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.