Happy 1st Birthday, Many Mini Hooves!

One year ago today the first post for Many Mini Hooves was published!

Birthday Week - Footnotes: Model Mementos - Breyer Souvenirs

From time to time Breyers pop up in various gift shops and tourist traps promoting a particular region or attraction. These models feature non-factory modifications such as stickers or even simple dioramas to link them with the area. I have a couple of souvenir animals in my collection, but I've yet to be lucky enough to come across any of the Stablemates.

Birthday Week - Footnotes: Heavy Metal - Stablemate Knock-Offs: Models of Mystery

Earlier today we had the Durham Steel Stallions models which are fairly well documented for knock-offs. The origins of the following models are a bit more mysterious.

The owner didn't know anything about these guys, but it doesn't look as if they are from the Durham Steel Stallions line as they are unpainted and are lacking any type of mold stamps.

They do, however look very similar in finish to other Durham miniatures and are, with the possible exception of the G1 Saddlebred, molds which Durham would already have on hand. It stands to reason this G1 Saddlebred Knock-off probably spawned the rumors of the Hagen-Renaker 5-gaiter mentioned in the Durham Steel Stallions post.

Models and pictures owned by Pam Pramuka and used here by permission.

Birthday Week - Footnotes: Heavy Metal - Stablemate Knock-Offs: Durham Steel Stallions

The following models are the results of copyright infringement due to the unlawful production of certain Stablemate and Hartland molds by a third party, which is wrong. That being said, let's look at some really cool fake Stablemates!

Some time around 1977²¹, model horse enthusiasts began noticing some interesting horse-shaped objects in their local stores such as Kmart²², Woolworth²³, Skaggs drugstores ²⁴, and Kresge's²⁵.

These Stablemate-sized models, mounted on blister cards blazoned with the name Durham Steel Stallions, all three looked quite familiar. They were in fact copies of Breyer's G1 Thoroughbred Mare and G1 Morgan Stallion. The third model was shown on the back of the packaging as a G1 Quarter Horse Mare, but the actual model produced looked more like Hartland's Tinymites Morgan.²⁶ They weren't exact copies as there were a few tiny changes to each mold, but their provenance was clear.

The original molds
Hartland Tinymite Morgan, Breyer G1 Morgan Stallion, Breyer G1 Thoroughbred Mare

Birthday Week - Footnotes: Fun with Colours...and Graphs, Part V

If you're just joining us, check out the first post for explanations and clarifications on the colour graphs.

And now, in conclusion, we have Generation One, in total, broken down by colour.

Birthday Week - Footnotes: Fun with Colours...and Graphs, Part IV

If you're just joining us, check out the first post for explanations and clarifications on the colour graphs.

Birthday Week - Footnotes: Fun with Colours...and Graphs, Part III

If you're just joining us, check out the first post for explanations and clarifications on the colour graphs.

Birthday Week - Footnotes: Fun with Colours...and Graphs, Part II

If you're just joining us, check out the first post for explanations and clarifications on the colour graphs.

Birthday Week - Footnotes: Fun with Colours...and Graphs, Part I

For those of you who know me, you know there's something that's sure to make me giggle like a little girl - graphs! In my baby book it says at two years old I liked to "arrange stuffed animals according to type and size"; in the past 30 years that hasn't changed a bit, I still love sorting things.

That said, I decided it would be fun to break down each G1 mold by it's base colours and patterns. There's so many of these little charts I thought it would be best to only post a few molds at a time throughout the day with a final post containing an overview of the generation as a whole. If you follow our Google+ community page, you'll have seen the data, but isn't everything more fun in colour?

Birthday Week - Footnotes: Stamp of Approval - The Twin Theory

You just thought we covered all one could possibly say about the belly of a three inch tall model horse with the first Stamp of Approval post, but oh, no we didn't! No, it's not exactly new information, I just got my hands on a later edition of Nancy Young's book during my holiday and have come home armed with more tiny belly trivia.

Apparently all of the Stablemate injection molds - except that of the G1 Saddlebred which is alone in its own mold - have two cavities. One injection mold for sure contains cavities for two different molds, the Thoroughbred Foals, but certain variations in the copyright stamps and concurrent examples of said stamps has lead Nancy Young and others to the conclusion that the cavities in some of these molds are of the same model mold, producing two of the (mostly) same sculptures at once¹⁸.

In her book, Nancy only provides stamp data for a handful of models to demonstrate the overlap. I've provided my observations for all of my models of each mold under discussion; with this larger sample size we can see that some stamp types appear to be more common than their counterparts, but this is not a large enough sample group to determine whether this is a genuine trend or just a luck-of-the-draw coincidence.

Birthday Week - Gift Set: Special Run Stablemate Assortments - Ads and Stats

After our romp through the 90s with the Sears and JCPenney Special Run assortments I thought it might be fun to see the catalogue pages which inspired collectors back in the day. I've also included some fun statistics for each year's collection. I was surprised by how expensive the sets in the early 90s were.

Our 1st Birthday is Coming!

This next Saturday Many Mini Hooves will be one year old! To celebrate the fact I've been able to stick with a project for longer than a squirrel sneeze, we're going to have a post every day of the week leading up to the big day.

Footnotes: Not So Mellow - Yellow Plastic

It is not uncommon for some models to yellow over time, though it does seem to be more common in the larger scales than in Stablemates, but that perception may just due to the size difference - yellowing (and other details) is more noticeable the larger you get.

Various factors influence yellowing - exposure to sunlight, plastic composition, finish type, smoke damage, or a combination of these or other issues can cause the white plastic of a model to take on a yellow tone. Avoiding long exposure to direct sunlight and not smoking in the house will eliminate the two controllable factors in the yellowing equation.

Variation Gallery: G1 Seabiscuit #5024

If you would like to contribute to a future VG post, please check out our list of photos needed.

Regular Run Stablemate Assortment
#5024 Seabiscuit
1976-90

Look-Alike: G1 Morgan Stallion

As with the G1 Morgan Mare, the G1 Morgan Stallion has a whole lot of brown going on. Due to the mold's irregular release history, there are a few runs which are pretty much impossible to tell apart. Looking at the mold stamp may provide a clue in some cases, but even so you're more than likely to be left guessing at best.

Variation Spotlight: G1 Morgan Mare #5038

Regular Run Stablemate Assortment

#5038 Morgan Mare

1976-87

Considering #5083 saw twelve years in production and was that oh so variable bay colour, the surprise isn't that I have four of these models, it's that I only have four of these models.