New Arrivals: Glossy Palomino Pinto, Blue Roan and Decorator Seize the Day Surprises

 Welcome back to another New Arrivals post! I'm fervently waiting for the numbers to be posted re: the Breyerfest special runs - tick tock, Breyer! Any day now...but anyways, let's get into another group of new arrivals! First, the glossy palomino pinto Seize the Day: 

It's funny how the quality varies from model to model. Some of the models I got, like the YOLOs and the matte Seize the Days, were riddled with small flaws, but both of the glossy palomino pinto Seize the Days were pretty much flawless. I'll have to think of a breed for this one and take him to a show! 

Aside from the decorator, the blue roan Seize the Day seems to be the most sought-after color, and it's easy to see why - that color looks great on Totilas! He's definitely among my favorite colors. It's hard to go wrong with a good blue roan. I kinda wish they'd done a glossy version of him, though - imagine how great he'd have been in gloss!  

Lastly for today, here's our glossy decorator! When these were first revealed, I thought they were color-shift blue and purple, but that's not quite the case - they're mostly blue, with purple on the back. But still a really nice color! I like it a lot. I like his silver hooves, too. Definitely the prettiest of the three! But blue is my favorite color, so I may be biased...but anyways. 

That's it for today - tune in again soon for more New Arrivals! 

New Arrivals: Glossy Seize the Day Surprise Glossy Flaxen Liver Chestnut, Dapple Gray and Silver Bay

 Well, I'm back with a rare Sunday post! We have more New Arrivals to go over - I was on a roll with those Seize the Day Surprises, so let's keep going with the glossy versions! 

This guy is pretty enough in matte, but the gloss really makes his color pop! I guess that's true for just about any glossy model, though. They're all beautiful! 

The glossy dapple gray was the very last Seize the Day Surprise I unwrapped, so I actually got pretty lucky on #13. I also got married on September 13, so I guess that's a good number for me! The glossy dapple gray was also the last glossy I needed and the last surprise I needed for a complete collection, so I was pretty happy to get him. Just wish his dapples were a little more subtle...

That brings us to our last model of the day, the glossy silver bay! Silver bay is always a great color, and like the flaxen liver chestnut, gloss makes it pop so well. 

That's it for today - check back again soon for more New Arrivals! 

Featured JAH - 7/19/2025, Mar/Apr 2010

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured JAH! We were on hiatus last week due to Breyerfest, but never fear! We're back to our regularly scheduled programming this week. Although if anyone has an issue of May/June 2010 I can buy, let me know, because mine seems to be missing. Anyways, let's get going with Mar/Apr 2010! 

On the front cover, the model versions of Rachel Alexandra and Calvin Borel race in the 2009 Preakness, a diorama by Robin Briscoe. 

In the Editor's Desk, Arlene previews the magazine as usual, and we also get another view of the Rachel Alexandra diorama. 

Letters to the Editor appears on page 3 as usual. 

On page 4 we have the first page of the article about Rachel Alexandra. 

The article wraps up on page 5 with a full reveal of the Rachel Alexandra model. The real Rachel is of course still alive and living in retirement at Stonestreet near Lexington, KY.

 

On page 6 we have the first page of an article about the winner of Breyer's equestrian land preservation grant. 

The grant article concludes on page 7. 

On page 8 we have a sneak preview of some Breyerfest 2010 items! Ooh, aah, etc. 

After skipping a Breyerfest profile of Radar and the Priefert Hitch, on page 10 we have a preview of some of the activities planned for the 2010 World Equestrian Games, which were held at the KHP in 2010. 

After skipping a preview of some of the models Breyer made for the WEG, on page 12 we have the beautiful Connoisseur Spot On! She's very pretty, though I'm not really a fan of the mottling around the mouth and eyes. To each their own! 

After skipping The Artists' Sketch, Mailbag and Model Horse Show, on page 16 we have a small feature on how the Rachel Alexandra diorama was created, plus a small ad for the then-upcoming Secretariat movie. 

After skipping the rest of Model Horse Show, on page 18 we have an article about harvesting sap from maple trees and the use of horses in said harvesting. 

The sap article wraps up on page 19. 

On page 22 we have an article about the latest USEF Youth Sportsmanship Award, sponsored by Breyer. 

After skipping an ad for Breyer Stablemates books, on page 24 is the first page of this week's Vintage Point article featuring the Scratching Foal! 

Vintage Point wraps up on page 25. 

After skipping Winners' Circle, the Calendar of Events and On the Trail with Breyer, on page 29 (aka the inside of the back cover) we have the reveal of the 2010 Spring Collector's Choice model! I wish the Collector's Choice model would come back. Imagine the cool things people would suggest on the new molds we have now! 

On the back cover we have the reveal of the Arabian Mounted Native Costume set, featuring a handsome PAS and his rider in native costumes. That costume actually doesn't look too bad for being a mass-produced item - I wonder if they consulted with a model tackmaker to design it. Anyway, this brings us to the end of this week's issue - check back next week for...probably July/Aug 2010, since my May/June issue is MIA. 

New Arrivals: Seize the Day Surprise Matte Flaxen Liver Chestnut, Dapple Gray and Silver Bay

 Greetings, readers! New Arrivals continues today with more Seize the Day Surprise models. But before I start with that, I want to post the breakdown of surprise models I received. From 13 surprise draws:
2 matte flaxen liver chestnut (traded one for a glossy silver bay)
2 glossy palomino pinto
2 matte blue roan
2 decorator
1 matte silver bay
1 glossy dapple gray
1 glossy flaxen liver chestnut
1 matte palomino pinto
1 matte dapple gray

Can't believe I only had to trade one model to get all the colors, and I managed to assemble them all before Breyerfest was over. That never happens! Well, at least something went right this Breyerfest. Anyways, here's the matte flaxen liver chestnut.

At first I (and most of the rest of the hobby) thought this was a smutty palomino, but he was referred to as a flaxen liver chestnut on the live broadcast, so that's what I'm going to call him. It's a very pretty color! I wonder if Sommer designed these? 

Quality seems to be all over the place with these special runs - some are okay, some are terrible, some are nearly flawless. I guess that's probably the case every year, but it seems like the lesser-quality ones are just riddled with tiny flaws. I haven't seen many major flaws, for what it's worth. As for the dapple gray, he seems to be the least popular color of the bunch, which is unfortunate. He's a bit plain compared to the other colors. 

The silver bay is very pretty as well, especially in gloss. This guy was one of the first colors I unwrapped, so he kind of got overlooked amongst the rest of them. But I love his color! What a beauty. 

That's it for today! Check back soon for another New Arrivals post! 

New Arrivals: Ties that Bind Blue, Ties that Bind Gold and Palomino Pinto Seize the Day Surprise

 Sheesh, that title is suuuuuuuper long. Oh well. It's that time of year again, friends - now that Breyerfest is over, it's time for New Arrivals! I'll start with the blue To The Ties That Bind Us (why couldn't they just name him Ties that Bind? That's what everyone calls him anyway...): 

This guy was one of the last special run models I unwrapped, oddly enough. I had gotten the gold one on Saturday and only had one other ticket for Ties that Bind, so I was hoping I'd get a silver one. No luck on that front, but at least I didn't get another gold one, huh? I only had two tickets for this guy, so I wasn't going to have any chances to buy more. So it was nice not to have to trade to get the two normal colors.

Next, here's the gold Ties that Bind! 

This gold guy makes a nice complement to the blue one - Breyer colors! Yay! I was surprised to unwrap this one, because I figured I'd get two boring blue ones and then have to trade. So it was really nice to unwrap a gold one instead! 

Next, here's the palomino pinto Seize the Day Surprise! 

The quality on the Breyerfest models seems like it's been kind of a crapshoot, with certain models being more flawed than others. For example, every YOLO I saw had some kind of small flaw (usually more than one), where on the other hand, the palomino Seize the Day Surprises were overall pretty nice. 

That's it for today, but check back tomorrow (hopefully) for more New Arrivals! 

Breyerfest Day 3: I did it!

 Well, day 3 of Breyerfest is over, which means Breyerfest 2025 is officially over. Whew! It’s been a whirlwind few days. But next year’s theme has been revealed - behold!

Photo shamelessly stolen from online. It’s a Scandinavian theme, so I’m hoping for an Astrid for the Celebration Model! I’m excited to see what else we’ll get for this theme. 

In other news, I achieved…well, one of my goals for today. Observe:

I managed to get all of the Seize the Day Surprise models! Huzzah! I’ll get better photos of them later. I actually only needed to trade to get one of them, which is pretty surprising. I definitely like the blue roan the most, followed by the decorator. I wish the blue roan had come in glossy! Oh well. I don’t think I’ve ever managed to assemble a complete set of surprise models by the end of the weekend before, so this is a first for me.

I’ll avoid posting a long screed about not winning the raffles yet again, except to say that apparently the universe hates me in particular. So I did some retail therapy and behold: 

The third color of Salud! I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned it here yet. He’s like a combination of the previous two colors, but the gray area is much more “spotted” than the solid gray one. I’ve seen him described as a roan, but I’ll be interested to see what Lesli Kathman says about it (she designed the colors).

The next Collector Club special run was revealed over the weekend also! Say hello to Juriaan!

 

What a weekend to decide to sell my Vermeers, huh? That’s a really nice color, although it seems like they’ll do anything to avoid releasing him in black. Maybe someday we’ll get a black one!

Also also, Stephanie Macejko from Breyer did a seminar yesterday and revealed this tantalizing image:

Wow, he’s thicc! Are we getting another new drafter already? I’m guessing this is a Premier Club release for next year - let’s hope we hear more soon!

That’s it for tonight! I hope everyone had a safe and happy Breyerfest and has a safe trip back home. I hope to see you all back here next year!

Breyerfest Day 2: Step on me, daddy

 Well, readers, day 2 of Breyerfest is officially in the history books, and what a crazy day! We picked up most of our allocated special runs, with the following Seize the Day Surprise results (ETA: minor numbers correction):

 2 matte smutty palomino

2 glossy palomino pinto

1 matte blue roan

1 decorator

1 matte silver bay

2 glossy smutty palomino

We also got another buckskin Party Croi (that’s what I’m calling her now, because I’m tired of typing out that name), a gold Ties that Bind Us, two sabino YOLOs and one original gray, and two more sad Good Times and Great Friends sets that I can’t believe didn’t have variations. It was an expensive day, and the only reason it wasn’t more expensive is because I ran out of money. But my Clarion sales have been pretty good, fortunately, so the money pot is restocked.

As for the Seize the Day surprises (that’s not something I want to abbreviate when talking about them…), I was then able to trade one of the glossy palomino pintos for a glossy silver bay, and then traded something else for a matte dapple gray, so all I need now for a complete set is a matte palomino pinto and a glossy dapple gray. Will I be able to achieve it by tomorrow? I still have tickets for 3 more, so I guess we’ll see. I also have tickets for one more YOLO and one Ties that Bind Us. Dare I hope I get a holo YOLO and a silver Silver? Or is that too much? I need some luck, since I didn’t get drawn in today’s raffle. I’ll be crossing my fingers extra hard! I hope everyone else is having a great Breyerfest - we’ve had three blog readers stop in, mention the blog and get a free Stablemate, which is great! Keep it up! And I hope everyone has a fun final day of Breyerfest tomorrow!

Breyerfest Day 1: YOU ARE NOT PREPARED!

 Well, readers, the first day of Breyerfest is over! And I thought I was prepared for whatever Breyer was going to throw at us - but I was woefully incorrect on that front! Well, where do I start? I spent the day at the model horse show at Alltech Arena - but no luck winning any prize models, unfortunately. Maybe next year. It was certainly exciting, and then daunting, and then terrifying as the new variations kept being announced. The surprise is Totilas? And there are at least six colors? And not all of them are glossy? And YOLO and Getting the Party Started have two variations? But Good Times and Great Friends don’t have any? Huh? And one of the YOLO variations is holographic?? Ack, I can’t take it anymore!

So anyway. The surprise model colors are as follows:

Smutty palomino (matte and glossy) 

Dapple gray (matte and glossy)

Colorshift blue/purple partial filigree (only glossy)

Blue roan (only matte)

Palomino pinto (matte and glossy)

Silver bay (matte and glossy)

Is there another color? I feel like I’m forgetting something.

As mentioned earlier, there’s no variation for Good Times and Great Friends, and also the dog whose name I’m too tired to remember and Hats Off to You. Seems odd to leave those out, but I guess that’s less to buy, so I’m kinda okay with it. Oh, and I forgot my phone at my house after the live show, so I don’t have photos of any of this! Yay! But anyway:

The variations for the Show Jumping Warmblood are a matte/glossy split, and they also have a banded version and loose mane version.

The variation for Future is Bright is the roached mane we already knew about.

The variations for Get This Party Started are a buckskin version and a significantly less common blue/purple color shift.

The variations for the Silver are a gold one and a much-less-common silver version. Silver Silver, hah!

The variations for YOLO are a sabino version and a holographic version. I’m hoping the holographic one isn’t as rare as it seems, for the sake of my own sanity.

I was a bit short on money today, so we only got a few special runs - but we did get a buckskin Getting the Party Started, which is already sold. Also got a smutty palomino surprise, Good Times and Great Friends and a sabino YOLO. Sales tonight were much improved, so I’m hoping to get a lot more SRs tomorrow! Uh, but if you’d like to help with the effort, feel free to stop by room 409 and peruse what I have for sale!

There are also variations with the online special runs - Hooplah now comes in matte and glossy, and Shindig has a blue/orange (I think) alternate color. I promptly ordered another Shindig when I heard the news, but I’m in the process of selling my Bristols, so I didn’t order any Hooplahs. Too bad! 

I can’t remember if I had anything else to talk about, but if so I’ll probably wake up in a cold sweat at 1AM remembering it. Guess I’ll write about it tomorrow! Time to head to bed.

Breyerfest Day 0: Ooh, sparkly!

 Hmm, I guess the Artisan’s Gallery didn’t happen today after all! I foolishly didn’t read the schedule very closely and didn’t realize the 75th Anniversary dance party was in the same room. Oh well - we got a crazy reveal at the dance party!

That’s right - a Thursday night raffle! And he’s holographic! Ack! I had to hustle down to the dance party as soon as I heard. I was planning to stop by anyway just to see it, but the raffle got me down there faster. There’s still time to enter, if you’re so inclined! Tickets have to be in the bin by 10:15, and the drawing happens at 10:30. Good luck, everyone! Happy Breyerfest Eve! 

I’m back in my happy place!

 Well, it’s Wednesday night and we’re all set up at the Clarion! As usual, stop by room 409 and mention the blog and you’ll get to pick a free RR Stablemate while supplies last! It’s been pretty busy in here so far, but only one sale. I may have to do some price adjusting, but we’ll see. In other exciting news, we got to see the Breyerfest glossy prize models today! Michelle Masters shared photos in the official Facebook group for Breyerfest Live.

First up…

It’s a glossy Salvino. Drat! I was hoping it would be something I don’t want so I won’t be so disappointed when I don’t win one.

But anyway…

Not Legend too! Darn it! Well, maybe I’ll get lucky and win one. I hope so!

Anyway, back to the selling game. The Artisan’s Gallery opens tomorrow, so stay tuned for photos of this year’s exciting releases!

Factory Escapees and Breyerfest countdown!

 Well, readers, it's been an exciting couple of days, between the leaks popping up on social media and Breyerfest only a few days away. On Sunday, weird leaks started showing up on social media, starting with a photo of a pink-and-white pinto Strapless. I'm not sharing the photos here because these models probably weren't obtained "legally" and I don't want to condone such behavior. Anyways, the original Facebook post said there were also purple and black versions of these Straplesses, but I was skeptical of it because it was kind of a random thing to pop up on a Sunday morning and the box originally wasn't pictured. Eventually a blurry photo of the other two colors did appear, along with a photo of the box (one of the white shipper boxes they ship web specials in, rather than a window box), which made me conclude that it's likely this year's Christmas surprise horse (named Merry Dancer). Works for me, since I don't collect Strapless! 

More or less at the same time as the Strapless mystery unfolded, we also got photos (not sure if they came from the same person) of what appears to be two Traditional releases for TSC, as well as a new series of blind bags. The two Trads are a buckskin pinto Troubadour named Brooks and a gray blanket Appaloosa San Domingo named Colby. The blind bags are Mystery Horse Surprise series 7 and include a chestnut Corbin, bay roan Charleston, red roan mini SCO, palomino mini Emma, gray mini MFT and black overo mini Indian Pony. Lots of minis in that one! I wonder what the chases will be. 

In Breyerfest-related news, the countdown is still ticking down! There are already a few rooms open at the Clarion. I was sorely tempted to go do some shopping after work today, but I still have too much Breyerfest prep to take care of. I think I'm done with all my live show prep, though! Woohoo! Now to move on to sales prep. The official Breyerfest app was released today, so be sure to get that if you're so inclined.

Lastly, there's an unannounced special run portrait of Atlanta on the Prince Charming mold! 

Order her here. I don't plan on buying one myself, but some people were having technical issues when trying to order at first. However, those issues appear to have been fixed, so order away! 

That's it for today. Time to enjoy the relative calm before the storm, before the ravening hordes descend upon Lexington yet again! 

Featured JAH - 7/5/2025, Jan/Feb 2010

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured JAH! We're starting another new year with Jan/Feb 2010, so let's get going! 

On the front cover, Esprit makes his debut! 

In the Editor's Desk, Arlene previews the magazine (and the year). And there's another Who Am I? Another blast from the past, again. 

On page 3 we have Letters to the Editor and a caption contest! 

On page 4 we have the first page of the 2010 WEG article, with reveals of some new G3 molds.

The WEG article wraps up on page 5, with more new Stablemates molds.

On page 6 we have the first page of the Bet Yer Blue Boons article! 

The Bet article wraps up on page 7. The real Bet died in 2019 at age 29 due to colic. RIP! 

Immediately following the Bet article, we now have another portrait horse on page 8! It's Isadora-Cruce! 

The Isadora-Cruce article ends on page 9. She is still listed as an Ambassador on the Return to Freedom website, so presumably she is still living. 

On page 10 we have the reveal of the Four Seasons treasure hunt, featuring the popular Othello! 

The glossy versions of these models hadn't yet been revealed, nor had "Winter." Guess they saved that for later! We'll probably see it in an upcoming issue. 

On page 12 we have the handsome Alvaro! 

After skipping The Artist's Sketch, Mailbag and Model Horse Show, on page 16 we have a Breyer Canada update. 

After skipping more Model Horse Show, on page 18 we have a gallery of photos from the Lone Star Experience! Feast your eyes on this collector event of yore. 

More Lone Star Experience photos appear on page 19. 

After skipping a couple of how-to articles, on page 24 we have the first part of this week's Vintage Point, featuring the Classic Man o' War! 

Vintage Point wraps up on page 25. 

After skipping Winners' Circle, the Calendar of Events, On the Trail with Breyer and an ad for some Classics horse and rider sets, on the back cover we have the Pink Ribbon Horse! And with that we've reached the end of this week's issue. Featured JAH will be on hiatus next week due to Breyerfest, so check back in two weeks for Mar/Apr 2010!