The Grinch strikes again, and other stuff

 Good news, everyone! My Wassail models all arrived today - I was able to use UPS to delay their arrival until today. So without any further ado...here we go with the unboxing! 

What a tantalizing stack of boxes. While I am getting pretty tired of the gambler's choice everything, it is fun to open up a stack of random things every once in a while. 

I carefully opened each box, pulled out the model inside without looking at it, made a pile on the table, and took a photo (also without really looking at it, which is why it isn't centered). 

And after a lot of unwrapping...behold! 

Rats, I was hoping for a better color distribution than that (doesn't everyone?) - but hey, at least I didn't get four solid greens. 

There's actually a lot of variation between the three solid greens. The one on the left is pretty dark, the one in the middle is about average, and the one on the right practically GLOWS green in comparison. I was a little torn about which one to keep, but ultimately settled on the greenest one, because...he's just so green! And these paint jobs do look better in person than they did in the photos. 

Here's a closeup where you can hopefully see more detail on the glitter. How cool would it have been if they'd had some holographic effects on these guys, too? But they still look pretty cool. 

So I'm keeping the green filigree and the brightest of the solid greens, and I'll be looking to trade the other two for the solid red and filigree red. I may have a trade for the solid red lined up already, which is good. Hopefully I can get the other one traded as well and have the full (obtainable) set! 

In other news, there are so many things I need to write about today! I'll start with the stuff from yesterday, since I just didn't have a chance to write a post yesterday. We were busy flying back home to KY after a Christmas visit to our home state. So where do I start? We got another Breyerfest Stablemate silhouette:

Cool, it's the Prince Charming mold again. Hmm, I thought to myself. Could they be on a streak here? Dare I hope they pick four molds I don't collect, and I don't need to bother with getting any of the single-day Stablemates for once? It's too much to hope for! 

Yesterday's other big reveal (unless I'm forgetting something) was the optional purchase for the 2024 Stablemates Club! Behold: 

It's Cassidy! And two foals! The foals are randomly shipped, so you won't know which foal you're getting until it arrives! I am not happy about this! 

I had reservations about this year's Breyerfest mare and foal set for the same reason - anyone that collects both the Standing Stock Horse Foal and the Action Stock Horse Foal would inevitably end up with an extra of the Lady Phase from this set (if they didn't end up buying multiple sets trying to get both versions of the foal). I don't have quite the same problem, since I only want the standing foal from this set, but it still irritates me. 

Also, I'm confused by the Cassidy's color (clearly Breyer really is trying to get their money's worth from the mold). The clue about the Breyerfest Cassidy seemed to imply a primitive color, but Hadley's color is primitive too. Would they do two? I'm confused. Maybe the clue was referring to something else. But I suppose we'll find out more next week. 

So that's our full Stablemates Club lineup for 2024! It looks like I'm only going to need three of the releases (or I guess four if you count the standing foal version of Holden). Oh well - I think that's better than this year. So I broke down and joined the club today (along with the 2024 Premier Club because I didn't want to forget about it). 

Back to Breyerfest 2024: today's teaser was...this! 

Holy crap, they did it! They actually did it! I won't need any of the single-day Stablemates next year! Hooray! It probably sounds weird that I'm celebrating not needing to buy anything, but every little bit helps, right? Maybe I won't need to bother with a VIP ticket, either. Well, maybe I won't hope for that yet...much. 

Let's see. What else was revealed today? The final Collector Club newsletter of 2023 is in email inboxes, so check your email if you haven't. There's a whole bunch of archive footage from the 1990s, a giveaway of a Mustang throw blanket (really? That's all you could find?), and this sneak peek:

There's been some speculation online that this is a new bull. That works for me - I won't need to buy it! The new for 2024 line is slated to be released next week, apparently (so much for releasing it before 2024 actually gets here). So we won't have to wait too long to see it. 

Other random things that were released sometime in the last few days: updated packaging for the Premier Club (Nobody cares about the packaging! Give us the first release in the club!); the PC Stablemate will be a new mold (Trying to figure out the odds on whether this is an actually new mold, or something shrunk down to Stablemate size again); Grab bags are being offered again on Breyer's website (not worth it! Avoid! Avoid!) and 2024 Stablemates Club releases will be released in window boxes rather than the hat boxes (Boo! Go back to the satin bags!). There may be more I'm forgetting.  

At any rate, I can't believe we're already at the end of 2023! I don't know if I'll have anything else to post about before the end of the year, aside from one more Featured JAH post. Let's hope there's something...but in the meantime, I hope everyone has a happy New Year! Here's to a great 2024, everybody! 

Wassail is revealed!

 Season’s greetings, readers! Well, the heavily-anticipated Wassail reveal happened today - behold!

Ooh, pretty! When they’re all arrayed together like that, they look great! Although I don’t think anyone was expecting Coal to literally be the charcoal colorway (or very close to it) rather than solid black. 

The hobby was also surprised to see none of these models had a bald face, despite that descriptor appearing in the original (pre-deletion) description of the models. Honestly, the solid faces look a little weird to me, and when you see each of these models by itself, they’re all a little cheap-looking. But at least two Coals have already been bid to more than $3,000 - which is about on par for a run of 24. 

People are still receiving their Wassails and so far I think I’ve seen about seven Coals pop up - so there’s still hope for the people still waiting for their models, like me. I was able to reschedule delivery for all four of mine, so Friday is going to be a fun delivery day for me! Crossing my fingers that I’ll get a Coal! Good luck to everyone else out there still waiting, and Merry Christmas!

Featured Model - 7/3/2021, Gold Rush

 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. You may have noticed that Featured Model was on hiatus last week; my apologies about that. Anyway, this week's model is...Gold Rush! 

This handsome guy was a raffle model at Breyerfest 2002. He's item #711417, and was a run of 26 on the Huckleberry Bey mold sculpted by Kathleen Moody. 

I wasn't that much of a fan of this model when he was first released - I thought he was too plain to be a raffle model. I guess I'll chalk that up to being young and dumb? He really is a nice color, with a lot of depth to it and plenty of shading despite being a simple palomino on the surface. I've actually seen a couple of Gold Rushes sell in the somewhat recent past, and for not-terribly-outrageous prices if I recall correctly. Perhaps there's hope that I'll own one eventually? For how pedestrian I found him 19 years ago, I'd be proud to own him today. 

As for Huck himself, he's always had his share of popularity, and has received a large number of releases in response - I have a good number of them on my shelves! His most recent Breyerfest appearance seems to have been 2015, so I'd say he's due to make another appearance there soon. Perhaps the surprise model? Or the volunteer model? Either would be okay with me...but not my bank account. If not Breyerfest, maybe as a TSC model? He was a web special in 2018, so I wouldn't expect them to use him there again. Either way, I hope his next release is obtainable! Haha...

Featured Model - 1/30/2021, Glossy Polaris

 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...Glossy Polaris! 

This handsome guy is item #703307G, and was a run of six produced on the Huckleberry Bey mold sculpted by Kathleen Moody. 

What a looker this guy is! I've always thought Polaris was one of the best colors Breyer has ever done on Huck, and the gloss kicks it into overdrive. He's just so purty! I'm not exactly sure how he was obtained, though - IDYB lists him as a Breyerwest 2007 volunteer and raffle model and a Breyerfest 2007 raffle, but doesn't give any more detail than that. Maybe four were BW volunteer models, one was raffled there and another was raffled at Breyerfest? Maybe someone who knows more can enlighten me on this. 

As for Huck himself, I think it's time he got some more love. He's appeared in the Breyerfest auction a fairly large number of times, but his last RR appearance was discontinued in 2013, and I don't think we've seen anything else new on him since 2018. Let's see something new, dangit! 

Of course, that could end up being a monkey's-paw type of wish, and he'll end up being a raffle model or something else super-rare. But I can dream! 

Featured Model - 12/8/2018, Nutcracker Prince

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...Nutcracker Prince!

This handsome guy was the 2009 Holiday Horse. He came with a cute little outfit (this was before the days of increasingly-complicated costumes) which even incorporated a couple of little Christmas ornaments into it. He was a regular run for that year and was item #700109 on the Huckleberry Bey mold sculpted by Kathleen Moody.

I like this model because, well, at the heart of it he's a pretty white horse and there's just something special about a pretty white horse. He's technically gray (the closest an Arabian can get to being white), but I wouldn't have complained if he really was straight-up white.

As for Huck himself, I feel like I may have done a Featured Model post or two about him in the recent past? He was used as a web special after Breyerfest and then popped up at the Scottsdale Stampede, so I suspect Breyer may give him a rest for a while. With Breyerfest coming up, though, who knows what could happen. I hope we see next year's new releases soon! 

Scottsdale Stampede special runs are out, plus 2019 Premier Club!

Greetings all! Although I'm sad I didn't get to go to the Scottsdale Stampede, it's still exciting to see the new reveals! Here are the special runs for the event! Thanks to Jennifer for the photo!




Group A:

Bolo, (buckskin?) Show Jumping Warmblood, 124 pieces
Oakley, (bay splash pinto) Lady Phase, 76 pieces

Group B:

Sonorah, (perlino Bobby Jo), 60 pieces
Pima, (silver/gray appaloosa) Fighting Stallion, 56 pieces
Prescott, (blue/black Huck), 44 pieces
Chica Bonita, (chestnut sabino Wixom), 40 pieces

Well...I hate to admit it, but now I'm kind of glad I'm not there. The only special runs I'd be interested in are Bolo and Prescott - hopefully I can get my hands on those without too much trouble. Sonorah is pretty, though! I'm not sure how the Show Jumping Warmblood or the Wixom fit the western/Arabian theme, but trying to make sense of Breyer's choices for themes will only drive me insane, so I'm not going to complain about it too much...except I would have expected to see more than just one Arabian in this lineup.  I'm really hoping the Prescott is some type of blue-black decorator, though, because a solid black Huck is...not very visually exciting, and certainly doesn't make me want to spend the amount of money it would cost to get one of a run of 44.

No word on the Stablemate yet, which is disappointing. I guess those aren't being handed out until Sunday.

And I'm glad the special runs are being divided into two groups - otherwise I'm sure people at the end of the line would end up with multiple Bolos, and nobody wants that.

So that just leaves the Stablemate and the Saturday centerpiece model as the remaining reveals. I'm hoping for Mirado for the Stablemate, since he doesn't seem to be terribly popular, which would theoretically make it easy to get my hands on one. As for the centerpiece model, the trend for the last few events has been to use older, less-popular molds - so my money is on Buckshot. He hasn't been used for much for the past several years other than prize models, so he seems as likely a choice as any.

In other exciting news, the 2019 Premier Club is now open for membership! For the low, low, non-refundable deposit of $100, you too can join the club and hope you like whatever's being released next year. Not that I joined again or anything...Now if only they'd show us the rest of the 2019 Vintage Club releases!

Sanibel is here! (And Dark Horse Surprise numbers!)

Good news, everyone! My Sanibel arrived today! Check him out!



Unfortunately, I think the Sanibel I got isn't much more subtle in the dapple department than the sample at Breyerfest was.



I didn't see any major flaws on him, though, so I suppose I can't complain about the dapples too much. He does have the hint of shimmer to him, though it was hard to capture in photographs. And as usual, I like how detailed his eyes are.

He does have nice shading, but just...take a look at these dapples.



They're just too uniform and evenly distributed. I had the same issue with my palomino splash Dark Horse. But I doubt Breyer would exchange this guy for another one, so I suppose I'm stuck with this one.

Speaking of Dark Horses, the quantities for the Dark Horse Surprise were finally released today! So, here we go!

Splash Palomino: 1050 matte, 175 glossy
Appaloosa: 850 matte, 175 glossy
Bay Pinto: 575 matte, 175 glossy
Decorator: 425 matte, 175 glossy
Black: 225 matte, 175 glossy

Interestingly enough, the quantities of the glossies this year are the same as they were last year, at 175. They've been increasing over the past few years, so maybe Breyer has finally reached their stopping point? I guess we'll find out next year.

From 10 special run tickets this year, we were able to get Dark Horse Surprises with 8 of them. Here's what we pulled:

Matte Splash Palomino: 2
Matte Appaloosa: 2
Matte Bay Pinto: 2
Matte Decorator: 1
Glossy Decorator: 1

I suppose that's not too bad of a distribution, but I still wish I'd been able to get a matte black to complete the set. I'll have to wait until the prices go down and see if I can get my hands on him later.

Also, the word on Facebook is that new blind blag Stablemates and Stablemate sets are showing up at Walmarts around the country. We don't have them in stock locally, but I'm sure they'll show up at some point. The chase piece for the new blind bag assortment is a pink-and-black Icelandic, so I'll definitely be looking for them!

Breyerfest Closeups: Sanibel (And Breyerfest Leftovers!)

Welcome to my first Breyerfest Closeups post from Breyerfest 2018! In Breyerfest Closeups, I post photos of as-yet-unreleased models from the Collector Club tent. Since Sanibel selections have already been made and some people are getting their models already, I figured I'd cover him first. But before I get to that, the leftovers from this year's Breyerfest are now available on the website (to three-day ticket holders only). So get on over there if there are leftovers you want to buy! There's nothing particularly exciting there, but if you need another Dead Heat or Newmarket, Breyer's got you covered!

Anyway, back to Sanibel. Here's a picture!

According to Sommer on Blab, the models are supposed to have a slight pinkish hue to make them look like the inside of a seashell. I can definitely see it on the above example!

Look at his cute blaze and pink nose! I love it.

I included this photo of his tail because it looked slightly chalky to me. That would definitely be interesting!

I love the shading on this guy, too.



His dapples look a lot like chicken wire from this angle, but the in-hand models I've seen have all been pretty subtle in the dapple department, so maybe it won't be that much of an issue.

Hopefully those photos were useful! I can't wait until my Sanibel gets here next week. See you then!

Featured Model - 6/17/2018, Red Bay Herd Stallion

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...the Red Bay Herd Stallion!



This handsome guy was produced for the 2008 Treasure Hunt event, in which collectors sent in the UPC codes from three mare and foal sets and received one of several possible stallions in return, all on the Huckleberry Bey mold sculpted by Kathleen Moody.

There were four different possible stallions you could receive from this Treasure Hunt. In order of presumed rarity, they were the Black, Red Bay, Mahogany Bay and Glossy Honey Bay colors. The Glossy Honey Bay is still highly sought-after even to this day. I don't own one and probably never will, because I've never been a fan of the honey bay colorway and thus am not willing to pay the high prices he usually brings.

I wasn't participating in the hobby when this treasure hunt took place, which makes me really sad now! I would have been super excited to guy all those fun mare and foal sets and see what color stallion I would get. I only have two of the mare and foal sets now (both variations of the Susecion and Le Fire), but it would have been fun nonetheless.

It might seem odd that I'm writing about another Huck so soon after I wrote about a previous Huck, but them's the breaks, it seems. Blame my busy work schedule, I guess.

Interestingly, this is the model I mentioned in a previous post as having spent most of the last two years on his side due to a broken peg stuck in his hoof. Fortunately, I finally had my husband extract the peg for me, and with a quick application of a replacement stand, he's standing on his own...two? four? feet again and taking his prancy spot on the shelf next to his Huck brethren. Woohoo!

Not much else to say about this guy except that I hope he pops up again soon? Maybe as the last America the Beautiful web special? We've never had a Huck web special, so anything is possible!

Featured Model - 5/19/2018, Alaric

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...Alaric!



My first thought on seeing this model is always, "Oooh, rainbow!" My weakness for rainbows strikes again. If only he were glossy to boot! Oh well. This release doesn't seem to have had an item number, but he was produced for QVC in 2002. I'm not sure if his quantity was ever released, either! What a mysterious guy.

The QVC stuff always really frustrated me, so I'm glad it's gone. Seems like it was always on in the middle of the night (which is bad when you're still in high school and have to go to bed), and the one time I actually tried to tune in, I'm not sure if the broadcast was canceled or if we read the schedule wrong, because it didn't come on that night. Plus there's the whole paying for things over the phone with a credit card thing, and I'd have had to borrow my parents' credit card, which they probably wouldn't let me do anyway, and...yeah. I'm glad that hassle is gone.

And when they released beautiful models like this one, that made the frustration even worse! Gah. But I finally managed to get my Alaric, a number of years after his original release, and he never fails to wow me. For a while I had the complete "family," with him, Alida and Elidor, but I ended up selling my Alida last year along with the rest of my Marabella models.

The Huck model used to be super-popular in the years immediately following his release - probably because he was among the first of the super-detailed molds that have since become the norm - but his popularity seems to have faded in more recent times. Has he been overshadowed by newer releases? Probably, and his inability to stand without the disc base - and the propensity for those bases to break - hasn't helped. I have a lot of Hucks, and even I get frustrated with those crappy bases, especially when the peg breaks off in the model's foot. I have a Huck that's been living on his side for close to two years now because I hate drilling those pegs out and the hot needle trick never seems to work...oh well.

Will we see a new Huck release anytime soon? He was last seen at Breyerfest 2015 as Giverny and as an auction model the same year, so I'd say he's due for something. He probably won't be a web special - or if he is, he'll probably show up later in the year, since I don't think Breyer would use two models that need a stand in a row. We haven't seen this year's Breyerfest show prize models yet, so maybe he'll show up there? Or as a mid-year release? Only time will tell.

Featured Model - 2/3/2018, Be Mine

Hello and welcome to another edition to Featured Model, the weekly blog event where I pick a model from my collection, give some stats on it and provide commentary about it. In honor of the fast-approaching Valentine's Day holiday, this week's model is...Be Mine!




This model was produced in 2011. He's item #712043 and was part of a run of 150. He was produced on the ever-popular Huckleberry Bey mold.

Interestingly, this was the first web special model I was able to purchase after my return to the hobby in mid-2010. In those days, Breyer used Shopatron (now known as Kibo, apparently) for product sales. As such, the current lottery system hadn't yet been implemented, and the company had been experimenting with different distribution methods with each web special. Be Mine was offered in a first-come, first-serve method, which was and still is controversial because, well, not everyone has high-speed Internet. Fortunately, my Internet speed was fast enough to purchase one of these babies, and he's been part of my collection ever since (for the record, I'm a fan of the lottery system, as it seems to be the most fair way to distribute limited models).

2011 was a year of web special decorators; 4 out of 5 releases were decorators of some sort. As the first web special of the year, this one was a Valentine's Day-inspired design; he's red roan, but with heart-shaped dapples and star. As an aside, I really like this version of red roan (as Breyer alway seems to be switching up the roan paint job); he might not be the most realistic, but he looks like delicious candy. I love candy, so this guy is right up my alley!

Huck, of course, is usually a very popular mold with collectors, and I wouldn't be completely surprised to see him get used at this year's Breyerfest. He last appeared as a special run in 2015 and has been a tent SR at least twice prior to that, so I doubt he'd be in the special run line. But maybe he'll be a prize or raffle model? Or perhaps a store special? Doubtful, since there are already two of them, but they've done three before. Or maybe he'll get another web special release this year? I'd be okay with that.

That's all I have for today, but tune in next week for another Valentine-themed Featured Model!

Featured Model - 8/27/2016, Giverny

Welcome back to another edition of Featured Model! This week's lovely model is... Giverny!

This model was issued in 2015 for that year's Breyerfest, a run of 1,200. He's an example of the iconic Huckleberry Bey mold, sculpted by Kathleen Moody in 1999.

Okay, first off: I don't care what anyone says - I love this model. I've always had a weakness for rainbowy things, and this guy is no exception. Add that to his pearly whites - and gloss! and I'm sold any day of the week. I'd love to see this guy's color on, like, every Breyer mold ever. He even stands well, which brings me to my next point.

A lot of people don't collect Hucks due to the many issues with the discs eventually getting broken. I've had four models wind up with pegs stuck in their hooves, including my most recent purchase. So we are in the slow process of drilling pegs out of feet (two down, two to go). It is frustrating to have a brand-new horse show up and then have the peg break off in the horse's foot within 20 minutes of getting him out of the box.

However frustrating it may be, though, it's not enough to make me sell off my Hucks. Though I do wish they'd make better stands; I imagine they must have to ship out a ton of replacement stands every year. Ah, well. My Giverny and his compatriots will always have a place in my herd.