Tossed In, Sande's Ohio Plastic

Sande shared with me the story of Tossed In (what a name!), a model that she had in the 1990s. Interestingly enough, this was not a Breyer Western Horse, it was an imitation done by Ohio Plastics. As you can tell from the first photo below, he shares some of the same damage features that mine does. He was also an oozie.

Tossed In came in a lot of horses that Sande bought in 1990. His owner had mistaken the deterioration for dirt and run him through the dishwasher! Placing him in a plastic bag and stashing him in the utility room, Sande later came to realize that she had an oozie on her hands.

Luckily she took him to a show where he won the Most Deformed class - I say luckily because this is the only photo she has of poor Tossed in!

Sande sent me a photo of two more Ohio Plastics Western Horses that have passed through her hands (she still has the one on the left.) Quite the contrast - these are beautiful and make poor ol' Tossed In's demise even sadder.

I found Sandy's story fascinating for a couple of reasons. One, the model was also oozing, like Susan's are. Two, it shows similar deterioration patterns (beginning at the junction of the legs with the body).  3) It is not a chalky blackfoot palomino. But most intriguing to me, 4) we now have evidence of a non-Breyer deteriorating in a similar manner.

This begs the question, are there any models from other manufacturers doing the same thing? Lidos? Hartlands?

 My Hartland Horse Over Clock is probably not chalky nor is it palomino, but it does have the jet back hooves.

I see no deterioration, and when I asked Sande, she saw none in her Hartlands. Susan shared similar news about her Hartland Western Horse.

Just because there are none among the three of us, though, does not mean that there are none at all. I am going to have to continue to dig some more.

More Pieces of the Puzzle

(Continuing the study of some mysterious Western Horses and their unusual "dry" deterioration.)

Sande suggested that I speak with Susan Tank as she was pretty sure that Susan had a piece just like ours, an early chalky blackfoot palomino Western Horse that was showing signs of crumbling and breaking up. Susan and I are friends on Facebook, so I sent her a message right away. And like Sande, Susan was gracious enough to chat with me and then gave permission to post her pictures here on the blog.

Susan's HOC (Horse Over Clock) is showing a similar deterioration to Sande's and mine.

 Note that it is where the legs come out of the body, again just like the other two.

Sadly, Susan discovered that the rest of the HOC was now showing deterioration as well,

  damage that had not been there when she'd last closely examined the HOC.

The same hard bumps, white substance, and then a surprise.

The HOC was also oozing! That is not what Sande's and mine are doing.

Susan has one hundred Western Horses or so, many which are clocks. She then decided to check another clock which was paired with a blackfoot chalky palomino. This one was a HBC. (Horse Beside Clock.)

 When I first took a look at the photos of the HBC, I thought it looked as though it was okay.

I saw no deterioration where the legs joined the body, white spots, or otherwise.

Sadly, though, close ups showed that this model, too, was affected.

And, it was beginning in the same place as mine, Sande's, and Susan's HOC.

The start of the deterioration process was also found on a front leg. Like the HOC, the HBC was oozing, too.

So, instead of solving the puzzle, I found more puzzle pieces that I cannot yet fit in. Why are Susan's models also oozing? Does it have anything to do with the fact that they are clock horses? But Sande's is a lamp horse and it's not oozing. Is it environment? None of the four models are packed away in boxes; all are on display in one way or another. And why just some of the chalky blackfoot palominos, not all?  Sande and Susan have large collections of Western Horses, and this has not happened to them. What is the difference?

Instead of coming up with answers, I now have more to think about.