For no particular reason, I was thinking about the Classic Lipizzan mold today. It’s been quite a while since we’ve seen him last - in 2003 and 2004, as the 3365 Mystical Pegasus. And even longer since we’ve seen him as an actual Lipizzan, the last being a shaded Alabaster Special Run made for the touring show "The Wonderful World of Horses," in the 1990s (starting in 1993, and running until …well, I don’t know. Through most of the 1990s, at least. It was one of those open-ended Specials.)
This guy's the regular run #620, with better-than-average shading. Early ones tended to have extra facial shading and more pronounced ventral stripes. The two later SR Alabasters - the 1992 German SR, and the touring show SR - had grayer hooves, and more body shading.
Most of his releases have been of the fantastical type - either as Pegasi, or Unicorns - in various shades of Black, White or (inexplicably) Blue. I’m not a huge fan of the fantasy horses, but I do like the Lipizzan mold, so I have most of them. But not all: y’all know I don’t do flockies. I have not been, and never will be, in the market for one of those creepy flocked blue things from the 1985 J. C. Penney’s Christmas Catalog. (They disturb me so much I prefer to not even acknowledge their existence, most days. Glass eyes = Always a bad idea, Custom or OF.)
There’s a possibility that we’ll see the mold again at BreyerFest, if his prior history is any indication. They’ve already announced an SR Unicorn, so there has to be an SR Pegasus in the mix somewhere, and he’s the most logical candidate.
I’m okay with that, as long as they do something a little more original with his coloring - a wild Dark Dappled Gray (like the Traditional Pluto release of Embajador IX) would look pretty neat, as would a Charcoal or (swoon!) Silver Filigree. Anything Decoratory will do, just as long as they don’t fall back on their "Pastel Alabaster" cliché.
If I had the preference, I’d rather have him back as a plain old Lipizzan, again - no wings, no horns, no unnatural colors. He doesn’t have to be some shade of Aged Gray or Alabaster, either: there are all sorts of historical colors to choose from - Pintos, Appaloosas, Duns - but I’d be cool with a Dark Dappled Gray, too.
What I’m really pining for is a simple, straight up Bay. I’m not asking for anything fancy - a little bit of white, a little pangare, a hint of shimmer - all the usual details they pack on a standard OF paint job nowadays. I just hope that if they do make one - for BreyerFest, or any other occasion - they are not quite as rare as the real thing.
