Lomonosov - My First Piece

Last July when I attended the BreyerFest Breakables Live Show, I was struck by all the Europeanware and their beauty. Their cost was waaaaay out of my league, but I had fun looking (and drooling) anyway.

Today at an antique shop an animal figurine on a shelf caught my eye. It "looked" different, although I could not say just how. When I picked it up, it was heavier than expected.

 The price tag said it was a Lomonosov Cheetah.

Lomonosov Cheetah, $15

 Whoa! And it wasn't in a locked case! So I flipped it over to see if it had a backstamp.

It did! It was an older piece, produced when Russia was the USSR!

Needless to say, I brought it home with me despite not really knowing much about it. I suspected it was worth more than what was being asked, and I was right - it is worth triple to quadruple what I paid.

I may sell it, but on the other hand, I like finally having a Lomonosov piece in my collection, even though it isn't a horse.

Today sure was my lucky day!

Doggone Lucky!

I don't collect dogs, although I have a few in my collection (Jolly Cholly in regular and woodgrain, a couple of HRs, and some other Breyer dogs.)

Today I went antiquing, and I found dogs EVERYWHERE. All three shops I visited had an assortment (yet nothing noteworthy when it came to horses. Boo!!)

My jaw dropped when I saw this piece inside a locked case at Raven's Roost Antiques:

 A Hagen-Renaker Designer Workshop Butch!

Butch, 1957-1959, $26.50

 He has a signature of some kind, but I did not find that mark in either of my Hagen-Renaker books.

Fortunately for me, I have done a lot of looking through those books as I identify horses, so even though I am not up to snuff on HR dogs, I did recognize Butch when I saw it. I snapped that puppy (haha) right up!

This piece struck me as particularly nice:

 Lefton German Shepherd, $9.50

I wasn't sure what his make was until I flipped him over and saw this:

 I have at least one Lefton horse with a four digit id mark beginning with A, so I am assuming this piece, too, was made by Lefton.

This boxer came home with me as well. He's glossy and has the weight and heft of the German Shepherd.

German Shepherd, $7.50

 As you can see, he has no backstamp or identifying number on his belly.

 The tag on this Beagle caught my eye - I have had horses with stickers on their sides saying what breed they are, and original stickers can up the value of the piece.

Beagle with sticker, $7.50.

 The near side seems a bit off compared to the far side.

 Napcoware? Lefton? My guess is he is one or the other.

 His snout is a bit cartoonish.

I may go back and take a closer look at the other dogs that were there. There were many lovely pieces in mint condition, and I would love to bring them home and keep them that way!

I Used to Do This

When I saw this on a German collector's blog, I had to borrow a few of the pictures and post. Why? Because I used to do the same!

Talk about memories from my childhood - my friends Bobbie Vance, Carol Holmes, and I used to take our horses out to the very creek that runs through my neighborhood and University Farms' park and have them trail ride along its banks.

I have a lovely memory of having Barbie ride Miss Windy Warpaint (my buckskin Indian Pony with warpaint) in the snow by that frozen creek one winter afternoon.

I also have some very realistic photos I took down by the Wabash with my models during the summer in the mid 1970s. I'll have to dig those out some day.

In the meantime, looking at these pictures makes me smile and just a bit nostalgic. I sort of feel like I ought to go upstairs, grab Miss Windy Warpaint (where did I get that name??) and give her a kiss on the nose!

Found a... What?

I am in the process of documenting my collection, cross-referencing it between two major sources, and this afternoon I spent an hour or so playing with my ponies. To my dismay, I discovered a problem with my alabaster Lying Foal Unicorn (1985 - 1988.)

Those dates themselves are enough to dishearten me - that's part of the timeline when Breyer produced models with a type of plastic that breaks down over time, and many (not all) of the models produced during that time are shrinking, oozing liquid, or both.

Ick.

I have a couple of them, but not too many, at least that I know of yet. Today as I picked up this foal to document it, I noticed it had developed yellow spots on the side facing outward.

The side facing the back of the shelf shows none of the yellow spots (the marks are scuffs from whoever owned this piece before me. I found it at a flea market or antique shop.)

And, the yellow spots will rub off with my finger or with some water. I am going to give this piece a bath, but first I want to photograph it and study it, possibly even making some inquiries around the hobby to see if anyone else has had this occur to a piece in their collection.

Kristen Wellman recently wrote about these kinds of issues on her blog, Model Horse Collectibility, and I have cut and pasted part of what she said:

Breyer models that are beginning to disintegrate from a problem that seems to be akin to vinegar syndrome in film. Like some kinds of film, many Breyers were made of a kind of plastic called cellulose acetate, and they are likewise starting to break down on a molecular level. The problem has only cropped up in the last few years, and so far, the only models that seem to be affected are those that were produced from around 1987-1992. (It is certainly possible that models may crop up from outside that range of years, but let's hope not many.) Not all models from those years are affected though, and it stands to reason that the affected models were made from a defective batch (or batches) of plastic.

Symptoms of vinegar syndrome include shrinking of the model in height and width, warping, slow implosion of the body cavity, legs that warp inward, paint discoloration (it gets lighter), a whitish film on the model that feels like chalk dust or soft powder, a strong vinegar smell, liquid oozing from the plastic, yellowing of white plastic areas, and in extreme cases, bubbling and collapse of the model.

Unfortunately, at this time, there is no known method to stop vinegar syndrome. So far, models that have been kept out in the open air tend to just slowly shrink and warp without any of the uglier symptoms. But as this is a recent development for Breyers, we don't yet know exactly what will eventually happen. Models kept in storage and models exposed to heat and humidity are much more likely to ooze and frequently go through the full gamut of symptoms

Quadruple Donkeys!

Last week I saw something on MH$P that I had not seen before - Hartland donkeys, four of them. Their owner, Jen Dodd of Knoxville, Tennessee was asking $25 postage paid for the set. I offered her $18 and she agreed. They arrived Saturday - nice additions to my Hartland collection!

Hartland Donkeys, $4.50 apiece.

A Ribbon Rack!

I have been wanting to buy a ribbon rack for some time, but a search online showed that they can be very costly. This weekend it occurred to me that I had one right under my nose.

The top of the blinds is perfect!

New Hartlands

I saw this gorgeous Hartland Three Gaiter on MH$P and offered the owner, Mary Hackathorn, $8 for it.

 It is in near mint shape and is the first of this mold to be added to my collection.

While she and I were corresponding via email, she mentioned she had a cherry woodcut Mustang that she would sell. I offered her $10 and got this beauty today. (Cherry woodcut, in my opinion, is the hardest to find in any Hartland mold.)

 It even has its felt footpads intact.

Makes a nice addition to my ebony and walnut woodcut mustangs, doesn't it?