Blue Ribbon Sticker Information

We used to play with those stickers - hanging them from the models' bridles as though they'd won a blue ribbon in a show, etc. Now I wish I had kept a few!

From Breyer History Diva, November 18, 2012.

Making Up Stories in My Head Again

So, here’s a picture of another recent indulgence:

A pretty nice Palomino Western Prancing Horse, with sticker. I’d been on the lookout for years for just the "right" one to add to the herd. I was pretty sure he wasn’t it, either, but the price was, and there was something to him, I dunno, that told me it was necessary to buy him anyway.

Once I opened the box, it only took a few minutes to figure out why: he had the USA mold mark.

With the small Blue Ribbon Sticker, too.

According to my research, this shouldn’t happen: small stickers should only appear on models manufactured from ca. 1966 to ca. 1968, and the larger stickers - the ones with the names - should only appear on models manufactured from ca. 1969 through ca. 1970.

The USA mark was added to many (though not all) Breyer molds sometime around 1970, so any model with a USA mark would have a large Blue Ribbon Sticker, if at all.

For the most part, the chronology appears to be holding up. In the occasions when I it has not, it was either a matter of transposition - a sticker had been transplanted from another model - or it was one of those models or finishes where there’s still a lot of fuzziness about the dates. The Family Arabian Foals, for instance, were apparently re-released in Gloss in the later 1960s.

(Why exactly, we’re not sure. ‘Nother story, anyway.)

Looking at the lists I’ve compiled, I did notice some oddities. Some stickers that should, theoretically, be showing up weren’t.

Take the Bucking Bronco: has anyone actually seen a Bucking Bronco with a large version of the Blue Ribbon Sticker? Both the Black and the Bay were manufactured during the necessary time period. The Rearing Stallion, who is more or less the same scale as the Bucking Bronco, came with both versions of the sticker.

And so too, the Western Prancing Horse. Five of the six early Western Prancing Horses (all but the Black Pinto) were manufactured throughout the entire "Blue Ribbon" era, ca. 1966-ca.1970. But I have yet to see any Western Prancing Horses with the large version of the Blue Ribbon Stickers.

It’s possible it’s a sampling error; stickers are fragile, and I certainly haven’t seen every Breyer model in the world, though it feels like it sometimes. But I've been compiling this data for years now. I may now have to concede that the sticker timeline might be slightly more complicated than I thought it was. Some models that could have made the transition to larger stickers may not have.

Why that was we’ll never know for sure, but there are a couple of plausible theories. Some of these molds might have been lower or slower sellers, for whom another sticker order might have been a waste of time and money. With the Western Prancer, it might have been a space issue: it would have been something of a challenge to fit the words "Western Prancing Horse" legibly on a sticker less than an inch in diameter.

It’s possible that this guy is just another case of transposition, and my brain is just concocting fabulous scenarios to make him more interesting to me. But it still hasn’t changed the fact that I haven’t seen a Western Prancing Horse with a large Blue Ribbon Sticker. Anyone out there who can prove me wrong?

(And if you can, is he for sale?)

Gathering Storm

I read on Breyer History Diva's blog that Tuesday Morning stores were receiving Breyer overstock and that some good bargains could be had. So naturally I headed to the West Lafayette one on Saturday morning!

Sure enough, I found several I would've liked to have, but I only purchased this one:

 Gathering Storm ($19.99)

Spring 2011 Collector's Choice Model

#1456 glossy charcoal grey and white pinto

San Dimas Zara

My Hagen-Renaker Zara arrived today! I bought her from my friend, Nancy Falzone, and she is stunning.

Zara ($180)

 Her detail is beautiful; she is a San Dimas era piece in doeskin. Lots of crackle in her graze and nice shading.

I bought her to match my Monrovia era Amir. When I put them together, I was surprised to discover that I actually liked his color better - he is that luscious soft-edged color they did on their doeskin pieces back then while her detail is crisper.

Next up? To find the third piece of the set, the foal, Zilla.

New Arrivals

Breyer has announced its discontinued list for 2012, and I really wanted this piece:

 It's one of Breyer's earliest molds, and it was on sale for $24, so I snagged one.

And then, remembering the sweet Christmas ornaments that I received as a gift and then gave away (and regretted), I decided to take the plunge and buy the three new Merry Fillies. And I am so glad I did - they are soooo cute!

 Truffle ($8)

 Snowdrift ($8)

 Twinkle ($8)

The photos do not do them justice - the detail in the paint jobs are incredible!

Harlequin - Vintage Collectors' Club #4

I sure am loving the new Vintage Collectors' Club Breyer began this year. I'm member #479/500, so I just squeaked in - I wasn't sure I wanted to have to buy four models sight unseen as a member. But, I figured I could always sell those I did not like, and took the plunge. (As a nice plus and surprise, a Stablemate accompanied the second model, King, and the third was a mare and foal set, so I got six models for my membership.)

Number 4, Harlequin, the final one of 2012's inaugural club, arrived last week. He's gorgeous!

No regrets on my part for joining, and I will renew my membership for 2013. Can't wait to see next year's club models!

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.