Hi folks!
In today's post, I'll cover Breyer Chalkies, descriptions and timeline, as well as a few notes about other plastic oddities and experiments. This is copy and pasted from a document I created a while back- I can't recall if I shared the contents or not (outside of this platform). Hopefully, next time I will touch on my work with surveys, in particular the Chalky survey that I have fallen behind on getting the results out for!
What is a "chalky?"
A Chalky Breyer is one that has intentionally been either molded in bright white plastic that resembles chalk, or has been painted in thick white paint that resembles chalk prior to the final paint application of coat color and details. There are several eras of chalkies- the vintage ones being the most desirable.
1950's-
In the 50's, Breyer adapted several mold designs from porcelain sculptures. One of the early techniques that was used was giving the models an extra base coat of white paint before adding the color (and gloss, for the majority) in order to replicate the look of porcelain. This technique did not last very long, perhaps it came to be too time consuming, or the volume of orders increased to a point that it was no longer a practical step. Or, maybe the folks at Breyer came to think that it didn't make too much difference in the overall appearance of the final product to leave off the extra basecoat. However, the knowledge of this technique did pay off some 20 years later...
1960's-
Not all of Breyer's ideas went over well with their consumer base. Most of you will be familiar with the now highly sought after "4 decos" of the 1960's (Copenhagen, Wedgewood, Florentine, and Gold Charm) which during that period were painted on the Mustang, Fighting Stallion, Five Gaiter, Running Mare & Running Foal molds. All five were introduced and then retired rather quickly between 1963 and 1965. Whether it was market optimism or a poor gauge of the audience, Breyer ended up with some amount of leftovers of these models. Rather than tossing them in the regrind bin, they opted to salvage the failed runs into the more popular realistic counterparts (bay, sorrel, or buckskin, depending on the mold) by using a thick basecoat to hide the "colorful" original paint jobs and then putting the "regular" paint jobs over that. This technique was also used to cover Woodgrain models that did not sell, although those were not as big of a flop as the decos. These 60's chalkies can be differentiated from their later counterparts by lacking a "USA" mark above the Breyer symbol on the inside hind leg. The Florentine, Copenhagen, and Woodgrain patterns on models may be "visible" when holding your model in front of a strong light source. Rubs and wear on the model may give hints to the color hiding underneath. *Please note, there is no safe way to strip the upper layers off of the original paintjob! Also, these "hidden decos" are just as, if not more sought after than their original colored companions for their scarcity and novelty.
1970's-
In the early to mid 1970's, several countries experienced an oil embargo placed upon them by a coalition of Middle East countries (one of the largest exporters of oil in the world) which lasted from 1973-1974. Here's a jumping off point if you are interested in the history of the crisis- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_oil_crisis. This embargo meant that any plastics which were made with oil became very scarce, and thus plastic makers turned to alternate plastics (such as cellulose acetate- Breyer's plastic) to keep their businesses afloat. In turn, this drove up the prices on plain white cellulose acetate and other non-oil based plastics. Breyer during this time was unable to secure as much of this pure white plastic as they were normally using, so they turned to creative methods to continue production. Because a lot of the plastic they were able to procure at a reasonable cost was colored or swirled, they turned back to the tactic from years prior of using a white basecoat prior to finishing the models. Alternately, they molded the models out of a bright white plastic that also resembles chalk. On some of the darker solid colored models, no base coat was applied but the models were molded out of colors such as black, brown, purple, or dark gray. These are called "psuedo chalkies" as they lack the bright white plastic or undercoat but were still produced during the oil crisis years and do not have the standard opaque white plastic. Generally, most "oil crisis" age Breyers were made between 1973 and 1975, though it's possible there's a little creep into 1976 depending on when Breyer was able to return to the normal ordering volume of pure white plastic, and how long it took to use up all the odd plastics.
In- between Oddballs-
There have been a few curious examples of chalkies turning up during the late 70's and 80's. In most cases, it is presumed that these oddballs were painted on older bodies that the factory hadn't used up yet. However, there have been a couple cases of chalkies or pseudo chalkies which have turned up on molds that weren't even made until well after the oil crisis years. I at one point owned a Trakehner who was molded in medium gray plastic...this mold wasn't released until 1979. There's not much evidence to any particular back story behind these models at this time, since very few like this have turned up.
1990's and Beyond-
In the 1990's, Breyer returned to using the Chalky basecoat technique on certain releases. These included mostly white models such as Gem Twist and Pluto, to make their light colored coats stand out. Since then, the full on chalky technique (all areas of the body covered in a thick white basecoat) has been used a number of times over the years, and tends to be fully advertised as such to entice collectors (they're aware we think they're cool).
Undercoated Chalkies-
More recently, mostly in the 2010's but there are some from the 2000's as well, Breyer has used a slightly different technique to enhance their models which can be considered a variant or spin off of the old chalky technique. Models that get this new treatment are painted in a thinner/lighter spray of white everywhere *except* any white markings, which are left as bare plastic before the rest of their coat layering and detail is added. While this tends to lend itself to a more toned down, subtle look than an old style chalky, it can still end up looking distinctly different from other models in the same release that don't receive the basecoat. There's no rhyme, reason, or official explanation offered to explain why some runs are a mix of basecoat/no basecoat...sometimes entire runs are done this way, as well. For the larger special runs and regular runs, we do know that they are produced over longer periods of time (months or years) so unless we learn more about how the process is occurring over in China, we just have to "chalk" it up to variations within a run.
Non-Chalky but still Non-Normal Plastics-
There are a couple of other notable plastics Breyer has experimented with over the years.
Pearly Plastic-
During the oil crisis, colored or swirled plastic was not the only kind that Breyer was able to procure to substitute for their typical plain white plastic. Pearly plastic is a pale white/off white/pale yellow plastic with heavy pearl properties. It shines and shimmers, and not from the paint but from within the plastic itself. This type of plastic is most commonly seen on Classic scale models and Traditional scale foals, but it is also rarely seen on Traditional adults. Very few examples are known of alabaster/white models in this plastic. Pearlies are notorious for being even more difficult to identify in photos than chalkies, and most people have a tough time IDing them in person if they have not seen/owned any other pearlies before. Their distinct sheen can be quite difficult to properly capture in photos.
B-Stamp/Cellulose Propionate-
In the late 70's-early 80's, Breyer experimented with an entirely different (chemically) plastic which gave a similar looking end product to CA (cellulose acetate). Propionate shrinks less while cooling after being molded (B-stamp models will tend to be taller than their normal plastic counterparts), but is also notoriously more brittle. It's not uncommon to find these models with chipped ears or other snapped pieces. The purpose of the "B" stamp on an inside leg, which identifies a model as being made of this alternate plastic, was to alert factory workers as the two plastics are very similar and easily confused. However, they do not "play well" when mixed together and thus needed separate regrind bins to avoid chemical reactions. We imagine that the use of "B" rather than "P" was simply to indicate "plastic #2"- a far less confusing title for any factory worker who likely would not have knowledge of the plastic's technical name or chemical properties. Reeves purchased Breyer not too long after this plastic's use was discontinued, so it makes sense that they would not have seen fit to continue the experiment with the move of factory- especially if there had been some complaints from customers about the brittle nature of the CP models. A large part of Breyer's image was/is based on the production of models that are durable enough to stand up to playtime with kids, so feedback from parents especially on the higher fragility of this plastic vs. the older models surely had a hand in swaying this experiment into a halt.
Unidentified Plastic Oddities-
In recent years, there have been more small oddities popping up here and there that may help us uncover other, perhaps smaller experiments that Breyer may have done with plastic types, or composition variation in CA over time. So far, a few oddballs have surfaced from the 1960's which are tough to describe and photograph, but feel different to the touch (smoother, almost softer? Hard to explain) and have a slightly different look to them. A friend of mine and I both have examples of this- a bay Fighting Stallion (hers) and a buckskin QH Gelding (mine). The look is not quite the high shimmer of a 1970's pearly, but there is a luminosity to them that is definitely not in the paint. I cleaned off the hoof bottoms on mine, and in person I can see some mild iridescence when I move the model around, especially in sunlight. I've tried but it is very difficult to capture on camera well. This example of the buckskin QHG on IDYB appears to have the same look as mine (both are very light in color compared to other buckskins). http://www.identifyyourbreyer.com/Images2/98a.jpg He is listed as a "semi-glossy buckskin", but I firmly believe that what can be seen here is an effect of the plastic itself rather than the finish. If I ever acquire a second copy of the QH like this, I plan to strip one of them (whichever is in poorer shape) and find out once and for all what's going on under there.
KNOWN VINTAGE CHALKY & PEARLY MODELS:
Though this may not cover every possibility (we've seen a few surface in the last 10 years that were previously not known to be chalky), it is a fairly comprehensive list.
1950's:
Walking Hereford Bull, Brahma Bull, Honey Bay PAM, Honey Bay PAF, Western Horse Palomino, Western Horse Alabaster, Glossy Bay Clydesdale Stallion, Standing Hereford Bull, Black Fury Prancer, Black Poodle, White Poodle, Palomino Fury Prancer, Lassie
1960's:
Running Mare Bay, Running Foal Bay, Fighting Stallion Bay, Mustang Buckskin, Five Gaiter Sorrel, Belgian Chestnut, Matte Bay Clydesdale Stallion (gold bobs probably?), potentially other molds that came in woodgrain
1970's - Traditionals:
Running Foal Bay, Running Mare Bay, Running Mare Alabaster, Running Stallion Alabaster, Running Stallion Black Appaloosa, Running Stallion Bay, Mustang Buckskin, Fighting Stallion Bay, Fighting Stallion Alabaster, Five Gaiter Sorrel, Donkey, Brighty, Adios, Yellow Mount, El Pastor Bay, APH Original, Clydesdale Foal Chestnut, Clydesdale Mare Chestnut/Bay, Clydesdale Stallion Bay (red/white bobs matte), Jumping Horse Bay, PAS Dapple Gray, PAS Mahogany Bay, PAS Alabaster, PAM Dapple Gray, PAM Mahogany Bay, PAM Alabaster, PAF Dapple Gray, PAF Mahogany Bay, PAF Alabaster, Man O War, Morgan Black (star or solid), Saddlebred Weanling Liver Chestnut, Shetland Pony Bay, TB Mare Bay, TB Foal Bay, Belgian Chestnut, Grazing Mare Palomino, Grazing Mare Bay, Pacer Liver Chestnut, Justin Morgan Bay, QH Yearling Palomino, QH Yearling Appaloosa, QH Yearling Liver Chestnut, Midnight Sun Black, FAM Palomino, FAM Charcoal, FAM Bay, FAS Palomino, FAS Charcoal, FAS Bay, FAF Palomino, FAF Charcoal, FAF Bay, Indian Pony Bay Appaloosa, Indian Pony Brown Pinto, Western Prancer Palomino, Western Prancer Smoke, QH Gelding Buckskin, QH Gelding Chestnut Appaloosa, Western Horse Palomino, Shire Mare Liver Chestnut, Lady Phase, Old Timer Dapple Gray, Old Timer Alabaster, Misty, Holstein Calf, Holstein Cow, Pronghorn Antelope, All 3 members of the Deer Family, Elk, Bighorn Ram, Bear Cub, Bear, Spanish Fighting Bull, Moose, Buffalo, Longhorn Bull, Elephant
1970's - Classics:
CAM Chestnut, CAS Chestnut, CAF Chestnut, CAF Palomino, CAF Black, Rearing Stallion Alabaster, Rearing Stallion Palomino, Rearing Stallion Bay, QH Stallion Palomino, QH Mare Bay, QH Foal Bay, QH Foal Black, QH Foal Chestnut, Bucking Horse Black, Mustang Foal Chestnut, Kelso, Swaps
1970's- Stablemates:
ASB Bay, Morgan Stallion Bay, TB Mare Black, Arab Mare Bay, QH Stallion Buckskin, QH Mare Buckskin, Seabiscuit, Arab Stallion Bay
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