Play Set: Virtual Ponies - Multi-Media Swaps

From time to time models pop up in some unexpected places, sometimes as a result of Breyer specifically producing models for a collaborative product release, at others a company may utilize standard issue models for use with their products. Our model today is an example of the former.

In late 1996 Breyer teamed up with Inroads Interactive to produce a CD ROM and model horse set.

Model and picture owned by Deb Walsmith and used here by permission.

The CD, Multimedia Horses: The Complete Interactive Guide to Horses, featured 101 different horse breeds with fun facts, history, pictures, and video to help users learn about horses and to ultimately find their perfect pony. The program can still be found on Amazon, though the horse is no longer included. I'm not sure how accurate the information will be as the list of breeds includes the American Albino, a colour registry which was renamed the American White and American Creme Horse Registry in 1980.

Model and picture owned by Deb Walsmith and used here by permission.

The perfect pony in this particular case was what is generally referred to as a 'peachy dun' G1 Swaps. He's a typically ambiguous Breyer colour, kind of a rosy, creamy colour with grey points and soft grey shading down his back. The model should sport a near-hind sock and an airbrushed bald face. Shading and markings can vary somewhat.

Model and pictures owned by Elizabeth Emswiler and used here by permission.

The original release announcements were a bit confusing. The December 1996 issue of the magazine Equus offered readers the chance to purchase the set for $27.95, which was clear enough, but the picture used for the model was a scaled down photo of the Traditional scale #498 Son of Leo on the Ideal Quarter Horse mold. Dressage Today and likely other equestrian magazines featured similar ads in early 1997.³⁶

Inroads Interactive offered the set at a discounted price of $19.95 on their website and a clearer idea of the actual scale. They did, however, further muddy the waters around this release by advertising the model included as being one-of-a-kind.³⁶

These models were far from being one-of-a-kind as 6,000 of them were produced. Even so, they're one of the harder to find of the more recent Generation One special runs.³⁶

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Many thanks to Deb Walsmith and Elizabeth Emswiler for providing pictures of their models!