Model X

I thought I was having a pretty productive weekend, but then I attempted to do my taxes and hit a brick wall.

Ugh. Another appointment to schedule this week!

While putting my live show documentation away this past weekend, I found a very interesting photograph: someone who bears a striking similarity to the custom I’m rehabbing!

According to the information on the back of this photograph, this particular model (a Morgan Mare named CID Teresa Diamond) was done by Kathleen Maestas. Aside from the gender issues (my model is very much a stallion!) the painting style of my little rehab project isn’t anything like hers, so any similarities here are due to the fact that they were done in the same era (the mid- to late-1980s) using similar materials and models.

Some artists back then also had a habit of replicating customs, either their own or (sometimes) the work of others. Especially if the original did well at a live show, or had received multiple purchase offers back in the day of published sales/stock lists, monthly newsletters and SASEs. 

With some variations for personal preferences, of course: I want it just like Model X, but with two hind socks and a blaze!

And if you’re wondering, yeah, it wasn’t considered cool back then, either. But it did happen. I believe at one point Karen Grimm even attempted to formalize/monetize the process a bit and make standardized customs called “Hacksaw Originals” that were also slightly customizable to customer preferences.

I don’t believe that effort lasted long: this was shortly before drastic customs and (a few years after that) resins became de rigueur. And some of the “standard” bodies she came up with were a little odd. Like a Family Arabian Stallion with a Five-Gaiter’s head and neck kind of weird. 

I mean, points for creativity at least…

Nevertheless, I did do a little bit of a double take when I saw the photo: I’ve found photographs of models I’ve bought before (and sold after!) so it wouldn’t have been a complete shock if it was him. The hobby – and the number of active hobbyists, showers and customizers – was smaller than it is today, and to be honest there aren’t all that many of us even now.

That’s why “unique” models – like Customs and Test Colors – have an uncanny knack of reappearing after so many years. Most of them haven’t strayed that far to begin with! 

And before I go get my (several) appointments out of the way this week, let’s also remember that collectors and hobbyists are not interchangeable terms. There are a vast number of people who collect, but the actual number of people who go to live shows, customize, attend BreyerFest on a regular basis, or inhabit various Internet hangouts where model-horsery takes place is only a small fraction of that.

Full of Surprises

I signed up for BVG Live again this year, and if I can find anyone to take me up on it, I might make a weekend of it. Anyone want to go antiquing and axe throwing with me? 

I’ll probably stick to just two divisions this year: OF Mini and Collectability. I managed to do three last year, but I think it was just a tad too much, and I wanted to focus on Minis this time around anyway.

As for guesses on the BreyerFest “Stagecoach Surprise”, stagecoach horses were just coincidentally one of things we were talking about at our dinner table at Ponies & Palm Trees. 

(We were quite a distance from the Reeves table, so I doubt they heard any of it. The decision on the mold and colors would have been made by then so it would have been moot, regardless.)

Contrary to popular opinion and Hollywood, stagecoach horses tended to be sturdy “Working Western” types – think Quarter Horses, Mustangs, Morgans and some of the less refined Thoroughbred lines – and not Drafts. Occasionally you’d have “fancier” breeds utilized for customers willing to pay extra for the privilege. 

Most stagecoaches traveled at a trot or fast walk, so a lot of the molds hobbyists are suggesting – like Wyatt or Ruffian – would seem a little out of place or character in front of a stagecoach.

So what does that leave as possible candidates? Quite a few molds, actually.

Most likely candidates: Bobby Jo, Geronimo, Smart Chic Olena, Forever Saige, and Desatado.

Less likely candidates: Clock Saddlebred, Brown Sunshine, Ranch Horse, the no-feather version of Gypsy Vanner/Brishen, Idocus and Carrick.

Less likely candidates, but Vintage: San Domingo, Adios, Misty’s Twilight, Indian Pony.

I’m kind of liking the idea of this being a Vintage mold like San Domingo or Adios: they are both modestly popular molds with strong fanbases that still have a number of color options that can be explored. And it would fit in with the Vintage vibe I’m getting from the lineup so far this year.

Personally, I think it’d be something like the SCO, Geronimo, or Saige. I think the Ranch Horse mold would be a perfect fit, but he might not be quite new or popular enough to pull it off. Desatado would also fit the type well, but he seems a little bit too… feisty to be pulling a coach? I’m always up for a new Carrick, but he might be a little too refined.

Anyway, that’s my opinion on the matter, and all the thought I’m going to give to it. I’m not sure if I’m going to take a gamble on the Surprise model this year, with my budget and all.

Robin and Nestling

I’ll just say it was a rough weekend, and leave it at that! On the plus side, there was homemade chocolate cake that was freaking amazing…

You probably won’t believe me (something I’m used to, but let’s not dwell) but I’ve been a little obsessed with the Running Mare and Foal lately. I’ve been shopping around for the 1984 Sears Wishbook Running Horse Family Set to replace the set I had and sold years ago, and for a 2009 Fun Foals Collector’s Event Running Mare in Dappled Liver Chestnut that’s technically/allegedly an unmarked Appaloosa, but so beautifully painted I give that bit of weirdness a pass. 

And the Just About Horses Anniversary Appaloosa, mostly because the JAH included in the set has an article I wrote in it, and I kinda-sorta need it for the archives. (The Mare herself isn’t too shabby either!)

So I was kind of delighted at the reveal of the latest Birds of a Feather release Robin and Nestling, on the Running Mare and Foal. They look very similar to the 2014 Web Special Run Mare and Foal Set Vixen and Blitzen, except that they’re Glossy, and possibly Chalky? 

Even though they’ve bumped up the runs on these Web Specials to 500 pieces, and they’re Vintage molds, I’m still not expecting to get picked for them. To be honest, I’m not expecting to get picked for anything anymore. That’s just how the market is right now: if that goofy Christmas Bighorn Ram didn’t happen for me, nothing will.

It’s not entirely a bad thing: I’m still pretty behind with the paperwork for all of last year’s new (non Web Special) arrivals, so getting caught up on all that, and sorting out some of my more questionable purchases (and getting a few of them sold) is a bigger priority. As is getting ready for a live show, getting the garden ready for Spring, finishing two applique projects, cleaning the basement, and finishing my taxes. 

(That’s just this week’s plans, except for the selling part. That probably won’t happen until April, at the earliest. Sigh.)

Diving In

This is the kind of week I want to put in a box, throw the box in a dumpster, and set the dumpster on fire. Not a darn thing is coming easy, not even lunch. 

(Don’t get me started on lunch! Argh!)

Cosmic payback for my lucky last week? I dunno. 

Anyway, the only good thing to come out of this week so far is the body box lot has already arrived.

Everything is pretty much as I expected; they came relatively cheap because they were painted in a variety of paints – acrylic, enamel, house – by someone with abundance enthusiasm but not a lot of skill. 

Which is good for me, because while stripping off old goopy paint is something most customizers want to avoid, it’s totally my thing. I’m actually looking forward to it, after the drama I had to deal with today. (See lunch, above.)

There’s one model that won’t be stripped because, well, look at him:

He’s not signed, so I have no idea who to attribute this beauty to, but it was obviously someone professional, if only because this guy sports one of the nicest hairing jobs I’ve ever seen on any custom, modern or vintage. It’s just immaculate.

And he’s definitely vintage: he still has his mold marks and his seams are uncleaned. It seems hard to believe now, but prepping as we know it – sanding seams, carving out ears and hooves, fixing seam mismatches, and primer – took a while to become standard practice. 

(His ears are carved out and he does have tri-colored eyes. Go figure!)

As long as there weren’t any missing pieces or serious flaws (gouges, holes, giant plastic goobers) customizers just grabbed their paint and brushes and dived in.  

To be honest, I think that approach still has a lot of merit. Whenever I find myself stuck in a creative rut, it’s often because I’m stuck at the prep stage: maybe I haven’t completely planned every move out to the letter, or I’m finding nitpicky things as an excuse to procrastinate. 

At that point, I’ll often start a small and completely impulsive project instead. Sure, sometimes it ends up in the trash. But sometimes it turns out great. And more often than not, it gets the ball rolling, and the next thing you know, the projects I was dithering on get done, too. 

(Before you guys get any crazy ideas, NaMoPaiMo is not even on my radar, people. Remember the no Facebook thing?)

Incidentally, if anyone can help me identify who did this guy, it’d be much appreciated. The painting style seems very familiar, but researching vintage customs is not my strong suit.

Signal Boost

Still busy, so here’s a picture of my Test Color Donkey. I took a picture of it against a neutral gray backdrop so you could see the brown tones better:

It’s basically the same color as the quasi-rerelease #376 Brighty that was in production from 1991-2005, sometimes called Brighty 1991 to distinguish it from the original #375 production run item made from 1982 through 1987 (and from 1974 through 1981 in the #2075 Gift Set).

My Donkey was a part of the “newtoymens” collection that was dispersed on eBay several years back, most of which consisted of models from ca. 1998-2000. What that means is that it’s not likely to be a Test Color for the Brighty, but for another release, possibly the Donkey itself.

Yet there hasn’t been a new release of this Donkey mold since 1992. Even models as obscure as the Small Poodle have gotten more releases since then.

I have no idea why that it so, other than Reeves thinking that the current Donkey market is better served by their other Donkey molds – the Brighty, the Stablemates Donkey and now even Collecta ones.

Of all the Vintage molds and models people talk to me about, the original Breyer Donkey is the one who has the most… vocal supporters? I am all in favor of more old Donkey Special Runs and releases, but I have limited say in the matter.

Vintage molds that are not specifically horses – and even some that are merely unfashionable – appear to have been consigned to Micro Runs and other limited releases for the time being, so a fresh new retail release on the Donkey seems unlikely.

However, we do have a rather big Breyer anniversary coming up next year (as they count it; I prefer 1951 or 1952 as the brand’s official birthday, but that’s neither her nor there) so I wouldn’t necessarily rule out anything.

What I can do is give the notion a signal boost, and so I have.

Fiero, Rockford, and Defining Vintage

Whew, another week that felt like a month here – this insane weather, the new car shopping, my ongoing horse inventory, the strange patch of creativity that’s now motivating me to braid twelve(!) yards of rick-rack to finish another old quilt project….

And, uh, I think I’m going to my first live show in over a decade. (More details about that exciting and terrifying situation another time.)

Fiero, the first release in this year’s Stablemates Club was also released this week:

He’ll be a 50-50 Gloss/Matte Split release; while I do not personally care which version finish variation I get, most of the rest of the online hobby community will apparently be treating their potential Matte Fieros like body-quality Family Arabian Mares.

(For the record, I love the Family Arabian Mare. But she’s definitely not among the most beloved of Vintage Breyer molds – even among Family Arabian collectors!)

Someday the All Glossy, All The Time Fad will fade. I hope. Not because I don’t like Glossies, but I am never keen on anything – good or bad – becoming a fad, generally. Following fads doesn’t always lead to the best decisions being made.

I have nothing much else to talk about today, other than my pleasure in finding out how lovely the Vintage Club Rockfords have turned out. (Mine’s not here yet – aside from the week being the week it was, I was also waiting/hoping for Fiero to drop.)

I know there’s been some discussion of whether Rockford – or the Charcoal Shannondell release Claude – actually qualify as “Vintage” releases.

The obvious (and somewhat cynical) answer to that is they do if Reeves says they do. So it’s not just older molds in older colors, it’s also older molds in newer colors and newer molds in older colors. Or radical (or not so radical) reinterpretations of older releases or colors, which is how I would classify the first Vintage Club release Dandy, on the Clydesdale Stallion mold.

Vintage Gloss Brown/Palomino Pintos didn’t look much like Dandy did.

On a more philosophical note, limiting themselves to just Vintage molds, colors and techniques prior to an arbitrary date would have led to creative stagnation. After a relatively short while, you’d simply run out of color and mold combos to explore.

And truth be told, the market for premium Vintage-style releases – the current Gloss fad aside – is not that large. It’s in their financial interests to be more expansive with their definition of Vintage.

And so far, so good this year. I wouldn’t be surprised if Rockford turned out to be my favorite VC release ever, but I already loved the Pacer mold, so it wouldn’t have taken much to get it there anyway.

Stablemates, Stablemates Everywhere...

FYI: since I received an unexpected – but nonetheless, very welcome – bit of extra Christmas money, Hawthorn is coming home, after all. Yay!

In other news… Reeves is really going all-in on Stablemates next year, huh? And Unicorns. And Unicorn Stablemates….

First, I continue to be impressed by the offerings for the 2019 Stablemates Club. The Gambler’s Choice was revealed to be the Highland Pony – and all four colors are awesome:

Glossy Perlino Blanket Appaloosa sounds like something created by a Random-Special-Run Generator app, and I’m 100 percent in favor of it. (The Stablemate itself, and an App. If someone out there has the potential to do it, make it so!)

I don’t know exactly what’s going on with the Decorator blue-purple-gold snowflake one, but I am intrigued. Was it just a happy painting accident, or based on something – a gemstone, I presume? Curious to know what they call it, too.

My favorite of all the reveals so far has to be the G3 Belgian Priscilla, in Matte Gray Appaloosa with a teal tail ribbon:

Like Charcoal, Gray Appaloosa is another Vintage color that transitioned to Matte only on the Family Arabians. Unlike Charcoal, Matte Gray Appaloosa has shown up since the Family Arabians, most notably the 1980s Hess Stock Horse molds.

Matte finishes have been a part of Breyer’s repertoire since ca. 1960, and many Vintage Matte-finished models are considerably scarcer than their Glossy counterparts – like one of my current obsessions/grails, a Matte Black Large Poodle.

But with the All-Glossy, All-The-Time crowd being as vocal as it is, I don’t see Matte Gray Appaloosa making a huge comeback, either as an independent release or even in the Vintage Club.

This is a shame, because I think a lot of molds – new and old – could really rock the look. (I need a Western Prancing Horse in this color, stat.)

Being the Vintage advocate that I am, it genuinely makes me feel out-of-sorts with my fellow hobbyists, and also makes me feel like I’ve failed as a Vintage Breyer advocate. (*sniff*)

Glossy is great, but seriously, not everything is improved by it. Period.

(And don’t even get me started on the “everything needs a basecoat” crowd!)

Hartlands, Again?

By the time I entered the hobby in the late 1970s, Hartlands had already been out of production for several years. They were never formally a part of my childhood, though once I discovered Tinymites and Barkies, those did become as crucial a part of my early hobbyhood as Stablemates did.

Because just like Stablemates they were cute, little, and affordable!

My Hartland collection has expanded and contracted multiple times over the years, almost entirely dependent on incidental flea market and thrift store finds.

I still have all of my Tinymites and Barkies, but the rest of the Hartland collection now takes up about half a shelf in the display collection in the bedroom. Other than a few minor grails – a Blue Roan Polo Pony, the Pearl 11-inch Arabian, a couple of stray Barkies I’m still missing – I doubt it will expand much further.

My opinion on the latest attempt to revive Hartlands? (What is this now, the third, fourth or fifth attempt?)

The past is a nice place to visit, but you don’t want to live there.

This has nothing to do with their style: you all know I’ve never been a stickler for anatomical or conformational fidelity. I’d be all for adding more models in the Hartland style to the hobby world.

If the latest attempt happens to include new molds in the Hartland style – either entirely new sculptures, ones that had been planned in previous revivals, or even older unreleased designs, like these mysterious and tantalizing fellows – I’d be all for it:

(These photos are from Marney’s files, naturally, included in a small group taken during a trip to Hartland Collectables in the 1980s. There were no notations on these photos, so I have no additional information to give about them or their whereabouts.)

But if it’s going to be just another attempt to market older molds, I just don’t foresee it being viable.

Toy companies – like any companies, really – require innovation to thrive. Marketing and nostalgia can only take you so far: new molds, new products, new colors, and new ways of thinking are all necessary components for long-term success and viability.

I think most of us have harbored the fantasy of having a model horse company of our own, running it the way we think it should be run.

Even I had this fantasy for a brief while: I worked at a plastic-injection molding plant for several years, and they were going through a phase where they wanted to create proprietary toy products of their own.

My suggestions were largely for naught, because the owner was in the habit of ignoring the input of people who weren’t also members of his immediate family. (If that. The company is long gone, unsurprisingly.)

I still get twinges of this fantasy, usually when I find myself perusing the toy horse selection at the dollar store. Could you imagine if those companies invested just a few dollars more into development of slightly more horselike molds? And what impact cheap, decent, and widely available bodies for customizing could have on the hobby?

The Mystery Mare

Still busy cleaning; late Saturday night I started a long-overdue purge of out-of-date reference books and books-I’ve-lost-interest-in from the bookshelves, and it felt so good I’ve since moved on to other parts of the home and office.

It’s been a constructive way to work off some personal and professional frustrations, too. (Nothing y’all need to know about, other than that’s my operational mode right now.)

Anyway, much speculation has abounded about the Proud Arabian Mare silhouette Reeves has been teasing us with on all fronts since yesterday:

There’s been only one official BreyerFest Special Run on the Proud Arabian Mare: the elusive, desirable Silver Filigree Volunteer Model from 1993.

There have been a three of the Stallion – the 2003 Silver Filigree Raffle Model Saturday Night Fever, the 2009 Volunteer Special After Party, and the 2015 Raffle Model Que Sera Sera – but only one of the Foal: the 2003 Silver Filigree Born to Run.

I suppose the Palomino Appaloosa Fun Foals that were made available in the Ninja Pit with all of the other leftover Fun Foals could count as a BreyerFest Special Run too, since that’s where the majority of them (all of them?) were distributed.

I have no special insight as to the nature of this Special Run – whether it’s going to be a Raffle Model, Prize Model, Store Special, or straight-up Tent Special. I figured they’d give us at least one Arabian model this year, but the Proud Arabian Mare never came up as a possibility to me.

Most of the speculation seems to be focusing on it as being a Raffle or Prize Model, or the Pop-Up Store Crystal release – in other words, something extremely limited – but I don’t think we can rule out a larger release.

We had the Vintage Club Farah in 2015, and several recent larger-scale releases of the Hagen-Renaker Classic Racehorses too: the Terrang Coeur de Lion, the Swaps Web Special Scotty, and the re-release of the Man o’ War.

If they do go the Tent/Store route, I think a PAM release will be on the smallish side (1000 or fewer) – but it won’t be out of contractual issues, mostly.

It’ll be because she’s a Vintage mold, featuring an old-fashioned/dated body type.

The younger/newer hobbyists who make up a fairly large chunk of the BreyerFest crowd will be both unfamiliar with and unsentimental about her. And wondering why Reeves couldn’t have gone with a newer mold like Weather Girl or the Make A Wish/Justadream instead, because obviously.

(Remember the response to the Appaloosa Bonne Fete in 2014? More experienced hobbyists were unimpressed, but Reeves knew what it was doing: the newer hobbyists helped sell it out.)

I’ll be fine, regardless. If it’s a smaller release, I’m not going to let myself worry about it, and if it’s a larger release, it shouldn’t be too difficult to attain – if I like it, well enough.

While I think she’d look fabulous in a Gloss Dappled Red Bay with a lot of white, there’s already a lot of Bays in the lineup. It also happens to be her 60th anniversary as a Breyer release, so a Decorator release isn’t out of the question either...

Experiments vs. Customs

There’s another Test Piece Purchase Raffle up and I think she’s adorable, but you know I have a thing for Roans:

Being an older piece with a less sophisticated paint job and not mint, they really lay on the sales patter:

This lovely test is vintage late 1990’s, and features tape mask sabino markings, fine splatter roaning and a darker shaded head. She has four extensive stockings on her feathered legs, and a pretty blaze face. She is a beloved older sample in our archive room, and it is time for her to find a new loving home so we can make room for new test pieces! There are a few dark marks on her white legs and face, which can be seen when you zoom in on the images. We've decided not to attempt to touch up older test runs as we've found that this can alter their character and uniqueness.

Guys, seriously, you had me at “tape mask”. Behold, one of my own beloved Test Color treasures:

I think they (Marney?) used at least a half roll of masking tape on this boy! That took some serious effort and dedication, for what they knew was going to be a less-than-stellar result.

In all seriousness though, this is what an average Vintage Test Color – and the bulk of my Tests, in particular – look like. The BreyerFest auctions have accustomed many to the notion of a Test Color as a Factory Custom when they are, first and foremost, Factory Experiments. Experiments are not always beautiful, and do not always succeed.

As an historian, I find Experiments much more interesting than Customs. Judging from the commentary I’ve seen, it looks like a lot of hobbyists aren’t feeling the same way towards this little Clydesdale baby, who is pretty nice for a late 1990’s Test.

Based on what’s happened with all of the other previous Test Color Purchase Raffles, however, I don’t see that lack of enthusiasm translating into better odds for someone like me. I want her because I want her, not because of what I could get as a result of her.

But the laws of probability, alas, do not take that into account.

I’ll live. I have plenty of other Vintage Tests to keep me company.

Winter Wonderland and His Hooves

Last week at work, after having to listen to the local radio station that plays Christmas music all day play “Winter Wonderland” for the umpteenth time, I turned to a coworker and said “If they play this song one more time, I swear, someone’s gonna get hurt…”

It’s not that I dislike that song, particularly, but sound repetition drives me crazy.

So what shows up on the Internet this week? Pictures of next year’s Holiday Horse, named (naturally) Winter Wonderland:

The past few Holiday Horses haven’t done much for me. Though I liked the partial Chalky Mulberry Esprit in the Bayberry and Roses set in 2014, the decorations/“costume” it came with screamed “We got such a deal on ribbon this year”. This year’s Woodland Splendor, on the Lonesome Glory, was more my Mother’s style of holiday decorating, not mine.

(Feathers. Always with the feathers…)

But you know what? I love Winter Wonderland. A Pearlescent Palomino Totilas covered in white fake fur and owls? It sounds as absurd as the Holiday Horses that preceded him, but this one somehow works for me. I want to rein in my horse spending a bit more next year, but Winter Wonderland still makes it on my want list.

I especially like the gray hooves, which are a nice Vintage touch. Gray hooves used to be the standard hoof color for Palomino paint jobs, pre-Reeves (ca. 1984/5). There were some exceptions – most notably the Fighting Stallion, Five-Gaiter, and earlier examples of the Rearing Stallion – but if any model was issued in a generic Palomino paint job in the 1970s or 1980s, gray hooves were the norm.

Gray hooves on Palominos were never completely phased out, and they still turn up on releases with solid-colored legs. But tan or pink-hued hooves are now more likely to be seen on legs with socks or stockings.

So that’s why that little touch on Winter Wonderland stood out so much to me.

One thing I’ve found aggravating about some of the more recent Vintage-styled releases is that while they get the general concepts correct, the littlest details often go wrong.

Hoof color has been one of those littlest details. For instance, for some strange reason Reeves can’t grok the idea that Gloss Honey Bays usually came with Black hooves, not Gray ones. The Vintage Club Honey Bay Cantering Welsh Pony, for instance:

http://www.identifyyourbreyer.com/images/712169bay1.jpg

Yeah, yeah, I know that several Matte Bays from the 1960s and 1970s came with Gray hooves, like the Grazing Mare and Foal and the Stretched Morgan. But Glosses were almost always Black, darn it!

But they do seem to grasp the overall picture of Vintage Palomino paint jobs, and Winter Wonderland is more evidence of that. (Yes, I am still hoping for a Vintage Club SR in Neon Yellow Matte Palomino.)

Top of the Heap

One of the things that I bought that I was hoping was awesome? It’s awesome!

Mint in box Chalky Clydesdale Stallion with the original 1974 Collector’s Manual – and bag! I think I can say that I’ve reached the top of the upgrade heap with this guy.

The funny thing is that he’s not my first MIB Chalky; my first was a Chestnut Belgian – which I bought primarily because he looked like a pretty nice MIB Belgian, not because I hoped he was a Chalky. I thought he might be, but at the price I was getting him at it didn’t matter. That he was was just a bonus.

The Clydesdale I did buy under the assumption that he was – which is not something I do very often, because judging Chalkies by slightly blurry online photos is an always-iffy proposition. I shelled out the little bit extra cash (for me) because I figured he was at least a semi-safe bet: in every other regard, he was a premium, high-end piece.

This is where the market is now going with Vintage pieces, anyway: the more bells and whistles, the better. White Picture Box? Check. Original Collector's Manual? Check. Original Bag? Check. Near mint condition? Check. 

Chalky? BINGO!

Even the roughest of Chalkies will always have a value – just as beat-up, coverless copies of key Golden Age comic books still have a greater-than-nominal value. But as with many collectibles from the modern era, better is better.  

Model horse collectors aren’t big on the concept of “patina”, outside of exceptions that fall either into the category of amusing (the heavily bloated, the heavily yellowed, or the disturbingly warped) or the exceptionally precious (Decorators, Test Colors, our childhood carpet herds).

It’s always funny whenever an antiquer tries to sell a body-quality Breyer that way. Luckily for me, it doesn’t happen too much around here any more; if it does, it’s usually someone new to the area who has not yet been schooled by the locals.

Now to dig out the Chalky Clydesdale I upgraded from – who is not too shabby himself, but Mint In Box he’s not.

More is Not Always Better

This model was one of the unexpected delights of a recent box lot:

Easily the prettiest Gloss Palomino Fighting Stallion I’ve ever owned! I knew he was in there when I purchased the lot, but since I haven’t had much luck with Gloss Palomino Fighters, I wasn’t expecting much.

What makes him outstanding isn’t necessarily his condition. He’s not perfect - there’s yellowing, and a few minor rubs - but the amount of money and/or effort I’d need to upgrade him to a "live show quality/live show ready" piece means he’s probably sticking around a while.

His color is really nice - sort of halfway between the Orangey Palomino he was when he was issued, and the Honey most of the early Gloss Palominos turn into. He’s deeply glossed too, typical of earlier pieces, ca. 1961/2. (He was a part of the ca. 1959-1962 box lot, so that makes sense.)

No, what makes him swoon-worthy is his body shading: this model has some of the nicest body shading I’ve seen on any Vintage, Original Finish model. Whoever painted him was either one of the better painters on staff, or was having an exceptional day at work.

"Body Shading" is the term I use to describe monochromatic (single color) paint jobs where shading is achieved by working with the musculature of the model itself, and using the underlying plastic as a secondary color. Lighter areas are lighter because there’s less paint there, and darker areas are darker because there’s more.

All it took for a richly shaded finish back then was a single color, applied with a deft touch. Some practice and talent played a part too, obviously; I’ve had my share of flat-looking Vintage pieces, especially on the Palomino Fighter. That’s why this guy stands out so for me!

The "Body Shading" technique was the primary way of shading models throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, but not the only way. With Alabaster models, for example, they had to take the opposite approach: contrast was achieved by shading the grooves of the musculature directly, usually with a fine gray line.

Executing the "Linear Shading" technique well also took some skills and practice; I’ve seen a few examples that looked like they were tagged by unusually incompetent graffiti artists. 

Both techniques are still used today, but usually in tandem with other techniques, and multiple layers of paint. As this Fighting Stallion shows, more is not always better.

Chestnut Buffalo

I didn’t much time to go Vintage shopping in Kentucky this year, but I still managed to score one nice variation: a Chestnut Buffalo!

He was a want, but a lower-priority one; like most of the Wildlife molds, the Buffalo is a big fellow, and space is at a premium here. But the opportunity presented itself - and I knew if I left him behind I’d regret it.

Most of the original release #76 Buffaloes (1965-1991) are some shade of Brown - veering from near Black at one end, to Buckskin/Dun at the other. The Red Chestnut ones are something altogether different chromatically, enough to make you think they were a separate and distinct release. I haven’t seen any evidence that this is the case, though. They just happened to make the #76 Buffalo this color for a while. (The Elk and the Moose, too. Neither one of those is on my want list, yet.)

This particular example is one of the redder and less shaded ones I have seen. 

Other than being a newer rather than older piece, I’m not entirely sure where the Chestnuts fit in the Buffalo’s variation chronology. To give you an idea how complicated that web of variations is, the Buffalo behind "Red" here is an early one with nostril and lip liner, yet I also have another early one with a Small Blue Ribbon Sticker (ca. 1966-67) that is very matte and very much on the Buckskin side. There doesn't seem to be any logical progression or evolution.

Dealer and Collector’s Manuals from the mid-1980s onward do show more "chestnutty" Buffaloes, for what that’s worth. The overall quality of the paint job and the seams would be consistent with this, so I'm content with pegging it as a late variation, for now.

When, Not If

My standard work procedures involve me pecking away at several small projects simultaneously, based on my levels of time, interest and energy, with the goal of finishing them all within a relatively narrow time frame. (That’s similar to how work works, too - we run multiple work flows with the intent of finishing them up around the same time.)

It doesn’t always work out, but it works out well enough most of the time that there’s little reason to change it.

Most of the time. Every once and a while I get into a fit and I just have to see a project through from start to finish, RIGHT NOW.

Anyway, that’s my excuse for not opening up my Commander, even though I got him late Thursday afternoon. If I opened him, I’d have to deal with him, and until a few hours ago, I couldn’t. I have to work tonight (a new account, too, I think) so I’ll probably have to put off his unveiling until tomorrow morning, when my mind has room to roam.

One minor distraction I did allow myself was the one-question Vintage Club survey asking members about our preferences: Do you want Vintage colors on Vintage molds, or Vintage colors on Newer molds?

Y’all should know by now what I picked. There was also room to comment, but I didn’t: trust me, Reeves already knows. 

I am not philosophically opposed to Vintage colors on Newer molds, I’d just rather see them released in a different context or program - either as a extra release, like Gus, or as a part of some other program. (A "Retro" Club?)

The molds they selected to show us as examples were quite interesting, especially the Vintage/Vintage pieces:

 For balance, here were the Vintage/New pieces:

No promises were made about the models depicted in the survey - they were being used merely as examples of the kinds of items they were discussing.

Judging from the reactions I’ve seen to the Charcoal Adios, though, I think it’s just a matter of when, not if, on that pretty boy. (Next year’s "Exclusive", maybe, if he ain’t the next release?)

I liked the Gloss Honey Bay Pinto Yellow Mount more than I thought, too. When I initially saw him in that group shot they sent out last year (the one with the Morgan now known as "Halo") I thought "Nice, nothing spectacular". He looked like a glossed regular run Yellow Mount with added black points. (Something they've done in the past, by the way - anyone remember the BHR Bay Running Stallion, made out of leftover 1988 JAH Special Run? And the Small World Trakehner?)

No, he’s an actual Honey Bay, complete with four stockings and black hooves, just like an honest-to-goodness vintage Honey Bay.

And just to let you know, I’d buy either of the Nokotas in a heartbeat, especially the one in the Splash Spot Black Leopard. I like the mold, but I’d dig that color on anything. (As long as they actually do the Splash Spots as Splash Spots, of course.)

After a Night of Writing, Furiously

So there, ta-dah!

Actually, I’m not that excited about it; basically the story got a little too big to handle too quickly, and like the last time, I ended up dispensing with a lot of plot offstage, this time in some flashbacks and an extended epilogue. And the original beginning I had planned became the end. For now.

I thought it started well, and it’s certainly salvageable. Just…yeah, it's over and done with. I can move on to other projects for a month or two, without the word count guilt.

In celebration, I ate a bunch of curly fries and opened up a couple packages, including my fancy new Prancer:

Nifty! I do find the black reins are a little distracting, the mock overspray a bit silly and overdone, and most Fury/Prancers didn’t come with painted eyewhites (only some of the Black Beauties did).

But unlike the upcoming Retro Release on the Western Pony, this one kinda-sorta looks like something that could have been made back then. Sort of like what a Connoisseur would have looked like if the program existed fifty years ago.

(A Connoisseur Racehorse does make me giggle. I’d probably buy it, too.)

Looking at the snap saddle makes me wish (again) Reeves would institute a spare parts program as a perk of the Collector’s Club or Vintage Club. I think a lot of people would appreciate being able to get replacement hats for their Old Timers, and replacement saddles for their Western Horses/Ponies/Prancers. (And the hats would make excellent keychains. Just saying!)

That’s all you’re getting today: my brain is still totally fried from yesterday’s massive write-a-thon.

I think I’ll go make cookies; I’m thinking something in the shortbread family, but I have a gluten-free chocolate walnut meringue-type thingie that I’ve been itching to try. (Not because I have to, but because I want to. They sound absolutely decadent. I could use a little decadence right now.)  

Patching Together

That big project I’m working on is melting my brain, I swear.  I thought I’d take a little breather from it and catch up a bit on my sewing, until I realized what was up next in my quilting queue:

Points, curves AND insets? I might as well be painting a Reverse Dappled Palomino Roan Pintaloosa, sheesh.

(FYI: it’s a variation of a Depression Era pattern called "Imperial Fan". I found a pile of pieces and some templates at the bottom of a box of scraps, and in a not-rare-enough moment of insanity, I thought it’d be a fun reconstruction project. Yeah. No.)

Lots of news to catch up on. Let’s roll.

The talk is now that the Walmart Special Runs that have been turning up in some stores might be some sort of test, or just a regional release. All I know for sure is that very few people have been able to find them, and they’re not in my neck of the woods either.

There are two OTHER Classics Special Run sets turning up at some Mid-States stores that appear to be a continuation of the old Walmart Mesteno/ Mustang series. They’ve been shipping old Walmart overstock of their Mestenos to the "farm store circuit" for a few years now, so I’m guessing that means that's where the series will now carry on; these newest releases have the new Breyer logo, so it’s definitely not older overstock. Unless it is a test/regional thing, too. 

There are no Mid-States nearby, but I do have a local/regional farm store chain nearby that does get a very nice selection of Breyers in around the holidays, so this will be added incentive to stop in the next time I drive by. You know, just in case there are some enhancements to the selection.

(All I REALLY want is that "unreleased" set with the light gray Bronco and the white Wolf. Like everyone else)

The Traditional Totilas mold is being delayed until the beginning of the year. It appears to be more of a legal/technical issue, than one of production. It’s only a few more weeks of waiting, anyway.

The Lionheart Esprits are also delayed, but no explanation (or hints of) have been offered. It’s annoying, but my budget’s doing its end of the year tightening, so I’m okay with that, too.

Pictures of some of the 2013 releases are now floating about, including a new Classic mold, a new release on the Smart Chic Olena, a Vintage release on the Western Pony, and some glittery (!) Stablemates.

(Yay, glittery Stablemates!)

I’m going to wait until there are better pictures of the 2013 releases before I do any detailed commentary on them. I’m happy to see that the Vintage release of the Gloss Bay Pinto Fury this year did well enough to merit continuing the series, but the color they appear to have chosen for the Western Pony - Flaxen Chestnut Appaloosa, with detailed out hooves, mane and tail - strikes me as a little more Modern than Vintage.

I hope the splash spots are a little on the sloppy side, like the old splash spots were.

I’ve been periodically skimming the discussion on the Passage to the Pacific. Once I got a gander at some of the pictures of the SRs - including a Black Tobiano Pinto Galiceno, and another PAM, for crying out loud - I checked myself out of that discussion. The freakouts on MH$P are going to be bad enough to witness.

Picture Day

Mood’s in a bit of a dumper today. Nothing specific, just realizing the amount - and order of magnitude - of stuff I have to urgently attended to after BreyerFest. (None of it of the good sort, either.)

Keeping myself distracted with BreyerFest prep is the only thing keeping me reasonably rational and focused right now. Focus is good! Think about how good it will be to get away.

If I’m lucky, I might even get to see the return of Giant Butter Jesus:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2018464694_apusjesusstatuereturn.html

(I'm not a particularly religious person. I just like oversized roadside sculpture.)

Here’s a little something I picked up at the flea market a few weeks ago. It’s not model horse or Breyer related, but I think most of you will appreciate it:

It’s an 18" x 24" upholstered naugahyde horse picture, mounted on wood, with a mane and forelock each made out of a single piece of hand cut vinyl. The concha’s a nice touch, too, don’t you think? According to the address label on the back, it was made pre-1964. I have no idea what I’m going to do with it, but I absolutely had to have it.

I’ve seen similar things on the actual pieces of furniture, but never something done purely as a piece of wall art.

Here’s another picture, this one showing you why I’m so concerned about the dimensions of my body box this year:

See, told you. Scary! Outside of a couple of Classics, there’s nothing "newish" or particularly desirable about any of the bodies contained therein. Just because they’re not conventionally - or conformationally - pretty doesn’t mean you can’t make something beautiful (or fun!) out of an otherwise undesirable body:

(The glitter glows in the dark, by the way. Because that’s how I roll, ladies.)

On top of all the other contests Reeves "sponsors" for BreyerFest, I really think they need to do one that highlights the more subtle charms of the older molds. Pick any older mold that most customizers now steer clear of - like the Running Stallion, or the Family Arabian Mare, or even Misty - and make something beautiful or unique out of it. With the only stipulation being that it still be recognizable as the mold. (No melting it into a puddle, or only using the head and tail.)

Sort of like the old Model Horse Jamboree Tricked Out Pony Contest, except with molds nobody actually customizes of their own free will. Anybody can make something out of the American Saddlebred mold, but a Roemer? Now THAT’S a challenge.

It would help foster a greater appreciation for some of these overlooked molds, clear out a few body boxes, and maybe - like the Dragon Horse Merlin - serve as an inspiration for a future release.

And if Reeves doesn’t do it, maybe we can do it ourselves. We can award ourselves goofy, nominal prizes - gift certificates to Denny's, silly hats, or giant bags of candy - for whatever categories we choose ("realistic", "unrealistic", and "WTF?") It’s high time the hobby took back a little ownership of the mid-summer model horse convention thing, ya know?

Selective Memories

My mood is unimproved, even though I made myself some truffles today. There are, apparently, some things chocolate cannot fix. (They did come out, mind you. In fact, they’re pretty dang amazing. They just didn’t make my problem go away.)

The only good thing being stuck in a dark place (figuratively) is that it seems to kick my creativity into high gear. So I’m just going to drown myself in my BreyerFest prep, and hope for the best there.

I finally got around to cleaning up a couple of recent flea market finds, too. (How sad is it that it takes me nearly a week to find the time to clean and rinse something? Sigh.) It’s not something that’s usually noteworthy, but I thought they were an excellent study in contrasts - and also a good illustration of why I get really annoyed when hobbyists start carping about how much better models were in "The Good Old Days".

First up is a Bay Fighting Stallion. He’s strictly body box material: he’s pretty rough, and has a broken ear. At one point he did have footpads, too, so he’s fairly old, and his shading is pretty nice. He does, however, have a few problems that would have kept him out of the show ring in spite of these better qualities. Like this very oddly oversprayed mane:

And what I call "mold stick" - a roughly textured surface caused by the model sticking to the mold itself:

I’m not sure what the actual technical term for the problem is, that’s just what I happen to call it when I see it. (BTW, I worked in the offices of a plastics injection molding plant for several years. Very useful in terms of my research, but I didn’t get out into the plant much, though.) Molds are usually sprayed or otherwise coated with a mold release agent to prevent molded pieces from sticking to the mold, but it does need to be reapplied from time to time, and especially after one has been cleaned and/or repaired.

You don’t see the problem much anymore because Reeves is either taking better care of the molds, or they’re doing a better job of cleaning up the molded pieces before they end up in the painting booth.

The second model is the Blue Roan Appaloosa Rearing Stallion, a fairly recent release (ca. 2005):

He’s a fairly typical piece from the run - there’s nothing to really distinguish him from any other. This one’s in pretty good shape, too, and if I didn’t have some serious space issues right now, I’d probably be keeping him.

What blows my mind about him is, as "ordinary" as he is today, a paint job of that complexity would not have been possible thirty years ago. Most customizers back then wouldn’t have been able to reproduce it, either. 

Yet this quantum leap in the quality and complexity of today’s paint jobs - even on ordinary, run-of-the-mill Regular Runs - goes by almost unacknowledged.

I love my vintage pieces, but what we have available to us today - right in front of our faces - deserves a little more respect.

Gus

The reason why I haven’t been all that gung-ho about finding horses at the flea market for the past few weeks: I just finished up sorting, tagging and bagging all of my current sales items. More stock I don’t really need, unless it’s something spectacular. I’m a little short on spectacular.

Got lots of cheap, though! Some of it so cheap I’m considering dumping it in our upcoming garage sale. (Nothing worth making a trip for, unless you’re into bodies. Or you just want to shoot the breeze.)

I almost completely forgot about the Vintage Club Special Offer "Gus", who’s a Gloss Medicine Hat Pinto Old Timer. Like the Pamplemousse, he’s being "made to order", so his piece run will be somewhat less than 500 pieces (the limit of Vintage Club memberships).

There are a few reasons why I think they offered him as a "Made to Order" Special, rather than as a "Subscription" Special.

First, he’s a little "outside" of the official Vintage Club parameters: I’m getting the vibe that official releases will be (for the time being) Vintage colors on Vintage molds. Although the color Gus comes in was originally released on the San Domingo back in 1978, it never came in a Gloss Finish.

Second, there’s a strong aversion among a certain subset of hobbyists - some of them Vintage enthusiasts, even - against molded-on tack in general. Those that don’t like it wouldn’t even remotely entertain purchasing such a model.

(That’s why I found it a little surprising that two of the selections they gave Vintage Club members to vote on for a future club release, two of them came with molded on halters: the Quarter Horse Gelding, and the Man o’ War. I love the Man o’ War mold, and his fortunes have been on the upswing lately, but I’d be shocked if he ends up on top of that poll, in spite of his not-boring Gloss Wild Dapple Gray paintjob. Because, you know, there’s a halter.)

Third, because of the labor costs inherent in a piece as complicated as Old Timer, there’s not much money to be made in producing him. There’s a hat, and a harness, and blinkers that have to be glued in and then decorated, and all those itty-bitty gold details that have to be handpainted…way more work than almost any given production model. He gets produced from time to time because the general buying public loves that mold, but it’s almost done as more of a goodwill gesture than for profit.

So it makes sense that they’re offering it this way: they’ll only have to make a certain number of pieces that are already presold, at a more profitable/higher-than-Regular-Run price point. The handful of pieces that don’t get "redeemed" in December will then go up for sale to other Vintage Club members, and then Collector’s Club members.

Sounds like a win-win, all around.