Looking to the Future: 2021 Vintage Club

 Hello, readers! Welp, it's time for some more bad Vintage Club predictions. At least I'm getting this done earlier than I did last year, eh? I blame the video games. But anyway - in this post I'll attempt to predict which molds will be used in next year's Vintage Club. Some of this post is copy/pasted from previous posts on the matter, so if it seems familiar, that's why. 

I'm not sure if this photo is even relevant any more, since it's so old, but I'll post it anyway:




So far, club members have seen the following models from the photo above:

Amigo, the charcoal Adios;
Halo, the Appaloosa-Performance-Horse-colorway on the Stretch Morgan;
Commander, the smoke Five Gaiter;
Denim (Diamonds?), the Copenhagen pinto Shetland Pony;
and Kiowa, the Indian Pony pinto on the Jumping Horse mold.
Also, the glossy palomino Semi-Rearing Mustang was one of the losers in the vote that gave us Tanner.

Molds that appear in the photo, but were used in the VC in other colors, include the Running Stallion, Man o' War, Quarter Horse Gelding, the Belgian (twice), Semi-Rearing Mustang, Fighting Stallion (twice), Running Foal (with Mare), the Western Prancing Horse, the Grazing Mare (with Foal), the Western Horse and the Thoroughbred Mare and Foal.

These are the vintage Breyer molds that haven't been used in the club yet:

Appaloosa Performance Horse, Black Beauty, the Black Stallion, Bolya/Halla, Brighty, Buckshot, the Donkey, El Pastor, the FAM and FAF, the Foundation Stallion, the Fury Prancer, Galiceno, Haflinger, the Hanoverian, Justin Morgan, the Lying Down Foal, Midnight Sun, Morganglanz, Phantom Wings, Phar Lap, the POA, possibly the PAF, Quarter Horse Yearling, the Race Horse, Saddlebred Weanling, the Scratching Foal, Sea Star, Smoky, the Stock Horse Stallion, Mare and Foal, Stud Spider, the Trakehner and the Western Pony.

For reason that should be obvious by now, I think Midnight Sun, the Donkey, Sea Star and Phantom Wings can all be eliminated from contention, and I don't think we'll ever see the Race Horse or the Fury Prancer show up either.

I'm completely at a loss as to what to predict for next year, since the Western Horse finally showed up in the club. Seems like the trend for the last couple of years has been to use a newer mold in the lineup and as the optional fifth model, so for those I'm going to predict Forever Saige in the normal lineup (as a nod to her resemblance to Buckshot), and True North as the optional model. As for the other three releases...it could really be anything. I'm going to go with Justin Morgan and the Hanoverian as the normal releases and the FAM/FAF as the gambler's choice. I also wouldn't mind seeing Adios again in a fresh new color. Are those good predictions? I guess we'll find out. 

As for the Stablemate, they seem to be alternating between G1 and newer molds, so I'm going to guess the G2 Morgan for randomness's sake. 

Featured Model - 8/29/20, 1998 Breyerfest Auction Adios

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Model, the weekly blog event where I pick a model, provide stats on it and give commentary about it! Following from last week's "modification" of Featured Model, this is (again) a model I don't own, but would like to find someday! I give you...the 1998 Breyerfest auction Adios in glossy Copenhagen pinto! 

Photo courtesy of Identify Your Breyer.

While the photo on IDYB isn't the greatest, I picked this model because I remember him surfacing for sale a few years ago - on eBay, I think. There was some speculation that he was another, similar test - not this one specifically - although it looked like the markings matched up pretty well. Since the photo is so low-res, it was hard to be sure, but I figured it was probably the same one. Since this particular model was auctioned off more than 20 years ago, there was a good chance it was more-or-less lost to the mists of time - but it was definitely cool to see him pop up after so much time had passed. Reminds me of the time Carpe Noctis showed up at the Clarion during Breyerfest for less than $100 (!) - I think that was in 2016. (I can't verify his actual price, as I heard about him secondhand - if I'd found an auction model for that cheap, I'd have snapped him up for myself. Talk about the one that got away!) I'm excited to see what other old auction models start to resurface in the future! 

As for Adios, I feel like he's due for another release soon. He did get the extremely limited Weston release last year for the live show program, but I think he needs a new, wider release. Maybe a new regular run? He's still never been a web special, so maybe he'll get that treatment. Probably not this year, though. But hope springs eternal! 

August Collector Club newsletter!

 Hey, we got the August Collector Club newsletter, and it's not the last day of the month! How refreshing. Well, first things first - there's a fun article about the origins of clearware, featuring this droolworthy photo: 

Breyer's photography usually leaves a lot to be desired, but don't those four models all look spectacular together? But wow, look at this buffalo test model! 

Looks like Breyer's interpretation of the Red Bull. Super cool! 

There's also a new giveaway in the newsletter - a glossy decorator Dark Horse Surprise model from Breyerfest 2018! 

Collectors can enter for him once per account. The deadline is 9/13/20 at midnight! 

Lastly, here's a new sneak peek! 

According to the Internets, this is the Corazon/Andalusian Foal mold. Interesting...I wonder what the white stripe on the front is supposed to be? Looks a bit like a bongo. I can't see them issuing a foal by itself for a web special, so maybe it's a matching mom-and-baby bongo set with Hermosa? She was just used at Breyerfest, though. I suppose they could match the foal with a different mare, it would just be weird. Well, I guess we'll find out soon! 

Walmart Stablemates finally found!

 Greetings, readers! I can't remember if I ever uploaded photos of these Walmart Stablemates from a few months back, but I finally found them at one of our local Walmarts, so here they are! To start with, the liver chestnut mini Brishen: 

He certainly is handsome! Next, here's the palomino Mirado: 

Mirado definitely looks good in palomino. 

There's also a pinto G4 Driving Horse, but I didn't buy one. Not sure why I didn't just take a photo of an actual one in its package while I was still at the store, but whatever.

I think there are still more carded Stablemates showing up in Walmarts now, but I can't remember what they are at the moment...so I guess I'll have to keep haunting the local stores in case I can find them, along with the new series of blind bags. Stay tuned! 

Featured Model - 8/22/20, 2019 Breyerfest OOAK Forever Saige

 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. To be honest, I've been getting a bit tired of doing this every week, so I'm going to try something new. Today I'm going to feature a model I don't own, but would really, really like to. I'll do it this way for a couple of weeks and see if it helps to pull me out of the Featured Model slump I've been in for the last few weeks. So, to start off this new version of Featured Model right, let's take a look at the 2019 Breyerfest Auction Forever Saige! 

Photo by Breyer. 

As I mentioned above, this is the 2019 Breyerfest Auction Mustang Mare in a "Fanciful Dark Bay Splash Pinto with White Zebra Stripes." She was done on the Forever Saige/Mustang Mare mold sculpted by Kristina Lucas Francis. 

I don't know why, but this is probably my favorite auction model of all time. Why? I don't know. I like splash pintos, and I like the zebra stripes a lot (although they look more blue than white to me). I'll probably kick myself until the end of time for not attending the live auction last year, because she sold for a low enough price that I could have afforded her, and she's since been sold to someone else for a price I definitely won't ever be able to afford unless I win the lottery. Anyway, she's just beautiful to me, and if they ever do this color again on something I'll be first in line to buy it! 

Forever Saige has her fair share of detractors, as well as admirers. I put myself in the latter camp because I like her sassy look. She's definitely the epitome of the "boss mare" at the front of the herd, deciding where everyone goes. Unfortunately, she does have that long neck that a lot of people don't like - and I still think Breyer missed an opportunity not using her as the giraffe web special last year. Haha! Well...maybe that would have been a little too on-the-nose. But I definitely would have tried harder to get one if it had been on Saige rather than Lonesome Glory. 

Where will we see Forever Saige next? The last time we saw her was last year's fairly-successful Bisbee release. She hasn't been a web special yet, so maybe she'll get an animal release this year? That would be cool, though I maintain she should have been done as a giraffe. Ha, maybe they'll do her up as a zebra instead? I could see it happening, since the Zebra mold is a little on the small side. I wouldn't mind seeing another regular run release on her, too. Either way, I hope she gets a new release soon! 

Vermeer is here!

 Good news, everyone! My Vermeer is here, and I have photos! Behold! 

Overall I'm very pleased with this guy! He's beautifully painted, I love his pearly mane and tail and best of all, he's mostly flaw-free. 

I was a bit worried that the paint job would have a lot of flaws, considering what we got with this year's Slainte Surprise, but they must have put a little more effort into this one. 

I included this photo because I really like him from the front. Most models look really goofy from this angle, but Vermeer manages to make even this one look good! 

This mold has an incredible amount of detail, from the wrinkles on his neck to the wrinkles on his lips and other muzzle and facial details. Plus his detailed paint job on top of that! He's great. 

Quality-wise, he's pretty good - there's something going on with his shoulder there, and he has a few other very minor boo-boos, but nothing major. I'm excited to see what Breyer does with him next year! 

Tractor Supply special runs!

 So the photos of the Tractor Supply special runs have escaped into the wild! I don't have any photos I can use yet, but someone who works at a Tractor Supply shared this year's planogram. So, the special runs are as follows: 

Salidago - dunalino Boomerang
Lapwai - bay minimal blanket Appaloosa Marabella
Eclipse - black pinto Emerson
and a white/gray Mighty Muscle/Brabant with a cute little TSC blanket! 

There's also a new Mystery Foal Surprise set with a gray Darley and what looks like a buckskin...pinto? G2 Saddlebred. Exciting stuff! I hope our local stores start getting their stuff set up soon, because I'm most excited about the new Mystery Foal Surprise set. Of the others, the only one I need is the Emerson, so hopefully I can get my hands on him too. Although I'm a little irked that they used the black pinto color scheme on him when Travis happened not that long ago...oh well. 

Featured Model - 8/16/2020, Glossy Dunalino Nayati

 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...the glossy dunalino Nayati! 

This guy was my favorite of the three colors, so I had to pick him. He's item #712344 on the Rearing Mustang/American Dream mold sculpted by Maggie Bennett. 

Dunalino just looks so good on this mold! He's deliciously shiny and has tons of great shading. He has all the details you'd expect for a dun, like leg barring and a dorsal stripe, but I love how much shading he has in his mane and tail. He's just gorgeous! 

American Dream seems to be a fairly popular new Classics mold, so I wonder where he'll pop up in the future. He makes a great replacement for the Breyer-Wahoo-That-Never-Was-Because-Stone-Got-There-First. Maybe he'll get another RR release? Barring that, I wouldn't be surprised if he gets some kind of decorator release at Breyerfest next year - maybe a glossy rainbow pinto like Prism? Ooh, that would be great! 

Last of the New Arrivals: WH Topgun and Reggie!

 Greetings, readers! Time to wrap up the New Arrivals! Here's my Reggie out of his box! 

He doesn't fit into his stand quite right - the metal post in his leg must be misaligned. But I didn't want to take another one out of his box, so I guess this is the one I get. Anyway, he's a nice semi-gloss and has great shading. I'm a little surprised that this is the first time the Show Jumping Warmblood has been done in solid bay, apparently? Well, he's a welcome addition to the collection! 

Well, that's it for New Arrivals this year. I know we're all sad that so many aspects of Breyerfest were truncated this year, but hopefully we can all get back to normal next year. If not - well, at least we have the plastic ponies to comfort us? 

Sultan is now available!

 Wow, that was fast! Sultan, the fourth release in the 2020 Stablemates Club, is available now! 

One wonders why they couldn't release him yesterday with Vermeer. *rolls eyes* Anyway...I managed to presell all three of mine, so I won't be getting him in hand. Looking forward to the Alborozo release in October! 

Vermeer is now available!

 Good news for Premier Club members - Vermeer is now available to order! As a refresher, here's what he looks like: 

Log into your Collector Club account to order. They have a front three-quarter view of him on the website, which...I'm not as much of a fan of. I do like him from the sides, though. I'm excited to see what he looks like in hand!  Although his name makes me think of cheese for some reason. Maybe because it's somewhat similar to paneer? Weird. Anyway, I'm excited to see mine! 

New Arrivals: Cheesecake, Stablemate Set and WH Topgun!

Hello, readers! Featured Model was on hiatus again last week due to real-life events - sorry about that. Well, let's get back to the new arrivals - I'll start with Cheesecake! 

Cheesecake is definitely one of my favorite models from the event. He's just so pretty! It would have been even more cool if he had some pearly attributes, but I know that's a turnoff for some people. If the model is at all similar to the real horse, I can see why they call him Cheesecake. 

Next, here's the Best of Breyerfest Stablemate set! 

This set is just darling! Too bad I don't have any of the full-size models to pose with them. Maybe someday...In the meantime, the mini North Star seems to be especially popular on the secondary market. The mini Viajero and Que Sera Sera will be going down the road, but the other three are great additions to my collection. 

Lastly, let's look at WH Topgun! 

While I do like this guy, I wish the original buckskin/bay Connemara (the regular run) had had some white or something, so it would be easier to tell them apart. There's a reasonable amount of difference between their color...but not enough for my tastes. That said, he's a pretty shade of buckskin if you can forget about the RR version! 

Well, that's all I have for today - hopefully some new releases will come out soon. I'm looking forward to the new Premier Club horse and the next Stablemates Club release! 

New Arrivals: Matte Appy Slainte, Brighid and Beltane

Welcome, everyone! I'm still working through my new Breyerfest arrivals - today I'll be looking at the matte Appy Slainte Surprise and the Brighid and Beltane set. Let's start with the Slainte! 

I was super-happy to be able to trade for a matte Appy Slainte, along with the matte palomino I already featured. The addition of this girl means I'm only missing the glossy Appy to have the full set! Her spots are nice and brown, too  - a lot of these appear black, though the intent was for them to be a bay leopard. She also has a lot of nice pinking! She's chalky, too, although her quality isn't the best - but I was expecting that, honestly. With all the masking it would take to paint this run, it's inevitable that there are some blurred spots/slipped masking. But I'm not complaining - at least I found one! Giselle is definitely pretty as an Appaloosa! 

Next, let's look at Brighid: 

 This set was incredibly popular too, and I feel lucky to have gotten my hands on one. And I love them in these colors! The mare does have some quality issues, but I'm just glad to have gotten her. I've seen one or two sets out there where the masking apparently was flipped, so it'll be interesting to see if those pop up at shows eventually. Let's take a look at Beltane! 

Beltane is a cutie too! I wonder if Breyer will eventually give us another Trad pony foal so he can have someone to play with! I hope so. 

Well, that's all I have for today - tune in later for more new arrivals! 

New Arrivals: Glossy and Matte Palomino Slainte Surprises, Matte Red Roan Pinto Slainte Surprise

More new arrivals today - let's get right back into it with the matte palomino Slainte Surprise! 

Palomino isn't always one of my favorite colors, but I really like this shade of palomino on her! The little belly spots jazz things up a little bit, too. Plus she's chalky! That's a win in my book. These colors are all so nice that it's hard to decide which one I like the best. Let's take a look at the glossy! 

The gloss makes her color pop so much more! I love it. Sommer Prosser outdid herself yet again with these designs! 

Lastly, here's the matte red roan Slainte: 

Look at the roaning on her shoulders and the rest of her body. Doesn't she look like she's made of candy? I love it. Hmm, I think Breyer needs to do a line of candy-themed models. Quick, somebody call Katy Perry! Or...not, I guess. 

That's all I have for today - check back tomorrow for more new arrivals! 

New Arrivals: Boudicca, Matte and Glossy Silver Black Slainte Surprises

Greetings, readers! Let's get back to the new arrivals from Breyerfest! I'll start with Boudicca:



Her design is a little bit odd to be sure, but like I said in my previous post about her, I like how her blue isn't all one shade - it's darker on her back, neck and legs and lighter on the belly, hip and face. If it weren't for the woad, she'd make a nice mate for Alejandro! Maybe someday we'll see a foal that matches. Hey, why doesn't Breyer do family sets anymore? The last one I remember off the top of my head was the Quarter Horse Family in the Vintage Club a few years ago.

Getting back to Boudicca, she was definitely more popular than I thought she would be - or maybe people were so desperate to be able to buy anything at all that they snapped her up? In any case, I'm glad I was able to get one.

Next, let's look at the matte silver black Slainte Surprise!

I've seen a lot of complaining online about her pearly mane and tail, but honestly, I love it! The more pearly the better! There was also a bit of confusion about what her color actually was, until the designer (Sommer Prosser) confirmed on Facebook that it's intended to be silver dapple black. Which is a color we don't see from Breyer very often, so maybe we'll get it again in the future? I hope so. Anyway, it's been hard for me to figure out which Slainte Surprise color I like the best, but this one is definitely up there - but I don't know if I like it better in matte or glossy. Speaking of glossy...



Her color really pops with the gloss, doesn't it? I feel like the silver black is going to be the most popular color going forward, despite the run numbers being the same. She's stunning! I haven't gotten these put onto the shelves with my other Giselle models yet, but I'm looking forward to it! I'm looking forward to seeing them all together!

That's all for today - check back later for more New Arrivals!

New Arrivals: Oak, Ash and Glossy Red Roan Pinto Slainte Surprise

Well, it's been almost a month since Virtual Breyerfest ended, and since we haven't had any exciting new things to talk about in the last few days, I figured it was time to start talking about my Breyerfest purchases. Since we weren't there in person, I don't have as many extras to sell as I normally would have, but that's okay - less work is always a good thing. Anyway, let's get things started with Ash!



He is handsome, as all the Othellos are! He's chalky, and glossy, and a really nice dapple gray - so why doesn't he excite me as much as he should? Probably because Othello has been done in gray so many times before? Maybe if they'd given him black points and darker dapples, to portray a younger gray horse? I don't think he's been used in that shade of dapple gray before. Or a different color completely, because gray has kind of been his signature color? I don't know, maybe I'm asking for too much here. I guess he's only been done in glossy gray once before, and that one is hard to come by. This was also the only Ash I was able to get, and he has some kind of fingerprint or mark on his right flank that I'm a little irked by. Oh well.

Next, here's Oak!

Oak is also quite the looker! I was very pleased with this one, and I'm excited to see what colors they put on the mold in the future. Can you believe the price on that auction model? Oof. This guy didn't have any major flaws that I could see, so he's definitely a keeper in my book. I'm looking forward to putting him on the shelf next to Georg! (And yes, I did finally get my hands on a blue Christmas zebra! Huzzah!)

Lastly, here's the glossy red roan pinto Slainte Surprise!



Red roan is one of my favorite horse colors, so I was excited to see it used on the surprise models. And I love it when they paint roans so they look like they're made out of candy! Mmm, candy. I really should have guessed the surprise was Giselle from the beginning, especially when we got the clues on the live broadcast ("She," a popular mold, not used in a lot of colors previously), but I really wanted the surprise to be on a mold I didn't collect, for financial reasons. Well, hopefully I manage to guess it correctly next year!

That's all I have for today - check back later for more new arrivals! Also, I won't be doing my usual Breyerfest Closeups series this year, since everything was virtual and we didn't really get a lot of sneak peeks in the Collector Club "tent" this year anyway. Maybe next year!

Featured Model - 8/2/20, Decoupage

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...Decoupage!



While deciding who to feature this week, I noticed I'd featured Decoupage's foal, Impressionistic Page, a few years ago, so I decided to finally feature his mother! Decoupage was a Connoisseur model from 2004 along with Impressionistic Page, item #90128. She was a run of 350 pieces on the Susecion mold sculpted by Kathleen Moody.

This is another great paint job for Susecion - I really like the contrast of her dark bay areas with the whites. Her semigloss finish sets her off pretty well, too - I almost wonder what an alternate version of her in black instead of bay would have looked like. Well, maybe someday pigs will fly and I'll win the Design Your Own Breyer silent auction lot and be able to find out! I wouldn't count on it, though.

Susecion is one of those molds you really don't want to look at head-on because of her goofy face...but I love her anyway. She and her foal are so sweet together and they're a great representation of an adorable moment in tine. Will we see them used again anytime soon? Well, I'm still holding out hope that they'll be used as the holiday mare and foal set. We did get a more contemporary set last year (albeit unicorns) with Mira and Antares, so anything is possible. They've been a web special twice, so I wouldn't expect to see them used there again anytime soon. Breyerfest is another possibility, but Breyer has other, more recent mare and foal sets they're more likely to use, so that doesn't seem likely either. I'll keep hoping for a holiday release - maybe a nice dapple gray (for the mare) and foal gray for the foal? That would be pretty cool. Well, whatever their next release is, I hope it's something obtainable!