70th Anniversary Stablemate Mystery Surprise

 I've had mixed success with Breyer's blind bags - while I think the monetary value of what I've gotten was definitely fair and worth it, often I was disappointed to discover that the items in my blind bag were things I already had.

Never have I done Breyer's Mystery Surprise bags - I'm not really a Stablemate collector (or so I tell myself) - but then Breyer started shrinking down some of my favorite old molds to celebrate their 70th Anniversary. 

Including the Indian Pony, one of my favorite molds of all, in the early chestnut pinto. Then reports on social media said that a second, more elusive, chase piece had been discovered  - a blue decorator Indian Pony.

(Photo from Identify Your Breyer and contributed by Triple Mountain Model Horses.)

She was very expensive on the secondary market ($36 to over $200!) so I wasn't going to find her that way. I figured that I wouldn't be able to have one. And then, Breyer had a sale and I had a really good coupon.  I took the plunge and ordered a case.

70th Anniversary Mystery Surprise Horse Blind Bag, case of 24, #6065, $109, 11/2020, Breyer.

The box arrived yesterday. I opened it and looked at that assortment, wondering if I'd been lucky and I'd find a blue Indian Pony in there for me. I grabbed a bag, felt the outline of what was inside, and realized that there was an Indian Pony inside. But was it the blue chase piece?

Bingo!! It was! Twenty-four packages, and the first one I opened had the piece I wanted! What are the chances on that?!

I'd read online that the Indian Pony could be found once in every 12 cases. If true, and with 24 pieces per case, that made my chances of finding her 1 in 288. Wow!

I took pictures of her yesterday and today in a variety of lights, and her spots are definitely gold. A check on eBay and Identify Your Breyer seems to show the same thing. It's hard to see here, but her legs are a solid color and a different shade of blue than her body and head. 

I also got two of the Indian Ponies in the iconic early Breyer pinto color. They will look nice next to my other two that are Traditional sized. 

There were three woodgrain Cydesdales. There are no neck wrinkles, but there is other musculature, so I am still deciding if they shrank down the no muscle version or the later muscled one. I lean toward the latter. 

Three gorgeous glossy charcoal Fighting Stallions.

Three sweet Fell Ponies. (I am going to keep one of these - he is darling!)

Three Missouri Fox Trotters whose shades varied from piece to piece.

Three Smart Chic Olenas (these will be donations or sold.)

I've never been a fan of the Connemara Mare (Croi) but I do like her in Stablemate form and black is my favorite horse color so I will be keeping one of these. Manes and tails like that are Pony Pal magnets.

The color on the Gypsy Vanner is lovely - with that flying mane, tail, and feathers, these three are going to a couple of Pony Pals for Christmas, too.

This gal is staying with me. I love her and am so glad I took that chance and bought that case of Mystery Surprise Stablemates. 

70th Anniversary Indian Pony

One of my favorite molds. I could not resist!

 70th Anniversary Indian Pony, 1825, 2020, $42, The Model Trading Post.

Alabaster Indian Pony

The Indian Pony is one of my top five favorite models, vintage or otherwise, and I have been looking for an alabaster one with warpaint for quite some time.

Indian Pony, #177, 1970 - 1971, $160, BreyerFest vendor in covered arena, 2019.

The seller had a price tag that originally listed her at $375! Then they'd crossed that out and written $175. I got her for $160.

Unpainted Indian Pony

My third find of the day (all from the same vendor) has already been sold to Jamie Rott.

 JAH Unpainted Indian Pony, (JAH VII, #3), 1980, $20, Sell It Here, Lafayette, Indiana, 9/23/2017.

I had just posted her picture on Model Horse Liberation Front (Facebook) when Jamie Rott messaged me and said that, if I ever wanted to sell the piece, to let her know.

Well, I have about 1,000 models now and for me, a lot of the fun is the hunt for models at antique shop and thrift stores. While the Indian Pony is my favorite mold, I don't need an unpainted one. Nice to have? Yes. But I know Jamie would be thrilled to have her, whereas I am simply happy, not over the moon like Jamie.

So, I will take her to GLC in October and hand her over to Jamie. I am charging her $20 as I certainly don't need the money - getting what I paid for the piece is fine with me.

I am actually quite excited at helping Jamie get a piece that excites her so much.

Ichilay, the Crow Pony with Fire Arrow

On my list of models I am actively searching for are three of the four Ichilay, the Crow Pony models. I got the feather warpaint one in 1993 when they came out, but did not get the others at the time. (Kids were still living at home, I was not working full time, and so money was much more limited back then!)

I found the version with the fire arrow on eBay last week and put in a bid for it, winning the auction.

Ichilay, the Crow Horse, #882, 1993 only, $18.50, 6/2017, eBay/Karen Crawford, PO Box 221, Graham, WA 98338

She is a lightly shaded variation and she does not have her hang tag. I'm pleased to add her to my collection!

(Pictures from eBay ad.)

Vintage Club Isabelle

Disappointed!

For the first time.

Ever.

In Breyer's Vintage Collectors Club.

I have three favorite molds: the Semi-Rearing Stallion, the 5 Gaiter, and the Indian Pony. Imagine my excitement when Breyer announced the old-style black dapple on the Indian Pony for one of this year's Vintage Club!

Here's what I was supposed to get:

 Isabelle, #712105, $135, #4 of four pieces of 2014 Vintage Collector Club pieces, September, 2014.

And here's what I received:

Some collectors are calling this a "lacy" variation, much like there is in the silver filigree and florentine coloring Breyer does. But, doggone it!! I wanted a black dapple that looks like the picture on the box!

Chalky Indian Pony with Warpaint

Breyer came out with this late year release and announced that one in six would be chalky and have warpaint. I contacted Lynn Luther of The Model Trading Post and was able to buy one of the chalky versions.

I really like him!

Chalky Indian Pony with warpaint, #1706, $75, Lynn Luther, The Model Trading Post, 11/2013.

Test Colors

(Breyer History Diva, 2009.)


I had to sell a test color out of necessity a few weeks ago. It was one of those odd things that came via the mysterious eBay toy trafficker by the name of "newtoymens": a solid black Proud Arabian Foal. I was able to let him go partly because he wasn’t the kind of test color I prefer to collect.

"Test color" is a generic, catch-all term that is used to describe a lot of different kinds of models created for a lot of different purposes. Not all of these models labeled tests are truly tests in the strictest sense of the term. And not all are equally desirable (more on that in a moment.)

In the loosest sense, the term "test color" refers to any model that was either made in advance of production, as a regular run item or a special run, or one that never made it into production at all. A test color can vary either in finish, markings, or color scheme; rarely it is used to describe a model with significant changes either in the mold itself or the selection of accessories it was packaged with.

I’ve made several attempts over the years to categorize all the different subcategories of "test colors" that exist, with varying degrees of precision and nuance. It’ll drive you crazy, I swear, trying to determine where the lines exist. What distinguishes a "production test" from a "color test?" What do you do with all of the models Marney Walerius was responsible for creating? Some are clearly test colors, but so many of them …aren’t. Maybe.
Here’s a case in point: it wasn’t unusual, back in its Chicago days, for the company to produce multiple tests of a single color - usually in quantities of five, but it varied. This was done for a variety of reasons - for sales meetings, meetings with the painters, to test the viability and consistency of the paint job in production, that sort of thing. Test colors were rarely unique, at least not the way we now think of them.

Nowadays, just about everything gets a production number, regardless of the quantity produced: the VRE Specials are a recent and infuriating example. The lovely and completely unattainable Stretch Morgan "A Night at the Oscars" was labeled and sold as a special run - of 4 pieces. Less than many true vintage test colors.

See what I mean?

As far as desirability goes, it goes without saying that some test colors are more desirable than others. For most collectors, it’s about the rare combination of a well-executed paint job on a favorite mold. An Indian Pony will go for more than a Lady Roxana, and an intricately mapped pinto will go for more than a plain, undappled bay.

For me, it’s a little bit different: it’s the historical quality that takes primary consideration. I already had other test colors from newtoymens, and at least two of those actually appear to be tests for models that did end up in production, albeit on different molds. And you know me, I’m all about the history.

Misty - Test Color

(Breyer History Diva, 2009.)

My hand-airbrushed Misty: she’s one test color that’s definitely staying put. Isn’t she lovely?


There’s more to my attachment than the fact that she appears to be a preproduction, pre-mask test piece: I found her on eBay last year, and I needed something rare, beautiful and tangible in my life at that very moment. I had to have her: price wasn’t really an object.

In Nancy Young’s book there’s a mention, and a photo, of a similar piece: a hand-airbrushed San Domingo. He had been up for auction - and sold for an outrageous price - not long before the Misty turned up. That probably influenced my decision, too. It wasn’t necessarily proof of her authenticity, but it didn’t hurt, either.

You don’t see too many hand-airbrushed, unmasked pintos in the regular run Breyer line. They’re labor-intensive, hard to keep consistent, and easy to mess up. A couple notable exceptions would be the ever-popular chestnut pinto Indian Pony, and early versions of Jasper, the Market Hog. On the early Jaspers, you can even see that they "drew" the outline of his spot first before filling the rest of it in.

In other words, what I’m trying to say is that hand-airbrushing is generally a good indicator of something being either a very early, or very rare. (And occasionally, both.) It’s a good thing to look out for, if you’re looking for something special.