Final auction reveals!

 Good news, readers! We have the last auction model reveal today. Well, it started to happen yesterday, but the post must have gone up too soon, because it was deleted almost as soon as it was posted. Anyway, here it is today! Potential bidders can now register with BidSpirit to bid on the models, and here's the first model from today's reveal! 

It's Bristol in a pretty "Dapple Sooty Palomino." He's nice, but nothing too exciting. 

Next is a beautiful light gray pinto Rhiannon! I'm perplexed that there's no foal with her, but she's pretty nonetheless. This model was briefly featured in the preview image for yesterday's deleted post (and then again today), so it's good to see the full reveal. Her slightly-sticking-out lower lip is really visible in this photo and it irks me for some reason! It's the only thing I don't like about the mold. 

I skipped the raffle model one since we've already seen him. Next is a beautiful Andalusian Mare/Foal set in rose gray/bay going gray. I love them! But I feel like these auction models are suffering from a distinct lack of gloss...

There it is! Some gloss for this auction! I feel like a few more of the lots should have been glossy too. But this glossy bay overo Totilas is spectacular! Could we be looking at the high-selling lot of the auction? Time will tell, I guess. 

Of course, they held back four auction lots to be revealed on Breyerfest Friday, but that's par for the course. Ugh, it's getting so close! Only 10 more days until we're all back in Kentucky for Breyerfest! 

Edit: A Blabber posted something from the program that I missed when I initially looked through it. One of the silent auction lots is a test run gold Nemea!

Now why didn’t they make this a micro run for Nemea last year? Maybe the poor guy would have sold better. In any case, I’ll be interested to se what this one sells for!

Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons, and other stories

 More good news, everyone! Amongst other things, I had a pretty good mail day today - behold! First off, my Neva showed up: 

What a beauty! 

Quality-wise, though...he's really kind of a mess. It's almost laughable - weird textures in the finish by his elbow, globs of plastic and/or paint in random places, bubbles in the gloss, poorly-applied masking, really bad overspray on the mane...the list goes on and on. And these guys are sold out, so I can't even ask for a replacement. However, the funny thing is...the snowmen:

I'm getting major Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goon vibes from these snowmen. 

Now, I love derpy stuff like this (I'm not a Barbie collector, but I do have two Barbie Christmas tree ornaments because one of them has a doofy face and the other one looks like she wants to eat your face), so I'm happy to add them to the collection. So yeah, if I was ever to decide to start showing (not likely), and if I could find a class to put this guy in (also not likely) his show name would definitely be Snow Goon. 

Now then, on to the next new arrivals. I was expecting Snow Goon up there to come today, but what I wasn't expecting...was two of my Poppy & Ollie sets! Huzzah! Behold the first one I opened! 

Fortunately, their quality was much better than Snow Goon. Though I have to say...normally I like alabaster, especially glossy alabaster, but I'm just not feeling it with this set. It's not so bad in the photo, but that yellowish cast Breyer added to make them look "perlino" mostly just makes them look like they sat in a smoker's house for way too long. So this is probably my least favorite color of the three.

At least the quality was good! And I got two different colors - behold my next set! 

Woohoo, the palominos! This color is easily my favorite of the three, despite there not being anything vintage about it at all. They're just gorgeous. 

The quality on this pair is mostly okay, but I really wasn't impressed with the mane masking job on the mare:

They pretty much missed half her forelock when masking it off, and look at the giant white area behind the left ear. What a doozy. 

Oh well. Could have been worse, I suppose. So with any luck, my third set will be the bay, whenever it gets here. Here's hoping! 

There were a couple of other exciting developments today - the other two sculptors for next year's Premier Club have been announced! 

Jennifer Scott sculpted the first release (Cancion), so it's anyone's guess as to what Kylee and Heather will be sculpting. I'm excited to find out, though! 

And lastly, Breyer is running a holiday sweepstakes:

10 lucky winners will receive two Clydesdale Christmas blind bags from last year's event! Enter here - the deadline is 12/13. I won't be entering, as I don't want any of them - just more stuff to sell, and I have enough of that already. Good luck, everyone! 

Official reveals and Breyerwest 2023 signups!

Greetings, readers! I'm excited to say we have official reveals of the Giorgio Stablemate and Poppy and Ollie sets from Breyer! It's good to have some better-quality photos. First, Giorgio:

He's really nice! Looking forward to getting mine whenever my Anamar arrives. The Premier Club blog says they expect these to ship early next month, so let's hope that time frame is accurate.

Next, here's Poppy and Ollie! 

So they are all glossy. Cool! The three colors are as follows: dappled primitive bay, alabaster-inspired perlino and shaded chalky palomino. I hope I can get all three - they look really nice. Primitive bay is one of my least favorite horse colors, but it doesn't look too bad on these two. Though the "alabaster-inspired perlino" is a little groan-worthy - they should have just done a straight alabaster and called it a day. And as I previously mentioned, the palominos look like that auction set from a few years ago. I hope I can get all three! I have tentatively managed to secure three sets, so let's hope I can get all three colors with a minimum of trading afterwards.

Lastly, signups for Breyerwest 2023 are now available, though I believe the live show and swap meet are already sold out. You can still get a glossy Chardonnay, though! 

He has to be picked up by the same person that ordered him, though, so plan accordingly. 

That's all I have for today - let's hope we get more exciting reveals tomorrow! 

More news! This year's JAH is showing up in the wild!

 Great news, everyone! This year's JAH has started showing up at people's houses, with many exciting reveals! I haven't seen an image of the cover yet, but there are plenty of fun things within. I'll start with the last release in this year's Stablemates Club - say hello to new Haflinger Kit! 

Looks cute - I guess she's been clipped, judging by the legs and butt stars. She looks promising, but I want to see the actual magazine photo before I decide if I want it. 

Next, here's the reveal of Giorgio, the Premier Club Stablemate for this year! 

So the much-awaited color reveal is that of Anamar! I have to say the mini Georg looks really nice in rose gray. Can't wait to get mine! As a reminder, they're shipping with the Anamar models this year, so keep that in mind if/when preselling yours. 

And lastly, here's the final release in the 2022 Vintage Club! 

That's right - they're on the Hermosa and Corazon molds. Gulp...I'm going to regret not having a VC membership this year. I'm pretty sure they're all glossy, too - or at least the bay set are. Interestingly, the palomino set strongly resembles this auction set from 2017, and the bay set is very similar to Mamacita and Chico from 2016. Hopefully the gloss will set them apart sufficiently. The alabaster set is making me think of a Barbie playset for some reason, though. Oh well. Anyway, if you have a set you want to sell for a reasonable price, send me a message! 

Lastly, though I don't have a photo I can use, the centerpiece model for Ponies & Palm Trees was revealed (and raffled off to attendees) over the weekend - it turned out to be a bay polo pony Smarty Jones, a portrait of one of the horses at the event. Nice! Makes me glad I decided to sell off all my Smarties. If you won one of them, congrats! Uh, apparently someone sold theirs for $8,000 right after they were raffled off, so keep that in mind if you ever need an instant house payment or something! 

Black Beauty and La Molina & Masella!

 Greetings, readers! Exciting news today - my Black Beauty and La Molina & Masella set are here! I'll start with Black Beauty: 

Isn't he a beauty? I don't have the QVC Black Beauty to compare him to, but the reports I've seen on the Internets indicate that the new release is more of a grayish color than the original. 

I'm still wondering why they reused Silver for this release when True North is right there. I suppose they figured they had to use Silver again since the horse is apparently a mustang in the new movie. 

Quality-wise, he's pretty nice - I didn't see any flaws on him. Another worthy addition to the collection! 

Next, let's take a look at the mare and foal set whose names I'm tired of typing! 

The foal isn't as dark in real life as he is in the photo. Sadly, I don't have a Benasque to compare him to, but they haven't been a complete match in the photos I've seen online. I'm definitely glad to have these two, though! 

I'd forgotten how much I missed Breyer's silver filigrees - we used to get them every year, but the last one we had was 2018's silver filigree variant of Callahan. And she looks good with my other silver filigrees! 

With regards to their quality...well, I didn't see anything wrong with the mare, but the foal apparently was splattered with white paint after he was glossed. I was able to scrape most of it off, but...how did it get there? When would he have been anywhere near white paint after he was pretty much done being painted? Weird. 

But anyways, I'm super stoked that I was drawn for these! Now if I can just find Benasque for a good price...

Web special selections are out!

 Attention, Collector Club members who entered for the latest web special (whose names are too complicated to type out right now!): Selections have been made! Log into your account, and if they're listed amongst the web specials midway down the page, you were drawn! Huzzah! I get to take a set of these beauties home! I haven't been drawn for a winter web special since 2017, so I may be a little excited...

Also, I can't believe I didn't notice/comment that this is the second time in a row that the Corazon mold was used for a web special. Well, there's precedent for doing that - Croi was used for Sugarloaf and then Bramble in 2015/2016, and the Moody ASB was used as Kehinde and then Muir Woods in 2018/2019. It's interesting that both Hermosa and Corazon were used in separate releases in the same year, too! Interesting to see how things shake out - though it shouldn't be surprising, since I think they're both in the regular line as Fantasia del C and Gozosa. Anyway, I can't wait to get this pair in hand! I'll have to find room on my entertainment center so the mare can go with the rest of my silver filigree models! 

It's Benasque's long-lost family!

 Greetings, readers! The sneak peek from the October Collector Club newsletter has finally been revealed - behold! 

Ooooh! Hermosa and Corazon as holiday decorators? Sign me up! 

They're beautiful! I had thought silver filigree was dead in the water since we haven't seen one for so long, but clearly it hasn't been forgotten! I hope I get drawn for these! Looks like they upped the piece count to 450 though, so I might have a better chance of being drawn this time. 

From the website:

In Spain’s Pyrenees Mountains, the names La Molina and Masella are synonymous with skiing and amazing winter scenery. La Molina has a stunning silver filigree coat, and her foal Masella sports blue filigree. Both are completed by a high gloss finish, which takes their coloring to the next level! Each has “Collector Club 2020” on their belly. If you already own our 2018 Winter Web Special, Benasque, then you’ll want to scoop up the rest of this filigree family!

I have still not managed to obtain a Benasque, but...maybe someday. In the meantime, I hope I can get my hands on his family! The deadline for entry is 11/18...sheesh, that's a pretty short entry window. Oh well - fewer days I have to remember to enter! Good luck, everyone!  

So there is an auction!

Good news, everyone! Breyer released some information about this year's Breyerfest Live auction today. First off, it's taking place....on eBay. Groan...well, there went my hopes of being able to afford anything this year. But look on the bright side - I guess Breyer will have plenty of money to donate to charity this year! Fun stuff.

So the live auction items and silent auction items will all be viewable on eBay starting next Thursday, but they haven't said when the auctions will actually start. I'm guessing they'll just be one-day auctions and lots and lots of people will be hovering over their eBay screens at the end of the day on Friday? That'll be a madhouse. I suppose they won't all end at the same time either so people can bid on more than one item.

Anyways, here are some of the auction lots! Check out this yummy glossy buckskin Zippo Pine Bar:

Looks like someone forgot to crop that image before they posted it. Oh well! Here's a dark bay overo pinto Salinero:

And here's an amazing Hermosa and Corazon set:

Here's one of the silent auction lots, an etched-and-glossed Voyeur:

And a painting by Jane Tilton, who usually has a workshop at Breyerfest every year:



Cool stuff! I can't wait to see the rest of the auction items! Can't believe we don't have that much longer to wait.

In other news, the mid-year releases are now available on Breyer's website. Or at least, most of them...the new blind bags are already out of stock and Apparition is still marked as "coming soon," but you can still order the rest of them, and Crystalline if you never got one of those. Yay!

Mira and Antares are here! UNICORN OVERLOAD!

Unicorns...so many unicorns lately. But...more. I must have MORE! Like Mira and Antares! Now if they only had a stallion, to match them. Duende, perhaps? But would that lead to a unicorn short-circuit? There's only one way to find out...

I like that the mare is a little darker than the foal - sometimes Breyer's mare and foal sets match each other a little too well, when that's not always the case with real horses.

Their color is really interesting - at first glance it looks like a flat bronze, but then you notice the (very subtle, on my set) purple shimmer, and the shading and dapples, and the ombre effect on the foal's horn (not as noticeable on the mare). The mare's horn seems huge!

See what I mean? Their eyes are really nicely done, too, although the shape of the mare's eyes don't match each other. I guess you wouldn't notice it unless you were specifically looking for it, but still.

Quality-wise they're both pretty good - no horribly warped legs, which is what I was afraid of. The mare has some scrapes on her barrel under the paint, and a rough spot in the paint on her front right hoof, but other than that they look pretty good. Well, other than my inner nerd screaming that foals don't usually have dapples in real life and this one does, but then again bronze-colored unicorns don't exist in real life either, so these could be anything they want, and so on.



Either way, I really like the color on these two, and I hope they use it again on something else. Can you imagine it on the Othellocorn? Swoon!

Mira and Antares, and a Christmas miracle!

Exciting news, everyone! The unicorn mare and foal set I posted about last week is now available to order! Say hello to Mira and Antares!



My holiday catalog from Breyer did come yesterday, but I didn't have time to post the picture of this set. Speaking of which, the catalog also featured this bay Haflinger I also posted about last week - A Pony For Christmas:

I didn't buy him, but I did snag the mare and foal set as soon as I could. This time I remembered to try to use the collector club discount code (no luck there), but they do qualify for the free shipping, so at least there's that (at least, the mare and foal did - I don't know if the pony does).

In other news, my constellation unicorns arrived today, and....it's a genuine Christmas miracle! Behold:



I got all four! Woohoo! I was expecting I'd probably get four of the Clydesdale, but fortunately that didn't happen! Yay!

I'm still not forgiving Breyer for the sea of blind bags (and the sea of trash it produces), but this at least helps.

That's all I have for today - I'm hoping we find out the 2020 releases and the optional model for the 2020 Vintage Club soon, though.

Holiday mare and foal set, Winter web special and more!

So it turns out Zenith was just the first of today's exciting reveals! First, the colors of the 2020 Vintage Club In-Between Mare, Zahra, were released:



Well...at least the colors are pretty...especially the glossy ones...but that's the most I can say about them. She's just so...well...let's just say I won't be searching them out on the secondary market. Is it just me, or do her eyes look too big for her face?

Edit: I forgot there was also a hint about the 2020 Vintage Club's optional model - something about him "leaping into our hearts" or something along those lines. Considering the Newsworthy and Jumping Horse molds have both already been used for the VC, could this mean we're getting a Bristol? Exciting!

Next, a hint for the upcoming Winter Web Special was revealed in the Collector Club newsletter that was emailed to CC members today:



I appreciate the correct usage of "peek." Looks like some kind of bronze or rose gold filigree? Opinions are mixed on what it is, but it looks like Carrick to me. Hopefully we find out soon!

Lastly, there was another surprise reveal today - Breyer's holiday catalogs are going out, and there's some exciting new things in there! I don't have photos I can use yet, but there's a delightful dark bronze/bay Hermosa and Corazon unicorn set named Mira and Antares, and a blood bay Haflinger with a cute little blanket. Hopefully we get our catalogs soon!

A Flood of New Releases!

Wow! We got a lot of new release photos today. I can't wait to see them all in person! Modellpferdeversand has them posted. Here's an official photo of Hwin:



I cant wait to get her! Forever Saige looks great in gray.

Another release is a new Action Stock Horse Foal, apparently named Van Gogh:

 

He won't be joining my herd, sadly. But that leaves more money for other things! 

Another one is Paint Me a Pepto, a portrait on Bobby Jo:

 I won't be buying this one either, but Bobby Jo sure looks snazzy in black and white!

Next is Fantasia Del C, who we saw on the cover of JAH...and she comes with a foal! 

His name is Gozosa, apparently. I'm going to have to buy them...the only question is when. Maybe I can get my husband to buy them for my birthday.

Next is...the return of Foalzilla, as "Espresso."

Color me surprised...I thought this was another one of those things that would be labeled "Failed Experiments" and quietly disappear, never to be seen again. I suppose they want to get some more use out of the mold to justify making it in the first place. I didn't buy any of the Camilas, as the mold didn't appeal to me and I didn't see the point of introducing a new scale we likely won't see any adults in, simply due to sheer size. Who knows; maybe they'll expand the line if this release does well.

But I digress! Next is a new Classics set, Heroes of the West:

Harper fans, rejoice! That's a really nice color on her. But...is she being used as the stallion for this set? That's odd. Looking at the in-box photo, maybe the Standing Thoroughbred is the stallion? Confusing. Oh snap- I just noticed that's a new Hansel I'll need to get my hands on.

Next is a palomino "Morgan" and foal, featuring Liam again!

 

Can't say I'm the biggest fan of those palomino paint jobs, but whatevs (and the foal is going to look very similar to the Springtime Frolic one). That's a lot of releases for Liam in one year, but I'm not complaining! I may have issues clearing shelf space, though.

Next is a new Classics Arabian set, featuring Sagr and the Trotting Stock Horse Foal!

They look similar to the liver chestnut Cl. Black Beauty I posted about a couple of days ago. Interesting. Neither will be coming home with me, however.

Next we have another Arabian set, this time in gray:

The Black and the Morgan Foal look a little greenish...dare I say, Green Eggs and Sham greenish? This is most apparent in the in-box photo. Hopefully Breyer can get that cleaned up. They won't be joining my herd either way, however.

Lastly, we have Starry Night, on the Cl. Morgan Mare:

 

I see Breyer is trying to get in on the "Galaxy Horse" customizing craze that's been sweeping some parts of the Internet. That's not a bad thing, if only they'd put it on a mold I collect.

There's also a page entry for Bandera, the bronze Geronimo, but no photo. Hopefully they get that fixed soon. EDIT: The Bandera photo is now up!



I like Geronimo, and I like a bronze Geronimo, but I'm not sure how I feel about the brands. I'll most likely still buy one, but it seems a little odd. Oh well.

That seems to be it for now, but I also heard murmurings about a new Connemara Mare for the brick-and-mortar SR - I'm probably safe on that front. Sugarloaf is the only Connemara Mare in my collection, though I've been thinking about buying a Banks Vanilla. We'll have to see what color the SR is. I'll be sure to keep the blog updated!