New Addition to the Adios Conga

  I have two major focuses in my collection - circus horses and vintage Breyers. My favorite molds (Semi-Rearing Mustang, 5 Gaiter, Indian Pony) are significant congas while others are more modest.

My Adios conga is one of the most modest of them all with just eleven pieces.

But now we are twelve. 

Brandywine, 9/2020,  #702002, Aug/Dec 2002 Fall Show Special, $15, Julia Platt, MS.

Brandywine was a 2002 Fall Show Special (in fact, he was the last Show Special that Breyer made) and only produced for six months. I saw him listed on an auction site for just $15, bid, and won him.

He is much nicer in hand than I thought he would be, especially considering the amount of time that has passed since he was made as well as the types of paint jobs Breyer was doing in the early 2000s. This guy has nice detail work and no rubs that I can find.

I think I will name him Even Dozen to reflect that he's my twelfth Adios.

Cupcake Risers

I have been asked if I could share where I got the cupcake risers that I am using for my Stablemates.

I am really pleased with how well they work and am happy to share the link.

This is what I ordered. They come in several sizes, with the three tier style (seen in the ad photo) coming in a couple of different widths.

 Unfortunately, they are currently unavailable in the four tier version. But, that happened when I bought mine. I added them to my cart and then got a message that they were unavailable. (Shades of BreyerFest 2020!) I tried again a little while later and was able to snag them.

Here is the link - hopefully the four tier risers will pop up again and those who want them can get them.

Good luck!

Vintage Club Zahra

  The fourth and last offering from Breyer's Vintage Club has arrived, and she is gorgeous!

Zahra, the In-Between Mare, #712326, $127, Vintage Club 2020 #4, 9/2020, Breyer.

The dapples on mine are very subtle on the off side, but can be seen more clearly on the near.

She was a gambler's choice of three colors - glossy dapple bay, glossy dappled rose grey pinto, and matte dapple palomino. (The literature that came with the model calls the palomino version pearly palomino.) According to Identify Your Breyer there were about 167 made in each of the three Vintage Club colors. (Photo by Breyer.)

The In-Between Mare may be Breyer's rarest model and has an interesting history. In the 1950s Breyer copied Hagen Renaker's large Arabian Mare, Zara. Hagen Renaker strongly objected, and so Breyer had to change the mold.  The In-Between Mare was their first attempt, and for years the only one known to exist was a glossy grey Appaloosa that was in the collection of Marney Walerius. (The next and final iteration of the mold was the Family Arabian Mare.)

She has an overlong neck but Zahra will still fit into a standard haversack.

As time passed, several other In-Between Mares surfaced in woodgrain and  alabaster. I would not be surprised if one or two are discovered in palomino and possibly even charcoal. Maybe those will surface some day.

Since this is the first time the mold has ever been used in Breyer's line-up, there are a lot of people who want her. A check of eBay shows that one like mine was just listed and already has nine bids and is at $260 with seven days left for bidding.

I have no plans to sell mine and if I can, I will rearrange my shelves and put her between my Family Arabian Mares and my Proud Arabian Mares.

That makes sense since she is the In-Between Mare!

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!