Weird Finds: Halloween Edition!

As much as I love Halloween, I don't really collect much in the way of holiday themed models. Horses with scenes painted on them are not generally my thing. But I do however love weird and obscure collectibles, and with the wind gusting and dead leaves skittering across the ground here, this seems like the perfect opportunity to blog about a mysterious, spoooooky oddity. That's right, a test run Breyer creepy kitten in black with terrifying green eyes!

Be not afraid though! This sweet kitty is a lucky black cat---I'm sure any collector would love to have her cross their path! She is a test run from the 1990s when many oddball models escaped from the New Jersey Breyer factory. Security back then (and also especially in the Chicago factory years) was pretty lax, and a number of models went home with Breyer employees or were sneakily liberated from Breyer dumpsters. Some of these oddities subsequently turned up in New Jersey flea markets or on eBay. Naturally, they are highly prized by collectors---my sister and I are thrilled to be the caretakers of this goofy kitten!

Wishing you all a Happy Halloween and Spooky Samhain! If a black cat crosses your path tonight, be sure you pet it!

Stop the presses! Mini plastic Zara!

As I was wrapping up my work day this afternoon, my friend Sarah texted me this amazing picture from a new Breyer catalog she had just received in the mail. My mouth quite literally fell open when I saw it. We often text back and forth about new models we'd like to see from Breyer, especially Traditional scale models shrunken down to Stablemate scale. And because Breyer has offered mini crystal versions of some models before offering them as minis in plastic, we both agreed that the Proud Arabian Mare (produced in crystal in 2022) had to be in that pipeline somewhere. And apparently she was, but not quite in the way either of us could have predicted!

Because this new Stablemate Club model for 2025 is not a mini Proud Arabian Mare---she's a scan of a Hagen-Renaker Large Zara made miniature! This is literally history-making. It's the first new Hagen-Renaker design licensed to Breyer to make in plastic since the 1970s. Kristina Lucas of Hagen-Renaker Tennessee assured collectors via social media today that this is an exciting new collaboration between the companies. (The beautiful fleabitten color with blood marks (patches of ungreyed coat) was designed by Lesli Kathman, the hobby's most knowledgeable color genetics enthusiast and author.)

The Large Zara is of course the model that Breyer copied for their Proud Arabian Mare mold in the late 1950s, leading to a lawsuit and the discontinuation of the PAM until Breyer negotiated a deal with Hagen-Renaker in the early 1970s. I have been slowly writing a post about the relationship between Hagen-Renaker and Breyer, and with that in mind, I photographed a bunch of our Hagen-Renakers and their Breyer counterparts this past July when I was visiting my parents and sister (and the herd). Since Breyer has sprung this amazing model on us, I thought it would be a good time to share photos showing the differences between the Proud Arabian Mare and the Large Zara.

Unlike some of the other models that Breyer copied in the 1950s (Boehm, Rosenthal, etc), the PAM is not an exact copy cast from a Zara. They are subtly different sculptures. The most obvious difference is that Zara's head is turned to the left while the PAM is facing straight ahead. In person, you can see that Zara's whole body has a slight curve to it, making her stance subtly different from the PAM. She is also slightly larger and more refined and detailed than the PAM.

Note the slight lift to the edge of Zara's mane

 

 

I will continue to dream of the possibility of Traditional scale plastic Large Zaras that I can buy by the dozen to repaint in every color my heart desires (dapple grey! bay sabino! flaxen chestnut! a Trabag portrait!), but in the meantime, I will be looking for all of the copies of mini Zara I can get my hands on. I wonder if my coworkers would mind if I got them Stablemate Club memberships? (Only joking...I think.)

Breyer's 25th Anniversary Silver Saddlebred Stablemate

Breyer will celebrate their 75th anniversary of making model horses next year, and with that in mind, I thought it would be fun to write about some of the special models they have produced to celebrate past major milestones. Some anniversary models have been available as regular runs in stores, like the 50th anniversary palomino Moody Saddlebred clock sold in 2000, but a few were very rare mementos given out only as promotional pieces.

The first of these models that I know of was produced in 1975 for Breyer's 25th anniversary, the elusive silver-electroplated G1 Saddlebred. The mold was brand new that year, a licensed plastic version of the earthenware ceramic model made by Hagen-Renaker and sculpted by Maureen Love. The silver Saddlebreds were created as giveaways for Breyer reps and certain high-volume Breyer retailers.

For a time, my sister and I owned three of these beauties

Breyer's first model, the Western Horse, was undoubtedly inspired by the fancy parade horses of the 1940s, many of which were Saddlebreds. Though Breyer didn't really identify the Western Horse as such until the last few years, it seems to have been at least implied with the 50th anniversary Moody Saddlebred clock. I can't help but wonder if the Stablemate Saddlebred mold was chosen for this promotion in 1975 with that origin story in mind as well.

Like the rest of Breyer's models, the Stablemate line was molded in cellulose acetate, but in order to be electroplated, the silver Saddlebreds had to be molded in ABS plastic instead. Peter Stone related to Nancy Young that B&P Electroplating had done the work, and he thought that around 1000 models had been made. They were originally packaged in small silver gift boxes with a purple flocked interior molded to fit the horse. [1]

Given the scarcity of these models---I know of about 5 or 6 in the hands of collectors---I can't help but wonder if substantially fewer than 1000 were made. After all, Breyer had to pay another company to electroplate the models which presumably was not a small outlay. Would they really have gone to such an expense for so many models they planned to give away? The models were created as promotional pieces, and the majority probably ended up in the hands of non-collectors, but you would think more might have surfaced in the intervening 50 years if the run really was that large.

My sister and I are lucky enough to own the only two examples that have been found with their original boxes as of this writing. Both came from the estates of former Breyer reps and had been packed away in boxes forgotten for decades. They are like tiny time capsules---both are absolutely pristine and untarnished.

The November/December 1990 issue of Breyer's magazine Just About Horses featured this intriguing photo of a silver Stablemate Saddlebred and a traditional scale silver Man O' War. The caption says that over the years, Breyer had "contemplated augmenting its line with models such as this." I remember being absolutely in awe of these models when I received this issue of JAH as a kid. I still covet a silver plated Man O' War! (Who wouldn't?)

Since 1990, Breyer has produced models painted with silver paint, like the 1993 BreyerFest judges' model, the silver filigree Proud Arab Mare (designed by the late longtime collector Shirley Ketchuck).

They've achieved shinier, more reflective silver filigree painted models in the last 10 years or so with various holiday web specials like Banff, the silver buffalo.

But it was only recently that Breyer finally successfully duplicated that lovely mirror-like finish that mimics silver plating. Fittingly, the first model to sport this look since 1975 was also made to commemorate a Breyer anniversary. This stunning mini Brishen was produced as the rare chase piece for the 70th Anniversary Mystery Horse Surprise Stablemate blind bags in 2020. Perhaps a traditional scale model in this finish is finally on the horizon?

 

 

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1) Young, Nancy Atkinson. Breyer Molds and Models: Horses, Riders, and Animals 1950-1997. (Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing Ltd, 1999), pg. 300.

My Own Money Manager Manifested!

I mentioned in a recent post that my family likes to joke that if we talk about or think about a certain model enough, we can manifest it. So that said, I spent the last several months working on and researching my early history of Breyer post, and I most definitely had Breyer's My Own Money Manager bank on the brain because of it. I've wanted one for years, but they're very hard to find, and they're usually expensive despite often being in rough shape when they do turn up.

So, not surprisingly, I was very excited to see a Money Manager pop up on eBay mere days after my Breyer history post went live a couple of weeks ago. Manifested? Maybe! I stalked the auction impatiently for a week, won it for a song, and then refreshed the tracking number for the box frequently once it was shipped. As soon as I got the text notification that it had arrived, I flew out of my office, slapped a sign on the door that I was "at lunch," and ran over to the campus mail room to retrieve the box.

The auction did give the dimensions of the Money Manager, not much more than 4 inches tall, but it's smaller than I've always imagined it. It's so tiny and cute!

Yay! Silly grail achieved!

According to the "New Toys On Parade" feature in the February 1950 issue of Toys and Novelties, a Chicago toy industry magazine, the My Own Money Managers were sold exclusively by Gimbels in New York for the holidays beginning in 1949 with more general distribution of the item planned for 1950.  The Money Managers were described as "authentic, miniature office file[s]," and they were advertised as having "sales potential to adults, teen-agers, careerists, for office petty cash, and unlimited other purposes," although they were primarily marketed for kids. Each one came with printed labels for the drawers, "12 popular headings for children, 8 for adults, and 4 blanks for personal projects." The Money Managers  also came with a booklet entitled "Grow A Self-Reliant Child."

February 1950 Toys and Novelties

The Money Managers came in "flag red" or "forest green," according to Breyer's advertising, and they were molded in Tenite plastic, just like the horses that would follow soon after. They were highly touted by Parents magazine and seem to have been popular sellers initially. Peter Stone, son of company founder Sam Stone, recalled that the Money Managers were sold in Walgreens drug stores (and likely other drug stores and five-and-dimes of the time). He also remembered seeing commercials for them on TV featuring a local Chicago celebrity. [1] The ad on the left below shows a child watching just such a commercial on TV.

March 1950 Toys and Novelties ads

In June 1950, an ad for a 6-drawer Money Manager was featured in Toys and Novelties. It was priced at $2.98, the original price for the 4-drawer model (which was reduced to only $1.98). Interestingly, the ad also includes model numbers for the Money Managers, 0044 for the 4-drawer and 0046 for the 6-drawer. There aren't many Money Managers in the hands of collectors, and the majority of them are 4-drawer examples. I think I recall seeing a 6-drawer example owned by another collector in a photo on Facebook several years ago, but I can't find it again, so I'm not sure I'm remembering correctly. Whatever the case, the 6-drawer Money Manager was only advertised once in Toys and Novelties as best I can tell (my local archive was missing some issues from the early 1950s), and they are even harder to find than the 4-drawer version.

For the holidays in 1950, Sears offered the usual red and green Money Managers as well as a tortoise shell version marketed as a Cigarette Host for adults. Collector Andrea Gurdon found one in the original box some years ago---you can read about it on her blog here. Peter Stone said that his father and his business partner came up with the idea for the cigarette host first, but it didn't sell well, so they rebranded it as a children's bank. [2]

1950 Sears ad

As of this writing, it's known that some Money Managers are just marked "Pat. Pending" while others say "Breyer Molding Co., Chicago, Ill., Pat. Pending, Made In U.S.A." Presumably, the earliest pieces had only the short patent pending text while the later versions included the Breyer name. Andrea's Cigarette Host has the full text, so it seems likely that Breyer continued to sell those along with the Money Managers at least as late as December 1950. I haven't found any other ads for the Cigarette Host, so that may suggest that it was only sold for about a year which is in keeping with Peter's recollection that it sold poorly. That would also suggest the text on the Cigarette Hosts and Money Managers was expanded from "Pat. Pending" to the full wording by late 1950. If that's the case, I would assume that Money Managers like mine that are only marked "Pat. Pending" are presumably from the first few months of production.

Some of the earliest ads for Money Managers in magazines like Toys and Novelties and Playthings featured palomino and alabaster Western Horses on one side of a page with the Money Managers on the back. I didn't have either of those color horses handy today for photos, so this well-loved old pinto WH who hangs out in my office got to be the scale model.

The last ads for Money Managers appeared in 1953 magazines, and after that, there were no further mentions of them from Breyer. By that time of course, Breyer had discovered that plastic horses sold really well, and their toy line had taken off in a more fun direction. More on that soon when I post part two of Breyer's early history in the 1950s.

Money Managers initially sold for $2.98 in 1950 which is the equivalent of $38.92 in 2024 (according the the US Inflation Calculator website), so they were not inexpensive items. Even when they were marked down to $1.98 in mid-1950 and then $1.69 in the Sears 1950 holiday catalog, that was still $25.86 and $22.07. A more reasonable price to be sure, but perhaps not low enough to keep them a viable product.

When Nancy Young published the last edition of her Breyer Molds and Models book in 1999, she was not aware of any Money Managers in the hands of collectors. [3] In the intervening years, a few of them have come to light, but they remain pretty elusive despite having been available for about 4 years from late 1949-1953. This is likely due in part to the fact that some of them are not marked Breyer, and they probably fly under the radar unidentified on sites like eBay. Also, though Money Managers are fairly solidly constructed---mine is heavier than I expected---they are a bit fragile. The doors on the drawers fit snugly and can be hard to open and unlock for coin retrieval. If handled roughly, they can chip, crack, and break. The cases are also prone to warping, making the drawers inaccessible and the product useless. I would guess a lot of these ended up in land fills long ago.

The handful of other Money Managers owned by collectors that I've seen seem to be evenly split between green and red, and all of the ones I could find pictures of have 4-drawers. If someone reading this had a 6-drawer example, I'd love to see a photo! As for the Cigarette Host, I have not seen anyone mention finding one besides Andrea. This isn't entirely surprising. Since the Money Managers are not horses or animals, they have a pretty limited audience among Breyer collectors. But I would hope there are more lurking out there, waiting to be found in the collection of early toy enthusiasts or tobacciana collectors. I will certainly be on the hunt for Money Manager variations now!

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1) Young, Nancy Atkinson. Breyer Molds and Models: Horses, Riders, and Animals 1950-1997. (Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing Ltd, 1999), pg. 332.

2) Ibid.

3) Ibid.