My Third R/R/H 1970s Piece

In early September after writing about Midwest Tumbleweed,  I said that I would write about my third 1970s r/r/h piece in the next blog post.

 It didn't happen. Why? Partly because The FAMulous Collectibility Show was right around the corner and that was keeping me hopping. But it was also because I could not remember her name. Her old show photos with her name on the back were tucked away in a tub in my hobby closet, and because I am under a post-op weight limit for lifting, I couldn't drag out my tubs and go through them.

Midwest Tumbleweed and What's her Name.

Yesterday as I was working on my entries for the October Great Lakes Congress show, I came across an old photo of her in my show documentation materials. And on the back was her name!

Sycamore Scoj! The memories came flooding back. She was named after the two horses down the road from our home that I cared for all through high school - Sycamore Lass and Scojeadon.

Like Midwest Tumbleweed and Pace's Hi Hopes she is showing her age, and of the three, she has the most damage to her finish. I've thought about having her touched up, but I always hesitate - those scuffs and marks are a part of her 47 year history. (Her painter was Sherry Cook who also did the other two.)

I am intrigued by the bottoms of her hooves - they're unpainted and a dark grey. (So are Midwest Tumbleweed's.) I got both pieces in 1972 or 1973, they have the USA mark (no B stamps), and are from the oil crisis era. I have often wondered just what color their plastic is.

Even as I write about Sycamore Scoj, I am tempted to strip her and see what's underneath.

But then, I look at that sweet face, the face of early hobby photo showing and fun, and I just cannot do it. Not only is she a historical piece, she's also a piece of my heart. 

Sycamore Scoj stays just as she is.

Another 1970s R/R/H

This is Midwest Tumbleweed. (Creative name, I know. I was fourteen. Haha!)

My second custom by Sherry Cook, I got her in 1971 or 1972. We did not call them customs back then; instead, we used the term "r/r/h" which meant, "repaint/remade/haired."

This mare used to win a lot for me in photo shows. Later, Beth Dickinson bought the showing rights to her and continued her successful photo show career well into the 1980s.

 She has a USA stamp and the undersides of her hooves are not painted. Nor are they the white that her "sisters" on the shelf from the same era have. The 1970s were a time when Breyer was experimenting with plastics due to the oil crisis at the time, and she reflects that. (I do not think that she is a chalky, though.)

 The mane and tail are mohair and clearly showing their age.

Remakers today would have fixed that curled eartip, but back then, most remakers just painted the pieces as they were.

Like Pace's Hi Hopes, Midwest Tumbleweed is a never-sell for me. Besides her historical value as a very early custom done by a little known artist, she represents my own early days in the hobby, when my collection was expanding and I was making new and lifelong hobby friends.

Tomorrow, meet my third 1970s custom!