Buckeye's Bluegrass Bonanza show report and Crinkle Cookie goodness!

 Greetings, readers! Well, my last show of the year went pretty well - I was running late that morning and only got there about five minutes before the show was supposed to start, but other than that minor snag, things were pretty great. Here's how I did! 

Once again, I managed to get one of every color ribbon, for breed and collectibility. I had a lot of fourth-place finishes this time for some reason. As usual, my Via Lattea stayed consistent and placed third (!) in breed and fifth in collectibility. Maybe someday she'll win a class! All in all it was a great day, other than some weird judge decisions, but odd stuff happens at every show, right? 

In other news, I got my Freshly Baked Stablemates today! Behold, the jackpot! 

That's right - two Crinkle Cookies! I'm not even mad that I didn't get a Peppermint Bark, because it shouldn't be difficult to trade a Crinkle Cookie for her. Woohoo! I suspected they were Crinkle Cookies as soon as I took them out of the box, due to how heavy they were. And was elated to see I was right! Huzzah! 

Here's a closeup of one of them. He doesn't have rubs on his nose - that's just a trick of the light (but he does seem to have a rub on his ear). Both of them are pretty nice other than the aforementioned ear rub. I'll be at the Silas Model Horse Swap this Saturday, so hopefully I can trade for a Peppermint Bark there. 

WGC Marc of ARRGH!

 Well, I didn’t get a chance to post about the hint over the weekend, but Breyer teased the BreyerMidwest special run model and revealed it today, and it’s THIS…

That’s right…glossy WGC Marc of Charm. Just when I thought I was safe! I may have uttered a few swear words when I saw the teaser. Darn it, if the event had stayed in Denver I could have had my SIL pick one up for me! So now I’m trying to figure out if I can make my way out to Salina, because I just know they’ll be selling these guys for $1,000 after the fact. If I’m going to spend that much money on a horse I’d rather go there myself and have a nice experience there to boot. Something to think about, I guess. 

I guess it makes sense that they used him, since the last few glossy Breyerwest models didn’t exactly set the world on fire. Who would have figured that glossing unpopular Breyerfest models wouldn’t make them more popular? It was only a matter of time until they changed up the strategy. 

Featured JAH - 11/16/2024, July/August 2004

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured JAH! This week we'll be covering July/August 2004, so let's get going! 

On the front cover, a bull rider and bull do their thing (this is kind of an odd cover, considering the magazine is called Just About Horses, but I'll let it slide because of the CollectiBulls). 

I usually skip the inside covers of the magazines, but I couldn't skip this one because it featured the debut of the Flash mold! Huzzah! 

In the Editor's Desk, Natasha talksa bout the PBR and the CollectiBulls, and mentions the non-equine cover thing. 

On page 3 is the announcement of another JAH holiday cover contest, as well as Letters to the Editor. 

On page 4 we have an article about Breyer portrait model Rowdy Yates. 

The Rowdy Yates article concludes on page 5. While I couldn't find anything definitive, it appears that Rowdy died around 2016 (RIP). 

On page 6 we have yet another Breyerfest 2004 preview, featuring bull rider Adriano Moraes and the Design a Pair of Maracas contest. Whatever happened to those fun little contests? I think the last one was the Hair Fascinator contest at Breyerfest 2012 (the prize was glossy Brookside Pink Magnums). 

The Breyerfest preview continues on page 7, with the highly-coveted Fandango live show prize and some more special editions. 

On page 8 is the first page of a tribute article about Maureeen Love, sculptor of many models for Hagen-Renaker, which were later "borrowed" by Breyer to be produced in plastic. 

The Maureen Love article concludes on page 9. 

After skipping an article about building your own website, on page 12 we have an article about Breyer portrait model Savanna Dial! While I couldn't find any definitive information on the subject, Savanna Dial was born in 1992 and thus has probably passed on by now. I could be wrong, though! 

After skipping Breyer jr. and Collector's Corner, on page 19 we have an article about Irish Setters and a short Olympics article. 

After skipping articles about Cowboy Mounted Shooting (I feel like there's plenty of information about that out there already) and how to sell your models on the Internet (lots of model sales happening on Facebook...just saying), and also skipping Horse Trader and a book review, on page 26 is this issue's Vintage Point! The poor Classic Andalusian Foal gets the spotlight this week after being left out of the last issue. 

The Vintage Point article concludes on page 27. 

On page 28 we have "On the Trail with Breyer" featuring the Minnesota Horse Expo, which I attended a number of times over the years. Not in 2004, though. 

After skipping the Calendar of Events, on this week's back cover we have the CollectiBulls! Apparently some of the bulls were shrunk to Stablemate size? Huh. I don't remember these being a thing, but apparently they were. Or were they always Stablemates size? I thought they were a little bigger than that, but maybe not. 

And that brings us to the end of this week's issue! We're flying through 2004 here - check back next week for Sept/Oct 2004! 

Autumn Leaf show report and 2025 Vintage Club

 Greetings, readers! I have another show report for you - I was able to get into Autumn Leaf Live at the last minute, so that's how I spent my Saturday. And I had a great time! There were many pretty ponies to drool over, including a number of auction and test models. And there was a certified Good Doggo at the table next to mine! He was a service dog, so I didn't get to pet him, but he was very good at begging for treats (alas, without success). Anyways, here's how I did at the show! 

That's right, I managed to get a rosette this time! Huzzah! And I didn't do too badly in the breed department either, which is mildly humorous considering my show string didn't really change between Coalfield Classic and this show. Sadly, my Via Lattea didn't get a ribbon this time, but I'm not giving up yet - maybe next time she'll finally do better than third. 

It was a little close, but I did manage to get one of every placing in breed and collectibility! Behold: 

Other notes: I decided to give up on showing my matte Namid and my two 7 Arts Surprise pintos, because it was their fifth show and they hadn't really done much. But that gave me room for other stuff! We'll see how they do next time out. Which will be on Saturday at Buckeye's Bluegrass Bonanza! As usual, feel free to say hello if you spot Geralt and Roach. This will be my last show for the year, so I'm not looking forward to waiting until at least March for the next one. Although it'll be nice to have a break after prepping for shows for the last 3 weeks. So feelings are mixed, I guess. But anyway, I'm looking forward to a grand finale on Saturday! 

In other news, the Vintage Club will open to new members tomorrow at 1pm EST! If you’re wanting to join, don’t wait - this club tends to sell out fast. Of course, they did up the membership limit to 1200, and there’s the economy to think of…so maybe it won’t sell out too fast after all. Who knows? I won’t be joining, so at least you won’t have competition from me. 

Freshly Baked!

 Good news, everyone! The Freshly Baked Stablemates are out of the oven and ready to fly into your mouths mailboxes! Behold: 

The four colors are: Linzer Cookie (G4 Arabian), Crinkle Cookie (mini Georg), Peppermint Bark (G2 Saddlebred) and Gingerbread (G3 Mustang). I ordered two of them, because I want the Georg and the Saddlebred. Hey, I may be slightly irritated that they used molds I collect, but at the same time, at least they didn't use tired molds like the G2 Clydesdale, Alborozo, Magnolia, etc. 

Seems like most people only want the mini Georg, so I'm wondering if I'll be able to trade for it if I don't get him. Pondering going back and ordering more of them...

Holiday blind bags!

 Get ready, everybody - the latest batch of holiday blind bags is coming out of the oven tomorrow!

Since Breyer didn’t show us the models this time, we’ll all be waiting in suspense until 1pm EST tomorrow to find out what they are. The cynical part of me is hoping they use all molds I don’t collect - guess we’ll find out tomorrow!

Featured JAH - 11/9/2024, May/June 2004

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Model! We're moving right along through 2004 with this week's issue, so let's get started! 

On the front cover, Royal Kaliber (RIP) and Chris Kappler take a jump, and there's a small preview of the new Royal Kaliber model. 

In the Editor's Desk, Natasha talks about JAH's achievements and plugs Breyerfest as usual. 

There's a small news roundup on page 3, along with Letters to the Editor. 

On page 4 is the beginning of an article about Breyer portrait horse Smart Little Lena. 

The Smart Little Lena article concludes on page 5. Interesting (but fitting) that the portrait was on the Classic Cutting Horse. We need more portraits on Classic models - maybe they would sell/resell better. 

On page 6 we have an article about horse-drawn fire wagons. 

The fire wagon article concludes on page 7 with a reveal of the Vintage Fire Hose Wagon set. Why can't we get sets like this anymore? I mean, besides the fact that they'd probably cost $400. 

After skipping a how-to article, on page 10 we have a preview of Breyerfest 2004, including three droolworthy test models that were given away in the Early Bird drawing that year. Why hasn't the Early Bird come back post-covid? I miss it...well, not the "constantly losing" part. More so the "pretty model" part. 

The Breyerfest preview continues on page 11, showing raffle models and special run line models. 

On page 12, the beautiful Inconspicuous makes his debut! He's still one of the more popular Connoisseur releases. 

After skipping Breyer jr., on page 17 we have an article about artist Karen Williams. She no longer works for Breyer but I do see updates from her studio page on Facebook occasionally. 

On page 18 we have an article about the Tricked Out Pony Contest, which used to be held at the West Coast Model Horse Collector's Jamboree. Some really cool models were produced in this contest, including the model which eventually became Merlin, the dragon horse raffle model. I think the puzzle piece Clydesdale Stallion is pretty cool. 

After skipping more How-To articles and Horse Trader, on page 26 we have this week's Vintage Point: the Classics Andalusian Mare and Stallion! Not the foal, though. That would be too many. 

Vintage Point concludes on page 27. 

On page 28 we have some photos from the 2004 Equine Affair, where Breyer hosted a Fun Day at their booth. 

After skipping the Calendar of Events, we've come to the end of this week's issue! On the back cover is the reveal of Romance, a model that was much-scorned at the time (or at least, I heaped a lot of scorn on it, because I didn't/don't like pink things). I have one in my collection though, so I must have gotten over that...more or less...

Anyways, that concludes May/June 2004! Check back next week for July/Aug 2004.