Give Me an "F"

Today we take a look at one of the "F" horses in our alphabetical tour of my collection.

"F" is kind of a fun letter to play with.  There are lots of great words that begin with the letter "F" that might make good horse names, or the start of a good horse name: "fly" and "flying," "flower and flora," "fun and funny," "fast," "first," and "flash," for example.

At last count I had over 30 horses in my collection with names beginning with the letter "F."  I also use "F" for the names of all my model cats, although I only have a few of those.

Given the wealth of "F's" I have to choose from, I found it a bit difficult to pick one out for today's feature.  But I finally settled on "Fluffernutter," a Made in Japan (MIJ) trotting mare.

"Fluffernutter" my trotting Morgan mare

 Not much is known about this spritely little mare.  A friend found her in a garage sale, and I bought her from that friend for a grand total of $7.

She's definitely Made in Japan -- she has the tell-tale rolling eyes and the sturdy (some would say clunky) conformation of the typical MIJ horse.  But with no stickers and no stamps it's hard to say which of the many Japanese manufacturers made her.  A consult with the Collecting Japan Animal Clinkies Facebook group turned up the possibility that she may be a Relco, but that still doesn't tell you a lot.  She would seem to date from about the mid-'60s to '70s, but that was a time when MIJ products were flooding North America, so there's nothing special about that.

Despite that, there's something special about this mare, at least in my eyes.  She's performing a pretty good jaunty trot, where most MIJ horses display painfully disjointed gaits when sculpted in action.  Like many MIJs (as well as some early Breyers) she's not a true bay as she lacks the black leg points, but her coat is this really lovely roasted peanut butter shade, which, together with her big fluffy tail inspired her name.  It didn't hurt that her expression makes her seem a bit "nutty" too.

"Fluffernutter" is, of course, what you call a peanut butter and marshmallow creme sandwich.  I've never actually tasted such a concoction, but I remember hearing about them as a kid and pining for one.  I don't remember ever seeing marshmallow creme in the grocery stores of my youth, though, and even if it had been there it was certainly something my mother would never, ever have purchased.  Besides the fact that it would have been bad for her kids, she was never one to buy a prepared food when she could make the same thing herself -- simply by melting marshmallows.

It turns out, according to Wikipedia, that a fluffernutter is really a New England creation, which is perfect since I had already decided to make my high-headed trotting mare a Morgan horse -- another New England creation.

I can easily imagine her as someone's backyard Morgan, called "Fluffy" for short, toting tots around the pasture and teaching them to ride.  This is the same sort of scenario Kathleen Moody is said to have had in mind when she sculpted Breyer's "Marabella" with her messy braid and fond, gentle expression.  "Fluffernutter" has a bit more fire than "Marabella" but I can still see her a lesson horse, although one with a little more devil in her.  Where "Marabella" is maternal, "Fluffernutter" is mischievous.

She's also, and probably always will be, a bit of a mystery.  But no matter where she came from, I'm glad she finally came to me.

Mighty Mites

Of all of Candace Liddy's Creata Micro Minis (also known as Breyer Mini Whinnies), I think my favourites may be the four drafter models -- the show stance Percheron, the trotting Clydesdale, the working Belgian, and the Percheron foal.

 

This is ironic because, as I've stated before, I usually actively try not to add draft horses to my collection.  However, Mini Whinny drafters are not the shelf hogs that their Traditional scale brothers and sisters are.

Lately, thanks to Breyer's enthusiasm for shrinkies, a few new drafters have been added to the Mini Whinny line-up, both real drafters and unicorn types who may eventually appear de-horned as draft horses. New molds include a micro Wixom, a micro unicorn Gypsy Vanner, and a micro unicorn Ballyduff.

I would cheerfully add Wixom to the original four as one of my favourite Mini Whinnies.  With the Vanner and Ballyduff, I'll have to wait and see.

My very favourite Mini Whinny, though, has always been the working Belgian.  He's such a determined-looking little dude, solidly built and yet the picture of animation.  Aside from the original, I also have two Mini Whinnies: the chestnut from 2008 and "Dani" from 2016 -- and I don't usually collect duplicates.

So you can imagine that I was delighted when the random Mini Whinny I received in my 2020 Collector Club Grab Bag turned out to be the other working (or as he's called on the Identify Your Breyer database, "pulling") drafter from 2016.

His Breyer name, "Rio," seems odd to me, but I guess they're running low on ideas.  My guy has been newly rechristened "Tux," a North American Spotted Draft gelding.

The online photo show series I'm involved in showing in and judging this year has a couple of classes for Micro horses, with a lot of Mini Whinnies being shown in Original Finish.  So although I've never really considered my Micro Horses/Mini Whinnies to be show horses, I have an opportunity to let them strut their stuff this year.

Not being a great photographer, I have to admit that I find Mini Whinnies a challenge to focus on, but it's always fun to try.

Heads Up, Hands Down

My elementary school library stocked a good variety of what were to become some of my favourite horse books -- a lot of Marguerite Henry works, the whole Black Stallion series, and a bunch of C.W. Anderson books ranging from the early reader Billy and Blaze series to more adult-oriented works like A Touch of Greatness and Heads Up - Heels Down.

Heads Up - Heels Down was supposed to be a factual, informative, guide to horse care, but for a city kid with no chance at all of ever owning her own horse (I knew that -- I'd already asked my parents hundreds of times) it was a work of pure wish-fulfillment fantasy.  Over the years, most of the knowledge of horsemanship I gleaned from the book has passed out of my memory, but the title has always stuck with me.  And of course the title itself is a riding tip: keep your head up and your heels down.

"Hands Down" and Friends

I was powerfully reminded of this book when Breyer decided to call their Breyerfest Stablemate horse and jockey "Hands Down" in 2018.  I don't think they meant it to refer to riding advice, however.  Although many horseback disciplines do emphasize quiet hands held low on the horse's neck, race riding is not one of those.  Jockeys may start a race with their hands on their mount's mane, but once they're in the fray and fighting for a place you often see them with their hands high on their horses necks, "scrubbing" away for all they're worth in a effort to push their horses forward.

Instead, a lot of the names Breyer came up with for the horses released for Breyerfest 2018 refer to the bettors' or watchers' experience of a race -- "Dead Heat," "Straight Bet," "Win, Place, or Show," "All Out," "In the Running," "Dark Horse," "By a Nose," "Home Straight," "Winners Circle" and "Hands Down" -- like a succession of Dick Francis novels (for the record only Dead Heat is an actual Dick Francis title).

When I first saw "Hands Down" previewed before Breyerfest 2018, I was amazed to see that it seemed to stand perfectly well on its own.  I have three other horse ornaments in that mold -- "Citation," "Native Dancer," and "Zenyatta," and it never occurred to me to try any of them on their own feet.

"Zenyatta" and "Native Dancer" on their toes.

To be honest, my "Hands Down" is a little bit tippy, but he will stand and so will all the others on this mold.  Quite a revelation for someone who's been a fan of the race horse ornaments for a long, long time.

All of my Breyer race horse ornaments are included in my collection database, but since they are not intended to ever be show horses I don't give them proper names.  Instead, I call them by whatever is written on their saddle blankets, so my first three in this mold are "Citation Six," "Native Dancer Four," and "Zenyatta Eight."  Following this trend, "Hands Down" has now been named "Breyerfest Eighteen" -- the first model horse I've owned that actually has "Breyer" in its name.

Four of a kind

It may not bring back memories of my old school days, but with a name like that, at least I'll never forget where he came from.

Monokerophobia (fear of unicorns -- I kid you not)

It hasn't been easy, but I've been avoiding Breyer unicorns as much as I possibly can.

As I think I've mentioned before, I don't really approve of the "horse-with-a-horn" type unicorns with which Breyer has been flooding the market.  To me, unicorns are a different kind of beast, and the best of them have beards, hairy fetlocks, and cloven hooves.  Some even have elongated asses' tails as opposed to horse tails.

Breyer's only unicorn to pass my personal unicorn test was the Little Bit unicorn (1984) who had a big fluffy horse tail but otherwise all the characteristics I was looking for in a unicorn.  Some of Breyer's earliest unicorns, like the Running Stallion (1982) and the Lying Foal (1985), also had token beards, but aside from that they still look basically like horses.

The only unicorns I have bought since I purchased my Little Bit in 1990, have been a trio of Stablemate (SM) unicorns.  The first two were from the first series of Horse Crazy Unicorn blind bags released -- a lavender mini Alborozo and a peachy mini Magnolia.  I lucked out getting these two; they were the two I most wanted as, at that time, these molds had not yet appeared as regular horses in regular horse colours.  Getting the ones I really wanted on my first try allowed me to ignore all the rest.

There was a similar motivation driving my purchase of a Unicorn Paint and Play Warmblood.  I did not have one of these molds in a regular horse colour -- in fact, it only appeared as a horse for the first time as a Breyerfest Single Day SM in 2019.  Today I have the opportunity to get one in one of the horse and foal sets, but the chance of getting it is one in four as these are also blind boxes.

Anyway, I did have a thought about de-horning my Paint and Play unicorn, but found that I didn't have the right tools to do that, so I opted to paint her as a unicorn as my 2020 NaMoPaiMo "horse."

"Sarafina" now known as "Skyfire"

And now there's Sarafina -- the classic size unicorn on the Morab mare that came in my 2020 Collector Club Grab Bag.  I never, ever would have considered buying this unicorn on my own, but now that I have her I figure I lucked out as far as Breyer's newest unicorns go.  I don't think I would have been able to find shelf room for any of the Traditional size unicorns, and I really haven't liked any of the ones I've seen.

The classic Morab mare is a mold I have only recently fallen in love with.  I never paid much attention to her before I judged one in an online photo show that was being shown as a Morgan mare.  Suddenly, she made sense to me.  I guess I'd never really seen the Arab in her, but as an old style Morgan mare she looked really, really good.  It was the first time I'd noticed the twitch of her ear, her carefully painted chestnuts, and her well-balanced stance.  She looked like a pleasure to ride.

Needless to say, I didn't already have a Morab mold in my collection prior to receiving Sarafina.  She's been used as a unicorn once or twice before -- in the Glitter and Gem set and as the pink unicorn Aurora -- but I don't think either pink or palomino does anything for this mold and the foal from the set would drive me crazy with his huge horn.  No, if I have to have one of Breyer's new unicorns, I think Sarafina is the one for me.  The Identify Your Breyer database lists her as being a Wal-Mart (U.S.) exclusive, but I'm not sure if that's correct since she was also available on Breyer's website.  Perhaps she started out as a special and was then shipped to all retailers?  I can't say I've followed the fortunes of Breyer's unicorns enough to be sure.

Glammed up with glitter

Although Sarafina is still essentially a horse with a horn, Breyer does give a nod to the otherworldliness of the unicorn by adding sparkles to her mane and tail.  This is also what they've been doing with the SM and Micro Fairytale Friends unicorns, although the glitter is quite overwhelming on these smaller models.  Sarafina's glitter is not too overpowering, and is strangely attractive in its own way.

So you got me, Breyer.  I have added my first ever "large" unicorn to my herd.  Let's just not make a habit of this, okay?

The Year Without a Breyerfest

It's official -- the Kentucky-based celebration of all things model horse known as Breyerfest is cancelled as a destination event, and is being hurriedly redesigned as a virtual on-line event.

This is the announcement that went out everywhere on Monday morning:

While I haven't been following much of the reaction to the announcement in model horse social media, most of the responses I have seen have been fairly positive.  There hasn't been a noticeable weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.  In part, I believe this is because most people were expecting something like this to happen.  It also may be that folks have come to realize that, in the grand scheme of things, not having Breyerfest is one of the most trivial of "first world problems."

Long time collectors will tell you that they got on just fine without Breyerfest for many, many years.  Even I had been collecting for almost four years before the first Breyerfest was announced, and I did not actually get to attend Breyerfest until 10 years after that.  And I'm an exception among my friends.  Most of the other collectors I know well have never been to Breyerfest at all.

And in a way the world has never been better suited to virtual festivities than it is right now.  With the incredible spread of on-line access, the continual improvements being made in social media, and the general public's comfort level with using computers, we can get together during this lock-down in ways that would have been the envy of past generations.

And Breyer will, fortunately, have similar virtual events to model itself on.  The Seattle Soiree, for one, is sure to be a dress rehearsal for Virtual Breyerfest.  Other companies are also going digital with their destination events -- the one that leaps to my mind since it starts in a couple of days is Turner Classic Movies' Classic Film Festival, which has gone from a huge movie buff get-together in Hollywood to what they're calling a "Special Home Edition" on-line event.  I'm pretty sure Breyer will be tracking the success of events like this one to get some ideas on how to make a Virtual Breyerfest the best that it can be. 

Like many others facing this news, I'm now trying to decide whether or not to buy a ticket in order to get into the on-line line-up for Special Run and Store Special models.  It's a toughie.  The early bird prices expire very soon, and even if I were to make a decision today, do I really want to spend almost $90 U.S. for the chance to buy a $60 to $85 U.S. model?  If the Celebration horse was something I needed the decision would be a bit easier, but I already have one Show Jumper I'm in love with and I just don't have the room to add any more.  The on-line workshops do hold some attraction, but they may still cost extra and most of the rest of the stuff that comes with the ticket, like the diorama contest, I'm just not prepared for.

I suspect I'm not alone in my quandry.  Breyer will be trying hard to get out some info about how the Virtual Breyerfest will work by the end of this month, so despite the early bird discount I'll probably put off making a decision until then.

In the meantime, I still have all my Collector Club Grab Bag horses to play with, and the Collector Club Appreciation horse to come some time in May.  That's almost Breyerfest enough for me.

Colour Me Conflicted

I've written before about the differences between Breyer and Stone model horses.  I have admitted that, while I do not care for Stone's prices, I can sort of understand where they come from and why, in many instances, Stone just has to charge more than Breyer for a similar model.

However, some of the pricing decisions are not the result of the circumstances of manufacture, but the consequence of Stone's marketing decisions.  Their fixation on small special runs and one of a kind models mean that no one model is made in enough quantity to make back its cost of manufacture -- at least not if priced as Traditional Breyers are at around $40-$50 per piece.  However, price them in the hundreds of dollars -- usually $200 to $400 per Traditional Stone -- and you come closer to profitability.

This is not to say that Breyer doesn't use the same technique.  Breyer's online specials, particularly those limited to Collector Club members, have been getting more and more expensive over the years, with "Ambrose" breaking the $200 mark.  But Breyer also offers a wide variety of much more affordable regular run and special run horses, whereas Stone generally does not.

The one area that, for me, demonstrates the greatest difference between Breyers and Stones, is the price difference between Breyer Stablemates (SMs) and Stone Chips.

Breyer Stablemates routinely sell for $3.99 each, with special runs for the Collector Clubs coming in about $25 each.  Although no retail value is attached to the Breyerfest Single Day Ticket Stablemates, it's reasonable to price them at about $25 each as well, while Breyerfest Pop-Up Shop Stablemates are normally priced around $10.

With Stones, however, a blank DAH Chips body costs $59.99.  That's over twice the cost of Breyer's most expensive SMs before you even add paint.

Now it has been argued, with some justification, that the Stone paint jobs are superior to Breyer's.  No doubt this is true with regards to Breyer's regular runs, but I'm not convinced that it holds true for the Breyer Collector Club and Breyerfest specials.

And there are times when you stumble across a Breyer regular run that really makes you wonder.

This happened to me when I unbagged the Mystery Surprise Horse chestnut Reining Horse that came in my Collector Club Grab Bag.  He reminded me of something, and it didn't take me long to figure out what it was.

Not too long ago I decided to replace my rubbery Stone/Schylling Shetland Pony with a hard plastic one.  Stone was having a DAH sale, so I ordered a very simple Shetland in red dun with a white facial stripe.  Every marking you add increases the cost of your order, so I left it at that.

But my regular chestnut Breyer reminded me a lot of my pricey Stone pony.

It's hardly fair to compare the two pictures I have of them since the Stone is in nice crisp focus while the Breyer is not, but even given that you may be struck, as I was, by the similarity of the two paint colours.  Granted, one is a dun and the other is a chestnut, so the longer you look at them the more you see the difference -- the small zebra stripes on the pony's legs, her lighter coat colour, and of course her dorsal stripe.  The chestnut does have some bend-or spots, but they're difficult to see in this photograph.

So yes, I have to admit that the Stone has the better paint job, but at first glance there's not much to choose between the two of them.  There are, after all, only so many paint colours in the world so sooner or later Breyer and Stone had to stumble on the same formula for "red."

Given this, was the pony worth the extra 55-plus dollars?

Colour me conflicted -- I just don't know.

A Different Kind of Rarity

Probably the most potentially expensive of all the horses I received in my 2020 Collectors Club (CC) Grab Bag was the 2016 Breyerfest Special Run "Namid."  Judging from the sales that traditionally follow most Breyerfests, the Celebration Horse itself is the usually the least expensive on the secondary market, with the Pop-Up Shop and Store Specials commanding slightly more money, and the Special Runs (particularly the Special Run Surprise Horses) costing the most.

In my CC Grab Bag I received one Celebration Horse, both a Stablemate and a Classic Store Special, and one Breyerfest Special Run -- "Namid."

My Breyerfest 2016 matte "Namid"

Granted, "Namid" is not the most popular horse with collectors today.  The mold, known either as the Mustang Mare or by her initial release name, "Forever Saige," seems to have more vocal detractors than fans.  That being said, I do know of a few fans who, if not vocal, are truly in love with the mold.

The primary objection to the mold seems to be the way the mare is holding her head high in the air, making her neck look unusually long.  Although you can see horses making this same gesture when they are startled and ready to bolt, are trying to avoid a bit or bridle, or scenting something wafting high in the air, in real life the moment is usually brief, so it looks a bit odd when frozen in time.

I call her "Tangi," the Oshiwambo word for "Thank you"

Although designed to represent an American Mustang, it turns out that "Forever Saige" does make a really decent Namib Desert Horse.  The Namibian horse is now considered an official breed, although the horses themselves are all feral horses of uncertain origin and breeding.  

Theories abound about how they can to be, but the most amazing thing about these horses is how they have adapted to survive in the harshest of conditions.  There's a reason why there are no native horses in Southern Africa -- the conditions are just not good enough to allow horses to thrive.  As a result, the Namib horses are surviving, but only just.  The latest estimates put the entire population at between 90 and 150 individuals, and while a population of 200 would be better for genetic diversity, the environment simply cannot sustain so many horses.

This long clip from CNN's Inside Africa (about 25 minutes long) tells you almost everything you need to know about the Namib Desert Horse.  Wikipedia, although not a source I would always recommend, does a good summary of the conclusions drawn in other internet articles about Namibian horses. 

Clearly, the Namib Desert Horse is a different kind of rarity than that model horse fanciers usually talk about.  In fact, the Breyerfest 2016 output of 1,600 models (800 glossy and 800 matte) far outnumbers the population of actual Namib Desert Horses in the world.

I can find no evidence that the Namibian horses have ever been re-domesticated, as many American Mustangs are.  This is probably because of their extreme rarity and fragility as a population.  It is noteworthy, though, that the existing horses seem to most experts to be very healthy and to have, about the head especially, the look of a well-bred saddle horse.

In fact, it's really only the head that keeps "Namid" from being a perfect Namib Desert Horse.  Her head is a bit coarse, as befits a Mustang, but in all other ways, from her dark, dark bay colour to her "athletic, muscular, clean-limbed, and strong boned" body with "oblique shoulders and good withers," she fits the defining characters of the Namibian horse.

Although, as I say, my "Namid" is possibly the most expensive horse I got in my CC Grab Bag, I'm glad that I have no wish to sell her.  The fact that she was a leftover, coupled with the fact that she is not a really popular mold, will probably work against her for resellers.  I've seen a few appearing on eBay since the bags were shipped, and I haven't seen any of them sold, yet.

But for someone like me, who's only ever been to one Breyerfest and is usually put off by after-market prices, "Namid" is a rare piece in my collection indeed.  And although I wasn't sure this was going to happen, I have to say, I'm a fan.

What a Difference a Bay Makes

As I think I've mentioned before, I have a fair number of Breyer porcelains but not so many Breyer resins.  Those that I do have, like the three horses of the Equine Art Collection, and "Bull in the Heather" (who arrived with his finish so damaged he is currently undergoing customization), are all fairly small -- approximately Little Bits size, I'd guess.

But the other day I was browsing an online estate sale and came across one of the larger Breyer resins who for one reason or another really took my fancy.  The price was right so I put in a bid and with no other bidders he soon was mine.

Breyer's "Chesterfield" resin.

I really knew next to nothing about the "Chesterfield" resin, or indeed about any of Breyer's larger resins, before I bought one.  For one thing, I had always assumed that those horses who had wooden bases were attached to those bases -- that's the Beswick collector in me, I guess.  So I was pleasantly surprised when I found that I could easily display "Chesterfield" without his base.

I was also not at all prepared for his gigantic box.  I've saved all the boxes for my porcelains as they will make excellent shippers when and if I decide to sell those horses.  I'm going to save the box for "Chesterfield" as well, but at this point I'm not sure where exactly.  It doesn't stack up nicely with all my porcelain boxes.  Also, while I did get the picture box for "Chesterfield" I didn't get his protective fitted cardboard box, and you really need to two of them to ship Breyer porcelains safely.

Before I found him in the estate sale, I'd never really given much thought to "Chesterfield," mostly because I thought he was affixed to his base.  I was aware of his prior release as "Silver Lining" in 2000 and I wasn't all that impressed with "Silver Lining" -- I could never get past his weird stripey legs.

"Chesterfield" has a much more attractive paint job, and if there ever was a case of colour making a world of difference on a model horse it's the case of "Silver Lining" and "Chesterfield."

Aside from its colour, I find the sculpture itself very attractive.  I seem to remember hearing or reading a rumour at the time of "Silver Lining's" release that the sculpture was a rejected prototype for "Lonesome Glory," another Kitty Cantrell sculpture released in 2000.  It would make sense, if true.  Both molds show an alert, racing-fit Thoroughbred on his toes as if dancing to the starting gate in a post parade.  Although it's easy to see both as a flat racer, they both also have the distinctive lanky but powerful look of the steeplechaser, which is "Lonesome Glory's" claim to fame.  And since the resin sculpture didn't make the cut to represent the great steeeplechaser in plastic, the "silver lining" would be his appearance as a limited edition resin.

Breyer's "Afleet Alex" -- Do you see the family resemblance?

"Silver Lining" and "Chesterfield" are the only two releases I'm aware of for this mold.  Seems a pity, since even though we already have "Lonesome Glory," we could have endless variations of "Silver Lining/Chesterfield" in plastic.  A porcelain release would be welcome as well.  Perhaps even a shrinky?  Given the direction that Breyer is going in these days, that doesn't seem like too much to ask.

The Rearing Stallion Mystery

When I took a closer look at my new Breyerfest 2013 "Nocona" Rearing Stallion, I noticed to my surprise that he has the "B stamp" on one hind leg.

If you look closely you can spot the B stamp on "Nocona"

I had always thought that the B stamp was removed from all the Breyers that got it during the 1970s oil crisis years.  At this time Breyer was experimenting with different kinds of plastics and, the theory goes, the B stamp was added to horses made with the new batch to prevent them accidentally being reground with old batches of plastics should they fail to work out.

However, after having done a little research (primarily on the Breyer History Diva's blog page), I discovered that the Rearing Stallion is notorious for not having had his B stamp removed. 

You've got wonder why.  The Rearing Stallion has been released in approximately 17 new colours and patterns since the 1970s.  You can see the B stamp on the rear right hock of this one from 2005, the Pisces horse from 2015, and the portrait of Cloud in the current Cloud's Legend set.  I've no doubt it appears on others as well, I just don't have access to any pictures of them.

However, when it became necessary for Breyer to remove the U.S.A. stamp from their horses when production was shifted to China, the Rearing Stallion duly lost his U.S.A.  My 2013 "Nocona" doesn't have one.  He has the old round Breyer Molding Co. stamp and the peculiar B stamp, and that's it.

The round Breyer Molding Co. stamp, no U.S.A.

Again, I find myself wondering why Breyer wouldn't remove the B stamp at the same time they removed the U.S.A. stamp.  True, they're on opposite legs, but it seems like it would be simple enough to modify both halves of the mold at once.  Of course, I don't actually know very much about the injection molding process or the maintenance of the molds themselves, so there might be a perfectly obvious reason for doing one leg and not the other that I'm simply not seeing here.

It's difficult to see, but the B stamp is there inside the circle.

The result, of course, is that you can't rely on the presence of a B stamp to accurately date your Rearing Stallions the way you can with those models who had the B stamp removed at the end of the B stamp era.

This is the essence of the Rearing Stallion Mystery -- why him?  Is his B stamp just too difficult to remove?  Are there other molds out there who never lost their B stamp either?  If so, what, if anything, do they have in common?

"Nocona" is a shaded grey and not black, which accounts for the light belly.

I don't suppose I'll ever know if it was something to do with the mold that resulted in the Rearing Stallion keeping his B stamp, but more research should reveal whether or not there are other models also still carrying the B stamp out there.  Do any of my readers know of any?  Let me know in the comments below.  Thanks!