As usual, this model is a genuine, certified test model circa 2000. He'll be sold to one lucky Collector Club member for the low, low price of $850 (and probably turned around and sold again for 2-3 times the price later).
I still remember when I bought my Black Stallion model; it was at least 20 years ago. IDYB didn't exist at the time, obviously, and I didn't know what the mold actually looked like. That's right - I bought a model sight-unseen from a random person on a JAH sales list. The Black Stallion series of books was my favorite book series at the time, so I was pretty excited to buy my own model of the Black.
Unfortunately, when he finally did arrive, I was...less than impressed. He's so...ho-hum! Just flat black, no shading or highlights (unfortunately common with black models). And why does he have tan hooves? Bleh. I think the Classic Black Stallion comes closer to what one might imagine the Black would look like - probably because the Black strikes the same pose on at least two book covers.
So anyway, I never thought this mold was a good representation of the Black. I'm not sure if we have a modern mold that's a good representation, either - Ashquar would be the closest, but the book purist in me insists Ashquar looks far too pure-blooded Arabian to be the Black (he was too big to be pure Arabian, as Walter Farley was fond of saying in every book). Sham was used as the Black a few years ago, but I had the same complaints about him - he's too Arabian.
So, maybe someday the Black will get his due. It looks like Steven Farley is still writing crappy continuations to the original series (I'm still bitter), so maybe someone will decide to make a crappy movie out of it and then sell the licensing to Breyer. Who knows!
In the meantime, I entered for this guy once, but I'm not going to bother with any more than that - I'm not sure he'd be as good an investment as the past few test models have been. Good luck with your own entries, though!
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