Breyer's Old Timer mold is one of the few Breyers with molded on tack. There are twelve traditional-seized of those, all but one of which are traditional molds: the Pacer, Balking Mule, Quarter Horse Gelding, Poodle, Fury Prancer, Western Horse, Western Pony, Western Prancing Horse, Man O'War, Race Horse, Old Timer, and the Walking Black Angus.
There is also Hands Down, the only Stablemate with molded on tack. (Hands Down has been made as a stand alone model, not just as a Christmas ornament, which is why I am including him and not the other ornaments.)
The Old Timer has a sculpted on bridle and harness, both of which can vary even among models of the same color. And, the blinkers on this mold have to be glued on, unlike the blinkers on the Balking Mule which were actually sculpted as part of the piece.
My favorite color for this mold is the old spatter dapple grey, and I am lucky enough to have two of them.
My carpet herd piece is on the left, and one that Lisa, my daughter, found for me a few years ago is on the right. Despite being the same mold and color, the differences in their paint jobs make it easy to tell them apart.
The near side of my carpet herd piece has very light dappling - it's not faded or damaged; he's always been that way.
The harness on the carpet herd piece is dark brown while that of my newer model is black.
The basket wicker is more defined on the hat of the newer piece. (Again, that is not wear or fading on the original model. That's how it's always been.)
The newer model has beautiful pinking in his ears and on his nose. You can also distinctly see the color difference on their tack in this photo.
The hooves on my original model are much lighter than his more recent counterpart.
And he has are some huge dapples (sometimes called "cornflake" dappling due to their jagged edges.)
His belly, though, is a little darker color than his body. There is a round Breyer Molding stamp, but no USA. (I've had this guy since the late 1960s/early 1970s.)
The newer piece has a darker mane, tail, hooves, and dapples.
I would not call his dapples cornflakes as they are not quite as large and are more rounded.
Like his older friend, his belly is darker than his sides and topline. (I think he is an absolutely gorgeous color!)
He has the USA stamp, dating him to 1970 or so. (No B stamp.) I think he, too is an early piece as he is glossy and later pieces in this run were matte.
Next variation to be featured? I am not sure at this point, but most likely it will be the Old Timer in alabaster. Coming soon!
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