More auction models!

 Woohoo, Breyer posted more auction models today! Here they are: 

I love this rainbow Misty and Stormy! The mare has gold mapping, which I didn't notice at first, but I don't think the foal does. 

Next up is a beautiful buckskin sabino Gem Twist! He doesn't get out much these days, so it's nice to see a new one even if it is an auction model. 

Another auction longboi! How dare they. Ugh, I want him so much! 

This one is cute! The blog says this one was designed by Kathleen Moody. Not surprising given the other intricate designs she's done for Breyer. Hey Kathleen, can you sculpt something new for us? The ravening hordes hunger for a new Moody sculpt! 

Next up is a handsome red bay blanket Sherman Morgan. This mold also doesn't get out much anymore, so it's good to see a new one! I love his rich red color. 

Last for today is something sorta unexpected: an auction Cosimo! Some people thought maybe he'd be a raffle model this year, but it looks like that probably won't be the case. He's pretty! Will he be this year's top seller? I think there's a pretty good chance of that happening, but we'll need to see some more auction models to be sure. Bring them on, Breyer! 

Maddox, Mercutio and 2025 releases!

 Greetings, readers! After a long dry spell (probably for the best), I finally have some new arrivals! Behold, Maddox! 

What a beauty! 

Gray is my favorite horse color, so I'm probably biased. But I love him! 

Quality-wise, he's pretty nice - I didn't notice any major flaws other than his annoyingly-uniformly-arranged dapples. I'm thinking about putting him in a show to see how he does - although everyone else will probably do the same thing, so it may not be worth it. 

I think I would have liked him even more if they'd added a bit of silver/metallic to his coat, but he's still pretty. 

Next, here's Mercutio, who arrived at the same time as Maddox! 

He's a cutie, although I'm still not crazy about the flipped tail. 

I'll have to think about a breed to assign him, because I didn't see any major flaws with him either. 

And I'm super glad that the first SMC release of the year is something I want to keep! Usually it's a G1, so I end up having to sell it. 

And lastly, the KHP finally got some of the 2025 new releases in! Behold: 

I would have posted these sooner, but I ordered the horse trailer set from Amazon and the first one that arrived contained a white unicorn with a broken horn, so I had to get it replaced. So if you want that set, buy one in person or you may end up with broken models. 

It took some doing, but I looked through several of the Spanish Horses and managed to find one with mostly-good decals. I like the design, though I wonder what he'd look like in gloss. They glossed some (all?) of the 70th Anniversary models, so maybe this guy will get the same treatment? I hope so. I also looked through a bunch of the Surfer's Riptide models to try to find one with a decently masked mane, and thought I got one - until I got him out of the box and saw the awful masking on his off side. Oh well. I'm thinking about taking the mini Fjord to BreyerMidwest with me next month, since I'm going to mostly bring Stablemates to that. Decisions, decisions...

That's all I have for today! Let's hope Breyer reveals more fun stuff soon. In the meantime, I have model horse shows to prepare for! 

Maddox is now available!

 Well, Maddox is now available for Collector Club members to purchase! Here’s his picture again - isn’t he beautiful?

I have to have this longboi for my collection, so I ordered one as soon as they came available. He’s slightly more expensive than Heath ($90 vs. $85) but shipping is included in his price, so it more or less works out the same. They’re still available as of a few minutes ago, but I’ve seen a lot of people expressing sticker shock online, so that’s probably why. Anyway, I can’t wait for mine to get here!

Maddox!

 Good news, readers! The first Collector Club special run of the year, Maddox, is almost upon us! Behold him again:

He'll be released on the Breyer website tomorrow at 1pm EST, so don't miss out! I have no idea how many they made, so it's anyone's guess how quickly he'll sell out. It's a nice color on a moderately popular mold, so it might sell out fast, but who knows. I'll definitely be ordering as soon as I can! 

I'm also expecting the first Stablemates Club release to pop up anytime, so that'll be fun and exciting. I'm not going to wait on ordering Maddox, though, just in case he's a quick sellout. 

Let the 2025 reveals begin!

 Exciting news, readers! The Collector and Deluxe Collector Clubs are now open for 2025 membership! Check out the first Collector Club special run for next year, Maddox! 

Wow! That guy is a MUST HAVE! I'm getting the grabby hands just looking at him! I still haven't gotten my hands on a Petra, either. I gotta have Maddox for my collection! 

More (or less) excitingly, the Stablemate for the 2025 Deluxe Collector Club has also been revealed! They shrunk the Semi-Rearing Mustang! 

Deluxe Collector Club members will receive the bay blanket Appaloosa one (Darius) on the right, and will also receive one randomly-shipped color of the four original decorator colors (plus the Deluxe Collector Club pin). I'm not a Semi-Rearing Mustang fan, but I gotta admit it's pretty cool getting TWO Stablemates for your membership. Not so cool that they’re bringing back the gambler’s choice garbage - it’s fun when it’s once in a while, but when it’s everywhere all the time, the novelty wears off really fast. The deluxe club is also $20 more than usual because of the extra Stablemate, so if they’d chosen a mold I do collect for the gambler’s choice, I’d be pissed about having to buy four memberships. But maybe that’s just my blind bag/gamber’s choice dislike showing. 

Interestingly, there's also going to be a Collector Club Store on the website, featuring Collector Club-only merchandise and models. I’m guessing this will just be used for whatever current Collector Club special run is available, and maybe a few T-shirts or something. Slightly more exciting would be if they used it to sell older collector club stuff kicking around the warehouse, but that remains to be seen. But wow, I am super excited for Maddox! And, of course, if the Collector Clubs are open for enrollment, the Vintage, Premier and Stablemate Clubs can't be far behind! Bring on the new reveals! 

Petra!

 Whoa, that was unexpected - we have a new web special to enter for! Say hello to Petra! 

From the website: 

We have one last Exotic Destination to visit for the year, and it’s a beauty! The ancient city of Petra in Jordan is rich in archaeological history. Famed for its rock-cut architecture and cultural heritage, it is now protected as a World Heritage Site.

Designed by artist Sommer Prosser, Petra's red dun color is meant to reflect the unique stone hues of this ancient city, which is often called the "Rose City" for its color. His splendid coat is complete with a dorsal stripe and leg barring. This stallion features “Petra 2024” in gold on his belly.

 

What a beauty! Sommer Prosser has done it again. 

 

I definitely need to get one of these guys! Good luck to everyone entering. The entry deadline is Monday night, so don't dawdle! 

I think we have our Pollock/Stein

 Wow, pretty exciting reveal on the Breyerfest Blog today! A lot of people thought yesterday's sneak peek was a Stablemate, but that is...not the case! Say hello to Nemea! 

Wow, this guy is amazing. 

From the blog: 

For our BreyerFest celebration of Driving Forward this summer, we were inspired by this beautiful 4th century BCE Amphora to create Nemea on the Akhal Teke mold (#805) sculpted by Heather Puleo, who has been shaded in a gorgeous orangey brown with a fiery mane and black decorative details, featuring a beautifully painted quadriga and driver on his barrel.

I feel like this one is going to be this year's Pollock or Stein equivalent, unless they reveal something more amazing in the remainder of this month. I'm a little surprised they'd use him again for a special run so soon(ish) after using him back in 2021 for Uffington, but I'm not going to complain too much. I need him! I hope he isn't the matte/glossy split, though - that would really make the collectors crazy. 

There's supposed to be another reveal tomorrow, so I hope it's something great!  

Featured Model - 9/4/2021, Fields of Heather

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Model, the weekly blog event where I pick a model I don't own but would like to, give some stats on it and provide commentary about it. This week's model is...Fields of Heather! 

This model was a run of 26. He's item #711386 and was produced on the Altynai mold sculpted by Heather Puleo. He was a raffle model for Breyerfest 2020. 

Altynai has been having a good year, huh? Not only did he get that beautiful Uffington release, he got the mini-release of 200 holographic black Uffingtons mixed into the run, and he still seems in high demand - looks like the sale prices now are hovering around the $1300 mark. Let's hope they keep going down, because there's no way I'm paying that much for a run of 200, no matter how much I like him! Must have that holographic...But anyway. I saw a post from Karen Gerhardt (sculptor and former Breyer employee who designed many paintjobs for the company) saying that the reason they never did more holographic models was because the paint was too expensive. Presumably the price has come down enough now for them to do that 200-piece run - and maybe there'll be more in the future? I guess we'll see. 

Anyway, I'd dearly love to add this spotted longboi and the holographic one to my collection someday, but with the prices being as crazy as they currently are, I don't see that happening anytime soon. So where will we see the mold next? He's now had the obligatory Premier Club-Raffle model-Breyerfest special run release schedule, so maybe we'll get a regular run next year? I wouldn't mind seeing that just to see the spectacularly long boxes they'll have to put them in. And maybe they'll release him with a roached mane? The auction model from this past Breyerfest looked pretty cool, so I think it's reasonably likely we'll see a wider release of that in the future. I don't see him being a web special anytime soon, since they tend to use slightly older molds for that, but you never know. Maybe they'll do something crazy and make him next year's Holiday Horse? They might be able to come up with something Turkish-inspired for a costume. Hey, it's an idea, anyway! 

They're here! THEY'RE HERE!

 Excellent news, everyone! My last Breyerfest items have finally arrived, including my surprise models! Never fear - I made a checklist of everything I was supposed to receive, and it all arrived as ordered! When it comes to the special run models, I bought everything I was selected for. In what we'll call the "good old days," we didn't know which, if any, special runs would have variations, so I couldn't risk missing out on anything. I never suspected that every special run would have a variation, though, so I didn't bother to put Ansel and Pollock on my selections list since I'd already gotten them with my VIP order. If I had, I might have been able to buy another model, as there was one "Sorry, your selection wasn't available" showing on the webpage when I went to buy models. But it's just one model...with any luck I might be able to get a few more Ansels when the VIP sale happens next month! 

Anyway, amongst my special run models, I received three Uffingtons. No holographic "Uffs" here, sadly (Uff-dah!), but there was a surprising amount of variation between the three I did get.

It's easier to see in person, but the guy on top is much lighter than the other two and way less pearly. They're in order from least-to-most pearly. I'm actually tempted to keep the light one and one of the dark ones just because they're so different, but I'm not really a variation collector, so hopefully that urge passes.

They're all pretty nice in the quality department, too. And so big! Definitely a trio of longbois. 

They look disappointingly samey in the photos, but I can assure you they're very different in person! 

As for the other special runs, I also got three Tassilis and two Seurats. I was lucky enough to get one Marwari Tassili and two toupee-Tassilis, which made me pretty happy since I do actually like the alternate hairdo on the Toupee-Tassili, especially his swishy tail. Unfortunately, I did get two matte Seurats rather than the matte-and-glossy duo I was hoping for, so I'll be looking for a glossy one at some point. 

But, I digress. Let's get on with the show! I received nine Seven Arts Surprise models, and I had to wait all day today to open them! First, I piled everything on the couch:

The couch, full of plastic pony bounty! Oh, the suspense! 


Next, I very carefully opened each pink bag, pulled out the model inside, and put it on the floor next to me without looking at it. Then I took a picture of the pile, also (mostly) without looking at it: 

Then I started unwrapping them one at a time, not looking at them until I had them mostly out of the bubble wrap. I was hoping to get a nice selection of colors and at least one glossy...and here's the results! 

So, from left to right, that's two glossy sable champagnes (!), one matte sable champagne, one glossy maximum sabino, two matte maximum sabinos, a glossy palomino pintaloosa, a matte flaxen liver chestnut roan and a glossy flaxen liver chestnut roan. 

WHOA! I usually have decent luck getting glossies every year, but this is the best it's ever been. 5 out of 9 were glossy - that's more than half! Unfortunately, one of the glossy sable champagnes has some major issues - one of his hindquarters has a huge area of roughness in the gloss, he has a badly bent right eartip and the other eartip is just barely broken off. I had hoped to be able to trade it for a glossy decorator (pipe dream or not) but nobody's going to want him with ears like that. And Breyer isn't doing exchanges, so I guess I'll have to see if I can sell him, or just get a refund for him. Kinda disappointing, but I guess that's how it goes sometimes. It does seem odd not to have gotten a decorator though - in all the previous times there was a decorator in the surprise lineup, I always managed to get one - but I can live with it. Just another one to add to the purchase list. 

I didn't take photos of any of my other purchases, but there will be more photos later. In the meantime, I guess Breyerfest 2021 is finally over for me. I hope next year goes better (and is in person...!). 

More auction models!

 Exciting news - more auction models were just posted on the blog! Let's take this from the top and start with the Othello! 

Ooh, an Othello! He's pretty much my favorite mold, so my heart sank a little when I saw this one. He reminds me of the auction Dundee from a couple years back. This one will go high, too. 

Ooh, another rainbow with gold mapping! This one looks incredible. I'd personally prefer silver mapping, but to each their own. Another one I'd love to own! 

Ooh, this one has a factory custom roached mane. Does this mean we'll get a RR or SR with roached mane in the future? I hope so. He's a beauty, too! 

I'm a little blah about this one - it's a beautiful color, with a lot of detail, but I feel like it's missing something. Maybe it should have been glossy? Who knows. 

A new zebra! Gasp! And such an electrifying (heh) color, too. It's been quite a while since Breyer used color-shift paint; maybe something new is on the horizon on that front? I hope so. 

And of course, our Saturday raffle, Bonheur. 

A point I forgot to make yesterday is that each new mold pictured here is another one knocked out of contention for the surprise model. I think it's probably safe to say the surprise won't be on the same mold as any of the auction models, since that hasn't happened since 2011 (when one of the rare surprises was in the auction). But I can't help but note that Desatado (and Forever Saige) haven't appeared in the auction yet...so hope is still alive! 

Uff-da, indeed!

 Well, we already have our first Breyerfest 2021 model reveal - Uffington! 

This brand-new longboi was inspired by the Uffington White Horse in England. Pretty! I like him a lot - and we even get a price and piece count with him! Excellent. I can't wait to see the rest of the reveals! 

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.

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...

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!