Copperfox Cob - Long Journey

I'm wondering if perhaps my Copperfox horse had the longest journey of any of them.  He was made in China, shipped to the UK, mailed to the U.S., and then made it through the military mail to Japan. 

This little guy has been around the world!

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Back in January, I pledged to be a "Founding Fox" on the Kickstarter for a new model horse company called Copperfox.  I pledged the amount that would get me one of their first plastic models as a perk.  I was pretty sure I wanted the Welsh Cob.  The choices were black or bay and I figured I'd have to go with black, since I love black horses.  Then, when they asked each person to choose their model, they said that a special run color was going to be offered, just for the Founding Foxes.  That color would be a smokey buckskin.  Oooo!  It was hard for me to choose, but I ended up going with the buckskin color for my Cob (after verifying that Welsh Cobs can be buckskin - I was already planning ahead to be able to show him).

Then came the wait.  They had trouble with the factory and had to switch to another one.  Jeff and I had our big move and I worried about my little Cob making his way to us in Japan.  Over the past couple of weeks or so, I've been reading Facebook posts about people in the U.S. getting their Copperfox models and I've been anxiously awaiting mine.  Especially after reading less than ideal reviews about particularly the buckskin color.

A week ago, Jeff called to say he was on his way home from work.  I know he stops to check our mail at the post office on his way home each day and he knows I've been "patiently" waiting...

About ten minutes later, he called again to say, "I've got your Copperfox horse."  Yay!!

When Jeff got home, he looked concerned and the first thing he said was, "I think your horse had a rough trip here..."  The box did look pretty mushed.  (our neighbors had warned us about boxes arriving here beat up, military mail isn't the most careful... but thankfully the contents of this box turned out to be fine!)

(Some people took pictures of their boxes sealed up, sadly I did not.  I had to SEE him!)

I already had an idea of what to expect from the Founding Foxes package, since others have shared the contents of theirs, but it was still neat to see everything that came with him:

A beautiful hand-written Thank You card,

certificates of authenticity,

a Copperfox pin (as a side note, I LOVE the "fox" in the name, logo, etc, of this company.  Red foxes have long been a favorite animal of mine and even my Native American Spirit Guide, so I couldn't be happier about the fox pin),

a model horse magazine,

a Copperfox flyer,

a kit on how to draw a Breyer horse,

And of course, THE Cob.

After reading some stories about how others look, I was almost afraid of what I'd find, but I really don't think he's that bad.

I'm still not 100% he'd be LSQ or competitive, I don't think the dapples are as bad as some others, but they're still not "great"...?

I still think he's neat, he certainly has presence!

I've read where it seems many people are planing to have their buckskin Cobs repainted.

I am torn.

My guy does have a pretty big flaw in the casting itself,

The customizer in me wants to whip out my prep tools and fix him STAT!, then repaint him...
However, even though I LOVE customizing and don't really consider myself an OF collector anymore, I really had my heart set on leaving him OF - hence me doing research on if buckskin was an acceptable color for the breed before choosing this one.  I also chose the buckskin because they said it would only be offered to the Founding Foxes and so that would make him special.  Repainting him would ruin that.

For now, it's back into his wrapping and into his box.  He was welcomed to Japan by two earthquakes the day he arrived, including one that woke us up at 3:30am!  The safest place for him is back in his box for now.

Before packing him away, I decided I wanted one more picture.  I wanted to take a fun shot of him with something... "Japanese" to show where he's living now.  In the moment all I could think of was one of the little bonsai trees that I'm working on.  Model horses are typically dwarfed by trees, but he towers over this one - ha!

My hope is that Copperfox will be able to offer regular run models and that I'll be able to get some of them to repaint.  In the meantime, my well-traveled little Welsh Cob is going to stay just the way he is.  If nothing else, even if he isn't showable, he's still going to be a piece of model horse history and I'm happy that I was able to be a part of it.

I wish Copperfox all the best!