Fantastic Finds: Thrift Store Love Classics

I mentioned in my last blog post that a potential liberation was in the works. It didn’t turn out to be quite what we thought, but it was a liberation nonetheless, so I’m shuffling the order of my posts around so Fantastic Finds is up first this month.

 

 

The liberation started on Sunday afternoon when Heather B sent me this picture from a random thrift store group. Someone was asking about the set of cat dishware. Heather said, “Peek the ponies below! That’s a CMM!”

The Jet Run on the right was obvious, but I found it absolutely hilarious that she could recognize the Classic Mustang Mare in the bottom center from only 1/8 of its shadowed rear end. We were both convinced it was the JCP bay.

The store was closer to me than Heather, but closed on Sunday, so I made plans to head down Monday after work. I spent a goodly amount of time walking through the store, looking for the cat dishware or any horse-shaped object, but saw absolutely nothing. I thought maybe I was at the wrong store, since they have multiple locations. After one more careful pass, I finally spotted the cats, but the horses were definitely not on the shelves. I thought I was too late.

 

 

Cue the “jumbled models in a box on the floor” scene.

There were nine in total - the CMM, a Classic QH Family, a Nursing Mare & Foal, a charcoal FAF, a black appy Scratching Foal, and the Jet Run. 

 

The Sears CMM was pretty rubbed up and clearly wasn't the JCP bay that had prompted the liberation in the first place, but between her cheap price tag and Heather’s “No Love left behind” mentality, I bought her. I'll get her to Heather in early October when I see her at the GPMHS show - and she better not get any funny ideas about trying to pay me, after all the models she's given to me for free over the years!

 

Almost all the rest of the models had custom green felt pads stuck to the bottom of their feet, and the trads had clear nail polish on their hooves. I left the Nursing Mare & Foal, Jet Run, FAF, and Scratching Foal for someone else to find.

 

This set - #3045 Quarter Horse Family, a regular run from 1974-1993 - came home with me. Twenty years of production leaves lots of room for fun variations, as you'll see with the Mare.

The Mare is the reason for the purchase - she has black paint all the way up onto her belly. I included the pic I snapped of her at the thrift store because my dining room lighting kinda blunted the effect. She's awesome. And by now, yinz are familiar with my rules about sets - once I decided I wanted the Mare, I couldn’t leave the Stallion and Foal behind, despite their unfortunate nail-polish-remover socks.

I’m probably gonna show the Mare in October for funsies, provided I can find a way to remove the felt pads. [Taking suggestions if readers know any; if not, I'll turn to one of the model groups on Facebook.] Her show name will be La Brea.

New Additions: August 2026

I’ve added nine models to the collection since returning home from BreyerFest. One is paid for, but I won’t have him in-hand til early October, so he’ll be featured there. Here are the other eight.

 

 

Bloody hell I love this thing.

It finally happened - Breyer did a web special on Sham. This is #B-CS-10630 Belize from the Exotic Destinations series, released at the end of July. There were 600 made. He was designed to represent the amazing teal tropical waters off the coast of Belize. Now I want to book a trip there!

As soon as he was announced, my phone started blowing up with texts and Facebook tags and Messenger messages. I only have one Collector Club account this year and figured my chances of getting drawn were pretty nil, after the BreyerFest I had. Luckily, I had ten wonderful friends - Beth, Heather M, Heather B, Chesna, Sue, Jennifer, Stacey, Cory, Lizzie, and Nina - who weren’t interested in him and entered on my behalf. As predicted, I did not get drawn, but four of my friends did. I purchased one, hooked up my friend Beethoven (who also didn’t get drawn) with one of the others, and reluctantly convinced myself I didn't need multiples and gave my blessing for the other two friends to pass theirs along to other interested buyers. I don't think they would have had difficult getting theirs sold. This guy went over SUPER well with the hobby, and no wonder. He is so freaking cool.

In case I haven’t mentioned it here before, I HATE that pearly shit they put on many models. HATE. But as usual, Sham is the exception to every rule I’ve ever had about collecting, and I love the look on him. Overall, his design was a really neat concept that was well-executed, and I’m so thankful for all the friends who made sure this Sham nerd got one.

My Sham conga is still missing a Niagara, but I can be patient for the right one at the right price.

 

 

#AR18067 Boaz, Stone’s 18th release in the Artisan Hall series in 2004, painted by outstanding hobby talent Caroline Boydston, is (and has always been) my favorite Stone release of all time. He was made in FCM and non-FCM versions, and both came in glossy and matte. Since he’s my favorite, I have a longstanding quest of someday owning one of each version. I got a glossy FCM Boaz in late 2023, added the glossy non-FCM Boaz just a few weeks ago at BreyerFest, and then snatched this matte non-FCM guy up shortly after he was listed for sale in a Facebook group in early August. That just leaves me with a matte FCM to find.

*****

The rest of this month’s models were acquired on a hobby day with my friend Heather B. Returning home from BreyerFest and resuming real-life activities always kinda sucks, so to alleviate those feelings, Heather and I planned a day trip on August 8 to go antiquing and to visit a large Breyer retailer (Sir Troy’s) in Ohio.

We started by trying to visit a smaller antique shop and Breyer dealer that was supposed to be open from 10-4, but they were definitely closed when we arrived at 10:15. Heather messaged them on Facebook; they replied a few hours later that they were closed for the week for vacation. A sign on the door or a post on their Facebook would have been nice, but oh well.

Our second stop was a much larger antique mall. I’m used to seeing Breyers there, but the dealers either know what they have and priced accordingly, or the dealers have no idea what they have and prices are through the stratosphere because, “They were made by Old Man Breyer, and he died.” I typically walk out empty-handed.

 

 

This trip, I found a G1 chestnut #5026 Thoroughbred Mare, produced from 1975-1987. She needs a touch-up for a pinpoint rub on her left shoulder but is otherwise in fantastic condition. I can’t wait to show her.

 

 

As we were poking around in the case with the G1 TBM to see what else we could find, this dude, #1766 NHRA 50th Anniversary Model, produced in 2016 only, was all by himself at the bottom. Hollywood Dun It isn’t a mold I collect, but his shading was nice and he was priced at only $10. A quick check of sold listings on eBay revealed he’s been selling for $35-60, so he was definitely coming home with me.

Our third stop of the day was at Sir Troy’s Toy Kingdom in Canton. I’ve been to the Medina location, but this one was even bigger and had a really nice selection of both new and older RRs. I was after a few of the new Stablemates Singles, but unfortunately they only had one of the ones I was looking for. I still found a few things to buy.

 

 

The Stablemates Single they had was this blue roan Quarter Horse, #B-SM-10592. I like this mold (me? Like a stock horse? Nah!) and I love roans in general, so I was happy they had her.

 

 

I did a fair amount of bag-groping for these two, both from the #B-SM-10075 Exquisite Equines blind bag series. I conga the G2 ASB and like Fireheart in miniature better than large, so I sat on the floor and crinkled the bags until I found what I was looking for.

 

 

The G2 Running TB has always been one of my favorite Stablemate molds, so I was thrilled when they released a Classic-scale version by the same sculptor, with slight differences in the mane and tail. This release is #959 Buckskin Blanket Appaloosa and was on the clearance rack at Sir Troy’s. She is a modern chalky, which I didn’t notice til I got home - she has the telltale white edging around the masking where her blanket pattern is. She didn’t stand out from the other half-dozen at Sir Troy’s, so I wonder if they’re all modern chalkies?

I may have to add one more acquisition with my Wednesday post. A potential liberation is afoot, but I won’t have confirmation until after this post goes up on Monday. Stay tuned!

Bonus Post: Famous Thoroughbreds - The Randomizer Has Spoken

August’s Monday-Wednesday-Saturday posting schedule has once again left me with a bonus post. Over the past week, I have been wracking what little of my brain work hasn’t completely decimated to figure out a topic, but kept coming up empty. So I decided to leave it to fate.

I pulled up my the spreadsheet of my collection, made a quick pivot table to get a unique list of model ID numbers, dumped them all into Random.org’s list randomizer, and hit the Randomize button, vowing to write about whatever model came up first.

Number one on the list was the Stablemates-scale release of Triple Crown Winner Justify, and he was quickly followed by Cigar in the third place spot, so today I’ll be showing models from my collection that were based on real-life race horses that I’ve met. One horse will be noticeably absent from today’s post - American Pharoah. I’m saving him for my Sentimental Journey series because he’s about as special as it gets, and his post will probably end up at 2000 words all by itself (with lots of associated photo spam).

 

 

Since the #9302 Justify (a regular run from 2018-2020) was first up in the list, I’ll start with him and work backwards in order of When the Real Horse Did Awesome Things.

I was born in 1979, so Justify is only the second Triple Crown winner in my lifetime. I didn’t feel connected to his win like I did with Pharoah, but I suppose that’s normal. The first one typically means the most.

I ordered this Justify Stablemate from Breyer in December 2018 as part of the Collector Club Appreciation sale.

 

 

In July 2019, I found myself wandering through the BreyerFest store, saw a whole stack of #9300 Justify (also a regular run from 2018-2020) and figured, what the hell. I spent some time hand-picking this one for his shininess (some are more semigloss than others) and the darkness of his color compared to others.

 

 

After a near-miss in 2023 when Coolmore decided to send him to Australia and put him in quarantine mere days before our farm tour, I finally got to see Justify in 2025. He was large (seriously, 16.3 hands, he’s huge) and very, very grumpy. Pharoah will stand there all day, cool as a cucumber, and pose for photo after photo, but Justify? If GTFO were a horse, it would be him.

 

 

#1792 California Chrome was a regular run from 2018-2019. I have a purchase date in my spreadsheet of 3/3/2018, but I have no idea where I got him. I can’t find a PayPal transaction, Breyer order confirmation email, Messenger chat, Facebook post, receipt - nothing. Did I maybe go to Shady Acres or Kraynaks or SW Randall that day? Who knows.

 

 

The real California Chrome won the first two legs of the Triple Crown in 2014, but like many of his predecessors, couldn’t get it done in the Belmont. I got to meet him on a tour of Taylor Made farm in 2019 during the week of BreyerFest. He was well-known for being a ham in front of the cameras and definitely didn’t hold anything back during our tour. What an absolute goof. He did stop making faces for a minute toward the end of our time with him so I was able to get one nice photo. I’m glad we saw him when we did - just a few months after our visit, they decided to send him to stand stud in Japan, and he’s still there today.

 

 

#711282 Silver Charm was one of the four Single-Day Stablemates from BreyerFest 2018, Off to the Races. I don’t usually buy the Single-Day Stablemates, but there was no way I was passing up on that year’s set, with a Man O’ War, a Shiny Bay Thing, a Shiny Blue Thing, and Silver Charm, who is second only to Pharoah in living racehorses who have particular sentimental value to me - as you'll no doubt understand from the upcoming photo spam.

 

 

I was a senior in high school when I watched Silver Charm’s Triple Crown campaign with my bestie, Paula. I’ve always had a thing for gray Thoroughbreds and Silver Charm was a lovely steel color at the time, so of course I was rooting for him. We were so hopeful through the entire Belmont, but Touch Gold got him at the end by less than a length. Interestingly, both horses were retired to Old Friends and shared adjacent paddocks for 10 years til Touch Gold passed in 2025. It’s fun to think of what they might have thought about each other or said to each other during that time.

I’ve been blessed to see Silver Charm at Old Friends a whole bunch of times - first in 2016, then again in 2021, 2024, 2025, and this year. Though I love seeing horses, I don’t often choose to get close to them. Silver Charm was special enough for an exception, and I fed him carrot shavings in 2021. (Note: If Pharoah is ever retired somewhere that allows petting, they will have to pry me off him with a crowbar.)

Silver Charm is 32 now and spends the hottest part of the summer days inside the barn at Old Friends. The tour typically includes a stop inside to visit him, but they had a farrier on site the day we were there and they didn’t want to spook the horse the farrier was working on, so we only got to peek in at him through the door. At each visit since 2024, I’ve wondered if that would be the last time I see him, given his age. I especially hope that’s not the case this year and that he’s still with us when visiting time comes around again in 2027.

 

 

#476 Cigar, a regular run from 1998-2005, is from my childhood collection. Like many of my oldest models, I’m not sure where or when I got him, but I’m certain it was early in the run. I was obsessed with horses and horse racing during my teens and Cigar was the stuff of legends. I wouldn't have waited long to get a model of him. He didn’t race at two, did okay at three, and then late in his four year-old season, he took off and never looked back. From October 1994 through his retirement in October 1996, he finished in the money in every single one of his 21 races, including 17 wins (16 of them in a row).

 

During my first BreyerFest in 2010, I was thrilled to learn that Cigar was a resident of the Hall of Champions at Kentucky Horse Park. The first time I saw him, the person working up there opened up his stall door and fed him peppermints so we could get good pictures of him. I caught the tongue blep picture totally by accident, which has cued a lifetime of me trying to capture as many tongue bleps from famous racehorses as I can. I faithfully visited Cigar every year until he passed in late 2014, and I've stopped by his grave near the Hall of Champions to pay my respects every year since. What an amazing horse.

 

POST UPDATE:

 

Not fifteen minutes after I posted this, I realized I forgot someone!

 

#1848 Tiz the Law was a regular run from 2021-2023. He's one of those "Heather B won him from something or other and gave him to me and refused to let me pay for him" models. I acquired him in January 2022. He has outstanding shading (as you can see from the photo!) but has a couple goobers that have kept him out of the show ring. After seeing this photo, I might actually give him a try at my next show.

 

 

The real Tiz the Law won the 2020 Belmont Stakes. Not surprising - his grandsire, Tapit, has been the sire or grandsire of 6 Belmont winners since 2014:

• Sire - Tonalist (2014), Creator (2016), Tapwrit (2017), Essential Quality (2021)
• Grandsire - Tiz the Law (2020), Arcangelo (2023)

I got to meet Tiz the Law at Coolmore last year. Sorry for overlooking you, buddy!