Scurrying About

Things are… better. And I’ll leave it at that. And I have to work this Saturday, too, but that’s mostly unrelated. It sets me behind a bit on my crafting, but I can’t argue with the paycheck! 

I am still moderately amused that I was not chosen for a Yellowstone, even from multiple waitlists. It just slays me that their efforts to make some Special Runs “easier” to acquire (i.e. significantly larger piece runs) usually result in making it harder for me. 

Aiming for the big stuff seems to be working out better, at least for now. I’ll pick up a Yellowstone eventually. 

I was thinking about going to BreyerWest next year, but the flights are all significantly more expensive than my Wyoming adventure was, so it might be a no-go. Off to research Derby tickets, I guess!

(Yikes! Maybe that wasn’t such a great idea either.)

Anywho, the rest of my week is full of meetings and appointments, I’ll keep it short again today. Here’s a better picture of my two Scurries, one of whom is actually a variation of a variation, but one that wasn’t necessarily planned for: 

I find it amusing that the two choices I made on my one and only ticket this year were both 50/50 variation splits. Considering that they were among the less popular choices this year, you think they would have included the variants in them to encourage sales, instead of including them in runs that would have sold out regardless, like Peanutine, and (eventually) Speos.

I also wasn’t overly enamored of them using Hamilton as the Surprise model this year – not because they didn’t turn out nice (most of the color options were really well done) but because it now sets an uncomfortable precedent.

Instead of the unpredictability that was part and parcel of the Surprise before, there’s now going to be an expectation that the Surprise must be the Current Hotness, and if you’ve had more than half of a day’s experience in the Model Horse Internet, you know that for the loudest voices among them that nothing else will now suffice. 

And if Reeves accedes to that demand, the Surprise will no longer be all that… surprising. Or for me, all that interesting.

(Still annoyed that we didn’t get an Old Timer this year. I know the reasons why, but I would have paid that premium, dammit.)

The Latest in Walking Black Angus Bulls

Well, so much for trying to inventory all my bodies. 

First I found the giant hoard of Family Arabian Mare experiments, then the stash of Little Bits/Paddock Pals I planned on making into a carousel at some point. Then there were the Mini Whinnies and Stablemates I keep in my tabouret for potential diorama projects, and not to mention several actual unfinished diorama projects. 

There are seven more-or-less active Traditional or Classics-scale customs (including 3 FAMs and 2 Mestenos). I also (inexplicably) happened to buy another box lot of bodies over the weekend because why the heck not at this point, right?

And then, finally, I got to the actual body box! That’s when I decided to go into my basement and get some sewing done, instead. (I did work a little bit on the Mesteno yesterday, though. Looking good!)

Here’s some Breyer History content, while you’re here. My latest #72 Walking Black Angus Bull, another BreyerFest purchase:

For something that came in solid black for almost two decades, this model came in what seems like a billion different variations. There are three well-known coat versions: “Poodle Cut”, “Semi-Rough Coat” and “Full Rough Coat”. There are at least three different halter colors: Red, Brown, and Gold. (I have one with what appears to be a “Copper” halter, but I don’t know if that was intentional, or just a weird discoloration of the Gold.)

There’s also a multitude of eye detailing: eyeliner, eyepinking, the standard two-stroke eyewhites, and the underpainted eyewhites that were a thing in the later 1960s. He came in Gloss and Matte, and a transitional finish somewhere in-between that most collectors classify as Matte but could honestly go either way.

There’s nothing especially special about this variation of the Bull, except to note (quite obviously) that he’s one of those early transitional Mattes. I’m not quite sure how many of these Bulls I have at this point…

(Runs upstairs to check. Five, not counting the Hereford ones?)

…but I didn’t have this variation. I had a hard time finding good quality vintage pieces at BreyerFest this year, and for some reason this guy struck my fancy. The “Poodle Cut” variations may be the most desirable, but I’ve always fancied the “Full Rough Coat” best: I love how those rows and rows of marcelled curls feel in my hand. 

Considering how popular the Bull molds are – and how overused some of them are getting (mumble mumble BreyerFest SRs on the Spanish Fighting Bull mumble mumble) – I am kind of surprised we haven’t seen much of this guy since he was discontinued in 1977. 

I am assuming that aside from his rough texture and lack of viable color options, him being small, old and a little dated doesn’t help, either. 

Blue-debaker

I’m almost completely caught up on my sleep, but the unpacking – especially from Kentucky – still remains undone. It’s going to be a long time before I finish going through all my mostly-probably-crummy photos too. And I have a project I need to finish ASAP…

I am also now thinking that my travel experience might be best expressed in a book form, rather than a bloggy one. It’s a trip – and a notion – that had been with me for most of my life, and I don’t think the experience can be summed up in a few extended blog posts. 

No worries, you’ll get some photos and deets here eventually, especially the Kentucky bits.

The first day back to work after a long vacation always kind of sucks, regardless of your feelings for the job, so I waited until I got home from it to open the most anticipated package on my doorstep: Studebaker. 

I was a little surprised she was actually still available when I got back to the hotel Friday night. While I wanted the variation like everyone else, I thought that after getting the Holographic Uffington a couple years back that another scarce variation was not in the cards for me, at least not for a good, long while:

No. Freaking. Way. 

How did this happen? Do I need to consider buying lottery tickets this week? Hit the casino? Troll eBay at 3 a.m.? 

Speaking of variations, I still might give the Araba another shot during the second chance sale: her conformation issues aside, her variant sports one of the prettiest production run paint jobs I have ever seen. Since my luck seems to be running very, very hot at the moment, it just might be worth taking the shot, credit card bills be damned.

All that being said, I am not terribly pleased by Reeves deciding to apply the term “Micro Run” to these variations. This is simply not acceptable, people: the general hobby consensus on that term is that it applies only to Special Runs of 100 pieces or fewer (give or take a few, particularly when it comes to some of the Exclusive Event pieces). 

Most of the Special Runs released in the late 1970s and the early 1980s were in the 200-piece range, and we never refer to them as Micro Runs. That’s partly because the term is a recent development – the first time I used it on the blog was back in 2014, I believe – and we really didn’t distinguish smaller runs from larger runs back then, regardless. Christmas Catalog SRs (produced in the thousands) and Model Horse Congress exclusives (produced in quantities of 200-300) were both “Special Runs”, plain and simple.

I think it might be useful to coin a new term for this new class of models, but nothing seems immediately obvious. Short Runs? Small Runs? SR Variants?

Shelby

Apparently I was mistaken – Mignonette was Overall, not the Reserve in Mini! I’m so used to finishing second, I just naturally made the assumption…

As for what this forbodes for BreyerFest Live? Probably nothing. I’ve heard enough crazy stories about what happens there that I’m not going to take anything for granted, other than having a good time with my friends. I’ll take my best horses, document the heck out of everything, try not to miss any classes, and see what happens.

(Though if I do end up with a bunch of seconds and thirds, I’m not going to lie: that’s going to be super-duper aggravating.)

This year’s Spring Gambler’s Choice is something different: it’s not a Classic mold, and it’s something that’s already had a Gambler’s Choice released on it!

I like Shelby – especially the Grulla Appaloosa one – but do I love him enough to get one? I’m not so sure yet. I’m still in a Vintage kind of mood, and as much as I love the catlike dynamism of the Nokota Horse mold, he does take up a lot of space on the shelf.

The Nokota Horse mold is rather oddly shaped: he does not fit easily into a rectangular box like most Breyer models do. That’s why he’s had a larger-than-average number of Special Run releases in non-standard packaging: things like BreyerFest Special Runs, Mail-Order Specials, and Exclusive Event models. 

So his selection here makes some sort of sense. He is a moderately popular model, but his last realistic, non-Decorator release was the Exclusive Event Phantom Face in 2018; a more widely available release was the 2016 Flagship Store Special Toro in 2016. 

As for the April Fool’s joke Nokota, I wouldn’t necessarily rule out another appearance: the Decorator Khemosabis ended up as a Silent Auction lot at BreyerFest later that same year. And they’ve already made at least one other actual Roached Mane version of the mold (for last year’s BreyerFest Benefit Auction), so them testing the waters a little more with another auction piece does not seem implausible.

Like the Polo Pony version of the Smarty Jones mold, though, I’m not going to count on a more widely available version of him showing up anytime soon. 

Riding It Out

I find myself in the midst of a midwinter funk that no amount of seed starting can fix. All I can do is ride it out until it passes, or at least until the end of the week, with BreyerWest and the news it brings. 

I am most curious to see what the Volunteer Special looks like; this year they are implementing a new program that essentially turns it into a Gambler’s Choice model, in three different colorways, that applies to all volunteers at designated Breyer-sponsored events. 

This was something I think they were going to implement earlier – in 2020, the Celtic Fling Volunteer Special Ben Nevis came in two different shades of Chestnut Pinto – but the Pandemic got in the way. 

I’ll be interesting to see how that affects Volunteer applications. While some of us do for the love of the hobby, there are a significant number of hobbyists who do it for the financial boon. 

(I like the heat and I don’t usually mind the humidity, so the whole “compensation for my pain and suffering” isn’t part of the equation for me.)  

While it could be argued that three small (125 piece) runs are going to be “more desirable” than a single 375-piece run, I’d counter that if a model is awesome enough, the quantity is almost irrelevant. But if it brings in more applications and more enthusiasm, so be it.

I don’t have much more to say today; I really need to finish planting the petunias and alpine strawberries. (The strawberry plants were much easier to grow from seed last year than I imagined they would be, but the berries themselves are teeny, and I need at least 50 plants to be able to make anything out of them!) 

I suppose I should leave you with a picture of something: the lovely, lighter variation of the Prince Charming release of Linzer, the mini Brigadeiros from last year’s Best of BreyerFest Set!

The majority of Linzers were much closer to the Traditional Brigadeiros’s Seal Bay color, but a handful of them were this sooty buckskin. While I have largely curbed my Stablemate variation habit (with the recent exception of the Dollar General pieces) this one I simply couldn’t resist, especially since he seemed to be a bit on the scarce side. 

The Sorrel Family

Here’s the evidence that I am not totally crazy:

Behold! An entire family of Dark Sorrel Family Arabians!

And here’s the Five-Gaiter that came with the Foal, many moons ago. That was such a deal!

The Western Prancing Horse and Fighting Stallion that I have in this variation are on the lighter side, incidentally. 

The fact that there’s a lot of variation in all of these variations is an excellent argument for the idea that these were not a one-off Special Run items, but things with extended production runs. 

That’s obviously the case with the #114 Bay Western Prancer, who appears to have been made in this variation for most of his production run. 

It’s a little less clear with the Fighting Stallion. Based on the fact that early ephemera pictures depict the Sorrel variation, I think he was made in that variation at the beginning of his production run, but switched over to Breyer’s early version of “Bay” (reddish-brown body with black mane and tail and black hooves) pretty quickly. 

This obviously throws the chronology for Gloss Bay Fighters into question, but I do not want to get into that contentious issue today.

So where does that leave the Family Arabians? Good question! I tend to fall into the “it’s a production variation” camp, rather than “previously unknown/undocumented Special Run”, because two of the other Sorrel variations turned out to be just that: variations, not independent Special Runs. 

The questions then become: when, and for how long? Those, I am not so sure about.

Back to the paperwork!

Variations of Variations

I was super excited to do a Buy It Now about a week ago on what looked like a most excellent upgrade of my Five-Gaiter Sorrel Family Arabian Mare. Someone had drilled holes in the corners of my original Mare’s mouth to accommodate tack, and while she’s otherwise in pretty darn nice shape, one that was not holey was definitely high on my want list.

Not only was the one I just scored hole-free, she also had eyewhites. She was a little yellowed and dirty, but those are easy-peasy fixes.

There was only one problem with this attempt to upgrade. Can you spot it?

Variations, argh! 

The lighter mare is definitely the odd one: most Sorrel Family Arabians, including the Stallion and Foal that I have, more closely resemble the darker one. 

In fact, I don’t think I’ve even seen any other Sorrel Family Arabians that are as light as my first Mare. Then again, not a lot of these come up for sale, so that could simply be a sampling error on my part.  

So it appears I now own two Sorrel Family Arabian Mares. For the time being, anyway. 

Incidentally, my Foal is darn near perfect (she came with a drop dead gorgeous Five-Gaiter with eyewhites in similar condition), but my Stallion is a little bit rough, and slightly bloated. It goes without saying that I’d like to upgrade him, but like the new Mare, it’s going to have to be another chance encounter. 

Another Oddball

Here’s a little something to tide you over while I go off on another ill-advised weekend excursion. (I’m telling myself that it’s a dry run for next year’s Upper Wyoming Grand Adventure, but it’s really more of a “I need to get away from my life for a couple of days, please and thank you” thing.)

Apparently I have moved on from weirdo Shams to weirdo Proud Arabian Stallions! As you might have noticed – at least, I hope you did! – this beautiful fellow has no black points on his front legs. This is an unusual variation of the Bay that Breyer employed on some of releases in the mid-1970s, most notably on early examples of the G1 Stablemates Citation and Arabian Stallion.

While I have occasionally spotted this variation on other releases – l have a matching Bay Grazing Mare and Foal set, for instance – this is the first time I’ve seen in on the Proud Arabian Stallion. When I eyed him on eBay, I found him so striking that I realized he had to come home with me. 

Even though I already have a couple of pretty nice Mahogany Bay Proud Arabian Stallions, and didn’t think I needed more. (The *Witez II that you’ve seen here a few times before because he’s unbelievably gorgeous, and a Chalky who I keep forgetting that I own, for some strange reason, who is also extremely nice. But I digress.)

The Mahogany Bay Proud Arabian Stallion went through several different markings variations – beginning with two neatly airbrushed short hind socks on the earliest *Witez II models, and ending with four stockings that were sometimes rather… undefined. 

That was nothing unique to the Proud Arabian Stallion, though. Most leg markings in the 1970s were pretty darn fuzzy. And variable. Oh, so variable.

I’m assuming the new guy is from the ca. 1974/1975 era, because he still has the neatly airbrushed hind socks typical of the *Witez II. Some Mahogany Bay Proud Arabian Stallions still rocked those socks even after they started adding front stockings to the paint job later on in the 1970s. 

I am assuming that all they did at the factory was instruct the painters to add some front stockings to the original paint job. Since it is likely they didn’t specify what they had to look like, they just went with the standard fuzzy markings of the era. 

He is in excellent shape, but he does need a little bit of cleanup before I decide what to do with him. (Have I mentioned before that I own too much stuff?)

The Charcoal Running Mare

Today definitely a “crawl into my Batcave and hide” day: lots of issues at work, the national news was terrible, it rained all day so my garden was a swampy mess, and I’m still out of sorts to find out that Neal Adams died on my birthday. 

And yes, I am very familiar with that auction lot on eBay with the three probable Chicago-era Test Colors in it. In fact, I saw it a few minutes after it got listed and momentarily panicked as I searched (in vain) for a Buy It Now button!

Heck, I’d be happy buying everything in the lot except the Fighters and the Black Yellow Mount, but that’s not going to happen, so I’m just going to watch it like everyone else and wonder just how high it’s going to go. (Those Black Pinto Western Horses are Matte – kind of a rare variation, and one I’ve been looking for.)

I hadn’t expected it to hit $3000 this early in the game, but the market is insane right now. I wish it wasn’t so, but this is where we are. Lucky for the seller, though! 

Because you asked for it, here’s the Charcoal Running Mare with her now-matching foal:

The Mare is slightly semi-gloss/satin, and the Foal is very matte, but I am quite pleased how well they otherwise match!

Of the Mare, she’s nice but nothing remarkable by today’s standards. She’s also something that I probably overpaid for: I think you can get a comparably nice one today for about the same amount of money.

In my defense, I was a junior high school horse girl and history dork who was very excited at the prospect of getting an old and rare variation of a Breyer that was discontinued years before I even knew Breyers existed. 

Our choices of molds and colors were also significantly more limited than they are now. At that point, the only color I had ever seen the Running Mare in was the #124 Bay. A Charcoal variation of Smoke seemed so exotic!

I also bought her sight unseen. That’s just how we rolled back then. Most of the time things turned out… fine. Or at least not terrible. Live showing wasn’t as big a deal back then, and even models with obvious flaws – and sometimes, broken limbs! – could compete. 

A model in better condition was always better, yes, but finding old models of any sort was difficult enough. You made do with what you could find, and what you could afford. A couple of small rubs and rough seams? Still LSQ!

I can’t recall if I ever did live show her back in the 1980s. Collectability wasn’t its own separate category in the 1980s outside of Collector’s Classes. They were pretty similar to the Collector’s Classes at BreyerFest Open Show now, except that most collectors back in the 1980s worked on presenting a well-rounded collection, rather than organizing it around a theme or concept.  

Variations on a Theme

My Phineas arrived today and he’s… nicer than I expected! Definitely not as weird or goofy as I thought it would be. I still think they need to work on the technique a bit more before they try to issue it more regularly, but they seem to be heading in the right direction.

But let’s talk about another new arrival that I am much more excited about: my Charcoal Running Foal!

He came in a box lot of models of similar age, condition, quality and rarity, with that final factor being in the “not very” category. But everything else about them was superb: I really couldn’t have asked for a better group of vintage “commons” to buy, except for the price. (Not expensive, but you know I am also very cheap. Cheaper is always better!)

As I told you a little while back, I’ve been obsessing over the Running Mare and Foal, so when I saw this stunner in a box lot, I was smitten. One of my first in-hobby purchases was a Charcoal variation of the Smoke Running Mare, so finding a matching Foal for her has been on the backburner for a very long time. 

This was the first one I’ve seen that I seriously considered buying. Running Mares and Foals, like the Family Arabians, were primarily purchased as toys, not as Decorative pieces. Finding them in acceptable condition is a challenge, to say the least! 

Other than a minor (factory?) paint flaw on one hoof, this fellow is perfect. His color is rich and dark, and in spite of what the photograph says, his pinking isn’t faded or pale either. I just adore him! 

The rest of the lot was pretty awesome, too, but whether I keep them or not depends on me making some hard decisions: do I upgrade, or do I keep old favorites because they are old favorites? 

I’ll be pretty busy for the next month or so, so I might be able to kick those decisions down the road a little bit, or at least until the threat of BreyerFest looms.

He’s So Fine

He’s not in my hot hands just yet, but he’s been paid for and shipped, so I think it’s safe to share my latest acquisition:

Isn’t he beautiful? I mean, I love my original #32 Gray Appaloosa with the superfine speckling, and I had vowed to avoid the sinking deathtrap of variations this vintage release has to offer, because I don’t have room enough or money enough to deal with it. 

So while I would often take a look at them for research purposes, or just admire them for aesthetic reasons, I never had the desire to purchase any of them.  

But when I saw him on eBay early Wednesday morning, I just had to have him. For Heaven’s sake, he’s so fine he even has eyepinking, something you only occasionally see on early examples of this mold!

(The last time I found a Fighter with eyepinking I was pretty much obligated to sell him to someone at cost, but that’s a story I’d rather not revisit.)

I am also pleased with his similarity to early promotional photographs of the Appaloosa Fighter, like this one from a ca. 1961 Red Bird Sales flier:

He doesn’t have the black mane and tail that’s even harder to find than the eyepinking, but that’s a very minor complaint. To be honest, I haven’t even seen an Appaloosa Fighter with a genuinely black mane and tail in person. I’m not sure they were ever a legitimate production variation to begin with, and I’m willing to chalk the few that do show up as just random Oddities, Tests, Samples, or examples with darker-than-average gray manes and tails. 

I paid more than I normally would for this guy, which did stress me out a little bit because you know I’m all about getting the deals. But for the moment, I have more money than time to devote to hobby pursuits, so I’ve been trying to persuade myself that I shouldn’t feel guilty for spending what’s really just a little bit extra. 

He is Vintage, awesome, and almost completely different from my existing Appaloosa Fighter. A little bit of guilt is better than the regret of not getting him at all, right? 

Unless I happen to find another distinctive and/or attractive variation in immaculate condition for cheap, I don’t foresee my #32 Appaloosa Fighting Stallion collection getting any bigger, though.  

(Yes, I am aware of the changes announced for this year’s Special Run lines, and I have opinions I will express next time. The complicating factor here is that a lot of you are probably not going to like what I have to say.)

The Test Subject

While I’ve had my share of fabulous Internet finds, the thrill of actually acquiring one still hasn’t faded after all these years. But it doesn’t feel entirely real until it arrives at your front door:

Initially I thought he was one of that class of models where a production color has been altered in some way, usually with the addition (or more rarely, the absence of) an additional layer of factory paint. You see them every once and a while – Chestnuts turned into Bays, Palominos turned into Buckskins.

One of the more recent Special Runs of this type was Koh-I-Noor, a 2018 Web Special on the Totilas mold that was created from leftover pieces from the 2017 Christmas Horse Winter Wonderland.

There are lots of Test Colors of this type that were created in the 1970s and early 1980s, presumably by employees. I also suspect that the small number of Production Run models that were issued in both Palomino and Bay probably had some flawed Palominos turned into Bays, though I’d classify those more as oddities or variations than actual Test Colors. 

So when I bought this Five-Gaiter, I assumed he was one of that subcategory of models, presumably a Sorrel with added black points (among other things). Even his braids are white and red, just like a typical #52 Sorrel Five-Gaiter.

No, this dude is way weirder than that, and I’m not just referring to the arbitrarily added chain reins. He has a masked blaze – like several Five-Gaiter releases in the late 1980s and early 1990s, such as Wing Commander – and his color definitely has yellow undertones you don’t see in your average vintage Breyer Sorrel. He also has tri-colored eyes similar to the lizard-like “bi-eyes” that were experimented with in 1995, though more neatly rendered. 

You know who he most reminds me of, though? Releases like the Half-Year Shams in the early 1990s, including the infamous “Green Bay” Sham from the #3163 Arabian Stallion and Foal Gift Set. He has the same gray overspray that’s meant to add depth and shading to the base color, but just turns the entire model a weird muddled shade of greenish-gray, instead.

It wouldn’t surprise me if this guy was simply a model that wasn’t so much designed, but experimented upon. In other words, he’s not a Test Color, but a Test Subject. 

And as such, so much more fascinating to me than fancier, more modern Test Colors. 

Chestnut Clydesdale Foals

I’m in a weird place right now: everything I want to talk about is in transit, unopened, unfinished or unordered. (But the Mystery Five-Gaiter is currently “out for delivery”!)

So let’s talk about something that everybody – or almost everybody – has, or has had in their collection at some point: the #84 Chestnut Clydesdale Foal! As you may remember, this particularly fine filly came out of that “Dirty Pony” lot I bought last Winter, and other than a bit of yellowing is in beautiful condition otherwise. The yellowing has not improved much since then, but that’s because some of the sales ponies took precedence: 

(My apologies for the quality of the photograph: my “studio” is currently dismantled.)

The #84 Clydesdale Foal was in production for over twenty years – from 1969-ish through 1989. As for the “-ish” part, as I’ve mentioned before, Breyer has never strictly adhered to January as the official release dates for new molds or new colors, and that was especially the case in the late 1960s, when Breyer first began to directly court the hobbyist market. 

(I remember how happy I was to get the Classic Andalusian Family for Christmas in 1978, a whole month before they hit the stores! I was quite chuffed at my already-budding hobby acumen.)

As with any model released for any length of time, the Chestnut Clydesdale Foal has come in its share of variations, veering from the Very Chestnut to Almost Bay. It also comes in a Chalky variation (one of the easier Chalkies to find, in fact) and early examples can also come with the large Blue Ribbon Sticker. For completists, there’s the #8384 Clydesdale Mare and Foal Set, too, with not one but two different versions (with metal clasps, or Velcro fasteners) of those Kelly Green Felt Blankets we all know and love.

The Clydesdale Foal has come in a number of uncommon or flat-out rare releases – like the Silver Filigree BreyerFest Diorama Prize Quicksilver, the 1998 Tour Raffle Model Captain in Gloss Charcoal, the 2009 BreyerWest Delano, the 2009 Fun Foals in Bay and Chestnut Roan, and the surprisingly difficult to find 1980 release of the Dapple Gray – but alas, I own none of these, nor am I likely to. 

I do have most of the variations of the Chestnut, so I have that going for me, at least. And whatever this girl turns out to be.

Incidentally, I would like to inform you that the Five-Gaiter just arrived and all I can say for now is that he’s definitely Original Finish. And I have so many questions. 

But more on him next time, after a good afternoon’s sleep.

Small Disappointments

Something short today: I have to switch back over to a daytime schedule for a couple of weeks, and I’m trying to adjust my sleep patterns back to something closer to normal this weekend. (I’m not keen on this development, but I’ve been told – and pinkie-sworn – that this is only temporary. If not, lengthy discussions will be had with HR.)

The last official BreyerFest box has arrived – the swag – and I opened it the day I got it (really!) hoping for an extra magnet, but my hopes were in vain. Everything else was present and accounted for – including the “Team Matte” and “Team Glossy” magnets I ordered – but an extra, undamaged freebie magnet was not there. 

I should be happy that I even got one at all, but still. Just another small disappointment in the series of small disappointments that was this year’s BreyerFest. 

I have also decided that if I am lucky enough to be able to participate in the Leftovers Sale, I am not going to be picky about what available, and just get whatever I can get. I can worry about the possibility of duplicates later, and as necessary. 

It’s time to move on from all of this and look forward something else. Anything else: read some books, finish some quilts, and tinker with the handful of customs I have littering my office…

For instance, I have been having some particular fun sorting out my mostly minor issues with the Standing Stock Horse Foal. I say mostly minor, because Hess was a better sculptor than most hobbyists give him credit for, especially when it comes to Stock breeds, and many of the faults were largely due to the limitations of the medium. 

But to gently shift ourselves back to history mode, here’s a photo of one of the lesser-known surprise variations from the late 1990s, back when Reeves was toying with the idea of tossing scarce and intentional variations in with the Regular Run merchandise being shipped to stores:

The Gloss Black Proud Arabian Foal and Solid Bay Huckleberry Bey are the better-known examples from this program, but the four-sock variation of the Blue Roan #735 Paso Fino, on the El Pastor mold, is a more affordable piece. I lucked into mine on eBay in 2003 for not much above the original issue price, presumably because he was neither an Arabian nor Glossy. 

They’ve since repeated this program in slightly different forms, on releases like the Glossy Solid Bay Giselle and Gilen set GG Valentine and Heartbreaker. Although the initial prices for the Glossy sets were a little crazy, once it was determined that the Glosses were a (more or less) one in six variation, the prices stabilized somewhat. 

Perhaps Reeves can use this example as a way forward with future BreyerFest Surprises, announced or otherwise.

For the Records

It’s old news by now, but still worth noting and recording here, for posterity’s sake:

• Rainbow Leopard Appaloosa with Blue Interference: 700 Matte, 325 Glossy
• Flaxen Liver Chestnut Roan: 900 Matte, 325 Glossy
• Palomino Pintaloosa: 975 Matte, 325 Glossy
• Sable Champagne Minimal Splash Pinto: 800 Matte, 325 Glossy
• Bay Maximum Sabino: 1000 Matte, 325 Glossy

I am not understanding the amount of antagonism some hobbyists are still having about the Flaxen Liver Chestnut Roan. It’s like he’s got Khemosabi-level cooties or something. We can’t all make money: sell it at cost and move on with your life. That’s what I did with the Surprises I received that unimpressed me. 

As for not being able to cash in on the current collectibles craziness? (Looks at a garage full of sales items I’ve been unable to list, because a 36-hour day hasn’t been invented yet.) You get used to it, eventually.

Speaking of out-of-control prices, breakdowns for the Surprises were also released today. Per their blog, there were three different 50/50 Splits this year: Seurat, who was the Matte/Gloss; Peche Merle was 50/50 Bay/Buckskin; and Tasilli was 50/50 Marwari/Not. 

All of the Metallic Decorators were issued in 200-piece quantities; with the exception of the Pollock, they were pieces added to (and not taken from) their original announced runs. Anyway, the full details:

• Uffington: 200 Holographic Silver, 1800 Cremello
• Peche Merle: 950 Buckskin, 950 Bay
• Gran Cavallo: 200 Blue/Purple Colorshift, 1800 Liver Chestnut Sabino
• Seurat: 1000 Matte, 1000 Glossy
• Knossos: 200 Gold, 1000 Brindle Piebald
• Tasilli: 1000 Barb, 1000 Marwari 
• Pollock: 200 Gold with Rainbow spots, 1400 Rainbow with Gold spots
• Ansel: 200 Metallic Blue, 2000 Blue Roan

Interesting that they’re officially calling the “Mop Top” version of the Marwari a Barb: duly noted. 

The Buckskin Peche Merle shouldn’t be too hard to find on the secondary, so that’s good for me. 

As for the others, I don’t think the announced quantities will affect their prices too much in the short term. The Glossy Seurats will be even more difficult to attain than the Glossy Thorns were, because New Mold + Glossy; and I am already seeing people trying to use the piece quantities to justify their list prices for the variants. 

But this will change with time; as someone pointed out in the comments a post or two below, the prices for the 2020 BreyerFest Special Runs have fallen back down to issue price, or at least only a modest markup. I am hoping once the next “new hotness” comes along, a Glossy Seurat might become a reality. The Variants will probably hover somewhere above the price for the Surprise Glosses, but not quite the stratospheric prices the first few brought. 

As for possibly scoring another variant, that will depend on what’s available at the “Leftovers” Sale in September, and whether my schedule is compatible with me participating. 

(Still not entirely sure; all I know is that this Saturday will be my only day off from now until Labor Day weekend. Oy!)

Incidentally, I’m a little more optimistic that there will still be some variants to be had. The fact that there seems to be a lot of variants already “out there” is more a matter of confirmation bias than anything else: people are more likely to post pictures of their variants than their boring (in comparison) as-advertised Special Runs. 

That being said, I doubt lightning will strike twice here. Best not to think too much about it. 

Cornflakes

I’m somewhat short on time today, so here’s a picture of that fascinating Dapple Gray Old Timer variation with the Cornflake Dappling from the Dirty Pony Lot:

Large, irregular dappling, also known as “cornflake” dappling, is a variation that randomly occurs on resist or splatter Dapple Grays, primarily in the 1970s. It’s most commonly seen on the Proud Arabians, but is occasionally spotted (no pun intended) on other models that sported this style of dappling, like the #205 Old Timer.

While the #123 Dark Dapple Gray Running Mare and #133 Running Foal did have large dapples from their release starting in ca. 1962 onward, those dapples were restricted to their hips in a paint job that was uniquely their own during their 10+ year production run. 

I once saw – and almost purchased – a striking Dappled Smoke Running Mare from the 1987 Sears Wishbook “Graceful Mare and Foal Set” with cornflake dappling, at BreyerFest several years back. 

The fact that it does pop up so sporadically like that makes me assume it is either a truly random phenomenon and not something intentional (as so many early Breyer painting peculiarities were) or perhaps the handiwork of a particular but now-unidentifiable production worker at the factory.

Off to find an unoccupied window to sun him in! 

The Nuisance

This Adios doesn’t look like much at first glance, but it was kind of a big deal for me – but more as a nuisance and a lingering bother at the back of my head than an actual grail:

He has no USA mold mark, which makes him a 1969 or early 1970 release. Although there are subtle differences from Adioses that came after – the color on the earlier examples seem a little redder and flatter than slightly later ones, with more noticeable shading in the face and the genitals – the absence of the mold mark is the only significant difference.

And for me, it was a variation that I could never manage to score, ever. I’ve owned a lot of Adioses over the years; the area I live in used to be home to several Standardbred farms, and there used to be harness racing just up the road at the Eastern Michigan State Fairgrounds. Seeing campers with sulkies strapped to their roofs or being pulled on trailers were a very common sight during my childhood.

In short, I find a lot of Adioses. I thought finding this variation would be easy. 

But most of them are either later examples or in, shall we say, unsuitable condition. My efforts to shortcut the process and buy an example with a Blue Ribbon Sticker didn’t pan out as expected, either: while I have excellent examples of both the Adios and Yellow Mount with stickers, both have the USA mold mark. 

This one came up on eBay a couple of weeks ago, with a very clear photo showing its obvious lack of said mark. So in spite of my spending moratorium, he had to come home to me to (finally) put that nagging nuisance to rest. 

While the Adios without the USA mark is not particularly rare variation overall – he was a pretty popular fellow upon his release ca. 1969, and sold briskly – his mold mark is something that only Breyer History nerds like me, and a not insignificant portion of you, care about. 

It’s not something that is usually noted upon in online listings. Exceptions are ironically made by sellers unfamiliar with Breyers in general, who tend to take pictures of the mold mark to prove to us what we already know (that it’s a Breyer!) not realizing it also tells us other, sometimes more important things (that he’s old!) 

Anyway, he’s neat and he’s sticking around, unless a mint condition one with a Blue Ribbon Sticker happens to show up at the right place, the right time, and at the right price.

Finished Footings

I had a few moments to spare Saturday and stopped by my local hobby shop to nominally* check out the fuss about the new Stablemates stuff, and it was absolutely bonkers in there. The parking lot was full, the phone was ringing off the hook, staff was scurrying everywhere, and there was an actual line at the checkout.  

(*I say nominally, because there was a beautifully shaded Sable Island Horse there, and I couldn’t just leave her behind, you know? Damn you and your beautiful Bay paint jobs, Breyer!) 

I do not know what’s going on with all of the delays at Reeves – especially the Black Friday shipments, and the notifications for the Space Bears – but if the situation in New Jersey is anything like it is in Michigan, it’s probably a combination of being overwhelmed with holiday orders, being short staffed because of the pandemic, and an infrastructure being pushed beyond its current capacity. 

I know I’ve been feeling pretty overwhelmed lately and pushed above and beyond my personal capacities. I hope to get caught up a bit this week, but I am trying to not be overly optimistic. Heck, I’ll just be happy getting my office navigable again and all my sales stuff tagged, bagged and put into storage. 

All this mental and physical clutter is making me claustrophobic, and I hate that feeling.

Here’s an example of some of the clutter I have to deal with. It’s another one of those models from that lot I bought a while back that had such an assortment of lovelies:

Now, I have a lot of #87 Buckskin Mustangs, including a magnificently shaded early example with eyewhites who makes me gasp every time I take him off the shelf. I don’t have a Chalky one yet, but that’s because they get snapped up pretty quickly on the hope that it might be not just a Chalky, but a painted over Decorator too.

What’s making me hesitate putting this fellow on the sales list is his footings:

Painted footings are a relatively recent development. Unless a hoof was upraised or otherwise visually exposed, hoof bottoms on models from the 1950s through most of the 1980s were left unfinished. 

First, there were the technical issues: aside from dealing with overspray, where do you put a model with wet feet to dry? It only takes the paint about seven seconds to dry, but that’s several seconds that could be used to paint the next model.

Second, there were practical considerations: as toys and display pieces, hoof bottoms were simply considered the point of contact between the model and the floor or shelf. “Finishing” them in any way would just make the inevitable rubs and scuffs even more visible.

Usually when I see a vintage model with finished footings, it raises a red flag to me: this model might have been repainted or significantly touched up. 

In the case of this Mustang, the paint not only appears to be authentic, but there’s also light factory overspray on his belly where you’d expect it to be. It is actually quite noticeable in person but, you know, my photograph skills could be better.

So here I am, trying to convince myself I don’t need another Buckskin Mustang…

More Models, More Problems

Because you asked for it, here’s another unexpected treat from the collection I bought a while back:

I knew there was a Traditional Man o’ War in the lot; I didn’t realize until I unpacked it that it also happened to have a Blue Ribbon Sticker. 

And since I didn’t (yet) have a Traditional Man o’ War with the “large” version of the Blue Ribbon Sticker, he has to stay. As I stated previously, Traditional Man o’ Wars are one of the few molds that get a pass on my “no more variations” rule. 

This fellow doesn’t necessarily provide me any more data than my previous 15+ Traditional Man o’ Wars do – other than provide additional confirmation that the airbrushed gray hooves variation was concurrent with at least part of the “Big Sticker” era (1969-1970). There is no USA on this pretty boy, so he’s likely a 1969 or early 1970 release.

His color is also gorgeous in person, so there’s that, too. (He does need a bit of cleaning up, though. Whenever I can find the time.)

But seriously, after this weekend’s online escapades (in addition to my Breyer Black Friday purchases, I also bought another Old Timer variation on eBay) I really have to keep new models to a minimum for the rest of the year. The collection is long overdue for a reorganization, and more models at this point will just mean more problems, you know?

(With a possible exemption for the forthcoming Winter Web Animal that everyone thinks is a Bear. Long story: basically the Bear and Cub mold also get a pass from me.)

This does not mean a big sale is forthcoming: I have also been asked by a good neighbor to help her downsize. Once I’m cleaned up here to my satisfaction (all sales/duplicates separated, toted and put into storage), a big chunk of my “spare” time for at least a few months going forward will be spent occupied with this task. 

That means most of my model sales stuff will probably packed away until early Spring, along with my uncertainties about BreyerFest, the flea market season, and pretty much everything else. 

Half Measures

The weather finally turned gray and dreary, so I went out to the local Salvation Army Store and bought several cuts of vintage Hawaiian fabric from the 1970s. About 15 yards total?

They are colorful and vibrant and full of possibilities, but at the moment I have no idea what I am going to do with any of it, other than reserving at least one piece of it as a future live show tablecover.

(And if they ever have a Hawaiian or South Seas-inspired BreyerFest, I am all set!)

It was also a bit of a consolation prize, since I missed some fabulous high-end Mid-Century Modern furniture in the same store literally by minutes. There’s actually quite a bit to be found in the Metro Detroit area, but this was (a) an entire matched suite and (b) at Salvation Army prices.

Sigh. Anyway. Back to horse stuff.

Here’s another item from the collection I recently purchased that included that fabulous Buckskin Indian Pony: a partially Chalky #62 Saddlebred Weanling!

It’s difficult to capture in the photograph, but in person you can definitely see that the plastic is only Chalky in spots, with no rhyme or reason for the location of said spots. Her blaze, for instance, is half-Chalky, half-not!

Because high-quality translucent white Cellulose Acetate was in short supply in the early- to mid-1970s, it wouldn’t surprise me if Breyer initially tried to salvage some of their culls contaminated with bits of colored regrind with this technique. 

Tried, and then quickly abandoned, because I could imagine how much of a pain in the butt that would be for painters to do these random touch-ups. It’s much easier to just give them all a thick, solid basecoat – whether it was molded out of solid green plastic, or just flecked with regrind – and call it a day. 

When I bought this collection, I didn’t think of it as anything more than a really nice lot of models in really nice condition, and I was happy with that. But the more I look into it, the more I wonder.  

One thing I do know for certain is that I am definitely not going to go down the rabbit hole of Saddlebred Weanling variations. Different socks, different blazes, different shades of Chestnut – been there, done that! I’ll stick to Traditional Man o’ Wars and #48 Black Morgans, thanks.