More new reveals!

Good news, everyone! We now have photos of Dusk and Dawn, this year's optional Vintage Club set! Check them out! 

If you're a member of this year's Vintage Club, check your email for more information. VC members will (or should) be able to combine shipping with Nugget, the decorator Brighty release, so that's good! Marabella and Amber look pretty good in gloss, though I have to admit they look a little lost without Ashley there as well. I wouldn't mind getting my hands on that foal, but I may have to undertake a significant herd reduction in the coming year and unfortunately my Ambers (and Ashleys) would be on the liquidation list for said reduction, so I'll hold off on trying to get one for now. That charcoal color is really nice, though! I prefer the darker-black charcoal models to the more chocolate-brown ones. 

In other exciting news, we have another new release on poor Malik! It seems like he's been a little neglected since his debut 2 years ago, but with the new Black Stallion and book set and now this, things are starting to look up! 
 

Oh boy, I really like this one. He definitely resembles his name, while I'm over here thinking if his legs were a little darker, he'd definitely have a "Fire and Blood" theme going on. But anyway...I did order one, even though those toothpick front legs still bother me a little. The Marchador mold, also sculpted by Sarah Mink, had the same issue and I ended up getting rid of him, so hopefully it doesn't become too much of an issue with these models, or they'll end up on the liquidation list too. 

A couple of odd new Breyer models popped up on eBay today - they can be seen here and here. What are they? The black one is like a simplified Marabella, but I don't recognize the other one. Maybe Breyer is starting a lower-quality toy line with more durable models, like Schleich or CollectA? I guess we'll probably get more information eventually. 

2021 Tractor Supply models have been revealed!

 Well, now that Breyerfest is a done deal for most people, I guess it's time to talk about the new hotness - this year's Tractor Supply special runs! A planogram showed up on Facebook earlier this week, showing the names of this year's three special runs - Sayan (mustang), Cirrus (American Quarter Horse) and Wilder (Arabian-Appaloosa cross). Now we have photos of the actual setup as it's supposed to appear on the shelves. I'm not sure the photo was intended for public consumption, though, so I won't post it here - but anyway, the three molds in question are the Indian Pony (in...bay, I think?), Bobby Jo in dapple gray and...Ethereal (bay blanket Appaloosa)! Exciting! Fortunately, I only need the Ethereal, so I guess my husband will have to start haunting the local TSC! 

The 2018 Premier Club is now open!

Signups are now open for the 2018 Premier Club! Check it out:



They gave us a slightly larger photo of the sculpt, at least. While I'd like to just see the full photo like the rest of the world, they're probably waiting on showing complete photos to try to drive more signups before the deadline.

Also interesting to note that the stand pictured with him won't necessarily be the actual production stand. Though I think I'd like something like this better than say, Newsworthy's stand (which way is it supposed to face? Does it matter? I like to think putting it on backward makes him look like he's cresting a wave). But I'd rather not have that dilemma with this one.

No, I'm not implying that I'm going to keep my Bristol, but the release of this photo definitely made things more promising. We'll see what the full body and the other side look like before I make my decision. I really do like his paintjob, though, for what it's worth.

Duende or: It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

So my Duende arrived today, and after all of the hobby drama we've been seeing for the last week regarding this release, I was really nervous that I'd get a bad one. Fortunately, that was mostly not the case!



I'll admit I'm not as bothered as some about the quality issues with this run, as I'm not very picky. I'll also admit the title of this post is something I thought up back when we only had one photo of one plastic Duende to judge against the resin, and now that more plastic Duendes are showing up in the wild, some of the quality concerns are definitely valid. All the same, I don't think this release is the disaster many people are saying it is - I'd say the Imperador sculpt fared far worse in the molding process than Duende did. I'm basically using Imperador as the standard to judge all the recent new sculpts against, as the biggest screwup in recent memory, and I don't think Duende is nearly as bad. He's not so small as to almost be mistaken for a Classic, for starters, and Imperador has the unfortunate problem of looking like he was sculpted in Sculpey and then someone stepped on it before it was baked. Duende does look somewhat narrow in comparison to the resin, but he could honestly be a lot worse.

With regards to the squished sculpts, it does beg the question of why the new Eberl sculpts seem to translate flawlessly into plastic, yet sculpts by other artists are hit-and-miss. Food for thought.

My Duende isn't great, but he isn't horrible either. I was hoping I'd get a darker one, which I did. I really do like his paint job, and I think he looks like a masterpiece compared to unfortunate previous attempts like Wyatt and Nympheas. I never expected the plastic models to look exactly like the resin preview (and Breyer has a long history of using the resin versions of new sculpts to stand in for the plastic ones until they're ready for prime time, which I don't have a problem with).

Above is a photo of the prominent chest seam on the model, which seems to be common. Things like this are difficult to excuse. This is a brand-new sculpt, and as such they should really be doing a better job of sanding down the seams. This is very similar to the seam issues on Zion's nether regions a couple of months ago. Was the seam-sanding team asleep at the wheel again?

His head and forelock are mostly okay, though I wish the mane were more pearly. There's also the unfortunate issue of overspray on the mane covering up the areas of the shoulder visible between the strands of the mane. Why even bother with those kinds of details if you aren't going to go to the trouble of painting them correctly? Like the mane braids on the Iberian version of the Gypsy Vanner sculpt.

Aside from the chest seam and shoulder overspray, this model does have those black specks scattered across small areas of his body, but I'm more forgiving of those because they're tiny and I don't expect a QC inspector to look at every model with a magnifying glass. I do really like the mold from the above angle, though, and I love that his tail is pearly! I just wish his mane had been pearly to match.

All in all, this is hardly the first time Breyer has mucked up a brand-new sculpt in the Premier Club, and it probably won't be the last. The question I'm asking, though, is whether Breyer has been taking on more projects than they can handle lately. We never got an explanation for why Duende's release was delayed a month, and there have been numerous other production delays this year as well. Maybe it's time for Breyer to expand their staff a bit - or, if they can't do that, cut back on their offerings (sad as that would be). Let's hope they take something into consideration, because it could really come back to haunt them if they don't. 

New special runs keep popping up!

So there are some new releases floating around on the Internet lately. I haven't seen an official announcement yet, but they're the TSC special runs for this year and another clearware special run for Back in the Saddle. I wonder if that's going to become a regular thing? Here's the clearware horse, Sugarmaple:


(image removed as apparently it wasn't authorized for release by Breyer)

This actually isn't the first time the Show Jumping Warmblood has been issued in clearware (apparently both Twilight Terror and Sunny are clearware). He's certainly interesting-looking. One of the alternate names for last year's Patriot was "Bomb Pop;" I wonder if this one should be called, "Camouflage," or something? Nevertheless, I ordered one, because it will be interesting to see what these look like in hand.

As for the Tractor Supply special runs, they're on Geronimo and the old Black Beauty mold:

 

They flipped the Geronimo's photo for the ad, which is kind of weird. But I'm going to have to pick one up - what I can see of that gray in the photo looks really nice! I won't need the Black Beauty, though, despite the fact that his color looks really nice. I'll definitely be haunting our local TSC stores until these beauties show up! 

Breyerfest 2017 Day 1: Whew!

It's been a long, hot, sweaty day, that's for sure. But that's just something you have to get used to when you're at Breyerfest. And we did get a nice rainstorm in the middle of the day, so that was something.

So many exciting reveals today! The Bollywood Surprise turned out to be on Latigo! Who would have thought? I was convinced it would be the Moody Andalusian, since this Breyerfest has an uncharacteristic lack of Moody molds. Oh well. Fortunately for me, I don't collect Latigo, so any surprise models I get can be sold or traded toward models I do want. And the volunteer model - a bloody shoulder Weather Girl! Sorry I don't have photos of any of these - I've been too busy with other things.

Here's a picture of one of the silent auction models, though. I'm not sure if he's OF or a custom.

 

Then there's the Collector Club tent, which we didn't get a chance to get into today. There are a lot of previews of upcoming releases there - a palomino Cleveland Bay is this year's second collector club model! (Don't need him either.) The last America the Beautiful release is on Susecion and Le Fire! (Le sigh...doubt I'll get drawn for those.) The Premier Club Stablemate for this year is inexplicably on a Stablemate-sized Brishen, which begs all kinds of questions for the future. (He stays with me.)

Here's another one of the silent auction models. So pretty!

 

Although I'd fully planned on attending the live auction this year, I was just too worn out from the heat and humidity (and having to hoof it around the horse park at full speed to get to places I needed to be at the right times). So, I decided to skip it and stay at the hotel instead so I could shop and sell out of our room! Fun stuff.

This last photo is of the silent auction glossy Rainier. Be still, my heart.


So many exciting things to talk about! I haven't even mentioned both Saffron and Indu being matte/glossy splits this year! Ack! That's going to make things complicated, since I'll need both finishes on both of them. All I managed to accomplish so far is a matte Indu and a Kaalee...although I also managed to pull two glossy Bollywood Surprises, so I really can't complain. Let's hope our next few special run tickets over Saturday and Sunday will yield matte and glossy Saffrons and a glossy Indu so my mission can be complete. I (well, my husband) was able to obtain Marigold and Navya as well, so we won't need to bother going through the pop-up tent for the rest of the weekend. So many things we had to get done today! We missed out on getting our celebration models, though, so we'll have to get that done tomorrow.

That's all I have for now - hopefully more exciting things will happen tomorrow! I haven't seen many blog readers stop by our room for a free Stablemate - come on! We still have plenty left. Don't miss out!

The Spirit Riding Free collection is now available!

Months behind schedule, the items Breyer is producing for the Netflix show Spirit Riding Free is finally available! Seriously, I thought this stuff would be available way back in February when I ordered a full box of the blind bag Stablemates. Better late than never, I guess!

Photos of the full collection are now on the Breyer website (were they before today? Guess I don't know...oh well.) There are too many photos to post here, but here's a quick list:

Traditionals: Spirit, Chica Linda, Boomerang

Gift Sets (similar to the Best in Show horses, I think?): Spirit and Lucky Gift Set, Chica Linda and Pru Gift Set, Boomerang and Abigail Gift Set

Classics (I think): Spirit and Lucky Small Set, Chica Linda and Pru Small Set, Boomerang and Abigail Small Set

Paint Kits: Spirit Paint Kit, Deluxe Spirit and Friends Paint Kit

Stablemate Paint Kits: Spirit Mini Paint Kit, Chica Linda Mini Paint Kit, Boomerang Mini Paint Kit, Spirit Paint and Play 3 Piece Assortment, Paint Spirit and His Stable (...okay then)

More Stablemates: Spirit Blind Bag

And then a bunch of kiddie stuff, plushies etc that I don't really care about. I'm a little surprised that they're making so much merch for this show - it seems like Breyer has scaled back the amount of tie-in items they make in recent years.

To be fair, most of this stuff is things I'm not interested in - I used to collect the Spirit mold, but they fell victim to another shelf purge. I was never that into Rain either, and Boomerang doesn't appeal to me. Neither do any of the gift set horses or the Classic-size ones (I think they're Classics? I'm not 100% on that.)

So, the only thing here that really interests me is the Stablemate Blind Bags. Here's some photos of the blind bag possibilities:

 

 Hmm, not interested in any of those. Let's see the next one!



There's a little more promise there. I'll need the G2 Thoroughbred and G2 Morgan. Interesting color on the Morgan, too. Next!

 

Ooh, look at that gold Andalusian! I need him too, along with the G2 Appaloosa and the G3 Cantering Warmblood. Kinda wish they'd used more molds I like, but I suppose if it's a kiddie show, you have to use the more kiddie Stablemate molds.

As I said earlier, I ordered a full Blind Bag box way back in February - hopefully that ships soon. I'll definitely keep the blog updated when they arrive!

Fiona and Rory are here!

Greetings, readers! My Fiona and Rory set arrived today, so I unboxed them and took some quick cell phone pics. Behold!

This is a really cute set!



The blue shimmer is more subtle than I'd hoped it would be, though it seemed a little more visible on the foal.

Quality-wise, they're excellent - I didn't see any flaws anywhere on them. I suppose it's hard to screw up two almost-solid-black paint jobs.

All in all, I'm glad I got this set - they'll go well with my other Hansels and Gretels (once I get them unpacked and put back on the shelf).

Here's a last pic of Rory and the almost-identical foal from this year's Heroes of the West set:



They're really, really similar to each other - you can see the blue shimmer on Rory here (and his socks are masked, he has two more socks than the other foal does, and his blaze/star is a little smaller), so I wish Breyer had done a little more to differentiate the two. I suspect from the Heroes of the West foal's gray tail tip that he's intended to actually be gray and would lighten with time, but in the meantime, I wish Rory had a bald face or a high stocking or something to set him off a little more - except then he'd look a lot like Tuari, from the 2015 America's Wild Mustangs set. I think Breyer may have painted themselves into a corner here?

Another solution to set them apart would have been to make Fiona and Rory glossy - that would have been awesome! Either way, I think it's probably safe to say Hansel won't be issued in black again anytime soon.

Woodland Splendor and New Classic Gretel!

Hello, readers! Not much new to report here, but I did snap some quick photos of the Woodland Splendor model I got for Christmas, as well as the new Gretel.

I'll start with Woodland Splendor. I like this color on him, although the one I got wasn't quite the best, quality-wise. But I'm not terribly picky - I don't show, and I'm not sure what breed I would show this one as if I did. So, here are his photos!



Off side:



And here's a closeup of his face:



You can see his eye is sloppily painted, and he's got some gold stuff in his mane. Ah well, to the shelf he goes.

Next is the new Classic Gretel, the Bay Pinto Pony:


And here's a shot of her off side:


She at least was painted better than Woodland Splendor, and my bay pinto Hansel finally has a mother! Can't wait to get my hands on the Hansel from the new Heroes of the West set! Hopefully those, and other new Classics, start showing up soon.

2017 Vintage Club SR - Cypress!

Breyer finally announced next year's Vintage Club extra model, Cypress, in an e-mail yesterday! Here she is:


I am incredibly relieved by this release. Despite what I said about the Connemara Mare yesterday, I don't have any desire to buy this one - and more importantly, my fears about the Vintage Club extra being on Othello were clearly misplaced. Now I can go back to worrying about him being used as a Breyerfest Volunteer, glossy prize or other super-limited release!

As I suspected, it looks like Breyer held back on releasing this so they could use it as a last-minute enticement to sell any remaining subscriptions - and it worked. The Vintage Club is now sold out for next year, although you can still get on the wait list to replace anyone who drops out down the line.

Actually, I think Croi looks pretty nice as a Woodgrain, although we'll have to wait and see how well-executed the graining is - from a distance she looks more chestnut than anything else. I'm not really tempted to buy her like I am with Banks Vanilla, though. There's just something about a white (or mostly-whitened gray) horse...

Interesting that the Connemara Mare is getting used so much lately. Since her 2014 release, she's now been a Breyerfest SR, a regular run, two web specials, next year's flagship release, and now Cypress (and a crystal, if those count). I suppose it's easy enough to pull a few hundred models aside if the mold is already in production. Part of me hopes they give her a rest soon, and the other part hopes they keep using her so I don't have to buy her. It's good for my wallet in the long run!

2017 Flagship Horse, Beachcomber!

Next year's flagship model is out, and it's...this girl!



She was unveiled on Chelsea's Model Horses' Facebook page yesterday. She almost looks like a pinto version of the WEG chestnut Esprit. As the 2017 Flagship Horse, she'll be available only through Breyer's flagship dealers.

Her name is Beachcomber (which seems a little silly), and she's intended to be a Chincoteague pony (At least they didn't name her Desertcomber?). I'd have named her Seashells or something.

The release being a Chincoteague pony begs the question: why didn't they make her a portrait of Misty instead? 2017 is the 70th anniversary of the original book's publication; it would be the perfect time. I'd definitely be more interested in buying this if it were a Misty portrait. As it is, I'll probably pass. I'm not really that interested in the Connemara Pony - I have Sugarloaf, but that's it. I've thought off and on about buying a Banks Vanilla, and possibly a Chanel. I don't have the urge to buy every release on her, though, which usually means she'd probably be the first up for sale if I needed money for something else.

I do like the shading on this release, though; we'll have to see how she looks in-hand.

More New Releases - and Classic Black Beauty!

Greetings, readers! I have a bunch of new releases to post about - lots of fun new Stablemates items! If I try to post all of the photos here, the post will be really long, so I'm going to link to them on Modellpferdeversand and talk about the ones I like. So, here they are!

Fantasy Horse Paint Kit, featuring an assortment of blank Stablemates to paint in a rainbow of colors (sort of).
Paint Your Own Farm, with an assortment of Stablemate-scale farm animals to paint in a rainbow of normal colors.
Classic Spring Creek Stable (no photo yet)
Paint & Play Morgan (Paint your own Stablemate, in a variety of single-packed blank models!)
Paint & Play Arabian
Paint & Play Drafter
Paint & Play Warmblood
Truck and Gooseneck Trailer (Not actually sure if this is new?)
The Same Shadowbox Stablemates as Before, But in New Packaging

Western Play Set
English Play Set
Horse Crazy Stable
Limited Edition Barrel Racing Tack Set

There's also some new Pocket Box stuff, but I have no interest in that at all. So, of all the new items, I'll need to obtain:
The Fantasy Horse Paint Kit, the Paint & Play Morgan and Warmblood, and the G2 Appaloosa from the Western Play Set. And probably the foal from the Paint Your Own Farm set. So, not actually all that many of the new items. I was really hoping for a new shadowbox set, though. Why retire the old one, only to reissue it as the exact same models and colors in more-different packaging? Grr...

Oh, well. In happier news, my classic Black Beauty on the Liam/Stock Horse Gelding mold arrived today. Behold!



He's quite nice - I didn't see any flaws, which is a pretty good accomplishment for a $14 model. I suppose it's hard to screw up a black paint job.

My husband's Django arrived today too, and while his legs are better than the one I got, the front legs are closer together than mine and he has a rub above his left eye. Has anyone else noticed his left front/rear feet are bigger than his right front/rear feet? What is going on with Breyer lately? It seems like a lot of their new sculpts are getting messed up in the moldmaking process - i.e. Bobby Jo's chest, Croi's chest, Shannondell's narrowness, and the unfortunate mess Imperador turned into. Hopefully they can get a handle on it, because I thought I liked Imperador, but every time I see his sad squished self, I think a little harder about selling him.

New 2017 Classics posted!

Finally, something new and exciting to report! Two new Classics releases for next year were revealed today! Firstly, the 2017 Classics Horse of the Year, Bella:

And secondly, a Unicorn release named Forthwind:



I am...ambivalent about both of these releases. Bella, sculpted by Kathleen Moody, looks like an upscaled G2 Thoroughbred, and her right foreleg looks weird to boot. Forthwind is a nice color (despite his name, which makes me feel like someone meant to type Forthwith and hit the wrong keys), but I've never been into the Mandrake mold. Swing and a miss, I guess.

Xavier and Glorioso are here!

Today I was greeted by a welcome surprise at the door - my Xavier and Glorioso had arrived! I wasn't expecting them to arrive until tomorrow, so I was pleased to drag their box into the house. So, here they are! Firstly, Glorioso:

He's so metallic and shiny, I love it! The back of his box describes his color as grulla, and his breed as an "Iberian cross." So he's basically an Azteca? That would make an interesting breed assignment. The model itself has some really nasty box rubs on his shoulder though, so I'm hoping I can get him exchanged.

Next up is Xavier!! Or as I call him, Professor X:

I love this model. He's glittery and purply and has shiny silver hooves and I love it! He doesn't have a lot of flaws, either. I don't show, and I don't know if this model would show well, but if I did his show name would definitely be Professor X. The only nitpick I have is that his horn looks goofy where it attaches to his forelock. I wonder if it would have been better to eliminate the forelock on this model so they could attach the horn directly to the forehead? Probably too much work involved, but still.

And I do have one more nitpick, but it's box-related. Here's the blurb on the back of Xavier's box:



Looks fine, right? Take a look at the last sentence of the first paragraph.

..."Illusive"? Really? I hadn't realized someone at Breyer was a Mass Effect fan. I think the word you're looking for is "elusive," guys. Come on. "Renaissance" should also probably be capitalized, but I'm willing to let that one slide. Illusive, not so much.

(Breyer, if you're listening, I would be perfectly happy to proofread for you! For free, even! I'd even sign an NDA! Help me to help you!)

The 2017 Stablemate Club is now available!

Happy Halloween, everyone! Looks like Breyer decided to make its own Halloween surprise for us - the 2017 Stablemate Club is now open for business!



Next year's first release is a "bay sabino G1 Thoroughbred Mare" in glossy, called Coco. We saw a preview of her at the Chasing the Chesapeake event two weeks ago. Sweet!

"The Club will have six releases, one every other month, and will include a Gambler's Choice (you'll receive one of four colors, randomly selected), a clearware decorator and a brand new sculpture by Maggie Bennett! These detailed new pieces are exclusively available to Stablemates Collector's Club members only, so don't miss out!"
Dang it all, that means I'm going to have to have my husband join the club again for another chance at whatever the gambler's choice is (I hope it's something I want this time). I'll be crossing my fingers that next year's releases include a few more things I want than this year's did, although it wasn't terribly difficult to sell the ones I didn't want.

I wonder if we'll get to see the Maggie Bennett sculpt ahead of time like we did with Django last year? I hope so. The clearware decorator should be exciting, too!

I'd been waiting for this club to open so I could renew my Collector Club membership and join the Premier and Stablemate clubs all at the same time - that's all taken care of now! I'm looking forward to next year's clubs!

Another Premier Club sneak peek!

Another day, another sneak peek. And they even used the correct "peek!" Yay! Here's the photo:



I really like what I see so far. This is probably a prototype, but it actually doesn't look like it has a whole lot of mapping. So maybe our fears of production issues are unfounded. Let's hope so! I like most of the sculpts Brigitte has done for Breyer (excluding Salinero because he just looks weird to me), so chances are good that I'll keep this release! I hope the rest of her is as pretty as her barrel/shoulder! And she's clearly not a cow - yay!

Unfortunately, the rest of the reveal isn't happening until next week. But at least now we know!

The 2017 Vintage Club offerings have been revealed!

The moment we all may or may not have been waiting for has arrived - the 2017 Vintage Club reveal!



Woohoo, I predicted two of the molds! I was expecting it to be zero! I'm really not good at predicting things. Interesting that they used Sham (a mold released in 1984) and the Classic Quarter Horse Family. So I'm wondering if their definition of Vintage ends in 1985, or possibly even later. I definitely wasn't expecting the CQH Family, because, well, they aren't Traditionals and I thought this was a Trad club.

So, our releases are: the Clydesdale Mare and Foal in glossy San Domingo paint;
Gambler's choice FAS in the original decorator colors;
The Classic Quarter Horse Family in some type of pinto;
a "glossy pinto deco Sham";
and the Stablemate freebies are the G1 twin foals.

Nothing there that I have to have, but that's not really a surprise. More money to spend on other things, I guess!

One of the new things they're doing this year is including accessories with some of the horses. As seen in the photo, the Clyde Mare/Foal will have blankets, as a callback to the old '70s releases with the green blankets, and the Sham will come with a vintage-style Arabian halter. All of these models will also come with carrying cases as well.



Interesting that the CQHF and Sham appear to have modern paint jobs, as I'd thought they settled on having the regular Vintage Club models be vintage molds in vintage colors, while the optional release was a modern mold with a vintage color. But this is Breyer we're talking about; they must not want to be too predictable. Hopefully they don't take too long revealing what color the Sham is; he almost looks like the fabled "Green Eggs and Sham" release from the 1990s, but in glossy. Perish the thought!

I couldn't help but notice the "Opportunity to purchase an exclusive special run!!" verbiage in the second photo. I wonder if this will be the Classic Swaps that was available to be voted on at Breyerfest? Photo by me.



The sign does say it's for one of next year's Club web specials. So I wonder if this will be next year's "optional" Vintage Club release, or a web special only available to Vintage Club members? If the latter is the case and you want the Swaps, they'd better not waste much time telling us about it so people who want it can join.

It would also be good to find out what the optional Vintage Club release is, so we can plan on that. Since they didn't reveal it at the same time as the Vintage Club, I have a suspicion that it may be on this year's final Premier Club mold...which is also due to be revealed soon. So my conclusion is: Hurry up and reveal it already, Breyer!

Hwin - 2017 Breyer release!

Okay, the photos are all over Instagram now, so I guess I'll post about it - Breyer is releasing a dapple gray next year on Forever Saige, named Hwin! This was posted by Kristina Lucas Francis (Saige's sculptor) on Instagram:



I had never heard of Hwin before, but a quick Google found this. Apparently she's a Mustang event horse - not something you hear about every day! And there's even a helmet cam video. Go Hwin!

Needless to say, I'll be buying her! Although, looking more closely at the photo, her dapples do look rather fish-scaley...hopefully they won't all look like that. My Saiges wouldn't mind having another new friend, though! It's good to see this mold getting some love after her lackluster first release. Now if they'd just gloss the leftover original Forever Saiges...

The 2017 Collector Club is open for business!

Exciting news today - the 2017 Breyer Collector Club is now open for business, and the first SR for next year will be a gorgeous pinto Forever Saige!



Her name is Moondance, and I love her! I think that pattern looks really good on her. She's definitely on my list!

Hopefully this means we get more bombshell reveals as the week goes on! Ideally, we'd hear that this year's JAH is on our way, but I'd settle for an announcement of next year's Premier Club.

There's also a rumor going around about a dapple gray RR on Forever Saige to debut next year, complete with photos, but I'll hold off on that until we have more information.

Either way, I'm excited! More good things are coming!

New Breyer Web Special - Leandro!

Today's big news is that a new web special has been announced: Leandro, on the Silver mold!



He certainly is an interesting fellow. I have the other three Big Cats and I collect Silver, so I'll be entering for this one as well. No idea what the chances of being drawn will be - his piece count is lower, so more people will be entering. It seems Breyer finally got a clue that 350 is just too common for some people, hence the low secondary market prices we've been seeing for pretty much all of the recent web specials. At least the shipping is free.

I don't know if Silver would have been my first choice to portray a lion - I think a Nokota would have been better, since he has more wild mane than Silver does, and he seems a bit more bulky as well. On the other hand: I've been wishing they would use Silver for a few more things, as I missed most of his releases until I got out of college in 2010. By then, the mold had been given a temporary retirement because they had used it so much, and it hasn't been used a lot since then. So it's good that they're using him for something. I guess I have a lot of mixed opinions here.

My biggest question about this release is: why the name? I would have thought they'd use something more African, as it were.

A quick Google check shows the following results, though: "Leandro is the Portuguese, Italian, and Spanish variant of the English name Leander. A blend of two Latin words (Leo "lion" and Andro "man"), Leandro is a name that suggests its bearer has strength and power."

Ehh. I guess that makes sense, but they already used Leandro for this JCP resin a few years ago. If the ad copy for the release says the model is based on an African lion, I'd expect an African name. Oh well. Crossing my fingers that I get drawn!