Happy Halloween!

I've been blogging since 2008, a whopping 15 years, and in that time I have written a lot of blog entries, some more memorable than others. Hands down, though, the Candy Corn Challenge post from 2018 is my all time favorite of them all. Click the link to read it.

The Candy Corn Challenge

Happy Halloween!

A Costume Suggestion

If I were still a kid who trick or treated or was taking my own children out on Halloween night, this would be my costume!

Get along, little cowghost!

 

Drainboarders!

Breyer's old drainboard pattern that can be found leaving its mark on vintage Breyers fascinates me. It's a tangible slice of Breyer history right in front of our eyes. Looking at a model in an antique shop that I think I'll leave behind? If I flip it over and find drainboarding, that can change my decision.

Deciding where to begin checking models' hooves was more than a little daunting. I narrowed it down to the oldest models in my collection although I knew that there are models from the 1970s that have the pattern on their hooves, too. I decided that that was a task for the next time I dusted - I'd flip each model over while it was in hand and check.

The other issue I needed to address was me. This gal who has been 5' 7" almost all her adult life was just measured at 5' 5" at a recent check up. (Causing that loss are the two spinal fusions, a hip replacement, two knee replacements, and three ankle surgeries I've had in recent years.) I can barely reach the top shelves now, and if I bobble a model trying to get it off the shelf, I risk knocking others over and even OFF that shelf. (It also hurts my back to stretch that high. A lot.)

So, I only checked three models from the top shelf. I am sure that I would discover that more than three are drainboarders but getting the three I did check was difficult and I soon called it quits on top shelf models. (Craig would help me, but he gets nervous about causing rubs so I did not ask him.)

My innocuous little donkey was the first drainboarder that I found.

 

Right front hoof (the pattern looks so big on a smaller model!)

 Both hind hooves. (I love that the right hoof has the pattern centered on the hoof.)

This beautiful semi gloss bay Running Mare with the extensive bald face was another.

Her hooves were painted black and part of that paint covered the drainboard pattern but you can still see it.

A similar situation with my bay Running Mare with eyewhites.

Front hoof.

Hind hoof.

  

I moved on to the Grazing Mares. This is Sheena, a carpet herd piece and one of my most cherished models. See her near front hoof has some material sticking out at the front?

There is a lot of stuff from the drainboard stuck to that hoof! (Sorry for the poor quality pic.)

That same hoof on Leslie's carpet herd bay Grazing Mare has nothing on it.

 

But the opposite front hoof

and a hind hoof have the pattern.

Sheena isn't the only one with detritus peeking out. 

Take a look at the off front hoof on this Old Timer.

It looks to me like the gloss puddled as it dried.

Its hind hoof had pulled off wood from the drainboard when it was removed. (I always love finding the actual bits of wood under hooves.)

I almost did not check this Proud Arabian Stallion. He is a B stamp model which dates him to 1978 - 1981, late for the drainboard period.

That's the most wood I've found on any of my models! Almost the entire hoof!

I planned only a cursory check on the Rearing Stallions - since they are small, the contact with the drainboard would be minimal and I did not think I'd find much. (See its tag? This piece belonged to Cole and that's his old show tag still on that leg. I just can't bring myself to take it off. Yes, I am teary now.)

Drainboard spots on both hooves, and wood remnants on one hoof and the tail. Glad I flipped him over!

Chalky era models were another group that I did not plan to check, but since I'd found drainboard evidence on the 1970s/B stamp model, I looked at the hooves of my chalky Appaloosa Performance Horse.

The front hooves have a lot of wood on them.

As do the hind hooves. Another "glad I checked" piece, but one that also intrigues me and makes me want to do more research.

A more recent piece that was added to my collection, I fell in love with this Western Prancer despite the lack of reins and a saddle. His color is lovely. (And doesn't show up in this photo.)

Sorry for the poor photo but you can still see wood bits stuck to his hooves. (He also has the early "double dots on the daddy bits," too.)

This smoke Western Prancing Horse from Leslie's carpet herd has a much clearer drainboard pattern.

This looks like gloss but the piece is not glossy. Perhaps there was wet gloss left on the drainboard from a precious piece?

Another smaller piece that shows how large the drainboard pattern can appear.

I saved this glossy dapple grey Clydesdale for last. The pattern on the underside of his hooves is phenomenal.

Two really nice patterns and one hoof with detritus pulled up from the drainboard. Next to my third elephant, he is the best example I have of the drainboard pattern on a vintage model.

Wondering if I forgot about checking the woodgrains? I didn't, but what I found is a whole 'nother blog post! It will be a day or two, so stay 'tooned!

 

Say What, Breyer??

Sometimes it is really hard to keep up with Breyer. Not that I am complaining. Not at all. I love all the offerings they have, from models to pins, to plushies and ornaments and Club releases... I struggle to keep up sometimes!

Yesterday the first photo of a release for the 2024 Vintage Club dropped and my jaw dropped in return. I did not see this coming.

 It's a nightlight, folks! On the Geronimo mold in a vintage splatter dapple color!

In retrospect, maybe I should not have been surprised. 

We got Rustler (a music box) in this year's Club offerings. And in 2020?

Trailblazer, the Western Horse with a vintage grooming kit was a Vintage Club release. (Photos of Rustler and Trailblazer from Identify Your Breyer.)

Two pieces in 2017 also forshadowed where Breyer might be going with its Club offerings.

Blossom and Belle came with matching blue blankets, mimicking the green blankets of the 1969 Clydesdale Mare and Foal set,

and Quinn harked back to the 1984 Proud Arabian Mare who came with a similar halter and lead rope. (Photos from Identify Your Breyer.)

Oh, and don't forget Cooper in 2022, who was a nod to the Appaloosa Performance Horse that came with doll rider Brenda Breyer and a bridle and bareback pad. (Photo from Identify Your Breyer.)

What might come in future Club releases? Thoughts of that give me happy chills. A lamp? A Pacer with a sulky? Flockies?  There are so many vintage models from the past that Breyer could recreate for the Club!

I joined the Vintage Collectors Club the year it opened and I have never regretted that decision. It just keeps getting better and better and I can't wait to see what else Breyer has in store for us in 2024.

(The drainboard blog post got bumped for today's post - I was so excited about Kirk and had to write about him. So, as I've been saying, stay 'tooned!)

Um... Hello?

This is the sight that greeted me yesterday as I rolled up to the new barn.

 Someone was on the wrong side of the fence. I sat in my car for a few minutes, figuring out a plan to get Two Socks back where she belonged. She is a smart girl; if she suspected that I was going to put her back with the other horses, she'd not let me catch her. I'd have to be careful and not arouse her suspicions.

Luckily, I knew her Achilles heel - peppermints! I grabbled a handful from my trunk and casually walked up to her like I was just going to say hello and visit.

Two Socks accepted the treat, then put her head down for more grazing. I held out another one, her head popped up, and she snarfed that one down.

Walking a few feet away, I held out another peppermint and Two Socks followed me and ate that one, too. Continuing to hold out treats while walking back to the pasture in Pied Piper mode, I lured her through the gate and finally shut it behind her. She was NOT happy with me when she realized that I had caught her, but she was confined and safe again and that was what I cared about.

Abby, who had been following Two Socks and me from the other side of the fence, nickering all the while that SHE wanted some of those peppermints, too, then got her treats and she and I had a nice visit together. 

I phoned Tim to let him know I'd found Two Socks loose and he told me that that was the second time she'd gotten out that day! Apparently Miss Two Socks was at it again. When she was only a few months old, she'd become a little escape artist, and Tim had had to electrify the fence to keep her where she belonged. The electric fence has now been turned back on and the problem is solved. 

Wondering about the drainboard patterns follow up I mentioned? I took a slew of photos yesterday - I have more models with them than I'd realized! That should be tomorrow's blog post topic, so stay 'tooned!

Second post of the day - I forgot to hit the "Publish" button on yesterday's blog post! Keep reading as it is below.

Elephant Three - Best Drainboard Pattern Ever!

  At first, my third elephant looks pretty unremarkable.

He has a yellowish cast to him

and his tusks, the only white on him, are in need of some sunshine.

Just your run of the mill Breyer elephant. Until you pop him onto his side to look at his feet.

Look at that drainboard pattern! Beautifully done on all four of his feet!

In the early days of Breyer, painted models were set onto a drainboard to dry. In some cases, the drainboard pattern became imprinted on the models' feet.

Some models even took bits of the wood from the drainboard with them when they were removed from the drainboard. The blue arrows indicate a few of the bits of wood on my elephant left from the Breyer factory drainboards.

Since I am primarily a vintage collector, I have more than a few models with the drainboard pattern on a hoof or two. Some of those have the wood bits as well. But I don't think any of them have the pattern or wood on all four feet nor is their pattern as clear as this elephant's.

I'm pretty intrigued now about my other models' who have drainboard patterns and I am hoping to get some time this afternoon to check their feet. If I do, I'll post about what I find.

Stay 'tooned!

Elephant Two - Chalky/Not Chalky?

This is my first elephant. Bought before internet shopping was a thing, I remember being very excited when I discovered him in an antique shop.

I snapped him up and brought him home, happy to finally have a Breyer elephant in my collection.

He is a nice dark color with pretty shading and very white tusks.

I didn't realize that his white tusks were different from most other elephants.

I did not have other elephants to compare him to, but time after time, people looking at my collection would comment on him and talk about him being a chalky.

When I finally found another elephant, I could see what they were talking about. His tusks were quite white in comparison.

His feet have bits of wooden shelving stuck to them and a little drainboard patterning can be seen on his hind feet. That helps date him to the earliest years of Breyer. 

Another comparison? Take a look at the bare plastic showing in a skin crease on the elephants. White on the possible chalky, and a more normal, aged and yellowed plastic on the other.

More bare plastic peeking through under the ear shows the same - white versus yellowed. That white is more evidence that I have a chalky elephant.

The elephant was first produced in 1958. That is well before the chalky era in the 1970s. But, there are known examples of chalky models from the early days of the factory in many collectors' collections. They are a lot rarer than the 70s chalkies, but pieces confirmed to be chalky from that era have been found.

After many comparisons and a lot of research, I have come to believe that this guy is one of those very early chalkies. 

Tomorrow we will look at the last elephant. He may be yellowed, but he has some hidden surprises, too.

Stay 'tooned!