Disappearing Brand & Another Mystery

The Smoky mold was a model originally based on a horse in Will James' book, Smoky the Cow Horse. 

Photo from Identify Your Breyer.

That horse had a brand on the near shoulder which Breyer included on the mold.

Sometime after its first production, the brand disappeared. Only a small remnant of the rocker can be seen and felt.

I was curious as to when the brand disappeared and so I checked my 2003 Northern Lights to see if it had the brand or not. 

Like Sandman, it only had a faint remnant of the brand that could be seen or felt.

The 2000 Commemorative Edition still had the brand, so I'd narrowed the time frame of the removal to sometime after 2000 but before 2003. (Photo from Identify Your Breyer.)

There was one release during that time frame and that was Nevada Joe Sterling, the special run that was sold by Tractor Supply Stores in 2002.

I was able to look closely at the model in several auctions on eBay and there was no brand. That confirmed that Nevada Joe Sterling was the first release without it. (Photo from eBay auction by goebelbuyer2.)

In 2014 Breyer offered models they called "warehouse finds" that were never clearly explained and, since some had different paint jobs from the original releases, may not actually have been finds but possibly leftover whiteware that Breyer painted up to sell.

Smoky was one of the offerings, so I checked to see if he might have the brand.

No brand, but look at that near front leg - it's pointing down instead of out like it should be. (Photo from Identify Your Breyer.)

I was unable to find in-hand photos of the warehouse Smoky and am now really curious about that front leg. Is it really pointing down as Breyer's promo pictures indicate? 

If you know the answer, or even better, have one and can send me a photo of it, I'd love to hear from you. Email me at horsiemama8@gmail.com.

I'd be grateful!