Sage is here!

Good news, everyone - the first year of the Fairytale Friends Club (or, as I like to call it, the Glitter Unicorn Club) is finally complete - my Sage and Mini-Sage came! Observe!

She's pretty nice, as far as $3 Walmart unicorns go.

Green and silver do look good together, though. Wait, is she a member of Slytherin House? ...We'll just have to let that slide. I guess the glitter would probably disqualify her from membership - I imagine glitter is more a Ravenclaw thing, or maybe Gryffindor.

Here's the mini-Sage:




He does stand on his own, surprisingly enough, but his horn is warped. Oh well.

Word on the street is that there's going to be another year of the Glitter Unicorn Club, but....I really hope they put some better paint jobs on these things. I know it must be costly to introduce all these new molds at once, but the paint jobs should really be more complicated for the price point. If they keep on with the $3 paint jobs, I'll probably just skip joining and get the ones I want secondhand so I don't have to bother with selling the ones I don't want.

Sage, sneak peeks, and Breyerfest updates!

Lots of new today, readers! First off: Sage, the final release in the Fairytale Friends Club (at least for now) is now available, so make sure to get her/them ordered!



I'll note here that Sage is indeed referred to as a mare, and she's on the new Stablemate Warmblood Mare who keeps being referred to as a stallion for some reason, so...the new mold should really be called the Warmblood Mare, since that's...what it is, and I'm not sure what's been causing the confusion, since all of her releases so far have been mares. Anyway, her companion for this set is the Spanish Barb, transformed into a Mini Whinny! Exciting stuff, though I'll be selling the Mini Whinny and hoping he makes another appearance as a Stablemate someday.

Now that the Fairytale Friends Club's first year has been completed, I'll just say that I hope they put some better paint jobs on the models if they do it again. Pastels and glitter might work for a $4 Walmart release, but people expect something a little more complicated than that for $25 a pop. Let's hope Breyer takes those ideas into consideration!

In other news, I can't believe I forgot to post about all this yesterday, but there's a new sneak peek on the blog (Reiterating that I'm tired of sneak peeks - just post the thing!):



Clearly it's the crystal, but which one? It kind of looks like the back of a shoulder/part of a belly, but I don't know what it could be. Once again, the photo is cropped too closely to tell what it is. Hopefully we see it tomorrow! I don't envy people trying to buy crystals this year, though, what with all the fragility and shipping through the postal system and all. Fun times!

In other news, more Breyerfest updates have also been posted on the blog. I'm not going to try to sum everything up here, but Bonus Benefits for ticket holders have been posted here (free raffle tickets, woo!), and an explanation of model categories is here. Also, Jaime has a new video explaining some more of the benefits here (apologies if you're unable to watch that one; I wish they'd post it on YouTube). Lots of exciting stuff in store to be sure, and even some fun items for international collectors that can't participate in raffles and contests!

Sunchaser and Starlight are here!

Hark, a ray of sunshine in these dark times! My Sunchaser and Starlight models are here. Okay, Sunchaser has been here for a few days, but I wanted to wait until Starlight got here so I could put them both into one post. So, let's start with Sunchaser!

Not a whole lot to say about Sunchaser that hasn't already been said - I like his color a lot better than some of the previous releases in the club, but I hope they do some different, more-complicated paint jobs in the future.

At least he's relatively flaw-free! The glitter encrustation on his mane and tail don't seem to be as bad as previous releases, though I'd prefer to see the glitter go away completely. I forgot to take a picture of his matching Saddlebred counterpart, but it won't stand up anyway, so you're not really missing much.

So, let's take a look at Starlight!

I was excited to see this girl after all the photos I've seen online, and she doesn't disappoint!

As usual, she's huge - I like her flying tail and everything, but part of me wishes it wasn't quite so long. I'm pretty sure she's the longest Breyer model I've ever had - maybe that's why Zena was discontinued so soon, because she's just so LONG! 

I didn't see any flaws on her either, other than the usual mane/tail overspray. I wonder if that was done on purpose, to emulate the flaws of yesteryear? Heh heh.  If I were inclined to nitpick, I'd want her muzzle to be a little darker, but it's not a dealbreaker. She can join her sisters on the shelf (and already has). I hope everyone else likes their Starlights just as much! 

Sunchaser is now available!

Good news for Fairytale Friends Club (or as I like to call it, Glitter Unicorn Club) members - the next release, Sunchaser, is now available!



While I like this one's color, it looks a little blah in the photos - hopefully it's better in person. Still wishing Moonbeam had been on a mold I like. Hopefully he doesn't take too long to get here! I'll  be keeping the Stablemate, but as usual the Mini Whinny will be for sale.

Moonbeam is now available!

Attention to Fairytale Friends Club (or as I like to call it, the Glitter Unicorn Club) members! Moonbeam, the fourth release in the club, is now available for purchase!



I really like the color on these, but the G3 Arabian is too cartoony for me, and I've never been a fan of the Rising Sun resin, so I'll have to pass. And hopefully they'll do some slightly more complicated paint jobs for these (with less glitter) when the next year of the club debuts.

Georg, Rose and Mini-Rose are here!

Good news, everyone! My Georg and Rose set finally arrived (well, they've been here for a few days now), and I finally got some time to write about them. I'll start with Georg!

I really, really like this guy. Despite the banged tail, he's definitely handsome (and a chonk)!

If I had my way, he'd only have mane on one side of his neck, but that's a minor nitpick (along with the banged tail). He has a handsome face and I really like his topline and the way he's standing. And color me surprised that the painters actually managed to more-or-less pull off Sommer's paint job!

Quality-wise, he's very, very good - I didn't see a thing wrong with him, although the bottom edge of his dappled area could have been blended into the body color a little better - it stops a little abruptly for my tastes.

Next, let's see Rose and Mini-Rose!



Magnolia's millionth release of the year is actually quite pretty, with the silver and rosy pink. I'm hoping the models for next year don't use the same aesthetic as the current ones, though - the glitter flaking off them is getting old, as is the simplistic paint jobs. I didn't join the club just to help pay for more Mini Whinny molds I don't collect, so let's hope they mix things up a little bit next year.



I didn't see anything particularly egregiously wrong with these two, other than the warped legs on Mini Rose (but I suspect that's pretty common with the bendy plastic they use). I'm surprised the model can even still stand, really.

That's all I have for today - let's hope we find out what that upcoming web special is soon. So much for finding out "very soon," huh?

The next release in the Fairytale Friends Club is available!

Attention, members of the Glitter Unicorn Club! Rose is now available for purchase!


It's Magnolia and her (presumably new mold) doppelganger! I have to say,  I really like Rose's color, despite my general dislike for pink. Sadly, I don't collect Magnolia or Mini Whinnies, so my set will be for sale. Hopefully Breyer gives Mini Magnolia a break soon, because they're going to wear out the mold soon if they don't! Sheesh.

Alas, I'm not going to purchase my set right away anyway - I'm expecting Georg to be released later this week, so I might as well wait and see if I can combine shipping on them. Hope they release him soon!

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!

Khalid, Lightning Ridge and the Seafoams are here!

Good news, everyone! My Khalid, Lightning Ridge and Seafoam set have all arrived! Behold their awesome beauty! I'll start with the Seafoams.

I like Seafoam's shade of blue, but I think I would have liked him better if he'd been painted more like Dazzle, with the mostly silver/white butt fading into the blue color on the rest of his body. I mean, he's kind of painted like that now, but I'd have preferred the silver to be confined to his hindquarters.

Also, I think we can all agree that the paint jobs on the Stablemates are definitely not worth $25, but I think the bulk of the cost of these sets is most likely going toward the creation of the new Mini Whinny molds. Maybe next year they'll use old molds and do some slightly more complicated paint jobs? I hope so. How long can/will they keep introducing new Mini Whinnies? Maybe this will be the only year of the club.

Next, here's Lightning Ridge!

He's definitely one of the more interesting models I've seen in the last few years, though he's not a terribly good representation of an opal. Unfortunately, giving a model the same inner "fire" an opal has would probably make the model prohibitively expensive to produce, but this guy is a nice facsimile.

It's good to see Breyer getting into the precious stones inspiration for paint jobs, though. It seemed like that theme had pretty much been left for Stone to work on, for obvious reasons, but why concede that market to your competitor? I'd love to see pretty much all of them get used again, so far.

Lastly, here's Khalid!



Sorry for the terrible photo. I love his shade of...dun? I'm not actually sure what color that's supposed to be. He has primitive marks, so I'm going with dun.

I do like the alternate tail for this model, but I'm not as much of a fan of the mane and forelock. I guess the ears (or lack of Marwari ears) doesn't bother me too much, though. And I love this guy's belly spots!

Quality-wise, the Seafoams and Lightning Ridge were fine, but check out this gnarly seam split on Khalid:



I didn't even notice it until I was taking photos for the blog, but now it's all I can look at. Not sure it would be worth the hassle of replacing him, though. I guess I'll just have to try not to look at his face/

That's all I've got for today - stay tuned for more exciting Breyer news!

Seafoam crashes in!

Whoa, that was fast. Seafoam, the second release in the Fairytale Friends Club (also known as the Glitter Unicorn Club) is now available for purchase!



I wonder how well that rearing Mini Whinny will stand with the bendy rubber legs. I guess we'll find out? I also hope Seafoam's color is a little more vibrant than it looks in the photos. It might be hard to tell him apart from the new Walmart unicorn blind bags...

Dazzle (and "Razzle") are here, plus Hero's Welcome breakdown!

Exciting news, everyone! The first release of the Fairytale Friends Club (though I call it the Glitter Unicorn Club around here), Dazzle, arrived today! There's no official name listed for the Mini Whinny, but I've seen people on the Internets naming theirs Razzle. If I were planning on keeping mine, I'd probably name it that. As is, though, he'll be going to the sale pile.

Anyway, let's take a look at Dazzle!



I have to say, I like the lighter area on his back/hindquarters. I was expecting him to just be flat pink, so that was a nice surprise. Still not crazy about the glitter, though.



His quality is decent, but for this price point I'd have liked the front hoof paint to not be splattered halfway to the horse's ankles. Sheesh. The mane is really sloppy on the left side, too.



I'd have liked more detail to the eyes than "black dot" too, honestly.

I hope I'm not complaining too much, but this set cost $20, and the models are barely painted better than $4 blind bags at Walmart. Let's hope the next set is better.

Next, let's take a look at Razzle:

He's cute - I love his little horn! But I've never been a fan of Firebird, and since he's made of that rubbery plastic, his legs warped and he doesn't stand up. You know, in retrospect, I don't really know if including the Mini Whinnies was a good idea, especially if more of them have issues with standing. I've seen photos of warped horns on this guy, too - I think it's just too small.

Lastly, here's the satin pouch they came in!

I do like the pouch! It's a pretty color and I've always liked the pouches. Now if the Stablemate Club could go back to using them...

Well, enough of that. Let's talk about the numbers breakdown on the Hero's Welcome models! They finally released the numbers on the blog today.

Dark Dapple Grey: 1000 Matte, 200 Glossy

Chestnut Pinto: 850 Matte, 200 Glossy

Dappled Pearl: 650 Matte, 200 Glossy

Rose Grey: 520 Matte, 200 Glossy

Decorator: 400 Glossy

Pearly Black Leopard Appaloosa: 30 Matte

So all of the decorators were glossy? I could have sworn mine was matte. Oh well! He was the second rarest of the bunch, so I'm glad I got one. And I was surprised that there were more of the chestnut pinto than the pearl (previously referred to as the champagne); it seemed like the chestnut pinto was more desirable than any of the other colors other than the rose gray. I'm not surprised that the numbers on the dapple gray were so high, since it seems like everyone and their dog was trying to unload them at the Clarion and afterward. I'm just glad I was able to trade for the chestnut pinto and the rose gray, since I doubt I'd be able to make the same trades now that the numbers were out.

All in all, though, the surprise colors were really great this year, as usual. I can't wait to see what Sommer designs for us next year! 

Dazzle is now available!

Exciting news - the first release in the Fairytale Friends Club, Dazzle, is now available for purchase!

I'm excited to see Dazzle in person - maybe his mane and tail will be less, uh, encrusted? He looks like he's covered in glittery barnacles. Like a disco version of ol' Bootstrap Bill or something. Hopefully he and his mini-me don't take too long to get here, although I'm less excited about the mini-me. Thankfully, at least he's small enough to fit on my post-Breyerfest sales pile.

Fairytale Friends Club is now open for membership!

Attention, Collector Club members! The Fairytale Friends Club is available to join on the Breyer website. Check your Club homepage!

According to the website, there will be six releases consisting of two models for each release, every other month. So like the Stablemate Club, but with two models instead of one each time. I'm assuming the Alborozo and Firebird are the first release, although the website doesn't say for sure. The deposit is $30, so I'm guessing the releases will all be Stablemates (Edit: according to this page, one model is a Stablemate and the other is a Mini Whinny mini-me. That explains why the Firebird looks so noodly). I'm not really a Mini Whinny collector, so mine will be for sale, sadly. I wonder if they're planning to shrink down any other molds for this Club? Also, it'd be nice to see the Stablemate Spanish Barb show up, since they already put a horn on him for this year's holiday collection.

Now that I think about it, we don't know if all the releases will be unicorns, do we? Fairytale Friends could mean anything - unicorns, fun-colored decorators, maybe even pegasi? The possibilities are endless! I hope they show us the rest of the releases soon. And they need to tell us if any releases are going to be a gambler's choice so I know if I need multiple accounts or not!

Anyway, the deadline to join is June 30, so don't wait too long! There's no indication of whether sign ups are limited (the website says "while supplies last") so who knows how fast it'll sell out.

Another edit: Check out this picture from the info page.

Sorry it's so small. In the background of the photo, several more horses are visible. They look like unicorn versions of the G1 Arabian, Calliope, Magnolia (yet again? Ugh, why?) and a rearing one that must be a new mold. Exciting! The rearing one and the G1 Arabian appear to be the same color, so they might be the same release. Unfortunately, I'd be selling all of those, so I hope the other releases end up being things I want!

Breyerfest teaser and...Glitter Unicorn Club? Sign me up!

I guess the Lancelot reveal isn't the only exciting news of the day! There's a new teaser on the Breyerfest blog!

Looks like a plush to me - I bet that's black mohair at the top of the image. Whatever it is, it's probably something cute!

In other news, I guess there's going to be a new Breyer club! Check out this teaser:

So, we're getting another Stablemate club? Or maybe the releases are in a variety of scales? Or maybe those are the only two releases - who knows. Maybe it's like the Kid's Club and those are the only releases. In any case, it looks like we're getting a Stablemate version of Firebird...or is it Oberon? They aren't the same sculpt, are they? I'm a little fuzzy there. Here are the originals for comparison:

Now that I look at Firebird/Oberon, it looks like the new one is mirrored the other direction! It also doesn't look like the sculpt shrunk down very well, sadly. Those legs look a tad noodly...

As for the actual club, I was never a fan of Firebird  - so at least I won't need that release - but that Alborozo is another story. I wonder why both releases are the same color? I've never been a big fan of pink, but at least it's a light pink. I'm not big on the glitter-encrusted manes and tails, either. I think a nice application of "less is more" would have worked better there. Hopefully they at least don't shed the glitter.

Anyway, I hope we don't have to wait too long to find out about the new teaser or this new club! And I also hope Breyer eventually gets around to converting some old porcelains to Stablemates that I actually like...like Chesterfield (okay, he was a resin, but you get my drift) or the Shire Mare, or even the old Icelandic, or...HAMBLETONIAN! They used him as the Breyerfest crystal last year - doesn't that mean he could be used for something else?! Ooh, the old circus ponies (sans tack) would be cute Stablemates too! Make it happen, Breyer!