Design Challenges

Yesterday I was so tired I nearly fell asleep at dinner. I thought my exhaustion was due either to work and all its assorted little dramas finally catching up with me, or maybe it was a bit of the bug making the rounds at work.

Then I took a quick look at the all the hobby news and business that went on this week, and saw what the problem really was: it was a really busy week, hobby-wise! More Web Exclusives were released, pictures of Midyear releases (another glow-in-the-dark Halloween Special!) were floating around, I heard reports of Warehouse Specials being found at Tuesday Morning, and another BreyerFest SR picture was released (Translucent Classic Warmblood for the Souvenir Shop, named Art Nouveau!)

I think he’s pretty awesome, even if some don't think he’s Art Nouveau enough. Personally, I don’t think of the concept as French enough: Art Nouveau was more of a global movement that just happened to be very, very popular in France. Art Deco, on the other hand, did originate in France. The term Art Deco came from the International Exposition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts (Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes) held in Paris in 1925.

Reeves missed a perfect opportunity here to rerelease the Modernistic Buck and Doe - that were, most likely, originally designed and manufactured during the Art Deco era itself.

Too obscure? Possibly too hard a sell at an ostensibly "horsey" event? Probably, but a girl can dream.

What I think finally pushed me over the edge was the new BreyerFest contest - for customizing.

http://www.breyerhorses.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=7308

I was intrigued enough by this contest to spend a few rare minutes poking around my body box earlier in the week. I like the idea of the contest a lot, but when I finally read the rules I was persuaded out of participating. The winners will receive an exclusive, one-of-five piece Special Run valued at $1000(!!!)

Extremely high stakes lead to extreme behaviors; while I like to think better of my fellow hobbyists, the potential to win something really rare and/or valuable hasn't always brought out the best in us. I have enough responsibilities re: BreyerFest this year, so I’ll just stick to my more familiar heartbreaks.

If I were to design the contest, I would have either broadened the categories - more prizes, more winners, less bad behavior - or made it a little bit more like the others. That would mean adherence to a concept, and a very narrow window of time to complete it. That way it would mean that entries would be more likely created specifically for the contest, and not pulled from the shelf or made by others.

As far as concept goes, I’d go with specific molds - older, more difficult, or less popular ones that aren't considered proper body box material. Anyone can make something beautiful out of a Weather Girl or an Alborozo, but a Touch of Class or Lady Roxana? Now that’s something I’d like to see - or even compete in.

Speaking of…yes, I am aware of the "The Sound TWH Challenge". Hobby customizers of all pay grades are challenged with making a non-Big-Lick horse out of a Midnight Sun, with the sales of said models going charity.

A good idea, in spite of the fact that it seems to be a Facebook-only thing for now.

The Modernistics, Part 2

(As I am in some considerable pain today because of my back - something I will be going to the doctor for sometime next week, so don't fret - I'll be running the second half of the Modernistic Buck and Doe article today. BreyerFest coverage will continue next week.)

I’m guessing that Saunders Tool & Die either went out of business, or decided to get out of the toy business, and all their related assets went up for sale or auction. Since Aurora is only about an hour’s drive from Chicago, I would also assume that someone from Breyer might have been at that event, and thought purchasing these molds was a good idea.

There is – or I should say, will be – more to this part of the story. A few years ago, I thought I had tracked down some court documents relating to that sale, but due to a lack of time and resources, I haven’t been able to follow up on that lead. So the "how" and "why" part of the Modernistic Deer story, while not completely known, is at least knowable.

As to who Don Manning is, and what his relationship to Nosco Plastics was, I have no idea. Was he a client, a contractor, or a business partner? The fact that he had his name specifically molded into the larger pieces suggests that it was a more complex arrangement than that of a mere contractor or employee. But if that’s the case, then how did the molds end up as part of Nosco – and then, Saunders – inventory?

The only bits of information I have on Don Manning come from plastic toy historian and author Bill Hanlon. According to Hanlon, the "Don Manning Studio" was operating in New York City prior to the start of World War II. That would explain their extreme stylization: the Buck and Doe were products of the late Art Deco era!

Don Manning (or his studio) designed more than just a pair of deer, though the deer seem to be the only pieces that came in that larger size. The Don Manning animals came in several different sizes – all the way down to petite, one and a half inch creatures designed as party and/or drink favors. The most common ones, though, are in the four-inch range (such as my little black horse), and were sold either individually, or in boxed sets.

If my general theory holds up – that Breyer did buy these molds, essentially, secondhand – what that means is that the Modernistic Buck and Doe are technically Breyer’s "oldest" molds, predating the Western Horse by a decade or more!

I think it’s a matter of confirming and rearranging some of the details, now. The Nosco Deer and the Breyer Deer are clearly the same mold, minus the mold marks. Nosco’s assets were sold to a molding company in the Chicago area, and a few years later, near-identical deer – completely unlike anything the Breyer Molding Company produced, before or since – made their debut in a Breyer Dealer Catalog.

The status of the Don Manning figurines is also a matter of debate: do they "qualify" as Breyers? Would they be appropriate in a Collector’s Class?

That’s hard to say. Since I’m interested in them from an historical perspective, so my tendency would be to say yes, but the Creata micro minis – the precursors of the MiniWhinnies – generally are not. Regardless of their status, though, I don’t think any early Breyer collection would be complete without a pair or two of these exotic creatures!

The Modernistics, Part 1

(Well, THAT was an interesting BreyerFest. As I am currently unable to bend at the waist [more on that, next post], I'll just post the first part of what I was going to on Friday, before the laptop disappeared for a day. Then post the second part after I get to the BreyerFest stuff. Including the now infamous "The Horse Who Looks Like...")

(Like I said, interesting.)

No molds invoke more mystery, or invite more questions than the Modernistic Deer. Indeed, their very existence is a mystery: these highly stylized creatures are completely unlike anything else in the Breyer line. Where did they come from? Why were they made? And the near-identical "Don Manning" Deer – what are those about?

Many newer hobbyists are barely aware of the Modernistic Deer’s existence, and for good reason: the Modernistic Buck and Doe were discontinued in 1964, and haven’t been seen since. The conventional thinking today is that they were "officially" released in 1961, when they appear along with the Fighting Stallion, Mustang, and Five-Gaiter in a set of Insert Sheets meant to supplement the 1960 Dealer Catalog.

I have reason to believe, however, that they might have been released earlier than that. In a very early, but undated price list from Mission Supply House, a well-known mail-order company, the Modernistic Buck, Doe and Fighting Stallion appear, but the Mustang and Five-Gaiter do not.

Selling brand new molds and releases in advance of their "official" release dates is nothing new for Breyer. The Stud Spider, Legionario III, and Classic Andalusian Family, and even the folded-wood Corral were all sold in holiday catalogs several months before they appeared in Dealer Catalogs or Collector’s Manuals.

So it’s completely possible that the Modernistic Deer (and the Fighting Stallion) could have been on store shelves in time for the holiday gift-giving season in 1960. (The Deer were advertised in the Dealer Catalog, coincidentally, as ideal for "Christmas and other special occasions." Hmm.)

While the explanation for the absence of the Mustang and Five-Gaiter mold could be, quite simply, that they weren’t quite ready yet (Breyer has a long history of that sort of thing, too) there’s another reason why I think the early release theory is plausible: there’s a strong case to be made that Breyer may have bought the molds from another company, ready to go.

Many hobbyists are aware of – and may even have – some of those "non-Breyer" Modernistic Deer that come in such unconventional colors as translucent blue or red, black, silver, or clear. Many, though not all, of these non-gold examples come with an assortment of different mold marks: one says "Nosco Plastics," and another says "Designed Don Manning."

Let’s tackle the Nosco Plastics part, first.

Nosco Plastics was a division of the National Organ Supply Company of Erie, Pennsylvania. In 1934, National Organ Supply instituted the Nosco Division to make injected molded plastic parts for electric organs, but the division quickly grew into much more than that. By the early 1950s, they were best known as the company that produced the first plastic toy soldiers (the ones heavily advertised in comic books) and Cracker Jack prizes.

In 1955, Nosco was sold to Saunders Tool & Die of Aurora, Illinois – another custom molder with eyes on the Post-War plastic toy boom – and the Nosco disappeared. I’m assuming that the sale included all of the molds that Nosco had in their inventory, which would have included the Modernistic Buck and Doe. Bucks and Does that don’t have the Nosco mark would date to this period, I'm assuming.

So, how did these molds end up in Breyer hands? That, and the other half of this story, coming soon!

BreyerFest Prep 2013: Same As It Ever Was

Oh Lordy, what a weekend. The dog was so stressed out last night from the week-long fireworks barrage that at one point she actually lost her voice. Which would have been funny, if it wasn’t also scary.

(Yes, we took all the precautions necessary to keep her calm, but there’s only so much you can do when you have a slightly hyperactive dog and a neighbor with a $10,000 fireworks budget. Among other things.)

I’d like to ascribe some of the behavior I’ve seen from the model horse world in the past couple of weeks to the fireworks too, but I know it’s more complicated than that.

BreyerFest is a big part of it, of course. In my corner, I’m having to deal with AWOL roommates, some complications from a minor medical procedure, a possible hacking incident into my eBay account, and finishing all of my (still) unfinished paperwork, including some related to volunteering.

Oddly enough, most of the stress of that is washing over me. It’s not that I’m not concerned, it’s just that I’ve been through this routine enough times before that I know everything will turn out okay, even if it doesn’t. And I also know the point at which I can legitimately begin to panic.

Not there yet. A couple more days, maybe.

Other than the volunteering, and the NPOD, I will also not be going Full Metal BreyerFest this year. No costume contest, no diorama contest (probably), no running around to squeeze every drop of everything in. Selling, socializing, and just a bit of shopping, that’s it for me. Almost like a real vacation!

My volunteer schedule will even preclude me from participating in the raffles this year, which is a little bit of a bummer, since I’m kinda liking both of them, the Totilas especially. After what happened last year with the Early Bird Raffle (a friend was not present, and I had misplaced her phone number when her name was called) I’m hoping that the Fates don’t decide to pull a funny one and do the same to me.

(It’s a remote chance, at best, but if you my personal history, you know it’s just the kind of thing that would happen.)

Other than that tiny bit of speculation a few posts ago, I haven’t done much wondering about the Volunteer model, either. I genuinely don’t care who it is - that mindblowing Performance Horse, or the funky "Purple Banana" Fighting Stallion? Doesn’t matter. (Other than hoping it’s not another roan. Don’t get me wrong - I love roans! - but something different would be nice, too.)

I did manage to - finally - repurpose the article about the Modernistic Buck and Doe. I already have everything loaded to the laptop, so I’ll be able to blog at the hotel this year, provided that their network doesn’t get as overloaded as it did last year.

Next up - another neat Breyer knockoff!

Dinged and Scuffed

I took the Vita Monster for a walk earlier this afternoon, and we had an incident at the park with a bird that left me with two extremely scuffed and bloodied knees. So I’m now hobbling around the house in a moderate bit of pain. It’s not quite bad enough for hospitalization, but it’s bad enough that I don’t plan on leaving the house - and possibly, this chair - for the rest of the evening.

I don’t have to go back to work until Sunday afternoon, so no work will be lost. I did lose my favorite pair of jeans in the incident, though. (Not literally - they’re just unwearable now.)

So it’s just some housekeeping today.

I was stupid and procrastinated, so there is also no live show for me this weekend. To compensate, I took some of my frustration out on my body box. It’s also serving as an outlet for my archiving woes: I've been attempting to archive some of my recently acquired ephemera, but it’s going dreadfully slow. Props to the librarians and historians who actually do that work for a living, and not (only) for fun. You guys rock.

Someone has noticed the Modernistic Buck in the recent post about the Mules. I do plan on (someday, soon, I hope) rewriting and serializing the article about the Modernistic Buck and Doe that I did for my Sampler a few years back. It’s definitely the kind of information that needs to be here, especially now that Reeves is sending out a copy of the Buck and Doe’s "catalog" page as one of the Vintage Club extras.

I haven’t gotten mine yet, so I don’t know if it’s the one I already have in my collection, or something altogether different. The "no reproducing this on pain of death" disclaimer that was on the last ephemera freebie is also supposedly printed on it, so that might present some interesting legal issues if it is one of the same images I used in the article.

Speaking of Vintage Club business, it looks like I might be returning my Halo. Everything is awesome about him, except for one thing: they forgot to paint his eyeballs. I’m just as big a fan of variations as the rest of you, but frankly, his Zombie Death Stare is starting to weird me out. Maybe if I ask real nice they’ll throw in some eyewhites for free? The original APH didn’t have them, but the original releases of the APH were also (mostly) Chalky, and the Halo is not.

It’s only flaw I can see in him, which is a nutpicky one at best. Other than the Zombie Death Stare. (Hmm. Though that could work for a name...)

I’ll finish up with the APH stuff next time, when I’m able to bend at the knees again.

When Hobbies Collide

I totally forgot that I had to pick up and reassemble my Art Deco vanity set today. We had to take it in to our furniture guy to get it cleaned and reglued. Not refinished - good heavens, no. It has a beautiful, slightly worn patina, and I have a suspicion that it might actually be worth something. I doubt it’s actually a Donald Deskey piece, but whoever did design it was definitely familiar with his style.

I love it, regardless. I got it as a birthday present about 25 years ago, right when I was just getting into Art Deco. I still fantasize about owning a genuine Art Deco bungalow, with topiaries in the yard sculpted into strict geometric shapes and a mantle showcasing my Modernistic Bucks and Does.

Funny how my seemingly unconnected hobbies and interest tend to collide with one another like that. You wouldn’t think that you’d be able to link Breyer models with the Art Deco movement, but yes, you can.

It’s fairly well known that Breyer didn’t design the Modernistic Buck and Doe; they were originally designed for Nosco Plastics in Erie, Pennsylvania by a man named Don Manning. We’re not entirely sure how Breyer ended up with the molds, yet, but I did find another tantalizing lead during my last research trip.

But we’re not going to talk about the Buck and Doe today. Nope, I’m just going to show you another example of my hobbies colliding. Notice anything familiar with last Sunday’s Prince Valiant? (Click to enlarge.)


Did Andalusians even exist as a breed during King Arthur’s time? Hmm.

A lot of comic illustrators have issues with the equine form, but thankfully Gary Gianni’s not one of them.

Etymology and Decorators

My fingertips are so raw and sore right now – the consequence of trying to finish another big quilt project by the end of the year, in addition to the descriptor project. (And a couple of small, crafty projects, too – I just noticed the gesso on my fingernails.)

Attention Deficit Disorder runs in the family, and I suspect I have a mild, manageable form of it: it manifests itself in a need to multi-task. I do crash from time to time, but I know my tolerance levels, and I'm operating well within them. If anything, I could probably take on another project or two...

Back to the project at hand. Today's topic will be the spare, rare history of the Decorator.

As I hinted before in our 3-part discussion about Christmas Decorators, documentation for actual Decorators is also extremely sparse. In fact, we have only four pieces of documentary evidence:

1. A “Supplemental Price List” dated April 1, 1964, that lists all of the models we now call Decorators. There are actually two near identical copies of this pricelist, one printed on light blue paper, and the other, on yellow (blue and gold, get it?)

2. A picture in the 1964 Alden's Christmas Book, featuring a pair of “Copenhagen Dappled Horses” for the hefty sum of 6.99. The catalog copy: “magnificently detailed of china-like fine quality plastic. Break-resistant! Lovely mare with foal for her novelty shelves or a favorite youngster's room.” (The Running Mare and Foal, obviously.)

3. A full-color photograph showing the entire Decorator line, complete with numbers. Stamped on the back of this photo is the notation “Please mail your order to J.C. Unger ...”

4. The photograph of the Copenhagen Belgian that appeared in an issue of JAH back in 1980.

That's it. It doesn't seem like a lot – and it isn't – but it's a lot more than we have for many early Breyer releases. But did you notice what's missing from the paper evidence?

On none of these pieces of evidence is the word “Decorator” even used.

Looking through my early ephemera, the closest we come to the word Decorator is in the Dealer Catalog references to the Modernistic Buck and Doe, who are called “Delightfully Decorative.” Marney labels them as “Modernistic/Decorator” and includes them in the Decorator section of her book, but provides no other evidence or documentation linking the two together, only noting that the Deer were “originally created as Christmas decorative pieces.” The two existing catalog pages that feature the Deer also note this, seen here on the ca. 1961 catalog insert page:

They are metallic gold – and predate the horses by at least a year – so it's possible that this is where the term originated. But was the term “Decorator” itself an internally-created one that we simply don't have the documentation for – yet – or was it a term that just arose in the hobby organically, like “Chalky” did?

Marney was pretty much the source of all Breyer knowledge back then, so I'm inclined to believe that the origins of the term, or its popularization in the model horse lexicon, are with her somehow.

It's possible that Marney may have overheard the term from someone at the factory, or may have seen the word used in conjunction with a local store's advertising campaign, or had access to a document, now lost, that used it specifically. Or maybe Marney just made it up – based on the promotional stuff for the Buck and Doe – and the hobby just adopted it as a matter of course. (Who were we to doubt Marney's knowledge then?)

I also remember – I truly can't say where or from whom I heard this bit of information – that the term Decorator was also used to describe Woodgrains. (Marney, again?) The earliest references I have for Woodgrains – the sepiatone ca. 1960 Dealer Catalog, and two Mission Supply House fliers, ca. 1961 – only refer to them as “Wood Grains” or as part of the “Wood Grain Series.” If true, it might be a point in favor of the “in-house” theory for the origin of the term: maybe it was just the word they used around the factory to describe all of the “nonrealistic” finishes. (Charcoal, at the time, was probably considered “realistic.”)

By the way, the term didn't become the single word “Woodgrain” until 1970, and only then on the pricelists. The Fighting Stallion – the only remaining regular run Woodgrain, seen in the Collector's Manuals from 1968 through 1973 – was always described as “Wood Grain.”

Oh, to have had access to Marney's original research notes and documentation. What new discoveries could be made there, what mysteries could be revealed, with fresh eyes? If only, if only.