These actually arrived some time ago, but I only just realised I hadn't updated the blog to introduce them, and they need to be listed before the more recent ones, so you're getting three posts from me today - oops!
A long time ago, I collected every release on this mould. I didn't really intend to - just like with the G2 Appaloosa and G2 saddlebred, at some point I noticed I had a LOT of them and that made me start looking for the colours I didn't have, and it became one of those 'conga line' moulds where I tried to get as many as I could. One which always eluded me was the bay with diagonally opposite white feet - I had four other solid bays, but not this one! He was part of a limited edition set only sold by JCPenney and only in the USA, so very few made it over here to start with, and I never saw him come up for sale second hand. I stopped doing my conga-lines of every release when Breyer brought in the expensive club specials and more unattainable releases. But when I saw this model which had been on my wishlist for all that time ages ago, I just had to get him after all!
The same seller had this Thoroughbred from the same 2006 special run, and while it's not a mould I ever sought a complete set of, I thought it looked really good in this pretty pale grey colour - unlike a lot of Breyer greys, the paint isn't just speckles and shading over bare plastic, but has a base coat of shaded grey for the body colour too - you can see where the white socks end with a crisp masked line.
The other recent arrival is a much bigger boy - a Traditional scale draft horse!
You might not recognise him at first glance, as in Breyer's catalogue photo he was mostly covered up in unrealistic decorative trappings - here's how he looked in the promo images and in the boxes of models on display.
I don't usually buy the Holiday Horse sets, partly because I don't celebrate any of the holidays they're aimed at, so I don't appreciate the decorations, but mostly because the models inside the costumes are usually given pearly or metallic paintjobs, aimed at making them look prettier and more ornamental when used for their intended purpose. But I only like matte finish models in real-horse colours, so the Holiday special runs are usually something I look at once when the releases are announced, then never think of again!
But every now and then, they do one where the horse is a normal, plain colour, without any fancy paint finishes, and I think 'Oh, I'd have liked that one!'....and STILL don't buy it, cos they're too expensive compared to a normal regular run - I can't justify paying that much extra for the costume and props I'd never use.
So when those real-colour horses come up for sale second hand, at a bargain price - and even better, without all the stuff! - that's when I jump at the change to have them for my collection after all!
Without all the extras, you can see what a handsome mould this really is.
He was sculpted as a Shire, but it would be extraordinarily rare to see any individual of that breed without any white markings - one or mayyyybe two dark legs and some shorter socks, yes, possibly even a star and snip in place of a blaze, but no white at all and that's no purebred Shire horse! So I had to get to work on finding a different breed for him.
A lot of the central-European draft breeds come with little or no white, but most of them are heavier set and lack the leg feathering this sculpt has, so I started to look a bit further afield, and happened across this picture - the North Swedish Draft. Lighter build with longer back? Bay with no white markings? Feathery legs? Long loose undocked tail? He's even got the little pale grey nose! Perfect! This means he's also the first model allocated this breed on my website, which is always fun - I love building up a catalogue of different breeds and types from across the world.
Here's that sweet grey nose again, he has a very kind and happy face. I looked up some names in Swedish and settled on Härskare, which means ruler or monarch, which seemed fitting as he arrived around the time we had the coronation of a new king!
The other side, showing the lovely flowing mane, and also the tiny mark by his shoulder which was why he sold for an affordable price - it's so small it didn't bother me, and this being the 'wrong' side anyway the damage won't show on display - I'll only ever see it when dusting him, and I very rarely get round to that task!
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