On their blog they went out of their way to point out how different this set is from the original #477 Scamper release, which was one of Breyer’s longest running recent releases (1998-2008). In addition to the three blue and yellow BreyerFest-themed racing barrels:
Scamper features a "BreyerFest 2018" print on his belly, crisp leg markings and modern shading.Okay, sure.
It’s interesting that of the eight models announced so far, four of the five “Portrait” models are solid Bays with minimal whites. That’s more a consequence of the theme (racing Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds tend towards conservative colors) than a conscious effort of color coordination on the part of Reeves.
Hobbyists out there are complaining less about the Bay Thing and more about the Reissue Thing “This is boring, and dumb. Why couldn’t they make him Glossy like Foiled Again, at least?”
Well, because I don’t think they’re necessarily appealing to hobbyists per se, with a Scamper Reissue. The original Scamper ran for over ten years, and that is an eternity in model horse time: long-running releases like that are clearly appealing to a larger swath of humanity than us mere model horse hobbyists and collectors.
That larger swath of humanity – fans of the real-life horse, or of barrel racing in general – are (at best) indifferent to the concept of glossing. Glossing is very much an in-hobby Thing.
By adding (and emphasizing) a number of subtle differences with the original release, they’re trying to make it different enough for hobbyists to at least consider it.
And I am.
I don’t have any Scamper models in my collection presently, but it’s not for a lack of love for the mold or the Western Performance Series. I just never found the right one. I keep telling myself I ought to get the cute Barrel Racing Set with the Semi-leopard Appaloosa and the pink and purple barrels, but something else always comes up…
…like a couple more unexpected variations I’ll get to later in the week.
