The timing of their launch was just at a really bad point in my collecting history - I was made redundant from my job of 15 years when the company went bankrupt, and because we all knew it was coming, I'd stopped spending much on models at all - I think I went a whole year on only Stablemates!
Even after I started working again, Copperfox models at a minimum of £60 a go were just that bit too much to justify, and because I couldn't buy any, and wasn't on Facebook where all the marketing was done and the tour promoted, I kind of slipped out of the loop and didn't follow what was going on. So I hadn't even seen the later releases, and didn't know they'd been doing shows!
But I had always really liked the Welsh Cob mould. He was the one I'd hoped to get when they were first announced, the one I was really looking forward to when we discussed them all on forums, and the one I planned to buy in at least one colour - til the pricing sadly scared me off them.
In fact I even remember seeing him at sculpture stage back at the UH Hullabaloo and being impressed - before we knew what the mould was going to be for!
So I suppose it shouldn't be any great surprise that this has happened....
Yes, I've gained not one, not two, but a whole three-part conga of Welsh Cobs in a single week! Let's meet them :
First is Prince Cavalier, one of 150, a lovely deeply shaded and faintly dappled buckskin. I remember some seriously dubious dappling on the earlier releases and how relieved everyone was when the later batch of painters actually got it right! These are subtle enough to blend in with his body colour, and look dappley not spotty.
One of those rare, lucky moulds which look equally good from either side, as he's running on a dead straight line it's just a matter of picking which leg positioning you like best as his display side!
Showing off his lovely markings, I really like the adding of uneven-shaped and odd-numbered socks when it's a made-up horse, it makes them look like real individuals even though they're not portraits.
He came from ebay, second hand but with his original box, so it was pretty exciting getting to open him up - just imagine I'm doing this several years ago when the rest of the collectors got to experience that with the brand new models, instead of really late cos I missed my chance!
Second arrival (though confusingly bought first, because they got delayed in the post!) was a box of two, who came from the same seller - having been the winning bidder on one for just £34, I just couldn't resist trying for his companion as well so they could come here together.
Celtic Warrior - the second release of 250 models, not the Kickstarter one, which had mapped socks, different feet, and less dark shading. Having seen pictures of the two versions to compare, I actually do like them both, but the second ones have a lot nicer faces, I think.
Another horse with really nicely designed markings! Oddly the light seems better on this side of him - when facing the other way he seems to catch a lot of shadow in his neck and head, hiding a lot of the detail, I even tried taking him at at three different times of day and moving the set-up around the garden to get a better shot of his near side, but no luck!
I've got very little space in my shelves to fit more horses, let alone find a place for a whole new brand to display, but there's room on top of one bookcase (which, of course, now contains more models, not books!) so they can canter in a row along there!
All three came with their original big bright British-flag boxes - I'll keep them as they're so nice, but cos of the foam middles I can't flat-pack them out of the way, so I haven't actually figured out where to store them yet!
The mould perfectly captures that Welshie look - part big tough horse, part cheeky pony. Look at that cute face!
And finally, his travelling companion, Bertie, a special run of 250 which you could only buy at the Copperfox Tour live shows.
Yet another which I really like the markings on; sure they're not the most detailed or elaborate, but they're right, and that's more important - you see so many unlikely, weird or just plain impossible patterns applied in the model horse world that it really does make me happy when someone properly understands a normal basic tobiano pattern on a cob.
One of Copperfox's main aims was to make British-looking models, the breeds and colours we actually see here, to make up for the huge American bias in the hobby in general - so many companies and sculptors are based in the States and they make what they know, which is quite fair and proper, but their ideas of what we have over in the UK can be a bit warped. It's so nice to see a model cob that looks like our cobs!
This is the only one of the trio to have gained a name so far, extending his release name of 'Bertie' he'll be Harecroft Bertie Wooster. I'd like something more Welsh-themed for the two purebred colours, but being a partbred cob this one can have an English name, and there's not much more English than a classic P. G. Wodehouse character!
He's missing the peg for under his front hoof, but I made him a replacement from a small piece of stick and he stands just as well with this, and I don't think the plastic ones are any more 'invisible' for being clear, anyway - you can still see them!
So here they are, my little collection of Copperfox Welsh Cobs.
And no, I don't think I'm finished there - I've looked up what other colours were released on The Copperfox Guide and I'm thinking I'd like to continue this conga of Welshies. I don't do glossy and I'm not into decorators, so I wouldn't need to buy too many to set my target at a full set of regular runs - the light and darker dappled greys, the palomino, the black, and the chestnut. That's just five more to find, as and when they come up on ebay at affordable prices. Considering I found three almost in one go, I'm sure I can get there in the end!
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