A Superior Plastics Horse

Every now and then, a friend who knows I am horsey will send me a text or message like this one that I got late last week.

After Karen sent me that message, I sent her photos of the black Western Horse and Black Western Pony pulled from the Identify Your Breyer site. 

Based on our message chain, I was expecting a black Breyer Western Pony.

What I got was this pretty boy, and he is most definitely not a Breyer Western Pony.

At first I thought he was made of styrene, but the more I handle him, the more I think it is another type of plastic. It's not quite light enough to be styrene and when I set him down on a table, he makes that gentle "thunk" sound that Breyers do.

The piece has what Nancy Atkinson Young called "scooper ears" in her notes for her books on Breyer Molds and Models.

The tack doesn't match Breyer, Ohio Plastics, or Superior, all of whom are known to have produced similar Western Horse models...

... although it does match Hartland's pretty well.

The saddle is missing its tapaderos and is made of a thinner plastic than the Breyer saddles are. But when I compared it to pictures of Hartland saddles, it seems to match. Could this be a Hartland piece?

I have one Hartland Western Horse, the Victor Over Clock (VOC). It's way up on the top of a shelf, but I am going to see if Craig won't help me get it down so I can compare the two. (I'm still under post op restrictions for lifting and climbing.)

I also have this Ohio Plastics horse and rider to compare the mystery horse to, and the two pieces are very different. My mystery horse is not an Ohio Plastic piece.

Clearly, I needed to do some research - that's part of the fun of collecting. I asked on a few Facebook sites to see if the folks there know what it is. And I found my answer from a post by Sande Schneider - her favorite mold is Breyer's Western Horse and she is a fount of knowledge. She's posted Nancy Young's notes about knock-off Western Horses. And there was my answer.

My mystery model was made in the early 1950s by Superior Plastics in Chicago, Illinois. 

White Western Horse

This very old Western Horse was CHEAP. Like I said in the last post, sales on eBay after BreyerFest can be priced very low as people are trying to recoup the money they overspent there.

 Western Horse, #59, $14.01, 1950-1962, 8/2018, eBay, Tina Sonntag, Volant, PA.

He is more yellowed than these photos make him look, but I can either put him into the sun or enjoy as is. I lean toward the latter - after all, he earned that lovely creamy color!

Antiquing with Lisa - a Rare Western Horse!

This piece has turned out to be quite the interesting find.

Western Horse, #57, 1951 - 1991, $8.40, Cabbages and Kings, Crawfordsville, Indiana, 6/13/2018.

Lisa and I went to Crawfordsville and visited Cabbages and Kings, a downtown antique shop, last week, she to look for red transferware plates, and me to look for horse shaped objects. I spied this guy on a shelf fairly soon after we had walked in.

At first glance, this seemed to just be a Western Horse that had seen better days - no reins, no saddle, and some rubs.

But the eyes caught my attention. They were unpainted!

And so was the bridle and the breastplate!

The legs were a very brilliant white, and were bare plastic.

Chalky plastic!

I checked to be sure that this was a real Breyer - there was a USA up under the right hind leg. The bridle conchos were rounded, so it was not a Hartland.

The bottoms of the hooves did not show any drain board pattern or signs of being a basecoat chalky.

That white plastic simply glowed and was a richer color than Breyer's unpainted white plastic.

The tail had a similar glow to the white plastic.

As did the mane - I was pretty certain that I had found a chalky plastic Western Horse. But why was it unfinished? Was it a factory escapee? A cull? One that a factory jobber took home and then got rid of? What was its story?

I put it out on Facebook's Western Horse and Ponies Lovers Page. Here is a cut and paste of what Sande Schneider said in response to my query as to what I might have found:

As far as I know, there's really no way to tell what escaped from the factory from what Breyer openly sold at some of their past parking lots sales. I don't know specifics because I never attended one. But it is my understanding that back in the days of the Chicago factory that they hosted a parking lot sale of some sort toward the end of most years (Christmas clearance?). Plus after Reeves took over and moved the factory to NJ, there was a toy shop/dealer somewhere out East -- somewhere in Pennsylvania or Virginia perhaps -- that used to take a bus load of enthusiasts to the factory for a tour and shopping event once a year, or so. I'd have to dig through my files in search of notices about those to refresh my memory before I could write quotable details.  

Plus in more recent years Breyer has had bins full of blank (naked) models for sale in the Breyer store during some BreyerFests. I never bought any but I remember seeing them there. 

To my way of thinking, an escapee is not something that was released freely or openly. But rather something that left the factory under mysterious and/or unauthorized conditions.

Back years ago they did a warehouse sale in NJ. You went the day before and slept in line on the sidewalk to be one of the first in the door to grab deals out of bins. There could have been mistakes, oddities, OOAK, or other neat ones found at a great price. They also had other toys as Steiff’s too! This was always like the first Saturday in December. You nearly froze to death.

Hmmm. Still a mystery. I am going to record him as a factory cull or escapee, and see if the mystery doesn't unravel as time passes.

Such is the fun of collecting!

Glitterati

I love Breyer's vintage molds, and the Western Horse was its very first mold. (Actually, the mold was copied from Hartland.) I focus more on purchasing vintage pieces for my collection now, but this is the 65th Anniversary Model and is gorgeous to boot. So, when I found it on sale, home it came!

 Gitterati, 65th Anniversary Horse, #1735, 2015 - current, $42, Amazon, 7/2015.

Western Horse

This boy was in my parents' basement in a box marked "Jenny's Horses." Since a lot of those in there had been mine, I went ahead and grabbed this one and a FAM. (I also have an extra Western Horse saddle in my hobby things - maybe from this piece?)

 Western Horse, #55, 1954 - 1973, 1975-1976, from childhood collection of mine or Jenny.

Needs a bath, but he is a nice addition!

Western Horse #2

This is the Western Horse that caught my eye initially, and the one I almost left behind. I think he's a chalky - he has that "glow" that they have.

 Western Horse, #57, 1970-1990, $15, Sell It Here 1, Lafayette, Indiana, 2/2015.

I asked on Model Horse Blab if anyone knows anything about that mold marking and found it had been added in the 1970s. That fits the chalky era and supports my thought that this is a chalky piece.

 A check of the hooves can often confirm chalkiness. 

They are not completely white, but then again, they aren't puddled, either.

Still, every time I look at this piece among my other Western Horses, its glowing coat jumps out at me, just as it did in the antique shop.

I am going to identify it as a chalky, at least until I get strong verification otherwise.

Western Horse #1

This piece is a real oldie - one of Breyer's earliest molds, and he's from an early run of that mold.

 Western Horse, #57, 1951-1960, gold eyes, $15, 2/2014, Sell It Here 1, Lafayette, Indiana

 Gold eyes and o-link reins.

Early saddle with high grommet.

Antique Store Finds

Yesterday I did a quick perusal of Sell It Here 1 and 2 before heading out to work at Hershey. At Sell It Here 1, I hit the bonanza.

 Two Western Horses, an early Family Arab Mare, and an early Boxer. Bingo!!

The horses were all from the same seller and were quite dirty, so I bathed them all before photographing them for documentation. The FAM has some dark spots on her, too.

The Boxer was the only piece I was going to buy as I have two Western Horses and the FAM, but there was something unusual about the saddle-less Western Horse (I think it is a chalky, plus it has a mold mark I have never seen). The FAM just looked bereft there on the shelf, and since she is such an old piece, I "rescued" her and will sell or give her away. The second Western Horse is a very early piece, and mine like it is an oozie and falling apart. How much longer I will be able to keep it is in question as it is deteriorating rapidly.

So, home they all came to Windsong Stables, home of rescue model horses!!

Western Horse - Recent Variations

(Recent depends, of course, on your perspective... :D)

From Blab, Sande Schneider's post.

Here is a variation that was well acknowledged when these models first hit the market in 1999 but seems to have since been forgotten.



These are the #758 Trigger models from Roy Rogers' Gift Sets that included a video of the 1949 movie, The Golden Stallion. Note the obvious variation in which hind leg features a white sock. Most of the Trigger models have a left hind sock. However some were released early in the run -- June 1999 -- with a right hind sock instead. Reportedly the ones with the right hind sock were found at Toys R Us stores around the country. Toys R Us seemed to have an equal number of models with the typical left hind sock so it is safe to assume that they were a variation [error] and not a special run. 

Both variations featured chain reins with the typical twisted links, but they are "silvery brownish-gray" and not the traditional gold color. However, some of those early reins felt sticky, as if their paint wasn't as dry as it should be. By August of 1999, Breyer had switched over to a new style of reins -- still the same color, but with finer links that are best described as being a 'bracelet-style' chain. Presumably Breyer switched to that style of rein while they resolved the sticky paint problem with the original twisted link reins. Then a month or two after that, dealers reported that new shipments were arriving with the twisted link reins again but they were no longer sticky. Production continued with that style of reins until Trigger was discontinued in 2006. 



This photo shows a closer view of the two different styles of reins. 

So if anyone wants to own an example of each version they will need to find at least three different variations:
1 - with right hind sock and twisted link reins (limited release very early in the production run);
2 - with left hind sock and bracelet link reins (also a limited release fairly early in the run); and,
3 - with left hind sock and twisted link reins (general release for most of the run).

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.

Odd Western Horse

I have a Western Horse with the same odd black hooves.

(From Breyer History Diva, October 7, 2012.)

Instead, here’s a picture of some oddity I picked up at Model Horse Congress back in 1985 or 1986:

I think he’s a cull, but I’m not entirely sure. (His condition is a little rougher than the photo lets on.) Breyer had stopped using the pinto mask on the Western Horse about 10 years earlier, and it would be a few more before they’d pull it out again for the Chestnut Pinto Just About HorsesSpecial in 1990. So he might actually have been a test for … something else? I knew he wasn’t that old, because his color was not dissimilar to the acidic yellow palominos Breyer was cranking out at the time. 

The reins are obviously not original, but I can’t recall if the saddle was. I honestly can’t remember. That was when I was just starting to hit the flea markets pretty seriously, and Western Horses and Ponies were still fairly plentiful, if not in the best condition. Sometimes I’d buy something just to salvage the reins or saddle from it.

(People were a little less particular about the bodies they were willing to customize back then, too. Partly out of necessity, partly out of youthful exuberance.)

I’m also almost certain that the eyes and hooves were touched up later, too, but I never bothered to "fix" them because I couldn’t be 100 percent sure that they weren’t. Plus, I just couldn’t bear the thought of having anunfinished model standing on my shelves.

I’ve since gotten over that sentiment. This weird old boy's been grandfathered in, though. Sometimes it's best to leave some mysteries to be. 

Side Stander Clock

(from Breyer History Diva, 2009)



Unlike the "Horse Over" Clock (now considered largely a Hartland-molded product) there’s little dispute over the "Side Stander’s" origins: the horse Breyer-molded. The base probably is, too - there’s no identifying mark to speak of, but the plastic has the same texture, weight and consistency as the horse, and the molded-in swirly color is similar to the color seen on my square tortoiseshell clock with the early Breyer mold mark.

The clock itself is painted metal, with a "Ceramic Clock Co." label on the back. It is generally assumed that the Ceramic Clock Company was a subsidiary of MasterCrafters: some labels show that they shared the same street address. What the exact relationship is not known to me; I haven’t followed up on that topic, not for a lack of interest, but because of the paucity of the paper trail.

The exact chronology of the two clocks is unknown; it’s believed that the Side Stander Clocks came after the Horse Over Clocks, but when exactly - and how long - I don’t know. I don’t think I have any documentation in my archives that even shows a true Side Stander clock for sale, either. A page from the Fall-Winter 1951 Sears Roebuck Catalog does show the non-Breyer, pot-metal version of this clock: I don’t know who was copying whom, though.

Wherever the truth lies, the horses found on the Side Stander Clocks represent some of the earliest Breyer model horses known, if not the earliest. Both White and Palomino versions have been found; White ones seem to be slightly more common than the Palomino, but that could be a sampling error on my part.

And did you happen to notice this clock is a variation, too? He has two socks, not the standard four! It’s definitely not very common: I’ve only seen two others like this, and both were Clock Horses as well. Four-sock versions of this clock exist, too, so I don't know if this means that the two-sock version was the first version of the Palomino Western Horse, or just an early variation.

Plum Brown

(From Breyer History Diva, 2009)


Here are two different pre-1960 Western Ponies. Notice anything different between the two?


It's a little hard to tell, but the one with darker hooves is dark brown. It’s a color hobbyists call "Plum Brown" because it often comes with purplish undertones, though mine is more dark chocolate-colored. The base color is colored plastic that, as we’ve discussed before, was not an uncommon Breyer painting shortcut in the 1950s.

There are only two models known that came in this brown color: Davy Crockett’s Fury/Prancer horse from the Horse and Rider set, and the Western Pony. Both are painted with masked facial markings, 4 stockings and dark gray hooves.

For the longest time, we didn’t know anything at all about these Plum Brown models, and just assumed that they were a color variation of the Black. We didn’t learn that they were separate and distinct releases until copies of an undated catalog page/flier started circulating among collectors. From the reverse:


It was widely presumed that Breyer also made a Brown Western Horse. It was a logical presumption to make: they did make a brown Fury/Prancer and Western Pony, and our fragmentary documentation from the 1950s didn't rule out the possibility. Why not a Western Horse? Some collectors even claimed that they had one in their herds.

Then I saw one of those alleged Western Horses in person and realized it was just a copy, and not a very good one at that. The plastic was wrong, the color was wrong, the hooves were poorly sculpted - even the reins were wrong! They also have metallic gold shading that’s not seen on either the Plum Brown Fury/Prancer or Western Pony. It’s as if they were actually trying to imitate a bronze finish; I believe the manufacturer of these odd and early knock-offs was probably taking its design cues more from pot metal carnival horses than the plastic Breyer versions.

The Fury/Prancer is far more common than the Western Pony in this color, possibly because the Plum Brown Fury/Prancer was not only used with another Horse and Rider set - the Canadian Mountie - it was also sold separately. The Western Pony mold was used on a few Horse and Rider sets, such as the Indian, the Cowboy, and Kit Carson, but I can’t recall ever seeing an original set with the Plum Brown Pony.

Not much is known about the Plum Brown Western Pony, other than its appearance on that single, undated (ca. 1956) catalog page and his hasty retreat: he was gone from the 1958 catalog and price list. Maybe, as I hypothesized with the Pink and Blue Elephants, he was designed to use up the colored acetate they had lying around the factory.

It may be that the Plum Brown Western Pony’s rarity isn’t as profound as we perceive it: in low light, and at first glance, they can be indistinguishable from the somewhat more common Black Beauty version. None of the Black Beauties are really "common" either, but I’ll discuss that in my next post.

Black Beauties

(from Breyer History Diva, 2010)

The color "Black Beauty" first appeared in the ca. 1953 catalog sheets, in reference to the Western Horse and Pony: the Western Horse is #58, and the Western Pony is #44. By 1958, the number on the Western Pony changes to #40, the Western Horse disappears completely, and the Fury/Prancer is now listed as being available in this color. From the 1958 price list:


The term is not used as a color descriptor, but as a proper name. Here’s another part of that 1958 price list that clarifies this point: the model doesn’t come in "Black Beauty," it is Black Beauty:


The Black Beauty terminology is dropped in the 1960 Dealer’s Catalog, and the color simply becomes "Black." The Western Horse reappears in this color, too, as #50. A Mission Supply House mailer from ca. 1961 still refers to all three as "Black Beauty," but Red Bird Sales pages from roughly the same time period call them "Black."

Confused yet? It gets worse: there are at least three different variations of this color!

The earliest "Black Beauties" - the #44 Pony, and the #58 Horse - were solid, glossy black plastic, with metallic gold hooves and trim. The Prancer never came in this variation, as far as I know. It may have been discontinued by 1955, but it’s difficult to tell precisely due to the lack of paper evidence.


The second version of "Black Beauty" was the version I discussed in my last post, with four white stockings, gray hooves, and a masked star or blaze. Only the Western Pony and the Fury/Prancer came in this color. Since the #27 Fury has nearly the same paint job as the #P40 Black Beauty Prancer, it can be hard to distinguish between the two. Black Fury/Prancers are usually only identified as #P40 Prancers if they still have their original chain reins and western saddles.

Both the Western Pony and the Fury/Prancer were used in Horse and Rider sets in this color, adding to the confusion. Some of the Horse and Rider set Fury/Prancers had the wider, Davy Crockett Horse blazes, but not all. This variation appears in the 1958 Dealer’s Catalog.

Dating this color variation is very difficult, especially since they share the same issue number - and markings - as the Plum Browns. The Plum Browns predate the Blacks, and probably "evolved" into the Black Beauties once they ran out of the colored acetate: all they had to do was change the name on the pricelist, and carry on.

All three models came in the third and final version of "Black Beauty." This color is quite distinctive, and in my opinion is the most attractive of the three: bald face, 4 stockings, a white tail tip, and silver trim on the saddle and molded on tack:


This color also varies the most of the three: the markings can be white plastic, or overpainted, or some combination of the two; handpainted eyewhites are also sometimes seen.

A Western Horse in this variation appears in the 1960 Montgomery Wards catalog; it’s possible that they may have started manufacturing it up to a year earlier, but until more evidence shows up, we can never really know for sure.

The same can be said for their discontinuation dates: all we have are rough boundaries here. They all appear in the ca. 1960 Dealer’s Catalog, and are all gone from the 1963 Dealer’s Catalog. I’m pretty sure the Fury/Prancer mold, with the exception of Fury himself, was discontinued in 1961. But according to the Red Bird Sales pages, the Western Horse was still available in 1962.

All three variations are fairly rare; I’ve been told that the solid blacks are the rarest of the three, but it’s hard for me to judge. I purchased a primo pair back in 1980 (one of my earliest "hobby" purchases) and consequently haven’t paid too much attention to their market prices.

I’ve had the most trouble finding the silver-tipped third version, but I think that’s mostly an issue of condition, not availability. Since most third version models were molded in white plastic, and not black, rubs are just more prevalent - or noticeable.