If you know me, or you've been following along here, you might have guessed my favorite mold by now! Though she is an underdog in terms of popularity, there are definitely folks like me who see her cute appeal. Today, I want to talk more about the Original Saddlebred Weanling!
The original Liver Chestnut Saddlebred Weanling was produced from 1973-1980.
Despite having a shorter release period than some other favorites of variation collectors, such as the Dapple Gray Proud Arabians, the SBW has quite a few notable variations, including number of socks/stockings, blaze design, and color. She also came in chalky during the Oil Crisis.
SOCKS- The typical arrangement of the socks is two on the forelegs, and one on the near hind (right side if you're looking at her head on). Over the years, an assortment of socks has surfaced. It's unclear just how uncommon these variations are. While they aren't seen all the time, they do come up for sale frequently enough that I don't believe them to be extremely rare.
The alternate sock patterns I've discovered include:
- Socks on all 4 legs (shown above)
- 3 socks, but with the opposite hind leg (left when viewed head on/off side)
- 2 socks, on diagonal legs (left fore, right hind)
- 1 sock, hind leg (right side, shown above)
- 1 sock, foreleg (left side)
BLAZES- The SBW came with a curious amount of different blaze patterns over the years. I have yet to discover if any of them date to a certain time period, or if the factory just had several different stencils and used whatever was free at the time.
Currently, I own 4 different blaze patterns, and there are a few more that I believe are distinctly different enough from these that I'd like to add someday.
Known blaze patterns, using my terminology:
- Seen on the 4 models on the left above, thinner in the middle, covers some or all of the muzzle. The top is sort of flat with rounded corners. "the Typical"- I think this is the most common Blaze.
- The "QH Yearling" blaze; seen third from the right here. It is a bit wider than the last blaze, and is straight on the right hand side and slightly wavy on the left.
- The "Diamond Point", second from left, sits slightly lower on the forehead than the previous two and has a distinct triangle shape at the top. It is also a fairly wide blaze.
- The "Star-Stripe", on the far right, has a relatively circular star shape on the forehead, and then is skinny all the way down to the muzzle.
- The "Oval Star-Stripe", not shown, has a larger oval shaped star on the forehead, and the stripe does not get as skinny as the previous "Star-Stripe".
- The "Drop Blaze", not shown, starts below the eyes, rounded at the top, and does not taper much. Covers the entire middle of the muzzle nostril to nostril. May go further out, but I don't have one in hand to reference.
- The "Hyper Skinny Stripe", not shown, this one may just be a slipped mask of the Star-Stripe, but I'm seeing at least two similar ones in my personal collection of reference photos, so it might be it's own. There's no distinct oval or circular star at the top, just the top of a skinny stripe, which appears to fade out halfway down (or because the masking was so skinny they go a lot of overspray). Bottom of the stripe covers more of the muzzle than the Star-Stripe,
- "The Thick Typical", not shown, the top is similar to the "typical" with the flatter top that has rounded edges, but it remains as a thick blaze all the way down and looks like it may have slightly less white on the muzzle.
COLOR- There is a wonderful variety of colors and shades that this model can come in! Although many are the typical reddish-brownish liver chestnut, just as many seem to vary from that color formula.
As you can see above, the color can vary between reddish and brownish and some examples have very dynamic shading, while others have very little. I have a decent selection of the medium and darker shades, but my collection is currently lacking some of the lighter shades. These can be sandy brown, lighter cinnamon, and some even have a more golden chestnut color. Finish ranges from a fairly flat matte to a lustrous semi-gloss. I am not aware of any fully glossy examples, and I wouldn't expect to find any. Breyer moved away from the gloss finishes in the 1970's in favor of mattes, which were more popular with hobbyists for those who participated in live and photo shows and desired a greater amount of realism. Gloss finishes were practically unheard of in the mid-late 70's through the 80's. It was only re-introduced in the 90's, often used on special runs intended for collectors who, by that point were nostalgic for the glossy models of the 50's and 60's, and Breyers had started to be seen more as collectibles.
FUN FACTS- The liver chestnut color is the only release on the mold besides the unpainted copies sold through JAH to have the tail tip attached to the body. The mold was retooled a few years after the original was retired to prepare for the rocking horses, and when the tail was re-added, the tip was moved away from the body.
Hoof color on the models is typically light to medium gray on the hooves with socks, and roughly body colored (a bit darker) on dark legs.
Most of these models have pinking on the muzzle, but some of them also have pink/tan or otherwise lighter inner ears!
There is more than one blaze associated with chalky versions of the model. Chalkies were produced between 1973-1975ish, so all chalkies are earlier copies. However, I am unsure if they were *always* produced in chalky during this period, as it was a cost saving measure, and not a deliberate production technique used on every model in a run like it is today. The SBW is one of the more common chalkies, and is not terribly difficult to acquire between that and the mold's lower popularity compared to some other molds that were available in chalky. (I just haven't gotten around to buying one yet- I will definitely get to one eventually!)
And while I'm here- I'll talk about a few variations on the later runs (aside from the flockies), since I don't think those are interesting enough to most people to merit their own post.
This includes:
- No star on Raven
- Purple vs no purple undertones on Raven
- Bi-eyes or none on Burnt Sienna
- Base tone on Burnt Sienna being more reddish or more tan-ish
- Heavier vs lighter shading/dappling on the QVC runs (alabaster- shading only- and dapple gray)
The 4 sock (front right) is my newest addition to the herd! She arrived last Thursday.
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