Recent Acquisitions

I intended to document the growth and worth of my collection as one of the reasons I began this blog, so it might be a good idea to post information about my recent acquisitions!

From BreyerFest, 2012:

 A woodgrain Jolly Cholly!

 I bought this piece from Terry Richards, of Rockford, Illinois. She's an old hobby buddy from when I lived in Illinois and was putting on my live show, Lincoln Land Live. ($35)

Terry was one of the people asked to evaluate and dispose of Marney Walerius' vast collection when she died. Having known Marney, I jumped at the chance to get a piece from her collection.

 This Lady Phase is an oldie but goodie, and all the more special because it belonged to Marney. ($15)

Folks who bought single-day tickets to BreyerFest got a special Stablemate as part of their ticket deal.

 I am not a collector of stablemates, but the quality on this one is very high. Plus, my friend, Kathleen Moody, sculpted it. I love having a personal connection to my pieces. (Ticket price $20)

I also bought some models from my favorite dealer, Lynn Luther. She owns The Model Trading Post and has been in business since 1991.

 Year of the Dragon (porcelain) ($60)

 Champion Sprinkles 5 Gaiter ($34)

And, from the Breyer website because they can only be bought from the factory, I purchased this crystal mini Huckleberry Bey (sculpted by Kathleen.) ($45)

 It comes in its own padded box, and for the moment I am keeping it in that for safekeeping.

It's a beautiful piece, but very, very fragile, and I think the glue would show should I break it and try to repair it.

BreyerFest 2012 - Friday

BreyerFest opened this morning at 7:00 AM for their open show. People stood in long lines to get in, and sales tents were mobbed. I missed all that. Deliberately. I am perfectly content to stroll in several hours after it opens - there is nothing I want that badly that I'd go camp out in line to get! (Must be gettin' old...)

So, I slept in, got up and worked online and read, and then headed out at noon. Because two major horse shows are being held at Kentucky Horse Park along with BreyerFest, the place was PACKED. I knew this and anticipated parking a long way away and hiking to the entrance. But to my surprise, the park had golf carts ferrying people to and from the parking lot! I ended up on the back bench of one, facing out and with nothing to keep me from slipping off and falling onto the pavement. And the woman who drove it went at a good clip! But hey, it was an adventure and I survived by grabbing onto the sides and holding on for dear life.

I headed straight to the covered arena where the vendors' fair was being held concurrently with demonstrations in the arena. The arena is huge! And, since the theme for BreyerFest this year is British Invasion, naturally the Union Jack is flying.

 The arena is encircled by a concourse. Well, actually it is horseshoe shaped with a stage (where the flag is displayed in this photo) at the end and two entry gates for horses. Seats also line the arena, and then there is a concourse behind the seats for vendors. And it was packed with goodies!

 I go into overload just looking at this photo.

 Stations like this rim the entire arena, and there are thousands of pieces to peruse for sale. (Just for the record, I didn't buy a thing, but if that woodgrain Brahma Bull is still there tomorrow, I will give it a second look!)

Events run all day in the arena. In keeping with the British theme (as well as the Olympics being held in London) there was a fascinator contest. A Breyer horse had to be displayed somehow in the fascinator. 

 I counted 100+ entrants, including at least ten men and boys!

 This gal was spot on in her impression of Princess Beatrice at last year's royal wedding. (Although I doubt there was a Breyer tucked into the real Princess' hat!)

After the fascinator contest we were treated to a medieval jousting demonstration by the men from the TV show, Full Metal Jousting.

What a pretty horse! I could not determine the breed, but it was a very quiet animal. It patiently walked around and around the arena while the host (his rider) spoke to us. He did an excellent job of explaining the sport. I only knew a little about jousting before the demo took place. (Still have a lot to learn.)

 Two men competed against each other and also demonstrated various aspects of the sport. They occasionally handed roses out to audience members, usually choosing a little girl. It was cute to see them ride over to the seats, bend over, and give a rose to a befuddled and suddenly shy child!

After some preliminary activities (ring spearing at a full gallop, spearing a bale of hay painted with a bulls-eye, etc.) the riders prepared to actually joust. I now know why knights had squires - they needed help getting into their full armor! Each knight had two men assist, and because of the big horses, they needed special platforms to stand on. Knights were dressed this way because, once the armor was on, they could barely move - it was stiff and it was heavy.

 Jousting consists of running full tilt at each other with long spears at the ready, and hitting the other knight at full gallop with them. The knights are nearly blind because of their helmets, and have to drop the reins to hold their spears. I cannot imagine riding blind at full tilt and not having any way to control my horse.

The spears used in the demonstration were wooden, and nearly every time they snapped upon impact with a loud CRACK. They made five or six runs at each other, garnering points for each run.

 This poor guy ended up with the hilt of a spear embedded between a joint in his armor on his thigh. I think it must've hurt - it sure looked nasty and I'll bet he got a good bruise where it penetrated his armor.

Next up was a drill team from Kentucky; in fact, they are the Kentucky state champions.

 Nine girls galloping about the arena while riding intricate patterns.

All the while holding a flag as they went. One time in high school, I was asked to carry the flag in a pre-horse show parade around the arena while riding Cee, and then stop and hold it during the Pledge of Allegiance. I had a sling to steady the flag, but controlling a horse and keeping that flag in place was tough. My arms hurt when I was done.

 These girls had my full admiration for being able to do it at a gallop and for a sustained amount of time!

Gypsy Vanner horses were on display next. They're descendants of horses European gypsies used to pull their wagons.

 The lighter horse is a blue sabino two year old filly. She was lovely - her mane, tail, and feathers looked fluffy and soft.

The announcer kept talking about how gentle Gypsy Vanners are, but this one was not an advertisement for his breed. He reared and circled, and his handler kept yanking on the lead rope to control him, causing the horse to throw his head up and back. 

 At one point, I wondered if the horse was going to leap into the stands!

The announcer said we would see eleven Gypsy Vanners, but only eight made it into the ring. This next one kept rearing and causing trouble in the warm-up ring (I could see it from where I was sitting) and actually got loose! It took several minutes to catch him. I think the lady in the dress was supposed to lead him around, but she ended up having a man lead the horse while she trailed behind.

Speaking of trailing behind, just look at that mane and tail! Stunning!

Despite their beautiful looks (and several others in the arena who were behaving well) I am not sure I buy the "gentle giant/friend of children" sort of description of the breed.

At this point, I decided to get some lunch/dinner and head over to the host hotel and wander the room sales. I happened to notice the name of the street that the hotel is on:

 Too funny!

A highlight of the trip was reuniting with my friend, Cindy Neuhaus, and catching up a bit. She lives in St. Louis and her husband went to the University of Illinois. About ten years ago, Cindy developed her own line of china horses. They're really nice, and the one I own won its class yesterday at Breakables (qualifying for NAN.)

Cindy has been experimenting with an ancient Chinese method of firing fine china called "Raku." Each piece is one of a kind. I had wanted one, but wanted to pick it out in person. Here it is (and Cindy, too.)

 We took it outside to see the colors in full sunlight - wow! If you've ever seen a swirl of oil on water in the sun, that's sort of what it looked like. I am really happy with this piece.

For BreyerFest, people throw open their room doors and have sales items all over tables and shelves for sale. You see all kinds of pieces for sale, plus horse books, paintings, jewelry, and things for real horses, too. Plus, you get to meet new people or chat with longtime hobby friends.

Terry Richards (from Rockford, Illinois and Antina's mama) and I had a chance to catch up, too. I bought a woodgrain Jolly Cholly for a rock bottom price from her and a dark red Lady Phase that had belonged to Marney Walerius. When Marney died, Terry was asked to sell her collection, and since I knew Marney, I wanted a piece from her collection (it, too, was rock bottom - $15!)

 The mini horse was included in the price of the ticket and came in a Breyer-blue pouch. (Kathleen Moody, another friend who is also LDS, sculpted it.) I ran into old friends Susan and Gene Taylor and bought a bitty bridle and a saddle pad from them.

I also exchanged the necklace that I'd bought in June at the gift shop in the park - three of the crystals fell out. So I returned it and took a chance on another. I coated the crystals on this one with a layer of clear nail polish - hopefully it will act as an adhesive and keep the crystals intact.

And, believe it or not, I ran into Linda Walters. Good grief, I still have her address memorized from the 1970s! (And it hasn't changed!) She's a very shy, reticent woman, never married, who is nervous around others but dynamite when she writes. She published The Model Horse Journal for years and I eagerly awaited each journal. Every hobbyist subscribed - it was THE connector for all of us, to each other and to the hobby.(No internet back then, and long distance phone calls were costly!) Linda and I used to correspond back and forth, too. 

Linda remembered me, but was too shy for a picture. (I wasn't surprised.) We had a good chat and she gave me her phone number. She still lives with her parents, although they are elderly and need her to care for them. She also operates an antique shop - that's her card in the picture.

I wrapped up the day by chatting with Beth Dickinson for over an hour, continuing our conversation from the previous day at Breakables.

Overall, day two in Kentucky went well. I am tired, but it is a happy tired. Old friends coupled with horses, both real and model, make for a good day.

Marney's Photo Album

(From Breyer History Diva, September, 2011)


One of the ideas I’m mulling over is finally releasing the contents of Marney’s photo album. Most of the work is done; I just haven’t been sufficiently motivated to "package" it. I know there’s a market for it: if there’s one thing that sells consistently, it’s reference information, especially about hobby history.


(There’s no rhyme or reason to the pictures scattered throughout this post; I just picked a few from the album at random. Mostly for your enjoyment, and partly to taunt you.)

Buckskin Lady Phase

(from Breyer History Dealer, November, 2011)



It’s the 1980 Model Horse Congress Buckskin Lady Phase, the one with the pinked nose, B mold mark, and black eartips!

That means I now have examples of all three Buckskin Lady Phases special runs: the 1979 VaLes Solid Buckskin with charcoal/black nose, the 1980 MHC Special Run, and the 1983/84 J.C. Penney’s Buckskin with bald face.

(Yes, I know the JCP one comes in a solid-faced variation. Notice that I prefaced my statement with the phrase "examples of"? )

One of the most infuriating bits of misinformation that gets passed around on the Internet is that of the alleged rarity of the Buckskin Lady Phase. A case could be made for the 1979 or the 1980 ones being especially difficult to acquire, and I wouldn’t argue with that: there were only about 200 made of the 1979 SR, and about 240 made of the 1980.

On the other hand, however, the J.C. Penney version was probably one of the most popular Christmas special runs Breyer ever made: according to Nancy Young’s Breyer Molds & Models, around 8,000 sets were made over the course of its two year run.

Eight thousand pieces is not "rare," neither then nor now.

I can remember a time when Buckskin Lady Phases were so common that customizers resorted to using them as bodies. Lady Phases became unexpectedly hard to find right around the time she was discontinued in 1985. The story goes - as I heard it from Marney, anyway - was that the last batch of Lady Phases made before she was discontinued in 1985 were lost in a fire.

With no fresh bodies available in the store, no new regular runs on the horizon, and several hundred - if not thousands - of Buckskin ones cluttering up hobbyist shelves, what else are you going to do?

(FYI: I don’t believe enough Buckskin Lady Phases were lost to customizing to affect their overall rarity. Enough to skew the perception within the hobby, maybe, but not overall.)

In the intervening years, a lot of hobbyists conflated the 1979 and 1980 special runs with the later J.C. Penney run. You’d think with all the Buckskin Lady Phases floating around that hobbyists would do the math and realize that they weren’t quite as rare as they thought they were.

Alas, many of our fellow hobbyists just aren’t that good at math. And are all too often plagued by the ghosts of wishful thinking.

Even so, the 1979 and 1980 special runs are still genuinely hard to come by. On average, I see about one of the 1979 pieces up for sale or auction per year, if that; the 1980 examples aren’t a whole lot more numerous.

I was lucky enough to get my 1979 one in 1979, straight from the dealer (yeah, I’m THAT old.) I had been shopping around for a 1980 for some time now, but the few that had come up recently had been significantly out of my price range.

Classic Arab Foals

(from Breyer History Diva, April, 2012)

Continuing on our adventures in ClassicsLand, here are a couple more semi-obscurities worth exploring further - the Classic Arabian Foal in Alabaster, and Slate Gray:


They were a part of the #4000 Classic Arabian Foal Blister Pack Assortment that was available from 1973 through about 1982 or ‘83. The Gray and the Alabaster are much, much less common than the other colors available in the assortment, which also included Chestnut, Palomino and Black. So much so that they are frequently mistaken as variations of later releases.

So, what’s up with them? Why are those two so much harder to find than the other colors?

Would you believe that it was an early case of Breyer messing with our heads?

That’s what Marney said, or at least that’s what I heard through the grapevine back in the 1980s. As the story goes, Breyer made limited quantities of the Grays and the Alabasters early on - probably in the first couple of batches, if that - as sort of an early version of a Treasure Hunt. They even went so far as using the Gray version of the foal in the 1974 and 1975 Collector’s Manual:


As I wasn’t formally in the hobby at the time of this daring experiment, I couldn’t tell you how well it went over then. But they didn’t repeat it with the #4001 Quarter Horse Foal Assortment a year later. The Chestnut one in that assortment is a little bit scarcer than the Palomino, Black and Bay, but not outrageously so. I occasionally hear rumors about Gray and Alabaster Quarter Horse Foals, but I think they're mostly wishful thinking.

Walking Black Angus Bull

(from Breyer History Diva, 2009)


The Walking Black Angus Bull is supposedly based on the Boehm Black Angus Bull, though the resemblance is the weakest among the four known Boehm copies: the original was standing, not walking, and didn’t have a halter. There are other differences, too - enough to make me think that there might have been an intermediate step in the mold’s translation to plastic.

He was a relatively late addition to Breyer’s lineup compared to the other Boehm molds - either in 1959 or 1960, at least three years after the Brahma and the Horned Hereford Bull were introduced. Coincidentally, this just so happened to be around the time that Breyer was having legal troubles with Hagen-Renaker concerning the Old Mold Arabians: could it be that Breyer, spooked by the lawsuit, made some pre-emptive changes to the Angus Bull mold?

There just so happens to be rumors of a Standing variation of the Walking Black Angus Bull, originating in Marney Walerius’s book Breyer Models. On page 23 of this now collectible reference book, it’s listed as a separate version of the #72 mold, released in 1957 and 1958.

No such models have turned up anywhere, however, and I rather doubt they will.

Why do I think that? Well, a lot of Marney’s research was based not on physical documentation, but on memories, hearsay and rumors that she picked up in her many trips to the Chicago factory. But memories, hearsay and rumors are unreliable things, and have a nasty habit of changing over time.

I think there is a kernel of truth in there somewhere. Marney was right more often than she was wrong: it’s just taken us years of research and documentation to sift the truth out of the debris. In the case of the Black Angus, we still don’t have enough objective, independent data to distinguish one from the other yet.

Did she confuse the Boehm Angus with the Breyer Angus? Did Breyer create the mold in a standing position originally, and change it prior to production? I don’t know.

Even after he was released, Breyer continued to tinker with the mold. There are three known "states" to the mold: "poodle cut," "semi-rough," and "full rough." It is generally believed that the "poodle cut" version is the rarest, but the "semi-rough" is not easy to find either, probably because it looks similar enough to the "full rough" on first glance that it gets overlooked. It’s only when you put them side to side that you can really see the difference.

A lot of early Breyer molds had significant mold alterations made early on, with the Clydesdale Stallion’s shoulder being the best known of these changes. The reasons for most of these mold changes - including the Walking Black Angus - is unknown.

Etymology and Decorators

(from Breyer History Diva, 2009)

Today's topic will be the spare, rare history of the Decorator.

As I hinted before in our 3-part discussion about Christmas Decorators, documentation for actual Decorators is also extremely sparse. In fact, we have only four pieces of documentary evidence:

1. A “Supplemental Price List” dated April 1, 1964, that lists all of the models we now call Decorators. There are actually two near identical copies of this pricelist, one printed on light blue paper, and the other, on yellow (blue and gold, get it?)
2. A picture in the 1964 Alden's Christmas Book, featuring a pair of “Copenhagen Dappled Horses” for the hefty sum of 6.99. The catalog copy: “magnificently detailed of china-like fine quality plastic. Break-resistant! Lovely mare with foal for her novelty shelves or a favorite youngster's room.” (The Running Mare and Foal, obviously.)
3. A full-color photograph showing the entire Decorator line, complete with numbers. Stamped on the back of this photo is the notation “Please mail your order to J.C. Unger ...”
4. The photograph of the Copenhagen Belgian that appeared in an issue of JAH back in 1980.

That's it. It doesn't seem like a lot – and it isn't – but it's a lot more than we have for many early Breyer releases. But did you notice what's missing from the paper evidence?

On none of these pieces of evidence is the word “Decorator” even used.

Looking through my early ephemera, the closest we come to the word Decorator is in the Dealer Catalog references to the Modernistic Buck and Doe, who are called “Delightfully Decorative.” Marney labels them as “Modernistic/Decorator” and includes them in the Decorator section of her book, but provides no other evidence or documentation linking the two together, only noting that the Deer were “originally created as Christmas decorative pieces.” The two existing catalog pages that feature the Deer also note this, seen here on the ca. 1961 catalog insert page:

They are metallic gold – and predate the horses by at least a year – so it's possible that this is where the term originated. But was the term “Decorator” itself an internally-created one that we simply don't have the documentation for – yet – or was it a term that just arose in the hobby organically, like “Chalky” did?

Marney was pretty much the source of all Breyer knowledge back then, so I'm inclined to believe that the origins of the term, or its popularization in the model horse lexicon, are with her somehow.

It's possible that Marney may have overheard the term from someone at the factory, or may have seen the word used in conjunction with a local store's advertising campaign, or had access to a document, now lost, that used it specifically. Or maybe Marney just made it up – based on the promotional stuff for the Buck and Doe – and the hobby just adopted it as a matter of course. (Who were we to doubt Marney's knowledge then?)

I also remember – I truly can't say where or from whom I heard this bit of information – that the term Decorator was also used to describe Woodgrains. (Marney, again?) The earliest references I have for Woodgrains – the sepiatone ca. 1960 Dealer Catalog, and two Mission Supply House fliers, ca. 1961 – only refer to them as “Wood Grains” or as part of the “Wood Grain Series.” If true, it might be a point in favor of the “in-house” theory for the origin of the term: maybe it was just the word they used around the factory to describe all of the “nonrealistic” finishes. (Charcoal, at the time, was probably considered “realistic.”)

By the way, the term didn't become the single word “Woodgrain” until 1970, and only then on the pricelists. The Fighting Stallion – the only remaining regular run Woodgrain, seen in the Collector's Manuals from 1968 through 1973 – was always described as “Wood Grain.”

Oh, to have had access to Marney's original research notes and documentation. What new discoveries could be made there, what mysteries could be revealed, with fresh eyes? If only, if only.

Early Hobby Book by Marney

(from Breyer History Diva, 2009)


I've had to reference Marney's book a couple of times in the past few weeks. It felt strange using it as a reference book: it's become more valuable as an artifact of Breyer History than as a Breyer History.


There's still value in it as a history: Marney knew what she was talking about. She had unprecedented access to the factory and to everyone in the know. It contains unique and otherwise unpublished photographs. The sections on early Breyer history provide data and insights you can't get anywhere else. There's just one problem, and it's a big one.

She couldn't write.

I'm not talking about style or flow, I'm talking about simple coherence. She couldn't organize her thoughts on the page. She'd stop and just start rambling, or ranting. Unrelated captions and marginalia are embedded within paragraphs. Some concepts are left completely unexplained, and others are expounded upon, again and again.

Dates and data changes from page to page. She contradicts herself, frequently. On one page she spends an entire paragraph describing the horse and rider packaging, stating that she couldn't reprint them out of respect for Breyer's copyright: on the next page is a Breyer promotional picture showing the boxes she just described!

It's an almost textbook case against the concept of self-publishing. Some people need editors, and some books shouldn't be published. This shouldn't have been published, at least in the condition that it's in.

I know she had significant health problems, which probably affected her writing, and prevented the necessary editing from occurring. Whenever I find myself skimming through it, frustrated, I tell myself: It's probably just a first draft. There wasn't time to fix it.

But even if there had time, who would have volunteered to edit? I know I was too intimidated to even ask. We were all too intimidated to ask: she was our guru, our buddha, the queen of all Breyer History. Who were we to question her in the completion of her sacred task? She knew it better than any of us could have; it would have seemed presumptuous of any of us to have asked if she needed help.

If any good came out of it, it made me realize that I had to get somewhat serious about collecting and preserving Breyer History. This blog, and the history in it, might not exist because of it.

I often wonder what happened to Marney's stuff. Not the horses, but the paper: the research notes, the ad slicks, stock photos, correspondence: everything that did (and didn't) make it into the book. Part of the reason is because I'd like to see it preserved, as part of our greater hobby history. But part of me hopes that by looking at this otherwise unknown source material, some Breyer mysteries will finally be revealed, or at least be better explained. We have a better framework now to interpret whatever data it might contain, things she might not have noticed, or thought unimportant at the time ...

I know it was not all thrown out, or destroyed. I actually have some inkling of where and to whom some of it went; it was through one of those folks that I managed to secure one of Marney's photo albums. I'd love to have more of Marney's stuff – or access to it – but there are rather delicate issues involved, most of which are probably not prudent for me to discuss, except in this most general of terms.

Dapple Grey History, Part 1

(From Breyer History Diva, 2010)


So, did you hear about the 2010 Mid-States Horse? Yeah, I know, the 2009 was just out a few months ago - apparently someone’s boss on Blab took a pic of the 2010 model at the Mid-States Hardware show; here’s a link to the discussion if you missed it:

http://www.modelhorseblab.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100312

If you don’t want to click for whatever reason - it’s in an open access section of the forum, BTW - it’s a Gray Appaloosa Foundation Stallion named Thunderbolt.

He isn’t like the Gray Appaloosa Foundation Stallion I wrote about a few weeks ago. (Just another creepy coincidence; if I were shilling for Reeves, I think I'd have seen a check, or boxes of horses by now. And I haven't.) This guy is gussied up with splash spots, extra shading, Indian markings and resist underdappling.

"Underdappling" is a term I use to describe dappling that’s underneath another layer of paint. "Resist" is the term generally used hobby-wide to describe the earlier, pre-airbrush style of dappling, where a type of grease was splashed on the model before painting. The dapples were created when the grease was washed off.

Thunderbolt is very appealing, but whether or not I’m actually getting him will depend on how my space situation finally plays out. And it doesn’t look like that extra space I had hoped for will be materializing. The remodel is about 75% done, and most of my stuff is back to where it should be. Except where it doesn’t fit. And what doesn’t fit includes about 50 models.

Major culling will be necessary. I am not looking forward to it.

Did you know that the full-body resist Dapple Gray paint job (aka "Wild Dapple Gray") was a relative latecomer in the Breyer world? It wasn’t until 1964 that we see the appearance of the true Dapple Gray paint job. That’s right, the dappled Decorator colors of Florentine (gold) and Copenhagen (blue) actually premiered before the more "realistic" Dapple Gray. While the Decorator experiment might not have been a success, initially, it did apparently lead to something that was.

Yes, I know, Running Mare and Foal came out in a color called "Dark Dapple Gray" ca. 1962. But it appears that Breyer considered that particular colorway separate and distinct from the "Dapple Gray" of the Belgian and his descendants. Except for the occasional color variation, and some pieces from very late in their run, the Mare and Foal retained their dappling pattern - and their unique color appellation - until they were discontinued in 1973. (I don’t quite know how to classify the Nebraska SRs in all this; they’re definitely "Wild" Dapple Grays, but I don’t know the precise color description they were sold under.)

The Dapple Gray Belgian was discontinued rather quickly - by the end of 1966 - but his color was carried forward on Old Timer, who also debuted in 1966. The color was scarce until the early 1970s, when yet another variation of the Dapple Gray paint job debuted.

That discussion I will leave for my next post. But here’s a sneak preview of the model at the center of that discussion: Marney Walerius’s "In-A-Tiff."

Dapple Grey History, Part 2

(From Breyer History Diva, 2010)


Of course, the morning after I published the last post, I came to the realization that I completely forgot about the Dapple Gray Clydesdale. (I was a bit under the weather at that time; must have been the cough syrup.) Fortunately, I still think most of my observations hold, and that the Decorators were a greater influence on the style of Dapple Gray paint jobs that came to dominate the rest of the decade.

The early Dapple Gray Clydesdales tended to be more roany, and more sedate - two terms that could rarely be applied to the Dapple Gray Belgian or Old Timer. And when hobbyists describe their favorite old-fashioned colors, the Gloss Dapple Grays of their dreams tend to be the ones on the wild side. And Reeves seems to agree:


(Yes, the photo is dreadful. Still working from scans here, folks.)

As promised, here’s the story of In-A-Tiff, in Marney’s own words (mostly.) From an article in the August 5, 1979 Chicago Tribune, "Model horses are center ring as a hobby," written by Mary Daniels:

Still another favorite in her "barn" is a very dark dapple gray Arab, In-A-Tiff. "He’s special because I made a suggestion to Breyer Moulding, and they did something about it. In 1970 I wrote Breyer and complained about the models being made." She felt they were not as authentic or as exciting as they could be.

Peter Stone himself says the earlier Breyer models were "not very emotional at all. They had four legs, were very straight, were a Western-type ho[r]se. There’s been a great deal of sophistication since then."

"They asked me to come down," continues Walerius, "I went into the factories and talked to the designers and the artists. In-A-Tiff came out of that visit, and he became the forerunner for the current dapple gray Arab they use."

(Neat, eh? Lots of good information in this article, especially about the early days; I’ll have to shoot a copy of it over to the folks at the Hobby History web site sometime soon.)

There were a couple of things that made In-A-Tiff’s dappled paint job different from the ones that came before. First, he was matte; with a few notable exceptions - including the Dapple Grey Old Timer, and "Dark Dapple Gray" Running Mare and Foal - most of the Breyer line had already made the switch to the Matte Finish. Second, he had additional shading: dorsal striping, facial detailing, and dark shoulders and hindquarters.

While not as realistic as today’s Dapple Grays, In-A-Tiff’s paint job was a significant step forward. And a popular one, too. In the 1970s, it seemed like Breyer dappled everything: the Proud Arabian Family, the bell-bottom Shire, the SR Clydesdale Family, the SR Belgian, the Classic Andalusian Family Mare, the Stablemate Saddlebred and Arabians …

There was no consistency to these paint jobs, however. Some of the earliest of the new Dapple Grays came with the full complement of new features, and others didn’t. Some had fine lacy dappling, while others had the infamous giant "cornflake" spots. Others had conservative patterns with minimal dappling on their heads and necks, and other had dappling on every square inch of their bodies - including their manes, tails and eyeballs!

I guess it all depended on the mood of the painting department that day. By the end of the 1970s, though, most Dapple Grays had reverted to a slightly toned down, matte to semi-gloss version of the wilder Dapple Grays of yore.

After that, it’s hard for me to make generalizations, because I haven’t done the research yet. And you can see what happens when I get a little lazy with the research. So my history of the Dapple Gray paint job will have to end here, for now.

In Between Mare

(Breyer History Diva, 2010.)

What is the exact relationship of the In-Between Mare to the Family Arabian Mare? It’s generally been assumed that they were two separate and distinct molds, but Dumpy’s Delicate Condition - and what it reveals - points towards a more complex situation:


It’s a little hard to see (mostly because of my subpar photography skills) but there’s an extra mold seam line on her posterior, right where the tail comes closest to the rump. It intersects with the other seam line running down her right hind leg, creating an elongated "bubble" shape.

It’s most peculiar, because there’s no reason for it to be there that I know of. While the area itself is a little on the tight side, it’s not so tight that it would require special gating to get it to mold properly.

My first thought was that it was a repair. There’s an irregular seam line on the inside of the left hind leg that’s obviously the result of a crack or some similar damage; maybe this little "bubble" is evidence of another repair?

A repair - or a remodel?

Now is a good time to revisit the FAM/IBM/PAM tail comparison: here’s the handy little illustration I created to help clear the inexplicable confusion between these three old ladies:


Notice how the tail of the In-Between Mare touches her rump, then swings back out? The point of contact for the tail is in the same position as the bubble seam on the Family Arabian Mare.

Well, isn’t that … interesting.

Does that mean that the Family Arabian Mare mold is actually the In-Between Mare mold - just heavily remodeled, a la Halla/Bolya? Or did Hess take an In-Between Mare (either the original sculpt, or a casting from the original mold) and continue reworking it until they settled on the Family Arabian Mare’s design, and cast a new mold from that?

The smoothness and regularity of the bubble seam suggests a mold remodel, rather than a resculpt, as the more likely scenario. The tail was pulled away from her rump and resculpted, and the hole that was created in the process had to be plugged - and in the process, created another seam. The direct remodel of the mold would also go a long way towards explaining the FAM’s rather odd proportions: there’s only so much you can do to remedy a mold, once it’s been cast.

According to Marney’s book, the In-Between Mare mold still existed as a separate and independent mold, at least until the early 1990s. I’m not so sure it did. As I’ve pointed out several times before, Marney is not the most reliable or trustworthy source: the IBM and the FAM are remarkably similar at first glance, and I can see how she could have confused the two.

The truth could be very, very different. I don’t have direct access to the molds - and I didn’t have the knowledge or the foresight to ask way back when I (very briefly) did - so what we have here is another case built on thin evidence and speculation.

As long-time readers know, this is about par for the course, when it comes Breyer history.