Brighton is here!

 Greetings, readers! A brief update today -the move is well underway and we’ve arrived at our new house, but haven’t finished unloading the moving truck yet. But, fear not - I do have something new to post! Behold: my Brighton!

What a beauty! He’s lusciously glossy and almost looks like a decorator rather than a realistic color. I can’t believe it’s almost September and this is the first Stablemates Club I’m not selling. I really like him!

He’s really nice in the quality department, too - I don’t see a flaw on him other than some overspray on his eyes - and that may be an attemp at shading? Who knows. But I’m happy to add this guy to my collection! 

Lots of unpacking to do tomorrow, but hopefully I’ll have more to post about soon!

Brighton is now available!

 Well, it's a little bit late, but the next Stablemates Club release is now available! Finally, something I'll keep: 

Woohoo! I had her shipped to our new address, though, so it'll be a while before I see her. Packing is well underway for our departure next week! Let's hope everything else with the move goes smoothly. I'm excited to get into our new home! We have until 8/31 to order Brighton, so if you're waiting for anything else to come out this month (like something Vintage Club-related), it might not be the worst idea to wait on ordering. 

2022 Stablemates Club conclusion and 2023 silhouettes!

 Good news, everyone! If you're a Stablemates Club member, the final release (Kit) is available for purchase! 

And the optional model, Helios, is now available as well! 

I can't wait to see what they look like in person. Let's hope they don't take as long to ship as my three Poppy and Ollie sets, which have not moved from the warehouse since 11/25 as far as I know. 

Anyways, we also got a reveal of the silhouettes for next year's Stablemates Club! 

We saw the SCO, Sidewinder, yesterday, so that leaves the MFT, G2 Shetland Pony and G3 Cantering Warmblood as our reveals for today. I uh...am not especially excited about this lineup. Provided the gambler's choice isn't the warmblood, I may be able to get away with not even joining the club at all next year, since he's the only one I would want. I'm seeing a lot of the same sentiments online, so let's hope we get more reveals by the end of the year. Because I'd really like to know which one of these is the gambler! 

Kalahari selections are out and Delray is revealed!

 Good news, readers - selections for Kalahari have been sent out, and I was drawn for one! This is the first web special I've been drawn for this year (though I've only entered for two others)! 

Can't wait to see what he looks like in person! And congratulations to all the other winners out there! 

In other news, we also know what the Delray Stablemate for the upcoming Ponies & Palm Trees event looks like! 

Evidently it was revealed to event attendees last week, as I saw a few listed for presale with this image. Sucks that it's a Cantering Warmblood - the prices are still pretty insane even for models included with the tickets, so I doubt I'll be able to add one to my collection anytime soon. Oh well. 

Hard to believe Ponies & Palm Trees is happening this week - I hope we get some fun reveals soon! 

FINALLY!

 The big reveal is finally upon us, readers- this year's Best of Breyerfest Stablemates set! Here it is in all its glory: 

From the blog: 

Schumacher (mold 5625) has been inspired by Senna, 2016's Open Show Grand Champion Prize Model, in a flashy red dun blanket. Named after Michael Schumacher, one of the most successful Formula One Drivers in the world.

Linzer (mold 5746) has been inspired by Brigadeiros, 2016’s Open Show Reserve Champion Prize Model, in an eye-catching bay tobiano. Linzers are a popular cookie found throughout Germany, filled with different jams and preserves.

Müller (mold 5745) has been inspired by Pele, 2016’s BreyerFestCarnavalesco Challenge Diorama Contest Prize, in a stunning glossy dappled bay.  Named after Thomas Müller, a German Soccer Player, who plays for both Germany’s National Team and state team Bayern Munich.  

Radler (mold 5735) has been inspired by Caipirinha, 2016’s volunteer model, in a beautiful dappled rose grey. A Radler is a Bavarian drink which is a mixture of light beer and sparkling lemonade.

Maifeld (mold 5629) has been inspired by Polomar, 2016’s Early Bird Raffle, in a light bay leopard appaloosa. Named after the Maifeld Cup, which has become one of the most popular and prestigious polo events in Europe.

So that's another set I'll have to get my hands on! I only want the Radler (though his color doesn't quite match his Trad counterpart) and Maifeld, though - they seem to have a knack for mostly picking molds I don't collect for these things. That Croi is really pretty though, and this is (I think) only the second time we're seeing the mini Prince Charming in a realistic color. That said, my only nitpick for this is the color for Maifeld - similar colors on the G3 Cantering Warmblood have been done several times before, and since he's not glossy he just looks kind of blah. Why would you pick something that looks like a $4 RR when they could have easily done a mini Cinza instead? Mind-boggling. I hope he at least has detailed eyes. 

Sounds like tickets (or at least, more information about them) might be revealed on Monday! I think we only have the crystal model left to be revealed (aside from prize and raffle models), so I'm excited to see what that is as well. Happy weeekend, everyone! 

Halloween Stablemates are here!

 Good news, everyone! Well, I'll get straight to the point - my Halloween Stablemates are here! 

As you can see, I got a nice assortment across the four bags I purchased. Which is good, because I wouldn't have been happy if I'd gotten four Poltergeists. But anyway...

I still think the blind bags need to be done away with, but I'll admit it's still fun to open them and see what you got.

It's hard to see, but mini Twilight Terror has a little Skullduggery on his butt, just like the original. I can't believe the amount of detail they squeezed onto these guys. Also, I'm glad Breyer is continuing to expand their Halloween line - it was only a few years ago when we weren't getting anything at all for a while, ostensibly because they'd "run out of ideas." 

Quality-wise, they're all pretty nice - one of the Night Mares is tippy due to a warped hind leg, but otherwise they're good. I've seen a lot of these arriving with broken legs, so I was a little worried - hopefully people can get those replaced without too much trouble. But these little guys are definitely a win - I hope we get more mini Halloween models in the future! 

The 2020 Halloween line is now available!

 More good news, readers! Breyer's 2020 Halloween offerings are now available to order...like this rat-tastic Classic! 

His name is Ratsputin...a bit of a mouthful, but plays on words are always fun, right? Fortunately (or not), I don't collect this mold, so I don't need to buy him. Which is good, because, well...I mean, I don't really have anything against rats per se, and wouldn't mind having one as a pet, really, but...rats? Bleh - it just makes me think of dirt and filth. But to each their own! 

There's also some fun new Stablemates, which is what I'm most excited about, despite the dreaded blind bags:

Those are some pretty ambitious paint jobs, so I won't complain about the $25 price...this time. Let's hope the factory can pull them off! Plus, they qualify for the 10% Collector Club discount (CLUBPLUS20), so order away! I'm hoping to get the Cantering Warmblood and the Friesian, so here's hoping! 

There's also a cute plush:

Aww, I love candy corn! I may be alone in that opinion, but whatevs. If you order $75 worth of merch (any merch, as far as I know), you can enter a code (SUGAR20) to get the plush for free! 

Humorously enough, there's also still leftovers of last year's Halloween Stablemates. You'd think they'd take the hint from the last few rounds of blind bags not selling out (these and the Starry Skies) and QUIT DOING BLIND BAGS AND JUST MAKE IT A SET WE CAN ALL BUY....but I'm trying not to be too negative here. Anyway...happy early Halloween! 

Featured Model - 9/21/2019, Crepe Suzette

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...Crepe Suzette!



That's right, I finally got my hands on one! This handsome guy was a Single-Day Stablemate model at Breyerfest 2015. He was item #711217 on the G3 Cantering Warmblood mold sculpted by Jane Lunger, with 1500 produced.

It took a while, but I finally got one late last year. He's definitely a worthy addition to the collection. As has been noted, he's a mini version of Fire, and I'd say the color translated pretty well. Of course, he's not an exact match, since some of those details are hard to perfect on something so much smaller. But he's still beautiful! I love him. I'm always a sucker for glossy chestnut, and the white blanket makes him really striking.

As for the mold, he was used last year as a Man o'  War portrait for the Single-Day Stablemates lineup again. I hadn't predicted that they'd use him, but I suppose I should have - he does have a lot of presence, and Man o' War had that in spades. Where will we see him next? He's being used in the current line in a few different places, so I don't think we'll see new releases on him anytime soon, but it could happen. Maybe he'll show up in the Stablemate Club next year, or the Fairytale Friends club? If it's the latter, I hope he gets a more interesting color than the glittery pastels they're doing this year. Crossing my fingers!

New Arrivals: Glossy Dark Horse Decorator, One-Day Man o' War

Hello everyone! Today I'll be covering the last of my new arrivals - the glossy decorator Dark Horse Surprise and the One-Day Stablemate Man o' War. Let's start with the decorator!



This guy is just as nice as his matte counterpart, but glossy! I like how the gloss makes his mane and tail look like gummy bears. ...Now I'm hungry. Anyway, his color pops quite a bit more in gloss, although I'm a little perturbed by his red eyes. Not sure what color I'd have painted them instead, but the red just seems a little weird. Maybe red eyes make him go even faster?

Next, the One-Day Stablemate Man o' War!



I still haven't gotten a picture of them together, but I'm pretty sure this guy and Straight Bet are the same color, and they're even both glossy! It's a nice color, though; a very rich red chestnut that looks postively luscious with gloss! I love him. Edit: I can't remember if I've mentioned how happy I am that Breyer dropped the McPie Stablemate boxes they've been using the last couple of years and gave these guys actual pouches this year, but I'm definitely happy with that!

This guy got the dubious honor of being part of my costume contest entry. It was certainly fun trying to devise a way to attach him to my hat in a removable manner, but I figured it out eventually.

An odd thing I noticed about this year's Single-Day Stablemates was that the Silver Charm one isn't glossy. I'd thought it would be, since the other three are, but something got missed along the way, I guess.

So those are all of this year's Breyerfest models I was able to acquire. Hopefully someday I can get a matte and/or glossy Dark Horse, but I suspect it'll be a while before the prices come down on those. Keep checking the blog for more Breyerfest updates - I still have a lot of Breyerfest Closeups to post!

Single-Day Stablemates outlines are revealed!

The links for single-day tickets on the Breyer website are now active, and we can see what the Single-Day Stablemate molds will be!

So those are:

G3 Standing Stock Horse
G3 Cantering Warmblood
G4 Driving Horse
G3 Standing Thoroughbred.

Hey, I predicted one of those - the Driving Horse! Last year I predicted two of them, though...sigh.

There's an interesting mix of molds there - and by "interesting" I mean...why are three of them from the same generation? The Standing Stock Horse and Cantering Warmblood have both been used at Breyerfest 3 times before - the Stock Horse was a Single-Day Stablemate in 2014, and the Cantering Warmblood and Standing Thoroughbred were both Single-Day Stablemates in 2015! (Still looking for the Warmblood...)

I guess you could explain away the Stock Horse by saying Quarter Horses race too, and they're probably trying to pass off the Warmblood as a Thoroughbred. It just seems like there was a wider range of molds they could have picked - the G1s have been popping up all over the place, for instance. I didn't think they'd use the G2 Thoroughbred since she was used last year, but I did think they'd use at least one Arabian since that breed is also known for racing (endurance or otherwise).

Of the four, the only one I want is whatever the Cantering Warmblood turns out to be, so that means I only need to buy one single-day ticket this year. Hopefully I can get the volunteer at the tent to let me pick the one I want - I have a feeling the Warmblood is going to be the most popular, so one of us might need to get in line early.

I'll close by saying I hope they have different packaging for the Stablemates this year - the McDonald's dessert packaging they've been using the last two years isn't nearly as fun as the little themed bags they usually come in.

Spirit Series 2 Blind Bags are here!

Greetings, readers! My Spirit Series 2 blind bag assortment finally arrived, and I'm excited to share photos of them!

Collectors had been assured that these boxes would contain one of each model, like last year's assortment, but it seems that assumption was incorrect, as some of the boxes going out have contained 0 chase models and have had varying degrees of duplicate models inside them instead. Somehow I was lucky enough to get a complete box, however. Behold!

I had been dreading the box's arrival, because I only needed four of these guys for my own collection, and I was pretty sure I was going to end up only getting multiples of the models I didn't want. So I was pleasantly surprised!

The standout models in this box were (in my opinion) the chase piece (duh), the pearly perlino Andalusian and the dapple gray G4 Driving Horse. Here's a closeup of the chase piece:

I've never watched the Spirit Riding Free show, but apparently those warpaint markings are from an episode of the show. Obviously all or most of them had to be done using decals, but some of them didn't get put on quite right and the edges of them are visible. The model also had some significant rubs on his nose and nostrils, which was disappointing.

Next: the Andalusian!

I may have mentioned my love for pearly finishes a time or two before, but this guy is really nice. Almost nice enough to forgive those Groucho Marx eyebrows! I know these models are based on characters from a TV show, so I try not to complain about the eyebrows too much, but they make this one look pretty ridiculous. I know, I know; they added eyebrows to the horses to make the eyes more expressive, but part of me just wishes they could have toned it down a bit for this model. Maybe if they'd used light-brown eyebrow paint instead of black? That might have helped.

Next: the G4 Driving Horse!

I'm not much of a fan of this mold, but this color looks really nice on him. I love how soft his dapples are! I'd personally like to see a dark mane and tail to go with his legs; I don't think I've ever seen a dapple gray horse that didn't have the dark mane and tail to go along with the legs. Oh well.

And I want to write about the G3 Cantering Warmblood as well:



I wish they'd quit using these weird, unrealistic pinto patterns, but I suppose that's probably the TV show's failing rather than Breyer's. Clearly whoever designed the horses' colors should have done some more research.

That's all I've got for right now. On a side note, it's now April (you probably noticed that already), which means the next Stablemate Club release should be out anytime! I'm hoping for the gray Brishen, but it shouldn't be too long until we find out!

2018 Stablemates are here!

Greetings, readers! In lieu of more exciting things to talk about this week, I'm going to talk about some of the new for 2018 Stablemate models. I've been trying to cut back on purchases lately, so the only 2018 releases I've gotten have been Stablemates. Behold!

I'm a bit short on time today, so I don't have very many photos of these. But they include a couple of the new Stablemates Single Assortment models, the stallion and foal from one of the new Mystery Foal sets, and the TWH, Cantering Warmblood, Django and Andalusian from the new blind bag assortment.



I think they're all really nice, but the standout here is, of course, the Django. His color is very metallic and attractive, and it makes everything else look dull by comparison (except maybe the buckskin Andalusian).

As usual, I wish Django's sculpt had been adapted to plastic a little better - he looks so stunning from either side that it's sad to see how narrow he is. Plus, he's just a tad out of scale compared to other Stablemates. Friesians are big, but not that big.

That said, I do like the color on the buckskin Andalusian as well - it's more of a buttermilk shade. And the perlino foal is so cute! The Icelandic is a little plain - I'd like to see some white on him, but that's a small nitpick. And the black pinto rearing Arabian is like a budget version of Oscar.

Sadly, I wasn't lucky enough to get a copper Django from the 8 blind bags I ordered, so I'm still on the hunt for him. Hopefully his price comes down eventually.

As for the quality on these, I didn't see anything majorly wrong with them, which was nice. I hope the Spirit Series 2 blind bags are as nice!

Featured Model - 4/15/2017, Mini Joker

Hello, readers, and welcome to this week's 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 Joker!


 

This model was one of 500 produced for Breyerfest 2009. He was a part of that year's Breyerfest 20th Anniversary Commemorative Set, which included Stablemate versions of all the Breyerfest Celebration Horses up to 2009. So, this guy is a miniature version of Tommie Turvey's Joker! He's item #711080 and was produced on the G3 Cantering Warmblood sculpted by Jane Lunger.

Let me start off by saying I loved the idea of the Commemorative Set, and I hope Breyer does a followup set someday! I'm a big fan of doing minis of Trad models on Stablemates, so I'd totally be down with another set of these. I thought 2014 would have been a good year for that since it was the 25th anniversary and would have been a set of 5 models - nothing too involved there. Oh well - maybe someday!

I'll admit this mold isn't my favorite of Stablemate molds, but I somehow still have more of him than almost any other Stablemate mold. Not sure how that happened. Mini Joker is certainly snazzy-looking in black and white, though. He looks like he'd be perfectly at home in a dressage arena or on trail.

Another nice color I like is Crepe Suzette from Breyerfest 2015, though I haven't managed to get my hands on one of those yet. This mold looks good in almost any color, though. Another one of my favorites is the fleabitten gray from 2006-2008, but that may be because he has a lot of metallic/pearly in his finish. I've been saying this a lot...but hopefully this is another model we'll see in the Stablemate Club!