than some unfortunate experimentation with nail polish remover. (One of these body-boxers is a keeper, and once I get her cleaned up enough to show you, you will see why.)

A few of the models in the lot were spared the hacksaw, including a sweet Legionario III – with a dorsal stripe! I’ve owned a lot of Legionarios, older and newer, and I think this is the first one I’ve ever had with a prominent dorsal.

The original Legionario release ran for over twelve years, from late 1978 (via mail order, primarily the Bentleys) through 1990, and an extended run gives you a lot of variations, from Nearly-Smoke to Virtually-White.

The earlier ones tend to be more shaded and airbrushy, with a pinkish tint to the hooves and muzzle; later ones were lighter, whiter and neater, with less pinking. The dorsal stripe is a relatively uncommon feature that probably came in very late in the model’s production run, per Young’s Breyer Molds & Models.

He still needs a bit of cleaning and whitening, along with the rest of his friends. Unlike most of the rest of them, he’ll be sticking around.

Here’s an interesting equation to ponder: Spanish Breed + Parade Horse + Carnivale theme = possible BreyerFest 2016 Special Run item? This mold would make an excellent Surprise model candidate, especially since most of his previous releases have been solid or some shade of gray, and rarely glossy.

Dropping the Other Shoe

The Copenhagen Belgian is only half of the story. The other half?

The ephemera.

How significant is the estate’s stash? Well, it’s taken me a couple of weeks so far to clean, sort, separate and inventory (so far!) what amounts to a filing cabinet’s worth of papers. I am not exaggerating when I say that I’m seeing things I’ve never seen before, like this backer card for Tiffany:

I always wondered if they were going to sell Tiffany separately, like they did with Benji. Looks like they were planning to!

Most of these papers are from the 1970s and 1980s, and the stuff that’s here is just amazing. Like this photograph from Bob Koberg and Chris Hess’s trip to the Garrison Ranch in January 1978, to get the final approvals for Legionario and the Andalusian Family:

(You all should know who Chris Hess is. Bob Koberg was Breyer’s Sales Manager back then.)

There are fliers, photographs, negatives, transparencies, original artwork, ad slicks, comps…and more. It’s like a dream come true for a history nut like me. Considering the extremely ephemeral nature of some of this ephemera, I’m amazed that it even survived at all.

As of this writing, the dispensation of it is still being worked out. Naturally, I’d like to keep as much of this archive as intact as possible, for the sake of research - and hobby history.

However, while there is a great deal of unique material here, there’s also quite a bit of duplication. I know that there will definitely be some significant interest among my fellow Breyer historians and ephemera dorks in acquiring some of these items for their own personal archives.

But like I said, that’s still being worked out. Selling paper is a slightly different game than selling models. Do we sell them in lots, or on an individual basis? On MH$P, or via eBay?

And if the decision is made to sell them, rather than auction them off, how do we determine value of things that literally have no market history to go by? These are the issues that have been keeping me up nights.

To clarify on the monetary issues: I am not making any money off of this "deal", other than having first dibs on the archive materials, which will all end up in a university archive anyway (eventually).

To make this extra clear: all money from the auctions and/or sales of the models and duplicate ephemera will be going to the estate, not to me.

Let’s be open and honest here: there have been some similar situations in the past (i.e. estates of exceeding interest and value to hobbyists) that were not necessarily handled in the most transparent or equitable way.

In light of the historical significance of the items in this estate, I’ve tried my darndest to make sure everyone involved - both the estate, and hobbyists/buyers - are treated fairly as possible. I made the seller aware of the standards of packaging hobbyists expect - and warned him of the behaviors he was likely to be on the receiving end of.

While I’m fairly certain my conduct was not perfect, I’m hoping that dispersals of future estates are handled more fairly, by example. Just because life’s not fair doesn’t mean we shouldn’t strive to make hobby life more so.

I will also be up front and say that I did confide in two fellow hobbyists about the contents of the estate from the get-go, and also swore them to the highest secrecy. Neither one of them has received any compensation or favors, other than serving as an outlet for my screamy, exclamation-point-riddled e-mails. If they want to purchase anything from the estate, they’ll have to go through the same channels as everyone else (and me! Darn tooting I’ll be bidding!)

It’s their decision whether or not to out themselves.

Some of my coworkers also heard about all this as it was going down, but the vast majority of them had no idea what I was talking about in the first place. Some of them are vaguely aware of Breyers as a product, but all they know of the hobby is that I go to "my convention" every year and dress up in crazy outfits.

Illustrated Shippers

It was a dark and stormy Saturday, so I spent it finishing the collection repacking. It’s all over except for the dusting, and I’m in no mood for dusting.

For those inquiring, there’s nothing super-duper rare, old or weird in my sales stash. There’s definitely some nice quality models here, possible LSQ, but most of them are in the sub-$50 range. (Unless I get lucky at the flea market in the meantime!)

Since my financial condition is slightly less tenuous than it was at this time last year, I’m in no rush to sell; I don’t want to deal with MH$P or eBay right now, anyway. There’s some talk going on about a local swap meet/hobbyist-to-hobbyist sale (local = Southeast Michigan), and if/when it comes to pass, I’ll let y’all know.

It was a bit of a strange experience packing up the last few horses. I decided that a couple of my oldies had to be taken out of the rotation, and since I just so happened to have their original boxes, back into their original boxes they went. One of the boxes in question: an old illustrated Clydesdale Shipper Box:


Now there’s something you don’t see every day!

Shipper boxes were the "de facto" Breyer box prior to the introduction of the White Picture Box in the early 1970s. There were a couple of experiments prior to the White Boxes - the clear Showcase boxes, and the Touchability Boxes. (I covered Touchability Boxes in a post quite some time ago, in fact.) A few select items - like the Horse and Rider Sets, and the licensed products like Lassie and Rin Tin Tin - did come in specially designed packaging, but those were very much the exception, not the rule, prior to the 1970s.

Most Shipper Boxes were pretty plain: a brown corrugated box, with Breyer’s address printed on one side, and "From:" and "To:" spaces printed on the other side. (And yes, they were used for shipping; I’ve owned a few that made it through the postal system!) The name and model number of the item inside was usually inkstamped across the top of the box, on the paper packing tape that sealed it.

Some, but not all Shipper Boxes were illustrated. Why some early boxes - but not others - were illustrated is a mystery. Some are quite common - such as the Fighting Stallion - while others, like the Clydesdale, are rather rare. My guess is that Breyer decided early on to standardize the box sizes, and only the boxes that were designed for one specific model were allowed to retain their unique graphics. Everything else just got the standard plain shipper, with the inkstamped identification across the top.

The graphics on the early boxes are quite pleasing aesthetically; I particularly like the Poodle:


The Western Pony is nice, too:


Illustrated shippers continued to be used until quite recently, mostly for the non-equine models that couldn’t fit in any of the standard packaging schemes. Some of the graphics were nice, but others, not so much. Not quite sure what was going on with the Charolais Bull box, for example - a bad reference photo, maybe:


Illustrated Shippers were also a common feature of holiday mail-order items. The graphics on the Holiday Shippers were all over the map, too - some pleasant, some plain, and some downright weird. This Legionario Gift Set box from Sears is a fairly typical example:


Shippers are still being used today, mostly with items sold factory direct - like the Connoisseurs - or with some of the Holiday Catalog items. They’re sometimes illustrated generically with a repeating running horse (not the "Running Horse") graphic.

Shipper boxes are still a bit of an undeveloped territory as far as Breyer Box research goes - presumably because of fugitive nature: the boxes had to be literally torn open, and torn boxes didn’t make for the best storage.

Silver Filigree

I didn't run out of things to write about: I ran out of time this week to write! I was totally not expecting to get overtime at the part-time job this week. The lack of food, the lack of sleep, being away from home for days: I was starting to get BreyerFest flashbacks at one point. (In a rare spare moment, I even bought some Stablemates because if I was going to suffer a little, I deserved some ponies...)

Anyway, back to the horse business. I'll deal with a few questions that have come up in the past couple of weeks in a long, rambly post later today or tomorrow. Right now, it's something a little more focused: let's talk about the color Silver Filigree.


Silver Filigree is one of the “newer” Decorator colors, first issued on the lovely and highly coveted 1993 BreyerFest Judge's Model Proud Arabian Mare. It wasn't used again until 1999, when The Ginger Horse commissioned a Legionario in that color as a special run for Equitana that year. It had been used sporadically since then, but within the past couple of years it appears that Reeves has decided that Silver Filigree – and hobbyist favorite Gloss Charcoal, to a degree – are their Decorator colors of choice to drive us all crazy.

While other Decorator colors have lost a bit of their luster with recent reissues, the “mystique” of Silver Filigree continues unabated. That's mostly because except for the Legionario “Grane of Gotterdammerung,” who had a healthy 2000 piece run, virtually all of the other Silver Filigrees Reeves has issued have either had extremely low piece counts, restricted distribution, or both:

Proud Arabian Mare: Volunteer Model (30)
Saturday Night Fever (Proud Arabian Stallion): BreyerFest Raffle (26)
Born to Run (Proud Arabian Foal): BreyerFest Raffle (26)
Quicksilver (Clydesdale Foal): BreyerFest Contest Prize (<30)
Silver: Treasure Hunt Surprise (250?)
Silver Snow (Othello): Web Special (200)
Surprise (Quarter Horse Gelding): BreyerFest Gambler's Choice (10)

That's not including tests and auction pieces, which are by nature either unique or close to it. (And I just noticed that five of the eight official releases were BreyerFest-related, too! Interesting.) There may also be a very small run of Running Foals (less than five?) that was associated in some way with the Ginger Horse's promotion of the Grane model, but I've only heard rumors of this little fellow, and no pictures, so I'm a bit reluctant to list it as something official. (Any pics or links would be appreciated!)

It's a smart move, albeit a frustrating one for those of us who absolutely love the color: by associating a certain color with rarity and exclusivity, it makes new releases in that color even more desirable. That's what fueled the online feeding frenzy with the Silver Snow: for a lot of collectors, it was a rare chance to get an example of a rare color, at a reasonable price.

Remember when we used to get the same thrill when they started rereleasing the old Decorator colors on new molds? They still have the power to excite hobbyists – especially when a new or popular mold is involved – but they are no longer as rare and exclusive as they used to be. If you really want a Florentine, Copenhagen, Gold Charm or Wedgewood Blue and you're not extremely picky about your choice of mold, you can get a newer release for a not-scary price (well, maybe not Wedgewood Blue, just yet. Talk about another color that drives collectors crazy!)

The only Silver Filigrees I have so far are the more “common” Grane and Silver Snow – and I was lucky to have a friend help me with the Silver Snow. I'd love any of the others, but I don't have that kind of money or luck right now. Maybe I'll be lucky or rich in the future: I doubt we've seen the last of this color. (Silver Filigree or Charcoal would look mighty fine on the Stretch Morgan, don't you think? It would also probably cause my head to explode.)

No discussion of Silver Filigree is complete without mentioning the fact that we also owe its existence to the power of suggestion. And in this case, it's one of those rare instances where one person was responsible: the late hobbyist Shirley Ketchuck. The Powers That Be at Reeves liked her idea, and started making their own.