I have a large OF Breyer collection. It is not, despite my husband's belief, the largest group of OF Breyers ever. I doubt its even top 50 in the northeast. Its not chock full of old goodies, but I do have every horse from my childhood collection, and happily for them, I took to thinking of them as a collection in my early teens, so many are in nice shape. In the early 80's I was already starting to try and organize them in notebooks or on index cards, tracking both their Collectible Object Qualities and their Horse In My Imagination ones. I was still under 100 horses at this point, even counting the non Breyer models that I had (have).
Back in those days, I lived in north Jersey and buying horses involved a trip to the Rockaway Mall. There were 2 toy stores in the mall, KayBee Toys, who kept an example of each horse in stock unboxed on a shelf so you could pick them up and look them over before selecting a new in box horse. They would sell the shelf example if that was the last one they had (how I got my #62 Saddlebred Weanling, the first horse I purchased knowing it was already discontinued.) There was also Michael's Things For Fun, a more sedate toy store than KayBee. They had a quarter of an aisle dedicated to Breyers, tan and brown picture boxes facing forward, and a good selection to pick over. There was also a Child World close by, and this was my Breyer Horse Nirvana--in my memory, there was a WALL of Breyers, floor to ceiling! Every model ever! I feel like I spent hours standing in front of that wall trying to decide between horses. The one battle I recall was agonizing over a Bay Shetland Pony and a Honey Sorrel Shire...and I still do not have a single Shire in my collection!!
On the day I am thinking about now though, I was unable to convince my mother that I needed a trip to Child World, and KayBee was picked over, so I was in Michael's pondering what to get, and on this fine fall afternoon circa 1983, I decided to lay my hard earned five bucks on a dapple grey Proud Arabian Stallion. It took a long time for me to arrive on this choice, and selected the sealed box carefully. I was not allowed to open my horses until I got in the car, and I remember sitting in the front seat of our grey Cordova, breaking open the plastic sealing the box and taking the lid off....and seeing a horse that did not look like the tall grey horse on the picture box.
WHAT!
I was SERIOUSLY taken aback by what was before my eyes. This horse had a black mane, tail and legs. The picture on the box DID NOT. What sort of nonsense was this. I was disappointed for a while, but eventually this horse, who ended up with the name Roger Moore (there was a serious James Bond thing going on at home, and the horses got some unfortunate names via osmosis) became a favorite.
When I began to meet with other hobbyists, I learned that my PAS was something unusual. I took him to my first real live show ever in 1991, and a complete stranger walked up to me as I unboxed my show horses and offered me a hundred dollars for him. Which, at the time, was an insane sum to me for a plastic horse. I said no. Several times. Stranger told me to let her know if I changed my mind. Still haven't.
I still take him out time to time--he's got very nice haloed/peacock spots that do not show up in that photo. And as wonked out as he is anatomically (he really looks more like a giraffe than a horse) he still holds a place in my heart, and he is still "herd leader" in my imagination.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
Yes, you may comment anonymously. Comments are moderated to avoid spammers, personal attacks, flaming and the like. Please check all personal agendas at the door, keep your hands inside the car at all times, do not defeat the safety harness and have fun.