Not Hard At All

What’s nice about the Misty’s Twilight mold, the subject of this week’s Test Color Purchase Raffle, is that it’s a ridiculously easy mold to collect. The only two that pose any moderate difficulty - the 1996 Jamboree Flabbehoppen and the Spiegel Dressage Set Black in 1993 - both had piece runs of about 1000.

In other words, not hard at all.

Test Colors aren’t all that common on her, though. This isn’t surprising, since she’s probably the least collected of all the Jeanne Mellin Herrick molds, and there are a number of other more popular models in a similar running position that are far more likely to have bodies knocking about the factory.

I certainly wouldn’t mind owning her, though. I’ll put in some entries, and see what happens.

So I went to buy my Florian over the weekend, and decided what the heck, I was going to toss a Fabio into my order because this was the first Duende that I both liked AND could afford.

(Benasque and North Star? Yeah, not going there.)

And apparently a lot of others thought the same thing, because he’s already sold out!

Unless it’s a supply issue, like the Winx and Crystalline.

Probably not, and it’s not something I’m going to worry about too much, regardless, because I’m eyeing plenty of things on eBay. Nothing expensive, just body lots and potential upgrades, because I am an apparent glutton for punishment.

My attempts to upgrade things rarely work out, but hope springs eternal! And what’s a few more bodies for the body box, right?

Since I was determined to buy something else on the Breyer web site, I ordered the Fighting Stallion Tee-Shirt instead. I’ll probably have nowhere to wear it, outside of my possible imitation BreyerFest in June or July, or whenever I get my act together here.

Like everyone else, I have absolutely no idea what this undefined blob of a sneak peek actually represents:

I am going to assume it’s either a Classic mold or a Pony because (a) we haven’t seen the Pop-Up Store Classic Special yet, and (b) we’re still grievously short of Ponies. 

Double Take

No, not that Double Take. This one:

When I caught my first glimpse of the new Collector’s Club Special Celeste, my first thought was “That’s kind of a bold move Reeves, going with a Misty’s Twilight mold.” 

Then I did a face palm and realized it was actually the newer Eberl Andalusian Mare, instead. But take a gander at the 1997 State Line Tack Special Run Kokopelli’s Gold, and you can (maybe?) kind of see why someone like me might have been a wee bit confused?

Yes, even I conflate one model with another. Maybe moreso than the average hobbyist, since I have a bigger-than-average reference file: my brain goes straight to old stuff, instead of the new.

Maybe conflating Misty’s Twilight and the Andalusian Mare is also another reason why I’ve been having a hard time mustering more affection for the newer mold? If anything, I slightly prefer the Misty’s Twilight, and the historical shout out to Currier and Ives prints.

(If I had had the time – and more motivation – to do it, my Diorama Contest entry for BreyerFest this year would have been a recreation of a Currier and Ives harness racing print, preferably one of the legendary Maud S.

In addition to the customizing involved, I would have also had to do a fair bit of tackmaking, sulky-making, and some crazy engineering to suspend the whole shebang inside a shadow box with a vintage-looking picture frame.

So yeah, obviously that wasn’t going to happen.)

Since I’m still enjoying a horse-buying semi-hiatus, whether I really liked Celeste or not was sort of irrelevant anyway. I’ll save my cash for whatever other end-of-year holiday silliness they have planned.

To be honest, all I am asking for is to actually have the opportunity to see the Special Run Holiday Animal – whatever it is! – before it’s sold out.  Since we already got the Special Run Elk Inari at BreyerFest this year I am probably safe even if I do miss it (again). Just having the chance means more to me than the actual buying.

Unless it’s the Deer Family. All bets are off on that.

FYI everybody: while I’m still “out” for the duration, I’m hoping to have more of a hobby and online presence again, soon. While I am nowhere near done with my literal and metaphorical housecleaning, I may be in a more manageable place in the near future.

I Mock Because I Care

It must be the cough syrup talking, because I have an overwhelming need to mock the "Holiday Horse" in the November/December issue of JAH. For those of you who still haven’t received your JAH, here’s a scan of it, so you can play along:


I’m assuming it’s next year’s horse, but the text doesn’t make it clear. Even if it does turn out to be something else entirely (in other words, Rare and Exclusive) that still doesn’t temper my urge to laugh and point at it. I laugh and point at Flockies all the time, hasn’t affected their perceived value any.

Anyway, I spot this beauty in JAH, and the first thought that popped into my head really was "Did they hot glue a bunch of broken ornaments to an oven mitt?"

They nominally discontinued Halloween Horses because of a "lack of ideas," but then they assemble this silly thing, apparently assembled from all of the leftover bits that didn’t make the cut on previous Holiday Horses.

I do still sorta like it, though. With the right amount of money, anybody can have a "pretty" or "classy" holiday display, but I prefer the unique-crazy-weird-tacky-homemade displays this horse embodies. They seem more sincere to me.

That’s the kind of Christmas I grew up with, too: everyone else in the extended family would have the traditional tree with glass ornaments, a sparkly garland, and maybe some tinsel. At our house, we’d have a tree made entirely out of pinecones and chicken wire. Or completely covered in fake pink poinsettias.

(This year’s theme was felt … at least, until our little furry Grinch decided felt was delicious.)

I’ve collected a number of vintage books and magazines with crafts of Christmases past - partly for inspiration, but also for my amusement. I mean, come on, how can you not love "Hobo Santa?"


Or Rudolph, the Zombie Reindeer?


Or my personal favorite:


The actual text accompanying the photograph, from the 1961 issue of Woman’s Day Best Ideas for Christmas:

This Santa scene is very easy to duplicate. Just buy (or make) a Santa suit, fill it with rags, cotton, newspaper, etc., and put it on an outdoor lounge. Scene says that Santa gets tired, too, and he can use a rest himself some time. Add long sheet of paper for list.

I dunno. The first thing the scene said to me that Santa had a cardiac event. Either in, or on his way to the bathroom.

I do like the selection of the Misty’s Twilight mold as a Holiday Horse - it has a very old-fashioned, Currier & Ives feel to it, like she should be pulling a sleigh or sulky. Strange that they’d go with another Bay - the mold already came in that color, as Dover, in 1996 and 1997. It is hard to tell what’s underneath all that bric-a-brac, though: for all we know, she could be a bay roan overo or snowcap Appaloosa.