Chalkies

I recently found out that my palomino Family Arabian Mare is chalky.

What are Chalkies?

Chalkies are models that are painted white, then have the color painted on. Most of them were made during the 1970's during the oil crisis, because Breyer couldn't afford to buy white plastic. Colored plastics were cheaper at this time, so to save money, Breyer bought colored and painted it white before applying the color.

How do you tell if a model is chalky?

It's actually quite simple, once you know what to look for. Chalkies' markings are whiter than other models'. I have a palomino Family Arabian Mare and Stallion, and the mare's mane, tail, and markings are much lighter than her hubby's. Another way to tell is looking for 'pooling' on the underside of the hooves. Pooling looks like the bottom of the horse's hooves were painted, and then the model was set down. Here's a picture of one of my chalky mare's hoof:

My FAM and FAS next to each other. Notice how much lighter her mane, tail, markings, and overall coloring are compared to her hubby's.

How much are chalkies worth?

Chalkies are worth more than the regular models of the run. However, it depends on the mold the chalky was produced on. On more popular molds, such as PAM and PAS, chalkies are worth quite a bit more (I'm not quite sure how much), but on less popular molds such as FAM and FAS, the chalkies are only worth several dollars more.

pics by me.