Featured Model - 8/31/2019, Poltergeist

Hello 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...Poltergeist!



Ooh, spooky! This model was the Halloween Horse back in 2016. He's item #1763 on the Ruffian mold sculpted by Sue Sifton, and was a run of 3,000.

This guy had a little bit of a mixed reception, if I remember right. I guess the design is rather polarizing - a horse with a demonic skeleton "riding" it? Wild stuff. I think it's rather clever, and I like the contrast of the white areas against the black - especially the head and tail. Skull horse! Hah. I do wish he had four white socks, though - I realize he's supposed to be a "pinto" of sorts, so he wouldn't necessarily have four socks, but the completionist in me wants to see all four of them be white.

As for Ruffian herself, she's still pretty popular 13 years after her release - at least, going by the number of Breyerfest auction models she's had. 9 of them in 13 years? Sheesh. Anyone trying to collect all those will have to have some pretty deep pockets, and that's not even including all the raffle and prize models we've seen on her.

Anyway, I'm not sure where we'll see Ruffian next - she was the inexplicably unpopular special run "Dead Heat" at Breyerfest last year, as well as an auction model this year. She was a Breyerfest prize model in 2014. However, she hasn't been a web special since 2015 - maybe she'll pop up there? Or as this year's brick-and-mortar special run? I hope so - it'll be hard for me to get my hands on one! I'll just have to hope for a new regular run.

My other Iris is finally here!

Well, I'm not sure what happened with my other Iris model - I got a shipping notification for her after I placed the order, and it had a tracking number, but a week later the tracking had never updated from "Label created." So I emailed Breyer and they sent out another one last week. Maybe the first one fell off the back of the UPS truck or something? Anyway, she finally arrived yesterday, and I'm pleased to report I got...the decorator!



I really, really like this color, so it makes me a bit sad that they put it on a mold I don't collect. Maybe Breyer will use it on something else someday? Pretty please?

I'm in a bit of a hurry to write this post, so I only have the one photo. But she was pretty nice from a quality standpoint. I didn't see any issues with her at all - her eyes might be slightly sloppy, but that's it. (Interesting how they can do such detailed blue eyes on the cremello appaloosa, and this one just has plain black eyes...)

In the four years that the Stablemate Club has existed, the gambler's choice mold has only been on a mold I collect once - the Fylkir, in 2017. On the one hand, I kinda wish they'd use more molds I want, but on the other hand...it's nice not to have to get all of them every year, especially since they sell for so much more than the purchase price. I'm definitely not going to complain about that last part! Maybe next year they'll use a mold I collect again and I'll be shaking my fist at the sky for saying anything!

More Walmart Unicorns!

The news just broke on Facebook - there are new blind bag unicorns at Walmart! (Groan...) I don't have a photo I can use just yet, but it looks like the molds include Alborozo (some kind of pink), Greyson (green), the G4 Arabian (yellow-pink), G2 Clydesdale (blue) and the new Warmblood Stallion (silvery purple), plus the Magnolia chase piece (pastel rainbowy). The chase Magnolia is beautiful, but every time they use her for something else, I'm more glad I don't like her - people that collect her must be tearing their hair out right now!

As I've mentioned before, I'm pretty much over the blind bags. My local Walmart probably won't get them (the only blind bags they got were the ones with the green/gold Friesian), and I'm really not interested in driving to a Walmart farther away just to feel up more bags and feel weird while doing so. I could just buy a whole box, but that would be doing exactly what Breyer/Walmart wants us to do. I may just wait until the craze dies down and see if I can find them cheaply on the secondary market, because honestly? Enough is enough.

Also, can they use some different molds for these? I feel like Alborozo, the G2 Clydesdale and the G4 Arabian (to say nothing of Magnolia) could use a rest.

Featured Model - 8/24/2019, Estrela do Carnaval

Hello 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...Estrela do Carnaval!



This was a rare mare release on the Silver mold sculpted by Kathleen Moody. She's item #711236 and was a run of 725 as a special run at Breyerfest 2016.

This model was definitely a controversial one when she was first released! For all I know, she's still controversial. The mud-brown body color, combined with the samba dancer on the belly, didn't make for a good combination, at least in some hobbyists' eyes. While I do like her, or I wouldn't have her in my collection, I probably wouldn't have done her the same way. I would have at least made her glossy, to try to keep all those decals from peeling off, and I'd have picked some color other than brown for the body. Imagine if it had been a nice deep blue, or green? And glossy? She'd have gone from pariah to runaway success.

Not that she wasn't a success anyway. With that low run number, she was definitely the hot item that year, much like Banner this year and By a Nose last year. But I digress. The size of that samba dancer decal on the belly may end up being a problem down the line if they eventually start peeling, so I hope that doesn't happen. But a nice coat of gloss would have been a good idea.

As always, Silver remains a popular model, but I suspect Breyer will give him a rest for a while. He's been used for just about everything since they brought him back from semi-retirement - but maybe I'm wrong and Breyer will surprise me with something! 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!

Wait For It

Great news, everyone! My Hamilton finally came today! Behold the awesomeness!



This has been my most anticipated arrival of the year so far, and he definitely doesn't disappoint!



I love that he has a size to him, and the sculpt seems to catch a frozen moment in time perfectly. Plus, he doesn't have that annoying narrowness in front that so many of Breyer's more recent sculpts have been plagued with. He's awesome!



I think my favorite thing about him is his tail, though. It's long and flowy and portrays his movement so well, but isn't over-the-top and wild like a Moody sculpt would be.



Quality-wise, he's not perfect - there are some small booboos. But nothing major - I don't think I even photographed any of them. But look at his head and neck! I love him.



Truth be told, I'm almost dreading collecting this mold, because you know he'll probably be a raffle and a prize model at Breyerfest next year, and there'll probably be an auction model to boot. Sigh. Maybe I'll finally find a money tree next year? I hope so, because I have a feeling I'm going to need it!

Breyerfest Closeups: Lucien

Hello, readers! It's time for our final Breyerfest Closeups post for this year. Today I'll be covering the upcoming Collector Club special run, Lucien!



He has an interesting pattern, and I really like his face.



And it's great to see another release on Valegro!



Doesn't look like his eyes are very detailed, but I guess that's to be expected for a collector club special run. At least his shoes are painted?



I hope he becomes available soon - I need to add him to the collection!



I like his two-toned tail, too. I can't help but wonder if part of the run will be glossy? They seem to like throwing us a curveball with that every once in a while. Although if that's the case I'd have to buy two of them. Maybe I don't want him to be glossy.

That's my last Breyerfest Closeups post for this year. If all goes well, Closeups will return after next year's Breyerfest with even more exciting new reveals!