Whoa, a new test run!

 Exciting news today, readers - there's a new test model for Collector Club members to enter to win the chance to purchase! Sheesh, that was a wordy sentence. Oh well - say hello to glossy Bisbee! 

She, uh...doesn't look all that different from regular Bisbee in the promo photos. 

I guess you can at least tell the glossy one is glossy, even if it doesn't look like the super-glossy models we're used to. But Breyer's promo photos are always bad, so hopefully whoever wins this one will provide better photos so we can admire her! 

I'm a bit surprised that they're selling off a relatively-recent release, but Forever Saige isn't the most popular mold, so that may be why they picked her. Fortunately (or unfortunately) for me, I have many Forever Saiges in my collection, so naturally I have to enter for this one. Her price tag is $1,000 - but that's still less than she'd go for on the open market, even on an unpopular mold like this one. I hope I get drawn! But good luck to everyone else too, of course. 

Oriole is here!

 Well, there's still no sign of my Adonis (sigh), but at least my Oriole arrived yesterday! Here she is! 

What a beauty! I love her minimal white markings. They don't always have to be so flashy, you know? 

She isn't metallic at all, and definitely has tons of leg barring. 

Here's her trademark boss mare stare. Stay out of her way or get trampled! 

Her eartips (and bottom of her forelock) are kinda weird-looking, and she has a few other tiny issues, but nothing major. 

All in all, another worthy addition to the Forever Saige conga. I wonder if we'll get more Birds of a Feather models next year? Breyer's posts on the subject were kind of ambiguous. As for Adonis, I don't think I'm going to pay for 2-3-day shipping again if I'm going to wait...let me check my notes...5 days and counting for it to arrive. Actually 6 days since the earliest it can arrive now is tomorrow. Let's hope day 6 is the charm? Sheesh. 

Oriole, July Collector Club Newsletter and more!

 Greetings, readers! Well, first things first - we have a new web special to enter for! Check her out: 

If you're a Collector Club member, check your Collector Club Home page to enter. From the email:

The Oriole’s beautiful plumage, paired with their cheerful song, has made them a favorite of birdwatchers. While colors vary between species, vibrant pops of orange and yellow are typically seen, sometimes with splashes of white. They are said to symbolize optimism and joy.

Artist Sommer Prosser designed this beautiful Mustang’s finishwork to suggest the vibrant colors of the Oriole, with minimal white overo markings against a radiant amber dun pinto coat. Paired with her skyward gaze, she truly embodies the spirit of the Oriole. The latest release in the Birds of a Feather series, she has “Oriole 2023” on her belly.

She's pretty! Definitely one I entered for. She's a run of 500, and Forever Saige isn't the most popular mold, so hopefully I have a decent chance. Good luck to everyone entering! 

Next, the July Collector Club newsletter was sent out today as well!  There's an article about Brighty, a giveaway of a glossy Hickory Hills Wall Street model, and this sneak peek: 

My first thought was mermaid, but most people on the Internets think it's some kind of Creature from the Black Lagoon, and probably the Halloween Classic. I think the rest of the Halloween Stablemates are supposed to be revealed in September (they showed a mini Nevermore on the Charleston mold on one of the Breyerfest live broadcasts), so maybe this will be revealed at the same time? Guess we'll have to wait and see. 

Also, my last Studebaker arrived today and she isn't blue, sadly, so I'll have to think about whether I want to try my luck when the second chance sale happens. 

Lastly, while I don't have any photos I can use yet, I keep forgetting to mention that there are new blind bag Stablemates at Tractor Supply stores. Most of them are reissues of other Stablemates, but there's a new mini Brishen in gray. One of the chases is a dark gray/grulla Peruvian Paso, so I'll be on the lookout for those. Not sure if we've seen the other chase piece yet. 

That's it for today - check back tomorrow afternoon for the reveal of an exciting new blog series! 

We have a Breyerfest program! And a Collector Club Newsletter! Glory, glory hallelujah!

 Even more good news, everyone! It's two weeks until Breyerfest, and we finally have a program for the event! Find it here. Among other things, it has schedules, maps, this year's raffle models (if you didn't see them last night or today), and more exciting stuff! I didn't see any unexpected reveals in the silent auction, except for this OOAK glossy blue pinto Rotating Draft from last year:

There's also the usual stuff like a vendor pack, gift baskets, Design Your Own Breyer, a full set of glossy Dark Horse Surprise models (makes one wonder just how random that stuff really is), and a full set of the Stagecoach Surprise models, once that gets revealed. 

Anyway, I'm glad we finally got the program and can plan Breyerfest activities to our hearts' content! I suppose we'll go back into a dead zone until Breyerfest is actually upon us now that everything else has been revealed - let's hope Breyer has a few other things up their sleeves to tide us over. A reveal of the second Premier Club release for this year, perhaps? 

In other news, the June Collector Club newsletter was released today! If you're a Collector Club member, check your inbox. There's an article about the Fun Foals treasure hunt from 2009, a giveaway of a glossy KB Omega Fahim, and this tantalizing sneak peek:

On first glance, I thought it was Wyatt, but the prevailing opinion online is that it's a flipped photo of a Forever Saige. It's supposed to be something for Collector Club members to look forward to, but if it's Forever Saige, the color looks a lot like the CC special run Moondance from a few years back. Maybe it's a web special? 

Best Customs Contest prizes revealed!

 Greetings, readers! Last week's two sneak peeks were revealed on the blog today- meet this year's Best Customs Contest prizes! I'll start with Kansas: 

Ooh, she's pretty! I believe this is the first time a Best Customs prize has been done in chestnut. As expected, that's the original Forever Saige pattern. I'm simultaneously breathing a sigh of relief that this model wasn't a black version of Hamilton (yay!) while also saying goodbye to my complete Forever Saige collection (boo!). 

Next, here's the runner-up prize, Willamette:

Guess I have to say goodbye to a complete Darley collection, too. Oh well. He's pretty too! I wish Breyer would hold some kind of creative writing contest with these kinds of prizes for people that don't have the artistic skills to compete. 

In other news, while I don't have any photos, the Vintage Club and Premier Club welcome letters have been arriving in people's mailboxes. They're being very cryptic with this year's Vintage Club releases, which irritates me to no end. Signups are closed! Subscribers are locked in! With the lukewarm reaction to the first two releases, maybe people would be more enthusiastic about the rest of them if they KNEW WHAT THEY WERE! Sheesh. Don't even get me started on the "leaping Lipizzaner" Stablemate coming at the end of the year - the only Stablemate mold that fits that description is Darwin, with a really loose definition of "leaping." 

Anyway, apparently this year's Premier Club Stablemate is a miniature Zafirah, which...doesn't fill me with excitement. I suspect she won't be the same color as Cancion, since it would be super similar to her original color. Nor do I think she'll be the buckskin leopard-pintaloosa-whatever sneak peek we got, since that's a wildly not-Arabian color. So maybe whatever color the mare and foal set are? And yes, we got official confirmation of a draft mare and foal set (I know we got a sneak peek of that last year). Finally! Hey, maybe I can trade my mini Zafirah for the VC Stablemate. Here's hoping! 

Featured Model - 8/22/20, 2019 Breyerfest OOAK Forever Saige

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Model, the weekly blog event where I pick a model from my collection, give some stats on it and provide commentary about it. To be honest, I've been getting a bit tired of doing this every week, so I'm going to try something new. Today I'm going to feature a model I don't own, but would really, really like to. I'll do it this way for a couple of weeks and see if it helps to pull me out of the Featured Model slump I've been in for the last few weeks. So, to start off this new version of Featured Model right, let's take a look at the 2019 Breyerfest Auction Forever Saige! 

Photo by Breyer. 

As I mentioned above, this is the 2019 Breyerfest Auction Mustang Mare in a "Fanciful Dark Bay Splash Pinto with White Zebra Stripes." She was done on the Forever Saige/Mustang Mare mold sculpted by Kristina Lucas Francis. 

I don't know why, but this is probably my favorite auction model of all time. Why? I don't know. I like splash pintos, and I like the zebra stripes a lot (although they look more blue than white to me). I'll probably kick myself until the end of time for not attending the live auction last year, because she sold for a low enough price that I could have afforded her, and she's since been sold to someone else for a price I definitely won't ever be able to afford unless I win the lottery. Anyway, she's just beautiful to me, and if they ever do this color again on something I'll be first in line to buy it! 

Forever Saige has her fair share of detractors, as well as admirers. I put myself in the latter camp because I like her sassy look. She's definitely the epitome of the "boss mare" at the front of the herd, deciding where everyone goes. Unfortunately, she does have that long neck that a lot of people don't like - and I still think Breyer missed an opportunity not using her as the giraffe web special last year. Haha! Well...maybe that would have been a little too on-the-nose. But I definitely would have tried harder to get one if it had been on Saige rather than Lonesome Glory. 

Where will we see Forever Saige next? The last time we saw her was last year's fairly-successful Bisbee release. She hasn't been a web special yet, so maybe she'll get an animal release this year? That would be cool, though I maintain she should have been done as a giraffe. Ha, maybe they'll do her up as a zebra instead? I could see it happening, since the Zebra mold is a little on the small side. I wouldn't mind seeing another regular run release on her, too. Either way, I hope she gets a new release soon! 

Giraffe sneak peek!

Apparently Breyer posted this on their Instagram today:



While it's clearly a giraffe, there's been some confusion on what we're looking at here. I think it's a top-down photo of the model's back: the withers are at the top left, spine running from top left to bottom right, and the top of a right haunch in the bottom right. That said, if this is anything other than Forever Saige, I'll be sadly disappointed. We can't forget all those "giraffe neck" comments every time the mold gets a new release, can we? It would be super cheeky and snarky of Breyer to use her as a giraffe, so I'm all for it. Hopefully we don't have to wait too long to see what this is...although I won't complain if it's a mold I don't collect, as I really need to scale back my buying...

Also, word from Breyer is that they don't have any replacements for Salem (bleh...), so I'm just going to have to live with the warped leg on mine, or attempt to fix it (but I'm not brave enough to try it myself, so I guess it'll never get fixed). Oh well.

Splish Splash, I was taking a bath...

Happy Monday, everyone! We've got four more auction models listed today and I have to say - Breyer is really knocking it out of the park with the auction models this year. They've all been stunning so far! Let's start with Lot 10, North Star:

I know we've already seen him (he's the Saturday Raffle), but I couldn't remember if I'd seen him from the off side yet or not. Oooh, I hope I win one...

Anyway, on to this incredible Giselle/Gilen set:



The blog describes them as a "chalky Soft Dapple Palomino Splash Pinto" and a "chalky Silver Black Splash Pinto." As usual, I'm not really a fan of the chalky look on these - the white is just too stark. But I really like that palomino Giselle! Not sure why they don't just say they're basecoated white rather than chalky - probably to make them sound more exotic.

Next is this amazing Forever Saige!



I think she's my favorite of the auction models we've seen so far. Look at her! The blog calls her a "fantastical Dark Bay Splash Pinto with White Zebra Stripes." Those stripes don't look white to me (and they resemble brindling more than zebras), but who cares? She's incredible! I want this color on everything! Please don't let this be the only time we ever see it, Breyer! Although I'm sensing a pattern with all the splash pintos...

Lot 13 is another hidden lot, so here's lot 14:



I guess Breyer must have decided they need to try to get their investment costs back after letting this mold sit unused since its 2014 introduction. First there was Espresso, then there was Peplum, now this? Well, she's not my favorite mold, but that's an excellent color on her! And another splash pinto...is Breyer trying to tell us something? Maybe we'll see one of these patterns on a regular or special run next year? If so, I hope it's the one on the Forever Saige. She's a beauty!

Bisbee is (finally) here!

After more than a month of waiting, my Bisbee finally showed up yesterday! I was starting to get tired of waiting for her, especially with all the in-hand photos I've seen pop up over the last few weeks, so having her show up with yesterday's mail was a welcome surprise!



She's not as blue in person. Which is good, since she's supposed to be turquoise.

I'm a bit sad she isn't glossy like I initially thought she would be, but she's pretty regardless! I like the little white flecks in the blue.



I'm glad Breyer didn't pull a Bandera and painted the eyes this time.

Quality-wise, I didn't see a thing wrong with her, except it looks like the left side of her forelock didn't quite get glued on as well as it should have:



I checked all my other Forever Saige models and none of them have it, so hopefully that forelock doesn't crack off in the future.



She's just such a unique design! I wonder who came up with it. Whoever it was needs to give themselves a pat on the back!

Bisbee!

Breaking news, everyone - this year's spring limited edition has escaped into the wild!

Bisbee, eh? She's definitely interesting, and unexpected! This is the same color that was used on the Foalzilla from the Scottsdale Stampede event last fall, Peplum:



They don't look like they're quite an exact match, but they're close enough, though the lighting on Peplum isn't the best. Bisbee looks like she has some subtle dappling in her blue areas, but the bronze/metallic areas look darker and less metallic than the ones on Peplum. I suppose they had to make concessions so the paint job could be done on a run of 3,000 pieces.

She's definitely pretty, though! I'm hoping to order one as soon as my dealer gets them listed on their website. I'm definitely excited to see this one in person!

Nevermore is here!

Good news, everyone! I have a small nugget of information in the current dead zone that is Breyer news - my Nevermore is finally here! Behold!

Sorry for the poor lighting - she's just a tad pinker in real life. I love her! Normally I'm not into pink, but she's a really nice shade of what I guess you'd call "rose," with lots of pearly in her finish! She reminds me of lip gloss, actually.

The Edgar Allan Poe theme is a welcome departure from the norm, too. Somewhere I have an omnibus edition of Poe's more famous works, and seeing this model makes me want to read it again. She's a great design, and check out this cool skull on her butt!

I love it! She's definitely one of the better Halloween designs from the last few years. I can't remember if I mentioned it here before, but she was designed by Lauren Hoeffer, who designed last year's Calavera, among other things. She's definitely doing good work!

Unfortunately, as you can probably see in some of the pictures, the design didn't translate over to the models as well as it probably could have. They painted these models with a stencil, and it's definitely apparent in some of the smeared lines and edges of the markings.

I definitely think it would have worked better had these been masked, but maybe that wasn't possible since some of the lines are so thin.



I'm sure it couldn't have been easy to avoid smears with details this fine, and if they'd used decals people would be complaining about wrinkles. So they did the best they could with what they had. Either way. though, it's a beautiful design and I hope Lauren keeps designing stuff for Breyer!

This dearth of news from Breyer is getting really tiring! I wonder if anything new and exciting will pop up this week? I certainly hope so. It's been a boring last few weeks - hopefully we get something soon!

Another batch of auction models!

Good news, everyone! Breyer released some more auction models on the blog today. Check them out, starting with Lot 20:

Oh, my. So gloss, such shiny, etc. But he's...a bit plain, isn't he? He needs some white to set him off from the original Sham release (although that one was quite a bit redder). 

Next, lot 21:

Ooh, a test model on Forever Saige! This is the first time she's shown up in the auction, although a very nice test of her was auctioned off at Breyerfest 2015. And she's beautiful! I defnitely wouldn't mind adding her to my collection. She looks like she has a touch of pearly in her mane and tail, too. Very nice!

On to lot 22:

Well, that's definitely an interesting model. I like him a lot, especially the blue-and-gold saddle, but I feel like that saddle would be really impractical in real life. Like, every time you used it you'd have to check your pants afterwards for blue stains. Nice color on the model, though, and his blue eye tops it off nicely.

And lastly, lot 23:



From the blog: "This model is a Glossy Rich Liver Chestnut but still looks like the Olympic dressage champion Hanoverian stallion, Keltic [sic] Salinero." Yes, it does still look like Salinero (who is a gelding, by the way), and it's spelled Keltec, not Keltic. You could at least have someone do some fact-checking before things get published, guys. And like you said, this one still looks like the original Salinero...so why would anyone want to spend big bucks on it if that were the case? I'm sure someone will, but still. Maybe he looks more different in person.

And that's all I have for today. I did get a notification that my Prism has shipped (!!!), so hopefully he arrives before we leave for Breyerfest. If not, he'll just have to wait until we get back!

You're killing me, Breyer!

This year's mid-year releases escaped into the wild today, and all I can say is...you guys are killing me over here! Look at this model! LOOK AT IT!



Excuse me while I hyperventilate for a second. This design made its debut years ago as an auction model, and now we're getting it as a special run? Holy crap!

Clearly I'm not the only one having that reaction, because I'm pretty sure Prism (the model) is sold out pretty much everywhere. Needless to say, I ordered one as fast as my fingers could hit the keys on my phone, so I'm definitely excited for his arrival (not until August, sadly).

In other mid-year releases, here's another fun one! Meet Nevermore!

She's limited to 3000, so I ordered one. I can't remember if previous Halloween releases have been this limited? Oh well. I'm definitely an Edgar Allan Poe fan, so this girl definitely needs to come to my house.

Here are some other releases!

I love Harley's pattern and color, but not the mold. He's nice, though!

I'm not a fan of the Stock Horse Stallion at all, and what's with the weird brand? Have they put that on the horse in real life? Next.

Ooh, I definitely need this one! More Yasmin goodness! Although it's been difficult to get her to fit on my shelves...

...Is that a Stablemate Alborozo? What happened to the whole show of good faith to Brigitte in destroying the mold? Is nothing sacred anymore? Bleh, I'll probably have to buy one anyway. But why are there so many mold repeats? That's the old resin Magnolia shrunk down to Stablemate size, too, but I've never been a fan of hers. And I'm irritated that the chase piece (probably another Stablemate Alborozo for some reason) is only in 1/4 boxes again.

Edit: It's good that they're doing some colors other than white, though.



I'm not surprised to see this one, because there have been grainy photos floating around on the Interwebs depicting this mold appearing as a unicorn named Sarafina at someone's Walmart. I haven't seen one in person yet, but I'm sure I will eventually. Regardless, I'm not a fan of this mold, so I don't need to buy it, luckily.

There's also a Sgt. Reckless reissue, but I don't think it's any different from the previous one.

All in all, definitely a lot of exciting (and frustrating) releases! I can't wait to see Prism and Nevermore! I'll probably wait on buying LV Integrity until I can get some nice discounts at the end of the year, but he's definitely on my list. I'm still grumbly about the Stablemate Alborozo, though, but that might just be me being crotchety. Bring on the new releases!

Featured Model - 10/14/2017, Forever Saige

Hello, readers, and welcome to yet another edition of Featured Model, the weekly blog event where I pick a model from my collection, give some stats on it and provide commentary about it. This week's model is: Forever Saige!



This item was #90175, and was the final release of the 2015 Premier Club. This was the original release for this mold, and she was sculpted by Kristina Lucas Francis. As a Premier Club release, we don't know exactly how many were produced, but it's probably safe to assume there are around 750 of them...unless some of the leftovers got painted over and released as the chalky Hwins that have been popping up at Tractor Supply recently. But we don't have any confirmation of that.

This model was pretty controversial when it first came out, mostly because of her neck, which evidently started out shorter and was lengthened per a request from Breyer. Personally, it doesn't really bother me that much, mostly because her sassy expression makes up for it. I love this mold's attitude! She definitely has that boss-mare "don't mess with me" look.

As for her color, I like it, though the purplish shading is a little odd, and I'm starting to get tired of nearly every new release being some shade of grulla (Forever Saige, Primrose, Mirado, Geronimo to name a few). I almost wish the Premier Club release had been in this color instead (or that I'd had the money to buy that test); ah, well. Hopefully Forever Saige gets released in a new, sassy color soon, though she was a Breyerfest SR last year, is in the current line as Hwin and was this year's first Collector Club model. Maybe she'll show up as a web special next year? That would be pretty cool!

Moondance and Zahrat are here!

Greetings, everyone! My Moondance and Zahrat finally arrived, so I thought I'd snap some quick photos of them. First up: Moondance!

 

This girl is really nice. She has a few small booboos, but nothing major.



Look at her queenly gaze!

I love her sassy attitude. I can't wait to see how Breyer uses this mold next!

Next: Zahrat!



This little guy is just as nice as the promo photos indicated. And he's pretty much flawless!



His dapples aren't executed quite the best, but they're subtle enough that you don't notice unless you look really close. I love him!

That's all I've got for now, except for a quick moving update: we have almost everything moved. This is how our dining room looked at one point:

 

Fortunately, the move will be over soon. Huzzah! 

Moondance and Premier Club Blind Bags!

Wow, look at that - Moondance came out when Breyer said she would! Woohoo!

 

She's now available to order for Collector Club members who put down a deposit on her earlier in the year. I can't wait to get her and my Zahrat in hand! I like Forever Saige and all her sass, so the more boss mares I have in my herd, the better (although all my other Saiges are packed in a box right now, so they won't be together for a while).

In other news, it's that time of year again - Premier Club blind bags are available again!

 

If I hadn't been a member of the Premier Club since its inception, I probably would be more interested in this offer - but I already have all the Premier Club horses I want. What I'd really like to see is for these blind bag models to be glossed - we all know they'd instantly turn into hot sellers if that happened. Imagine a glossy Hermosa and Corazon, or Geronimo, or...(gasp) Forever Saige...that would be awesome! Of course, then I'd have to shell out an unimaginable amount of money to get them all, so maybe it wouldn't be such a great idea after all. It sounds really nice, though (and would really help clear out that warehouse!).