Lyric is here!

 Greetings, readers! At long last, my Lyric is here! Let's hope next year doesn't have as many shipping delays. Well, better late than never, as I like to say. I've been saying that a lot lately...but anyway. Behold! 

I'm a bit of a sucker for splash white, so I'm really pleased with this guy. Isn't he cute? 

They're still doing the satin bags for these guys, too. I hope the Stablemate Club goes back to those someday...but anyway. 

Quality-wise he's pretty nice - I didn't notice anything too terrible, though his eyewhites make him look a little surprised. I'm excited to see what he looks like in a more Fjord-type color! 

His pattern doesn't quite match Troubadour, but I suppose that would have been hard to pull off on a small scale. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with this mold in the future! 

Bonus Stablemates are finally shipping!

 Heads up, people - last year's bonus Stablemates for the Vintage and Premier Clubs are finally shipping! Check your Collector Club account to see if yours has been added yet - they've been showing up in people's order history. It would probably be a good idea to check and make sure they have the correct shipping address - I've seen a lot of reports on the Interwebs that some of them are getting shipped to incorrect addresses. I'm excited to see my Lyric, if he ever arrives! 

Now back to my regularly scheduled refreshing for Lafayette...

An embarrassment of riches!

 ...Or maybe just an embarrassment. No? Hmm, probably not. 

Anyway, I got a ton of stuff in the mail today! Not my CCA order, unfortunately, but everything else I've ordered lately is here, unless I'm forgetting something. Let's start with the new Unicorn Magic wood carry barn: 

This was the only photo I took - didn't have time to get individual photos. They sure are cute lined up in their barn, though! I'll probably save the barn itself and the Stablemates I don't want for my kids. Anyway, there's two each of the G2 Andalusian, the G2 Saddlebred and the G3 Standing Stock Horse. Each one is a different color, despite the fact that some of them look the same in the photo. The G2 Saddlebred on the far right is actually an interesting little green blanket Appaloosa, which is kind of fun. I wasn't expecting that, since these paint jobs seem so basic. 

And yes, they're molded from some type of slightly more flexible plastic - their legs started warping inward a little as soon as I took them off the cardboard inserts holding them into the barn. I wouldn't say they're as bendy as a Schleich, but there's definitely more give there than a typical ABS or cellulose acetate model. Still, the colors are fun and I'll still add these to my collection.

I also ordered the Breyer Farms carry barn, but that still shows as backordered, so I'm guessing I'll get that later. Let's move on to Bellatrix and Spica! 

Interestingly, the foal doesn't quite match the mare, as you can see in the photo. I'm not sure if I've seen that happen in any other photos or not. 

People have been saying the dapples on these are pretty subtle, but I don't think mine have any dapples at all. Which is what I'd expect for the foal, but I couldn't see anything on the mare. I'll have to take her out in some better light later.

Quality-wise, they're pretty good, except the mare's horn is unfortunately misaligned, and their silver hooves could have been painted a little more neatly. I really like this pair, especially the contrast of their silver hooves and horn against their dark coats. More of this, please! Spica needs a father! 

Lastly, here's my Troubadour! 

This one is a big boi! I love his coloring, too. 

He definitely didn't get hit with the skinny stick like so many new Breyer molds have. I love him! And he doesn't have a lot of flaws, either.

I've seen a lot of complaints about the masking on his mane, but I think that's about as good as a person could hope for. I'm excited to see what other colors Breyer puts on this guy! I'm sure he'll be a raffle model next year, and probably two or three other things, so we won't have TOO long to wait! In the meantime, I hope Breyer gets this year's PC Stablemates shipped out a little earlier - I want to see my Lyric up close! 

Troubadour!

 Come on, Breyer! When I said to give us a break, I didn't mean you should keep on going! Now Troubadour is available! I thought we'd have at least another week before he came up for purchase.

Hopefully this will be the end of it for a while, because yeesh. I'm not sure how much more my wallet can take! I wish we could at least bundle everything together for combined shipping, but they have us so primed to buy new releases instantly before they sell out, it's hard/risky to wait on a purchase. I'm still waving the white flag here! 

Oh no, not again!

 Good news, everyone! The third Premier Club sculpt of the year has been revealed, and...darn it all! I really like him! I was hoping that wouldn't be the case, what with my lack of shelf space and desire to not spend money. But anyway, here he is! 

You'll notice this year's PC Stablemate in the photo as well! Their names are Troubadour and Lyric. Troubadour was sculpted by Kylee Parks, while Lyric was sculpted by Brigitte Eberl. From the Premier Club Blog:

Kylee also designed Troubadour’s coat, which is silver bay splash pinto with plenty of dappling, plus a subtle sheen to his silver hairs: two genetic modifiers that, although rare, are both found within the Morgan breed. This striking color is accented by striped hooves, mapping, and a blue eye.

I can't say I've personally seen very many splash pinto silver bay Morgans, but where there's a will there's a way, right? Maybe he's "related" to Fairfax? Heh heh heh. Well, anyway, Troubadour is very attractive indeed, so I'm afraid both he and Lyric will have to find a place on my shelves. Here he is from another angle:

He actually reminds me a lot of the Minuet resin by Kathleen Moody, not that that means anything. Just the first thing I thought of when I saw him. 

Troubadour should be available sometime in November, so I'm excited for him to get here! He really is beautiful and I'm excited to add him to my collection. This is the second year in a row that I'll have ended up keeping all three of the Premier Club sculpts, so clearly Breyer must be doing something right. Now I just have to go back to hoping they'll give us a new Trad draft foal next year! 

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! 

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! 

Altynai: Horse, or dancer?

Good news, everyone! My Altynai model is here - behold!

I've seen a lot of posts online calling him a long boi, and that's definitely not an exaggeration - he's definitely long! I haven't actually compared him to Yasmin, but I'm guessing he could definitely give her a run for her money.

But the first thing that comes to my mind when I look at him isn't his length - rather, it's that he looks like he's wondering, in the (slightly modified) timeless words of The Killers, "Are we horse, or are we dancer?" Things to consider.

Anyway, this guy is definitely pretty! I love his dark shading on the shoulders. I've seen a lot of variation online and was hoping to get a dark one, and he doesn't disappoint in that regard! He has to be one of the more unique Breyer sculptures we've gotten in the last few years - usually you don't see them stretched out like that, and he's loaded with details besides! I noticed his hooves aren't carved, though, which is kind of confusing considering the amount of detail he has everywhere else. Just a little odd.

I like his blue eyes, but...again with the pink eyewhites? I was hoping that particular trend would go by the wayside, but I guess not. But I guess that's a pretty small thing to complain about.

Quality-wise, he isn't the best...he's got a partial fingerprint on his left flank and some other small issues, but I don't know if I want to bother sending him back. At first I thought he was worse, but what I thought was little back flecks of debris in the paint on both his flanks turned out to just be grime or something that rubbed off easily, so I guess that was good. Still a little disappointing, though. Maybe someday I can trade with a customizer and get a minty-mint dark one. Here's hoping...

Plush sneak peek and Altynai!

Good news, everyone! There's another new teaser on the Breyerfest blog!

 

It, uh...looks a little scandalous. I wonder whose idea that was...

Well, anyway, it's clearly the plush, and in what appears to be a non-decorator? Should be interesting.

In other news, the first release of the 2020 Premier Club, Altynai, is available to order!



Can't wait to see what mine looks like! Let's hope he's not as ridiculously long as he looks.

February newsletter teaser and Premier Club welcome letter!

Exciting news today - the February newsletter has been released for Collector Club members! This month's exciting giveaway is...a glossy chestnut AQHA 75th Anniversary model! Not something I'm terribly interested in, really, but it's easy to enter if you want him!

More exciting is the sneak peek that was part of the newsletter - check it out!



It looks like a mouth of some sort - the consensus on the Internets is that it may be Misty? I'm wondering if it's the next Berries Ponies release, since Misty is a pony after all. Some type of Appaloosa? I've never been much of a Misty fan, but an Appaloosa pattern could be fun on her. Hopefully we don't have to wait too long to find out.

In other news, my 2020 Premier Club welcome letter arrived today! While they couldn't just tell us what the other two releases are for some reason, there are a couple of clues - the Fraley sculpt "has majestic presence and expression" and the Parks sculpt "will make performance showers happy." So I'm thinking a drafter for the Fraley? And the Parks will...not have much hair, or its mane is blowing in the wind or something? I'm thinking we need better clues than that, but whatever. And lastly, the Stablemate is "a frequently-requested breed" sculpted by Brigitte Eberl! Some kind of drafter, as a mini of the Fraley? Exciting! Hopefully we find out sooner rather than later...

More last-minute reveals!

Well, Breyer is really ramping up their efforts to get people to join the clubs last-minute - today they posted an extra, bonus Stablemate for next year's Stablemate Club! Check him out!



That's right...a Stablemate version of the Clydesdale Stallion! Cute! Nothing I need, but they're definitely going crazy with the shrinking technology! Who will be next? I might not be able to say no to a tiny Adios...

But anyway. The Stablemate Clyde Stallion looks like he's had his bobs toned down, which is probably a good thing. They'd probably look too blobby or something if they stayed the same. It's interesting to see what gets changed and what stays the same when things get shrunk. Brishen's Stablemate counterpart has some differences in the mane, too.

Also, a production photo of an Altynai has been posted!

He looks amazing against that white background. Is Breyer finally stepping up their promotional photo game? I hope so! Definitely glad I'm in the club for this guy...now if we could only get a few more hints about the other sculpts! And for that matter, some kind of photo of the new Stablemates Club mold for next year...because this will be the first year we didn't get at least an outline of it ahead of time. Remember those halcyon days of yesteryear when they showed us Django and Mirado up front? Sigh...

Rumors

So there's a teaser photo of one of next year's Premier Club releases floating around; that's definitely a spotty butt!



I hope it's a really nice blanket or extended blanket Appaloosa! Will it be the Fraley sculpt? There's speculation online that hers might be a mule, which I'm apprehensive about. I'm not really into either of the Breyer mules, so that doesn't bode well for any potential mule. I guess I have plenty of time to think about it, anyway.

There's also a rumor going around that one of the guest horses (and store special models) at next year's Breyerfest will be WGC Marc of Charm, who (according to a Blabber) served as a model for the Hamilton sculpt - so this theoretical store special would be on Hamilton, natch. Here's a photo of the real horse:



Yeah, that's a pretty close match to Hamilton. Can't wait to get his model! I'm sure it'll be stunning.

Editing to add: I forgot to mention Breyer posted a blurb on Instagram about the new mold for the 2020 Stablemates club. It's a stock horse sculpted by Maggie Bennett! The post originally said the paint job was designed by Karen Zorn, but that's since been removed, so who knows what's going on there. Anyway, exciting! Now if we could only see a photo of it...

2020 Premier Club is open for membership!

Good news, everyone! The 2020 Premier Club is now open for business!



Ooh, that face! I definitely think Altynai needs to come to my house and stay here forever. He's so handsome! I'm lese excited about Lynn Fraley and Kylee Parks as the other two sculptors for the year (neither's style appeals to me, but I suppose there could be exceptions), but that's not a bad thing - my wallet will thank me, in any case.

Now if Breyer would just show us the rest of next year's Stablemates Club releases and open that up for signups, I'd be all over this! I like to group that stuff together, so I'll wait until the SMC is open to renew my Collector Club memberships and join the Premier Club.

Stop the world, I want to get off

The reveals are coming fast and furious - almost too many reveals for me to handle! Where do I start? The full Vintage Club lineup for 2020, minus the bonus model, has been revealed:



So we've got the Western Horse, the In-Between Mare (!), the Bubble-Butt Belgian (making his second appearance in the club), and Yasmin. Wait - taking a closer look at the photo, the two mares next to the IBM look like FAMS, not IBMs...I wonder if the gambler's choice will mostly be between the two FAMs, with the IBM an extremely rare variant? One of 70, perhaps? That would help keep the original handful of IBMs' value from plummeting.

Anyway, there's nothing here I need to buy other than the Yasmin, unless the optional model is something I need. Here's hoping!

Next on the reveals list, the 2020 calendar has been posted on the Breyer website, and the cover photo is A DAPPLE PALOMINO HAMILTON AAAAAHHHHHH!!!



He is a must-have! Dare I hope he's a regular run for next year? Or, failing that, something obtainable in the 70th Anniversary Collection? I'll be sorely disappointed if this is a test or limited run I'll never be able to get my hands on! I'm going to continue to hope he's a RR, since this year's Dominante made his debut in the calendar about this time last year.

Speaking of the calendar, we also had this reveal inside it - a side angle of the new Premier Club Altynai:



Well, that does it - I'm going to have to add him to my collection too. Drat it all! I'd been hoping to cut back a little bit next year, but if these reveals are any indication, I don't think that's going to happen. But hey, I love all the new things being unveiled right now - it's definitely better than the news wasteland we had going at this time last year. Bring on the reveals - I'm ready to see the 2020 regular run line!

2019 JAH is here!

Good news, everyone! My JAH arrived today, with a wealth of new reveals! There's a lot of exciting things to go over, so let's just get started!

I decided to leave out the cover this year, in case those of you who haven't seen it yet don't want to be spoiled. I will be covering the reveals inside, though, so beware!

I'll start with next year's first Premier Club release, Altynai:



The prototype is beautiful, and I definitely like the color (sculpted by Heather Puleo, sculptor of Greyson) and painted by Amanda Brock), but I'm not sure if I like this one enough to keep him yet. I'll need to see more photos of him before I decide...hopefully they show us more when club signups open up. Also, why all the buckskins lately? Were those paint colors on sale?

Anyway, next year's other two sculptors are Lynn Fraley and Kylee Parks. I took a look at Lynn Fraley's other work and didn't see anything that I had to have, so the jury is out on her sculpt too; Kylee Parks has done some impressive work for the custom contest at Breyerfest for the last few years, so I'm sure hers will be pretty nice.

Next, let's take a look at this little item on the Table of Contents page:



Ooh, a giveaway! I took a look at the entry website, and it looks like we have until November 30 to enter. I haven't submitted my official count yet, but it looks like they got clever with a lot of the images, so make sure you pay close attention to every page of the magazine!

Next, here's a sneak peek of a new sculpt by Mindy Berg on the editorial page:



While the magazine doesn't say what this new sculpt is for, it looks like a Classic to me - probably next year's Classics Horse of the Year. Honestly, he looks like Duende with his head turned up and to the right, so I can't see him being a Traditional. I wonder what color he's supposed to be - silver bay maybe? I hope we find out soon.

Next, a look at next year's Live Show Benefit horse and the 4th release in the Fairytale Friends Club:



Another buckskin, on San Domingo! He looks like he'd match Lillian and Molly pretty well. The ad copy says next year's glossy Classics model will be the glossy Malik - a return to glossing the previous year's Classics Horse of the Year model, which makes me wonder even more why they didn't gloss some Masons for this year (not that I'm complaining!). In the bottom photo, we see the fourth release in the Fairytale Friends club, with a glittery purple G3 Arabian and what looks like a shrunken-down resin Rising Sun. Makes me wonder if we'll see Rising Sun in other scales eventually? With all those new Walmart Mini Whinnies, it seems like Breyer is going nuts with shrinking stuff lately, so I wouldn't be surprised.

Next, here's the Fighting Stallion sneak peek:



In Stephanie Macejko's editorial, she mentioned that the "70th Anniversary Collection" will consist of a number of Traditional-size releases, and this Fighting Stallion will evidently be one of them. Maybe they'll pick one mold from each decade for this collection? That would be fun. The Fighter here is pretty, but nothing I need to buy. Can't wait to see the other releases!

Next we have the Vintage Club sneak peek that has everyone excited:



Yes, that's the In-Between Mare! What color is she? Looks like some kind of glossy dapple black to me, but it could be a dark bay. More importantly, will this lower the value of the handful of IBMs in collector hands? Probably not, since they're so old. I wonder if they'll all be this color, or if they'll be the gambler's choice for next year? Another important question is...will they be popular? The IBM is definitely valuable, but, well...there's a reason the mold was rejected in favor of the FAM, if you know what I mean. Food for thought, I guess.

Next, here's a look at the Fairytale Friends Club's third release!



That's Mini Magnolia and a Mini Whinny I don't recognize. Maybe it's a flipped Show Arabian? Not sure why they'd bother to flip it, but that's the closest guess I have. I won't be keeping either of them, fortunately (or unfortunately). There's an article in this issue about unicorns in other parts of the world, featuring a number of unicorn illustrations by Rayvin Maddock. I hope we see some of those colors in the Fairytale Friends Club next year!

Lastly, here's a look at Corbin, who also appeared on the cover of this issue:

He's pretty, but I don't think I'll be keeping either of mine. More for the sales pile!

Edit: Gah! I forgot about the Premier Club Stablemate, Charleston! Here he is!



He looks a lot like the G2 Paso Fino...which is a bad thing, for me. I've tentatively arranged to trade him for the mini Misty and Stormy set from this year's Vintage Club, though, so at least I've got that going for me. His paintjob looks like a pretty faithful representation of Hamilton, though, even down to the slightly-pearly whites, so there's that.

All in all, it was a great issue - I think there were more reveals in this issue than the one from last year, so that was nice. And it's great that they're doing a giveaway for the test Beau! Now if we could just see the rest of next year's Vintage and Stablemate Club releases, that would be great!