A Surprise Chalky Discovery!

Well I started off the new year with a surprise!

I've been avidly collecting chalky Breyers for well over 15 years and one set of models that has continually eluded me are the buckskin and chestnut appaloosa Quarter Horse Gelding models. I never thought of them in the super-rare category like Misty or the chestnut pinto Indian Pony, and yet they just don't come up for sale very often. I did find a buckskin years ago but he is not in great shape and in a way that is difficult to restore so I've always been on the lookout for an upgrade. I never realized how hard that would be.

This past week I did not find an upgrade, in fact I found one that is in much much worse condition, LOL. But it was a BIN and considering how hard they are to find I thought maybe this would be a fun restoration project - particular for my social media goals of 2025. It would be fun to do some videos of my process of restoring him!

Here he is... as you can see, he's a bit of a mess.

I wanted to show you the one I already have too so I brought him down to my photo booth. I was struck by how different their paintjobs are, especially the halter and face as you can see above. I did think the new one was chalky plastic and my original one was basecoat, but even so. Something about the eyes in particular... so when I flipped them over to check the hooves for basecoat I noticed my original guy has no USA stamp! OMG! All these years, I had a 1960s chalky buckskin QHG and I never even noticed. The 60s painted-over-things chalkies are major grails of mine so I am ridiculously excited to discover this guy! Right here already in my collection!

The basecoat on my QH Gelding is too thick to shine a light through, but I think he's surely a woodgrain underneath. Besides the vintage decorators, the other 1960s chalkies I know of are painted over woodgrains, like the 60s Belgian, 60s Clydesdale Stallion, and some 60s Mustangs. I never considered what other painted over woodgrains might be lurking out there! You can see maybe just a hint of it showing through his ear rubs.

I'm planning on writing a few posts on chalkies since my original site/blog was lost in the internets, but the mold mark is always a good thing to check! Particularly for chalkies such as the bay Running Mare and Foal that otherwise look pretty similar to their 70s counterparts. The Mustang has the other tell of the pared front hoof and the Clydesdale Stallion will have gold bobs instead of red and white bobs. The USA stamp next to the Breyer stamp will let you know that your model is from 1970 or later. Interestingly the Belgian never received the USA stamp so you will have to peer more closely at your chalky chestnut Belgians to see if they are painted over woodgrain.

I'm still planning my restoration project of this well loved 1970s guy, but I have new eyes for my original guy! I will have to make some effort in cleaning him up now too. I probably never would have noticed (or not for a long time anyway) if not for this blog and this project horse - so it's already a success!