The promised sneak peek and Lanin!

 Greetings, readers! Well, the promised prince sneak peek arrived on the blog today! Behold: 

Wow, I think I'm going to like it! It looks like the pink stripes are color-shifting to purple and blue? I love it already! It's giving Lisa Frank vibes (look at me all hip and cool, using the young people's lingo. How do you do, fellow kids?). Anyway, the background green/yellow color is interesting - it looked green when I saw it on my phone, but it does look more yellow when viewing it on my desktop screen. Unfortunately, I have no guesses as to what mold it is, and neither does the rest of the Internet, apparently. It kind of looks like it could be some type of Moody muscling? Maybe the Nokota? He's never been a Breyerfest special run, other than Pop the Cork. We need a decorator Nokota at Breyerfest! 

In other news, the first release in this year's Stablemates Club, Lanin, is now available for purchase! 

I'm not sure what to think about a roached-mane Mirado, so I'm excited for him to get here! Let's hope it doesn't take too long. 

Wild Things and January Collector Club Newsletter!

 Another exciting reveal today - the online-only Stablemate for Breyerfest! Behold, Wild Things:

It's a pretty color on Charleston, but nothing I need. They increased the quantity to 3,000 this year, also - which I suspect they'll regret later. A big part of the reason Buggy sold out last year was because Django's popularity is red-hot - Charleston, not so much. But I guess we'll see when Breyerfest rolls around! 

The blog post says this is the penultimate Breyerfest reveal, so we're only getting one more reveal - or are we? We haven't seen the plush or the decorator special run, so that would be two. But the blog says it's the final Breyerfest Limited Edition model reveal," so the plush could still be coming. In the meantime, there's another sneak peek happening tomorrow (why aren't they just doing the reveal instead, since tickets go on sale Feb. 1). So we'll have to check back tomorrow! 

In other news, this month's Collector Club newsletter also arrived today! If you're a member, check your email for more. There's an informative article about web special themes, photo show results, a giveaway of a Goji model, and this...rather meh sneak peek: 

A St. Patrick's Day plush? Cool, I guess, but I was hoping for a model sneak peek. Maybe next month! 

Sneak peeks and Reykjavic!

 Well, there's another sneak peek on the blog today - check it out! 

The prevailing thought on the Interwebs is that this is some kind of Goffert, but I have no idea either way. Let's hope we don't have to wait too long to find out! 

There's also an announcement for this year's Best Customs Contest, with some much-needed updates to the rules (yay!). Unfortunately, there are also more dumb song titles as names for the prize models, so the less said about that, the better. 

In other exciting news, my Reykjavic model came today! Huzzah! 

What a beauty! He's not as yellow as he looks in the photos. 

He's basically flaw-free, too, which is great. A couple of minor issues, but nothing really bad.

I love his blue eyes, too! He's beautiful. 

On a small side note, it was announced today that all the tickets for Spokes and Spurs have been sold, so we can all stop obsessively checking our emails. Better luck next time, I guess.

Featured JAH - 1/27/2024, Sept/Oct 1997

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured JAH! This week's issue is Sept/Oct 1997 and it's in large part dedicated to Cigar - let's get rolling! 

On the front cover, Cigar thunders to victory in an unknown race. On the back cover, the Race Horse mold returns from 30 years of disuse for a JAH special run. Not sure if this one sold out quite as fast as previous JAH special runs. 

In the Editor's Desk, Stephanie pretends to be someone from the Old West alongside an unknown man. On page 3, she talks about her experiences filming this Breyer TV commercial, along with this one and this one.  

On page 4-5 is the rest of the article on making the TV commercials. I desperately wanted to see these commercials when I was a horse-crazy kid, but never saw them (probably because we didn't get RFD-TV in those days, or any other stations they may have aired on). 



After skipping an article about horse racing, a "Know Your Breed" about the Trakehner, some other random stuff and another article about photo-etched buckles, we come to an article about the Misty of Chincoteague statue at the Beebe ranch. I'm pretty sure this statue or one extremely similar to it is now located at the KHP. On page 13 we see a Blast from the Past featuring Halla, and a Just About...Breyer Animals! featuring the Buffalo. 

On page 14 we have the Sears and JCP special runs for 1997 (I had that Jumping Horse at one point), and page 15 has the Breyerfest '97 recap! Huzzah! I always enjoy reading old Breyerfest recaps - it helps get me through the sad non-Breyerfest months of the year. 

On page 16-17 we see some nice color photos from Breyerfest '97, including a great head shot of Bold (and an autograph line for Darlene Geiser that must have been absolute hell in the Kentucky heat and sun). 

After skipping an article about pedigree assignment, the centerfold (another photo of Cigar) and the Breyerfest 1997 live show results, on page 24-25 we come to this great article about Cigar, the wonder horse of the '90s. 

On page 26-27 is the conclusion of the Cigar article. 



After skipping a poem about Cigar, the Horse Trader ads and the Breyer jr. content, we come to the end of this week's issue with the Vintage Point article about the Black Beauty mold. I think I wanted Dream Weaver back in the day, but never got one (and don't think I've ever had any color of Black Beauty in my collection; that cross-canter is just too weird). 

That's it for this week - check back next week for Nov/Dec 1997! 

Sneak peek revealed!

 Well, looks like the Internet was right - yesterday's sneak peek was one of the models in this year's Best of Breyerfest set! Behold: 

They're mini versions of raffle models - cute! They all look nicely-executed, though the mini Bonheur/Flowers looks a little plain next to the other four. Fortunately, I don't need any of these, so I won't need to bother with this set this year. Good for my pocketbook! 

There isn't much more Breyerfest stuff left to reveal, but we'll get to see something on Monday, according to the blog. Huzzah! 

Breyerfest sneak peek and a new holiday set

 Well, I was right - there's a new sneak peek on the blog! Check it out: 

Something glossy, possibly bay or chestnut? The conclusion online is that it may be a sneak peek of something from the Best of Breyerfest set. Looks like a Moody mold, maybe? Guess we'll find out tomorrow. 

In the meantime, there's a new set for the 2024 Holiday Collection! 

I don't think it's on the website yet, but it's cute! Good to see another release on the Haflinger, and the doll with the stuffed bear is so cute! 

Breyerfest crystal and Reyjkavik!

 Well, we got another Breyerfest reveal again today, readers - I'm really surprised it wasn't another sneak peek! I suppose we'll get two of them tomorrow or Friday and then have to wait all weekend to see what they are. Anyway, here's this year's crystal model! 

It's the Fighting Stallion! I wasn't expecting him to become a crystal, but he fits. Nothing I need, but there are a lot of fighter enthusiasts out there who'll be happy to add a crystal one to their collections! 

In other news, the Reyjkavic drawing happened today! Is it okay if I call him Rey instead? That name is really hard to type quickly. Anyway, none of my accounts were drawn for him...but my husband's was! Woohoo! The Falhofnir conga remains mostly complete - some small comfort after not being drawn for Spokes and Spurs. I can't wait for him to get here! Congrats to all the other winners out there! 

It's a quagga!

 Well, I'm pleasantly surprised today - I thought we'd get another sneak peek on the Breyerfest blog, but we got a full-on reveal instead! Behold:

Ooh, a new release on the Zebra! My conga is pleased. I wasn't expecting to get a new release on the Zebra for this Breyerfest, so I'm happy about that. I guess this won't be as cheap of a Breyerfest for me as I was hoping, because this makes four special run models I have to have (possibly five if the surprise is something I want), and I also need three of the Limited Editions so far. Maybe I'll have to buy a VIP ticket after all. Food for thought, I guess. 

As for the name (I Will Survive), clearly the Gloria Gaynor song is what they were going for, but this is the song I thought of instead. And it still kinda fits! 

On a small side note, waitlist emails went out for Spokes and Spurs yesterday. Nothing on my accounts, but be sure to check your accounts and spam folders just in case. 

The Phoenix rises again!

 Exciting news today, readers! The Classic-scale Limited Edition for Breyerfest was revealed today - behold! 

Ooh, I like him! And I like how the mane forms the phoenix's wing. I like the blue contrast on his lower legs and feet, too. 

Unfortunately, his design is drawing a lot of comparisons to ketchup and mustard and trips to Flavortown (edit: and Flamin' Hot Cheetos!). I saw the blog post first and didn't really have a lot of McDonald's thoughts, but it is funny to see some of these comparisons (someone else said they were going to name theirs Hot Dog). Maybe the yellow should have been more golden to avoid those comparisons? Either way, I still want to buy one. And while I'm not thrilled with the song name choice for this one, I don't hate it either (it's one of those songs that's easy to tune out. Sorry, Pink). 

In other news, the Valentine's Day plush has been revealed! 

What a cutie! I wonder if it'll sell out? 

In other, other news, most of the 2024 new releases are now available to order on the website. I'm tempted to order an Atlanta and Legend, but don't really want to spend the money right now. They'll be available all year, so I'm not in a huge hurry to buy. 

That's it for now - but it looks like there's going to be something new on the Breyerfest blog tomorrow! Probably another impossible-to-guess hint, but I guess we'll see. 

Featured JAH - 1/20/2024, July/Aug 1997

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Model! This week's issue is July/Aug 1997, evoking feelings of warm and sunny weather...but not enough, because it's really cold here! Let's get started.

On the front cover, a handsome Percheron struts his stuff. On the back cover, two Belgians look photogenic. 

In the Editor's Desk photo, we see Stephanie riding a Clydesdale - not something you see every day. On page 3 we have the results of a small collector survey asking what their first Breyer model was, their favorite model and the reason why it's their favorite. Read it and see how many names you recognize! On a side note: I've mentioned this before, but my first Breyer was the Ara-Appaloosa Foal, which I still have. I have too many favorite models to narrow it down to just one, though. 

On page 4-5 we have a momentous discovery - an In-Between Mare is found in the wild! Technically I guess it was discovered in 1994, according to the article. There are still only a few old In-Between Mares in the hobby - I saw the alabaster and the appaloosa one at Breyerfest Live in 2013 (unless there are more than one of each color,  but I don't think multiples have ever been found). 

On page 8-9 we have a Brushstrokes article about Carol Herden, sculptor of the Classic Cutting Horse and Cow along with Scamper, Hollywood Dun It and Wahoo King. 

After skipping an article about painting dapple greys, on page 12-13 we have an article about vintage Breyer colors (decorator and otherwise).

On page 14 are more photos from the Collector's Rainbow article, and page 15 has a cute story about a model horse that the owner just couldn't get rid of! 

On page 16-17 we have the rest of the alabaster Rearing Stallion that just wouldn't go away, and page 17 also reveals the winner of the JAH Popular Vote from a few issues back. 

On page 18 we have a "Know Your Breed" with various facts about Arabians, along with the rest of the Collector's Rainbow article. On page 19 is the Blast From the Past featuring the red roan G1 Drafter, and a Just About...Breyer Animals featuring the Walking Hereford Bull. 

After skipping an article about the Budweiser Clydesdales (I figure there's plenty of information on them to be found on the Internet these days), we have an important PSA about breathing holes on models. In addition, I frequently see people asking why the air hole is in such a visible place such as the nose or mouth, when it could be somewhere more conspicuous. While I've never seen confirmation anyway, I always figured the location was in an easy-to-see place so someone doing QC could visually confirm the hole was there without having to pick the model up, flip it over, then put it back down. 

After skipping another How-To article, breyer jr. and Horse Trader, we (sadly) come to a death notice for Iron Metal Chief, who was supposed to have been a guest at Breyerfest 1997. The Who Am I? features what looks like a bay Western Horse, and page 39 has the beginning of this issue's Vintage Point article, this time featuring the Clydesdale Foal. 

Page 40-41 hold the rest of the Vintage Point article! Anyone out there know whatever happened to that clear Clydesdale Foal? Is it hidden away in someone's collection somewhere? It's not listed on IDYB. The photo is credited to a Ketchuck - presumably Shirley Ketchuck, who passed away a number of years ago, so her collection must have gone to someone. Maybe we'll see it pop up again someday.

 That brings us to the end of this week's issue. Check back next week for Sept/Oct 1997 and the wrap-up for Breyerfest 1997! 

Another SR reveal, and the first web special of the year!

 Well, we have our reveal of yesterday's mysterious eye - say hello to Survivor and Fighter! 

Ooh, what a pretty pair! And technically they still have pop songs for names, but at least they're shorter and not pulled directly from song lyrics. 

More importantly, I love the rich bay color on the mare! The foal actually looks like she started out darker and will gray out over time, which isn't always the case with Breyer's foal colors. They're great! Hope I can get my hands on them. 

In other exciting news, we have a new theme for web specials! Our new theme is Exotic Destinations, and here's the first entry in the series! 

Hubba hubba! What a handsome boy. I gotta have him! They made 600 of these guys, so let's hope my luck is in and I get drawn, since I lost out on Spokes and Spurs. Good luck to everyone entering! 

A sneak peek AND a reveal? How bizarre

 Greetings, readers! Well, lots of exciting things to report today, but I'll start with today's sneak peek! Behold, a poorly-painted eye:

No idea what this is, and the Internets yield nothing particularly definitive, though there's some speculation that it's a Stablemate due to the, uh, not-so-great paint job on that eye. Maybe it's something from the Best of Breyerfest set for this year? It looks like a mini Julep, although I don't think she had a blue eye, so probably not. Fortunately, we'll find out tomorrow! 

Today's next exciting reveal was: a revamp of the ticket process! The ticket books of yesteryear, a concept only a bare two years old, are no more! Breyerfest tickets are now digital, with QR codes to scan to get into the park, pick up models, etc. More information here. The reaction on the Interwebs seems to be mixed-to-positive, with a fair amount of anger regarding the fact that trading model tickets seems to be a thing of the past due to not having any way to validate whether a QR code has been used ahead of time. So beware of scammers, and make sure you really trust your pickup person this year if you're not able to attend the event yourself. I'm mostly ambivalent to this change, and a bit sad that the ticket books are already going away after only two years - they were pretty cool! I'm also irked that Breyer is passing on the processing fees to us even though Breyerfest parking is free this year and they're presumably saving a bunch of money not having to print tickets or provide wristbands. I guess we'll see if it works out - hopefully things go relatively smoothly, but then again this is Breyer we're talking about. So it'll probably be a disaster on Friday morning and then more-or-less functional by Saturday morning. 

Lastly, though we didn't get to see the result of the above sneak peek, we got a great reveal of something else instead! Behold, Blue Zeus! 

It's great to see Fireheart in this color! About a year and a half ago I suggested that Breyer do a portrait of Ares from Return to Freedom on the Fireheart mold (he's pretty much the same color as Blue Zeus, and has a similar story), so it's great to see pretty much the same color on him! He's the online Limited Edition (equivalent to Studebaker last year), and the mold is much more popular than the Shagya Arabian, so I suspect I'm going to have to be quick ordering him (and perhaps do it back at the Clarion, where the Internet may be more reliable...maybe). What a beauty! 

I like the white spot on his neck! He's so pretty. Looks like they're making 3,000 of this guy, so he shouldn't be TOO hard to get ahold of, but then again...Fireheart is very popular, so I don't think it'll take long to sell out. I'll have to make sure to be ready as soon as he becomes available to buy! 

That's it for today, but I'll definitely be haunting the Breyerfest blog tomorrow to see what that blue eye belongs to! 

Ooh, pretty!

 Well, we have a reveal of yesterday's sneak peek, and the sleuths on the Internets were right on the money! Say hello to Gascon the Great! 

What a beauty! Cancion looks great in gray. Here's his other side, for bonus pretty:

I love him! And since this is a store special/Limited Edition, I don't have to put up with a stupid song title name for him! Wins all around. 

In slightly sadder news, the emails for Spokes and Spurs went out today, and it doesn't look like I was selected. I was really hoping to be drawn for this one, but I guess it wasn't to be. Congratulations to the winners, though! I can't wait to see the boutique models. Guess I'll be over here hoping I get drawn from the waitlist! 

Another clue, and Spokes and Spurs emails postponed

 Greetings, readers! We have another nigh-incomprehensible clue today on the Breyerfest Blog - behold! 

Fortunately, the more-astute hobbyists on the Internets have applied their magic to this image, and prevailing opinion is that it's a white Cancion! Ooh, I'm excited already. We'll find out what it is tomorrow! 

We'll also find out the winners of the Spokes and Spurs tickets drawing tomorrow - Breyer posted a notice today that the winners would be notified tomorrow. Crossing my fingers that I was drawn! 

Rolling my eyes some more

 Well, we have two exciting reveals today, readers! Well, one of them is pretty groan-inducing; the other one is exciting, though. Firstly, I'll start with the reveal of this year's surprise! Excuse me while I roll my eyes so hard they get stuck that way...

I suspect my soon-to-be-5-year-old daughter will love this theme. The rest of us, not so much...But anyway. According to the blog post, this is a mare mold, so what are the possibilities? Let's take a look at IDYB. Here's a list of molds I think are possible:

Hermosa (not popular enough?)
Justadream
Bluegrass Bandit (another gaited mold?)
Croi (was volunteer model last year, but the same thing happened with Roxy)
Carina
Marabella (seems like a long shot)
Forever Saige
Ruffian 
Yasmin (also seems like a long shot)
Firefly (too bleh?)
Strapless (already in the RR line?)
Weather Girl (the most stereotypical choice - please no!)
Wixom (too big?)

I wouldn't be too upset to see it be Forever Saige, simply because her sassy headset would go great with this theme (rolling my eyes again), but I'm leaning more toward Justadream, simply because of the wide variety of head/mane/tail/finish options. We're talking a mix-and-match of epic proportions, here. More importantly, she really hasn't been used for a wide variety of attainable releases. I think we can do away with the old "surprise mold never appears at the previous Breyerfest, not even in the live auction" rule now that it's been broken twice, and (other than last year) Justadream's last Breyerfest appearance was in 2016, so I think she'd make a good surprise. We'll have to see what else is revealed in the coming weeks! 

Speaking of other things being revealed, we also got to see another special run today! Meet Edge of Glory: 

Finally, a song I don't hate! I'm still not into the songs-as-names, though. But anyway - this guy is beautiful! He definitely just shot to the top of my (very short) list. Look at the details on him! He's like a cross between an old-style resist paint job and a new one with dapples! And I like the (almost) white mane and tail, too. I love him! Maybe I'll have to buy a VIP ticket after all...

That's it for today - I hope we get more reveals tomorrow! 

Featured JAH - 1/13/2024, May/June 1997

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured JAH! This week we're covering May/June 1997, so let's get started! 

On the front cover, a vaulting team does vaulting things. On the back cover, Toby the Vaulting Horse makes his Breyer debut. 

On page 2 is Stephanie's Editor's Desk article, featuring a photo of Stephanie with Orren Mixer and Shining Spark, the latter of whom died in 2021. On page 3 is an update about Breyerfest 1997. 

After skipping an article about vaulting, on page 8-9 we have this fun little story about the "adventures" of a JAH special run model. I really liked this story and wanted to get my own "Grey Ghost" model, but never did. 

I don't usually scan how-to articles because I figure they're probably pretty outdated compared to what we have now, but I did scan this one on pages 10-11 because I had a Stampede Riggins rider doll I performed this "plastic surgery" on at the time this was published. Unfortunately, I don't think these alterations were intended for a doll that was going to be played with later, and Mr. Riggins lost one of his lower legs later as a result. I've been trying to sell him for years, but no one seems to want a one-legged rider doll for some reason. 

On page 14-15 we have an article about Toby the Vaulting Horse. 

On page 16 is an article about choosing LSQ models, and on page 17 is the Blast From the Past (featuring the Little Bits Saddlebred) and the Just About...Breyer Animals featuring the woodgrain Longhorn Bull. 

On page 20-21 is an article by everyone's favorite Breyerfest volunteer coordinator, Robin Briscoe, about showing in collector's classes. Check out the bottom photo for some incredible test models! 

On page 22-23 is the rest of the collector's class article, as well as a news blurb. In the beginning of 1997, the company very ambitiously decided to paint detailed irises (bi-eyes) on all of the models in the current lineup. By the middle part of 1997, the painters evidently rebelled against this and the panting of bi-eyes on most models was discontinued (most of them looked like snake eyes anyway, so it wasn't a big loss). I had a few models from this period with the bi-eyes and can testify that they did look like snake eyes. 

The Vintage Point article for this issue features Sham! Ah, the sadness of running out of shelf space. I had a lot of these in my collection, and so many of them were beautiful, including Best Choice, whose paint job I thought was stunning. I also had the bay pinto JCP special run (not released yet when this magazine was printed), which used the same painting mask as Tseminole Wind. He was beautiful too! I was also partial to the golden bay from the Arabian Stallion and Frisky Foal set, though I never owned it. Other Shams I had included the original bay with wheat ear and heel spot, a later one without both, the fleabitten grey and a few others, but sold them all off for shelf space. Sometimes I regret it, but not enough to try to get any of them back. 

That brings us to the end of this week's issue. Check back next week for July/Aug 1997!