Yellow Mount - a Chalky Study

From Blab, 2010.

A Study in Yellow Mount

This is prompted by skidboots and the possible chalky Yellow Mount  Last week I was excited to receive a chalky plastic Yellow Mount to compliment my basecoat chalky YM. It's the first time I've ever had an example of the same model in both chalky versions, as well as a "normal" one. A perfect photographing opportunity!

Here they are! The normal YM is in the foreground, the chalky plastic YM is in the center, and the basecoat chalky (the darkest model) is in the back.



The chalky plastic model is molded all the way through with that dense white plastic. The basecoat chalky model is painted white over a grey plastic. I really like this picture as a demonstration. You can see the loss of detail from the extra coat of paint on the basecoat model... he's got kind of a chiseled look. Especially right down the front of his face, it's like a big flat plane.

Chalky plastic tends to still have a shine to it also, while the basecoat models are normally very matte.



Here's a shot of their feet. It's hard to tell in this picture, really, but the basecoat model on the far right looks as though he was painted white then set down while the paint was still wet to give that "pooling" effect. The other two have normal flat feet. You can see the seam and the grooves in the plastic.



I accidentally reversed them when I flipped them around. Now the basecoat model is in the middle





I hope this helps! I know sometimes people think that "chalky plastic" just means extra-white plastic, but in reality they really do look nearly identical to basecoat chalky models. It's a pretty subtle difference.

Yellow Mount

Here is a picture of my Yellow Mount. I got it in the early 1970s and it is most likely a chalky:

Breyer History Diva did a blog post about this piece, and she wrote some interesting things that had me checking my piece.

 Mine does not have the blue ribbon sticker  or the dorsal stripe, but it does have the forearm spot and pink/red hooves. As I recall, I got it shortly after Breyer began producing it, if not the year of.


(From Breyer History Diva, September, 2012)

The earliest variation, with the blue ribbon sticker, dorsal stripe, and pinkish hooves would be ideal, of course, but they’re way more difficult to come by than the early Man o’ Wars. It’s been years since I’ve seen one like that up for sale, and the price it went for was definitely not to my liking.

I’d settle for a Presentation Series piece, or a nice Chalky, or even a late example with no forearm spot and dark greyish hooves. 

As I noted above, the earliest Yellow Mounts had dorsal stripes - a subtle acknowledgement of the fact that the real Yellow Mount was actually Red Dun, not Chestnut. Breyer called him a "Chestnut Paint’ right from the get go, though. From the 1970 Collector’s Manual, the year he debuted:

I don’t know if this was a simple mistake, or if Breyer "simplified" the color for the general market. Yeah, the really horse-crazy kids would know what a Red Dun is, but an average consumer has a hard enough time telling a Bay from a Chestnut. It had only been a couple years earlier that Breyer itself had even figured out the difference!

It’s not that big a deal nowadays - in fact, trying to upsell an older mold with an exotic color is all the rage these days. (Remember the "Silver Dapple Dilute Dun" on a more recent release of the Adios, Frappe? Of course you do!)

The Yellow Mount lost his dorsal stripe early on - like so many other early decorating changes, a matter of cost.