Yuletide Challenge: Golden Decorators

Second Post of the Day

I was a little surprised that this prompt (Five golden uh... decorators?) was not used for December 5th since it's a take-off from the Twelve Days of Christmas song and is asking participants to show five golden decorators.

But, I am still happy to show some golden ponies from my collection and, since it's December 29 and not the 5th, I'm showing more than five!

My beautiful gold charm Running Mare.  She was produced 1963 - 1964 and is in near mint shape.

Her baby, the Running Foal, in gold charm and also produced in 1963 - 1964. 

The Modernistic Doe in matte gold. Such an unusual piece! I found it while out thrifting years ago but no longer have it in my collection. It was a novelty and I enjoyed it while I had it, but it just took up shelf space.

Only 50 of these gold charm Man O' Wars were made in a run of 1,000 in 2023. I was a stunned lucky winner when I opened the box.

In 1990, Breyer brought back the gold charm color with this Secretariat that was an early Breyer Tour Model. Peter Stone signed many of them. I sold one a while ago to a friend and kept the other.

A florentine Festive Filigree Lippizaner from 2020. I love this mold and actively collect it.

Carat from the 75th Anniversary Brilliance set in a gorgeous gold charm.

My Christmas Candy Zebra in gold stripe from 2019. I love the candy stripe colors! This was the one I received; I got the green, red and blue on the after market. 

And here is Short and Sweet, his companion piece from this year. 

There are only two more prompts to the Yuletide Challenge. I am going to miss it when it finishes - it's been fun!

Stay 'tooned!

Caught Off Guard

My Vintage Club Secretariat arrived Saturday while I was in Kalamazoo. (I'll share about that event in another post.) I was far too tired to open it last night, so I brought the box upstairs with me this morning to open before I began writing.

Like everyone else, I was hoping to get one of the 50 surprise gold charm Secretariats, a nod to the 50th anniversary of Secretariat's Triple Crown win 

as well as the gold charm Secretariat model released in 1990.

A Signing Party Special, Peter Stone signed some of them, and I had one of mine signed at BreyerFest.

I wondered if the box would have any clues as to which model was in the box, but mine said I was getting  the dark chestnut. That was fine - it was a lovely color but I still was hoping to see the glint of gold when I opened the box.

I was also realistic - the chances were slim that I would be so lucky. I lifted the lid and...

Oh, my goodness! There it was! I was very surprised.

I'm leaving him in the box for the time being, but the box is out on display with my other two gold charm Secretariats.

Thank you, Breyer!

Don't forget the give away! Details can be found in this post and I will post what the winner will receive tomorrow.

 

FAMulous: The Golden Girls!

It wouldn't be FAMulous without FAMs as some sort of award and this weekend Allison made that happen.

She lined the ladies up on boxes out in her yard and began by painting the bodies first.

You can still tell their original colors at this point - charcoal and palomino for these two FAMs.

This one is a grey Appaloosa. 

After spraying the bodies, she came back and did the heads.

There are five of them, one to go to the champion of each of the divisions.

Doesn't she look pretty in gold? Allison said that Breyer needed to release her in gold charm and I agree. 

I was working on awards this weekend, too. The box of ribbons arrived and I got all the flats sorted, bundled, and packed. The sectional and division champ ribbons and rosettes are beautiful. I'll share those tomorrow.

Stay 'tooned!

The Three Pound Stablemate

I was so excited to get a tracking number from Breyer and to hear that my 2020 Vintage Club Stablemate had been shipped at last.

I caught my breath while checking the tracking - no Stablemate weighs three pounds! Was it possible that Breyer was shipping Lafayette to me, too? I had been online when he dropped and had gotten my order in right away so it was possible. I headed over to Breyer's web site to check my account.

Lafayette still showed as unfulfilled. Hmmm. What else could have been shipped with the Stablemate? I had nothing else on order. In the past Breyer has sent me items that showed as unfulfilled so it had to be him. (Photo of Lafayette taken from Breyer web site.)

I was more than a bit disappointed when the box was delivered. It was way too small to hold a traditional sized Breyer. (See that it is marked three pounds?)

And for the record, the box weighed 3.9 ounces.

The 2020 Vintage Club Stablemate that was inside is nice and I love that it came packed in a retro box.

I actually like the box better than the model so I don't plan to open it.

Still, even including the marketing box and the shipping box, that is no three pound package. But it did give me a name idea for my new Stablemate.

Tres Fourriere. (Three pounds in French.)

The Mamas are Here!

Last spring after finding a gold charm Running Foal and then a wedgewood Running Foal just a few weeks later, I began saving my money specifically for more decorators to add to my collection.

I really am glad I did because after decades of looking for them, I just found two more!

 My foals now have their mamas! What are the chances that I would find not one, but two, decorators in great shape that I could also afford? I could not believe my good luck! (And was I ever glad that I had been saving that money on the off chance that I would find more.)

The gold charm mare is yellowed but not tarnished. The photos don't show it, but her hooves are a very pale pink.

Her ears and nose also have some faint pinking, and she has some scratches and small rubs. Still, for a piece that is fifty-five years old, she is certainly still collectible. (Hey, I'm just a bit older than her, and I have my "scratches and rubs," too!)

 This mare takes my breath away. The photos absolutely do not do her justice. Wedgewood (sometimes spelled "wedgwood") is my favorite decorator color of all.

 She has gorgeous shading - I much prefer that to other examples of the color that are a flat, solid blue.

With just some yellowing and a stray pinpoint black mark or two, she is in near mint condition.

I was collecting during Breyer's decorator era, but like many other hobbyists at the time, I wanted real horse colors on my pieces. Aside from a woodgrain Running Foal that my father bought me when I got my braces on in sixth grade, those who gifted me with ponies followed that wish for realistic colors.

Of course, if I had gotten decorators, they would have been played with like the other members of my carpet herd, and who knows how they would have fared? My woodgrain foal, still with me, is missing an ear, and if you look at the others, you can see just how well-loved they were (and they still are.)

Although these two fell into my lap unexpectedly, they also used up the money I'd put aside and saved. Now I am starting over and building up the fund again. I do have a couple of models that I will be buying, or have bought and are being shipped, but I am going to back off of purchases for a while until I have added some more funds to my model horse savings account.

2018 has been the year of the decorator for me. I need to be ready in case that luck holds!

My Second Real Decorator!

How ironic that I have looked for decorators for years and years, decades even, without success, and then I find two in the space of one month.

(Photos from eBay auction.)

I saw this gold charm Running Foal on eBay a few weeks ago and marked it for watching. As the time passed, the bidding remained low, and so I took the plunge and made a bid. I won!

 He has some black marks and a chipped eartip, but is still beautiful.

I am thrilled to add this piece to my collection. And I have to smile - it has been a very rainy spring break and I have complained a bit about that, but the old adage is true - when it rains, it pours!