Collectibility Spotlight: Volunteer Models, Part 3

Finishing up my three-part series on volunteer models I’ve earned over the years.

 

 

I loathe the Croi mold with every fiber of my being, so when she was announced as the 2023 volunteer model, I thought maybe she would be the first one I’d ever part with. #711635 Chevalier came in three colors of 125 pieces each - sunburnt black, bay, and red roan, all with a snowcap appaloosa pattern. The sunburnt black and bay were given to volunteers at BreyerWest; the red roan wasn’t revealed until BreyerFest. If I had to pick, bay would have been my choice (shocking), but I wasn’t surprised when I received the red roan after volunteering at the C&Y show. Mathematically, it just made sense. All 125 red roans were given out at BreyerFest, while a good portion of the 125 unburnt blacks and 125 bays were given out at BreyerWest.

I put her up for trade in my CHIN room that night. I was specifically looking for a glossy Bravour 54, who was given out as a diorama contest prize. The relative rarity was pretty lopsided - there were 125 of Chevalier and only 41 of the glossy Bravour - but Bravour wasn’t all that popular, so I thought it a fairly even trade. I have a sizable Trakehner conga and glossy Bravour would have fit in nicely.

I spent the entire night looking at Chevalier from across the room and going, “Wow, she’s actually kind of pretty.”

She’s still here.

Her show name is Earthquake Curtains; for the story on that, check out my November Show Stopper’s post.

 

 

I was secretly pleased when Bluegrass Bandit was the volunteer mold for 2024, though she wasn’t received with as much enthusiasm in the rest of the hobby. I only had one BGB in my collection to that point, the original Bluegrass Bandit herself, but I’ve always had a soft spot for the mold. Like Chevalier, #10130 Worth It was issued in three colors - flaxen liver chestnut, flaxen medium chestnut, and flaxen light chestnut, all with a sabino pattern. There were 133 of each color made. I loved all three, but the lightest one was my favorite, and that’s who I was lucky enough to get at BreyerFest. She is unshown so far.

 

 

#B-EV-10472 Salud was the 2025 volunteer model on the Duende (Spanish Stallion) mold. His patterns were designed by equine genetics and color expert Lesli Kathman and were intended to showcase some of the unique colors and patterns present in the Mangalarga Paulista breed from Brazil. The three colors were black with Belton spotting, fleabit gray with reverse markings (a dark leg where there would normally be a white one), and salpicada, which produces a really interesting distribution of white hairs throughout the horse’s coat, similar to roan but not identical. There were 126 pieces of each color produced.

For me, these three models represented a really nifty idea with not-so-nifty execution by Breyer. Breyer isn’t known for keeping to realistic colors or patterns on the pieces they produce, so trying to find a good breed assignment for many models can be a challenge. That’s not what happened here - they consulted Lesli, who put three colors that occur in Spanish breeds onto a Spanish mold and gave detailed explanations of why and how each color and pattern occurs in nature. Any of the three Salud models could represent a live horse and should thus theoretically do well in the show ring. Lesli is extremely good at what she does, and I would encourage anyone to follow her blog and read her books (especially if you show or judge), because you’ll learn a ton.

However, I don’t think the patterns translated well to Breyer’s production techniques. I just don’t think Breyer could replicate what Lesli asked for. Belton spots look extremely cool on real horses (seriously, give it a quick Google search, they’re neat) but the ones on Salud ended up looking like an Oreo blizzard. The salpicada also didn’t translate as Lesli had intended (by her own words) - the division between the white-ticked areas and the dark areas wasn’t supposed to be quite so stark. The gray is my favorite of the three; the dark lower leg looks a little weird, but it’s easy to find examples of that in Spanish breeds (and some others as well).

I received the salpicada for volunteering at the C&Y show. I also stewarded for BOO that year and was hoping for a gray, but received a second salpicada. I had my extra salpicada up for trades for a gray at BreyerFest this year, but was only offered a black one, not a gray, and I just couldn’t love the black one with those Oreo legs when I saw him in hand. I’ll hang onto Salpicada #2 and hope to trade him for a gray in a future year.

 

 

I just talked about my eyeless #B-EV-10781 Vegvísir in July, so you can go read more about him there, if you’re so inclined.

 

There are so many volunteer models on my wish list, but I only foresee being able to afford a handful (like both of the other colors of Worth It). Someday I'd love to add a Poet, Sonnet, Blue Grass, the unnamed silver bay sabino Wixom, and the unnamed chestnut Legionario.

 

I swore I've given up on trying to predict the volunteer mold, but I may or may not have already started a prediction spreadsheet for next year ...

Special Effects: Breyer Fun Day Models

From 2005-2010, Breyer issued a special release Classic-scale model in conjunction with retailers hosting “Fun Day” events. Two models were released in 2007 and 2008, and one each in 2005, 2006, 2009, and 2010, for a total of eight releases. I’ve never owned an Elsinore or a Mandrake, but I have had the other six in my collection at one time or another. Only two have remained on my shelf after various efforts over the years to prune my collection down to a manageable level.

 

[It's not there yet. It will probably never be there. I can't stop buying stuff.]

 

 

I purchased #703105 Tristan from a seller on MH$P in September 2011. He’s my favorite of all the Shire A releases. He doesn’t get to show much because he really can’t compete against Traditional chonky things (or even the G1 Draft), but he has hit the table a couple times here and there when a show has a Classics-only division. His show name is Son of Meliodas.

 

#703107 Marigold was one of the 2007 releases on the new Morgan Mare mold, which was released that year. I got her for only $10 during room sales at BreyerFest 2013. She also doesn’t show much, for the same reasons as Tristan, but when she does, her show name is Calendula.

 

I do still have Mandrake and Elsinore on my wish list, so they might join the herd someday. I find it interesting that the two I kept and the two still on my wish list are warm-colored models, while the ones I've sold have all been black or gray. That tracks; a friend pointed out several years ago, after observing my show table, that the color distribution of my collection leans heavily toward warm-toned models.

On a Regular Basis: 1992 Traditional Models

As I mentioned back in my November post about my Morgans, 1992 was one of my favorite years for regular run models. I’ve talked about a few of my 1992 models already, so they’ll only get a brief mention here, but today I thought I’d cover the rest of the Traditionals, and next month I’ll do the Classics.

I wasn’t keeping detailed records of my collection back then - I didn’t even know what a spreadsheet was (gasp!) - so I don’t know the exact dates or methods by which I acquired the vast majority of these models. All but one were definitely acquired prior to September 1992, when I photographed my collection for the first time. In absence of a timeline, I’ll go in numerical order by their issue number.

 

 

This is #854 Memphis Storm, the 1992 Commemorative Edition of 7500 pieces. 

You could also call him, “Why Mel Initially Fell in Love With Shiny Things, Exhibit A.”

I have in my records that he’s #5143/7500, but I’ll be damned if I can find where that’s written on him. I thought perhaps his belly, but I can’t see it. I wonder if the ink has faded over the years?

The Midnight Sun mold has fallen out of favor over the years due to its “big lick” stance, which has historically been trained into the horses using a painful, abusive, horrible practice called soring. I won’t go into it here; it’s awful. Many collectors have gotten rid of their Midnight Sun molds for that reason. The few I have are from my childhood collection, and I can’t bring myself to part with them yet.

 

 

This is #855 Chaparral, the 1992 Limited Edition, and he has the honor of being the first Fighting Stallion in my collection. I was in love with the mold as soon as I saw #709 (the black leopard appy guy) in the 1990 catalog. Breyer produced a TON of regular run Fighting Stallions in the 90s and early 2000s (and a few Special Runs as well), so he was not by himself for long.

 

 

#858 Vermont Morgan got his turn in the spotlight in my November On a Regular Basis post, so you can go check out his deets there.

 

 

This model, #859 Family Appaloosa Stallion, was produced from 1992-1994. He initially belonged to my sister, who collected for a couple years in the early 90s. She gave me all her models when we reached adulthood, which was awesome of her.

 

 

Ever want to know if a Breyer has started to yellow? Bring it over to my house and we’ll stand it next to this gal, #860 Family Appaloosa Mare, who is so white she’s almost blue. If I’m ever questioning if something of mine is yellowed, out it comes and out she comes, and I stand them next to each other, and it’s immediately clear.

Like the stallion above, she was also produced from 1992-1994. She gets to go to all-collectibility shows when there’s a division for 90s RR models. Her show name is Proof Positive.

 

 

This model, #861 Family Appaloosa Foal, also produced from 1992-1994, is the only one for whom I know the details of his acquisition. After realizing upon my re-emergence into the hobby in 2010 that I had only 2/3 of the family, I started low-key looking for him. It didn’t take me long. A seller posted one for sale on MH$P in April 2011, and the family became complete.

 

 

Oh look, a Sham!

This is #863 Rana, who I think was supposed to be a blue taffy, maybe? That’s the only color interpretation that remotely makes sense, but even that’s a stretch. I’ve seen it called a lot of things; my official description for it is Weird. He’s still one of my faves, though, and one of my first handful of Shams. He was a regular run from 1992-1993.

 

 

I’ve always loved the cheeky little Running Foal. This is #865 Bluegrass Foal, a regular run from 1992-1994. His color was described as blue roan, and that’s mostly true, I suppose, though he’s lacking the characteristic dark head that most roans have.

 

 

#867 Tesoro got his few minutes of fame back in February’s On a Regular Basis post when I talked about my El Pastors. You can revisit his details there.

 

 

I loved this guy, #868 Highland Clydesdale, as soon as I saw his picture in the catalog. He’s still my favorite Clydesdale Stallion in my collection - yes, even above the shiny bay thing from 2002. 

I was looking him over the other day when I went to take his photo, and he could be the poster child for, “When he was NIB, the side you could see looks great, but the box side is atrocious.” He has so many boogers in his molding, it’s insane. It’s like they gobbed a bunch of plastic and hairballs on him and then painted over it all. Poor guy.

Next month I’ll go over my 1992 Classics!