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!

Clinky Mayhem - Models from Karen Grimm's Collection

Clinky Mayhem, an event used to sell Karen Grimm's vast collection of china horses, was held the same weekend I was in Shipshewana. Since it was in California and during the school year, there was no way I would be able to be in attendance.

Teresa Rogers was, and she agreed to be my proxy buyer.

They were listed as circus ponies, and that is what initially caught my eye.

I was expecting this piece (which is highly sought after) when they were first listed as "Metlox Circus Ponies." But pictures added later to the sales pages showed that they were something different. (That piece is so rare that even Karen Grimm, who had 10,000 plus pieces in her collection, did not have one.)

I have seen this piece in pictures before, and that is definitely a circus rider on the Metlox drafter, so perhaps they truly are circus horses.

 My first new piece has a repaired broken leg, but I still wanted him.

 The grey is in mint condition and cost more than twice what the two palominos did. (It was $75; they were supposed to be $35 but Teresa was charged $45 and did not catch it.)

The hooves are oddly painted on all three pieces - it's like they are unfinished at the ends of the hooves.

 The other palomino is also mint and has a silver Metlox sticker under its belly.

The total cost, including shipping, proxy, and packaging materials for all three pieces was $239.88.

I am so excited about my newest purchases - thank you, Teresa!

Metlox Burro

Metlox Burro, $20, eBay, Sally Heitkotter, 11/2013.

Missing flower cart.

Metlox Poppytrail or Lane Piece

Friday I found this piece at Devine Antiques in Lafayette.

 Metlox Poppytrail or Lane ceramic, $9.95. Devine Antiques, Lafayette, Indiana.

 He's big and he's heavy. This is Breyer's Misty to give perspective.

 The flip side.

The piece is obviously old as the glaze has crazing.

I've asked for some help identifying it via the Breakables group on Yahoo, and so far two hobby experts have weighed in:

I believe it is a Lane horse, but I think Metlox also made a similar horse. I have seen both on eBay before.
-- Diana Dubbeld

Yes, it appears to perhaps be a copy of the Metlox "Morgan" -- similar but not the same.
-- Sue Stewart

Metlox/Poppytrail

There are many, many brands of model horses on the market, both past and present. Breyers are easy to tell as are most Hagen Renakers. "Japans" is the term used for china models made in Japan during the 50s, 60s, 70s, and even beyond. Then there are British companies (Beswick, Juleps, Royal Doulton) and other European companies that produce fine china along with an animal line that includes horses. (Can't afford those!)

I've had some pieces in my collection since I was a child that are a bit different. They tend to be chunkier, lighter (they're usually hollow) and have eyeliner-style eyes. I have wondered about them over the years, and think I have finally identified them - they're Metlox Poppytrails.

I don't know much about the company, but yesterday this photo, identified as a Metlox Poppytrail piece, was listed on the Model Horse $ales Page:

(Photo by Liz Strauss. Model owned by Liz Strauss.)

Right away I noticed the similarity to several of my pieces:

A piece I found this spring at Raven's Roost Antiques in Lafayette and purchased for only $3.

Similar eye detail and hooves to the drafter above.

 Falda - a favorite from my earliest days of collecting.

Why? Because she was black, my favorite color at the time, and she had eyelashes!!
Her hooves and paint detail look remarkable similar to the drafter's.

(Photo by Liz Strauss.)

This is the sticker under the drafter's belly clearly says "Metlox."

 This is the sticker under Falda's. It says, "Trimont Ware Japan."

There is also remnants of another sticker under Falda's belly. Could it be another one that said "Metlox"?

And notice that the drafter's sticker only said "Metlox," not "Metlox Poppytrail." Is it possible the two companies merged? Or they both put out a very similar product, along with Trimont Ware?

Certainly something to do a little research on as I document my collection.