The latest web special revealed!

 Greetings, readers! Hey, I was only off by one day with my wish for last week's sneak peek to be revealed soon - we got the reveal today! Say hello to Iquitos! 

They're sure getting a lot of use out of the Bristol mold this year, aren't they? Matte and glossy Hoopla, the presumed event model for Hoofbeats and Maple Treats, now this guy. Plus he was a web special relatively recently (2022). I'm not sure that color is really doing him any favors, either - I think it's the stripes going over the eyes. Looks a little weird to me. Fortunately, I sold most of my Bristols during Breyerfest this year, so I don't have to feel bad about not wanting this one! I need to save my money for Hoofbeats and Maple Treats, anyway. Good luck to everyone entering! 

Well, that was unexpected

 Wow, I guess it's time for this year's Wild Animal series release! Say hello to Mangoky! 

Ring-tailed lemurs are pretty fun to watch at the zoo, but I wasn't expecting one to become a Breyer model. This guy is pretty cool, though - he almost, almost could pass for a splash pinto if it weren't for his stripey tail. I'm not crazy about the tail, but I'd be happy to be able to add this guy to my collection regardless. Speaking of which, there are 750 of this guy, so maybe I'll get drawn for him (still stinging over not being drawn for Petra). The deadline to enter is 10/23, so don't waste any time entering if you want him! Hah, remember when they'd do a teaser photo first, make us wait a week for the reveal, then the entry period was another week long, then it would take up to a week after that for models to arrive at people's houses? I don't miss that at all. Good luck to everyone entering! 

Also, it was announced today that Breyerwest is moving - and changing its name! Breyerwest will now be known as BreyerMidwest. Doesn’t…quite roll off the tongue the same way, does it?

I don’t know anyone in Salina, KS, so I guess I’ll have to go back to hoping they don’t gloss anything I want for the BreyerMidwest special run. Maybe they’ll think of a better name later? 

Yellowstone!

 Aha, we have a resolution to the sneak peek from last month's newsletter! Behold - Yellowstone! 

He's the newest entry in the Wild Animal series - a pronghorn antelope! Uh, without the horns. 

Nothing I need, fortunately. I'm trying to cut back on my spending (as usual) so I'll take any opportunity. 

They also made 750 of these things, so even if I did decide I wanted one, I don't think it'll be hard to get one. So good luck to everyone entering! The deadline for entry is 9/17. Three days to enter? Sheesh, I remember the bad old days when they'd show a sneak peek, then show us the model a week later, then the entry period was a week long, THEN models would be drawn. We've come a long way, huh? Of course, the models were $135 in those days. Win some, lose some. 

We finally have our new Wild Animal!

 Exciting news, everyone - we finally have our newest Wild Animals model - Baruti! 

Ah, so it was Carrick! Somehow I forgot about him when I was looking at "ribby" molds as possibilities. Looks like this is another one I'll have to buy! That's a rather intricate paint job, so it'll be interesting to see how they pull it off in the production run. 

His price did make a bit of a jump to $195 (gulp), but I can understand why. We have until 11:59pm (EST) on 9/13 to enter, and fortunately we only need to enter once, so no need to come back every day and enter again. Good luck to everyone entering! 

Tamu and Chai!

 Well, that was unexpected. Say hello to the latest entry in Breyer's Wild Animal Series! 

A foal set, featuring two foals whose sculpts are wildly mismatched? Say it isn't so! But tapirs have a rather short stature, so that's probably why they picked the smaller foal for that one. 

Anyways, I'm definitely entering for these! Hope I get drawn....though their price made me wince a bit too. $150 for two foals? Sheesh, their paint jobs had better be worth it. But the piece count is decreased to 300, so that's probably their justification. 

Good luck to everyone who enters! 

I Can't Believe It's Not Saige!

The new web special is up, and...what? It's not Forever Saige? Say it ain't so!

Lonesome Glory, eh? Well, I guess it's not the worst choice.



Still, I was really hoping for Forever Saige, as a fitting wink to a common criticism.

That said, I'm ready to say it: I'm tired of buying things. I never thought I'd commit such words to print, but there it is. My sales have been in the garbage all year, and the constant flow of new releases from Breyer definitely isn't helping the situation.

But, at the same time...Lonesome Glory makes a really nice giraffe. Maybe I'll just enter for her on one account and see what happens? Entries are only being taken until Monday, so it's not like I have to remember for very long. Good luck, everyone!

Giraffe sneak peek!

Apparently Breyer posted this on their Instagram today:



While it's clearly a giraffe, there's been some confusion on what we're looking at here. I think it's a top-down photo of the model's back: the withers are at the top left, spine running from top left to bottom right, and the top of a right haunch in the bottom right. That said, if this is anything other than Forever Saige, I'll be sadly disappointed. We can't forget all those "giraffe neck" comments every time the mold gets a new release, can we? It would be super cheeky and snarky of Breyer to use her as a giraffe, so I'm all for it. Hopefully we don't have to wait too long to see what this is...although I won't complain if it's a mold I don't collect, as I really need to scale back my buying...

Also, word from Breyer is that they don't have any replacements for Salem (bleh...), so I'm just going to have to live with the warped leg on mine, or attempt to fix it (but I'm not brave enough to try it myself, so I guess it'll never get fixed). Oh well.

I bless the rains down in Africa...

Good news, everyone! The Great News Vacuum of 2018 continues, but my Kehinde arrived today - behold!



His brown areas are a bit lighter than I thought they'd be, but that's not a bad thing. I think he's beautiful, if a bit odd (but you can't avoid that when you paint horses like other animals).



I think his paintjob is pretty well-executed, though. Here's a real okapi for comparison:

Looks pretty close to me, although Kehinde's leg stripes could be thinner. They look hand-painted, though, so they'd have to be masked to make them any thinner. One wonders why they didn't just mask the stripes to start with, but I guess I don't make the rules.

His eyes aren't as detailed as I would have hoped, but I suppose the goal was to look like an okapi's eyes, not a real horse's. I love the white shading on his flanks and cheeks, though!




Quality-wise, he's very good. There are a few smears in the edges of his stripes, which I expected. The model itself could have had a better cleaning job (a few spots of excess plastic here and there), but nothing major.

All in all, this guy is very handsome and I'm so glad I was able to add him to my collection! Major props to Karen Williams for designing him.

That's all I have for today, but stay tuned! The next arrivals here should be my Vintage Club Grace and Stablemate Club Finn. I haven't gotten a shipping notice for them yet despite ordering them last Thursday, but I'm hoping they just neglected to send one out and the models are already on their way here. I can't wait to see what colors I get - and the latest news from the grapevine is that there's a preview of a 2019 Vintage Club model with Grace! I'm looking forward to seeing it!

The Big Cat series is no more!

...Because it's been replaced by the Wild Animal series! (But shouldn't it be Wild Animals?)



First in the new series is Kehinde, an okapi on the American Saddlebred Stallion mold. Okay then!

From the website:

The first release in Wild Animal Series is Kehinde, and he’s inspired by the enchanting and elusive okapi. Artist Karen Williams designed this piece, and gave him an incredibly realistic coat. Just like the okapi, Kehinde has zebra-like striping on his legs and hindquarters. His richly-shaded coat has a velvety appearance, fading into his dusky face.

I remember working on a project in elementary school art class where we had to "carve" an animal shape into a large rubber square, which we could then use as a stamp. I think the theme was African animals? Since I couldn't do a horse for whatever reason, I did an okapi instead. I think it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. Somewhere I still have that stamp, but I don't know where it is, or I'd post a picture. Anyway, that's my "okapi = horse" story.

Edit: Crud. Now I can't remember if my art project was an okapi or an onager. This is going to bother me! I think it was an onager, actually. Oh well. That's my "okapi onager = horse" story.

Needless to say, I'm definitely entering for this guy. Hope I get drawn! He's beautiful.  Good luck to everyone who enters!