No Foal Like An Old Foal

It struck me the other day that there was something I really missed about Breyer's newest crop of foals:  it's the opportunity to buy them as individuals, as opposed to in sets.

Back in the day, this used to be the primary way one acquired Breyer foals.  Even though they were produced to be members of a "family," it was only rarely that you could get them boxed together with a parent -- that kind of thing usually only happened with Sears and J.C. Penney special runs.

Breyer's earliest foals can still be purchased individually today -- up until they were discontinued at the end of last year the Action Stock Horse Foal "Van Gogh," the Clydesdale Foal "Shadow,"  and the Running Foal "Milo" from the Best Friends Collection were available as stand-alone horses.  But just try purchasing a new Lipizzaner Foal (2017) without a hanger-on,  either "Gilen" or the Performance Lipizzaner Mare.  It can't be done.

The same can be said of the Andalusian Foal (2015) and his mama, and "Le Fire" (2002), who is never seen without "Susecsion." I very much fear that the Welsh Foal, "Cadell," (2019) is going to go the same route, even though Breyer used to sell the tinier Traditional foals like "Sea Star" (1980) and "Stormy" (1977) as stand-alones.

The reason I miss these stand-alone offerings so much is that they were so much more affordable than buying sets of horses.  You also got more variety in the stand-alones, as the foals did not have to be made to match a parent.

The real oldies -- the Proud Arabian (1956), the Family Arabian (1960), the Running (1961), Grazing (1965), Lying (1969), Clydesdale (1969), Scratching (1970), and Rough Coat (1978), Standing (1983), and Action (1984) Stock Horse Foals, as well as the Quarter Horse Yearling (1970) and Saddlebred Weanling (1973) -- were routinely sold as individuals.  The only foal of that era to always be sold in a set was the Suckling Foal (1973), who, admittedly, looks kind of goofy without his Nursing Mare.

Old foals from three different painting eras -- '60s (Running), '70s (Proud Arab), and '90s (Rough Coat Stock Foal)

Aside from reissues of the older molds, the only Traditional foals that have been sold outside of sets in recent years are "Amber" (1997), "Ashley" (1997), and "Gilen" (2009).  

This seems odd since, although we are well past the foal bonanza years of the '60s, '70s, and early '80s, Breyer has still managed to come up with seven new Traditional foals in the past two and a half decades.  With all those new bodies hanging around, it seems like it must be merely a marketing decision that has kept them from being released as individuals, much as their predecessors were before them.

Unlike the earlier foals, all of the new ones are expressing their individuality in another way -- by being initially released under given (as opposed to breed) names, including:  Amber (Morgan), Ashley (Morgan), Le Fire (Arabian), Gilen (Warmblood), Corazon (Andalusian), Selene (Lipizzaner), and Cadell (Welsh Pony) -- the last three all debuting as Premier Collection horses, and Gilen as a Connoisseur Series horse.  Now it may be that many of these are just too recent to have had their day as stand-alone individuals yet, but I wonder ...

It's impossible these days to buy Classic foals as individuals too, although the old Classic Arabian and Classic Quarter Horse foals were initially released on blister cards for individual purchase (1973/75-82).  How I would love to be able to buy the new curly-tailed Stock Horse Foal, or the sweet little Haflinger foal on blister cards!

The Little Bits/Paddock Pals horses never had foals, unless you count the similar-sized hairy Young Rider horses, the fantastical Wind Dancers, or the Corral Pals foals, and of those only the Corral Pals are/were made outside of sets.  

Stablemate foals, old and new, have never been available outside of a set of some kind either, whether that set includes other foals, adult horses, barns and accessories, or simply a keychain attachment.  The one exception might be the Stablemate Scratching Foal, which was available as a stand-alone porcelain for a limited time.  

Similarly, none of the Mini Whinny foals have been offered alone either -- despite the advent of blind bags, the foals have always been offered as at least a pair, and often as part of much larger sets.

I say it's time for the young ones to break out on their own again.  For a time, I actually considered collecting only foals -- it's one way of keeping a collection small (in all senses of the word) but still getting a good representation of breeds.  Wouldn't work for performance showers, but it might have worked for me. 

Alas, that time has passed.  I still love the little ones, though, and happily make shelf room for them when I can.  They don't take up a lot of real estate, and their appealing aspects more than make up for the space they take.

The Acronym Cometh

Well, it's January and suddenly that can only mean one thing: time to prepare for NaMoPaiMo!

I say suddenly because this is a fairly new occurrence in my life.  NaMoPaiMo, or National Model Painting Month (a.k.a. February), is only three years old itself, but last February was the first time I ever participated in it.

Two years before that (2017) was the first ever NaMoPaiMo and, while I did hear something about it at the time, I assumed (mistakenly, as it turns out) that it was something just for hobby artists, not for untalented enthusiasts like myself.

It was only when I looked into it last year, after reading about it in Jennifer Buxton's "Braymere Custom Saddlery" blog, that I discovered that it was a month for everybody to experiment with simple customization, regardless of skill or experience.  There are sometimes "prizes," but NaMoPaiMo is not a competition -- if one is lucky enough to get a NaMoPaiMo prize it's for participation, not for artistry.  What you are pretty much guaranteed to get, as far as I can tell, is a little congratulatory post from Jennifer if you're able to complete your project and post its picture online.

These congratulations are not nothing.  They're heart-warming, sincere, and a tremendous boost to the self-esteem.  I received one last year, and it gave me the warm fuzzies for days afterwards.  Sometimes, a little recognition is all we need.

A line-up of possible NaMoPaiMo victims victories.

In anticipation of participating this year, I've been piling up a bunch of likely-looking bodies to attack with brush and pigment.  I have quite a selection, but I think my official NaMoPaiMo horse will end up being the Paint-and-Play Warmblood Unicorn, as it is the one I have the firmest plan for.  The others, with a little luck, may end up being my "I also did this" horses -- depends on how I handle my time and what else pops up during the month to distract me.

The candidate most likely to succeed proceed.

Being the language nerd that I am, I initially had a bit of an issue with the NaMoPaiMo acronym -- I felt that it really should be International Model Painting Month, or InMoPaiMo, to be accurate, since model horse hobbyists the world over have been known to participate. 

However, I know that the acronym was inspired by the NaNoWriMo acronym, for National Novel Writing Month (a.k.a. November), which began in 1999 as a way to encourage those of us with a novel in our heads to get the words out of our heads and onto a piece of paper.

I've toyed with the idea of signing up for NaNoWriMo from time to time, but never really found a fully-formed novel bashing around in my head waiting to get out.  But the point is that NaNoWriMo, like NaMoPaiMo, is actually an international event as opposed to a strictly national one. 

Which, now that I come to think of it, gives me a way to justify the "Na" in NaMoPaiMo.  As NaMoWriMo recognizes, a nation is not only a country.  In fact, by definition a nation is more than a country -- it's a community of people who have something in common, whether that's a love of writing or a love of model horses.  That's why we can talk about a nation of couch potatoes or a nation of activists.

When we use the term "national" we tend to think of things pertaining to our own country:  a national anthem, a national flag, a national government, or a national park.  But as a nation of model horse enthusiasts we have our own national identity and national icons, regardless of the country we call home.

So, long live NaMoPaiMo -- where model horse fanciers of the world unite!

We have nothing to lose for our pains.

Updates and Downsides

In case you were wondering, I finally decided not to enroll in any of Breyer's specialty clubs this year.  The unicorn mini Alborozo in the Stablemate Collectors' Club was the last straw -- I simply could not take the chance of ending up with that one and "Chroma" as well.

I also opted for the regular Collectors' Club membership as opposed to the deluxe -- the price of the mini Fighting Stallion was just too much for me, particularly as I don't like him in palomino all that much anyway.  So, resolution-wise, I'm off to a pretty good start as far as Breyers go.

On the downside, the final total of new horses to enter the stable in 2019 was 78, although I'm including in that count whatever Collectors' Club Appreciation horse I get, which won't actually arrive until 2020 and which is technically free anyway.  Aside from the Breyer Christmas Zebra, the other last-minute additions were all Stablemate size, and included pieces selected to reach the Collector's Club Appreciation redemption limit and a stowaway Stablemate added to my final three Stablemate Collectors' Club horses to make the most of the shipping charge.

I got the gold-striped Christmas Zebra, by the way.  This is super-cool as there is a kind of partial albinism that results in zebras having pale gold stripes.  I can't find an "official" name for this colour; I've seen it referred to as "golden," "blonde," "leucistic," and "white."  But in any case, it's the only decorator colour offered on the Christmas Zebra that could also conceivably be a natural colour.  Bonus for me!

"Illusion," my golden zebra

I have to admit, I was surprised by Breyer squeezing in a last-minute Collectors' Club special with "Ambrose" on the Geromino mold at the end of 2019, but I managed to resist that one.  It's not so much that I had an issue with the price (I did, but I do understand it as it reflects both the cost of having horses hand painted in America and, possibly, Breyer/Reeves' desire to test what the market will bear).  It's more about the fact that, while he's a beautiful horse, he just struck me as "overdone."  I mean -- extensive appaloosa spotting, including the shoulders and legs, plus dapples, plus pearling -- it's all a bit too much for me.  I would have been happier with the appaloosa markings and traits alone, without the dapples and the pearliness.  But that might be just me.

Anyway, since I'm not doing any Breyer specialty clubs this year, I've decided to join the Hagen-Renaker (H-R) Collector's Club for 2020.  I'm rapidly running out of room for chinas on my shelves, but I don't believe the H-R club has any mandatory purchases -- just tempting offers.

My ambitions for this year, as for the year before, include continuing to adjust my collection through selective downsizing, and pulling back on the plastic consumption.  Other new goals involve going through my collection of manufacturer catalogs and other ephemera and filling in the holes where they exist, sorting out my tack and props and choosing what to keep and what to sell, photo show judging for the first time in a long time, and getting better photos to enable me to participate in photo showing as well.

Working on close-up photography.

It sounds like enough to keep me busy, particularly since life is always interrupting hobby pursuits with much more serious business.  However, when that happens, it's always good to have the hobby pursuits to look forward to again.

I hope you're looking forward to whatever 2020 holds in store for you.  Any resolutions you'd care to share?  Feel free to let me know in the comments below.

Holiday Horses (and Zebras Too)

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and the weeks leading up to both offered model horse collectors a wide variety of special seasonal horses to choose from.

New this year were the red- and green-coloured mini clearware Winstons from Copperfox Model Horses.  As far as I can tell these "Coppercubs" started selling on Christmas Eve and were all gone in record time.  That's a good start for the new Copperfox 2.0 company.

Image courtesy of Copperfox Model Horses

The new Hartland company was putting out a number of glitter-dusted 3D-printed mini horses in a variety of molds for at least a month prior to the big C-Day.  Unfortunately, the bodies themselves still look like they could use a little sanding and finishing, as do almost all of Hartland's 3D-printed products.  Hartland did, however, also offer a couple of injection-molded plastic Tennessee Walking Horses with the Christmas glitter treatment, for those who like a more finished look.

Image courtesy of Hartland Horse & Cowboy Company

Stone Horses, as usual, went all out for the holidays -- particularly with their smallest Chip size horses which came in a variety of colours and snowflake patterns.  They also did a set of candy cane-inspired Chips, but with striping only on the legs as opposed to the whole body.

Image courtesy of Stone Model Horses

And last but not least, as everyone probably knows by now, Breyer's Christmas Day Collectors' Club offer was a quintet of candy-striped zebra mares, with red, green, blue, gold, and solid black variations.  Oddly, this year's offering does not seem to have been as popular with collectors as the offerings from previous years were.

Image courtesy of Breyer Model Horses and Identify Your Breyer

It just goes to show how out of step I am with the collecting majority that this year's Breyer Christmas offering was the first one I've really liked since 2017's clearware Bouncers, and the very first I decided to actually buy.  Yes I know, my last post was all about how difficult I still find it to accept some decorators.  That was pretty much the main reason I didn't bite on the Bouncer -- I loved the jewel-like clearware colours but couldn't wrap my head around the Christmas bell motif on his side.  With this year's Zebra it was much easier -- no weird patterns, just weird colours, and I happened to find them all attractive in their own way.  No matter which Zebra I get, I'm going to be happy.

Hope you have a Happy New Year too!