Ticket selections and Tractor Supply blind bags!

 Attention, Breyerfest All-Access ticket holders! Emails have gone out from Leap (formerly known as ShowClix) containing QR codes for your special run selections! They may not all have gone out yet, so don't panic if you haven't gotten an email yet. It doesn't appear that the VIP ticket emails have gone out yet, and if you're an Online Access ticket holder, you won't see your selections until you log into the Breyer Store on Breyerfest Friday. I hope everyone got the models they were hoping for - my tickets were selected for all Scandi Surprises and Lithas, so I guess I'll be up to my ears in Litha models. Hopefully that means I'll get the decorator, but I'll also be looking to trade for whichever Oseburg I don't get with my VIP package. 

In other exciting news, it looks like those leaks from a few months ago were indeed for this year's TSC blind bags! I don't have photos I can use yet, but the models are a blond sorrel Augustus, dark liver chestnut Giorgio, black leopard Esperanza, gray G3 Cantering Warmblood, bay pinto Enya and bay/buckskin G3 TWH. One of the chase pieces is a pink/purple Brio, and we haven't seen the other chase yet. They can be ordered from TSC here, so knock yourselves out if you want some! 

TSC Stablemate sets!

 Exciting news, readers! New Stablemate blind bags and family sets have been found at Tractor Supply stores around the country. While I don't yet have photos I can use, these Stablemate sets consist of the following:
Blind Bags series 6: G2 Saddlebred in what looks like champagne buckskin, G2 Paso Fino in sorrel?, Mini Fireheart in black blanket Appaloosa, Twist in gray, G2 Standardbred in black and the G4 Para Dressage Horse in chestnut pinto, and the chase pieces are a charcoal-with-white-splatter-spots G2 Thoroughbred and a purple/blue splash white pinto G4 Driving Horse. 
(Realistic) Mystery Foal sets: Peaceful Gardens family: Mini Georg in black pinto with G2 Percheron in gray pinto and the new Playful Foal in black pinto. Graceful Grove family: G3 Cantering Warmblood in silver bay? with dark bay blanket Appaloosa G4 Hanoverian and unknown foal. Shimmering Sands family: Buckskin Kit with bay-going-gray G4 Driving Horse, unknown foal. 
(Unicorn) Mystery Foal sets: Sparkling Canyon family: Yellow/green Twist with light pink/rose Warmblood Mare, unknown foal. Enchanted Forest family: Black Kit with light purple/lavender Prince Charming, unknown foal. Dazzling Cliffs family: Purple speckled Alborozo with light blue G2 Warmblood and new Frisky Foal in speckled blue. 
Note: The G3 Standing Foal, G3 Lying Down Foal, the G2 Scratching Foal and maybe others were in these sets, but now I can't find the other photos to confirm which foals were used in which sets. So there will be more updates soon! 
I like all of the colors I've seen, and so far I think the ultra rare chase piece is the prettiest - too bad I don't collect the mold. I'm happy that they decided to give the previous molds they've been using a much-deserved break and bring in some new molds, too. 
If you're wanting to buy these, but not wanting to shop at TSC due to recent events, they will (or should, anyway) become available from Breyer later. So don't lose hope! 

TSC finds!

 Good news, readers! After weeks of periodically dropping by various TSC locations around here, I finally found the rest of the stuff I wanted! It only took visiting three locations today (one of them twice), but I did it! Behold! 

And more! 

Not sure if I mentioned it before, but I'm irritated that some of the models were repeated across sets - the gray Vanner, for instance, is also one of the TSC blind bag models (I already got one a while ago), and the palomino G2 Morgan appears in the 8-horse set as well as one of the Horse Foal Surprise sets (same for the gray Cassidy and the buckskin Indian Pony). At least none of the foals are repeats, I guess. The palomino color on the draft foal made me realize how much I like the mold! It's much less blobby than the prancing foal that was introduced at the same time. 

Anyway, here are the ones I'm keeping, out of their boxes! 

I really like the roan color on the standing foal, and the G2 Andalusian has a nice color too, if you can get past the word on his side. I like the Warmblood Mare as well. 

So, now that I finally have the TSC stuff squared away, I can go through my sales stuff and figure out how much I have to sell, price things and get them listed! Fun stuff. I may also look through my Breyerfest purchases and unpack a few things and get them ready for photographing. They've been packed away long enough! 

Seeing Doubles at Tractor Supply

 More exciting news, everyone - this year's TSC special runs have been revealed! They can be found here (toward the bottom of the page and on the next page). First off, one of the Traditionals - it's a new Dundee named Merle! 

What a stunning model! He's beautiful. 

Here's the other Traditonal: 

His name is Applegate, according to the box. Interesting to see he has his own blanket rather than being blue, like last year's Geronimo. I'll try not to talk about yet another bay Flash...

Next we have the Classics set: 

They're the "Playful Pony Family." I don't think the Classic Quarter Horse Stallion is, uh, a pony? I guess it doesn't matter since he's the same size as the Haflinger mare. 

Next, here's an 8-piece Stablemates box set:

Anything look familiar? Well, don't stop now, because we aren't done yet. More Horse Foal Surprise sets:

Huh, interesting. The gray Vanner is repeated from the blind bags. The palomino G2 Morgan is repeated in the box set and the Horse Foal Surprise sets, as is the Cassidy (finally a new release!) and the buckskin Indian Pony. What is going on? Are the foals repeated in the Horse Foal Surprise sets too? 

There are also new Unicorn Foal Surprise sets, but the Magnolia, Greyson, Croi and Fireheart models are all repeated from the current Sparkling Splendor Unicorn Set, and the Warmblood Mare and G2 Morgan are repeated from the Unicorn Treasures carded regular runs. 

Soooo....why are all these repeats happening all of a sudden? I can't say I'm interested in buying these unicorn family sets just to get the foals - I'll have to wait and see what they are first and hope they're on molds I don't collect. Maybe they're repeats as well? 

I hope this trend doesn't continue. Maybe they figured they could get away with it since these are all technically special runs for TSC and maybe the customer base doesn't overlap that much and no one would notice? But clearly the collectors would, so it's not like they're fooling anyone. Maybe it's a cost-saving measure...? Who knows.

There's also this other FFA-themed Stablemates set:

A lot of people are turned off by the words stamped on the sides of the horses. Maybe they're only on one side? It's kind of an odd design, but at least the colors aren't repeated from another release, eh? 

Lastly, it turns out horses aren't the only Breyer animals being shrunk - check out the FFA ornament! 

It's the Cow! I laughed when I saw it. I'm kind of tempted to get it, even though I'm not an animal collector. I'm sure I'll be in a TSC again in the near future, so maybe I'll pick one up! 

Tractor Supply Stablemates!

So today I decided to check various local Tractor Supply locations and see if I could find the new blind bag Stablemates. The first two I checked yielded nothing, which didn't really surprise me because it's kind of early to expect to find them here. So I debated about vising the third store, because I'd never found blind bags at that particular store and if the other two didn't have them, this one definitely wouldn't, right? 

Wrong! 

Success! 

I'm a little sad I didn't get one of the chase pieces, but at least I got the Vanner, the only one I want other than the Peruvian Paso chase. I probably would have been a little more excited about this if these hadn't been mostly reissues of other stuff. I mean...why? 

This is a really pretty color on the Vanner, though. 

Considering how kinda-blah the Peruvian Paso chase is, I kinda think this Vanner should have been the chase instead? But then I wouldn't have gotten one, so I shouldn't complain. 

Well, now I just have to figure out how to find one of those Pasos and also figure out what the other chase model is, because I don't think we've seen it yet? Maybe we have and I just forgot. 

Well, back to scanning more JAH back issues. Don't forget to get your entries in for Oriole! Tomorrow is the last day! 

Some Tractor Supply new arrivals!

 Greetings, readers! Well, I've managed to lay hands on some of the new TSC releases - not quite all of them as yet, but I'll get there. I ordered the Classics set with American Dream, and also the Classics family set (which hasn't arrived yet) to be shipped to the store in the same town where my husband works, so he was able to pick that up - but I also ordered six of the new blind bags, but the website defaulted to a different nearby store for some reason, so I had to make a drive down there to get the blind bags. Anyway, I'll start with the bay American Dream! 

He looks good in bay, and the white at the bottom of his tail is a nice touch.

So does that make him an extremely minimally-marked sabino? Interesting. 

Anyway, here's the foal, who I haven't removed from the box yet as I don't intend to keep it: 

And here are the results of my six-blind-bag gamble:

I only wanted the Walkaloosa, the pinto Emma, and the black pinto Alborozo, so two out of three ain't bad. It makes me wish I liked the G4 Vaulting Horse, because they keep using that blue pinto on molds I don't like! I don't know what it is about this one, but he's just ugly to me (and normally I like draft models). To each their own, I guess. I do like the mini Emma, too - it's about time she (well, actually he) got a new color. Guess I'll be looking for buyers for the extras. 

Also, it appears that the waitlist emails have gone out for Ponies & Palm Trees, so make sure to check your email! Make sure to check your spam folder, too, as it looks like these emails are coming from a Breyer staffer, not necessarily the website. I wasn't drawn from the waitlist this time, but maybe there'll be a few rounds of waitlists. Crossing my fingers! 

Ponies & Palm Trees is now available to enter!

 Good news, everyone - Collector Club members can now enter for their chance to attend the Ponies & Palm Trees collector event! Huzzah! The deadline to enter is 11:59pm on 8/28, so don't forget to get your entry in! Good luck to everyone entering! 

In somewhat different news, the Tractor Supply special runs are starting to show up in stores, and it appears that there are new Stablemates Mystery Foal Surprise sets (on the same molds as usual...sigh), and there's a holiday ornament of Blue, the FFA model, in addition to the Traditional model. The ornament is a small version of Geronimo - could that mean he's going to become a Stablemate in the future? Gasp! 

TSC planogram has leaked!

 Good news everyone! In addition to the recent Stablemates Blind Bag news, this year's Tractor Supply planogram has shown up on Facebook! Behold: 

So, in the upper right corner we have what looks like a bay American Dream/Freedom Series Rearing Mustang, and it looks like the Classic American Quarter Horse Foal in black is in there with him. On the row below them is a couple of Snowbirds and then what looks like, "Blue," on the Geronimo mold, as some kind of special run for FFA. Below him are a black pinto Zippo Pine Bar or "Zeke," a dapple gray Latigo or "Ashton," and a dunalino long-tail Lady Phase as "Jolene." Below them are the Phantom and Misty set, a new set that appears to be some kind of pinto Classic Black Stallion, Classic Morgan Foal in black pinto and a chestnut Harper, and then Chocolatey. On the bottom shelf there are a couple of styling heads and a Breyer Farms barn I'd like to see up close to see what (if any) models come with it. Whew, that's a lot of stuff! 

Fortunately, I don't need any of it except the new American Dream set and the Classics family set with the Harper. Blue looks pretty attractive, though - but I'm biased toward blue things anyway. Let's hope these new offerings don't take too long to show up at our TSC stores! 

Wilder is here!

 Exciting news, everyone - I got tired of waiting for our "local" TSC to get their Breyer stock in, and ordered a Wilder using the ship-to-store option on the website. And he arrived today! After all the shipping delays we've had lately, it was kinda refreshing to order a model and have it here less than a week later. 

Ethereal looks great in this color, and I love the little heart-shaped spot. 

There wasn't a ship-to-store option for the new mystery Stablemate unicorn foal sets, but it looks like other dealers will be able to get those eventually, so I'm not too worked up about it. 

Quality-wise, he's pretty nice, and his paint job is relatively free of oopsies, but I wasn't terribly happy about how his tail is attached to his body:

Sorry about the butthole shot. But I feel like his tail could have been attached better.

Anyway, Wilder is quite the handsome fellow! Let's hope we get some more releases on Ethereal soon. 

September Collector Club Newsletter and Tractor Supply news!

Well, it's the end of the month again, and you know what that means - a new Collector Club newsletter! If you're in the club, check your email to read more. There's an Avatar's Jazzman giveaway (and the Morgan article says Troubadour will be a RR for 2022!), an update on Lafayette backorders and Astrid (stuck in shipping - no surprise, but thanks for the update), and this tantalizing sneak peek...

That's definitely a Susecion, and it looks pearly and white or blue, to boot? Could we finally be getting the holiday (unicorn?) Susecion and Le Fire set I've been asking for for the last few years? I'm going to have to watch the website like a hawk this month so I don't miss out! 

In other news, some of the Tractor Supply stuff is starting to come in stock in various places. The Indian Pony Sayan can now be ordered on the website, but there's a discrepancy there - the website shows Sayan as Sayen, a chestnut - but the ones we've seen on the planograms and the few that have been found in stores are bays named Sayan. So are there two, and the IP collectors will have to track down both? Maybe orders done over the internet will only be the chestnut Sayen models? Interesting stuff.

Also, if you search for Breyer on the TSC website, this banner comes up when scrolling down the page of results:

That's the Ethereal, Wilder! Wow, he looks really nice in that color. I hope our local TSC gets them in stock soon. The Toy Shop is accessible now (most of the links were dead yesterday when I looked at it), but none of the TSC exclusives have listings yet except for Sayan/Sayen. I hope they come up soon so I can order a Wilder! 

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! 

A couple of small updates

 Hello, readers! I don't have much to report on the Breyerfest front, but the rest of my Dani models did arrive yesterday! There were nine of them spread out between three boxes, but nary a magnet to be seen. I hope I get at least one with the rest of my orders...oh well. Of the rest of my orders, the rest of my VIP order has finally shipped and is scheduled to arrive on Monday, and my Kaleidoscope and a couple of swag items will arrive on Tuesday. Still waiting for shipping notices for the other 19 items I'm due...so hopefully it won't be too long before those ship! I'm dying to open my surprise models and see what I'm getting! 

In other news, there are new blind bag Stablemates at Tractor Supply. Boo, hiss, etc. But, this means we'll probably see this year's TSC special runs soon! Yay! As usual, I don't have photos of these Stablemates yet, but the molds and colors are as follows:
Buckskin Icelandic
Chestnut Peruvian Paso
Leopard Appaloosa G4 Hanoverian
Liver Chestnut Dungaree
Dark bay/black Valegro

There is a chase and a super chase in this set (groan). One of them is the shrunken Prince Charming in Copenhagen - the other hasn't been found yet (the bag suggests a shrunken Big Ben, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything) Edit: The other chase is a blue chrome Dungaree! Looks like I may have to hit up our local TSC stores - hopefully I can feel my way to success, since the only ones I need from that assortment (so far) are the Paso and the Icelandic. That, or buy them from people's inevitable surplus collection later - that would probably be the better plan. 

That's all I have for now - hopefully the rest of my Breyerfest stuff ships soon so I can stop obsessively checking the website! 

Tamu and Chai selections!

 Exciting news - the selections for the Tamu and Chai web special are out! Unfortunately, it doesn't look like we were drawn (again...), but I suppose there's always hope for the wait list. Congratulations to all the winners! 

In other news, my Eclipse arrived at TSC today! Behold! 

 His blue shimmer is definitely intentional - they even call it out on the back of the box! He's beautiful. 

I'm a bit of a sucker for black pinto, I have to admit, and blue is my favorite color, so...we all knew where this was going to go. And this one has so much blue, he's almost a decorator! Ooh, he'd also pair well with Fiona and Rory if they were the same scale. 

I LOVE his head in this color, too! He's like a whole new mold for me. I can't wait to get him onto the shelf next to my other Emersons. Dare I hope they do this blue-black color on another model soon? I love it! 

Quality-wise, he has some small imperfections on his off side, but nothing major. I've seen a lot of complaints about this one, but this guy is mostly pretty nice. I'm just glad I got one! In the interest of full disclosure, I do have another one coming - my first order was cancelled, so I ordered two when they went back up, hoping I'd get at least one of them. Well, more for the sales pile I guess. But I'm definitely happy I was able to pick this guy up today! 

Tractor Supply special runs!

 So the photos of the Tractor Supply special runs have escaped into the wild! I don't have any photos I can use yet, but someone who works at a Tractor Supply shared this year's planogram. So, the special runs are as follows: 

Salidago - dunalino Boomerang
Lapwai - bay minimal blanket Appaloosa Marabella
Eclipse - black pinto Emerson
and a white/gray Mighty Muscle/Brabant with a cute little TSC blanket! 

There's also a new Mystery Foal Surprise set with a gray Darley and what looks like a buckskin...pinto? G2 Saddlebred. Exciting stuff! I hope our local stores start getting their stuff set up soon, because I'm most excited about the new Mystery Foal Surprise set. Of the others, the only one I need is the Emerson, so hopefully I can get my hands on him too. Although I'm a little irked that they used the black pinto color scheme on him when Travis happened not that long ago...oh well. 

Stella is here!

Good news, everyone! Our local Tractor Supply finally did their fall reset, and my husband found a Stella in the wild! Huzzah!



Isn't she pretty?



My hasty cell phone photos don't hold a candle to Breyer's (at least the ones for this model) but I'm very, very short on free time these days, so they'll have to suffice. At least she didn't have any box rubs!



Unfortunately, she isn't the best in the quality department. It looks like the body they used for her wasn't prepped very well - she has lots of little bits of excess plastic that should have been cleaned off. Like I said, at least she doesn't have box rubs, but it still irritates me. That and her lack of painted horseshoes and total lack of hoof striping despite the ermine spots on her feet. TSC special runs generally sell well enough that I'd have thought Breyer would put more effort into this release, especially after how nice Hakan and Sampson were. But them's the breaks, I guess. I'm definitely still glad they used Bluegrass Bandit for something - she needs more releases! More, I say! Well, maybe we'll get a web special on her next year.

How Stella Got Her Groove Back

So, Breyer finally revealed this year's Tractor Supply special runs on the website today! Check her out!



And...could it be? They finally decided to step up their game with the promo photos? Say it ain't so!



In any case, she's beautiful, and I take back everything I said about being tired of all the black. She's not black! She's a beautiful chocolate color. Actually, she looks a lot like Milky Way's pinto half-sister. And I love her high leg whites!

I haven't been able to find her in a store yet, but it shouldn't be much longer. Maybe next week? I hope so!

Sampson and Hakan are here!

Okay, so I originally was just going to wait until our local Tractor Supply got its Breyer display set up, but...well, the new models are so pretty...and ship-to-store is free...and I'd have to wait until September to get them the normal way...and then the next thing I knew they were in my cart and I was paying for them.

But anyway, Sampson and Hakan are here! Let's look at Sampson first.



He's not as green as I thought he'd be, but he's not as "buttermilky" as I thought, either. Not that that's a bad thing.



Oh man, he would have looked AMAZING with some frosting. Missed opportunity there! I do like his shading, though. Check out his face!



His star looks really nice, and I love his facial shading. A bit more of that would have been divine!



All in all, a worthy addition to the herd - and I forgot how heavy this mold is. He'd definitely make a good paperweight - sheesh!

Next, let's look at Hakan:



Whoever said he was a budget version of C'est la Vie was right. He's a beauty!



Buckskin definitely looks good on both Brishen and Smarty Jones. And that blanket on Hakan is so snappy! I love it.



Look at that face! He has some nice shading too. From this angle he looks a lot like Ruffian - unsurprising, since they were sculpted by the same person. But now I'm wondering what Ruffian would look like in this paint job. Gah!

Quality-wise, both of these guys were pretty nice - Sampson has a couple of pinpoint black marks, but nothing major, and I didn't see anything wrong with Hakan. Another success story for Breyer!

Of course, I still have to get my hands on a Stella. I wonder if they're leaving her off the website to entice people to come into the store? You'd think they'd have done that with all three models if that were the case, but who knows. Hopefully they get her on the website soon so I can secure one!

Tractor Supply special runs are revealed!

Good news, everyone! This year's special runs for Tractor Supply have been revealed! Say hello to Sampson...

...and Hakan!


There's also a black pinto Bluegrass Bandit named Stella, but I don't have a good photo of her yet. In any case, it looks like I'll have to buy all three of them! Someone on Blab pointed out that Hakan looks like a more affordable C'est la Vie, and I agree! He's beautiful. I'm a little leery of the Sampson - he looks like he could end up being greenish. Hopefully that's not the case! I'm glad we're getting a new Brishen, though. As for Stella, I kind of wish she was a different color since we already have Lady C, plus Bear and the warehouse find. Enough black already! Oh well.

I'm hoping to stop at one of our local Tractor Supply stores tomorrow, so maybe I'll find something exciting. I don't expect these special runs to make their way onto shelves for a few more weeks, but maybe they'll have some unicorn blind bags or something! One can only hope.

Jasper and Boone!

More exciting news! Our local Tractor Supply finally stocked its holiday Breyer selection! I'll start with Boone:

I'm not planning on buying one, so there's just the one photo of him. Doesn't he look a lot like Salpicado? I guess he's different enough to tell them apart at a glance, but I still thought it was interesting. I've thought about starting a Ranch Horse conga off and on, but it just hasn't happened yet. I like his head, but not his weird pose.

Anyway, next we have Jasper! Check him out! (The weird pattern is from the window screen behind him).

I love his shading and his white socks!

I'm so glad Breyer gave this guy plenty of white markings. I'm still a little salty about Two Step and his almost complete lack of any white!

The only nitpick I have is that his name doesn't really strike me as a "western" name. I'd have gone with Durango, or Dude or something. Maybe Breyer ran out of name ideas.



All in all, though, he's still a worthy addition to the collection! I'm just glad our Tractor Supply has him in stock - we stopped at a different TSC today and there was no sign of their holiday Breyer display anywhere. Weird!

That's all I have for today - hopefully we get more exciting releases soon!

Tractor Supply 2018 special runs have been spotted!

...Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of them yet, but rest assured, they're out there. So I was wrong about this year's earlier releases being the only ones for the year! I'm pleasantly surprised by this news. So there's a new America's Wild Mustangs set featuring a Charging Mesteno in chestnut appaloosa and an American Quarter Horse Foal in chestnut snowcap Appaloosa, and two Traditionals: Boone, a red dun overo Cody (looks similar to Salpicado) and Jasper, a beautifully shaded bay Desatado. Swoon! I have to have that Desatado.

While I haven't been able to obtain photos of these guys yet, our local TSC is clearing space for its annual Breyer display, so it's only a matter of time. I can't wait! I love that Desatado! Photos can be found on Blab and Facebook, if you're dying to see them. I know I'm excited!

I hope these guys are good sellers. It makes me nervous when special runs don't sell well, especially after the demise of the Mid-States special run, so I was disappointed to see Alba's sales weren't especially great earlier in the year. I guess it doesn't help that she was priced at a hefty $50, but still. It'll be a sad day if these special runs end up going away!

But enough of that. Happy hunting!