Featured Model - 8/31/2019, Poltergeist

Hello 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...Poltergeist!



Ooh, spooky! This model was the Halloween Horse back in 2016. He's item #1763 on the Ruffian mold sculpted by Sue Sifton, and was a run of 3,000.

This guy had a little bit of a mixed reception, if I remember right. I guess the design is rather polarizing - a horse with a demonic skeleton "riding" it? Wild stuff. I think it's rather clever, and I like the contrast of the white areas against the black - especially the head and tail. Skull horse! Hah. I do wish he had four white socks, though - I realize he's supposed to be a "pinto" of sorts, so he wouldn't necessarily have four socks, but the completionist in me wants to see all four of them be white.

As for Ruffian herself, she's still pretty popular 13 years after her release - at least, going by the number of Breyerfest auction models she's had. 9 of them in 13 years? Sheesh. Anyone trying to collect all those will have to have some pretty deep pockets, and that's not even including all the raffle and prize models we've seen on her.

Anyway, I'm not sure where we'll see Ruffian next - she was the inexplicably unpopular special run "Dead Heat" at Breyerfest last year, as well as an auction model this year. She was a Breyerfest prize model in 2014. However, she hasn't been a web special since 2015 - maybe she'll pop up there? Or as this year's brick-and-mortar special run? I hope so - it'll be hard for me to get my hands on one! I'll just have to hope for a new regular run.

My other Iris is finally here!

Well, I'm not sure what happened with my other Iris model - I got a shipping notification for her after I placed the order, and it had a tracking number, but a week later the tracking had never updated from "Label created." So I emailed Breyer and they sent out another one last week. Maybe the first one fell off the back of the UPS truck or something? Anyway, she finally arrived yesterday, and I'm pleased to report I got...the decorator!



I really, really like this color, so it makes me a bit sad that they put it on a mold I don't collect. Maybe Breyer will use it on something else someday? Pretty please?

I'm in a bit of a hurry to write this post, so I only have the one photo. But she was pretty nice from a quality standpoint. I didn't see any issues with her at all - her eyes might be slightly sloppy, but that's it. (Interesting how they can do such detailed blue eyes on the cremello appaloosa, and this one just has plain black eyes...)

In the four years that the Stablemate Club has existed, the gambler's choice mold has only been on a mold I collect once - the Fylkir, in 2017. On the one hand, I kinda wish they'd use more molds I want, but on the other hand...it's nice not to have to get all of them every year, especially since they sell for so much more than the purchase price. I'm definitely not going to complain about that last part! Maybe next year they'll use a mold I collect again and I'll be shaking my fist at the sky for saying anything!

More Walmart Unicorns!

The news just broke on Facebook - there are new blind bag unicorns at Walmart! (Groan...) I don't have a photo I can use just yet, but it looks like the molds include Alborozo (some kind of pink), Greyson (green), the G4 Arabian (yellow-pink), G2 Clydesdale (blue) and the new Warmblood Stallion (silvery purple), plus the Magnolia chase piece (pastel rainbowy). The chase Magnolia is beautiful, but every time they use her for something else, I'm more glad I don't like her - people that collect her must be tearing their hair out right now!

As I've mentioned before, I'm pretty much over the blind bags. My local Walmart probably won't get them (the only blind bags they got were the ones with the green/gold Friesian), and I'm really not interested in driving to a Walmart farther away just to feel up more bags and feel weird while doing so. I could just buy a whole box, but that would be doing exactly what Breyer/Walmart wants us to do. I may just wait until the craze dies down and see if I can find them cheaply on the secondary market, because honestly? Enough is enough.

Also, can they use some different molds for these? I feel like Alborozo, the G2 Clydesdale and the G4 Arabian (to say nothing of Magnolia) could use a rest.

Featured Model - 8/24/2019, Estrela do Carnaval

Hello 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...Estrela do Carnaval!



This was a rare mare release on the Silver mold sculpted by Kathleen Moody. She's item #711236 and was a run of 725 as a special run at Breyerfest 2016.

This model was definitely a controversial one when she was first released! For all I know, she's still controversial. The mud-brown body color, combined with the samba dancer on the belly, didn't make for a good combination, at least in some hobbyists' eyes. While I do like her, or I wouldn't have her in my collection, I probably wouldn't have done her the same way. I would have at least made her glossy, to try to keep all those decals from peeling off, and I'd have picked some color other than brown for the body. Imagine if it had been a nice deep blue, or green? And glossy? She'd have gone from pariah to runaway success.

Not that she wasn't a success anyway. With that low run number, she was definitely the hot item that year, much like Banner this year and By a Nose last year. But I digress. The size of that samba dancer decal on the belly may end up being a problem down the line if they eventually start peeling, so I hope that doesn't happen. But a nice coat of gloss would have been a good idea.

As always, Silver remains a popular model, but I suspect Breyer will give him a rest for a while. He's been used for just about everything since they brought him back from semi-retirement - but maybe I'm wrong and Breyer will surprise me with something! I hope so.

Sampson and Hakan are here!

Okay, so I originally was just going to wait until our local Tractor Supply got its Breyer display set up, but...well, the new models are so pretty...and ship-to-store is free...and I'd have to wait until September to get them the normal way...and then the next thing I knew they were in my cart and I was paying for them.

But anyway, Sampson and Hakan are here! Let's look at Sampson first.



He's not as green as I thought he'd be, but he's not as "buttermilky" as I thought, either. Not that that's a bad thing.



Oh man, he would have looked AMAZING with some frosting. Missed opportunity there! I do like his shading, though. Check out his face!



His star looks really nice, and I love his facial shading. A bit more of that would have been divine!



All in all, a worthy addition to the herd - and I forgot how heavy this mold is. He'd definitely make a good paperweight - sheesh!

Next, let's look at Hakan:



Whoever said he was a budget version of C'est la Vie was right. He's a beauty!



Buckskin definitely looks good on both Brishen and Smarty Jones. And that blanket on Hakan is so snappy! I love it.



Look at that face! He has some nice shading too. From this angle he looks a lot like Ruffian - unsurprising, since they were sculpted by the same person. But now I'm wondering what Ruffian would look like in this paint job. Gah!

Quality-wise, both of these guys were pretty nice - Sampson has a couple of pinpoint black marks, but nothing major, and I didn't see anything wrong with Hakan. Another success story for Breyer!

Of course, I still have to get my hands on a Stella. I wonder if they're leaving her off the website to entice people to come into the store? You'd think they'd have done that with all three models if that were the case, but who knows. Hopefully they get her on the website soon so I can secure one!

Wait For It

Great news, everyone! My Hamilton finally came today! Behold the awesomeness!



This has been my most anticipated arrival of the year so far, and he definitely doesn't disappoint!



I love that he has a size to him, and the sculpt seems to catch a frozen moment in time perfectly. Plus, he doesn't have that annoying narrowness in front that so many of Breyer's more recent sculpts have been plagued with. He's awesome!



I think my favorite thing about him is his tail, though. It's long and flowy and portrays his movement so well, but isn't over-the-top and wild like a Moody sculpt would be.



Quality-wise, he's not perfect - there are some small booboos. But nothing major - I don't think I even photographed any of them. But look at his head and neck! I love him.



Truth be told, I'm almost dreading collecting this mold, because you know he'll probably be a raffle and a prize model at Breyerfest next year, and there'll probably be an auction model to boot. Sigh. Maybe I'll finally find a money tree next year? I hope so, because I have a feeling I'm going to need it!

Breyerfest Closeups: Lucien

Hello, readers! It's time for our final Breyerfest Closeups post for this year. Today I'll be covering the upcoming Collector Club special run, Lucien!



He has an interesting pattern, and I really like his face.



And it's great to see another release on Valegro!



Doesn't look like his eyes are very detailed, but I guess that's to be expected for a collector club special run. At least his shoes are painted?



I hope he becomes available soon - I need to add him to the collection!



I like his two-toned tail, too. I can't help but wonder if part of the run will be glossy? They seem to like throwing us a curveball with that every once in a while. Although if that's the case I'd have to buy two of them. Maybe I don't want him to be glossy.

That's my last Breyerfest Closeups post for this year. If all goes well, Closeups will return after next year's Breyerfest with even more exciting new reveals!

Featured Model - 8/17/2019, Serendipity

Hello 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...Serendipity!



I picked her for this week because she's just so pretty! I love her color scheme. She's item #97267 on the Harper mold sculpted by Sommer Prosser. Serendipity was (or still is) a Walmart exclusive item for this year. No idea how many of them were produced, but probably in the RR range.

I wasn't that into Harper at first, but she managed to grow on me over time. Sommer has posted that she was inspired by the old Ginger mold, which I believe has been permanently retired due to damage to the mold. But Harper makes a good replacement!

Like I was saying earlier, I love Serendipity's color scheme. That combination of blue/pink/purple has been everywhere lately, and there are so many other molds I'd like to see it on! Hopefully we get something someday. Or maybe I'll win the lottery and then manage to win the Design Your Own Breyer silent auction - wouldn't this color look great on Othello? Or Ethereal? Oh, the possibilities!

As for Harper herself, I don't know where we'll see her next. She's already in the regular run line in three different places, so I don't foresee her getting another release there unless something else gets retired. Maybe a gambler's choice special run next year? Or something at Breyerfest? She's already been the Halloween classic, so I don't expect to see her there. Some type of gambler's choice would be fun, though - tired as I am of blind bag-related stuff.

Iris is here!

Well, one of them, anyway. The other one will hopefully arrive tomorrow. I ordered them one right after the other, so it's annoying that they didn't both arrive at the same time. But anyway...Say hello to...the perlino appaloosa!



This one seems to be a lot of people's least favorite, judging by the reactions I've seen on the Internets. But I don't think she's that bad. She certainly looks pink from a distance, though.



I didn't see anything particularly egregious in the quality department, though it looks like she has a fingerprint on her face. I can't get over her tiny blue eyes, though!



How do you even paint something that small without screwing it up? I guess they probably paint the whole eye blue and add the pupil afterward, but I don't know how you'd do it without leaving brush marks. I guess that's for the experts!

Mine will be for sale, sadly, but it was fun to open the box and see which color I got. Crossing my fingers for the decorator tomorrow!

Hamilton is available!

More good news! Hamilton, the second release in this year's Premier Club, is now available for purchase!



I'm super excited for this release! Hopefully he gets here fast, because I can't wait to see him in person!

Tractor Supply special runs are revealed!

Good news, everyone! This year's special runs for Tractor Supply have been revealed! Say hello to Sampson...

...and Hakan!


There's also a black pinto Bluegrass Bandit named Stella, but I don't have a good photo of her yet. In any case, it looks like I'll have to buy all three of them! Someone on Blab pointed out that Hakan looks like a more affordable C'est la Vie, and I agree! He's beautiful. I'm a little leery of the Sampson - he looks like he could end up being greenish. Hopefully that's not the case! I'm glad we're getting a new Brishen, though. As for Stella, I kind of wish she was a different color since we already have Lady C, plus Bear and the warehouse find. Enough black already! Oh well.

I'm hoping to stop at one of our local Tractor Supply stores tomorrow, so maybe I'll find something exciting. I don't expect these special runs to make their way onto shelves for a few more weeks, but maybe they'll have some unicorn blind bags or something! One can only hope.

Breyerfest Closeups: Halloween Stablemates

Greetings, readers! Continuing in our series of Breyerfest Closeups, today I'm going to talk about the Halloween Stablemates that were featured in the Collector Club tent. Take a look!



It's been a while since Breyer last did any Halloween-themed Stablemates. The last time we saw any new ones (unless I'm forgetting something) was the Spooky Stablemates II set back in 2006, preceded by Spooky Stablemates in 2005. It's been a while!

So, our three molds are as follows:

G4 Arabian as Calavera
G4 Reining Horse as Bats in the Belfry
Rivet as Ichabod/Crane

Fortunately for me, none of those are molds I collect. Since it looks like these guys will be blind bags and/or shipped randomly, that's one less pile of blind bag garbage to deal with. Can you tell I'm getting tired of the blind bag gimmick? Well, anyway, here's a closeup of Mini Ichabod.

I love the detail on the little skulls! It's amazing what they can paint on Stablemates these days. Remember the fuzzy bats on the original Nosferatu? Haha! We've certainly come a long way from those days.



Mini Calavera is cute too, and they all have really great details, honestly. One wonders how the painters do it without going cross-eyed.

Hopefully these guys sell well - I always like seeing Stablemate mini-me models pop up, and more of these Halloween-themed guys would be very welcome. And I wonder if we'll still get a Halloween Classic this year if they're doing the Stablemates? I don't think Mason would lend himself to the Halloween spirit very well, but you never know. His mold has been sadly neglected since its introduction last year, so let's hope we get some kind of new release on him soon.

Featured Model - 8/10/2019, Glossy Saffron

Hello 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...Glossy Saffron!



This handsome guy was a special run for Breyerfest 2017. He's item #711260G on the Geronimo mold sculpted by Kitty Cantrell. 800 of these guys were matte, while the other 800 were glossy, for a total of 1600 models.

While I'm not usually a stock horse fan, Geronimo is one of the exceptions. His mold didn't make much of an impression on the rest of the hobby, but I like him a lot! Too bad he doesn't get used more often, eh? Well, I think Saffron is one of the best examples of the mold so far - I like him better than just about all the releases, other than Cloverleaf. He's just a really nice color! I'd like to see it on a lot of other molds someday.

As for Geronimo himself, he's had a bit of a vacation recently - other than the Cloverleaf from last year (just 11 made), he hasn't been used since 2017. Where will we see him next? Maybe we'll get a web special, since he hasn't been used for that yet. I doubt he'll be used at next year's Breyerfest, so maybe we'll get him as a web special next year, or perhaps a collector club special run. Or maybe he'll get that mythical RR release at long last? I guess we'll find out!

Breyerfest Closeups: 2019 Premier Club Stablemate

Hello, readers! Sorry for disappearing for a couple of days - I've been pretty busy the last couple of days. But fear not - we're getting back to Breyerfest Closeups. Today we'll take a look at the new Stablemate for the Premier Club, a Morgan sculpted by Laura Skillern Sailer!



You'd think they'd have had the paint job for this one finalized as well, but I guess not. I wonder if it's going to look like the third release of the year? That would be my guess.

Unfortunately, this one just doesn't appeal to me - I think it looks too similar to the G2 Paso Fino. Not that she cribbed from it, but that's what it reminds me of.



I hope they don't all have a warped-looking front leg like that.

Anyway, let's hope we get a reveal soon - I want to see the paint job before I make a final decision!

Iris is now available!

Attention, Stablemates Club members! The next release in the club, Iris, is now available for purchase!



It's the gambler's choice model on the G3 Highland Pony! They all look like fun colors, but I like the decorator best. Here's how the website describes it:

Mojave Turquoise-inspired decorator with a gold basecoat layered with purple, blue and interference gold, and a high gloss finish

It's enough to make me wish this was a mold I collect. Alas, I don't, so both of mine will be going to the sales bin. That silver bay is really pretty too, though! Here's a photo of them from the collector club tent at Breyerfest.

 

I'd thought the cremello was a solid color, but it looks like she's an Appaloosa! And the writeup says she has a satin finish, rather than glossy. You'd think they'd go whole hog and gloss her along with the other three, but I guess not.

Whichever color you prefer, I hope everyone gets the one they want! Good luck!

Breyerfest Closeups: Corbin

Hello, readers! Today I have another Breyerfest Closeups post; this time, I'll be talking about the other new mold for this year's Stablemates Club - Corbin!



Unfortunately, I only took one picture of him for some reason. So...they still haven't finalized what color he's going to be? Isn't that leaving things kind of late, manufacturing-wise? I guess they could have decided on his color a long time ago but didn't want to show us, but I mean...we're going to find out sometime, and we already knew what the mold looked like. Isn't Breyerfest the perfect time to unveil it?



Well, whatever. Seeing the model in person didn't change my opinion of him; I'm still not a fan. But that leaves me more money for other things, so I can't complain too much!

New Arrivals: Mini Nazruddin, Mini Brass Hat, Mini All Glory and Sarge!

This post marks the last of the New Arrivals! Whew, that took longer than I expected. Well, on with the show; let's take a look at Mini Nazruddin!



I was excited to see Darley get used for something, after his lukewarm reception at the end of last year. He looks good as a Marwari - or as close to one as Breyer can get without actually bending his ears (at least, to my eyes). He even has a bit of a semigloss look going on! I don't think the Trad Nazruddin had that, but it's a nice touch on this guy - and he has eyewhites, instead of the black splotches on Pecos. Interesting how each model differs in execution.

Next, here's the mini Brass Hat!



I'd thought the mini Brass Hat models would have that hint of blue interference in the paint the way the Trads did, considering Breyer's attention to detail with these mini-mes, but I guess it wasn't to be. He looks nice, though - but the mold looks like it could stand to be a tiny bit bigger. He's a bit smaller than other Stablemates molds, proportion-wise - or maybe it just looks like he is, since he has so much more detail than the older Stablemates like the G2s. Either way, though, he looks nice in bay!

Next, let's take a look at Mini All Glory!



See what I mean? The G2 Morgan looks positively blobby compared to mini Brass Hat. I don't know what Breyer is doing to make their new molds so small (trying to save on plastic?) but it's getting more and more noticeable. Mini All Glory looks good, though; I don't have the Trad version of him, though, so I can't really compare the two.

Lastly, here's Sarge!



Sorry for the blurry photo yet again. Now, there have been reports that some of the Sarges had unicorn horns, but I'm sad to say mine wasn't one of the horned ones. We haven't heard anything from Breyer as to how many unicorn Sarges there are; maybe someone could ask Stephanie about it next year. I'm sure it probably happened on purpose, but maybe not - wouldn't they have announced the quantity of the unicorns if that were the case? Oh well. He does look good in color-shift paint, if a bit similar to the blue unicorn chase piece at first glance. Maybe someday I'll find one at our local Cracker Barrel so I can do a comparison!

So, those are all my new additions from this year's Breyerfest. Not pictured: Nobel II, Koh-i-Noor, the copper chase Django, glossy Mr. Chips and a customized nail polish Stablemate Alborozo. That's a lot of new models! And I have to figure out how I'm going to fit them all on my shelves...just as soon as I can get my photo tent set back up so I can photograph them all. I had to move it to clear some space in the house and it's currently buried under a bunch of empty boxes I haven't gotten rid of yet. Someday I'll get that set up! In the meantime, I'll go back to waiting for Hamilton, and the next Stablemate Club release, and whatever else Breyer has cooked up for us...

Featured Model - 8/3/2019, Ahote

Hello 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...Ahote!



This guy was a special run for Breyerfest 2002. He's item #710202 and was a run of 1200 on the Silver mold sculpted by Kathleen Moody.

The theme for Breyerfest 2002 was Spirit of the West, so this Silver made a good addition to the lineup. Black tobiano with a medicine hat is always a striking color, and it's even more so on Silver! The mold was pretty popular back then, so I'm sure he sold out quickly - even though 1200 is still a fairly large run size. Of course, the mold still is pretty popular - see the $10,000 auction model at Breyerfest for proof! He'd have been the talk of the event if he hadn't been overshadowed by the $22,000 Alborozo...but I digress. I do think Silver's popularity has faded a little bit of late, but clearly not that much.

Where will we see Silver next? He's had quite the resurgence since going on hiatus back in 2010 - he's been a web special twice, was used at Breyerfest twice this year (Rico and the auction model), and was the 2017 Limited Edition model, as Liberty. He's already been the Halloween Horse, too. Maybe he'll eventually be the Holiday Horse? I'm kind of surprised he hasn't been used for that already, honestly. Breyer's next Collector Event should be coming up next year - maybe he'll show up there? He's probably more likely to get a web special, if Breyer is okay with him appearing in the Big Cat series and the Wildlife series. Or maybe Breyer will surprise us all and he'll get a regular run release? I'd be okay with that.

New Arrivals: Toe Tapper, Arya, Mini Pecos and Andante

Getting back to the New Arrivals, let's take a look at Toe Tapper!



This cute little guy is a good match for his Trad-size counterpart! I still think his color was a little too on-the-nose, but I'm not going to complain too much - it's not like the color patterns on raffle models get reused very often.

Next, here's Arya!



 Sorry for the poor photo (again). Was I the only one that was annoyed they used a Game of Thrones name for this model, or is it just me? Maybe I'm still bitter about season 8. That's probably it. Anyway, mini Areia is also a nice representation of the Trad counterpart, though he was male and I don't think he had a pearly mane and tail. I do like this new mold more than I thought I would, though! And I bought the Paint-Your-Own Unicorn version with my Dazzle and Razzle, so now I have the blank version in my collection as well. I'm looking forward to seeing what else they do with her in the future!

Next, here's Mini Pecos:



It's good to see the poor Mirado mold getting some more love this year. He'd languished unused since his initial 2017 release, but now he's gotten two new releases in the same year! Three, if you count both the matte and glossy versions of Fiero. I really like him as Pecos, too! It's hard to go wrong with a pearly mostly-white horse, though. I just wish his eyes had been done better - they're just black splotches. Oh well.

Lastly, let's take a look at Andante!



This guy was a hot commodity - I feel like I should probably feel lucky I even got my hands on it. Reports conflicted on how quickly these guys sold out, but I made sure to pick up my set as early as I could on Friday (it's easier to get the ones you want if you go for all four). I was able to resell Chiffon almost immediately, so it was a win-win situation! And I'm not terribly likely to ever own the prize model this guy is based on, so I'm glad I was able to get him. He's very pretty! He'll look good on the shelf next to my Darwin - though I'll admit I'll be glad when they release this mold in an actual Lipizzaner color. Maybe we'll get some new RR Stablemates next year? I hope so - as long as this one isn't the chase piece. I'm totally over the blind bags!

That's all I have for today. I'm almost done with New Arrivals post - only one more left to go! Hopefully I can get that out on Sunday!

Breyerfest Closeups: Hamilton

Greetings, readers! We're taking a break from New Arrivals today to take a look at the new Hamilton mold (2019 Premier Club #2) that was debuted at Breyerfest a couple of weeks ago. Since it's now August, these guys should be available for purchase anytime, so I wanted to get the photos up before they become old news. So, say hello to the spectacular Hamilton!



Any ambivalence I had about this mold is now gone - he has to stay at my house forever! I really like him. This was an actual plastic model on display, rather than a resin master, so we can be confident the production models will look just like this!



I especially love his head and face, and his flappy mane!



It's definitely high time we had a new Traditional Saddlebred mold, and I even take back everything I said about him being too similar to Mason. Breyer's new sculpts just keep getting better and better!



I do hope these models don't end up being tippy - according to the writeup, the tail is supposed to act as a counterbalance, so hopefully that works the way it's supposed to. Gah, I can't wait to get mine!



I hope Breyer doesn't make us wait too long to order these. I can't remember the last time I was this excited for a new release, except for the 30th Anniversary Stablemate set. Crossing my fingers that we get to order him soon!