My Breyer collection

George wrote:

I rode a pacer once, the gait does feel very peculiar if you're not used to it - they told me to 'just ask again' when I wanted to trot cos he'd probably pace instead, so there were a few very rough transitions where it took way too long for the horse to realise I was trying to tell him 'no, trot' rather than 'pace faster!', hahaha. I suspect if we'd got to know each other I'd have figured out his signals better, but it was a bit like a conversation where one of you doesn't know the language - he thought he was doing what I wanted and I didn't know how to say run-at-38mph-up-the-road was not what I wanted

"Faster?? Even faster??" He thought you were ready to enter the races.

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The Seabiscuit's pose reminds me of a horse just going steadily down to the start before his race, the relaxed easy-going stride and cheerful face - like he's loosening up and enjoying the open-space run, but not being asked to exert himself yet.

Yeah, that's a good description of it, an ears-forward having a nice time kind of a run.

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I haven't seen that glitter shetland before, he reminds me of fizzy clear lemonade!

I think Sprite is the best name for him.

rogerpgvg wrote:

More wonderful G1s. I already said in my own Breyer topic that I love Swaps. I hope you'll find them all. Seabiscuit and Silky Sullivan are great too. Good to see that you have quite a few of them too. The Saddlebred is less special to me too, but still very nice to have a few!

I have another Swaps coming in the mail, very exciting! And I do like having the saddlebreds even though I seek them out less intentionally. It would be a collecting dream to someday have as many of the G1s as are reasonably attainable, but I am still a long way from that.

At last, we have T-W, or the end of the alphabet as far as that goes (no X, Y, or Z stablemates yet).

"Thoroughbred" - black roan pinto, gray, bay, chestnut, leopard appaloosa, black, rose gray, and Hidalgo
I like this mold, her speed is a little more intense than the Seabiscuit but still doesn't feel quite as extreme as some of the traditional molds. Likely because some of the newer traditionals have bases that allow for fewer feet to the touching the ground, while this one still has one little toe tip in the back. I like how many really different colors it comes in as well, what a colorful galloping crowd. Great for when you are young and are staging dramatic horse races to have so many participants. I think all of these were various regular runs except the gray, which was in the JAH set.
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"Thoroughbred Mare" - liver chestnut, bay, chestnut, dark bay, black with socks, black, bay roan, dark bay with buff hooves
This is my second favorite G1 sculpt. The colors are hard for me to tell apart, she was released in various bays many times and they have some variation in color and markings even within the same release, but she's a beautiful little mare. She looks like a pasture horse to me, a broodmare maybe, rather than a race horse. I like the detail in her mane and the curious expression of her face. I know the liver chestnut and the dark bay with the light hooves are JC Penny and Sears releases, and I think the rest are regular runs. The roan is from the newer Hidalgo set and is a little larger than all her sisters, probably because she is made from a slightly different material, being much younger.
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"Walking Thoroughbred" - Palomino and green unicorn
Love this mold, though there hasn't been much chance to get a regular run release. The palomino is the first non-unicorn that isn't a special run. This is a very different thoroughbred than the previous mare, definitely a peak racing condition horse. It's a surprisingly narrow mold when seen from the front, making it quite easy to tip, but I like all the detail that somehow doesn't look overdone or too carried away. My palomino is obviously very metallic, they aren't all quite that extreme, he's almost a decorator. The green is of course a decorator, and like the rest of my unicorns, I got him because I liked the color but I don't care for the horn. This is such a nice green because of the shading, it looks like a very convincing green. In a world where horse can be green, they could look like this--except the gold hooves and horn.
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"Warmblood" - red roan pinto, black pinto, and bay appaloosa
This is one of my favorite G2 molds. It reminds me of the traditional Roemer, but a little less unbalanced. Good motion and a generally handsomely built horse. He's cantering, but in a way that a controlled dressage gait. The black pinto is the JAH release, and the other two are from regular run playsets.
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"Warmblood Mare" - Dun and blue unicorn
Like the walking thoroughbred, this mold only has one regular run realistic color release so far and the rest are unicorns. And the story is the same, I like the color of the unicorn. This is a really lovely mold, like a lot of the G5s, so looking forward to seeing more of her.
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And because I am using this to keep track of my own collection and what's in storage, I'll continue to add new additions obtained since posting the original photos. For instance:

"Family Arabian Stallion" - Woodgrain
The original woodgrain horses were produced from 1950-early 1970s. Breyer's first target audience were not children or realistic model horse collectors, but people who wanted home decor. Glossies were intended to replicate fine china without being as expensive, woodgrains were obviously faux-carved wood, etc. They were plastic and therefore cheaper counterparts to popular mantlepiece knick knacks. That has of course changed over the years, but the old decorators are still really popular. This guy was a trade with Kelly and is my first vintage woodgrain!
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"Fury Prancer" - White
Technically, this one is a custom, because his gold molded on tack has been painted silver by someone. He is missing his saddle and reins, but still retains his vintage charm.
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"Running Mare" - Flockie palomino
"Flockies" or models covered in textured flock to resemble a real coat were introduced by Mel Riegsecker in the Miniature Collection, which are various horses in harness mounted onto bases with carts and buggies and drivers. In the mid-late 80's, individual flocked horses were available through the Montgomery Ward Christmas catalogues. The palomino mare and foal set was one of those. The flocking and mohair was intended to be more realistic, though in fact often have the opposite effect, I think. The process of creating a flocked horse was very involved, including removing the original mane and tail and refilling the missing areas and then applying the flocking by hand. I found this mare at a thrift shop for 75 cents, certainly the most exciting "in the wild" find I have ever had. She is my first flockie.
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"Western Pony" - Palomino
Also originally sold with a molded saddle and metal reins, this guy has seen better days. His right front leg is missing and was replaced with a wooden stick and both his ears are chipped. For only $1, though, I couldn't pass him up.
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"Silky Sullivan" - roan
Part of the 1995 JC Penny set. He was more affordable than usual because of the marks on his hips. My favorite of this mold!
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"Swaps" - Swaps
The original! Nice to add him to my conga. This one has more clearly defined black hooves than I have seen on most G1s, I am not sure what era that puts him in since Swaps was sold as Swaps from 1976-1994.
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congratulations

Thank you! :)

"Alborozo" stablemate - mulberry gray
I actually only got this little guy to make shipping free for a different online purchase that still hasn't arrived, and for some reason this guy came on his own. I needed any stablemate to fill in the last three dollar gap, and this was the only one still in stock I had any interest in, so here he is! I do think his color is pretty. "Mulberry gray" means a more chestnut/reddish mane with a gray body because it is a gray where the mane and tail have not grayed out at the same pace as the body (but they are usually not metallic copper ). However, I really like coppery colors in general, and it's also nice to have one of these guys who ISN'T a unicorn.
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"Brighty" - Brighty
I've always wanted a Brighty in my collection, in any color, and I happened to find one in an antique store for . . . well, not a great deal, but average asking price. This mold was made to represent the donkey from Marguerite Henry's book Brighty of the Grand Canyon, who was a real animal with a slightly fictionalized story. It's a wonderful sculpt, very charming and very detailed and extremely popular with collectors, hence why it is hard to find one cheap. Also largely released as special runs, except for this guy and his various incarnations and a couple others.
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"Roemer" - silver bay
Available only online through the Breyer store, this was part of the Breyer Breeds collection, specifically using vintage molds to highlight popular breeds. I don't think it was a wildly popular campaign, possibly due in part to them choosing molds that have never been hugely popular or colors that weren't very unique, but I really liked this one. I got lucky and found one for sale for much cheaper than cost because he arrived with a few rubs. Even though this mold IS rather weird, I still like it, and the shading on this silver bay is really nice. They made the mane and tail pearly which isn't my favorite, but the mane and tail are so small on this mold that the effect is nice rather than weird.
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"Spirit" - Spirit
Not my usual style for sure, I never set out to own a Spirit model since it's done in the style of the cartoon--complete with eyebrows! But when I stumbled across him at an antique mall for a much better price than he sells anywhere online, I decided to bring him home. He's actually nicer than I expected, a well done representation of a cartoon character with just enough real horse proportion, sculpting, and shading to make him palatable--as long as I don't exhibit him alongside the more realistic Breyers. So as a character piece, he's pretty neat. I just keep him by himself.
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Nice addition Jill

I have a soft spot for Brighty

Wonderful, I really love Spirit! so much character and the donkey has a great pose!
and I like the running mare flockie palomino:)
what a superb collection you have

Brighty is lovely figure of course. Nice addition.

Congratulations.

Thank you all!


"Norwegian Fjord Mare" - Sweetwater's Zora Belle
This was a very exciting release for a lot of people, me included, and I've been looking forward to her release for a long time. She was backordered very quickly, but finally she came in July. Unfortunately, as I have chronicled elsewhere, she arrived with three warped legs. I was able to fix two of them and mostly fix the third, though she remains a little tippy still. Nevertheless, I'm excited to have her in the collection and I look forward to seeing this mold released in other colors. There is also a "long mane" version that I don't like as well as this one, so hopefully they will continue to use both and we will see the rest of the fjord color possibilities. Even within the brown dun like this, they can vary widely from very pale to pretty dark, so there's lots of options. In comparison to the original fjord mold, I like them each for different reasons, but I don't much care for them standing beside each other. Their styles and proportions are so different that they don't mesh well. I am partial to old Henry in the end, because of nostalgia and because he looks more like the heavier, draftier fjords I am familiar with, but I'm glad there are now two fjord molds in existence from Breyer.
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"Saddlebred Weanling" - Burnt Sienna
My second in this mold, and really the only other one I am super interested in getting. I love this mold as I mentioned with the first one, and it was released in two of my favorite horse colors--liver chestnut and roan. And now I have both. :) This was one I just happened upon, an online sale for $12. Since I had always liked her and just never intentionally looked for her, it was too good a price to pass up. She's really lovely!
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both are beautiful models! and I really love everything about the Weanling! including the name

Congratulations

Thank you! :)

"Old Timer" - alabaster
When discussing childhood grails on one of my Breyer groups, I got into a conversation about this guy with another member. I mentioned I had admired him for a long time but had never come across one I could really justify the cost of, and she offered this weathered old guy to me for a good price. Released in 1966, he is one of the first colors (he also appeared in dapple gray at the same time), and he is a very early release, evidenced by the painted triangle in his bridle where the color of the horse shows through. Later releases did not have that painted it, and it was left the color of the bridle. Even earlier releases have the insides of the blinkers painted, but mine is not quite as early as that. I feel lucky to have both the hat and the painted triangle, two details I was hoping for someday. He is yellowed and marked up, but that adds to his character. His name is Old Possum after T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.
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Wow, that's a fantastic horse! I love the subtle white-grey colour, it looks very real. Nice hat, is it fixed to the horse?

Thank you, the old subtle alabaster is a really nice "grayed out" paint job. The hat is removable, so it's exciting to have found one in tact!
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Ah, some old friends! I had Old Timer (in dapple grey) and Brighty as a kid- I loved Marguerite Henry, and 'Brighty of Grand Canyon' was a favorite. Both are models I regret being lost.

pipsxlch wrote:

Ah, some old friends! I had Old Timer (in dapple grey) and Brighty as a kid- I loved Marguerite Henry, and 'Brighty of Grand Canyon' was a favorite. Both are models I regret being lost.

Dapple gray Old Timer I would love to find someday. Both him and Brighty are such unique models, not quite like anything else Breyer has produced.


"Swaps" - dapple gray, grullo, "blue roan"
Added a few more to my conga this month, most significantly the grullo, who is my favorite. All three are really nice, though. I was hesitant initially to add the blue roan (who is not really a roan, but I don't know what else to call him) because the photos I had seen, he had very symmetrical dark dots that I wasn't keen on. I love this guy, though, with his splattery silvery blue spots. All three were internet finds, and happened all at once. After a long dry spell of not finding any I was looking for, that was pretty exciting! All three of these are Sears and JCPenny special runs, which is true for most of the Swaps releases. I know have four or five left to get (depending on if I decide to get a variation).
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Great that you found some more. All three are beautiful.

Ahh, Breyer colours which don't match their names, you've got to love it! The dappled grey looks more like chubari spotting, the grulla looks more like a blue roan, and the roan looks more like an appaloosa

Some beautiful Breyers,I especially like Brighty the donkey,always on my wishlist.

Thank you everyone!

George wrote:

Ahh, Breyer colours which don't match their names, you've got to love it! The dappled grey looks more like chubari spotting, the grulla looks more like a blue roan, and the roan looks more like an appaloosa

Haha, I did think the grullo was a roan for a long time. Same for the semi-rearing mustang in the same color. They do have dorsal stripes, but otherwise, much more like a bay roan. I love the pseudo grullo and the resist dapples, though.

"Sherman Morgan" - Sherman Morgan
The first release of this mold, a portrait of the most prominent son of Justin Morgan, the foundation of the morgan breed, who is also a Breyer (seen earlier). This figure has the original tail before the mold was damaged. I love this mold, and as mentioned earlier, the only vintage one I had before had a broken leg. I found this one just on on off chance on ebay for $9 and couldn't pass him up. He's beautiful! I knew I liked the mold, but I am so impressed with him in this bright red chestnut.
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"Shire" - "honey sorrel"
I knew I wanted to add one of these shire mares to my collection, but they are not an easy one to find affordably. There are only three regular runs: dapple gray, this one, and a bay later in 1998. I knew I wanted one of the two vintage ones, so I tried first for the dapple gray. Her prices were slightly too high for me, though, so then I went looking for what Breyer calls the "honey sorrel" (really just a chestnut). Right away someone offered me a very affordable one with her original vintage box! Now, the box is very damaged, but still looks nice on display and the damage kept it within my budget, which was great. And this girl is a beautiful example of the color, which does have a range of variations like most vintage Breyers (you can see on her box she looks more like a bay with a black mane and tail). In the end I think I like her more than the dapple grays (though maybe someday one will join my herd!).
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"Western Horse" - palomino
The western horse was Breyer's first animal mold and was introduced in 1950. He comes with a saddle, molded on bridle and breastplate, and chainlink reins. The saddles and reins changed over the years, and this version of the palomino is the oldest, released 1951-1953. He has a dark saddle with girth and O-link instead of twisted reins. I always thought he was cool but I never was really impressed enough to own one until I saw him in person in an antique store. He had no saddle or reins, but he had a presence! He is very big for one thing, taller than I expected. I'm not sure what it was about him that was so captivating, but I immediately set out to find a complete one. I was very excited that this guy came my way because of his chipped ears. He is otherwise in really good shape and the ears not only give him personality but keep him a little cheaper . . . I love his rich caramel color and good shading, and I prefer the dark saddle and O-link reins as well.
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"Draft Horse" - alabaster
Finally! I had this model when I was in highschool. He was part of a set of five. I ended up with only two of them by the time I was an adult, so I set out to find the other three. This was the last one I needed, and the hardest to find. I've mentioned that the drafters are collector favorites and so can be pricey. I'm so glad to have him, though, back with his old friends! And really in pretty good shape. I have passed on a few others that were similarly priced and in worse condition, so it paid off to be patient.
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"Irish Draft" - appaloosa
This guy is from the Tractor Supply series 5 blind bags and is the same model that is available singly. I had no interest in this mold and actually tried to avoid picking it in the blind bags (ended up with two, ironically), but once I saw it in person I liked it a lot more. It doesn't stand well, though. It looks to be designed to stand on the middle two feet with the front and back raised hooves suspended, but of course it can't stand on its own that way so it has to rest on one of the raised hooves. The front works best, but the hooves don't sit flat, so I'm not sure why they designed it this way. In any case, it's still a neat mold with an interesting roman nose face and a good appaloosa pattern.
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"Native Dancer" - Native Dancer and bay
The gray is the actual portrait of Native Dancer the race horse. Because he was a gray, he was not this color most of his life, but he was still gray during his racing career (he was known as the Gray Ghost). Like all grays, he turned white with age. The bay is part of the special run from JC Penny in 1995. I think this is one of the nicest on this mold!
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"Peruvian Paso" - black
Chase piece for the Tractor Supply series 5 blind bags. Just got lucky to end up with one!
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"Quarter Horse Mare" - buckskin
I've told this story elsewhere, but this figure was a surprise gift from the person I was buying the other horses from! She is a hard to find mold and especially desirable because she has MEXICO stamped on her belly, which only lasted a little while. I am really excited to have a second one of these! Some things I learned about this mold recently are that it was used very rarely because the mold was damaged early on, meaning it has very few color representatives. Also, it was originally used by Hagen-Renaker as a stallion, which I've always thought she looked more like, and was not specified to be a Quarter Horse, which she doesn't really resemble.
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"Silky Sullivan" - Silky Sullivan
Another original racehorse portrait. This guy was extremely affordable ($2) because of his big scratches and the fact that he is pretty common. I didn't have one and don't mind the rubs, so I couldn't pass up a G1 at that cost.
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"Standing Friesian" - "bay roan" (dun)
I am not sure why this one is called a bay roan on Identify Your Breyer. It looks like a light bay until you look from above, and he does have a dorsal stripe, so I guess he is a dun. Another Tractor Supply blind bag also sold individually. I was glad they released him at Tractor Supply because I missed getting him before and Tractor Supply is the only store anywhere near me that carries Breyer, so I was able to sniff one out.
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"Swaps" - open tail Swaps, rose gray, steel gray, liver chestnut
The final ones I needed! Including open tail Swaps, which refers to the opening between this tail and his body. Before the run of Swaps was retired, the mold was damaged and the tail "closed," so I like having both version in my conga. The other three are special runs from JC Penny and Sears. The liver chestnut is interesting because he looks black they made him so dark, but because he's a chestnut, he is a very richly shaded black instead of Breyer's usual flat black. He's beautiful!
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"Thoroughbred Mare" - red bay
Another Sears special run, this one from 1990. This mold has so many bays it can be hard to tell them apart, but this shade really stands out. She's a lovely bright rich red, what is sometimes called "blood bay."
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Congratulations