Breyer's Material World

One of the unique things about the Breyer Model Horse Company -- and one thing I stressed when I sent in my note nominating Breyer to the Toy Hall of Fame -- is the fact that Breyer produces more than just Tenite plastic horses.

To date, Breyer horses have also been made in PVC (polyvinyl chloride) some soft, vinyl-like kind of plastic, styrene plastic, flocked plastic, plush, resin, crystal, pewter, bronze, porcelain, and even paper, for goodness' sake!  If you need an equine fix of any sort next to being up close and personal with the living, breathing thing, Breyer has got your number.

I have most, but not all of these Breyer materials in collection.  I don't have what I'm thinking is a vinyl-like one (Breyer's Kipper), any cold-cast porcelain, any crystal, any pewter, any bronze, or any paper horses.  But wouldn't a full collection of all of Breyer's touchy-feely materials make a great Collector's Class entry?

Of course, you'd have to solve the debate as to whether some things, like the Britains set, offered in 1986-1989 in solid polythene plastic, really count as a Breyer product or not .  For the sake of a really thorough Collector's Class entry, though, it probably wouldn't hurt to toss them in.

For my own part, I have the PVC "Spirit and Friends" set, a styrene Dapples horse, a flocked Breyerfest horse, a plush snoozy horse, the resin Equine Art Collection, several porcelain horses and even the ceramic Performing Misty co-created with Hagen-Renaker (another piece that asks the question: Is this really a Breyer product?).

It's not the lot, but considering the fact that some Collector's Classes limit the number of horses/animals you can display, I think I'd set mine up using the following nine horses:  the porcelain Arabian in Costume, a Breyer with a textured coat like Misty or Brighty in cellulose acetate (Tenite), Sunny's Mom in smooth styrene with long brushable hair, a Breyer Mini Whinnie for the type of plastic used in it (softer than both styrene and Tenite), Whistlejacket as a resin, rearing Spirit in PVC plastic, the flocked Stablemate Morgan, the plush dozy pony, and the ceramic Performing Misty.

It might not take the class, but it would sure be a fun display to make, as it takes in almost every scale of model horse that Breyer produces.

It sure would be fun to have a Breyer in a "Touchability box" for the Tenite rep though -- somehow I think that would capture the theme of the whole class.  And what would I call my Collector's Class entry?  Probably something like "The Magic Touch."  Breyer's got it, in just about any material you can name.