Fletcher is available for preorder!

Exciting news! Next year's first Collector Club special run, Fletcher, is already available for preorder - with a choice of matte or glossy finish!

They haven't had this option for Collector Club members before - I wish they would! Oh well. I won't be ordering this guy anyway, since I don't collect Wyatt. He sure is nice-looking in glossy, though! 

Here he is in matte (with a different-colored stand - interesting).

He looks like a completely different model in matte. I definitely like the glossy better - though I'm still wondering what's going to happen with those three test models that were in the tent at Breyerfest.

In the meantime, Fletcher can be preordered by current Collector Club members until November 30, so undecided members have plenty of time to decide if they want him. His total cost is $75 plus shipping, with a $25 deposit due at the time of preorder. Order him here!

Featured Model - 10/14/2017, Forever Saige

Hello, readers, and welcome to yet another edition of Featured Model, the weekly blog event where I pick a model from my collection, give some stats on it and provide commentary about it. This week's model is: Forever Saige!



This item was #90175, and was the final release of the 2015 Premier Club. This was the original release for this mold, and she was sculpted by Kristina Lucas Francis. As a Premier Club release, we don't know exactly how many were produced, but it's probably safe to assume there are around 750 of them...unless some of the leftovers got painted over and released as the chalky Hwins that have been popping up at Tractor Supply recently. But we don't have any confirmation of that.

This model was pretty controversial when it first came out, mostly because of her neck, which evidently started out shorter and was lengthened per a request from Breyer. Personally, it doesn't really bother me that much, mostly because her sassy expression makes up for it. I love this mold's attitude! She definitely has that boss-mare "don't mess with me" look.

As for her color, I like it, though the purplish shading is a little odd, and I'm starting to get tired of nearly every new release being some shade of grulla (Forever Saige, Primrose, Mirado, Geronimo to name a few). I almost wish the Premier Club release had been in this color instead (or that I'd had the money to buy that test); ah, well. Hopefully Forever Saige gets released in a new, sassy color soon, though she was a Breyerfest SR last year, is in the current line as Hwin and was this year's first Collector Club model. Maybe she'll show up as a web special next year? That would be pretty cool!

Sugarmaple and Calavera are here!

After a long wait, and then two days of being held hostage at the post office, my Sugarmaple and Calavera models are finally here! Woohoo! I'll start with Sugarmaple!

I've been seeing a lot of variation in this run in online photos of him; some of them seem to be a lot more red or green than others. Mine seems to be in the middle, with more of the brown/gold rather than red or green. Which is fine, though I somewhat hoped I'd get one of the greener ones. Oh well!

Quality-wise, he's a little...odd. I don't think the leaves are decals - they look more like stencils. But some of them look a little weird around the edges. Not sure if they'll show up very well in photos or not.

Maybe it's a side effect of using gold paint on a translucent model, but it almost looks like the gold started to (or just threatened to) flake off when the stencils were removed.

But, in the grand scheme of things, it's a fairly minor issue and I didn't see anything else wrong with him. Here's a shot of his handsome head!

I'm excited to get this guy lined up with the rest of his brethren! Sugarmaple is definitely here to stay.

Now, on to Calavera - I'm so happy with this model! I've been hearing a lot online about how flawed this run was, with horrible wrinkled decals, poor paint jobs and the like. But mine is almost flawless!

With the amount of decals on this model, I'd have expected to find something wrong with at least one of them, but to my amazement, NONE of these decals are wrinkled or otherwise have anything wrong with them other than the visible borders (which is inevitable when the model isn't glossed).

As for other flaws, he's got a few small dings here and there, and his mane could have been painted a little more neatly. I'd have liked to see less stark black and more purple on the tendon areas of his legs, but that's more personal preference than anything else. I'm very, very happy with this model and so glad I got a good one!

Have I mentioned how much I like the colors used on this model? I love his white face, and the orange-red mane and tail, and the purple legs. The flowers look great too! I think this was an excellent design, and a nice departure from the usual Halloween model.



I don't think I've seen decals this good since I got my also-flawless Luna back in 2012. Though, now that I think about it, my Marigold from this year's Breyerfest has pretty good decals too, and he was designed by the same person that designed Calavera (Lauren Hoeffer). Coincidence? Probably, but I'm happy anyway!

All in all, I'm really happy with this model! At least for now...we'll have to see how well these models age. I'll be curious (and probably disappointed) to see what happens to these decals in 20 years or so. But that's a question for another time! Until next time, readers! 

Griffin is now available for purchase!

Another day, another dollar...or model, in this case. The second Collector Club special run for 2017, Griffin, is now available to order!

A sample of this model was displayed at Breyerfest, and he (or at least that particular sample) looked a lot more orangey than in these promo photos.



My suspicions about Griffin's curiously dark hooves (and his true color) were correct, though -  he's a blond chestnut, and his hooves have been blacked for the show ring! From the email:

This special edition Irish Draught cross is a beautifully shaded and dappled rich blonde chestnut.  Four high white socks and a blaze give Griffin character.  His mane is braided and his hooves are darkened, making him ready for a show in his athletic trot. 

As usual, there's no word on how many were produced, although this type of run tends to be around 1,000.

He certainly is handsome, although nothing I need to buy. But I hope everyone who buys him is happy with him! 

Ooh! New Warehouse Finds!

So, I got an email today that Breyer had put up some new Warehouse Finds on the website. If you aren't familiar with the Warehouse Find situation, in 2013 some mysterious models showed up in the Breyer Store at Breyerfest. They were essentially reissues of old regular runs, but in generic boxes and with the longer Special Run-type item number. After Breyerfest, they showed up for sale on the website, and others have periodically been added to the lineup since then.

We never got much of an official explanation from Breyer as to exactly what they were, but I did overhear longtime Breyer employee Ed telling someone in the Breyer Store that the models had been leftover whiteware found in the warehouse that they painted up to sell. Not sure why they didn't turn said whiteware into some type of actual special run rather than paint it as old regular runs that (for the most part) haven't sold out, but there it is.

Actual bundles of whiteware models have been offered for sale at Breyerfest as well; though they always seemed to sell well, maybe the amount of whiteware Breyer found was too much to justify throwing it all into the store.

Anyway, the six new Warehouse Find models are as follows:

Bluegrass Bandit in black (reissue of Elvis Presley's Bear)
San Domingo in palomino pinto (reissue of Let's Go Riding Western)
Legionario in mulberry gray (reissue of Medieval Knight)
Stock Horse Mare in dapple gray (reissue of American Quarter Horse Mare)
Justin Morgan in bay (reissue of Double Take)
Quarter Horse Yearling in sorrel (reissue of American Quarter Horse Yearling)

If these warehouse finds are anything like the previous ones, they'll be similar to the originals, but with small differences. For instance, it looks like the Bluegrass Bandit doesn't have painted horseshoes, the chestnuts are the same color as the body, and eyewhites are minimal. The San Domingo looks a lot yellower than the original release, and so on. We'll have to wait and see what we get when they arrive (I only ordered the BGB), but I'd guess they'll be in the generic reissue boxes with special item numbers like the previous ones.

Happy ordering, if you're so inclined! And don't be a dummy and forget to use your Collector Club discount like I did (d'oh!).

2017 Silver Filigree Speculation

It's that time of year again, folks...time to speculate on what this year's silver filigree web special will be! Last year I was hesitant to predict there would be one, because they had a tendency to skip years occasionally, but since we've now had an uninterrupted streak since 2013, it's probably safe to assume we'll get a silver filigree this year, too. Here's a list of all the previous ones:

2008 - Silver Snow
2010 - Alpine
2011 - Mont Tremblant
2013 - Aspen
2014 - Chamonix, Banff
2015 - Sugarloaf
2016 - Avalanche

 There's also been a tendency to use new molds for this special run - and in recent years, that means one of the Premier Club molds from the previous year. As a refresher, last year's Premier Club molds were Geronimo, Shannondell and Yasmin.

Personally, I don't see them using Geronimo, as he appeared in matte and glossy at this year's Breyerfest and was the TSC special run to boot. Shannondell or Yasmin seem like more likely options, and since Shannondell was just used as Markus and also appeared at Breyerfest, that leaves Yasmin as the least-used as the bunch (with one piddling Breyerfest release that wasn't terribly popular, despite how pretty she was). So I personally hope Yasmin is the silver filigree this year. I wouldn't be surprised if it did turn out to be Shannondell, though, simply because he seems to be the more popular of the two molds.

As for when we'll find out, I seem to remember hearing about Avalanche in early November last year, so I'd guess around the same time frame for this year. Crossing my fingers for Yasmin!

Featured Model - 10/7/2017, Delivery Wagon Shire B

Hello, readers, and welcome to another edition of Featured Model, the weekly blog event where I pick a model from my collection, give some stats on it and provide commentary about it. This week's model is...the Delivery Wagon Shire B!



This handsome guy was produced in 2003-2004 as part of the Delivery Wagon with Clydesdale Team set. This set included a very pretty blue delivery wagon, two harnesses and the Shires A and B in a nice bay color. It was item #2405, and the Shire B was sculpted by none other than Kathleen Moody. I believe this set was a regular run, which makes one wonder why it's so expensive to obtain now. I don't think it was particularly popular at the time of its release, so that may be why.

In last week's Featured Model, I think I said Make a Wish was the first mold to have interchangeable body parts, but clearly I forgot about the Shire B! Although I'm pretty sure the Shire B is its own mold, distinct from the Shire A, but I don't know for sure. Either way, everyone knows the Shire A and the Shire B are the same mold, but the Shire B has the tucked head to distinguish it.

I wish the Shire B would get used more often; the Shire A has had a healthy number of releases and is in the current line as the Best of British Shire Stallion and was used as the Sharpieloosa Triton last year. Shire B, though, hasn't been used since his unexpected appearance as Frosty in 2014, and had only two wide releases before that.

I like this mold because he looks like he's showing a little more attitude than the Shire A. There's the Shire A, looking all happy and obedient, stealing the limelight again. Shire B tosses his head in frustration! He wants to be the star too! But there's the Shire A, that goody-two-shoes jerk. Shire B will show them someday! He'll show them all! Er...you get the idea.

So, anyway. The Shire B definitely needs more chances to shine - hopefully this happens soon! I'm always down for more releases on molds I like!