Give Me a "B"

Next stop on our alphabetical journey through my collection brings us to the letter "B."  I have a fair number of "B" horses in the herd, but it's also the letter under which you'll find most of my Breyer dogs.

This is because for a while I considered getting into model dog showing as a sideline to model horse showing.  I had had a Benji and Tiffany in my collection for a number of years, but never found a use for them.  Then in 1999 Breyer started to come out with the Companion Animals series, which contained a number of attractive dog sculptures.  So I decided to branch out from Winterplace Stables and add a kennel to my collection, using the kennel name "Ballyhoo" as the prefix for all of my new dogs' names.  

Benji and Tiffany, who had previously been called "Bo" and "Muffin" got renamed "Ballyhoo's Bo" and "Ballyhoo's Banana Muffin."  All the new Companion dogs I've purchased since then, and even the two Pocket Box (PB) pups I purchased "just because" can be found under the letter "B," including: "Ballyhoo's Briney Bay Yeller" (the yellow Lab), "Ballyhoo's Bingo Dali" (the Dalmatian), "Ballyhoo's Brigadoon Belle Reve" (the Golden Retriever), "Ballyhoo's Belinda" (the Foxhound) "Ballyhoo's Becca" (the Border Collie),  "Ballyhoo's Bitsy" (the Jack Russell), "Ballyhoo's Blink" (the SM Border Collie), "Ballyhoo's Bitty" (the PB Pomeranian) and "Ballyhoo's Barkie" (the PB Jack Russell).

But this post is not about the dogs.  Suffice it to say that I never did get into model dog showing, but it was fun creating a kennel all the same.

"Ben Gali" Breyer Family Arabian Foal

The "B" horse I want to focus on this time around is a Family Arabian Foal (FAF) from 1988.  First released around 1960 or 1961, the FAF has been in Breyer's line-up longer than I've been alive, but I've only ever had one of them in my collection: the flaxen liver chestnut that appeared in the line-up for one year only.

I don't know why Breyer decided to give the flaxen liver chestnut family such a short run -- for my money it's one of the most attractive colours the FAF ever came in.

If you recall my "My First Breyer" story you'll note that 1988 was fairly early in my collecting days.  I was trying out a lot of things in those days to see what suited me, including pedigree assignment.  Since I never purchased the stallion or the mare to go with the foal, I had to look further afield to find a sire and dam for him.  A friend of mine had the perfect stallion, very like my foal in colour, although he was a Hartland rather than a Breyer.  I applied for permission to use him as a sire (that's sort of how it worked in those days) and once I got a pedigree all sorted out for my foal, I was ready to name him.

My friend's stallion was named "Salvador Gali," a kind of pun on the name of the Surrealist artist.  It just seemed obvious to me then that my foal should be named "Ben Gali," using the word Ben as a "son of" prefix.  I also liked the fact that the name sort of resembled the name "Benghazi," a Libyan city which was very much in the news around that time, being more or less at war with the United States.  Plus, Libya was enough of a desert country that it could conceivably be thought of as a natural home for an Arabian horse.

And that's how "Ben Gali" came to "B".

A Good Year

With the arrival of Georg at my door a few days ago, my Breyer Premier Collectors Club membership has more or less come to a close.  Of course, there's still the bonus Stablemate to come -- a cute little Morgan sporting Hamilton's colours.  Since Morgans don't come in tobiano he's going to have to have a breed change -- I've been thinking of making him a Spanish Jennet.

Image courtesy of Identify Your Breyer

However, since the Stablemate is essentially a "free with purchase" item, I don't really count it as one of the membership horses.  This year, the membership horses have been a Welsh Pony mare and foal (Rhian and Cadell), an American Saddlebred stallion (Hamilton), and a Rhenish German Coldblood stallion (Georg).

I could hardly ask for a better group to suit my peculiar tastes.  Although I've recently come to prefer standing models to action models, the big action model of the bunch (Hamilton) turned out to be unexpectedly rock-steady on his hooves -- something you would never guess just by looking at him.  The closest the Premier Club has come to offering two standing models in one year before this was 2017, with Duende and Selene, but Selene was only a foal.  This year, with Rhian and Cadell, it was the mare who was standing and the foal who was in an action pose.

Another unexpected bonus is that the horses offered in this year's club run the gamut of basic horse types: light breed, draft breed, and pony.

All in all, then, it was a good year to be a member of the Premier Club -- at least for me.  I never expected it to work out so well.

However, I've already decided not to renew my membership in the club for 2020.  Despite the temptations of the unknown molds, the one mold that has been revealed doesn't do much for me.

I've also pretty much decided to renew my membership in the Stablemate Collectors Club.  Now that all molds but the new mold have been revealed -- for the record, they're the appaloosa Darwin we've already seen, the G1 Arabian Stallion, the G2 Warmblood, the  2016 Cob, and the 2019 Mini Alborozo (I date him to 2019 since all the 2018 Alborozos were unicorns) -- I'm satisfied that I'm going to like all the releases for 2020.  I'm very much afraid that the Mini Alborozo is going to be the gambler's choice model: not because I'll want to have them all but because there's bound to be a decorator among them and I'd rather see Alborozo in more real horse colours.  On the other hand, if he is the gambler's choice that means we get three more horse-coloured Alborozos, so that's a bonus.

The jury is still out on whether or not I go for the "deluxe" Collectors Club membership.  The extra cost makes the mini Fighting Stallion a very expensive Stablemate, and one not nearly as exclusive as any of the recent specialty blind bag offers, like the Fruitcake Fillies, the Spooky Surprise, or the Starry Skies Stablemates.  But it's not exactly clear if that's all the deluxe membership will offer -- perhaps there will be other bonuses throughout the year?  And if there isn't, will I be disappointed that I spent the extra money for one little horse?  Unless more information is forthcoming, it's something I need to figure out before the year is up. 

"Pembroke" and "Cardigan"

One thing's for sure, I'm not disappointed that I made the decision last year to join the Premier Club.  It worked out well for me -- even better than I'd hoped.  I was hooked by the ponies and, I have to admit, I had my doubts about the Saddlebred and the Coldblood, but both of them have won my heart.

"Spaceman Spiff"

I haven't introduced you to my Georg, yet.  He's a big, beautiful boy with absolutely luscious colour.  I've never called a model horse "yummy" before, but Georg brings that adjective to mind.  He has lovely dapples, unique shading, and the promised "sunburned" touch to his mane and tail.  According to his Certificate of Authenticity he's supposed to have a mapped sock, which sounds a little weird to me, but if my guy has one then it's very subtle.  However, I think I can see it in the picture used on the Identify Your Breyer site.  

"Düsseldorf"

I named my guy "Düsseldorf," not because it's a city in the Rhineland (although I believe it is) but just because I've always liked the sound of that name.  I call him "Doozer" for short.

So 2019 was the year that "Pembroke," "Cardigan," "Spaceman Spiff," and "Düsseldorf" a.k.a. "Doozer" came into my life.

"Doozer"

It's been a doozy of a year.

Every Zoo Has Its Zebra

Without really meaning to,  I have somehow acquired a tiny, mismatched zebra family consisting of a Schleich male zebra, a CollectA female zebra, and a Safari zebra foal.

I like zebras, but I don't go out of my way to collect them.  Their colour schemes are, after all, a little bit boring, as compared to the range of colours you find in horses, donkeys, or mules.  When they're pointed out to me, I can see the differences between the different varieties of zebras in the world, but on the whole I see them exactly the way they are designed to be viewed in nature, as one indistinguishable array of stripes.

That being said, one of the few models that I do have seller's remorse about is Breyer's Damara Zebra.  I bought her new in 2000 -- it may even have been at Breyerfest -- but she fell victim to one of my periodic collection purges when I decided to collect "only horses."  My original Brighty was also a casualty of that purge, but Brighty was easy to replace -- the zebra, not so much.  I rather expected Breyer to release her in a variety of stripey patterns, and perhaps as a Przewalski horse as well.  But Breyer has been pretty withholding when it comes to the zebra.  Aside from her initial release she has only been issued as a few Breyerfest specials.

But back to my little guys.  The funny thing about them is that each one of them was an afterthought;  I didn't set out to buy any one of them, but somehow each one ended up in my shopping cart.

Schleich Zebra Stallion

The first arrival was the Schleich.  He came with a online book order.  I'd been given a gift card to use in a certain store, and after I selected all the books I wanted I had a little bit of credit left over, but not enough for any other book that piqued my interest.  But the store in question also sold gift items, like candles and scented soaps, as well as a few Schleich animals.  The zebra was just the right price to use up the remaining coupon credit, and so the first zebra since the great Damara mistake, joined my model herd.

I will admit that the thought crossed my mind, when I bought the Schleich, that I might someday buy the mare and foal to go with him.  What I did not intend to do, however, was to buy three different brands.

Safari Zebra Foal

The Safari zebra foal was the next zebra to worm her way into my herd.  She was bought in person, at a craft store, but her story was much the same as her Schleich predcessor's.  Once again, I had a coupon, and after I bought all the things I intended to buy, I had a little bit of credit left over.  Now, I knew that this store also had a big rack of Schleich critters, so I thought I would go to see if they had a zebra to fill out my family.  I found a foal and added it to my stack of purchases, but it wasn't until I got home that I realized that this little zebra wasn't a Schleich, but a Safari.

CollectA Zebra Mare

Last to arrive was the CollectA mare.  She arrived just the other day, stowing away with my Premier Collectors Club "Georg."  Once again, she was only added to fill up my cart to the maximum it could hold for the shipping charge associated with "Georg."  Since CollectAs were on sale the week I ordered "Georg," she just managed to make the cut.

I haven't yet studied them closely enough to determine which company's zebra I like best.

An Accidental Family

Zebras are actually quite fascinating creatures, and beautiful in their own, un-horsey way.  Perhaps someday I'll study them a bit more carefully so as to be able to make an informed decision about which of my little plastic zebras best captures its breed.  For now, though, I have to admit that I know very little about them, and have done little or nothing to learn more.

As a matter of fact, if I have any connection to zebras at all, it's from my childhood.

Zebras are common enough characters in children's literature.  Most ABC books, especially those that revolve around animals, bring out the zebra by the time they get to "Z."  And one of my favourite books as a child was Toby Zebra and the Lost Zoo, about a zebra who got left behind when the zoo he lived in shifted to a new location. 

When I was small, I had the usual assortment of zebra figurines from zoo- and wildlife-themed playsets to play with.  I remember naming one of my zebras "Toby," after the picture-book hero.  In my teens, I purchased a couple of other zebras strictly for decor -- among them two or three small African wood carvings, and one tiny Made in China zebra that just took my fancy. But I was really a horse girl from Day One, and although zebras had their appeal, a zebra was clearly not, despite what the song suggests, "A Horse in Striped Pajamas" to me.

So zebras carry some fond memories for me, but not as fond as the memories I have from all the horses I acquired as playthings.  In my childhood, as in my collection, zebras have always been there by chance, rather than by design.  But perhaps it was inevitable that at some point my collection would contain a few.  Just as every child's zoo has a zebra, perhaps every model horse collection needs a stripey equine of one kind or another.  Mine just happens to have three.

Vintage Whining

What defines "Vintage" in the model horse collecting world?

As of yet, I haven't stumbled upon a definitive answer.  Breyer has a whole club dedicated to things "vintage" -- molds, painting styles, boxes, and ephemera -- but to my knowledge they haven't actually said where vintage stops and "modern" (or whatever the opposite of vintage is) begins.

A Facebook group, Vintage Model Horse Publications, is dedicated to remembering newsletters issued "before the Internet," but another group,  Vintage Custom Model Horse Sale/Trade/Wanted, doesn't bother to define vintage at all.  I am a member of a group called Vintage Horse and Rider Sets, which loosely defines its parameters as "from the 1950s and 1960s."

There is a Vintage Custom Model Equine Center website.  The doesn't appear to be terribly active, but they do have custom models from the 1970s to the late 1990s in their collection.  There is also a website for what are called Vintage Model Horse Magazines, which so far covers the years from 1969 to 1992.

As an older collector, I cannot deny that there is some sting in the thought that the majority of my collection can now be considered "vintage" in these lights.  However, there are at least two portions of my collection that I'm happy to have considered as vintage.  One portion is my collection of Hartland horse and rider figurines -- apart from a few reissues in the mid-1990s and mid-2000s, these all date back to the 1950s, which is vintage in my books.  The other horses that I might consider vintage are those customs I have that were produced in the 1980s with mohair manes and tails.  Although I still find it difficult to think of '80s-released models as vintage, I will concede that, in North America at least, the mohair manes and tails usually point to an earlier customizing technique, which was replaced with sculpted manes and tails when resins began to take hold.

"Shivaree," a vintage custom Sagr from 1987

Of course, there's no clear defining line between when hairing horses was the prefrerred customizing technique, and when that technique fell out of fashion.  As far as I know, it's always been the preferred customizing technique in Europe.  In North America, I suspect it wasn't just the advent of resins that made hairing less popular -- it was probably also the fact that hair manes and tails are difficult to maintain, and will not stand for much brushing if you need to neaten them up for a live show entry.  The very fact that the hair is brushable makes haired horses seem uncomfortably like Barbie horses and similar toys to some collectors.  Probably it was a combination of all of these things which threw haired horses out of favour.

I have two haired vintage customs in my collection, each one made by a hobby friend.  Although the first international hobby newsletter I ever got had a picture of a Bev Zimmer creation (I believe her name was "Venus") on the cover, which led me to covet Zimmer creations ever since, I did not have the wherewithal in my early years of collecting to purchase customs from  "big name" remakers.  So my earliest customs were either customized by me or by friends of mine.

"Kyrie," a vintage custom Might Tango from 1988

I currently own 32 custom model horses, of which only 4 have hair.  Two of those were my own customs on already haired models -- a Largo Toys horse shown as "Friendly" and the Breyer Spirit Paint Kit horse shown as "Yankee Doodle Dandy."  The other two are those vintage customs I spoke of -- a haired Sagr shown as "Shivaree" and a slightly repositioned and haired Might Tango shown as "Kyrie."  

"Kyrie" was originally a black horse with a fun fur mane and tail known as "Evensong." "Evensong" was my one and only attempt at doing a hair mane and tail.  It was so bad even I couldn't bear to look at her, so I gave her to a friend to fix.  That's how "Kyrie" came into being.

Although most of the vintage horses that collectors now covet come from an earlier period, for me "Shivaree" and "Kyrie" have a nice vintage feel.  Better still, each one connects me to a friend made in my earliest collecting days.  All in all, I think I prefer that to having a vintage custom from a "big name" in the hobby.  "Shivaree" and "Kyrie" both mean something to me -- they represent the generosity of friends.  I couldn't believe it when one of my new friends offered to sell me "Shivaree" off her shelf, and I was awestruck by the talent my other friend displayed in bringing my poor attempt at customization back to life.  Although I paid some insignificant sum for both of them, each of them seems like a gift to me now.

Perhaps that's the real meaning of "vintage" in the model horse world.  A "vintage" horse is one that brings back memories of an earlier, seemingly simpler, time.  As such, vintage horses will never go out of style.