My Collector Story: Janice Cox

Breyer is saddened to hear of the passing of Janice Cox, a longtime model horse hobbyist best known for being the creator and webmaster of the reference site Identify Your Breyer. This "My Collector Story" article was originally published in the June 2020 edition of the Breyer Collector Club Newsletter, and in light of her passing we'd like to share her story with all of our fans. 

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Location: California, USA

Some of my earliest childhood memories are of playing with my Breyer Shetland Pony and Running Foal, which were given to me as an already horse-crazy girl of seven or eight. More models came after those two, many of which were the Family Arabians in all their glorious colors. My love affair with them has lasted to this very day, and one bookshelf in my home is filled with the charming Family Arabian Stallion. Quarantini, the FAS model from the Seattle Soiree, has become my grail model, and I hope to add him to the herd someday!

High school brought live and photo shows, teaching me more about live horses and their conformation. I subscribed to Just About Horses and waited eagerly for each issue, especially for the want ads at the back! In 1983, I even had the pleasure of writing an article of my own for JAH.

Before the Internet, JAH was how we communicated with each other, along with some great hobbyist newsletters. I made friends and pen pals through the hobby, and to this day I value my hobby friendships.

After high school I tried to be a “grownup” and stopped collecting models, but that didn’t last. Breyers, it seems, are in my blood. Before long I was back at it, and in 2000 decided that I needed a catalog of models beyond the annual paper catalog Breyer put out. I decided to put my catalog on the Internet. What at first was just a list of Breyer models by model number with a few photos thrown in eventually became Identify Your Breyer, an online catalog of all things Breyer.

“IDYB” has helped me make even more hobby friends and shown me many gorgeous models that I’ll never get to see in person. I spend hours each week adding new material to the site, looking to Breyer for new releases and hobbyists for photos of their models. Almost 20,000 people visit the site each month and I guess you could say that Identify Your Breyer is my pride and joy.

While my collection is filled largely with vintage models, I still collect new releases, especially those in the Freedom and Stablemates series. Breyer’s new sculptures in the Freedom Series are lovely, and I especially love the Rearing Mustang/American Dream and the Running Thoroughbred. For vintage molds, I adore Maureen Love’s Arabian family. I really can’t get enough of these littler ones!

Janice and her gold charm pinto FAS, who was created to celebrate the mold's 50th birthday!