A New Metlox Piece

Any day that you get a box from Nancy Falzone is a good day.

And yesterday was a very good mail day - look what she sent me!

This is the Metlox Poppytrail Turning Budweiser Clydesdale, a piece that Anheuser-Busch commissioned the Metlox company to produce.

My photos do not do it justice - the mane ribbons and bobs are beautiful and the gold accented hardware is stunning.

The piece is very large (as big as the large Metlox Drafters) and very heavy. It is the second version (indicated by the better gold detail and mane decorations) of the piece.

Nancy is known for her fabulous Hagen Renaker collection, but she has also acquired a lot of other chinas over the years. She is parting with some of those as well as some of her Hagen Renakers. (I have a palomino Roughneck and Scamper, a Lefton donkey, and an unknown Zebra coming in the next box from her.) 

Thank you, Nancy, for letting me add this beautiful boy to my collection!

Seamus

Happy Mother's Day to me! Craig gifted me with this lovely Clydesdale that was only available from Flagship dealers.

Seamus, #760246, Spring 2019 release to Flagship dealers only, Amazon, gift from Craig.

Early Clydesdale Stallion

I spied this lovely Clydesdale for sale at last month's GLC show and, after thinking about it for a few hours, went back and bought it.

Breyer Clydesdale Stallion, no muscle version, #80, 1958 - 1961, $35, Ellen Vogel/GLC, 2/29/2020

 He's the early, no-muscle version and in great shape for his age. 

The eighth bob has been reglued as has an ear tip  but that doesn't bother me one bit. There is no Breyer stamp, either, so between that and the no-muscles, that makes him a very early piece. (There are five versions of the bay Clydesdale; this is version one. Some version ones had eye whites while others, like mine, did not.)

One of my first Breyers was the bay Clydesdale Stallion with gold bobs. I named him Hercules, and he was the "strong man" of my carpet herd. A gentle giant. As a result, I have a very soft spot in my heart for these early Clydesdales.

So, I am really happy to add this piece to my collection.

Rescuing HSOs (and other things...)

I went to Indianapolis yesterday, stopping by the Romney Toy Shop and Countryside Antiques as I went. Had a couple of good finds!

 Unknown China bull ($12.50), Two Point Hartland Clydesdale with raised loop and hole mouth, beer cart (came with Clydesdale) ($20), and unknown rubber plastic drafter with French braid ($0.25.)

 I was pretty sure the Clydesdale was a Hartland, and for $20 was willing to take the risk. The drafter was the only thing I got in Romney, but he has a little French braid and at that price, I grabbed him for fun. (And maybe grandkids.)

I actually find the bull very intriguing and am hoping someone can help me identify him. I plan to sell him, but I'd still like to know what I have.

Vintage Club Blossom and Belle

The first offerings for the 2017 Vintage Club arrived last week. It's Blossom and Belle, a Clydesdale Mare and Foal set. (Photos courtesy of Identify Your Breyer site. )

 Blossom, #712208, $125/set, 500 made, Breyer Vintage Collectors Club, 1/2017.

 The pattern is from the vintage San Domingo Medicine Hat Stallion model.

 And the blankets are because the original Clydesdale Mare and Foal in chestnut came with green blankets.

This is Belle, #712208, $125/set, 500 made, Breyer Vintage Collectors Club, 1/2017.

Several collectors have noted that their blue ribbon stickers are made of shiny paper this time. Mine are, too.

Honestly, I am not a fan of the set, even though it has proven to be HIGHLY popular among collectors. And some collectors, including Sande Schneider, are concerned about the bare white plastic being glossed - that means that when the model yellows, it will be difficult to whiten them again.

Still, I am happy to welcome them to Windsong and as part of my collection.

Breyer Clydesdale Stallion

After a dry spell, September sure seems to be my month to buy horses! I found this guy at Sell It Here in Lafayette on Monday. I'd gotten some X-rays done for an upcoming doctor's appointment at St. Elizabeth East on Creasy Lane, and since I go right past the place to get home, I thought I would stop in. Bingo!

 Clydesdale Stallion, #80, semigloss, 1972-1986, no USA stamp, $20, Sell It Here, Lafayette, Indiana.

 Not having the USA stamp makes it an early piece. And I love the semi-gloss and black eartips!

I also noticed that he had unusual tail ribbons, so I compared him to Hercules, my first Clydesdale who has gold bobs and no USA stamp, and another piece with the red and white bobs but having the USA stamp.

Left to Right: USA/red bobs, new piece, Hercules.

 Close up of USA/red bobs Clydesdale's tail.

 My new piece with no USA/red bobs.

 Hercules.

One of the things I like best about collecting are the variations that you can find! And having a semigloss no USA stamp with an unusual tail ribbon Clydesdale makes me glad I went back and got this piece. I almost left it behind!

Flocked Clydesdale Gelding/Stallion/Mare

I saw this flocked piece on MH$P for a very reasonable $80 and snapped it up.

 Sears SR, 1983/1984 Clydesdale Gelding/Stallion, flocked, $80, Kelly Martin, Groton, MA, 2/2014.

There is no number for this piece. Nancy Atkinson Young's books says the 1983 version has the bit rings, so I am assuming mine is from 1983.

Hartland Knockoff Clydesdale

I found this piece at Leaping Leopard Antiques Saturday. It is a close Hartland knockoff and was a brewery souvenir just as the Hartland Two Point Clydesdale was.

 Hong Kong Toe Touch Clydesdale, $10, Leaping Leopard Antiques, June, 2-13.

New Woodgrains

I received two woodgrain Breyers to add to my collection this afternoon. I purchased them from Linda Pittman of Pennsylvania. (She's from a small town near Momence and Kankakee and a fellow Illini!)

Woodgrain Shetland Pony, 1959-1964

$80

Woodgrain Clydesdale Stallion

$90

Father's Day Web Special

(From Breyer History Diva, May, 2012)

First up is a Father’s Day Web Special that’s going live for entries starting on May 29th; from the cropped photo, it appears to be a Gloss Dapple Gray Clydesdale Stallion. Not an odd choice for a Father’s Day model, except for the fact that the Clydesdale has already had about a half dozen Regular Run and Special Run Dapple Gray releases already. One of my favorites in that category would be the 1999 Toys R Us Special Run "Shire", one of the last entries in their exclusive "Medallion" Series:

The best part about him? He’s also a variation - for some crazy reason, his gold bobs are only painted on his right side! He was part of a small batch of these Shires that showed up at a local Toys R Us with a reputation for getting oddballs.

The only significant difference between the Web Special and all of the other Dapple Gray Clydesdales that came before it is the airbrushed dappling, something that several hobbyists are already griping and sniping about in a manner they seem to think is clever or funny. (What would actually be clever: someone inventing a browser filter that automatically replaces the terms "chicken wire" or "fish scale" with other randomly chosen culinary or farming terminology, like "lima bean" or "manure spreader.")

All I hope for is that he gets dressed up with some fancifying extras, like multicolored ribbons, tricked out hooves (striping! growth rings!) sabino spotting or dark points.

That we’re getting another limited edition on the Clydesdale so soon after the Vintage Club Dandy raises an interesting question: will we be seeing a Web Special Fighting Stallion soon, too? It makes sense, economically: it wouldn’t cost all that much extra to make up a few hundred extra of a mold that’s already been prepped and dropped into the molding machine.

Shipper Boxes

(From Breyer History Diva, 2010)


It was a bit of a strange experience packing up the last few horses. I decided that a couple of my oldies had to be taken out of the rotation, and since I just so happened to have their original boxes, back into their original boxes they went. One of the boxes in question: an old illustrated Clydesdale Shipper Box:


Now there’s something you don’t see every day!

Shipper boxes were the "de facto" Breyer box prior to the introduction of the White Picture Box in the early 1970s. There were a couple of experiments prior to the White Boxes - the clear Showcase boxes, and the Touchability Boxes. (I covered Touchability Boxes in a post quite some time ago, in fact.) A few select items - like the Horse and Rider Sets, and the licensed products like Lassie and Rin Tin Tin - did come in specially designed packaging, but those were very much the exception, not the rule, prior to the 1970s.

Most Shipper Boxes were pretty plain: a brown corrugated box, with Breyer’s address printed on one side, and "From:" and "To:" spaces printed on the other side. (And yes, they were used for shipping; I’ve owned a few that made it through the postal system!) The name and model number of the item inside was usually inkstamped across the top of the box, on the paper packing tape that sealed it.

Some, but not all Shipper Boxes were illustrated. Why some early boxes - but not others - were illustrated is a mystery. Some are quite common - such as the Fighting Stallion - while others, like the Clydesdale, are rather rare. My guess is that Breyer decided early on to standardize the box sizes, and only the boxes that were designed for one specific model were allowed to retain their unique graphics. Everything else just got the standard plain shipper, with the inkstamped identification across the top.

The graphics on the early boxes are quite pleasing aesthetically; I particularly like the Poodle:


The Western Pony is nice, too:


Illustrated shippers continued to be used until quite recently, mostly for the non-equine models that couldn’t fit in any of the standard packaging schemes. Some of the graphics were nice, but others, not so much. Not quite sure what was going on with the Charolais Bull box, for example - a bad reference photo, maybe:


Illustrated Shippers were also a common feature of holiday mail-order items. The graphics on the Holiday Shippers were all over the map, too - some pleasant, some plain, and some downright weird. This Legionario Gift Set box from Sears is a fairly typical example:


Shippers are still being used today, mostly with items sold factory direct - like the Connoisseurs - or with some of the Holiday Catalog items. They’re sometimes illustrated generically with a repeating running horse (not the "Running Horse") graphic.

Shipper boxes are still a bit of an undeveloped territory as far as Breyer Box research goes - presumably because of fugitive nature: the boxes had to be literally torn open, and torn boxes didn’t make for the best storage.