This model, as the name should tell you, was the inaugural release of this mold. Item #574, he was sculpted by Kathleen Moody and released in 2001 - a portrait of The Lone Ranger's Silver. His release ran from 2001-2006 - unsurprising, as this mold was very popular from the get-go. Silver was the first release in Breyer's Hollywood Heroes series, and in the early years of the run, he came with a VHS tape (lol) detailing Silver's exploits.
I chose this model mostly because of how well he shows up against a black backdrop. He's so handsome! I was still in high school when Silver was first released, and didn't get around to buying one before graduation. After graduating, I put my horses away to concentrate on college, and by the time I finished college, the Silver mold had been given a temporary retirement because it had been used so much. I count 24 releases between 2001 and 2010 (not counting glossy prizes. Thanks, IDYB!). It probably didn't help that Silver was a Breyerfest SR for 3 years in a row (2001, 2002, 2003).
I returned to the hobby in 2010 after I graduated from college. Silver had just been used as a Breyerfest SR yet again (Star-Studded). But since then, Silver was only used a couple of times until recently - Nottingham, the Breyerfest 2011 Volunteer Model and Zeus, the Greek God web special in 2013.
I couldn't afford to attend Breyerfest 2011, and wouldn't have been brave enough to volunteer if I had, and I wasn't drawn for Zeus. So, I spent 2010-2016 wishing Breyer would use Silver for something, while I'm sure most of the other people in the hobby were glad they were giving the mold a break.
Fortunately, Silver made a resurgence last year; he was used for an unprecedented fifth time as a Breyerfest SR, Estrela do Carnaval (to a mixed reception), as the Tractor Supply SR Santana (also to a mixed reception, due to the resemblance to the TH Silver), and as the fourth Big Cats release, Leandro. For the record, I bought all three and have them proudly displayed with my other Silvers. In addition, I was fortunate enough to greatly expand my Silver collection in the last year, so the few I had before don't look so lonely. Let's hope Silver gets another release in the near future, or dare I suggest: the Surprise model for Breyerfest? (Let's hope not!). Only time will tell.
So, that brings me to the end of today's post. Tune in next week for another thrilling installment of Featured Model! Hi-yo Silver, away!
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