Featured Model - 11/13/2021, Silver Cup Series II G2 Warmblood

 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...the G2 Warmblood from the second Silver Cup Series set! 

This handsome fellow was part of the Silver Cup Series, a five-piece (actually six if you count the cup) set sold through QVC in 2002. I don't know how many were made, but he was produced on the G2 Warmblood sculpted by Kathleen Moody. 

I like this one because the gloss makes him look like porcelain and he's an attractive gray color in addition. I never got a chance to buy these when they first came out because I was still in high school and wasn't allowed to shop on QVC, and haven't managed to get my hands on them since then. Maybe someday! I really do like their resemblance to porcelain, though. 

The G2 Warmblood has had a fairly steady run of releases since his original debut, including a number of Breyerfest releases. He's one of my favorite of all the G2 molds, so it's safe to say I have quite a few of them in my own collection. He's had more than one release this year, including in those French-language blind bags that were sold by Triple Mountain and a few other retailers recently, and the carded "cheapie" Stablemates that are apparently starting to show up at Dollar General stores around the country. As if we needed more places to try to find Breyer models...but anyway. Let's hope he has a healthy run of releases for years to come! 

New Arrivals: Cheesecake, Stablemate Set and WH Topgun!

Hello, readers! Featured Model was on hiatus again last week due to real-life events - sorry about that. Well, let's get back to the new arrivals - I'll start with Cheesecake! 

Cheesecake is definitely one of my favorite models from the event. He's just so pretty! It would have been even more cool if he had some pearly attributes, but I know that's a turnoff for some people. If the model is at all similar to the real horse, I can see why they call him Cheesecake. 

Next, here's the Best of Breyerfest Stablemate set! 

This set is just darling! Too bad I don't have any of the full-size models to pose with them. Maybe someday...In the meantime, the mini North Star seems to be especially popular on the secondary market. The mini Viajero and Que Sera Sera will be going down the road, but the other three are great additions to my collection. 

Lastly, let's look at WH Topgun! 

While I do like this guy, I wish the original buckskin/bay Connemara (the regular run) had had some white or something, so it would be easier to tell them apart. There's a reasonable amount of difference between their color...but not enough for my tastes. That said, he's a pretty shade of buckskin if you can forget about the RR version! 

Well, that's all I have for today - hopefully some new releases will come out soon. I'm looking forward to the new Premier Club horse and the next Stablemates Club release! 

Florian and Cystalline and Fabio, oh my!

Greetings, readers! My Crystalline model has arrived (as well as Florian and Fabio)! Hooray! Okay, they've all been here for a few days now,  but I've been too busy to post about them until now. First, let's take a look at Florian!

I love that he has the tiniest of blue eyes! It's amazing the kind of detail they can get on Stablemates these days.

He's definitely a handsome guy! He makes a good addition to my G2 Warmblood conga. But this release leaves me wondering which future one is going to be the matte/glossy - the decorator? Or maybe the G2 Arabian? Hmm, that might make all of mine easier to sell. I guess we'll hopefully find out in June.

Next, let's look at Crystalline!

Did anyone else notice Crystalline's box design is identical to Prism's? I thought that was neat. As for Crystalline herself, this one is another home run as far as I'm concerned. She's beautiful!

I love the color transition from blue to purple on her mane. Can we see more of that, please?

I like the way her pink tail fades out to white, too. You know, now that I think about it, it would be fun if Breyer brought some actual "decorator" horses to Breyerfest some year. You know, just take a white (or white-gray) horse and some non-toxic paint/dye and just go to town on it. I'd love to see a real-life Crystalline! Make it happen, Breyer! Maybe that's easier said than done, though...

Anyway, let's move on to Fabio!

Hubba hubba indeed. Splash pinto is definitely a knockout on this model, and he's not nearly as orange as the prototype! And, I love his slightly-pearly tail! Wins all around.

Part of me just wishes he'd been glossy, but I guess we can't have glossy everything. They'll probably gloss one for the Breyerfest silent auction just to spite me.



Florian and Crystalline were both pretty nice quality-wise, but Fabio has a few booboos. Nothing major or worth sending him back over (and the point is moot, because there aren't any replacements left). Lots of things have been selling out lately - is Breyer just that on point with the new releases, or are people just bored at home and looking for things to buy? I guess we'll find out if/when the stay-at-home orders are lifted. In the meantime, keep coming out with the incredible releases, Breyer!

The reveals are coming fast and furious!

So many exciting things have been happening in the last few days! First, the next release in the 2020 Stablemate Club is now available:



That's right - Florian is ready to ship! Can't wait to see mine - I've always had a soft spot for the G2 Warmblood.

And in other news, the Breyerfest Sunday raffle model has been revealed!



Sheesh, and I thought yesterday's raffle model was beautiful! But yeah, I figured Altynai would be a raffle model! If/when Breyerfest is cancelled, I really hope they do the raffles online so we can still win these! From the blog:

Heather, found abundantly growing in the wild in Scotland (it covers approximately 5 million acres of land), is one of the nation’s national flowers and Scots have found many uses for it – from bringing good luck to brides to aromatherapy! It also features prominently in Scottish folklore tales.  

The lithe and athletic Akhal-Teke mold (#805) was sculpted by Breyer’s own Heather Puleo, and will debut next month as our first Premier Club model of 2020. He is finished for our lucky Sunday Raffle winners in an eye-catching bay varnish blanket appaloosa, and now represents the unique Nez Perce Horse. He is fully decked out with amazing details, from his mottled nose to his detailed “toes,” and with plenty of mapping and spots in between!

(Emphasis mine) Because that has anything to do with a Celtic theme...sheesh. I guess I didn't complain about Order of the Thistle being a Saddlebred, so I can't really say too much. Either way, he's beautiful! Hope I can win one.

2020 Stablemates Club is now open for membership, and we have the outlines!

Exciting news today - the 2020 Stablemates Club is finally open to join! And Breyer graciously showed us the silhouettes of next year's molds!



I wonder if they'll fill in one of the silhouettes each week or something? I'm interested to see what that Alborozo will be? I really, really hope he isn't the gambler's choice, though...hopefully it's the Cob so I don't have to bother with it. I won't need him or the G1 Arabian Stallion, but I have to have that Darwin! I'm excited to see what the G2 Warmblood looks like too. Hopefully they aren't too stingy with the details!

Featured Model - 3/23/2019, Mini Appropos

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. This week's model is...Mini Appropos!



This model was part of the Miniature Connoisseur Collection, offered through JAH in 2006. He's item #701706 and was a run of 3,000 on the (Stablemate) G2 Warmblood mold sculpted by Kathleen Moody.

The amount of detail on the models in this set was pretty incredible - the tiny eyewhites! The white areas on his legs! The tiny halo spots! Well, they may be vaguely haloed - it's hard to tell. And the models in this set were all like that!

For whatever reason, though, the set wasn't a big seller - it was first released in 2006, but I remember buying my set through Breyer's Shopatron website (before the 2011 website revamp) in 2010 after my return to the hobby. Why did they sell so poorly? Stablemate sets tend to be popular, and Stablemate versions of Traditional models get requested all the time, so it's a bit of a mystery. I suppose they probably just made too many sets, similar to what happened with the Double Exposure set - made too many and they were available for quite some time afterward.

Oh well! I like my set well enough - if only all the Stablemates had as much detail as these guys do. As for the G2 Warmblood, he's been fairly popular over the years - he's had innumerable releases, but he most recently appeared at Breyerfest 2017 as Vivaan, one of the single-day Stablemate models. Where will we see him next? He's being used in several places in the regular run line currently, so I don't know if we'll see him get any kind of special run release soon - but maybe he'll show up at the next Breyer event - who knows. At any rate, I'll be looking out for new releases on him - he's one of my favorite Stablemate molds!

Featured Model - 12/2/2017, Mini Cryptic

Hello and welcome to another installment 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 - Mini Cryptic!




This, uh, "cute" little guy was issued as part of the Spooky Stablemates II set in 2006. The set consisted of three mini versions of prior Trad-size Halloween models. As such, mini Cryptic was a mini version of Cryptic, issued on Big Ben a few years prior. The Spooky Stablemates set was item #710016, and mini Cryptic was issued on the G2 Warmblood mold sculpted by Kathleen Moody.

He is sort of cute, I guess, and his paint job was a clever idea. Although I believe the original Cryptic's skeleton was glow-in-the-dark, which I don't think got carried over to the mini version.

Not that I don't like the model or anything - he's just more on the Spooky side of things. I wish Breyer would do this type of thing more often, honestly. We need more mini versions of Trad releases.

As for the G2 Warmblood, he's one of my favorite Stablemate molds - I love his pose. He's the quintessential Warmblood, even if his conformation isn't the best. This year's BreyerFest special run was great - silver bay is an excellent color and they pulled it off really well. I'm going to sound like a broken record here, but we're due for new Stablemate releases next year - maybe we'll get something fun on this mold. I hope so!

New Arrivals: Navya, Vivaan and Mishti

This will be my last Breyerfest New Arrivals post! Yay, I'm finally done! Next week I'm hoping to post some photos and commentary about things in the Collector Club tent, if I can find the time. But time is short, so let's move on and take a look at Navya!

 

I was a little apprehensive about this guy's color in the promotional photos, but in person I love him. He's glossy and flawless and his colors go together really nicely - and he's translucent to boot! Excellent all around.

 

This pretty much proves that Breyer could release Django in any color and I'd be all over it. Hmm...I think we're due for new Stablemates next year. Dare I hope Django is one of the new releases?

 

Sorry for the blurriness of that photo. If I have one nitpick about this model, it's that I wish the eyes had been a little more detailed. The rest of him is too detailed to have those black dots for eyes! Oh well.

Next: Vivaan!

 

I really like this model, but I really like silver bay, so I may be biased. I love how pearly his mane and tail are - he looks like a mini Jubilee! 

 

 I didn't see any flaws on this guy, either - I love it when Breyer does a good job on their Stablemates, and the Breyerfest ones are usually pretty nice. I definitely wouldn't protest to see Django in this color!

And finally, Mishti:

I'm not as enamored with this model as I am with Vivaan, for some reason. I think her lack of pearliness is kind of a letdown after Vivaan, and she isn't as eye-catching as Django either. Hmm.

 

Maybe I just need some time to warm up to her. She's definitely a pretty girl!

 

I almost hoped this model would have a blue eye or two, but I suppose that would have been too much detail even for Breyer. The eyewhites are nicely done, though.

And that brings me to the end of the Breyerfest 2017 models. I had a blast at this year's Breyerfest (as usual) and I hope to attend again next year. Can't wait to see what they have in store for us next year!

Breyerfest Single-Day Stablemates!

So Breyer posted the first of the single-day stablemates on the blog today, and it's on the G2 Warmblood! Behold!








From the blog:

Vivaan is a glossy silver dapple bay on Kathleen Moody's Warmbold mold (#5607). Vivaan is a traditional boy's name meaning ‘full of life'.

 Silver bay is a color I love, and I definitely collect the G2 Warmblood (not to be confused with "warmbold", see above).  This guy definitely needs to come home with me!

They also uploaded silhouettes of all four Stablemate molds being used this year, on the ticket ordering pages!



Excuse me while I pat myself on the back for successfully predicting two of the molds, and at least picking the correct generation for a third! I definitely wasn't expecting a new mold for the last one, though. I thought Django would definitely be included this year. Maybe he'll be the Premier Club Stablemate instead? Who knows. More importantly, the last one appears to be a new mold! Word on the street is that he's this ornament. Unfortunately, he's not really my cup of tea, and I don't collect the Para Dressage horse either. Which is fine; more money for other things!

We'll still have to wait and see what color the other Stablemates are, but I'm happy I'll only need two of them (that seems to be the trend for me for the past few years). I can't wait to see what they show us tomorrow!