Breyer's Clinky Contingent

With Breyer, it's always best to expect the unexpected.

Breyer has made many unforeseen moves in its nearly 70-year history, and I missed the beginning of most of them.  However, I'm proud to say that there was one I was in on from the start: Breyer's foray into clinky-dom, with the Breyer Gallery.

I wasn't actually all that impressed with the earliest efforts -- the so-called cold cast porcelains which debuted with Spotted Bear and Galaxias in 1991, followed quickly by Secretariat and Fashionably Late in 1992.  I actually saw some of these when they were still brand new, and I couldn't see the point in paying such (at-the-time) big bucks for what were essentially re-releases of existing molds.  They didn't even bother to change the colour on Secretariat, for heaven's sake.  Word went 'round really quickly, too, that they didn't stand up to much handling -- many arriving broken into the hands of those who ordered them.  Most, if not all, of them were SRs for American stores anyway, so I wasn't the least bit tempted by them, although I was intrigued by the concept.

Also in 1992, though, Breyer released their first fine porcelain horse: the Icelandic stallion sculpted by Kathleen Moody.  Now here was a horse who hit me where I lived.  Granted, his colours were a bit stark, but he was a brand new sculpture and his box pictured at least two more new sculptures to come.  And as a bonus, he was not at all difficult to get hold of.  Back in those days I used to travel into North Dakota quite frequently, and there he was sitting on a shelf in a Home of Economy store.  Easy peasy.

It was a love that couldn't last

I took a pass on 1993's Shire horse -- even then I was in danger of running out of shelf room.  But I fell hard for 1994's Spanish Barb and, despite my best intentions, even launched on a collection of the costumed porcelain horses with 1995's Arabian in Costume.

However, my Breyer porcelain collection stopped there temporarily.  I felt that 1996's Circus Ponies were a little washed out in colour, and 1996's Saddlebred turned out to be a little bit harder to get, and I had heard that portions of his costume were in fact plastic rather than porcelain.  1997's Great Horse was getting into shelf hog range again, and while I was briefly tempted by 1998's Indian Pony, the 1999 Drum Horse was another "no" for me.

Aside from the smaller pieces, like the Stablemates and the performing Misty, Breyer's porcelains didn't tempt me after that until a couple of years after the release of Giselle in 2008.  I first saw her in person at a live show and suddenly I knew that this was a horse I had to have.  But I'd missed out on her initial offering -- how on earth would I ever get one?

Model Horse $ales Pages to the rescue.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I found one for sale on those pages at a price comparable to her initial offering.  It wasn't long after that that she became mine.

My love just goes on and on

Since I have relatively few of the Breyer porcelains compared to the output that poured out of the factory post-1991, I can't positively say that Giselle is the best one they've ever made.  In my collection, though, she is the one I am head-over-heels in love with and the last that I'd ever let go.  The Spanish Barb is my second favourite, followed by the Icelandic who started it all.  The porcelain Arab is for sale, though.  She's still a fantastic sculpture, and has all the realistic tiny details that sold me on her in the first place, but since I don't have any other large clinkies wearing anything more than a halter, she simply doesn't fit into the collection as a whole.  I'm sure in time I'll find her a good home where she'll be really appreciated -- until then she's packed safely away in her original box awaiting her next trip.

Breyer hasn't really released a large free-standing porcelain horse since Killarney in 2012.  They've been concentrating on resins and crystals in the Gallery since then.

The clinky collector in me is still waiting for them to come out with some great new porcelains; it could happen.  Until then, I'm very happy with my little crew -- to me, they're some of the best that Breyer has to offer.