A Spectacular Find

Yesterday I had an appointment in Indianapolis, and when I finished, I stopped at an antique shop to poke around, just for fun. I wasn't really expecting to find much if anything. And then...

I came around a corner and stopped dead in my tracks, letting out an audible gasp at what was on display in a vendor's case. Oh, my gosh! Oh, my gosh! OH! MY! GOSH!

A Hagen Renaker Large Honora along with a Miss Pepper!  Right in front of my eyes! I leaned in closer to check the other four pieces - all were Lefton copies. Nice, but not Hagen Renaker Designer Workshop pieces like the other two. Even better, all items in the booth were on sale for 20% off! 

I snapped those two Hagen Renakers up and had them in the car as soon as I could pay for them. I felt shaky as I drove home, marveling at my unbelievable luck in finding such nice pieces.

The Honora is a Monrovia era piece and was made 1958 - 1961. 

She has the gold and black football shaped name sticker that was used about 1959 - 1963.

Her eyes are beautifully colored with white, brown, and black, and I especially like the soft mint color in her braids.

Such a beautiful, beautiful piece. No chips, breaks, or flakes on her.

I have been scouring antique shops, thrift stores, and flea markets for decades and I've found a lot of things, some of which have been good, while a few have been really good. But only two other finds in all that time have been spectacular like this one.

I'll write about the Miss Pepper and a couple of other things that accompanied Honora home with me next. (And yes, there are still some Circus Time series posts to come, too!)

More Finds!

 The Large Honora was not the only find I had the other day. This palomino Hagen Renaker Miss Pepper may not be quite as spectacular as the Large Honora, but she is still an excellent piece to find and bring home.

The photos don't show her detail very well, but she has beautiful coloring and shading.

She also has her gold and black football shaped name sticker on her back.

How often do you find Hagen Renakers with the early blue and silver Monrovia sticker?

I flipped the photo to show the sticker better. This sticker was only used on Designer Workshop pieces from 1957 - 1964.

I spied this group of cocker spaniels in a glass case full of miniatures elsewhere in the antique shop. They sure had that Hagen "Renakerish" look about them. 

Since the vendor only wanted $7 for the set of four, I took a chance on them. It turned out that they were very early Hagen Renakers.

By using Ed Alcorn's Hagen Renaker Museum site, Liz Cory helped me identify them. (Screenshot from the Hagen Renaker On-Line Museum.)

One of the puppies even has H-R stamped under it - something the factory did occasionally according to Gayle Roller's book. (Sorry for the lousy photo - that puppy is so small, and the stamp even smaller, that I could not get it in focus.)

I picked up two Nancy Drew books that Teacher Daughter Lisa had been looking for to add to her collection.

And one for me - the reason is obvious, right?!

A vintage, first printing Glen Balch book from 1959 to add to my collection of vintage horse books.

Our first dog as a married couple was an English Springer Spaniel named Duffy. We had him for 15 years and he was a wonderful family dog.

Duffy near the end of his life in 1997.

So this Enesco black and white Springer Spaniel came home with me as a result.

Even though he had been used as a souvenir for Cave City, Kentucky. (I wonder if I can get that paint off?)

Is it just me, or does this dog look like Falkor from the film, The Never Ending Story?

It's a Goebel piece, and even though the head looks too large for its body,

I brought it home to add to my (growing) collection of dogs.

Not horsey, but I bought this Indianapolis Motor Speedway hat for Lisa. She is heading to the time trials down in Indy this Saturday.

Finally, I brought home this old Napcoware planter. I loved the soft coloring and the eye detail. (Those are drops of water on her face - she'd been used as a planter and I'd been cleaning the dirt out of her when I snapped the photo.)

My sister, Leslie, and I used to call these blazes "arrowhead blazes." You can find them on many of the old Japan pieces.

How many times do we collectors go into a shop hoping to find some good pieces for our collection? And how many times do we walk out empty handed and maybe even a little frustrated? 

It only takes a day like the one I just had to keep us looking.

Great Lakes Congress: The Show! (Part Two)

After a few announcements at 8:00 AM, the show began. I had an entry in the very first class for the China/Resin division.

Windsong Sherif is my most consistent winner and my favorite china.

Tiffany Purdy was judging the OF Plastic division. She is a very knowledgable and consistent judge.

Countryside Strolling, the Honora I found in an antique shop earlier this year, won the gaited class.

You know what I think would be fun? To ask showers how many models they brought with them to show or to sell and get a count as to how many pieces are in the show hall. So much model goodness!

Liz LaRose (left) talks to Liz Cory while Lisa Esping (China/Resin judge) looks at the raffle items.

I bought something from this sales table. Can you see what caught my eye? I will send a prize to anyone who guesses it! (Put your guess in the comments.) 

Tiffany and Liz chat between classes.

I was really excited to show my BreyerFest Slainte Surprise - I'd had an idea for a breed for her and wondered what the judge would think of it.

She liked my idea well enough to pin it in 4th place! I made her a NAPI (National Appaloosa Pony).

I was really excited because that class was so big, it took up two full sized tables and a round one!

I had a trifecta with my chinas - I only brought three, and all three won their classes.

My Anything Goes entry took third.

The other entries were all about Halloween - this is Shannon Rodgers' winning entry.

And her cute felt pony took second place.

Throughout the day, Liz took photos of the classes. (She posted over 500 on the GLC Facebook page that evening!)

Sales were brisk all day long. I ended up consolidating display baskets and taking the empty ones out to the car as the show progressed. I was glad to sell so much merchandise, but now I feel a real need to get sewing and replenish all that stock that sold.

Another thing I love about the Great Lakes Congress shows is that they always end by 4:00 PM. That gives me time to drive home that same day instead of staying over for a second night.

Now I am home and doing inventory to find out what needs replacing, plus I still need to unpack my models and get them back on their shelves. When that happens, the show is well and truly over, at least for me, haha!

Don't forget - make a guess as to what I bought from that sales table. Winning guesses (yes, there can be more than one winner) will receive a prize from me!

A Lefton Cattery (And Then Some)

Remember that gasp I let out when I spied the Large Honora in a display case at an antique shop? 

I let out another one this past week when I went antiquing again and came across this sight!

Two three-tiered shelf units loaded with Persian and Siamese cats!

I started carefully examining them to see if any were Hagen Renaker cats.

There were lots of imitations (see that Sparkle imitation on the bottom right?)

but the majority were Leftons with a few other manufacturers sprinkled in.

Someone was just as avid a cat collector as many of those in the model horse hobby are.

It made me a little sad to see the collection on display and for sale. Personally, I hope my collection will be distributed among my family members first and then to friends and other hobbyists.

The cat collection was extensive and the pieces in excellent shape. Their former owner had taken good care of them.

There were no Hagen Renakers among the large pieces, 

but there was a glass display cabinet with minis in it where I spied a couple of pieces that I suspected were Hagen Renakers.

Although I am not too familiar with HR cats (or other animals, for that matter), I do know the look and feel of Hagen Renakers, and these six pieces all had that Hagen Renaker look about them. 

I was right. They aren't particularly old or valuable, but they will make nice prizes or gifts for friends.

I've thought a lot about that collection's former owner, wondering who she was and what the story is behind her lovely collection of cats. Was it hard for her to give them up? Did she wonder who would buy them and where they would end up?

I sure wish I could tell her that the pieces I bought from it are in good hands and will be taken care of and enjoyed.