Breyerfest Closeups: Mini True North or: Honey I Shrunk the Breyer

...or as I like to call him, TINY RIIIIIICK BRISHEN!

The first time I saw this model was on a picture someone posted to Blab, and I was super confused by it at first. The sign said it was the Premier Club Stablemate, but it was clearly Brishen? Someone must have messed up somehow...? But why would a full-size model have the same pattern and color as True North? Until I read the caption again and realized it was a tiny Brishen.

 

So Breyer has figured out the technology to shrink a Traditional-size model down to Stablemate size, or presumably any size in between. I am conflicted about this. Trad-size Stablemate models? Classic-size Trad models? Stablemate-size Trad models? How will they do it without the resulting products looking all lumpy and weird like the crystals do? (Although they're getting better at those.) Granted, the mini Brishen here looks pretty good, but I'd have liked to be able to pick him up and take a close look at him.

Anyways, shelf space in my place is limited as it is. I don't have room for a million Stablemate versions of all my favorite Trad models, and vice versa. I'm not one of those people that would have to have every sculpt in every size. I like them to have variety, you know? Not just reproducing the same sculpt in a bunch of different sizes. Part of the allure of the Stablemates and Classics is that they aren't the same as the Traditionals. Call me boring if you want, but I'm just not excited about this development.

That said, I'm not planning on selling my mini True North or anything...but I'm not going to be begging for more shrunk-down Traditionals all the same. At this point I'm hoping it'll just turn out to be one of those Breyer oddities that never goes anywhere. Although I have to admit, if they used this technology on a free model that isn't costing any additional money to the customers, they're most likely going to use it again at some point to recoup their investment in it. I guess we'll have to wait and see!

Breyerfest leftovers are now on the website!

A whole 10 days earlier than last year, Breyerfest 2017 leftovers can now be purchased on the website by 3-day ticket holders!

 

Available special run line items are Saffron, Kaalee, Diwali and Darjeeling, and pop-up tent items include both of the plushies and Holi. I'm a bit surprised about Darjeeling showing up here, as I thought I'd heard he sold out, but evidently not. I'm also not surprised about Kaalee, as they made a ton of her and she didn't have the bonus advantage of being half matte/half glossy. I was also surprised that neither of the plushies sold out - that elephant is cute! Not cute enough for me to buy him, but still.

Also available are things like the journal, Tervis cup, coordinates bracelet and some other stuff. I'm thinking about ordering the Tervis cup, but nothing else really interests me. I halfheartedly hoped they'd have leftover items from previous years like they did last year, but no such luck this time. Oh well! I'm just glad they put the leftovers on the website in the first place.

Zion and Moab are here!

Okay, I confess - they got here a few days ago, but I had other things to blog about. So, here they are!

 

I was a little worried about what they'd be like, quality-wise. I'd been hearing a lot of bad things about the mares - namely, that the seams were really bad on some of them, and others were poorly painted.

 

My two aren't too terrible in the paint department - Zion has a smudged spot on her neck, a tiny eartip rub and a couple of other minor issues, and Moab doesn't have any issues at all that I can see, not even with the seams. Which lines up with what I'd been hearing - the mares are messed up, but not the foals.

 

Sorry for the naughty bits in that picture. My Zion is pretty okay, seam-wise, but she does have that very visible seam where the tail joins the body and another right next to the vulva. The factory workers in charge of sanding the seams must have been asleep at the wheel or something, because they're kind of...really noticeable.

 

They do have nice color, though, and I like that the mare is even browner than the set I saw in the Collector Club tent at Breyerfest. Much better than the grayish color in the promo photos. I did notice one odd thing with their eyes, though...

 

...namely, that Moab's eyes are much more detailed than Zion's. The foal gets eyewhites and blue eyes, and all the mare gets are sloppily-painted black blobs with eyewhites? That's weird. You'd think the mare would have some type of eye color too, but evidently not. I almost wonder if the mares were painted in one factory, and the foals in another (I believe Breyer has two factories in China).

But like I said earlier, their paint jobs aren't bad at all - it's just that someone dropped the ball with the seams on the mare. Let's hope that doesn't become a trend!

All in all, I really liked the releases in this series and I hope Breyer continues with it, if only because I really want a glossy alabaster Weather Girl. I think Sommer has done a really good job designing these, and I can't wait to see what comes up next!

Featured Model - 8/5/2017, Mini Falhofnir

Hello, readers, 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...Mini Falhofnir!

 

This handsome little guy was issued in 2014 for the first year a free Stablemate was given to members of the Premier Club. He's on the G4 Icelandic Horse/Indigo mold sculpted by Jane Lunger, so around 750 of these were produced. This was the first time the mold was used after it made its debut at Breyerfest 2013. It seemed fitting to use something on this mold this week since we just found out about Fylkir, the latest Stablemate Club release!

This model makes a nice contrast to the Traditional Icelandic by Kathleen Moody - his hair is a lot more understated compared to Kathleen's wild and crazy, '80s hair metal look. He's attractive, but he's more reserved about it. I like him a lot and I was really excited to see he's being used for the Stablemate Club's gambler's choice!

The only other thing he's been used for since his debut is in one of the current Mystery Foal Surprise sets. I think we're due to get more new single-assortment Stablemates and Stablemate sets next year, so hopefully he shows up somewhere. I wouldn't say no to a new shadowbox set with him in it, either! One can only hope.

Breyerfest Closeups: Mirado (And Bollywood Surprise Numbers)

One of the other items on display at the Collector Club tent was Mirado, the upcoming sixth release in the 2017 Stablemate Club. I definitely wanted to see him up close!

 

Mirado was sculpted and painted by Maggie Bennett. He'll be the final release in this year's Stablemate Club and I'm really looking forward to getting him!

 

I'm still a little hesitant about his face - I think it's his markings that are making his muzzle look really narrow. I can see a little chin in that picture, though, so clearly it's just an optical illusion.

 

Here's a different angle. Is he supposed to be grulla? Somebody at Breyer must really like grulla; it's everywhere these days. I wish I'd been brave enough to flip the model around and get a photo of his other side, but I tend to err on the side of "look, but don't touch" with this type of stuff (and I think that sign right in front of him said Do Not Touch). Oh well.

So that's Mirado. Unfortunately, he won't be available until December, so we'll all just have to wait.

In other news, Breyer released the Bollywood Surprise numbers yesterday:

A - Dark Bay Tobiano (1225 Matte, 175 Glossy)
B - Buttermilk Buckskin (800 Matte, 175 Glossy)
C - Chestnut Overo (650 Matte, 175 Glossy)
D - Grulla Pintaloosa (425 Matte, 175 Glossy)

I'm a little surprised that they made quite so many of the matte bay tobianos, though it seemed like they were everywhere. I thought their numbers and the buckskin's would be more in line with each other. Here are our personal statistics - from 7 surprise models, we pulled:

2 matte bay tobianos (one of which was immediately traded for an accidentally glossy pintaloosa)
2 matte buckskins
1 matte chestnut overo
1 glossy bay tobiano
1 glossy buckskin

So, we got incredibly lucky this year. That figures, since these aren't even on a mold I collect. The last time I got two glossies in one year was 2014 with the Pop the Corks - I've never gotten three before. But I'm not complaining! I traded the glossy pintaloosa for the volunteer model, and selling the other two glossies helped immensely with paying for my other expenditures.

On a closing note, I think this year's surprise models were excellent, other than being on a mold I don't collect. I liked the pintaloosa the best, followed by the buckskin, bay tobiano and chestnut overo. If only I collected Latigo! I'd love to see that buttermilk buckskin on Othello, Forever Saige and a host of others. Same with all the other colors! I hope next year's surprise models are just as exciting!

Fylkir is now available!

The fourth Stablemate Club release is now available for purchase, and it's the Gambler's Choice! Surprising! Here they are!

 

I love them! And I'm relieved that they're on a mold I collect. Breyer's firing on all cylinders here - I haven't seen a release I didn't like other than Coco! I love that they used the Burbank color, although I guess Icelandics don't come in appaloosa. Oh well - it's still my favorite one of the bunch and I hope I get it! We have two accounts, so I'll be crossing my fingers that I at least get two different colors. I like the other colors too, especially the smoky black. If I had to rank them, it would probably go like this:

Burbank appaloosa
Silver black
Dunalino
Splash white

Nothing against splash, but I think they should have made him glossy here so we'd have two matte and two glossies. But I'll still be happy if I get one!

It's interesting that the gambler's choice is the fourth release this year. Last year the decorator was the fourth release. Maybe they're trying to give themselves some more time between this release and the end of the year? I wonder if the end-of-year raffle (if they're doing one again) will be of a full set of these again. If it is, I hope I win!

Breyerfest Closeups: Duende

One of the things I wanted to make sure I got at Breyerfest was up-close photos of some of the upcoming Breyer releases. Now that I've finally gotten my photos onto my computer, I'll start with Duende, the second 2017 Premier Club model.

 

This model was sculpted and painted by Mindy Berg. Of course, this is the resin prototype, so the plastic ones won't look quite the same, but I like what I see so far.

 

He certainly is a handsome guy! I really like his regal face.

 

I wish I could have gotten some photos of his other side, but we've all seen that already, I guess.

 

If I have any nitpicks about this sculpt, it's that I wish he was set up a little better. But I guess he's not in a show ring.

 

I'm really looking forward to purchasing this guy! He should be available later this month - the sooner, the better!