Spring Break

Had to take a few days off from the Internet - the weather’s been so nice it seemed a crime not to go out and enjoy some of it. Though I’m sure some people definitions of enjoyment would not include so much yard work, heavy lifting, and the trapping of groundhogs. (Evil beasties, grr!)

I have to admit I haven’t been paying too much attention to the horses this week, either: I think it’s the collection purge and repack that did it. I’ve been doing my daily lurking and a little field research, but the horses were definitely not my first priority.

Once the flea market opens (two weeks!) I’ll be just fine. Nothing like cheap, plentiful horses to get the heart going again. (I know, I know, I shouldn’t be rubbing it in. I’m perfectly willing to share the wealth, provided you’re willing to meet me at my house at 5:45 a.m. on Sunday mornings to caravan it. No joke - neither the time, nor the offer!)

I did spot new Pony Gals merchandise at Target this week: new molds, even. Smaller, unjointed, My-Little-Ponified versions of Jasmine, Chloe and Dixie, in Play Sets with hair manes and tails and various accessories:

7088 Jasmine Travel Boutique Play Set
7089 Dixie Travel Barn Play Set
7090 Chloe Travel Arena Play Set

They’re cute, but not my thing. The whole MLP thing was a little after my time.

I’m a little more excited about the small-scale resin "Big Lex:" a SR being done in conjunction with Lexington’s visual identity program, which will include a big giant blue horse:

The dramatic sculptural likeness of "Big Lex" will become a beacon for visitors and a popular tourist attraction during the World Equestrian Games. A banner based on traditional horse racing graphics can be draped across the Big Lex sculpture to announce special occasions and upcoming events.

http://pentagram.com/en/new/2009/03/new-work-lexington-kentucky.php

I’m not normally a big fan of resins, but as this will be a small-scale reproduction of a big giant blue horse, I’m all in. Because y’all know about my obsession with giant fiberglass livestock - and if you don’t, you will in the near future, now that the weather’s all nice and stuff…

Like everyone else, I’m also excited to see that Giselle and Gilen will debut in plastic at BreyerFest, presumably as a Tent Ticket Special. They’ll be sold as a set, with Giselle in light gray, and Gilen in baby black. I guess that solves the riddle of what the hot, must-have item will be this year. I hope that means a 2011 regular run release - or dare to hope, a Fall 2010 release - follows. (If only to save those coveted SRs from the customizer’s knife.)

There’s also some talk that Reeves is in talks with the owner of one of the horses that played Gandalf’s horse Shadowfax in The Lord of the Rings films, as a possible 2011 Celebration Horse. That’s led to speculation on next year’s theme, with the bulk of commentators seeming to think that it’s "Horses in Literature." Yeah, maybe, but there are other possibilities: "Legends," "Fantasy" or even the dreaded "Pretty, Pretty Princess" theme that was hinted at in the beginning of the Theme Suggestion thread on Blab a few months back would all work with Shadowfax.

I’m not a big fan of the Literature theme, mostly because (gasp!) I’m not big into horse-themed literature, beyond Marguerite Henry and Walter Farley. Too much sentimentality and wish-fulfillment for my tastes. The rights issues could be a bit of a problem, too; the Tolkien estate can be difficult to work with.

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? ;)

Pony Gals, Dapples, Luno and the Cartoon Network

Apparently more Pony Gals merchandise has shown up at Target, mostly Classics scale sets not unlike the previous Target SR Play Sets we've seen for a while now. The packaging suggests that there's going to be a full Pony Gals line including Classics, Stablemates, Little Bits and Mini Whinnies scale models (all helpfully color-coded!) It's also interesting to note that the Pony Gals stable I mentioned previously is also shown on the packaging, now with a 700-series SR number.

(First of all, yay on the potential return of the Little Bits/Paddock Pals molds, who had recently been demoted to kit horse status. Poor little guys get no love or respect!)

The question still remains: why? Is this an early launch of a new line, or a Big Box store exclusive? Is it just for Target, or will Kmart, Meijer and TSC also get in on the Pony Gals action?

I'm wondering if Reeves is trying to create a “brand” to market and license, a la The Saddle Club, but with licensing fees flowing coming in, and not going out. Could a TV show or cartoon be far behind?

I say this because several years ago I was one of the few people who actually saw the TV commercial for the Dapples line … on the Cartoon Network. I caught the tail end of one commercial while channel surfing; I ended up watching a couple more hours of cartoons to catch it again. (Yes, I am that obsessive.) I still remember the jingle. And I swear I am not making this up. For one thing, I think I could have come up with something better than this:

Dapples, Dapples, so much to do!
Dapples, Dapples, I love you!

Since it's been suggested that the Pony Gals line was created, in part, to replace the Dapples/Ponies line, and there was an attempt to market Dapples on Cartoon Network, a logical (but admittedly tenuous) assumption would be that the Pony Gals might be heading in the same general direction.

Believe it or not, someone did actually make a cartoon series that featured a model horse as the lead character. The series was called Luno, the Flying Horse, and it was produced by Terrytoons in the early 1960s. A boy named Timmy would command his model horse to take him places, with the magic incantation:

Oh winged horse of marble white,
take me on a magic flight!

Here's a link to prove to you I am not crazy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6NJpc9BMuY

Yeah, I know, it's not exactly Academy Award material. These cartoons were made at the tail end of the theatrical market for cartoons by a company known industry-wide for its cheapness; some of them went directly to TV. I got lucky and found a couple of collections of Luno cartoons on VHS sometime in the 1980s. I have no idea where to find them now, except on YouTube.

(BTW Reeves, just to let you know: if you do plan on making a pitch to the Cartoon Network in the near future, please note that they're moving away from actual cartoons. No, I don't get it either.)

Pony Gals

Something short and sweet today – still busying myself with BreyerFest preparations.

Still no sign of the Pony Gals Stablemates at any of the Targets near me, but I'm not surprised. This is Michigan – nonessential items like model horses aren't exactly flying off the shelves here right now. It's going to be a few weeks, or even months, before they restock.

I'm guessing the situation isn't going to be too different anywhere else, either – it's probably going to be one of those gradual rollouts that'll be dependent on how quickly a store turns over its merchandise. Some will get them sooner than others, but most stores will eventually get some. And, as some folks have pointed out, they might even have a few of them in the Ninja Pit this year for those of us who don't live so close to a well-stocked Target. So there's no need to panic yet.

I did my part to help the process along, and bought some of the previous semi-exclusive Stablemates. I had a dentist appointment that wasn't nearly as expensive as I thought it would be – and I deserved some ponies anyway, dammit! That G3 TB is just the cutest little snot, and I love Peruvians...


I'm hoping y'all have noticed the numbering system on the Pony Gal SMs: they're six digit, 700 series numbers, which means they are special run items (i.e. this being the “acknowledgment” I often speak of.) I don't know if they're going to be exclusive to Target, or be like those quasi-specials that only turns up in certain chains, like the previous Stablemates.

Right now I'm leaning towards them being Target exclusives, only because Target has had some other exclusive Pony Gal merchandise for a little while now – namely, the three Special Run Classic Scale Pony Gals:

720051 Lily, My First Dapple Grey
720053 Daisy, My First Pinto
720054 Abbey, My First Appaloosa

There's also a “Two Stall Travel Barn,” but I'm unsure of that particular item's status (SR, RR, quasi-SR, etc.) since its release number, according to my notes, is 7085 – in line with the regular run numbers. It's basically just the Classics Two Stall Barn Travel Case, molded in different colors with special Pony Gals packaging. (I have to confess that I've been a little lax on my research of barns and accessories. The horses are hard enough to keep track of!)

I'm surprised there hasn't been more talk of these previous specials, but these are products geared towards juvenile nonhobbyists. I prefer to have my horses move only in my imagination, thanks.