Jaffacake

What do you call things that aren't brand new, or nearly-new, or even within-two-or-three-years second hand, but aren't old enough to call vintage yet, either? Retro!

A couple of weeks ago, some Julips popped up on ebay which came from the old days of J-club, when Annabel still ran the company. One of the horses was really distinctive, a dun skewbald which I remember (after all this time!) was called Toffee, and that her owner had two different Toffee Julips as the second one was ordered with more accurate markings. I don't know if the ebay model was the first or second Toffee, though!
The other two Julips listed were chestnuts, and when I flicked between the photos, I realised something curious - they were the same pony! Four short white socks, and a really unusually shaped face marking, with dark blobs on the nose and chin. So it seems the owner had two portrait models for this one, as well as the skewbald I remembered. I decided I liked the dartmoor best of the pair, as he had such a cute cheeky face, and set my heart on bidding for him. Luckily, I got him, and he arrived here safe and sound (after a short stay with someone else with the same house number down a different road, because the postman didn't pay attention!).

I just love his face marking, it doesn't really matter that he's a portrait of one I never knew, cos the quirky blaze and inkblot nose just give him so much real-pony character, it was that which made me really want to buy him.

I showed his photos to fellow Julip collectors on the current J-club forum, and a couple of people remembered his original name : Jaffa. I'm calling him Jaffacake instead, as it sounds just that little bit sweeter, and the slight change allows for the fact I never knew his first owner's pony myself.

He brought with him two buckets, and two headcollars, and a custom made blue rug to travel in.

A close-up of that nose! His family horse counterpart had the same marking, ever so slightly different but that's probably just the difficulty of painting from photos, or a different reference sent for one model than the other. I can't be sure of the exact year any of these ebay models were made, but the way he's painted - especially the eyes - dates him to between 2007 and 2008.

He had a mane and tail trim cos I never can stand leaving them at the uncut length (the mohair ones are better, as it's 'long' isn't all that long, the old nylon manes would reach the ground and tails trail a good inch or two on it, which just doesn't work for a realistic and practical pony length!), but other than that I'm leaving him alone : his hooves are a bit wonky and his chestnut colour is from peak era plain unshaded colours, but cos I've been collecting Julips all that time, the older ones appeal in a bringing-back-memories nostalgia way, a bit like the true vintages do for people who started collecting in the 60s, 70s or 80s!