BreyerFest: The Indian Pony!

Breyer's Indian Pony mold, sculpted by Chris Hess in 1970, is one of my top five favorite molds. There are 31 Indian Ponies in my collection (and that doesn't include the six Stablemates.)

The buckskin Indian Pony with warpaint was my very first Indian Pony. I named her Miss Windy Warpaint. (Hey, I was a kid!)  

She is such an early piece that her mane has hand painted tendrils - the arrows point to some of them.

I photo showed her in the early 1970s and did especially well in costume classes.

Those feathers are from my parakeet, Buttons. When he molted, I'd collect some of the feathers and save them in a box. 

Then, using some embroidery floss (I was sewing even way back then) I'd make costumes for Windy and for my black Appaloosa Running Stallion, Tribal Dancer.

Nothing was researched for authenticity (there was no internet then) just feathers, embroidery floss, and my imagination. And by golly, she even won some championships! (How far the model horse hobby has come since those 1970s photo shows!)

What with loving this mold so much, it was a no brainer that I'd want Can't Hold Us Down, the Indian Pony in a pretty brindled pinto offered at BreyerFest 2024.

There were two variations of the brindling pattern offered.

The dark brown version (which I got), and then a lighter one, called white by Breyer but really a silvery grey color.

Honestly, I'd rather not have the brindling, but hey, it's the Indian Pony, so I wanted both versions. (That's a collector's mind working there, for ya!)

So, when Breyer held the Second Chance Sale, I ordered another Can't Hold Us Down.

And got another dark brown brindle.

I was a little disappointed, but I had known that there was a good chance I'd get a duplicate and not the silver brindle.

Sometimes you will find some significant variations among runs,

 but aside from their blazes, these two are twinsies.

I might sell or trade one of them, but for the moment, I don't mind having two. After all, you can't have enough Indian Ponies, right? 

Big or small!

Conga Complete!

Thanks to two kind blog readers, my Stablemate Indian Pony conga is complete! I'd written a note that I was looking for the two I did not have, both from this year's Tractor Supply's offerings, and AJG and DD each contacted me and offered to send me the two missing models! Thanks so much, ladies!

DD sent me the Indian Pony from the TSC Colorful Collection Gift Set.

That mold has downsized from Traditional scale to Stablemate scale so well.

And then AJG offered me the Indian Pony mare from the Horse Foal Surprise - Elegant Pastures set.

 

At this point I realized that I had better label the two models quickly or I'd be getting them mixed up as they are very similarly painted.

AJG also tucked in the foal that came with the set - what a nice surprise! Thanks!

Now with labels identifying them strung through their tails, here is a comparison of the two models. The Colorful Collection Indian Pony is on the left and the Horse Foal Surprise is on the right.

The Horse Foal Surprise piece is a little darker than the other (the lighting makes it look otherwise here),

and there are some differences that you have to look closely to notice (like the white spot on the Colorful Collection mare's backside.

I am a little surprised that they are so close in coloring, and I suspect that they are actually the same paint job that was distributed between the two sets. (Which doesn't bother me at all.)

Here's my complete conga, but I still have one more piece to add.

The custom of Abby that BE made me!

Thanks, ladies! The Indian Pony has been one of my top five favorite molds ever since I got the buckskin with warpaint back in 1970. My Traditional Conga is now at 29 pieces; maybe my stablemate conga will get to that size someday.

The first give away of the year will be posted tomorrow. Stay 'tooned!

Woodstock Dropped!

Coupled with an explanation that the fourth Vintage Club piece has been delayed until next month,  Breyer dropped Woodstock, a Collectors Club Special Run yesterday.

Breyer describes her as a dark woodgrain and there is a bonus mini-me included with her!

The Indian Pony is one of my favorite molds (she's in the top five along with the Semi Rearing Mustang and the Five Gaiter) so I ordered mine as soon as I read the email. I also sent Liz a heads up just in case she was busy at work and had not seen Breyer's email.

Miss Windy Warpaint (okay, so I was 12 when I named her in 1970...) was one of my first Breyers and she is also one of the earliest Indian Ponies manufactured.

Check out her hand painted mane tendrils. She is a favorite not only in my conga of 28 Indian Ponies, but in my entire collection as well.

Thanks to my sister Jenny, I had a birthday gift card that I used to purchase Woodstock and I am looking forward to receiving her in the next week or so.

CCA Indian Pony

 I can't believe I forgot to blog about this lovey girl!

She's the CCA glossy 70th Anniversary Gambler's Choice.

I wanted her the most, but would've been happy with any of them except the chase piece.

So guess which one I got? Yep, the chase piece!

I was able to work out a trade with Liz for this piece.

The Indian Pony is probably my all-time favorite Breyer mold.

There is just something sweet and calm about her - she's a horse I'd like to ride.

I'm happy to set her on the shelf next to her non-glossed regular run piece.

Shrunken Down & Sold Out

 Wow! The Breyer Christmas Clydesdales sold out in under ten minutes!

And as you might imagine, there are some unhappy collectors. Unsold pieces were to be offered to all, not just Collectors Club members, this afternoon at 2:00 EST, so those folks, plus the Collectors Club members who didn't get one before they sold out, are feeling frustrated.

Some have expressed surprise that a "shrunken down vintage mold" proved to be so popular. I can't speak for everyone, but for me, when I see my old favorites, favorites who have been with me since childhood, in a tinier version, I fall in love and head to PayPal.

That love of the mini vintage models was enough to make me spring for a case of blind bag Stablemates last year. Along with a woodgrain Clydesdale,

there was a glossy charcoal Fighting Stallion being offered,

and the Indian Pony in vintage pinto. 

But there was one more piece I wanted. I bought that entire case of 24 hoping to get the decorator Indian Pony. The odds weren't in my favor - there was 1 Indian Pony in every 12 cases. (Or, 1 in every 288 blind bags.) 

To my surprise, the first package I opened contained her. (I could not believe my luck!)

There is a HUGE market for Stablemates that are the tiny version of vintage molds. So when Breyer offered a limited amount of vintage mold Stablemate models, models that are in decorator colors, it is no wonder they sold out almost immediately.

I think we will see more mini versions of vintage molds going forward. And I can't wait.

Midwest Model Mania: Shopping!

If seeing your friends is the very best thing about a live show, then shopping at shows is the next best thing - at least, in my opinion. But believe it or not, I didn't buy a single thing at Midwest Model Mania!

That doesn't mean I didn't come home with new models, though. In the weeks before the show I did some trading of Horsiemama merchandise with folks who were also going to be at the show. We brought our trades with us and then handed them off there. (Always good to save on postage!)

The Indian Pony is one of my favorite molds, and usually I already have those that I find at shows, antique malls, or flea markets. This matte red dun piece from the 1988 JCP English Horse Collectors set is one I did not have.

I also traded for this lovely dark bay Proud Arabian Stallion. He has an unusual textured coat and very high dark socks. 

Teresa Rogers sent Marilou a huge box of mini Hagen Renakers as a donation. Marilou used them as door prizes and I received Baby Caterpillar. He will go well with Caterpillar Pa that Kristina Lucas Francis sent me last year.

A tiny piece is missing from his propeller, but I don't mind a bit. 

Here he is with Kaleidescope to show how small he is.

I also sold quite a bit of merchandise during the show. To my surprise, the big seller was pony pads. I only had three left when the show was over. I sold a lot of haversacks, too, but I was pretty sure that that would be the case - nearly selling out of pony pads was unexpected.

With three boxes and two totes fewer than when I started, packing to come home was not quite the Jenga that it was to get to the show. 

That wraps up my coverage of Midwest Model Mania. Next up? Some of my BreyerFest models have finally arrived.

Stay 'tooned!

Lafayette: Love That Color!

There has been a lot of controversy over Lafayette's color. To be fair, the initial photos Breyer released had no text and he did look jet black in them. But, just as your teachers used to say, "Always read the directions!" 

Lewis Carroll in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

If you didn't read the text that came via email or was posted on Breyer's website when Lafayette was released, you did not realize that he was not actually jet black. Here's a cut and paste from the information from Breyer's website:

The first Collector Club special of 2021 is Lafayette! Dark and bold, this handsome American Saddlebred stallion has a shaded dapple black coat over a silver basecoat. Topped with a high gloss finish and decorated with silver & blue ribbons in his mane, Lafayette is striding confidently into the new year!

Full disclosure, this teacher didn't "read the directions," either. I was just as surprised as everyone else. But, I am thrilled with the color.

It reminds me very much of Rumbling Thunder who was  released in 1993. (My glossy charcoal Running Stallion is far more valuable than Rumbling Thunder, but Rumbling Thunder is my absolute favorite color in my Running Stallion conga.)

German Export Chinook, a 1994 special run on the beloved Indiana Pony, is also a similar color although she is very, very matte. (Mine is much darker than the one Identify Your Breyer shows. Love those variations!)

Glossy dapple grey Storm, a 2000 Sears special run, is lighter than my Lafayette, but I received one of the dark versions of Lafayette. 

The lighter colored Lafayette in this photo looks more like Storm, my Five Gaiter. (Photo by Breyer Trot and taken from Google Images.)

In 1997 Sears sold this Field Hunter in their holiday catalog. Like Rumbling Thunder, this piece is my favorite of all my Jumping Horses.

The final model I pulled from my collection to compare is the Clydesdale from the 1992 Sears holiday catalog. His color is very metallic and there are no dapples in his coat.

Lafayette lined up with the other similarly colored models. 

He's one gorgeous model, and I am so happy to have been able to get him. But you can bet that next time, this teacher will do what she always told her students to do and will READ THE DIRECTIONS before hitting that buy button!