Breyerfest Closeups: Isla

 Greetings, readers! It's time for another Breyerfest Closeups post: feast your eyes on this year's Premier Club Stablemate, Isla! 

She's supposed to be grazing, I think? 

She's cute and all, but that pose is giving "sniffing a pile of poop" vibes. Maybe it's just me...

Not sure if I'll keep her - maybe once I get her in hand and can take a look at her. They'll be sent out with the third release, which I don't want to keep, so I might be able to sell them as a set. 

I am happy that they showed her to us this year, instead of doing a teaser (or nothing at all, like last year) and making us wait until the release to see the model. 

And with that, we've reached the end of this year's Breyerfest Closeups! Tune in, uh, hopefully next year, for more Breyerfest Closeups! 

Breyerfest Closeups: Darius

 Greetings, readers! Breyerfest Closeups continues today with a look at Darius, the many Deluxe Collector Club Stablemates! I'll start with the florentine one: 

Here's another angle of the florentine: 

I guess you can see a bit of the Appaloosa one too. 

Here's a view of all of them, including the special box they'll come in. Deluxe Collector Club members will all receive the Appaloosa one and a randomly-selected decorator version. 

I didn't join the Deluxe club this year because I don't collect the Semi-Rearing Mustang, but I'll have to see if I can get ahold of that pin at some point. I have to admit the little Mustangs are cute though, especially in their decorator colors. 

That's it for now, but check back later for one more Breyerfest Closeup! 

Featured JAH - 8/16/2025, Nov/Dec 2010

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured JAH! We're finishing up 2010 with this week's issue, so let's get started! 

 On the front cover, Jewel gallops into the Christmas season. Huzzah! 

In the rather generic Editor's Desk (still not attributed to anyone in particular), the writer recaps 2010 and then previews 2011. There's also a listing of contest winners and a Find the Holiday Horse contest. 

On page 3 we have a few Letters to the Editor and also a little writeup by Nancy Timm about her WEG volunteer experience. 

On page 4 we have the first page of the Ravel article. 

The Ravel article wraps up on page 5 with a reveal of his Breyer model. 

On page 6 is the first page of the WEG wrap-up. Wish I could have been there for that! 

The WEG wrap-up continues on page 7 with a lot of photos. 

The WEG article concludes on page 8. 

On page 9 we have an article about NAN, which celebrated 15 years back in 2010. 

I skipped the rest of the NAN feature because it was mostly just photos of winning models. Instead, here's the pretty Vignette on page 12! 

After skipping Artist's Sketch, Mailbag and the first part of Model Horse Show, on page 16 we have an announcement of the Sunshine Celebration, the Breyer collector event that was held in Florida in 2011. Still kicking myself for not taking my chance to attend - I was actually drawn from the waitlist for this event but ultimately didn't go because I didn't have much money and didn't want to go by myself. Definitely won't make that mistake again! 

After skipping the rest of Model Horse Show, the holiday art contest winners and two how-to articles, on page 24 we have this week's Vintage Point featuring the Indian Pony! 

Vintage Point wraps up on page 25. 

I skipped the last page of Vintage Point because it was just a listing of the Indian Pony's many releases. After skipping the Calendar of Events, on page 28 we have On the Trail with Breyer and the winners of the Good Luck Zenyatta contest (I remember watching that race live and being so disappointed when she lost!)

After skipping the 2010 Retired List, we've reached the back cover of this week's issue. Feast your eyes on the 2010 Holiday Collection! And with that, we've reached the end of the issue and the end of 2010! Check back next week as we start 2011! 

New TSC blind bags!

 Greetings, readers! I'm super late with posting this, but the Mystery Horse Surprise series 7 blind bags are starting to show up at Tractor Supply stores! I think I mentioned these before, but didn't have a photo I could use. Well, fear not, because now I have my own photos! 

Of the base group shown here, the only one I actually want is the palomino pony, so that was the only one I bought. Pretty sure I felt up a complete set, plus an extra pony. I actually checked four TSC locations around Lexington and only found these at one of them, so I guess that means I'll be checking again this weekend. Anyway, here's the pony! 

I like her face. Sorry for the not-so-great photo; it can be hard to tell if the entire model is in focus or not. 

This photo isn't the greatest either! Oh well. 

So anyway, you might be wondering why I'd bother to keep checking TSC for these things if I found the only one I wanted! Well, that's because both of the chase pieces have been found, and I need both of them this time! One of the chases (probably the less-rare one) is a raspberry-pink-with-spots mini Brishen, and the other (probably the super-rare) is a blue-and-purple clearware Mirado. So I remain on the hunt! These blind bags will eventually become regular runs (I think) so...maybe it won't be too hard to find the chases in the future? I hope so. 

Rowan, and Breyerfest Closeups: Hyperion

 Greetings, readers! Well, as I suspected, this year's next Premier Club models were released today - the highly-anticipated Rowan and Rowan! 

Rowan is/was available as a shaggy stallion or a braided, less-shaggy mare, and I ordered both since I got two memberships this year. Can't wait to see mine! 

And I really need to keep going with these Breyerfest Closeups, so say hello to Hyperion! 

This handsome guy has gone pretty much completely under the radar. I haven't seen him discussed anywhere! I don't collect the mold, but the color is interesting (pink and silver? pink and blue? I'm not quite sure). 

He certainly is handsome! 

It's only the third time this mold has been released as a unicorn - I thought there had been more, but I guess not. 

He'll probably be available in the fall/holiday season, along with other as-yet-unannounced holiday releases.

That's it for today. Check back soon for more Breyerfest Closeups! 

Breyerfest Closeups: Madonna

 Greetings, readers! Today I bring you another Breyerfest Closeups post - this time featuring Madonna, this year's final Stablemates Club model! Behold: 

As a reminder: while Madonna looks like the PAM, she technically isn't a PAM. She's a scan of the original Hagen-Renaker Zara that the original PAM was based on. With permission from H-R, Breyer scanned a Zara and then shrunk her down to Stablemate size. 

While I do like the PAM, and had a few examples of her at one time, I sold them off for shelf space eventually. So I'm thinking about keeping my Madonna, since shelf space (probably) won't be an issue with her. 

I hope the legs are less warped on my example, though. The PAM is known for having a warped left front leg upon her return to the Breyer line in the 1970s, but I don't think Zara had the same issue (or did she?). But that left rear leg looks wonky too. 

I'm interested to see what other colors Breyer is planning to put on this mold in the future. Just as long as they don't use her or the mini Othello for a best custom prize or something...

That's it for today, but tune in again soon for another Breyerfest Closeup! 

Javier is now available!

 Attention, Stablemates Club members! Javier, the next release, is now available to order! 

They're doing the gambler's choice matte/glossy thing again, so you won't know which finish you got until you open the package! I'll be looking to buy an extra one so I can try to get both of them! I'm going to hold off on ordering mine for a few days though, in case the next Premier Club release pops up too. 

Featured JAH - 8/9/2025, Sept/Oct 2010

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured JAH! We're covering Sept/Oct 2010 this week, so let's get going! 

This issue has the distinction of being the first JAH I received after my post-college return to the hobby, 15 years ago! Fun stuff. 

In the Editor's Desk, Arlene has quietly departed, and while the column isn't attributed to anyone in particular, Stephanie Macejko is listed as the Editorial Advisor, so it was probably her. I wonder what the story behind that was. 

On page 3 we have Letters to the Editor. 

On page 4 we have the first part of the article about Zenyatta. 

The Zenyatta article concludes on page 5 with a reveal of the Zenyatta model and Christmas ornament. 

Moving right along, on page 6 we have the first part of the Horses of Graceland article! 

The Horses of Graceland article wraps up on page 7 with a reveal of the Rising Sun model. 

In lieu of an actual Breyerfest wrap-up article, on page 8 we have a number of photos from Breyerfest! Feast your eyes on all things Breyerfest 2010. 

The Breyerfest photo album continues on page 9. Note the photo of Andrea Gurdon (Breyer History Diva) in the lower right corner. 

The Breyerfest album continues to continue on page 10. Yes, William Shatner did put in an appearance on Sunday! Wish I'd been there to see it. 

The Breyerfest photo album finally wraps up on page 11. 

Moving right along, on page 12 we have another article about the 2010 WEG! 

The WEG article continues on page 13. 

On page 14 we have a preview of all the special runs Breyer made for the WEG, excluding the smaller reissues of various regular runs from the previous many years. I still have Gold Raven, and had Woodburn, Headley Britannia, Cedric and Mandiba at one point, but eventually sold them all off. 

More WEG special runs appear on page 15, along with the kid-size jumps that still (as far as I know) show up at Breyerfest every year. 

After skipping Mailbag and Model Horse Show, on page 18 we have the beautiful JAH special run Melange! Still one of the prettier Gisellse, in my opinion. 

After skipping Artist's Sketch, the rest of Model Horse Show, an ad for some Pony Gals stuff and a how-to article, on page 24 we find Vintage Point, this week featuring Lady Roxana (or "Roxanna" as the title incorrectly spells it)! 

Vintage Point wraps up on page 25. 

After skipping a short article about the Harmony on Horseback resin and the Calendar of Events, on page 28 we have On the Trail with Breyer! 

There was an ad for Cloud Nine on the inside of the back cover, but we all know what he looks like (or can easily look him up), so here's the back cover! The extremely pink Pink Ribbon Horse and Pink Ribbon Stablemates Horse make their debut! The Pink Ribbon Horses had an unfortunate tendency to yellow over time (which is even somewhat apparent in this ad), but the subsequent Pink Ribbon Horse on Bluegrass Bandit doesn't seem to have that issue. 

And with that, we've reached the end of this week's issue! Check back next week for Nov/Dec 2010!