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 Inevitably , through the course of collecting action figures , you will encounter characters that need a good mount in order to complete them . This is not a serious problem , there are horses in abundance in the toy market providing you know where to look . Ebay is perhaps the premium source , a large stock is available on a daily basis ; sometimes at a great cost but occasionally one can hook into a truly great deal ; mostly it boils down to how quickly you want to acquire that horse . The horses I've accumulated has been a slow process spanning well over a year . Finding a proper mount can, however , be a rather infuriating experience if you are unsure how to judge the scale of a horse toy in comparison to the action figure it is intended for . My intention here , is to provide a base of information and photographs exemplifying the combination of 1/6th scale action figures and 1/6th scale mounts .   One Man's Meat is Another Man's Poison
Action figures are not created equal , regardless of their definition as 1/6th scale or 12 inch action figures . While most are interchangeable between differing lines , i.e. BBI , Dragon , Barbie , GI Joe , etc . the accoutrements and accessories may NOT be . Case History Number 1 : Barbie Horses . Girls and horses are as intertwined as peanut butter and jelly , so Mattel's Barbie line offers a wide array of horses for the variety of Barbie figures , some better than others ; most produced currently are so stylized as to render them useless for anything aside from Manga or anime themed figures . The " Dallas " horse on the flip side of this fact is a beautifully sculpted horse model , no longer in production but easily found at the auction block . The problem with Dallas is one of scale , proportionally only 11 hands tall ( small as horses go ) thus looks ridiculous when a 12 inch figure sits astride her . A hobbit or dwarf might find her diminuitive size more comfortable . The Perfect 1/6th Scale Horse !  Marx Toys' horses , produced for the " Best of The West " and " Noble Knights " series are without doubt the perfect scale equines available for 12 inch figures . They'll work for GI Joe , Dragon , Barbie , Cool Girls or Sideshow figures . The only downside to the Marx horses is the sad truth that they typically are available only through auction sites , which translates to being expensive ! An average pricetag for a Marx horse is around $30.00 . Condition can range from Mint to Poor , but again , these are easily repaired and/or customized models so the price is what I would define as reasonable . Unless you have extremely specific requirements , a Marx horse will meet or exceed your every wish as a suitable horse for your action figure in 1/6th scale .  The Descriminating Horse Buyer
Just as inevitable as the need for a horse for certain figures , comes the need for a steed that exceeds the standard requirements for mounting a 12 inch figure . Case History Number 2 : A warhorse . My custom fantasy figure Estra-La , Warrior Maiden had to have a horse ; sword and sorcery themes make it a " must have " accessory . The problem here was finding a horse that fit the requisite physical makeup of a medieval warhorse . The obvious solution would seem to be a Marx horse from the " Noble Knights " series and yet this is not as clear a solution as it would appear , the Marx Knight horses are of the same molds as the " Best of the West " Thunderbolt horses . Without doubt they could serve the function well , but I was looking for a " classic " warhorse with the proportions that stemmed from the genetic makeup of heavy draft horses from which the knightly warhorse was bred having sufficient strength and endurance to support an armor clad warrior . This instance is where the inequality of scale accessories for 12 inch figures can actually work in your favor . The horse produced for the Power team Elite action figures , a horrendously off scale ( as far as 12 inchers go ) line of action figures was perfect being of a massive size ( 17 hands tall ! ) and is bulky to boot . The only drawback to this figure is the substandard sculpt job , it's not bad but in comparison to a Marx horse , it leaves a bit to be desired .   Another market to consider is that of wildlife sculpture . There is quite a bit of horse art available in three dimensions , but you need to be wary as there is quite a big difference in " Classic " , " Traditional " and 1/6th scales when it comes to horse sculpture . The majority of what you will find here are Breyer and Peter Stone horses , all are gorgeous , none will work as a mount for a 12 inch figure as they are typically either " traditional " scale ( 1/9 th ) or " classic " scale ( 1/12th ) . As a sidenote , traditional scale horses work nicely with Mego figures , my Planet of the Apes gorillas have been riding Breyers for years !  Toy horses with a few exceptions ( by Marx as if you couldn't have guessed ) have one minor drawback , and that is dynamics . Intended for mass production they tend to be rather static of pose , although as I had intimated , Marx did produce some rather lively horse toys thru " Best of the West " chiefly Flame and the astoundingly RARE mustang along with jointed versions to varying degrees of their archetypal Thunderbolt . This is where the benefit of shooting for a sculpture makes the monetary investment worthwhile , produced on a smaller scale and for a heftier price tag , the end product tends to be much more realistic and lifelike since it is intended as an art piece rather than for play . The horse I purchased for Margherite was offered at eBay by an artist and custom horse painter by the name of Kirby Jonas . A professional writer as well , Kirby definitely shines when it comes to producing amazingly realistic repaints on stock Marx horses as well offering on occasion high quality resin casts luckily enough scaled at 1/6th , of which the divine Miss M's steed is an example . It took me all of 2 minutes to decide to purchase this horse after seeing it , the musculature and liveliness really make it stand out . Add the plus that it is on a base which eliminates the risk of high dives from the shelf .  When purchasing a horse , one must not forget the consideration that your figure must have the proper gear to ride that horse ; which means saddle and tack . " Best of The West " saddle sets are readily accessible and affordable , and will work on practically any proper 1/6th scale horse . However you should also take into account that the BOTW saddles and tack accessories are rubber and therefore are toy like in appearance . If that is enough for you then your quest is over . If, however , you want something more , then get ready to shell out even MORE bucks . I have found but one person that makes saddle sets for 1/6th scale horses , Ben Perry , a Master Saddler now retired and creating miniature sets for Breyer and Johnny West horses . Ben's Custom Tack offers some stunning examples of horse gear averaging around $120 and worth every single penny . If you are the creative type , you might want to try your hand at making your own which is considerably cheaper . Depending on your needs you might be forced to make your own , a situation I am currently enjoying thanks to my warhorse for Estra-La , there is absolutely no one making miniture medieval saddles and tack . Making your own has its pitfalls as I will demonstrate in a future featurette chronicling the construction of the medieval styled saddle and tack for Estra's warhorse coming to Geeb-O-Rama in the near future . | Custom Thunderbolt | Fantastic Steeds | Fantastic Steeds2 | | ReelArts Blue Bulleteer | Shocker Toys | Cool Girls | KiniKomix | KiniKomix2 | Custom Action Figures | eBay Auctions | AppleseedTribute | Macross Valkyrie | Planet of the Apes | Horse Sense | WeaversUpholsteryToo | ToyBiz_Iron Man | Dirty Pair | On Display | The OTHER Gorby | | Return Home | Updates | The Archive | Gorby Site Map | Geeb-O-Rama's Model Workshop | Geeb's Toy Box | Geeb-O-Rama Goodies | Movie Madness | World Of The Bizarre | Cool Beans | |
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