Pearlies are Breyers made with a sort of pearled plastic that shimmers under the paint on the model. I only have one, a black Appaloosa lying foal. I bought him as an extra to trade or sell and realized he was a bit different from my other one in that he had a glow about him. After doing a little research, I discovered this kind of model was very hard to find and only made a short while.
A few weeks ago I found a common Clydesdale Foal at Leaping Leopard Antiques in Lafayette. The light was poor in the shop, and I actually thought I might have a chalky (another unusual plastic and type highly sought after by collectors.) It wasn't until I got it home and inspected it in good light that I realized I had a PEARLY!
See the yellow color on its face? That's not a blaze that's yellowed with age; that's the glow of a pearly. You can also see the glow around his front hooves in this photo. (Sorry about the poor quality pictures.)
My Clydesdale Foal from the 1970s on the left. He's a nice normal guy. The pearly model is on the right.
Here you can see the glow on the pearly's back on the right. Again, it's not a shine, it's a glow.
Pearlies are even harder to find than chalkies, so I am feeling quite lucky to have added one to my collection - only the second out of all the models I own!
