Q: "I'm interested in the horses you have on your sales list, but I don't know anything about them. What are Breyer horses?"
A: Breyer horses are plastic model horses manufactured by Reeves International made of cellulose acetate and fashioned to look like real horses. They originated in the 50s with horse-themed lamps and clocks, and eventually became a hot collector's item for horse-lovers. Breyers come in four "scales" or sizes: Traditional, which is approximately 9" in height; Classic, which is about 7" high more or less; Little Bits, which are about 4-5"; and Stablemates, which average right at 2.5" high. The most popular size for colectors is the traditional scale, which also tend to be the highest-quality models Breyer offers. The price of traditional-scale Breyers varies, but they typically run from $25-50 depending on the seller, the rarity, the demand for, and condition of the model. Breyers literally represent hundreds of molds and thousands of different breeds, colors and sexes of horse. Breyers are now generally considered to be collectibles (and are listed as such on the auction site ebay), but are often also sold as toys.
Breyers come in Regular Run (RR), which are the mass-produced molds and colors annually available from Breyer dealers, and Special Run (SR). SRs are limited-production mold/color combinations that are made available only from a single source, such as Breyer's official publication, Just About Horses; JCPenney and Sears Christmas catalogs; QVC home shopping network; Toys R Us; and a select few model horse companies such as Black Horse Ranch--to name a few! SRs can be limited to as few as 100 models in the run, or as many as 5,000, depending on the source and popularity of the model. Breyer also has a number of test-runs, which are experimental colors done on a single model--a true one of a kind. These are usually auctioned off for charity and may sell for thousands of dollars apiece. There are also a number of Decorator models--those painted in fantastic colors such as Wedgewood Blue and Gold Florentine--that are usually limited to 500 or fewer per run. These models are highly sought after by collectors and may bring prices of several hundred dollars apiece.
Related Links:
To see some pictures of Breyers and check out some online Breyer sellers, visit my links page.
I also collect horses by other manufacturers, such as Peter Stone, but mainly this FAQ is devoted to the model that started it all--the Breyer!
Q: "Are all model horses made by Breyer?"
Absolutely not! To see a pretty comprehensive list of model horse manufacturers, check out the Model Horse Gallery. Also check out Peter Stone Horses, which are the second-most popular "plastic ponies" among collectors.
Q: "How do I know it's a real Breyer?"
A: Some Breyer fakes were made in the 70s. Most were made in Hong Kong, and many of them are made of metal. Breyer never made metal horses, and until recently all traditional-scale Breyers are made in the U.S. (Stablemates have always been made in China). To authenticate any Breyer, though, all you have to do is look for a stamp in the plastic--it will say "Reeves International" and may have a date. Most of them are circular, although some old ones are a little different. It is usually inside one of the hind legs, near the belly. Fakes will not have a stamp in the plastic.
Breyers are also made of cellulose acetate, which is a rather heavy, very smooth plastic. If the horse is very light and feels very "hollow," it's probably not a Breyer. (Breyers are hollow in the heads and bodies, but they feel very solid.)
Another clue is the quality of the workmanship--most Breyers are very well-made, with realistic paint jobs and smooth seams on the back, legs, neck, and belly. Fakes may have rough seams, bad paint jobs, or look very un-realistic.
For more info, check out the reference sites on my links page.
Q: "How can I start a Breyer collection of my own?"
A: As long as you know which models you'd like to buy, joining a Breyer sales/trade web group is a good way to make your collection grow. Check out the Breyer and/or model horse groups at yahoogroups.com and see which one seems right for you.
Also, check out the links page and page 2 of the FAQ for info on other ways to buy Breyers. Ebay and the Model Xchange auction site have lots of Breyers for sale--and you can usually get them for a decent price there, though the quality might be questionable on ebay. Check with your local toy & hobby shops, farm supply stores and tack shops, too, as well as Toys R Us, Quality Farm & Fleet, and Petsmart, some of which carry Breyers. And don't forget garage sales, second-hand shops, antique stores, and flea markets! You can find Breyers anywhere, if you keep looking! BUT!!! Don't be fooled into paying more than a model is worth. Many sellers at flea markets and antique stores put outrageously high prices on Breyers--either because they don't know the real value of what they're selling, or because they're hoping to rip you off. Research the market before you buy, and don't be afraid to bargain! I can't tell you how many times I've been told "These are hard to find!" by antique dealers who obviously hadn't ever looked for them on the Internet!
It is also true that online dealers are, in general, a great deal less expensive than "real" stores, even including the cost of shipping. Despite the fears some online shoppers have of being ripped off by dealers, please consider that this hobby has formed a very tightly-knit online community--if these dealers were habitually dishonest with their customers, they would very soon cease to be in business. I can personally vouch for the honesty of all of the authorized dealers listed on my links page, but there are many other dealers that are equally trustworthy on the web.
Breyer's Official site also has a dealer locator to help you find stores near you that carry Breyers, but it sometimes misses stores that sell them.
Q: "I have a Breyer horse from when I was a kid. How do I find out what it is?"
A: In order to know what you have, you need to understand the way that Breyers are typically identified. Although each Breyer does have its own identification number (see my number list if you need a model number for your horse), most hobbyists have not, by any means, memorized these numbers. There are literally thousands of different Breyer model numbers!
Breyers are usually identified by two characteristics: mold and color. The mold refers to the shape or breed of the model--the particular plastic mold that was used to create this horse. In hobby jargon, the mold usually refers to the breed of the horse it represents; for example, some molds are the Missouri Fox Trotter, the Shetland Pony, and the Shire. However, many other molds are referred to by name rather than breed. For instance, there are so many Arabians made by Breyer that those are often referred to by the actual name of the first model created using that mold; Sham and Huckleberry Bey are two examples of molds identified by the name of the horse they were made to resemble.
To make this even more confusing, most new models that come out have their own name separate from that of the mold. So you may find that you own, for instance, model #720, "Rimrock," which is the Adios mold in bay with white socks. This is a typical example of a description you would find on a model sales list.
Colors can be tricky if you're not horse-savvy--certain shades of bay, chestnut, and dun can sometimes all look like "brown" to the untrained eye! The best way to learn horse colors is to research. If you are a novice to horse colors, find a basic horse book made for kids (I had one called "All About Horses") and check out the info they have on colors. Of course, there is a much larger rainbow of colors in the horse world, and the Breyer world, than a kids' book will show you, but it's a good start! Most models can be described as some shade of bay, chestnut, gray, alabaster (white), or black, with an occasional buckskin or palomino thrown in. And don't forget the appaloosas and pintos, which can come in any of these colors, and more! An example of a model description that involves color might be #1114, "Wap Spotted," which is the Secretariat mold in black semi-leopard appaloosa.
These are the best sites to use when trying to identify a model:
Other possible resources:
Other Breyer sites on my links page may also have pictures, though most of them only have pics of newer models.
At ebay, you can search for "Breyer" and see what comes up. This can take a long time, and the horse you have may not be up for auction at that particular time, but it can be a quick way to find pictures of a particular model.
The other option, if you have a scanner or digital camera, is to e-mail me a picture of the model in question. I will try to identify it, though my knowledge of non-Breyer models is *extremely* limited.
Q: "I have a Breyer horse I'd like to sell. How do I find out how much it's worth?"
A: There are two ways to determine value: buy a pricing guide, or look online. Pricing guides are expensive, most are not complete, and they almost always list values that are higher than the price one would actually pay for the models in question. The most reliable way to determine value is to see what prices people are actually paying for models like yours: you can do this by joining the Haynet exchange or another sales/trade group and reading peoples' pricing lists on the models they have for sale.
You can also see what models are selling for on ebay, by searching for "Breyer" to see all current auctions (with an option to view completed auctions), but the model-exchange is a more reliable source because models often do not sell well on ebay. I think this is because ebayers typically are looking only for a bargain, so they don't want to pay market value for non-customized models, and because many people who sell on ebay really don't know the models and their value very well. The sellers on the model-exchange are serious hobbyists, and tend to be more knowledgeable and trustworthy. The mailing list is how I determined the fair market value of my Breyers, along with lots of trial and error!
I have a much more detailed and in-depth answer to this question on page 2 of the FAQ.
Q: "I have some Breyers I'd like to sell. What's the best way to sell my collection? Would you be interested in buying them?"
A: In my opinion, the best way to sell Breyers, or to buy or trade them, for that matter, is to join the Haynet Exchange group or another sales/trade group at yahoogroups.com. This is essentially an online community with several hundred members, most of whom post sales, trade, and want lists regularly. You can post your sales list and read others' want lists to see if you have anything they're looking for. It's the way I sell and trade most of my Breyers, and it's a great way to find out the fair market value of your models. It's a great way to network with other hobbyists, too, as it gets your name known around the "circuit." It is, however, a rather high-volume list, generating well over 100 messages daily; the good news is, you can read it online rather than get each post individually on your e-mail, or you can request an e-mail digest version which condenses several posts into one longer message. Click on the link below to go to the subscription page; please note that you have to register with Yahoogroups in order to join the list, but this registration is free.
There are also many other groups at Yahoogroups that pertain to Breyers and model horse collecting, so do some searches (for breyer, or maybe model horses) while you're there. It may be that the Haynet exchange is too "hard-core collector" for you, and one of the other, more casual-collector groups will suit your needs.
Note: Sometimes if you're looking for a quick sale, it's best to offer them for sale as a whole collection. This means that you'll end up selling them under market value, but selling them individually at market-value prices can take several weeks or months.
Another technique, one that I have successfully used, is to put up a webpage with descriptions, prices, and preferably pictures of the models you're selling. If you don't have pictures, make sure your descriptions are detailed and accurate. (Dealing with an unsatisfied buyer isn't fun, and giving inaccurate descriptions of your models can ruin your reputation in the hobby very quickly.) Selling online is of course another slow way to sell them, but it works, especially if you can get your page linked from other more well-known model sites and put it into the major search engines, such as Yahoo and Google.
Other possible methods include taking out classified ads in the newspaper, or sending your list to one of the online services that offers free classified ad postings, such as Lucky-Seven, The Model Trading Post or the Model Horse Sales Pages. Breyer's official publication, Just About Horses, also offers a free classified service for collectors who want to buy, sell, and trade.
And by the way, I don't buy any Breyers that aren't on my want list, and right now, I'm not buying *any* Breyers. So please don't ask me to buy them!
The link below goes to a terrific article on selling Breyers .
Kiss 'Em Goodbye...the Art and Science of Selling a Model Horse - by Catherine Mathewson
Her pointers are 100% accurate. I would add a few precautions to her own, though:
Q: "I'm looking for the Breyer called ______. Do you have it or know anyone who's selling it?"
A: Simple answer: No. If I have a model for sale, it will be listed on the Haynet Exchange group at yahoogroups.com. I will not sell any model not listed there.
I also don't know anyone else's sales lists any better than you do, so your best bet is to just do a web search for that particular model, or check out the sellers and dealers on my links page, or subscribe to the Haynet Exchange group or another model sales group at yahoogroups.com, or all of the above. This is what I do when I'm looking for a particular model, and it works for me!