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! 

Surprise Shrinkies

I set my new Sandman onto the shelf next to my original Smoky and got a surprise.

Look at that size discrepancy!

It wasn't just a trick of my eyes or placement on the shelf; Sandman was quite a bit larger than Smoky.

I set Northern Lights in between them - there is clearly a trend of height differences.

Intrigued, I grabbed my seam measure and started more closely examining the three models.

Smoky's extended foreleg measures 3/8" off the ground.

Northern Light's measurement was a half inch (4/8") off the ground. (Er, shelf.)

While Sandman's was at 5/8".

My heart sank - Smoky and Northern Lights were shrinkies, models whose plastic was beginning to break down. Fortunately, neither Smoky nor Northern Lights have any of the other indications of shrinkiness - their bodies are not visibly contorting or contracting elsewhere; there is no odor and no ooziness. (Yet.)

(Kristen Wellman's blog, Model Horse Collectibility, has three excellent articles on vinegar syndrome, the more formal name of the decomposition of cellulose acetate, the plastic used to make Breyer model horses.)

I found something else interesting while examining these three pieces and am doing a little research on that. Hopefully tomorrow I will look at that discovery in my next blog entry.

Stay' tooned!

Sandman is Here

Sandman, the second offering in the 2022 Vintage Club, arrived this week. 

The Smoky mold looks gorgeous in this color.

The Smoky mold was based on an illustration by Will James, author of the book, Smoky the Cow Horse, and was sculpted by Chris Hess.

I don't care for the grey paint job on the original release, but this color is a different story.

A closer look revealed some flaws - dirt in the gloss on the near hind hoof.

 Several black spots scattered around the body.

A blob of plastic on the near ear

and another one where his tail attaches to the body.

And an odd wife spot under his tail. 

The flaws on Sandman are not nearly as bad as they were on Wite-Out (Cooper) but unlike Cooper, I did briefly consider returning Sandman and asking for a replacement. Why?

The odd bits of plastic and the paint flaws I can live with - it's the dirt that bothers me. I would hope that the models on my shelves come from a place that is clean, and that dirt on his hoof indicates otherwise. 

Something for me to think about with further releases from Breyer.