HR Lone Star

Teresa Rogers sold me this Lone Star.

 HR SR Lone Star, A-3296, 2002 SR for Lone Star Live, $65, Teresa Rogers, Woodland Hoills, CA.

Lippizaners

(From Breyer History Diva, February, 2011)

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.

QVC Man o'War

(From Breyer History Diva, March, 2011)

Here’s the lovely little thing that arrived in the mail the other day:

It's the 2002 QVC Man o’ War Special Run. Yeah, he’s no WEG Man o’ War, but he might just become almost as scarce as one, in the long run. Most collectors assumed he wasn’t all that different from the regular run #47 Man o’ War, and ordered accordingly - as in, not that much at all.

Most of the ones that did get ordered, presumably, went to nonhobbyists, racing fans, or more casual collectors who aren’t real active on the hobbyist scene. The mold itself has never been popular in the hobbyist community - or, I should say, the live showing component of the hobbyist community - and that was also a contributing factor in his relatively cool reception.

At first glance he doesn’t appear to be too different from the standard regular run Man o’ Wars that populate the aftermarket, but there are some subtle differences. His finish is a little more matte, and a little more orangey than most, though not out of the range of variation seen on the regular run pieces. The shading on his muzzle is also more extensive, and more dramatic than most #47s, but again, not necessarily out of the standard range of variation.

Two things that do set him apart from most #47s: his eartips, and his (ahem) nether regions. Most standard Man o’ Wars that I’ve seen - and owned - have come with dark gray to black shaded eartips. The QVC version does not. Conversely, regular run Man o’ Wars don’t typically have much in the way of shading on his unmentionables, but the QVC version has it almost to excess.

(You’ll have to take my word for it, okay? I’m trying to keep it work-safe, here.)

It wasn’t any of these features that caught my eye while cruising eBay last week. My cue to look just a little bit closer at that listing was, ironically, his blue paper "Congratulations" tag - something so common and generic that most hobbyists disregard them altogether. It’s something you’d see with some frequency on Breyer releases of the early 2000s, but not on a regular run Man o’ War, discontinued in 1995.

Especially since the tag features a picture of Traveller, the chalky pale gray/alabaster release of the Man o’ War mold - who didn’t make his debut until 1998:

Stretched Morgan

(From Breyer History Diva, April, 2011)

Back in the day, #49 Bay Stretched Morgans were da bomb. They were relatively pricey and hard to come by, in those crazy, pre-Internet days. A primo example could easily set you back a good 30 or 40 dollars!

(No, really. Stop giggling!)

I was happy beyond words when I found my first (of many) Bay Stretched Morgans at a local flea market. He was the standard bald-faced version with two front socks, in near mint condition. He’d hardly turn heads today, but back then - oh, what a treasure he was! I was such a proud Model Horse Mama when one of my fellow hobbyists came over to my table at a live show once just to admire him.

(I’ll never forget it. "Can I touch him?" she asked. "Sure," I said. And she held him up to her face and snuggled him like a kitten. Such a weird and lovely moment.)

Nowadays vintage Bay Stretched Morgans are not that exciting or cuddle-worthy. Ebay, and several recent releases in other shades of Bay have diluted the demand. Serious collectors still seek him out, but it’s only the more obscure variations - like the star-faced or four-socked ones - that command serious cash.

The one Bay Morgan who really brings out the big spenders, however, isn’t a variation at all: it’s the Special Run from the early 1970s in solid bay.


There are a number reasons why that is. The first are his good looks: aside from his total absence of markings, his color is both subtly and pleasingly different from other vintage Bay Morgans. The body shading, particularly on the shoulders, is softer and less dramatic than a regular run bay, and he has darker gray shading on his muzzle and his nether regions. His paint job looks quite modern, especially when compared to contemporary Regular Runs.

The second is historical significance: he was among the earliest true Special Runs of the modern/hobby era, made for the "Wonderful World of Horses" touring show sometime in the early- to mid-1970s. Other Special Runs do predate it - notably the Ranchcraft Woodgrains, and the Grooming Kits - but we’ve only recently reclassified them as Special Runs. Back then, everything we couldn’t classify was either an "oddity" or a "test run." (The hobby’s vocabulary was much smaller then.)

The third is rarity: you just don’t see them very often. There were at least 1000 pieces made (a substantial run, even today) but the distribution method created the rarity. Instead of being sold directly to collectors, they were sold as souvenirs, to people who were not usually hobbyists. Some of them did make it into hobbyist hands - via leftovers sold via Marney or the Bentley Sales Company - but not enough to satisfy demand.

The model who graces this blog post, believe it or not, was an upgrade. I considered myself very lucky to get the Solid Bay Morgan that I upgraded from, in the first place. He was restored, and not badly, but when the opportunity came on eBay to upgrade to a true mint one, I had to go for it.

He wasn’t the typical bargain basement deal I normally go for; I felt a little bad plunking down a whole Benjamin for him, until I saw a lesser example go for three times the price a few months later.

A good investment, if I thought of these things in that way.

Old Timer

(From Breyer History Diva, May, 2011)

Because I am lazy, tired, cranky and just not into it today, here’s another semi-obscure Special Run for your enjoyment, on a rather appropriate mold: Old Timer!


It’s the Special Run Alabaster Old Timer, from the 1983 Montgomery Wards Christmas Catalog. Most hobbyists just assume he’s a reissue of the Regular Run #200 Alabaster Old Timer, which ran from 1966 through 1976. When compared to a Regular Run - here, my Old Timer cull - the difference becomes quite obvious:


Older Alabaster Old Timers have body shading, while the SR does not. Older Old Timers have so much, sometimes, that it seems wrong to call them Alabasters. It’s more like a softer, paler version of the "Slate Gray" color that first appeared on the #191 Bucking Bronco, who also debuted in 1966. (A coincidence?)

(The hats are different, too, I know - later hats don’t come with a painted hatband. But they’re not that reliable an indicator of oldness, since they are so easy to lose, switch or replace.)

Earlier Gloss Alabaster paint jobs, on models such as the Five-Gaiter, Mustang, and Old Molds, did come with variable amounts of gray shading, but rarely as extensive and consistent as the #200 Old Timers. Other contemporary Matte Alabaster paint jobs were all over the map: the Family Arabians rarely showed much shading, but the earliest releases of the Proud Arabians did. The slightly later Classic Andalusian Stallion and Lipizzan varied from model to model and year to year (with earlier pieces tending towards the more dramatic). But Classic Johars tended to be pretty tame.

In short, it’s hard to say whether the color on the SR Old Timer meant to be different from the original, or was just a consequence of the time period it was manufactured in. More the latter than the former, I'm guessing.

Black Leopard Western Prancer

(From Breyer History Diva, 2010)


Since so many hobbyists seem to be losing it over the Treasure Hunt Redemption Horse "Winter" - a Near Black Semi-Leopard Appaloosa - I thought I’d turn the spotlight on Breyer’s earliest attempt at the Leopard Pattern: the #115 Appaloosa Western Prancing Horse:


Yep, this one’s an oddity: no front stocking.

There are two variations of this paint job: some have dark gray stockings, and others have black. I don’t think there’s any consistency to the variations, at least I haven’t seen any. I used to think that the gray stocking versions came earlier, but my boy here with the missing hosiery has the USA mark, so it might be the other way around. It’s not something I’ve looked into yet.

When I first discovered that the Western Prancing Horse came Leopard Appaloosa, I became a bit obsessed with obtaining one. He had to be just right, too; I can’t recall how many times I upgraded mine. Then I discovered there were two variations to it, so I had to have primo examples of both. I found the guy above on eBay a few years back, and he became my representative example of the gray stocking version.

I have a pretty nice black stocking version too. And unlike Gray Stocking Guy, Black Stocking Guy has extra shading in his, ah, unmentionables. (A common feature on models from the 1960s and early 1970s.)


(The color difference is a little hard to see, I know. Like Chalkies, it's much more obvious in person.)

The Western Prancing Horse is another one of those models that was released sometime during the documentation gap of the early 1960s. Evidence suggests that he was a 1962 release, like the Running Mare and Foal, and that he was intended to be the replacement for the Fury/Prancer mold, who was starting to look a little dated by then.

The Appaloosa version of the Western Prancing Horse remained in production through 1973. In 1974, the Appaloosa Performance Horse premiered, as did a new style of Appaloosa paint jobs: masking replaced full-body splash spotting.

Splash spotting never went away, but today tends to be reserved for either reproductions of old-style paint jobs, or for models with airbrushed hip blankets (i.e. the upcoming Mid-States release.) Splash spot Leopards have turned up from time to time, too, but the Black Leopard varieties rarely come with the black mane-tail-point feature anymore. An exception was the 1990/91 Country Store Special POA:


I’m not sure what’s the big fuss over the new version of this old paint job. It’s not unrealistic; I seem to recall much oohing and aahing over a dark-legged leopard part-Friesian foal on Blab a few years back, whose photos inspired many custom copycats.

I think it’s a little bit of backlash over the two previous "owners" of this paint job: the Collector’s Choice Silver Matrix, and the BreyerFest SR Appydaze.

My negative reaction to Matrix wasn’t because of the paint job, but with the overuse of the Silver mold: he had already had his turn in the Collector’s Choice lineup, with Blue Suede Shoes. There’s no formal rule that a Collector’s Choice selection can’t be on a previously used mold, but with over 20 other releases in his relatively brief life, doing another CC Silver rubbed me - and many other hobbyists - the wrong way.

The Appydaze was a miscalculation on Reeves’s part. Having a model and paint job combo that was specifically designed for the younger set? A good idea. Making 1500 of them? Not so good an idea. You could sell over a thousand pieces of them - all of the other SRs that year were 1200 piece runs or less - and still have a ton of leftovers. When hobbyists see a lot of leftovers, they immediately think "That one must have been a dud." And regardless of their personal feelings about a model, most hobbyists tend to think twice before adding a "dud" like that to their herds.

It’s interesting that another model with a similar paint job - the Fest SR Ruffian "Heartland" - didn’t elicit the same negative reaction. Three factors at work with her, I think. First, the Ruffian mold definitely has its fans, or at least doesn’t get quite the negative press the other two sometimes attract. Second, she’s glossy: we’ve all witnessed the power of a Gloss Finish to drive hobbyists mad. And third, she’s a shaded Bay, not a flat Black: more shading and detail = greater perceived value.

Gold Ribbon Belgian

(From Breyer History Diva, 2010)

Sometimes I think some hobbyists get a little bit too carried away with the concept of variations. Remember when those slightly semi-gloss, slightly-nicer-than-average Smarty Jones models were found in Grab Bags last year? The fuss was all out of proportion to the amount of variation, I thought.

Yeah, some of them were pretty sweet, but they were also within the range of normal variation for any average, regular-run model. It wasn’t something intentional or planned. A little scouting or judicious handpicking through your favorite dealer could have netted you a model just like it, or better, without the begging on MHSP or the mess of unloading the rest of your Grab Bag.

On the flip side, there are many models that are ignored or undervalued because their subtle differences from the norm - or from similar runs - are missed completely. An excellent example of this is a permanent resident of my office, this SR Dapple Gray Belgian:


Can you see what makes him special, rare and different from the half-dozen other Dapple Gray SR Belgians? It’s not the powder-matte finish, the sparse dappling, or the black mane and tail.

The tail ribbon is painted metallic gold.


He’s the rarely seen - or shall we say, rarely recognized - special run from Eighmey’s Wagon Shop in Waterloo, Iowa, released in 1986. Not many were made - my guess would be in the 150-200 piece range, similar to the equally hard to find Palomino and Dark Palomino SRs from roughly the same time period.

He’s very similar to another SR Belgian released a short time later - through a number of mail order dealers, mostly notably Your Horse Source - though that one came with a yellow tail ribbon with red crosshatching. They made significantly more of that SR, probably around 450-500 pieces; he’s nowhere near as rare as the gold-ribboned one.

I missed out on the gold-ribbon Belgian when he first came out. Maybe I didn’t have the money at the time, or I didn’t hear about him until after he sold out, or I was distracted by something else. I really can’t remember.

Several years later I found one for sale at BreyerFest - just a few rooms down from my own, at the HIN. The seller was quite surprised when I recognized him for what he was - and that I didn’t object to the price. (The price wasn’t high - it was just more than the more common red and yellow-ribboned one.) She had brought him because another buyer had expressed an interest in him initially; it was late Saturday night, and it was obvious that the buyer had either lost interest, or lacked money.

So he came home with me, instead.

The Belgian mold was prone to subtle, hard-to-differentiate SRs in the 1980s - likely the result of cost cutting, not a lack of imagination. I don’t know who was planned or ordered first, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the Eighmey’s SR and the slightly later SR were manufactured concurrently. Make one big batch of Matte Dapples - put gold ribbons on the pieces going to Eighmey’s, and yellow and red ribbons going to everyone else.

Two different SRs, for the cost of one. Less cost = more profit!

Dark Palomino Belgian

(From Breyer History Diva, 2010)

Another nearly forgotten Belgian is: the 1984 SR Dark Palomino Belgian, made for the Riegeseckers.


He’s nearly identical to the regular run #94 Belgian, except for the white mane and tail. Estimates put the piece count at around 200 - rare today, but not an untypical run in 1984.

Man, I remember 1984 - that was a rough year to be a college student and a Breyer collector on a budget. That year saw the release of the Buckskin Adios, the Palomino, Dapple Gray and Red Chestnut Pacers, the 7-piece G1 SM Draft Horse Set, the MHC flaxen chestnut Midnight Sun, the Kansas City Sham, the Red Roan Belgian, the Light Palomino Belgian and the Dark Palomino Belgian. And an insane amount of Holiday Catalog stuff: enough to fill up nearly two pages in the J. C. Penney’s Catalog, alone!

The number of SRs don’t come anywhere near to rivaling today’s breakneck pace, but in some ways it was way worse: it was pre-Internet. If you weren’t lucky, or well-connected, you’d easily miss out on some of the choicer items, like I did with the Dark Palomino Belgian. And you wouldn’t even know you had missed out on it until you saw it at a live show four or six months after it sold out. Oh, the pain!

Because of his similarity to both the regular run Flaxen Chestnut, and the even harder to find Light Palomino, the Dark Palomino SR was quickly forgotten. I kept him on my want list for years, even though most hobbyists I talked to had no idea who or what I was talking about.

In some ways, I figured his anonymity would work in my favor: if and when I managed to find him, I’d be able to get him for a song.

I did. I lucked out twice, in fact: first on MH$P, and then not long after on eBay, in a box lot with a bunch of other mid-1980s horses. I contemplated doing a two-horse hitch, until a lack of space and money made the decision for me.

A few years ago, Reeves released a very similar and rather popular model, the 777 Belgian. How similar? He has the chestnut body color, 4 stockings, and white mane and tail. But put them side by side, and the similiarities fade in comparison to the differences: the 777 also has a masked blaze, dark shading on his muzzle and ears, a red tail ribbon, and his right front hoof is tan, not gray.

Because of the 777 Belgian, the SR Dark Palomino still doesn’t attract much attention, or much money on the secondary market. So if you’re a Belgian lover,looking for something special to add to your collection, take a second look at the Chestnut ones. They might not be what they seem.

Rare to Common Ratios

(Breyer History Diva, 2010.)


While it may seem that this is a new phenomenon, there are vintage molds that have disproportionate rare-to-common ratios. The Elephant is the most famous of these: how many of you out there have the Blue, the Pink, the Woodgrain and the one with the Howdah?

The piece runs on those Elephants is unknown, but undoubtedly very small: the Blue, Pink and Howdah Elephants only appeared in the ca. 1958 PR materials, and the Woodgrain not at all. But just how small? A few hundred - or a couple thousand?

It may seem absurd to think that rarities like those Elephants could have been made in the thousands, until you factor in Time and Space. They were released in a Time before the hobby was truly organized, much less catered to. And the Space they were released into was not just the hobby, but the world.

A 1500-piece SR may seem "large," especially if it’s distributed exclusively within the hobby. Distribute it to the world though, and it seems vanishingly small. Even if you limited to just the United States, that’d still average out to only 30 pieces per state. (Good for hobbyists in small or low-density states like New Hampshire or Wyoming, not so good for ones in big or high-density states like California or New York.)

The actual number of Pink-Blue-Woodgrain-Howdah Elephants in the hobby proper is hard to gauge, but I doubt it exceeds more than a couple dozen of each. Yet I feel I have a greater chance of acquiring those Elephants than I do the Esprits. The possibility of getting lucky is very real. It’s already happened once: I found a Howdah Elephant on a very slow day on eBay a few years ago.

Unpainted Models

(Breyer History Diva, 2009.)

Some unpainted models are interesting from a sculptural standpoint: many of the Hess molds look more like art than toy in their naked state. But for the most part, I regard unpainted models as blank canvases - one indistinguishable from another. It’s the paint job that makes a horse rare or stand out from its identically-shaped cohorts.

A few unpainted models technically qualify as special runs - such as the G1 Riegsecker Draft Horse that came with the multiple-piece SR set in the 1980s, and the 1980 JAH Special Offer Unpainteds. Even so, it’s difficult to impossible to tell those SR Unpainteds from a run of the mill factory escapees, unless you can provide the documentation (receipt, or in the Drafters' case, a complete unbroken set and/or history of ownership.)

Now, there are always some exceptions to the rule. There have been many subtle - and not so subtle - mold changes over the years, and an unpainted model of an earlier version of a mold will have some historical value. The Saddlebred Weanling is an obvious candidate - the pre-Rocking Horse, attached tail version will definitely have more value and cachet than later one with a detached tail. An unpainted unmuscled Clydesdale or a supermuscled Quarter Horse Gelding would be a major coup for almost any collector, too.

(What, you don’t know about the various different versions of the Quarter Horse Gelding mold? Another topic teaser, I know.)

Unpainted chalkies have some value, too - some of you probably familiar with the infamous Pinkie Proud Arabian Foals that have floated around the hobby for years now. One of the few unpainted models I have in my collection is a chalky G1 Saddlebred (she’s not basecoated: she’s actually an opaque white plastic one.) Sorry for the small pic - it’s a former Blab avatar:


The swirled-plastic and solid-colored Stablemate keychains also qualify as unpainted models, as do the Tortuga-style Decorators, but I would argue that in those cases, it’s the plastic itself that becomes the "surface" treatment, not the paint.

There are some unpainted models being sold by various dealers as samples - with rough seams, handwritten notations and tags and stuff like that - that may also have a slightly higher-than-nominal cash value, depending on how trustworthy you consider the dealer and the documentation he or she provides. (I’m going to assume that, being the conscientious hobbyists that you are, you probably already possess the slightly skeptical mind to be wary of anyone’s extraordinary claims of rarity or general awesomeness.)

I suspect in most cases where an unpainted model goes for an exceptional or seemingly unwarranted price, it’s just another case of someone’s (or a couple of someones’s) overwhelming need to have something special and unique. It’s just that in the case of unpainted models, there are very few true instances of uniqueness: underneath every painted model is an unpainted one.

Quarter Horse Gelding

(Breyer History Diva - 2009.)

Since he’s been getting a little well-deserved attention in the spotlight, I thought I’d spend a little time discussing a favorite mold of mine: the Quarter Horse Gelding. I was originally going to classify today’s particular topic as an Urban Legend, but it’s really just a case of mistaken identity: the persistent confusion between the Chestnut and Bay Special Run Geldings.

Here is the 1987 Red Chestnut Quarter Horse Gelding Special Run:


Approximately 1400 pieces were made - a pretty big piece count for a 1980s special run. He didn’t exactly set the model horse world on fire: it’s not the most attractive color, and he’s never been a terribly popular mold. It shouldn’t be surprising that in spite of the fact that about half of them were probably customized and flocked by one of the dealers who received them (Eighmey’s Wagon Shop,) he’s still a relatively easy and inexpensive model to pick up.

This, on the other hand, is the 1984 Matte Bay Quarter Horse Gelding Special Run:


It is estimated that about 300 pieces were made of this particular guy, though I think that piece count may be low: it’s only an estimate from one of the dealers who received him. That particular dealer was also Eighmey’s Wagon Shop. Like the Red Chestnut SR, they altered and flocked most of the models they received - 250 of the 300, supposedly, leaving only about 50 pieces in their original state.

Rumor has it that Caauwe Sales in Nebraska also received some. But probably not a lot: the only Matte Bay I’ve even seen for sale in recent years was my example, and I found him in a body box lot on eBay. (Thus explaining his less than minty state.) In an era that saw a lot of small, poorly distributed special runs, he’s right up there with some of the rarest.

Because they were similar looking 1980s special runs of the same mold, distributed by mail order, both partially "destroyed" by the same distributor, they’re frequently confused with one another. Most of the information I find about them online and elsewhere mangles the data about the two pretty thoroughly.

The fact that few collectors have heard - or seen - an actual Matte Bay QH Gelding probably contributes to the confusion. I know when I first heard rumors of his existence, I wasn’t inclined to believe them. I never saw one for sale, and I didn’t know anyone who’d cop to owning one. I thought it was just another one of those phantom special runs that only existed on collector want lists.


The body color between the two is similar - the Chestnut is more reddish than the Bay - but as always, it’s the details that make the difference. The Chestnut has gray hooves, and a small star. The Matte Bay has black hooves, a black mane and tail, a large star and snip, and a dark shaded muzzle - not unlike the original Gloss Bay release. My Matte Bay has higher than average stockings too, but that might just be a natural variation, not a characteristic of the special as a whole.

(And unlike the Gloss version, the Matte Bay will always have the USA mold mark. That should go without saying, but with all of the subtle mold mark changes lately, one can never be too careful...)

A few more Matte Bay Quarter Horse Geldings will show up eventually, as more collectors learn to distinguish them from their more common chestnut comrades - not a lot, but a few. I suspect that more collectors will suddenly discover that their Bay rarity is actually a more pedestrian Chestnut.

POA

(From Breyer History Diva, 2009.)


I attempted to find my photographic evidence of the existence of the elusive SR Black Blanket Pony of the Americas I mentioned in passing on Monday, but it's still lost in my archives somewhere. It's probably for the best, though, since it wouldn't have been terribly impressive: it was dark, out of focus and kinda small. In other words, it was about as convincing as your average photo of Bigfoot.

I do remember what he looked like, more or less: he was painted just like the Bay Blanket POA, except in black. He had a small, splash-spotted hip blanket, and no other markings; I believe he had striped hooves also, but since I can't find That Darn Photograph, I can't be 100% sure of that.


(Just illustrative: nothing special about this particular guy, other than being a particularly nice example of a Bay Blanket POA from my herd. No stripey hooves, extra details or any of that. I'd love a stripey-hoof version, too, but I'm not holding my breath.)

Oh, how I wanted him so – and I still do. He was one of those mysterious late 1970s or early 1980s special runs that drove us all absolutely mad. Small special runs of every variety were popping up all over the country back then – and tantalizing rumors of others – but we often didn't know about them until a lucky collector happened to run across one at a tack shop or in a horse show vendor's booth. And by then, the original run would have been long sold out, usually into the general (nonhobbyist) population.

I still occasionally prowl around the usual web sites, looking for him. Even though he's actually quite easy to distinguish from the regular run POA Pantomime – who had an extensive blanket, blaze, stockings and tan hooves – I still hold out hope that (just maybe) enough collectors won't know about him, or won't notice the differences. I've lucked out before.