This is Joey the Black Beauty - he was named after the horses in the novels "War Horse" and "Black Beauty". This is the first non-Mattel horse in my collection.
I hunted for a completely different horse, of course Mattel's, but when it comes to the introduction of new horses in my collection - I have a little influence, I can even boldly say - none - on which model will appear next. When it comes to dogs, I am better at planning my purchases. Maybe because there were much less of them. But let's go back to Joey - he appeared in the advertisements and somehow from the beginning I felt that he was going to come to me. I had no idea what the horse he was, at first I suspected that it was one of the Mattel Big Jim models. But it looked too massive. In the end, I was able to determine that the manufacturer of this steed was Play BIG, which made various figurines, including something very similar to Playmobil. In addition, it is quite a rare specimen, even desired by some.
He came to me the day before Children's Day, on May 31, 2022. It probably comes from the 1980s, so I expected it to be quite solid and I was not disappointed. The plastic is really solid, all the joints work, although after taking it out of the package, some of them creaked and had rusty coatings. The horse was dirty - as can be seen in the first photos. His tail has been trimmed, and viewed from behind, it looks like a draft Shire, not a saddle horse. The mane was also felt, and one part is missing - right from the head. Luckily the horse survived with its tack and saddle.
Its accessories are made of rubber and have many decorative details.
And his articulation! After all, a horse with fully movable legs! Not like Mattel's Cali Girls horses.
Ok, after all the delight, it's time to undress the old man. First, the bridle and the reins.
And here is his head without a harness. There was a lot of dust between the ears, where the fringe is, and around the noseband.
And I could see his head in full splendor, with all the details.
Okay, one more pose - Joey's bow! - in this he also beats Baja and the rest of CG!
Now it will be less pleasant photo - Joey will show how his joints flex to the maximum:
It is a pity that the legs cannot be raised a bit higher, the articulation of the legs backwards is satisfactory. Neck and head - also quite tolerable, although they could still fold a bit more. I haven't compared it to Nibbles yet - I'll make up for it and put some pics here.
Of course, I was wondering why part of the horse's back looks like a separate part, as if it was removable. However, I didn't want to experiment too much with this antiquity of mine on the first day.
As you can see, Joey has a narrowing of his back in a completely different place than the Barbie horses.
I think it was created for some superheroes, doll action figures - but I can be wrong, because in most of the Internet entries about these horses were expressed by people who played with them in their childhood and describe them as doll horses.
The only signature on the horse is: MADE IN W. GERMANY, i.e. made in W. - like West Germany. There is no year or company. The inscription is where Mattel horses are usually signed - that is, on the inside of the rear (right) thigh.
The only visible artifact I found on it were scratches on the side.
And once again this beautifully profiled head before washing:
I noticed the quality of the seams - which are hardly visible.
Saddle and harness just before washing:
And the stallion landed in the bath.
I washed it very thoroughly - first with a sponge and then with a brush. And this is what the horse and water looked like after bathing before rinsing.
During this wash, I did not comb the mane and tail. I am going to replace them, in some non-drastic way.
Clean horse and accessories.
Of course, right after I edited the photos from this first session, I posted about my newcomer on Instagram. In a comment below the photos, one of the German Barbie horse collectors wrote that part of the back is removable, possibly to be mounted by dolls with basic articulation in the hip joints. It was unfortunate that I lost my tools for safely opening plastics somewhere. But I found a plastic squeegee that also did a good job of it, and I was able to remove Joey's back.
I would like to point out right away that it was not easy and I don't see any point in depriving him of so much body - it looks strange. And I still don't think it is about dolls without round movables hips sitting on it, because after all, the distance between their legs is smaller than the rest of the horse's back. I think it was made for someone else - some cowboy maybe?
Now you can see how his withers is raised against the lowered neck.
Brrr ... He looks terrifyingly crippled. Okay, it's just a test with a doll, but with full articulation in the hip joints - Cali Girl Horseback.
I don't know, it looks so strange. If you put a saddle on, it covers this hole a bit, but anyway, for an ordinary Barbie the back is too wide.
A horse from underneath - with no back.
And the back, itself.
After a deeper investigation, I conclude that the removed back could be replaced with a special saddle for figurines produced by Play BIG. I found photos of other horses from this company, where you can see exactly what this option is for. The photos are borrowed from the web site - the link is attached to the photo.
The company was already producing figurines in the 1970s - which later took the name Playmobil and are still produced today.
Ok, I'm already completing my poor man, enough of these experiments.
And back in full glory. I forgot to mention that before taking Joey out onto the grass, I brushed his mane and tail - their remnants to be exact. The hair is very strong, despite the amount of felting, nothing is left on the comb with which I combed it. So I don't know what was the point of doing his hair cut?
Finishing the history of this model - it was available in several color variants, but not only the color was changeable. It was possible to buy a black, gray and palomino horse, although I don't know if it was a chestnut horse. Another variable feature was the mane and tail - in the version made of hair (like mine), plastic, or one part was made of plastic and the other part was made of hair - for example, as in the photo below - a plastic mane and a brushable tail.
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| photo from Flickr |
I love the pose of a horse grazing in a meadow.
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