Full Spectrum: Glossy Charcoal

Let’s talk shark holes.

Back in the day, an adventurous YouTuber made an animated video of a Breyer newbie wandering the confusing layout of the Holiday Inn North and looking for room 890 (which doesn’t exist), where a glossy charcoal Running Stallion had been advertised for sale on a flyer. The animation was computer-narrated, and every time the animated shopper stopped to ask another animated shopper how to get to room 890 because they were looking for a charcoal Running Stallion, the computer pronounced charcoal as “shark hole.”

Thus the legend of the famous Room 890 Glossy Shark Hole Running Stallion was born. 

The legend is alive and well today. There’s usually at least one poster hanging on the CHIN walls every year that references it. On a Blab thread this past July about the upcoming proposed changes to the CHIN, someone asked how to get to the pool, and a fellow hobbyist replied, “You really don't want to go to the pool anyways, that's where all the shark hole stallions are.” Someone else asked, “What are shark hole stallions?” Cue the retelling.

Unfortunately, the YouTube link to the video is long defunct, or I’d share it here. It was a riot.

I first fell in love with glossy shark holes when I got limited edition #854 Memphis Storm as a kid. I just talked about Memphis Storm last month in my On a Regular Basis post, so this seemed like a good time to visit the other glossy shark holes in my collection.

 

This G1 Draft, #502901 Silver Cup Series (1st Collection) from 2002, got his first featurette on the blog in December 2025’s Special Effects post. You can read more about him there.

 

 

#701709 Cream and Cocoa were a Just About Horses special run in 2009. There were 1200 made. They must not have sold out, because Breyer put a whole bunch in the store at BreyerFest in 2011 for a discount ($50, compared to their original issue price of $80). Being the Grazing Mare & Foal fan that I am and also being a person unable to resist a great deal, I snagged a set.

You’ll have to forgive the inclusion of Cream in today’s post; she’s a glossy smoke, not a shark hole, but it didn’t make sense to leave her out when I was already talking about the set.

 

 

#712014 Amigo, a run of 500, was the third release in the 2014 Vintage Club, in July (like a week before BreyerFest, so the timing was … less than awesome). I was a member that year, so I got him direct from Breyer. You can't see how awesome and rich his color and shading are here because of my crap light setup, but he’s easily in my top 3 favorite Vintage Club releases of all time.

 

 

#711283 Claude was the optional model for the 2019 Vintage Club, released in October 2019. I was a member of the Vintage Club that year as well, so I got him direct from Breyer. They made 470 glossy and 30 matte. Though I’m sure I could have made bank on a matte if I’d gotten one, shark hole does nothing for me in matte, so I was happy to get the glossy.

 

 

My Big Ben conga gained another member in March 2020 thanks to my friend Beth E., who was having a small collection selloff. #1456 Gathering Storm was the Collector’s Choice model for the first half of 2011. Collector’s Choice models were color/pattern/mold combos suggested to Breyer by collectors. I would have preferred a solid shark hole instead of a loudly patterned one, but my Big Ben conga excludes no one.

 

 

Beth E. is also responsible for this little dude, the miniaturized version of the traditional Fighting Stallion. He was released in the regular run blind bag set #6051 70th Anniversary Mystery Horse Surprise. The Fighting Stallion is one of the most popular Breyer molds of all time, and like many hobbyists, I was thrilled when they produced him as a mini-me. Beth had bought an entire box of the blind bags and was selling her extras in July 2020, so I bought one of her Fighters.

As far as shark holes I’d like to add to my collection someday, Storm from the 2016 Vintage Club is the only one currently on the list. That being said, if a minty mint glossy vintage Fighting Stallion or Mustang came my way at the right price, I wouldn’t turn it down.

Collectibility Spotlight: Web Specials, Part 1

I started talking about web specials back in May’s Full Spectrum post and covered my newest one, Belize, in last month’s New Additions post, so now seems as good a time as any to continue in that vein.

The vast majority of limited quantity web specials Breyer releases are lottery draws. If you want to enter (for yourself or someone else), you just sign up during the entry period, and then Breyer draws a random list of winners. I would estimate I got pulled from either the initial draw or the wait list about 25% of the time early on, even though the quantities were lower. These days, despite a marked increase in the quantity of each run and the fact that I enter for almost all of them, I’m lucky if I get picked once every couple years.

Most of my web specials have been acquired direct from Breyer, so with one exception, the order of acquisition matches the order of release.

 

 

In my opinion, this is one of the prettiest horses in my collection. I wish they would use this color more often because it is outstanding. #712005 Delia was the first ever Breyer Web special, a run of 500 pieces in fall 2008. I wasn’t involved in the hobby at that time; I had just graduated with my Masters degree in August that year and was still looking for my first post-Masters job, so money was tight. I started looking for one when I rejoined the hobby in 2010 and purchased my Delia a couple years later in November 2012 from a seller on MH$P. 

I showed her quite a lot after I got her - there’s not a flaw on her - but she only has two 4th place ribbons to her name. Her show name is Adelaide.

 

 

#712072 Arosa was a run of 255 pieces in December 2012. When I said my luck with drawings was better by then, this is a good example - Arosa was the third web special I’d been drawn for within a year’s span, after Mont Tremblant in December 2011 and I’m Yours in February 2012. (I have since parted with both of the latter.)

 

 Every time I make a list of potential models to sell, he ends up on it. And then I pull him off the shelf and say, "Nope, he's too pretty," and back on the shelf he goes.

 

 

 

In 2013, Breyer started releasing web specials associated with a theme. Greek Gods was the first series, and the first three releases in that series - Zeus, Poseidon, and Apollo, with 225-240 pieces apiece - are highly sought after and contain commas in their price tags on the secondary market. I didn’t particularly care for Poseidon, but I have always been sad to not have been drawn for Zeus and Apollo.

Anyway, I was lucky enough to get drawn for the fourth release in the series, #712098 Dionysus, a run of 250 pieces. Despite my overwhelming positive feelings towards Kathleen Moody sculpts, Ethereal has never done anything for me (it’s his mane). Throw Shiny Bay on him, though, and he quickly became a “Yes, please.”

 

 

#712134 Solar, the first release in the Celestial Series in January 2015 and a run of 350 pieces, has the distinct honor of being the first web special won by a friend and passed along to me. I love the color on him, but didn’t get drawn on my own account. Enter my friend Lori S., who got drawn but decided to pass him along, and my friend Penny L., who quickly secured him for me from Lori whilst I was away from my phone dealing with copious amounts of Angry Children and Drama at the residential facility where I worked at the time. Yay for enabling friends!

 

 

#712221 Wailua was the second release in the America the Beautiful series, a run of 350 pieces in March 2017. My friend Jackie H. is the responsible party this time, enabling me to buy him direct from Breyer when she got drawn on both of her accounts. Legionario, dapple gray, glossy - what’s not to love?

 

 

This gal, #712110 Athena, the third release in the Greek Goddesses series in May 2014 and a run of 250 pieces, was my #1 want on the Ruffian mold since the day I first heard about her release. That color is *chef’s kiss.* She immediately commanded a high price on the secondary market and remains up there today, often commanding $600-800. I snagged mine from MH$P in February 2018 for $220 shipped and considered myself lucky. She’s the only one of mine whose acquisition date isn’t anywhere near her release date.

Next month I’ll cover my other five (at least as of right now) web specials, and include my wish list of future ones to acquire, which I’m sure will be long, distinguished, and horrible for my bank account.

Special Effects: Other Mid-States Special Runs

Last month in my Sentimental Journey post, I talked about a couple Mid-States runs that had special meaning to me because my sister helped me acquire them. Today I’ll cover the other three Mid-States special runs in my collection.

 

 

#7007 Mamin Nez Perce was a run of 4400 models for Mid-States in 2007. It was love at first sight the minute I saw a picture of him - he reminded me a lot of Fortissimo, even though he’s bay instead of sooty buckskin. He was one of the models I short-listed as must-finds at BreyerFest 2010.

And find him I did, in the swap meet, for $32.

 

 

#701797 Just Incredible was a run of an estimated 5000-6000 pieces in 1997. He’s got the big circular resist dapples that Breyer favored in the late 90s, though he’s not as bad as Cloud on the Swaps mold. I always thought he was a rather attractive shade of light sorrel or dark palomino, so when my friend Ellen V posted hers for sale in July 2014, I purchased him.

 

 

#701730 Sonsela was the 2015 Mid-States special run. There was no announced quantity on her. I’m a sucker for Lady Phase and all things drastically shaded red bay (though my lighting isn't doing her any favors here), so I stopped at the Rural King in St. Clairsville, OH, on the way to the QH Congress show on 10/9/15 and hand-picked one.

I’m glad I got to choose her myself, because she does really well in the show ring, despite the general “Holy shit” size of the Breyer stock classes. Her show name is Lesson Learned.

As a general disclaimer, my posts might become shorter or more sporadic (or both) over the next two months. Our impending health record transition at work that was postponed from May is scheduled for October 3rd and a lot of things are already figuratively on fire. I’ve been working a lot of extra hours since mid-August and I expect that to steadily increase until early November, which won’t leave me with a lot of free time or spare brain cells for the blog. I have all my posts planned out and all photos taken through the end of October, so I’m hoping that allows me to stay on track. I’m going to do my darndest.