A New Freeman Leidy Circus Horse!

 I don't check eBay much, but I do check for circus horses and ponies once a week or so. Lucky for me, I just happened to stumble across a new listing for a Freeman Leidy Circus Pony! It arrived yesterday.

Freeman Leidy Head Up Circus Pony in Pink and blue, $300, Boots Swam, Washington.

Out of all the circus horses and ponies that I have, the Freeman Leidys are my absolute favorites.

They're chunky, glammed up (those eyelashes!) and absolutely charming.

The new one (on the left) is an upgrade to my very first Freeman Leidy (on the right.)

My original has two breaks in her blue ribbons. I've shown her before but I don't think judges have noticed - there is just too much frou-frou going on with these pieces!

There are differences between the individual pieces, too. My new one is taller and her plume is higher on her head.

From what I can tell, the Freeman Leidy Circus Horses came paired (head up, head down) but then were color paired, too. 

The one on the far left has a green mane, tail, spots, and socks and is accented by purple ribbons. The one of the right is the flip - it has a purple mane, tail, spots, and socks and then green ribbons.

A view of the Head Up purple with green version Circus Horse. (Those eyelashes!!)

Its counterpart, the Head Down purple with green ribbons version.

This is the only green with purple version that I have ever seen in person or online. And when I found him and discovered that it was the reverse of my other pair, I realized that it was likely there were reverse versions of each pair.

The Head Up mold seems to have been used more than the Head Down, with the purple/green version turning up most often. (There is also a wagon for them. I have that in the purple/green version.)

I have found online photos of the Head Down Circus Horse that goes with my new pink/blue version as well as its matching circus wagon. (They're actually planters.) Some day I hope to add the Head Down pink/blue to my collection. I'm still searching to see if there is a reverse pair. 

I've also seen a pair in blue/yellow online and I wonder if that means there is a yellow/blue pair, too. And, never have I seen any photos of the green/purple pair aside from the Head Up one I have, and I'm positive that there must be a Head Down version to go with it. As for wagons for each pairing, I haven't a clue.

Researching and hunting for pieces is one of the best parts of collecting. And truth be told, even though this new one is an upgrade, the other one is staying with me, too. I just can't bear to part with a Freeman Leidy!

Chalky Appaloosa Performance Horse

 I have been looking for a chalky Appaloosa Performance Horse for years. When he was first released, I did not like the mold (that tail!) and so I chose other Breyers over him when I was buying new pieces for my collection. But, I did love the color - it is probably my favorite of all the colors Breyer has ever produced.

But recently I found a really nice one. It was a smidge over what I wanted to pay, but because it was so nice and my search had been so long, I purchased it. (Photo by seller.)Chalky Appaloosa Performance Horse, #99, 1974 - 1980, $85, Barrie Getz.The color is one of Breyer's most popular and has been used for several Vintage Club offerings.

And they all have the smile-inducing double dots on the back.

The free Vintage Club stablemate in 2012 was Eagle. This was the first year for the club, and we vintage collectors were thrilled to see that APH appaloosa color used again.

The next year, Halo, the Stretch Morgan in the APH appaloosa coloring, was one of the four Vintage Club offerings. I was surprised to see the color used in the Vintage Club so soon again, but I sure wasn't going to complain as I loved it!

We had to wait six more years until 2019 when Leopold was released for Vintage Club members on the Fighting Stallion mold.

Of course, by then I had begun a serious search for the original Appaloosa Performance Horse to add to my collection. I bought this non chalky piece in 2017.

But still I kept looking for the chalky version. I found and rejected many on various sales sites - either the price was more than I was willing to pay, or the model was in poor shape (and even a few that were a combination of the two - high price/beat up horse.)

This guy has some flaws, but they are minor and hard to see. I am pleased to have finally completed my search! (Photo by seller.)

Gifts from Cambria and Titan

To thank me for making them their rodeo shirts, Cambria and Titan each chose a model horse to send me. I couldn't believe that they chose ones I did not already have!

Titan sent me "Cupcake," a Brookside Pink Magnum.

And Cambria meant to send me a horse in the blanket but they didn't realize they were buying only the blanket. And Cambria really wanted the horse because it "looked like a Kelpie."

Thank goodness I found the horse on eBay for $13 and was able to show her that "Cupcake Sprinkles" was here!

Caterpillar Pa & Hagen Renaker's 75th Anniversary

Breyer isn't the only one celebrating a big anniversary this year - 2020 is Hagen Renaker's 75th anniversary! 

Sue Nikas was kind enough to send Kristina Lucas Francis a bunch of things from the factory to give out at the annual Hagen Renaker Tennessee Fellowship. That is held a few days before BreyerFest every year, but it, like so many other things, had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

So, Kristina and her crew have been sending them out to club members. Mine arrived Monday afternoon.

Inside the box was a gift wrapped package containing the goodies I'd been sent. (They are randomly shipped which was fine with me - I like surprises!)

Inside was a sticker, a lovely bar of soap with a Hagen Renaker portrait on it, and my factory surprise.

 I got Caterpillar Pa!

I looked him up in my Hagen Renaker book and he is the first version, so he's Monrovia and old.

What a nice thing for Susan Nikas and Kristina Lucas Francis to do for collectors! Thank you, and Happy Anniversary, Hagen Renaker!

More Clinkies from Nancy Falzone

It was a good mail day yesterday - I received another box from Nancy Falzone! After I'd purchased the Metlox Clydesdale, she'd asked if I were looking for anything else. I mentioned a few things, and soon new models were on their way to my home. 

 When I opened the box and cleared the top layer of packing peanuts,

I found four individually wrapped packages. It felt like I was opening another BreyerFest surprise horse or grab bag!

Nancy's packing jobs are always first rate. Each piece is carefully wrapped in several layers of paper and bubble wrap.

Inside the first package was a Monrovia Hagen Renaker Scamper in matte palomino. ($50) (Photo by Nancy.)

 A Zebra of an unknown manufacturer was in the next one. (I have a guess, but want to confirm that after doing some research.) ($15)

An old Lefton Donkey (with the original label under his belly) was in the third. ($20) (Photo by Nancy.)

And last was this matte palomino Monrovia Roughneck.

Nancy included the card she used to document him - I am thrilled to have this piece of ephemera and to learn the history of the model. ($50)

But there was one more surprise in that box.

Nancy had popped in a little gift - a Christmas ornament!

I always enjoy getting new models. But when they come from a friend, especially a dear friend like Nancy, they are sweet reminders of that friendship. And when I look at them on my shelves, not only do I see the horse, but I see my friend, too.

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. 

A New Metlox Piece

Any day that you get a box from Nancy Falzone is a good day.

And yesterday was a very good mail day - look what she sent me!

This is the Metlox Poppytrail Turning Budweiser Clydesdale, a piece that Anheuser-Busch commissioned the Metlox company to produce.

My photos do not do it justice - the mane ribbons and bobs are beautiful and the gold accented hardware is stunning.

The piece is very large (as big as the large Metlox Drafters) and very heavy. It is the second version (indicated by the better gold detail and mane decorations) of the piece.

Nancy is known for her fabulous Hagen Renaker collection, but she has also acquired a lot of other chinas over the years. She is parting with some of those as well as some of her Hagen Renakers. (I have a palomino Roughneck and Scamper, a Lefton donkey, and an unknown Zebra coming in the next box from her.) 

Thank you, Nancy, for letting me add this beautiful boy to my collection!