Sapporo is here!

Good news, everyone! My Sapporo finally came, and I had some time today to snap some quick pictures of him. Behold!

He's definitely a pretty guy. He's not that blue-tinted in person - it's been a cloudy, rainy day here today. But I guess that fits with the inspiration for his name!

This photo is more true to his color. I can't get over how much of a mini-me to Brishen he is! They did a really good job shrinking him down. The crotchety traditionalist inside me is still grumbling about the whole situation, though. Get off my lawn, and all that.

I didn't see much wrong with him quality-wise, though I didn't look at him that closely before or after I dropped him behind our couch, so I don't know if he has damage from that or not. He was really loosely tied into his box, though, similar to the Aiden situation. So I'd still rather see the satin bags.

He did have this weird half-dorsal-stripe I've been seeing on other people's models, so I'm wondering what's up with that.



He's definitely a beauty, though - too bad he's the only Stablemate Club release I'm going to keep this year, unless I really like the Arab at the end!

So many exciting things happening!

I'm woefully behind on the news lately! Firstly, in yesterday's excitement I didn't get a chance to post about the Breyerfest 2018 crystal being revealed. Meet Home Straight!



Bwuh? It's a crystal of the Sarah Rose Hambletonian resin! But I want this guy to be released in plastic! Wahhhh!

Also, as impressive as the crystal horses have become in recent years, this one kinda seems like a step backward in quality. Last year's Bobby Jo crystal was practically indistinguishable from the plastic sculpt, so I have to say I'm not terribly impressed by Home Straight. I don't collect the crystals anyway, though, so my opinion probably doesn't matter all that much. I'm hopeful that this means we'll eventually get Hambletonian in plastic, though!

In other exciting news, the latest entry in the 2018 Stablemate Club is available for purchase! Say hello to Sapporo!



Kind of an odd name there, but the description says he's inspired by "cool, snowy mountains," and Sapporo, Japan hosted the 1972 Winter Olympics, so there's that. This is the only release from this year's club that I actually want, so I couldn't hit the order button fast enough!

Lastly, the selections for the Scottsdale Stampede were released today. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like my husband or I were drawn, but I'm hopeful that we'll get pulled from the waitlist. The starting ticket purchase deadline is on the 15th, so we won't have too long to wait...for the first waitlist round. I guess we'll see what happens!

(I'd grumble more about them switching up the ticket purchase method every time, but I suspect they do it in an attempt to keep the attendees from always being the same people.)