2024 Vintage Club Second Release: Domingo

 

Not San Domingo, just Domingo:

This model turned out to be a surprise for me. Certainly not a bad surprise, but I wasn’t expecting another rendition of San Domingo. In the Vintage Club welcome letter, members were told that “other releases throughout the year will include a Marguerite Henry character,” so naturally there was speculation. Which of Marguerite Henry’s characters would we get? We have not seen any characters from The Little Fellow, Gaudenzia: Pride of the Palio, Five O’Clock Charlie, Born to Trot, or White Stallion of Lipizza. 

Speaking of White Stallion of Lipizza, I unrealistically hoped for a model of Maestoso Borina on the Adonis/Lipizzaner Stallion mold. I envisioned a heavily shaded alabaster Adonis, perhaps glossy, with Borina’s brands. That would differentiate a VC run from a regular run should Breyer release Adonis as a typical grey Lipizzaner. Certainly not a candidate for the VC Marguerite Henry character considering the mold was introduced in the 2023 Premier Club and is a Special Run model for Breyerfest this year. 

As far as Marguerite Henry characters made into Breyer models, here is a list, in no particular order:

Misty

Stormy

Sea Star 

The Phantom

Black Gold

Brighty

Misty’s Twilight 

Hobo

San Domingo

Sham

Lady Roxana

Justin Morgan

Brown Sunshine

Our First Pony (Shetland mare with two foals)

*Edited to add Lath, son of Sham and Lady Roxana. One of my wonderful readers let me know I had forgotten him. Lath was part of the Classic King of the Wind set.

Hopefully I haven’t forgotten any Marguerite Henry characters. I have omitted models that haven’t appeared in Marguerite Henry’s books, such as Phantom Wings. Although he was one of Misty’s foals, he never appeared as a character in her books. 

San Domingo isn’t the first Marguerite Henry character to have appeared more than once. Sham (# 410) was introduced in 1984 in the traditional line, with Lady Roxana (# 425) joining in 1986. Both characters resurfaced later in the King of the Wind Classic set. Sham returned again as a traditional model on the Huckleberry Bey mold, along with a copy of the book King of the Wind. Misty and Stormy, introduced into the traditional line during the 1970s, emerged as VC Stablemates in 2019:

Sorry, had to put a photo of them in as they are just so darn cute! In 2022 Misty made another appearance as a foal in the Phantom and Misty set. Moving back to San Domingo, he was introduced as a new sculpture in 1978, and graced the front cover of the collectors manual for that year:

Photo copyright Identify Your Breyer 

 

Photo copyright Identify Your Breyer

Photo copyright Identify Your Breyer

San Domingo made his second appearance on the semi-rearing mustang mold, accompanied by a paperback copy of San Domingo, the Medicine Hat Stallion from 2007-2008:

Photo copyright Identify Your Breyer 

Photo copyright Identify Your Breyer 

The VC version of San Domingo (referred to as ‘Domingo’) includes a paperback copy of the book. Mine should be arriving soon, so stay tuned to see the new Domingo and his traveling companion! 

*Photos of Domingo are from Breyer’s website.

New Book about Chincoteague Ponies!

Pictured above are Misty and Stormy, the 2019 Vintage Club Bonus Stablemates. 

I bought a new book about Chincoteague ponies, but it is not written in the Marguerite Henry style of a pony adventure story. Not that there is anything wrong with a pony adventure story, mind you. This book is nonfiction and dedicated to the kaleidoscope of Chincoteague pony colors, along with information on the genetics of coat color. Titled The Colorful Chincoteague: Chincoteague Pony Colors and Patterns, it is chock-full of photo examples of various coat colors and patterns. Photo examples are truly not skimped on; this book is brimming with different Chincoteague ponies displaying the colors and patterns found within the breed. For example, the palomino picture page (alliterations!) gives six photos of various shades of palomino, and the cryptic tobiano pinto pattern page (alliterations again!) gives six photos of different ponies to demonstrate the pattern. This book also covers hoof and eye colors found in the ponies, as well as covering basic facial and leg markings. Now let’s talk about the photo credits listed in the back of the book-the names of the ponies in the photos are listed! This book is informational, easy to understand, colorful (haha pun!), and knowing the ponies’ names makes it a bit more special. I would have loved to have had this book as a kid. I was always on the hunt for horse books, so that I could learn everything I could about horses. I had read every horse book in both the school and local library, and treasured the horse books I owned.  *Ahem* Returning to the 21st century, I would totally gift this book to a horse crazy youngster. 

Amanda Geci, the author, is a long time Chincoteague pony enthusiast and is half of the duo responsible for Misty’s Heaven, a website dedicated to Misty and her descendants. The other half of the duo is Matt DesJardins, who started the website in 1999. If you are a Misty fan and haven’t seen this website, run, run, run over there! You will be treated to a slew of information and photos of Misty and her family.

Here are a few more Misty and Stormy SM pictures because they are so darn cute:

Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Misty’s Heaven, nor with author Amanda Geci. All opinions are my own.