A Look at Some 90s Classic Mustangs

I have always loved buying random mixed lots on eBay. The "per piece" price is usually pretty low and you never know what you might uncover, despite everything being pictured! Usually I spot a chalky that I want and then might find out there were some more I didn't see, or maybe some other interesting vintage pieces that I overlooked. This time around though it was some unexpected 90s variations!

I bought this lot a few weeks ago for the Classic mustang family in appaloosa. The stallion in particular looked like a nice color and pattern - this is a set where I've been looking for the perfect family ever since they came out. I can be sort of picky (okay very picky) when it comes to the splatter appaloosa spots and how they look.

Unfortunately it turned out they were in a little bit worse shape than they looked in the photos, and a little bit worse than I would have liked, but that is always the risk you take with the random mixed lots that were likely someone's toys.

I do still really like the color and pattern of the stallion so I'm going to work on cleaning him up as well as the mare and foal, but they may end up in room sales along with most of the rest of the lot. I do love doing restoration, but I find the 90s colors/finish a lot harder to match well than the ones from the 60s and 70s.

But it turns out there was another gem hidden in there that I completely overlooked! I did see the other 90s classic mustang family in there and the grulla pinto mustang stallion is one of my favorite Breyer models of all time. I was absolutely smitten when he came out and my original one has been a member of my show string for over 25 years and still competitive today! Most recently he won a glossy ATP Power at the Breyerfest open show in 2023!

So while I love to see them, I didn't really look at him in the group photos because I already have a successful show model. I was very surprised to find he was actually a pretty unique variation when I unwrapped him! Most (if not every?) example of this model that I've seen has the dark head and neck but this beauty has a pink nose and his head and neck match the rest of the body color!

I love him! What a cool variation! He also has a few condition issues but I will definitely be cleaning him up as well to join my mustang conga. Here he is next to my longtime herd member, who is the normal color.

I would almost say he looked slightly unfinished, like he never got the final layer of black. The rest of the family is nice too and I will probably also keep the foal, but the mare is leaning a little more body box.

Earlier in the month I also picked up this mixed lot of mostly 90s foals - also specifically for the appaloosa mustang foal. I liked the larger and fewer spot variation and he allllmost looked a little bit chalky (once I know there is one out there, it becomes an obsession) although in terms of color he doesn't look at all like the one that I know of so I knew that was pretty unlikely.

I felt like I probably overpaid a little bit for the group, but luckily the appaloosa foal did turn out to be nice (just a few touch ups needed as you can see) and the surprise I missed seeing in the auction is that he's the bi-eye variation! There was a very short-lived era, about 6 months in 1997, when all the regular runs were given bi-eyes - unfortunately many of them were painted in a strange way that made them look like snake eyes, but it's still a fun variation that I like to look for and actually it is nicely done on this foal.

So that was another fun surprise from a random lot purchase! There were also a few others in here that are in nice shape that I'll be holding on to. The little bay Andalusian foal is pretty scarce, also having been made for just 6 months in 1993, and this one is in excellent shape.