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!

Show Prep: Readying the Party Signing Model

Last year for Happy Trails I, I spray painted a vintage black Appaloosa Running Stallion in metallic foil copper and asked everyone to sign him as a memento of the show.

 I signed him myself first

and dated him

and then asked everyone who had come to take a moment sometime during the day and add their signature or message.

He now stands with pride on the shelf with my other Running Stallions. (It's a great way to use an older model who has scuffs and dings - new life as a show memento! And in a glitzy, sparkly color, too!)

This year I wanted a Running Mare for the party signing model, but I did not have much luck finding one. (Well, I found plenty, but all of them were in good enough condition that I did not feel good about spray painting them.)

So I expanded my search, still looking for a vintage mare mold that was suitable to use.

(photo from eBay auction)

 I found this scuffed up Family Arabian Mare on eBay

(photo from eBay auction)

for a reasonable price and in bad enough condition that I had no qualms about repainting her.

 Several coats of spray paint on a nice sunny day

 And she's ready to be signed!

Another thing checked off my to-do list as I get ready for Happy Trails.