Bay Indian Ponies

Regarding the Tractor Supply Special Run Indian Pony Sayen, I am not understanding why everyone is all “It’s about time we got a simple Bay paint job on the Indian Pony, yay!” when the Red Bay Black Horse Ranch Special Run Indian Pony has… existed since 1987? 

I mean, yeah, there were only 400 of them, and a lot of them turned into Shrinky Puddles of Goo, but nevertheless the notion of putting the Indian Pony in a Solid Bay paint job has been visited before. 

I much preferred the Liver Chestnut one that was briefly depicted on the Tractor Supply web site, but I guess that was an unselected prototype that we may or may not see someday somewhere else, like the Zippo Pine Bar “Chance” that ended up a Mid-States Special Run instead. 

I’m currently in the middle of completely revamping my inventory system at home, so the last thing I’m looking for is more models. 

(If I implement it correctly, I’ll never lose track of anything again. I’m hoping.)

Thriller and Equidae have both arrived but are still unopened, and my Second Chance Sale stuff is supposedly going to be here by the end of the day. The answer to the question of my Gran Cavallo – Purple, or Not Purple? – also won’t be answered until at least the weekend. And maybe after I get a few more boxes of inventory done.

(Twelve down, 26 more to go! Oh, joy…)

I also drew up a preliminary list for the Customer Appreciation Sale, if it happens at all this year. I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets delayed or canceled entirely because of the supply chain issues, but it never hurts to be prepared. 

If it does, I just hope all the Stablemates I want are back in stock by that time.  

Chill

Hey, look who I found yesterday!

Actually, I found AN ENTIRE UNOPENED BOX of the Unicorn Surprise Stablemates at the Walmart nearest me. I almost had a fit of apoplexy when I saw it.

I walked around the store for about 15 minutes brandishing it like a trophy before I realized that buying the whole box was silly, especially since the current aftermarket price on the Gold and Black Florentine Chase Piece Magnolia has dropped into almost reasonable territory anyway. And did I really need to add more Stablemates to my sales list?

I didn’t want to be THAT person, either. So I put it back and grabbed a couple of loose bags and celebrate Model Horse Hobby Day* a little more modestly, and let some other person have a good day.

So this means that all I need to complete my Walmart Stablemates Unicorn set is the Chase Magnolia and the funky Red Arabian. I’m cool with that. And I am all about the chill today, especially after all the spontaneous eruptions of drama I had to deal with yesterday. Not sure how I ended up being the cool and rational one in all that nonsense.

In other news, I really like the first BreyerFest Store Special Zipped in Black Magic, who does look a lot like the 2002 Mid-States Special Run Shakopee:

Similar yes, but not the same: Shakopee is mostly freehand airbrushed, while Zipped in Black Magic is almost entirely masked, and the markings are nowhere near the same. Additionally, Zip is a portrait (as are most BreyerFest Store Specials) and Shakopee was an idea developed deep in the Breyer’s conceptual laboratory.

(The same place where my fantasies of Wedgewood Blue Polled Hereford Bulls and a Yellow Palomino Tradtional Man o’ Wars languish, in Purgatory. Sniff.)

Like most BreyerFest SRs, I’ll have to see one in person before I make my final decision. Since I have a bit of a fondness for the Zippo Pine Bar mold (How is it that I ended up with three Tests/Samples on this mold?) signs point to probably.

*FYI: I decided to declare February 26 Model Horse Hobby Day, since it’s the 57th day of the year - in honor of the Breyer #57 Palomino Western Horse, the model that launched the hobby, essentially. Buy a model, give a model, tell a friend about the hobby, wear your BreyerFest T-shirt in public, no shame. You do you! Or not: I’m fine either way.

Rushmore Zippo

Wow, there’s been a lot of Breyer activity the past few days! Let’s just focus on the one that’s most interesting to me – the latest Test Color Purchase Raffle, a Dappled Bay Roan Zippo Pine Bar:

Often it’s hard to see why a Test Color was done; in many instances, there was no specific goal in mind, other than experimentation for experimentation’s sake. But in the case of this Zippo (as with the previous Flaxen Chestnut Stud Spider) it’s clearly the antecedent to a specific production run: the BreyerFest 2007 Special Run Rushmore, on the Smarty Jones mold.

The web site’s copy about it being “one of the tests that inspired the Burbank Nakota Appaloosa model for the Velvet Rope Collector Event in 2008” was clearly written by someone with only a passing familiarity with Breyer History.

Yes, it’s technically correct, but it is more obviously and directly connected to the BreyerFest Special Run than the Burbank. Except for the absence of the snip, he’s a near-exact match, and came out the year before!

In fact, him being the clear ancestor of the Rushmore is a big reason why I want him in the first place.  All Test Colors are awesome, but I reserve a special place in my heart for Test Colors that obviously led to widely-available (1000+ piece) Production Run items.

Another plus: if I do win him (unlikely, but still a tiny possibility) it won’t be difficult to get a matching Rushmore; barring a lottery-level miracle, a Burbank will never happen for me.

And also I would like to give a big, gigantic “ARGH” to the misspelling of Nokota, which is one of my biggest pedantic hobby pet peeves, right up there with “hobbiest”, “filagree” and “defiantly” (for definitely).

But to end on a slightly more cheerful note….

One really fascinating thing about the Zippo Pine Bar mold: did you know he was designed to be an “easy” model to mold? There are no undercuts that require special gating or tooling, and no special add-ons or take-aways that could complicate the molding process.

The simpler the mold, the cheaper it is to produce. Having a mold like that around helps mitigate the cost of some of the more flamboyant or labor-intensive molds.

Chances

So last year’s Tractor Supply Mystery No Show Special Run “Chance” has finally shown up – as this year’s Mid-States SR!

It is a Red Dun Tobiano pinto nearly identical to the 2013 Diorama Prize Walk of Fame:

http://www.identifyyourbreyer.com/images/P1060480.JPG

I suppose you might be wondering what the situation was with Chance: I don’t know. Maybe TSC rejected the concept outright, or they decided to scale back their Holiday offerings, or maybe they didn’t have money in the purchasing budget, or someone forgot to sign an invoice…. For whatever reason, Chance didn’t become a Tractor Supply Special Run.

I do know, though, that once Breyer creates a concept for a Special Run item, they are loath to let it go. If one company turns down the concept – and the concept is not too narrowly or specifically designed to the first company it was offered to – it will get pitched elsewhere.

If there are no takers after a while the idea gets shelved, eventually and quite literally, in the Sample Room. Sometimes the concept will be tweaked and re-proposed at a later date or used in a different program altogether.

I don’t know if there were any changes or tweaks to Chance’s original design. I’m guessing not, but that really is just a guess, based on the turnaround time.

Chance is very handsome – I am quite fond of the Zippo Pine Bar mold, if you didn’t know that already – but I’ll probably have to take a pass on him until next year, once I get a few other bigger expenses paid for.

More Random Pictures

My experience over the past three days has convinced me that creativity is just frustration leaving the body.

It wouldn’t be so bad if that creative energy was more focused. One day I’m working on quilts, the next I’m baking cookies, then the day after that I’m taking pictures and writing up descriptions for eBay listings.

Today I’m prepping the leftover/broken/unwanted bodies in my body box. Because I know what it’s like to not be wanted. (TMI, and not entirely true: the job did want me for the weekend, but it was a last-minute gig, and other plans had already been made.)

But ironically, I’m not in a mood to write a blog post today. Go figure. I’ve got plenty to talk about, but sitting down and actually composing my thoughts isn’t as much fun as drilling holes in things.

Rather than leave you all totally bereft, here are a couple more pictures of Ninja Pit finds, instead. First up, a Sample of the 2009 Surprise Quarter Horse Geldings, in Dunalino:

The handwriting on his belly indicates that this particular version was "rejected", but since I do not have the corresponding Production piece, I couldn’t tell you what for. One of my roommates said he seemed a bit on the "greenish" side, and that could be it. It’s not an uncommon issue when you’re working in the buckskin/dun/sooty range of colors: yellow + black = sometimes green.

I heard that the two other Surprise QH Geldings also showed up in the Sample boxes, but I was happy just to get the one of the three I didn’t already have. For some strange reason, I have the hardest time acquiring anything Breyer slaps a Dunalino paint job on.

(I completely missed getting a Music City Zippo, for instance, because I just happened to take a much-needed nap five minutes before they went on sale on the Internet. An hour and a half later, I get up, get back on the computer, and proceed to get very mad at myself when I find a half dozen Music Cities for sale on MH$P. Grr!)

Next up is my Western Elegance Zippo Pine Bar, who is drop-dead gorgeous, with some factory handpainted mapping and touch ups. His tag reads: "Western Elegance horse as-is". This is hilarious to me, since other than a slightly scraped (and easily fixed) ear, he’s almost perfect.

I had been eyeing the discounted Western Elegance sets they’ve had in the Pit the past couple of years. I really like Zippo, and the set itself is pretty scarce - like, within the Connoisseur/Web Special range - so the price they were asking was more than reasonable. Cheapskate me just couldn’t justify it, though. 

And now I have the Sample, at a fraction of that price! Woot! His show name, if I ever get around to live showing again, will be "As-Is". That’s what his tag says, right?

In Plain Sight

I’m finally getting around to cleaning up my financial paperwork from BreyerFest. Not that I didn’t want to deal with it before, I really had other and better things to do before now. Plus, I had already done a rough estimate of the numbers, and they weren’t all that bad. The only real "overage" in the budget came from a handful of select pieces I found in the Pit - items that I couldn’t pass up, because I definitely could not have afforded them elsewhere.

(Not trying to be deliberately dodgy, but a girl’s gotta keep some secrets, y’know?)

I had already "budgeted" a bit for the Samples in the Pit, so this piece - the subject of a recent discussion on Blab - wasn’t part of that overage:


At first glance, it looks like the Zippo from the 2004 J.C. Penney SR Set, the one with the Strapless and the Amber. Notice anything different about him?

Here’s a hint: http://identifyyourbreyer.com/images/410154.jpg

My guy has the Strapless blanket! Or more precisely, the blanket from the 2002 QVC "Artist’s Proof" SR of the Zippo, in chestnut. Neat, eh?

Don’t panic, I didn’t see it at first, either. A little bird told me to be on the lookout for Zippos in the Sample boxes of the Pit this year, and when I saw one, I grabbed it and immediately stashed it in the buy pile. Even if he wasn’t anything special, I figured hey, it’s still a Zippo. I love Zippo! And he comes with a Sample Room/Pit provenance, which is a step up from your garden-variety Special Run.

I was distracted by the glare of flashier things, I guess, so I didn’t pay too much attention to him until last week. As I was poking around the Internet, catching up on a little random research, I thought I’d pull up a picture of the Black App Zippo just for kicks - and holy moley! You could have hit me with a plank.

(Note: I have been hit with planks before. So I know of what I speak here. No, you don’t need to know that story, either.)

My first inclination was to label it another one of those "Mystery/Early Bird Pit Specials" that have turned up in the past few years, like the Gloss Summer Solstices and the Fun Foal Appaloosa PAFs. There’s definitely more than one of him out there, and they are all identically painted. Seems like a logical conclusion, right?

I’m not so sure. From what I’ve been able to gather, these guys were not a deliberate attempt to drive us early risers crazy. (Actually, I’m fairly certain of it.) If they were, they would have been grouped together somewhere else, and not mixed in the Sample boxes willy-nilly. They really were just a part of the Sample Room cleanout.

Admittedly, it is a little odd that there would be a small group of identical, but different from the norm Zippos roaming around the Sample Room; I don’t know what the full story is, there. Still, regardless of what they are - Tests, Prepros, mistakes, whatever - because of the circumstances of their sale, they’ve become another "Early Bird Special" by default.

Zippo = Zeppo?

I haven’t had much time to finish some of the posts I’ve been working on, so you’ll be getting another insubstantial one today. Some long, meaty posts are in the pipeline, I promise. Writing is the one thing that’s been keeping me modestly sane over the past few not so awesome weeks. (Not getting actual carrot cake for my birthday this week was one of the lesser disappointments. Sigh.)

Man, I just knew the Quarterfest SR was going to be a Zippo. Rats! A really neat color on a mold I really happen to like. I know not a lot of hobbyists think the same way: sometimes I refer to Zippo as "Zeppo," the underappreciated fourth Marx Brother. He’s not as flashy as the Smart Chic Olena, as versatile as the Lady Phase, and he doesn’t possess the homely, old-fashioned charm of the Quarter Horse Gelding.


But I do think he’s a sleek, well-executed mold who just happens to be a snappy dresser. He looks good in almost any color: solids, pintos, dilutes, appaloosas. I have a lot of them, but not all of them: my favorite is a preproduction Zip’s Chocolate Chip, in a surprisingly rich shaded bay. (I also admit to a weakness for ermine spots. The sight of striped and speckled toes makes me squee. And I don’t, normally.)


You can’t say that for every model. Case in point: the current crop of Collector’s Choice models. Kudos to Reeves with going with the solids on two of the selections - and both of them look sharp in those colors, too! Overall, I think the Palomino on the Bluegrass Bandit is the "best fit" of color with mold, but I love roan paint jobs in general, and on the Peruvian…

Well, I’d buy the Peruvian in just about any color, but that’s another story. And don’t even speak to me about the Dark Bay BreyerFest auction Peruvian with the profuse ermine spots from a few years back. Not many models make me cry, and that one came too darn close.

But the Keltic Salinero? Tobiano doesn’t suit him. I wasn’t overly fond of the VRE Hollywood Boulevard, either. Now I though he was pretty smashing in overo as the 2007 BreyerFest raffle model Tacoma, so do think he could look good in a parti-color paint job. But the tobiano patterns they’ve used so far haven’t worked for me. They visually "break up" his elegant silhouette, which I think is the mold’s strongest suit.

Sadly, I think - despite Blab’s best efforts to the contrary - the Salinero is the frontrunner in this race. Because, just like in the real horse world, being flashy gives you the edge.

I thought the delay in releasing the pertinent details of the Zippo SR was actually a rather smart move - a nice, subtle way of building anticipation and enthusiasm in the hobbyist community. All too often Reeves will release the information on a special release a little too early, and hobbyists will spend the time between the press release and the actual release date nitpicking it to death. I really hate those kind of discussions in general, since they tend to turn so mean, and unproductive, so quickly.

I sure hope I can manage to snag that Quarterfest Zippo somehow. Doesn’t seem likely at the moment, but we’ll have to see how it all shakes out in terms of quantity, distribution and overall hobby desire.