Denim and Diamonds - Size Discrepancy

As I put my new pair on the shelf, I noticed a significant size discrepancy between the two new ones and my four others.

 They are much larger than their older counterparts.

Are the older ones shrinkies? Maybe. But their size is so uniform, and I am not sure shrinkage would do that. I would think there would be some variation in their sizes.

I put a post on Blab asking if anyone else had a similar experience with their Denim and Diamonds. There has been some who feel that this is a part of the normal Breyer aging process, but others, like me, feel it is too uniform to be attributed to that.

A hobbyist who goes by Weegie (don't know her real name) posted this picture of her Shetland Ponies.

She has some that are different in size, others who are not.

The jury is still out, but I am sticking with my gut feeling that there is more than shrinking going on here.

Craig Listens Well

Craig and I spent yesterday and today in Shipshewana, Indiana for some CES meetings. We were out shopping this morning and Craig spied this sign:

He said, "That reminds me of your collection. Oozies, and shrinkies, and chalkies, and pearlies, oh my!"

I had to laugh - this summer I have been dusting and cataloging my collection. Obviously he has been listening to me chatter about what I have on my shelves!

I knew I had one shrinky, but discovered a few more. I have a fair number of chalkies, and just a couple of pearlies. I have only one possible oozie (thank goodness for that!) and it is safely away from the herd and in a box in the closet. That way, if it begins leaking, it won't damage the other pieces or my shelves.

Good to know he listens to me, even when he would probably prefer not to!

Disintegrating Western Horse Oddity

A few weeks ago, Breyer Horse Diva wrote a blog entry about an unusual Western Horse she had found at a flea market. The model whose picture she posted (below) looked familiar - I have a palomino Western Horse that I'd found at Gordyville years ago with the same unusual black hooves.

 Breyer History Diva's horse above, and mine below.

 Mine is definitely an older piece - you can tell by the color and the saddle, plus it has the older style chain reins. You can see its black hooves which are so like her model's.

 Sadly, you can also see that my model has begin to deteriorate. Notice how the hind hooves are beginning to curve under? That's happened since I bought the piece - I would not buy a model in such poor condition.

 The hind legs are discoloring as the plastic disintegrates.

And there are flecks of odd bits and colorings in the white socks. Notice how the black hooves are fading in color, too.

It is well documented within the hobby that sometimes Breyers deteriorate over time. Some bloat ("bloaties") especially if they are exposed to heat. "Shrinkies" begin to shrink with time, and usually are models which were produced during the 1970s oil crisis when Breyer used different formulations for its plastics. (I have a shrinky; my dapple grey 5 Gaiter is significantly smaller than its counterparts.)

 "Oozies" actually liquify and leak. At that point, most hobbyists remove the model from display so it won't mar the finish of the shelf or harm the nearby models. I've been told that often oozies are accompanied by a vinegary smell, often the first indicator that the model will begin leaking. And some collectors actually lick their models and say the vinegary smell indicates a vinegary taste on the piece! (Okay, I admit I licked my 5 Gaiter to see if it might be an oozie. But, that piece is not one I got at a flea market - I know its history -  and I keep it very clean.)

I wonder if perhaps my Western Horse got too much sun upstairs in the horse room. It's on the bottom shelf, and it does get direct sunlight briefly sometimes. None of the other models are affected, at least not that I can see. I'll make a better effort to keep the blinds closed in the summer, but it is far too late for this piece.

Shrinkies and Oozies

Some documentation from Haynet (the big hobby email group) on shrinkies and oozies. I have one shrinky that I know of - my dapple grey 5 Gaiter - and no oozies. However, whenever someone posts that a particular model in their collection is shrinking or oozing and I have that piece, I go check mine out. From what is listed below, I have the PAF in rose grey, the Rocky, and some Adioses from the era, but after looking them over, none of them are shrinking or oozing. (And I admit  that I did the smell/lick test for the vinegar odor/taste.)

I did notice that my rose grey PAM and PAF are both bigger than their counterparts in other colors and am wondering what that means, if anything. But everyone else, except for the dapple grey 5 Gaiter, are as they should be.

Here is the thread from Haynet:

After over two years of dusting, cataloguing, and conga'ing I have
identified in my collection about 24 (out of 1700) shrinkies. Nearly all of
them are from 1988 (including the complete set of 4 Black Horse Ranch SR
Indian Ponies, and all three glossy alabaster Family Arabs from a vendor
reissue) and a couple from 1990 (including a RR Rugged Lark and a Sears SR
Dapple Grey Lady Phase). I hesitate to try to replace these as I wonder if
the whole darn batch might be bad. They are now in quarantine in my music
room (smells like a salad whenever I walk in there).
> 
> Thought? Comments? Sympathy?
> 
> Adrien Synnott
-------------
Probably going to be a lot more out there from that era. We just received a Black Horse Ranch Indian pony that is also a shrinkie. Buyer did indicate the condition. We had some Adios molds from around those years bought on ebay - turned out some were shrinkies too. Luckily none have been "oozies".
>
> Bette McSparron
> 
-----------


From what I remember, Reeves was using different plastic back then. I remember getting my BHR Indian Ponies and the (was it small world?) Hanoverians and they were different in feel and smell even new. The IP's were greasy feeling. Reeves recalled and replaced the Hanoverians which refused to stand. I sold all of them years ago. I remember some of the Sears/Penneys issues that had that same greasy feel and weird warping to them that I also got rid of.
I have a select few of the models back in my collection, like the alabaster and black hanoverians, but I do keep an eye on them. I have never had an oozie and frankly, don't want one. I am not sure of the chemical reaction taking place in the shrinkies, but in all honesty, I don't want to handle or have models that may be toxic (like the old PVC Barbies that are degrading). If the fumes are that strong, gosh only knows what you are subjecting yourself to on a daily basis.
Pretty ponies or not, something is not right with that plastic.
Lori Ogozalek


-----------


My batch of BHR Indian ponies are "oosies" like crazy -but so far only the
leopard appy is a shrinkie. Adrien, do you have them quarantined because of
the smell, or do you think it might be "catching" ? ;-)

Beth Rappleyea


-----------


Shrinkies and Oozies are both the result of cellulose degradation. The
first sign is the vinegar smell, which is from the acetic acid being
released. This eventually leads to shrinkage and, in more severe cases,
oozing. This has become a serious threat to film collections and is
certainly something that Breyer collectors need to be aware of.

I have noted shrinkage in Breyer models from different eras, but the vast
majority have been among those produced in the late 80's and early 90's.
Several, but not all, of my models produced in that timeframe have shrunk.
Two of my three BHR PAS's are noticeably shorter, as are my leopard appy
Fighting Stallion and dapple grey Five Gaiter. I also have a rose grey PAF
that developed a sticky feel to it. My most severe case is a buckskin
"Rocky" POA... an oozie.

Unfortunately there is no way to reverse the degradation process. The best
way to prevent, or at least slow the process, is to display models on
shelves in cool, dry conditions. Heat and moisture will trigger the
process, and enclosed conditions will accelerate it. That's what happened
to my POA... it was bagged and stored in a hot storage building. If you
MUST store your models, check them often and be aware of the vinegar smell.

I don't think it's contagious because other models which have stood next to
my shrinkies for years are fine.

Penny Lehew

Shrinkies & Boxes

(From Breyer History Diva, 2010.)

First, about Shrinkies: yes, I am aware of the existence of more recent Shrinkies. Unlike the late 1980s Shrinkies, the more modern ones occur more randomly - a batch here, a batch there. That suggests to me that the problem is more a result of faulty plastic, than faulty molding. (Bad molding certainly wouldn’t help, though.)

All Cellulose Acetate models will shrink eventually, it’s just a matter of when. If your models manage to make it through the first decade or so of their lives without exhibiting any unpleasant behaviors, I think they’re safe for the long haul, however long that may actual be.

Now, a few more words about shipper boxes.

We call the early, corrugated cardboard boxes shipper boxes because they were designed to be shipped as is. One side typically had the spaces marked out for the shipping and return addresses:


The other side would have the shipping details and instructions:


If you can’t read it, it says:

Contents: Merchandise - 4th Class Mail
Postmaster: This parcel may be opened for postage
inspection if necessary. Return and forwarding
postage guaranteed.

The example illustrated above (from a #22 Brown Pinto Shetland Pony) was obviously never mailed, but some were. I once owned an old Family Arabian Stallion with a used shipper box. (The best part was the return address: Mission Supply House!)

The shipper box was the standard packaging for virtually all Breyers prior to 1973. There were some exceptions - Lassie, Rin Tin Tin, the Horse and Rider sets all came in fancy shelf boxes - but most models didn’t merit that kind of treatment. It was cheap, and practical, especially for mail-order businesses like Mission Supply House. Address it, stamp it, and it’s ready to go!

Shipper boxes worked for retail businesses, too. In the 1950s, 1960s, and into part of the 1970s, most toy stores would have a display of horses on a shelf or a case. You’d make your selection, and the store would then go to the stock room and get you a still-boxed one. A fancy box wasn’t necessary to make the sale.

I imagine that the shipper box might have even been a bit of a selling point, especially to grandparents with distant grandkids. Straight from the toy store to the post office - no muss, no fuss!

I’m guessing that my bull was either old store stock, or a gift that was purchased, and never given. Doesn’t matter either way, he has a happy home on my shelves now.

Shrinkies

(From Breyer History Diva, 2009.)


As I was compiling my BreyerFest saleslist yesterday, I discovered that I had three different Appaloosa Yearlings. I didn't realize they were all that popular around here: the Thoroughbreds and Adioses I find I understand (I live in an area that used to have a small but thriving horse racing industry.) But Appaloosa Yearlings? Go figure.

I have a disproportionately large collection of Appaloosa Yearlings in my own private collection, but that's because it seems to be one of those models – like the Black Stretch Morgan, or the Chestnut Saddlebred Weanling – that comes in endless variations. My post today, however, is about only one of those Yearlings. This one:


I purchased her several years ago at BreyerFest. Even in the low light endemic to the host hotel, she stood out: she was one weird girl. Nearly gray, with pale yellow spots. I had to have her! For comparison, here's a relatively normal/average Appaloosa Yearling:


And believe it or not, it's a variation that actually comes with an explanation: my gray girl is a Shrinky!

I almost totally missed out on the Shrinky phenomenon originally: most of the Shrinkies collectors discover or seek out nowadays date to the late 1980s or early 1990s, a period in which I wasn't really buying all that many new horses. (There's a long, interesting story about how I ended that hobby “hiatus,” but another time, sweeties, another time.) The only ones I recall having were the BHR SR Indian Ponies: my Bay one was particularly … oozy. And at the time, I attributed it to something else entirely.

I don't know what precisely causes the shrinking: something is slightly off in the composition of the Tenite, or in the molding process, that causes models to shrink, warp, crack and (sometimes) ooze. I haven't put any time into discovering what the precise problem is – it is again, another consequence of a lack of time and way too many topics to cover.

Just because some of your models are slightly taller or shorter than others of the same mold doesn't automatically make them Shrinkies, however. Tenite is a semi-synthetic material that's subject to environmental factors, and you're going to have some minor variations in size and shape as a result.

There are several other indicators of a models status as a true Shrinky, and this very pale girl of mine taught me that.

A while back I took a picture of this girl as an avatar on Blab. She was a bit dusty in spots, so I gave her a quick lick in lieu of walking over to the nearest sink and rinsing her off. I wasn't expecting her to taste so … nasty! I had to run to the sink anyway and rinse out my mouth!

I had licked some of my Breyers before in similar situations and had not experienced that before. Sometimes I'd feel a bit of a tingle, but nothing quite so dramatically wrong. What on Earth was going on?

I compared her to my other Appaloosa Yearlings and noticed that she was somewhat shorter than the rest – not dramatically, but noticeably. I then recalled a Spanish-Barb Buckshot I had in my collection that was slightly smaller than average, and of a somewhat unusual color – more pink than chestnut. So I pulled her out of storage, and gave him the lick test too.

Same result. Grossness! And out of that grossness came an epiphany (of sorts.)

I had noticed on eBay and elsewhere a number of unusual looking chestnuts – ones that were more pale, peachy pink than actual chestnut. Most of theme were on models from the late 1980s or early 1990s. They were pretty distinctive: why hadn't I noticed these guys before, when they came out? Was it another case of me being insufficiently observant?

No, it was probably because the paint finish hadn't yet started reacting to the messed up chemical composition of the Shrinky plastic. It took a few years before Chestnuts turned pink … and Bays turned gray!

My Appaloosa Yearling was not a variation, in the strictest sense. She was a Shrinky.

Shrinkies do still occur from time to time: last year at BreyerFest, my friend Bernie showed me a smallish, slightly off looking Diamondot Buccaneer who, one lick test later, revealed his true nature. And he was made several years after that first, now notorious batch.

I'm not advocating a wholesale licking of your collection to root out your potential Shrinkies – there are some that definitely don't need that test. (Especially if they're oozing!) But if you're curious, and have nothing better to do in the privacy of your own home ….