More new arrivals!

The Bravo I managed to snag from the early Black Friday sale is here!



I was a bit nervous that my order would be canceled, so I didn't want to say anything until he showed up. Yes, I took off the blue ribbon sticker; it would have eventually peeled off his glossy finish anyway, and I'm not really into stickers on models. He's really nice quality, though - I didn't see anything warranting a return. Yay!

Another recent arrival is the one splurge I allowed myself after selling Dixon (the rest of that money went to pay down my credit card):



One of my goals this year was to increase the number of Susecion/Le Fire sets in my collection, and I'd say that's been a success so far. I had two sets at the start of the year; now I have seven. I'll have to start thinking about what next year's goals are going to be! In the meantime, the Susecions and Le Fires will always have a place on my shelves.

I'm still waiting to hear when Yasmin will be available for purchase...I would really hope it's this week, since Breyer appears to have missed their "November" goal. Hurry up and release her already!

Christmas Countdown - Leftover Jesses?

This morning Breyer added a new item to their site for Day 22 of their Christmas Countdown:



He appears to be identical to the Tractor Supply SR 'Jesse' from last year - and is already sold out. I didn't buy one, though; I'm not really into the Wyatt mold, so I passed him up. I'm guessing they had extra Jesse models left over from last year - maybe they just referred to it as the "Palomino Quarter Horse" on the website so TSC wouldn't get upset about an exclusive showing up on Breyer's own website later. We'll have to wait and see what the boxes look like.

Discount Code Frustrations

I woke up to an email from Breyer this morning - for Cyber Monday they're offering free shipping on purchases of $25 or more from the website. (Their Cyber Monday sale items are also now available; nothing particularly exciting, except Crane must not have sold as well as they'd hoped.)

Unfortunately, when it comes to buying things directly off Breyer's website, I'm a bit of a cheapskate. I don't like to order anything from the regular line unless I can get it for at least 10% off with free shipping (hint: they're usually cheaper on Amazon!). How I miss the December free shipping + 10% off promo!

So I'm a bit peeved, because I want to order a couple of things off the website, but I want to get the free calendar they're offering with purchases of $50 or more - but I can't combine the calendar offer with either the Cyber Monday free shipping or the 10% off Collector Club discount and it's making me super irritated. They could at least make the calendar stack with other discounts. What's the harm in that?

I want the calendar because I need a new wall calendar for 2017, and there's a photo of one of the new releases for 2017 in it (Bandera, a bronze decorator Geronimo with brand symbols all over him). But I don't want to pay full price + shipping just to get a calendar. Blargh. Better luck next time, I guess.

Avalanche is here!

We have a new arrival in the house! Thanks to a generous Blabber, I was able to obtain an Avalanche, and she came in the mail yesterday. Behold!

I didn't see any glaring flaws on her, either! Which is good, because the box she came in had a hole punched in the side, covered with packing tape (!). Darn post office and/or packer. Oh well; at least she made it here in one piece.

From the stock photos, I thought she'd be more of the old-style silver filigree like the PAM, but that wasn't the case. Must have just been the sample they used - though it looks like there's been a lot of variety within the run from all the different Avalanche photos I've seen so far. Either way, she's welcome to join the group! Welcome to the silver sparklepony herd, Avalanche!

Featured Model - 11/26/2016, El Caballo Peruano de Paso

Hello and welcome to another installment of Featured Model, the weekly blog event where I pick a model from my collection, give some stats on it and provide commentary. I hope we've all recovered sufficiently from Thanksgiving! This week's lucky model is...El Caballo Peruano de Paso (The Horse from the Land of the Incas)! Or, as I call him, Champagne Ride (because who can remember that mouthful?).

 

This handsome guy was a limited edition set (item number 1223) released in 2004; he was a run of 1500 on the Peruvian Paso mold sculpted by Linda York. He came in a fancy window box and included a traditional Peruvian saddle, bridle, and rider (with the requisite tray of champagne glasses). The COA for this set came tightly rolled up and tied with a ribbon - when I got mine out of the box, I thought it would never lie flat. Even now, it's pressed between the pages of a book, hopefully flattening out.

The only real issue I had with this set was that I didn't realize the bit for the bridle was actually in the horse's mouth - they put a hole in his mouth for the bit to go in! I had to use a nail clipper to clip the bit in half so I could take it out. I had been hoping to keep all the tack intact, so that really irked me - especially since it's a situation with no good resolution. Either you damage the tack getting it off the horse, or you leave it on and risk the tack itself damaging the model, either from dye leaching onto it or "shadows" from the paint fading around it. No thanks!

This is another one of those molds I'm somewhat conflicted about. Most of the issue is wondering which side is his "show" side, and which is his "off" side. It seems like his luxurious mane (right)side should be the show side, but he's looking slightly to the left, which would put the show side on his left side. Argh! He does look good in palomino, though. I wouldn't mind seeing him in a palomino like Breyer has been doing lately with dark shading on the points.

I think this is one of Breyer's more underrated molds. He has his own particular charm, and he's been issued in so many great auction model colors! I drooled over the blue roan tobiano from 2011, the red bay overo from 2010, and of course would kill to own the silver filigree one from 2003 (Curse you, Breyer!). And the silver bay Breyerfest prize is to die for. On the more attainable front, RCH Ventarrones was a great color, too - especially in gloss! Droolworthy for sure. Let's hope this mold gets another release soon! He deserves it.

Slow News Week

Not much new and exciting to report this week, unfortunately. Well, so far, anyway. But I doubt they'll reveal anything tomorrow because, you know, Thanksgiving and all. Hopefully Breyer adds some snazzy new items to the Black Friday sale, though! In the meantime, my yearly Breyer catalog arrived a couple of days ago (3 catalogs, actually...). Not much new to report in there either, but I did notice something on the last page...



The special run for next year's Kid's Club is what looks like a light gray Classic Ruffian! She looks similar to the gray Ruffian that was a WEG special run for 2014, but lighter. Interesting! This would only be the third time Ruffian has been issued in gray (the first being a gray blanket Appaloosa version in the '90s).

Other than that, there isn't much exciting in the catalog, although I was pleased to see a little diversity amongst the catalog models, and even a boy or two! It really irritates me when Breyer describes its products as being for "horse-crazy girls" because...love of horses isn't (and shouldn't) be a girls-only club. Now, if we could get even more diversity in there, and more boys, and if the photographer would tell the kids to actually play with the models and/or look natural instead of holding them with a pasted-on smile, we'd really be getting somewhere.

Also, the "illusive" typo regarding Xavier got into the catalog, too. Somebody fix that, please!

Alas, that's all I have for today. Hopefully I have something new and exciting to post about later this week, but until then, Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Featured Model - 11/19/2016, Applejack

Hello and welcome to yet 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. This week's selection is...Applejack!



This dapper little fellow, item #1457, was produced in the latter half of 2011 as part of the (now-discontinued) Collector's Choice series, where collectors could send in their ideas for models and possibly have them produced as a limited run. He was produced on the Cefnoakpark Bouncer mold sculpted by Kathleen Moody. There's no indication of how many of these were made, but I think Collector's Choice models were considered regular run items, so: however many RR items could be produced in a 6-month period, presumably. This particular release is obviously inspired by My Little Pony (though I'm not sure Breyer got the memo?).

I wasn't able to buy Applejack when it first came out because I hadn't yet located the one flagship dealer in my area that would probably have carried it. I was especially irked about it because earlier in the year, Breyer had made a Collector's Choice model (Gathering Storm) available directly from their website - but didn't bother to do it with Applejack. So frustrating!

But on to the commentary- I really like this model. Before I bought him, I hadn't realized how shiny and pearly his mane and tail were, and was pleasantly surprised when I unwrapped him. He's pretty! I'm a sucker for pearly, though. I also seem to remember that a lot of these models had box rubs and other factory flaws, but I'm happy to report mine has very few.

I like the Bouncer mold a lot, but only have 4 of his releases. This is another mold that needs to be used more often - I still can't believe they didn't use him for one of the Berry Pony web specials. And I'd have been totally fine with the 2012 Breyerfest Sixes and Sevens being on Bouncer instead (can you imagine the hysteria over the glossy/matte split?). Okay, maybe it's better they didn't do that release on Bouncer.

Collector Club Black Friday pre-sale!

I got an email this morning that Breyer is having a Black Friday sale, with early access for Collector Club members starting today!



 Included in the sale are things like this year's VC Charlie on the Bobby Jo mold, last year's VC Stablemate Bravo, and various other RR items! Sadly, it looks like Bravo has already sold out, but hurry up and grab a Charlie!

2016's JAH has arrived!

First things first: it doesn't look like either of us was drawn for an Avalanche. Curse you, silver filigree gods! *shakes fist* I'll get my hands on one eventually. Congrats to all the lucky winners!

More importantly, my yearly JAH issue arrived yesterday, and it's past time to discuss its contents. So, I tossed it into my scanner. Behold, the cover I alluded to a month ago in my Chasing the Chesapeake recaps:



Fantasia Del C will definitely be mine at some point (bobblehead dolls aside). Unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot else in the issue that we didn't already know about. The editorial page makes mention of two new product lines to be released next year, but it seems we already knew what they are - one of them is probably the Spirit Riding Free line that was leaked online earlier this year, and as for the other - the scuttlebutt on Blab is that Reeves has purchased CollectA. The relevant blurb:



Since one of the collections is described as "durable vinyl," that probably refers to the purchase of CollectA, and like I said, the other is probably the Spirit Riding Free line.

Another exciting tidbit is an official announcement of the 2017 Celebration Horse!



I can't wait to see the model of Nazruddin - I collect the Marwari and I bet he'll look awesome in chestnut!

Lastly, in the 2016 Product Guide, we got a photo of Yasmin from a slightly different angle:



I definitely like that angle better. The likelihood of her staying in my herd has just ratcheted up to about 99%. Let's hope she comes up for purchase soon! Probably right after the purchase window for Avalanche ends, if I know Breyer.

2017 Hopes and Dreams

As this year starts to draw to a close, I wanted to put down some of my thoughts about the upcoming year of Breyer releases. We should start seeing new releases for 2017 soon, and I thought it would be good to talk about some things I'd like to see.

For starters - although it would have to be for 2018, now - I'd like to see a Classic-scale Premier Club. I think Breyer badly needs more new, updated Classics molds if they want the line to be more competitive.  Of 68 Classic-sized molds, 10 were released from 1990-2000, and 24 were introduced in the year 2000 or later. The Classics Horse of the Year series seems to be their way of introducing new Classic sculpts, but I think they need to be doing it on a faster scale. A Classics Premier Club with 3-4 new sculpts would help a lot, even if they only did it for one or two years. Heck, even if they took all the old Moody porcelain sculpts from the '90s and released them all as Classics, it'd help.

In regards to the 2017 Premier Club, I'm hoping one of the releases will finally include a new draft foal. It's ridiculous that collectors have been asking for a new draft foal for oh, the last 40-odd years, yet we still haven't gotten one. Bonus points if they do two new molds for a set of twins (unlikely as that would be in real life). Maybe a mare and foal set to match Shannondell? One can only hope. I'd also like to see zero stock-type molds. Instead, let's see something like a real Akhal-Teke, or another mustang, or a new Lipizzaner. Perhaps a jumper - we haven't had one of those for a while.

As for the 2017 Stablemate Club, I'd settle for more releases on molds I'll keep. It would be nice to get another new mold out of it too. As for more specific molds, I wouldn't mind seeing the G2 Warmblood, Andalusian or Saddlebred, the G3 Belgian, Peruvian Paso, TWH or Friesian, or the G4 Andalusian Stallion or Icelandic Horse.

It's too early to speculate about things like next year's web specials - they pick such arbitrary themes that it's hard to predict ahead of time, though we'll probably see at least one of this year's Premier sculpts get used as a web special.

That's about all I can think of for now- hopefully the upcoming year is a good one!

Featured Model - 11/11/2016, Chamonix

Hello and welcome to this week's edition of Featured Model, the weekly blog event where I pick a model from my collection, give some stats on it and make some commentary. This week's victim is... Chamonix!




This handsome fellow, item #712113, was issued on Breyer mold #727, Ashquar. A Brigitte Eberl sculpt, Ashquar was the second Premier Club release of 2013. After his initial release, it took Breyer a while to use the mold again - in 2014 he showed up as the brick-and-mortar special run Sahran, and Chamonix showed up later that year.

A run of 300 models, Chamonix is a little less plentiful than many of the other holiday silver filigree releases we've had - Mont Tremblant, Sugarloaf and this year's Avalanche are all runs of 350, plus others I'm probably forgetting. This wasn't helped by the fact that apparently Reeves lost half of the shipment of Chamonix(es?) on the way over from China, and many of the people who ordered him in fall 2014 didn't end up receiving him until January or later. This was the case with mine - a helpful Blabber sold me hers after I wasn't drawn, and he didn't show up on my doorstep until January. He was worth the wait, though! Silver filigree is my favorite Breyer colorway (I refer to them as my "silver sparkleponies") and the only color I try to buy regardless of whether I collect the mold it's on or not. (So irritated I wasn't drawn for the silver filigree buffalo! Oh well.)

I've seen a lot of commentary about not liking Ashquar's snaky neck/head, but it honestly doesn't bother me. I've also seen him compared to the Black from Walter Farley's Black Stallion books, and it seems an apt comparison (other than the purist in me protesting that the Black wasn't a purebred Arabian!). He's a fun mold, and I've managed to get all of his releases so far. He definitely needs to be used again soon, though - maybe we'll get a RR release soon. He's now been a Breyerfest SR and a Collector Club SR - it would be nice to see him in a wider release. Maybe as a portrait of Magic Elixir? Or as the Black, though I have to admit I find most black paintjobs on models kinda boring without some chrome in there to mix it up. Either way, though, this mold needs to get some more love!

2016 Holiday Mare and Foal Set - Crystal and Crispin!

This year's Holiday Mare and Foal set have been announced - Crystal and Crispin, on the Grazing Mare and Foal molds!



It's good to see another mare and foal set this year - it looks like this is a new tradition we can count on!

The first Holiday Mare and Foal set was Vixen and Blitzen in 2014, on the Running Mare/Foal molds, and the second set was last year's Eve and Claus on the Thoroughbred Mare/Nursing Foal molds.

Crystal and Crispin are definitely cute! Here they are without the blankets (blue, my favorite color!).



Someone on Blab mentioned that they would go well with the Connoisseur Silver Knight and I agree! They would make a great little family. I may be biased, though, because dapple gray is one of my favorite horse colors, on models and in real life (goofy names aside).

Sadly, I will not be buying this set as I don't collect the Grazing Mare and Foal. It's interesting that they're using older molds for this - although that's probably a good thing, as older molds presumably won't sell out as fast, thus giving more people a chance to buy them - people that actually want them, as opposed to the resellers. Not going to lie, though - I would have loved to see this color on Susecion and Le Fire. Maybe in a few years, once they work through all the other older molds.

In reality, if they used the FAM and FAF next year, I'd likely buy them. I only have the FAM/FAF in a couple of colors each, but I have some nostalgia for them - the Ara-Appaloosa FAF was my first Breyer, and he's one of the only remaining members of my old "carpet herd" that I still have. When I got back into collecting in 2010, I of course had to find an Ara-Appaloosa FAM and FAS to complete the family (still the only FAS I own). The other set I have is the Drinkers of the Wind set - they pulled off that black-point dapple gray color so well.

I'm definitely crossing my fingers for the FAM/FAF next year! Crystal and Crispin are available for order here.

Breyer Winter Web Special - Avalanche!

Breyer has a new winter web special available for entry - Avalanche, on the Bobby Jo mold!



I have to say I'm a bit surprised about the mold choice - I hoped for the Fell Pony, but Forever Saige seemed more likely. Oh well.

I was on the fence about Bobby Jo and finally sold mine earlier this year after a lot of going back and forth on whether I liked her enough to keep her. I'll be entering for Avalanche regardless, because I collect the silver filigrees, but....just wish it had been on the Fell Pony instead. The color does look good on Bobby Jo, though. She'll have to live on the shelf next to Sugarloaf, Time to Party and Grane as sole mold representatives.

Entries close at 11:59 pm on 11/14. Good luck to everyone who enters!

Tidbits

Just a few little things to get out of the way today. Firstly: I wasn't drawn for the latest Breyer test piece. I would have sold her anyway, so no big loss. Better that she go to someone who loves her! Congratulations to the lucky winner!

Secondly, we now know what Breyerfest 2017's Celebration Horse will be - a Marwari stallion named Nazruddin. Evidently there are Breyer-issued postcards floating around showing a photo of said stallion. So that pretty much confirms a chestnut Marwari for the celebration model - excellent! He'll make a great addition to my small group of Marwaris.

Thirdly, the free Vintage Club Stablemate, Riptide, has begun shipping according to Breyer. If you sold your Rosie and Bailey set and had it shipped directly from Breyer, you might want to check with Breyer and make sure the Stablemate is being sent to the correct address!

That's all for now - hopefully we get some more exciting announcements this week!

Holiday Grab Bags are back!

It's that time of year again (again): Holiday grab bags have returned!



This time the bags are available in two different sizes - Elf ($50) and Kris Kringle ($100). Don't miss out on your chance to get some unsold stock from the past year! (I won't be buying; read my past thoughts on grab bags here.) The red bags in the photos aren't included.  At this point, I just hope we don't see more 75th Anniversary AQHA models in the bags, but I won't hold my breath. Good luck to all the buyers!

Featured Model - 11/5/2016, Carrick

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....(matte) Carrick!

Sculpted by Sue Sifton, this model was released in 2013 as the first release in that year's Premier Club. I don't think we've ever gotten exact numbers on how many were produced, but it was somewhere in the range of 740 if I remember correctly. This model's release marked the first time Club members were offered the choice of matte or glossy finish (the only other time being Falhofnir in 2014).

I ultimately opted for a glossy Carrick in 2013, and I ended up regretting that choice later when it became clear that most people had made the same choice I did. We never got a matte/glossy breakdown on this release, but based on what I've seen afterward, I'd guess most people opted for glossy. I've seen far more glossy Carricks for sale on the secondary market than mattes, and it ended up taking me until shortly after BreyerFest this year to find a matte one for a price I liked.

A big part of the problem with finding a Carrick for sale in the first place is that many of them had quality issues - a visible "glue line" next to the base of the tail being a common complaint, along with poorly removed masking and lint in the finish. The problem was so bad Breyer ended up issuing refunds to a lot of people (and allowing them to stay in the club) because they had run out of extras to exchange.

My glossy Carrick wasn't too bad quality-wise, so he got to stay. The matte one does have the glue line next to the tail, but it was never that big of a problem with me due to not being that noticeable in the first place - and I don't show, so the models don't necessarily have to be perfect to stay with me.

All of that said, I think Carrick is a lovely model. I'm not always a fan of palomino paint jobs, but I like this one. We definitely needed a new TB/racehorse mold, and I'm usually happy to add a new Sifton sculpt to my shelves. My only gripe is - did it really need to be a pinto? Couldn't we have gotten a color that better represents a Thoroughbred, like they did with Ashquar? I know some types of pinto patterns, and the palomino color, can be found (very rarely) in TBs, but still. A nicely shaded bay with four white socks and a blaze could have been spectacular, and just as flashy.

Oh well; what's done is done. And I do like the color on both my Carricks. Here's hoping he gets used again soon - California Chrome portrait, anyone?

Xavier and Glorioso are here!

Today I was greeted by a welcome surprise at the door - my Xavier and Glorioso had arrived! I wasn't expecting them to arrive until tomorrow, so I was pleased to drag their box into the house. So, here they are! Firstly, Glorioso:

He's so metallic and shiny, I love it! The back of his box describes his color as grulla, and his breed as an "Iberian cross." So he's basically an Azteca? That would make an interesting breed assignment. The model itself has some really nasty box rubs on his shoulder though, so I'm hoping I can get him exchanged.

Next up is Xavier!! Or as I call him, Professor X:

I love this model. He's glittery and purply and has shiny silver hooves and I love it! He doesn't have a lot of flaws, either. I don't show, and I don't know if this model would show well, but if I did his show name would definitely be Professor X. The only nitpick I have is that his horn looks goofy where it attaches to his forelock. I wonder if it would have been better to eliminate the forelock on this model so they could attach the horn directly to the forehead? Probably too much work involved, but still.

And I do have one more nitpick, but it's box-related. Here's the blurb on the back of Xavier's box:



Looks fine, right? Take a look at the last sentence of the first paragraph.

..."Illusive"? Really? I hadn't realized someone at Breyer was a Mass Effect fan. I think the word you're looking for is "elusive," guys. Come on. "Renaissance" should also probably be capitalized, but I'm willing to let that one slide. Illusive, not so much.

(Breyer, if you're listening, I would be perfectly happy to proofread for you! For free, even! I'd even sign an NDA! Help me to help you!)

Another Test Model on Breyer Website! (And Blog Name Change)

It's a new month, and that (apparently) means - Breyer has another test run on the website! This time it's a Glossy Bay Appaloosa Clydesdale Mare:



She's certainly...interesting. Her mane is reminiscent of SBH Phoenix's stripey mane. I'm guessing this is an older test - the splatter spots layered over top of the rest of the paint job are a little goofy-looking, but whatevs.

The Clydesdale Mare is still another example of a mold that I used to collect, but later sold off the three I had (sadly, in the case of my Gladwin Lucky Grey Lady). If I win this model, it will be for sale; I always welcome the chance to recoup some of the money I spend in this hobby. If nothing else, it makes my credit card happy! Good luck to all who enter!

In other news, some of you may have noticed the name of the blog has changed to Model Horse Madness. Evidently, when I was first creating the blog, I neglected to change the blog's web address to Model Horse Mania from my original Model Horse Madness choice. (I went from Madness to Mania to try to downplay the, uh, insanity angle of the hobby. Maybe that's just my own insecurity talking.) When I finally noticed I hadn't changed the blog's web address to Mania and tried to fix it, I discovered the Model Horse Mania name was already taken! D'oh! Of course, I didn't notice this until after I watermarked the blog's outdated name onto all of my photos.

So, to make a long story short, the blog's name has now reverted back to Model Horse Madness. Let's admit it...you have to be a little crazy to be in this hobby, right?