Skyler - Classics Unicorn Walmart Exclusive?

So yesterday afternoon we were doing some overdue Christmas shopping and looking through the toy section at Walmart when I spotted...this.

Bwuh? A Breyer at Walmart, of all places? They never have those! And it doesn't look like anything that was listed in the 2018 new releases. Am I the first person to discover this? I never find things like this in the wild! Holy crap!

It looks like this might be some kind of Walmart special run? Probably why they used the Morgan stallion, since it was already being used as Forthwind the unicorn, and this way they could divert some of the bodies, paint them a different color and then sell them at the low price Walmart would require. His item number indicates that he's a Walmart special run, in any case.

I really wish he'd been on a mold I collect, though - he's glittery and rainbowy, and I love both of those things! Oh well.

There were two of these on the shelf at our Walmart, so I bought them both and gave one to my niece (it was her birthday yesterday), and the other is currently listed on eBay. Here's what the back of his box looks like, for funsies:



I hope this guy is a good seller - maybe we'll get more special runs for Walmart!

Featured Model - 12/30/2017, Solar

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...Solar!



This handsome guy was a web special in 2015, part of Breyer's Celestial series. He is item #712134, and a total of 350 models were produced.

I chose this model in honor of the new Premier Club mini-Brishens being shipped out! I can't wait to get mine. In the meantime, this is one of my favorite models on this mold. Silver bay is an excellent color and Breyer usually pulls it off pretty well - the only way to make this one better would be to gloss him, in my opinion. Not that silver bay necessarily needs to be glossy, but gloss just seems to make it pop so well!

Brishen is also among my favorite new molds introduced in the last few years, despite his conformation issues. He's just so floofy and fun! I like the Laredo version of him too, though his legs are admittedly noodly. I hope we see Brishen used again somewhere this year, at some point. But his mini doppelganger is scheduled to appear in the 2018 Premier Club and as a Christmas tree ornament at the end of the year. Does that count toward uses of the full-size mold? We know Breyer doesn't like to use the same mold too many times in the same year.

Whatever the future holds for this mold, I hope the releases aren't too unobtainable! The collection demands more!

Winter Wonderland and Glossy Bandera!

Greetings, readers! I have new pictures to show you - I was finally able to open my Winter Wonderland, and the glossy Bandera I traded my glossy Hickory Hills Wall Street model for came today! I'll start with Winter Wonderland:

I love this model. He's gorgeous! My weakness for pearly paint strikes again!

I could be biased, but I think this is one of the better Holiday Horses they've done in recent years. He's so shiny and beautiful! I almost wonder what he'd look like in gloss...

And he's very nice, quality-wise! I didn't see anything majorly wrong with him, and only a few very minor issues. All in all, he's yet another worthy addition to the collection!

Next, Glossy Bandera:

I thought this guy was nice enough in his original release, but the gloss makes him really nice!

And I didn't see any major quality issues with him, either! And they certainly didn't skimp on the gloss with this one - he has that deep wet look that goes really nicely with his metallic coloring.



I still wish they'd painted the eyes on this release, though. He just looks so dead-eyed and unfinished, especially with the "patina" look they put on his mane and tail. It's an unfortunate misfire, but something I can get over. He's just so shiny!

That's all I have for now. In other news, it does look like people are starting to receive their Mini Brishen models, so I'm hoping to get some photos of mine next week once it comes in. I can't wait!

It's the annual Year-End Warehouse Clearance Sale!

It's time for another year-end clearance sale! Yay, an excuse to spend more money!

I'm...not as impressed with it this year as I was last year. Mostly because last year we could get 20% off along with the free shipping, and (as usual, these days) the free shipping code doesn't stack with any other discounts, even the free calendar they're still advertising on the website banner. Well, that and there's nothing on the website I want to buy - I wish they'd put up the stuff for next year, but I guess that's probably too much to hope for.

EDIT 12/29: The 20% discount for Collector Club members is now active! Shop on and save money, Club members!

If you do order something, make sure you do it before 12/29 - the warehouse is closing for inventory and won't be open for shipping until 1/8. 

So many new Club reveals!

Breyer has been revealing a lot of stuff lately, especially things from the Stablemate Club! Here's what got sent out yesterday - the Valegro release from the 2018 Stablemate Club! Meet Aiden!



He's pretty, but not really my thing. But now we've seen all of the releases except the new mold and the mule, and the prevailing thought is that the mule will be next year's gambler's choice, since there doesn't seem to be a decorator. But I'm wondering if Breyer will mix things up a bit and make the new mold the gambler's choice? That would be a quick way to get a new mold out in several different colors. I'm sure we'll see what it is before the end of the year, so we don't have too long to wait, at least.

In other fun news, Breyer has also revealed the other two sculptors for the 2018 Premier Club - Sue Sifton and Kitty Cantrell - and the artists designing the paint jobs for those two releases - Tammi Palmarchuk and Nikki Button. Exciting - these are both sculptors I like! I wonder what the horses will be. Sue Sifton has done a mix of horses - three TB/QH racehorses, a warmblood, a QH - maybe we'll get another Thoroughbred? Or a warmblood? Bristol is a warmblood-type though, so maybe another QH?

As for the Cantrell, she's done a mix of things as well, but I wouldn't mind seeing something like a draft horse or maybe a Morgan? We haven't had a new one of those for a while. Or I could get really pie-in-the-sky with my expectations and hope Breyer bought the rights to Kitty's Wahoo resin - I love him and we need another rearing horse!

In other news, there's only one release left for the 2017 Premier Club - the Brishen mini-True North! The free Stablemate usually ships in December, so hopefully we'll see those start shipping this week. Last year's did get delayed to January, but I haven't heard anything about other shipping delays this year, so hopefully that's not the case with this one. I can't wait to get mine! And hopefully we'll get to see what next year's free Stablemate is before the end of the year!

Shiny Christmas Bouncers!

The Christmas surprise is up and I love it!



Three translucent Bouncers, in green, magenta and blue, and GLOSSY?! Sign me up! We bought one on all three of our accounts. I love it when they do a nice glossy translucent - they look so cool! I almost think I like the green one best, even though blue is my favorite color. But I love them all!

There are 350 of each color, so it'll probably take a little while for them to sell out. At $95 each, they're a little spendy, but the shipping is included in that price no matter where you ship them to, so I think it's a good deal. I'm mostly just stoked that they used Bouncer; it seems like he never gets used anymore. One of the downsides to having so many new molds every year, I guess.

I hope everyone is having a good Christmas! I can't wait until these guys arrive - crossing my fingers that I get different colors!

Christmas morning surprise!

It's that time of year again - time for Breyer to post a Christmas Eve heads-up!



Usually they send out an e-mail, though. I wonder what the surprise will be? I'm still hoping for a candy cane zebra, myself. I guess we won't have to wait too much longer to find out what it is! And I get to unwrap my holiday horse tomorrow, too! Woohoo! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!

Featured Model - 12/23/2017, Diamond Jubilee

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...Diamond Jubilee!



This handsome guy was produced back in 2010 for Breyer's 60th anniversary. A total of 2,010 models were produced (how creative!) on the American Saddlebred Stallion mold sculpted by Kathleen Moody.

The interesting thing about this model was the "real diamond dust" embedded in his finish. It's definitely visible if you look close, and it makes him a little more special than the typical silver filigree. Silver filigree is one of my favorite colorways, so it's probably safe to say my Diamond Jubilee isn't going anywhere.

The Moody ASB is one of those molds I wish was used more often. The last time he was in production was for last year's clearware Patriot model, and before that was in 2013 as the Holiday Horse. It's time he was used again! The older molds tend to get pushed out in favor of newer ones, however, so who knows when we'll see this guy again. Maybe he'll be a web special this year? I can't see him showing up at Breyerfest. but you never know.

My Collector Appreciation glossy is here!

...But it's one of the ones I didn't want. Say hello to glossy Hickory Hills Wall Street!



Fortunately, I'm working on trading him for a glossy Bandera, but I would have really liked to get a glossy Liberty. It would have been easy to just buy the Bandera later, but I have a feeling the glossy Libertys are going to be a lot more expensive.

Oh well! Better luck next time, I guess.

2018 Stablemate Club update!

So Breyer sent out an email today to all the foot-draggers out there - I wonder if they aren't getting as many signups as they want for next year's Stablemate Club. Here's the latest reveal!

His name is Raleigh! And he's glossy! Mine will be up for sale, sadly, as I don't collect any of the G1 molds (too blobby for me). But if you're a G1 collector, this guy is for you!

And here's another photo of Kohana, the first release in next year's club.



He's nice, but nothing I need - to me, that mold looks like it just had a stroke and it's about to crash onto the ground or something. But I'm glad they're showing us this many releases in advance - makes it easy to figure out how many memberships I need to buy!

2018 Flagship Model - Kodi!

Good news, everyone! In addition to the 2018 regular run items, next year's flagship model has been revealed! Behold!



A new Roxy! And her name is Kodi. She'll only be available through flagship dealers, i.e. dealers who sell a lot of stock. Fun stuff! She's an interesting color, but I don't need to buy her, fortunately. I had three Roxys at one point, but sold them off for shelf space. I'm kind of sad I sold my Constellation, but not sad enough to buy another one. Oh well.

This makes me wonder if I'm going to need to buy next year's brick-and-mortar special run, since I've only needed to buy one or the other for the last few years. I guess we'll find out when we get there! I'm hoping I don't need it, because I don't have a brick-and-mortar dealer in my area anymore. Crossing my fingers!

Yes, Collectors, There Is A Santa Claus

Breyer finally got their rears in gear and released the information for the 2018 new releases - it's a Christmas miracle! Since there are too many photos to post here, I'm going to direct readers here. But, here's the release I'm most excited about!

 
Yes - a regular run Ashquar, and I love his color! Just what I wanted to see next year! Exciting. He's a portrait model, so I wonder if we'll see the real horse at Breyerfest next year.

 Here's another one that makes me happy:



UNICORN YASMIN! Whoo! She's never, ever going to fit in my photo tent, though - it was hard enough to fit Yasmin and Kaalee in there for their photos! I guess I'll worry about that later.

I'm also super excited about this one:



CARINA AS THE HOLIDAY HORSE AND IT'S PEARLY AND BEAUTIFUL AHHHH!

Too bad I have to wait a year to get her. I'll have to console myself with the knowledge that this year's holiday horse, the palomino Totilas, is hidden somewhere in our apartment and I get to open him in less than a week. Yay!

Moving on to the Classics, check out this one!



It's the 2018 Classics Horse of the Year, and I really like him! At first dumb me thought he was a TWH, but he's a Saddlebred. Oh well, I still like him! No word as to who the sculptor was - I thought he looked like a Prosser piece, but evidently it wasn't her. It's a mystery!

In the slightly-less-excited-about-but-will-still-buy group is, uh, this one:



Kind of a weird idea, but it looks like something that would appeal to kids. The design reminds me of wallpaper border or something. Think about it - you could put up a single shelf all the way around a room and line it with these models instead of border for your wallpaper. It could totally work! Waste of money, though. But she's cute and I like clearware, so I'll pick her up at some point.

Well, that's the Trads and Classics I'm most excited about. Let's look at some Stablemates!



Wha? Officially-sanctioned Suncatcher Stablemates? Sommer's been doing the workshop at Breyerfest for years, but I never expected clearware Stablemates to show up in a painting kit for some reason. Genius! I'll probably get a kit just to leave unpainted, but I'm tempted to paint some of them just for the fun of it.

We also got a new blind bag assortment (groan):




Whoever came up with the idea for blind bag stuff (in general) needs to get punched in the face. Sure, they're addictive and fun, but it's impossible to stop at just one and you know it's just a gimmick for companies to sell more stock. Why have everything neatly labeled as to what it is (and only sell some of it) when you can do the blind packaging, throw in a rare piece and sell all of it? It's genius and diabolical at the same time. And this time only one in four boxes has the rare "copper florentine" chase piece.

Clearly they learned from the Spirit blind bags, where most people (I assume) just bought the whole box at once to get the models they wanted. I'd do that this time, but each box has three of each model, which makes an entire box cost almost $100. Sheesh. I preordered eight of the single bags; if I'm really lucky, I'll get the ones I want in one swoop - I only collect four of the molds, so those are...somewhat decent odds, I guess.

Oh well. On to the next exciting thing!



That's right - the shrunken Brishen is making yet another appearance, and this time he's a Brishencorn! I gotta have him.

There are a lot of other new releases for 2018 to drool over, but this post is getting long, so I'm going to wrap things up. Let's hope we get lots of other exciting new reveals this week!

Collector Appreciation 2017!

Just when I thought we weren't going to get a Collector Appreciation event this year, Breyer pulls it out!

Carefully timed to not coincide with the double savings weekend and $10 express shipping upgrade, of course. Well played, Breyer (or not).

So it looks like this year, the first 500 orders to use the Collector Appreciation code to order $125 of qualifying merchandise will receive one of four glossed models with their order: Liberty, Bandera, Hickory Hills Wall Street, or Bryants Jake. That breaks down to 125 glossies each.

I was irritated that they raised the total to $125 this year, but I couldn't resist the possibility of a glossy Liberty or Bandera, so I bit. But what to buy? I hadn't been planning on buying one of the new throw blankets they came out with, but when I saw one of them had the Xavier unicorn on it, I had to get it. I love throw blankets and I love unicorns; what could go wrong? It had better be a pretty amazing throw for $40, though.

Along with the throw, I picked up another Fantasia and Gozosa set to try to get a Fantasia that will stand, and a Hwin to resell. Hopefully I don't have too much trouble dumping those on eBay later.

It looks like the promotion is still available, though I'm not sure how we're supposed to tell if it's sold out unless Breyer is planning on telling us. I'm hoping to get Liberty or Bandera, but good luck if you ordered!

And yes, the 2018 new releases are apparently out in the wild, but I'm waiting for an official announcement from Breyer before I cover them here. Lots of exciting stuff, though!

Featured Model - 12/16/2017, Oasis

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...Oasis!



This model was produced in 2009 as the last Connoisseur release of the year. Sheesh, this is the third time I've done a Featured Model post on some iteration of this mold, isn't it? Oh well. Oasis was issued on the Arabian Mare/Make a Wish mold sculpted by Kathleen Moody. She was a run of 350 and is item #90151.

I really like the color on this model. I remember seeing some discussion on her back when I rejoined the hobby in 2010, and it seemed like the prevailing opinion was that she was "boring" because she was a solid color. Remember, people, the reason Breyer does so many pinto and Appaloosa patterns is because people would complain if they didn't. Keep that in mind next time you're wondering why there's yet another pinto or Appaloosa in the Premier Club!

Anyway, I think the color on this girl is really nice - it's very rich and chocolatey, almost like a matte Ganache (though I think he's a little darker). And she has the flip tail! I wish they'd use this one again. Like I said in a previous post, they should definitely use this mold for the surprise at Breyerfest next year - there'd be plenty of mix-and-match options. Although currently I'm thinking Desatado for next year's surprise, because why not? It's not like they pick molds that adhere to the theme.

As for the mold itself, I think I've made my opinions known before - but I hope she gets used again for something next year. She's too pretty to sit dormant!

2018 Hopes and Dreams

It's that time of year again - time for me to write about things I'd like to see next year. And I still have time to do it, because Breyer is taking their sweet time unveiling next year's models! In last year's post I talked about Club-related things I wanted to see, but this year I'm going to talk about specific models I'd like to see.

Traditionals:

New draft foal in the Premier Club (maybe this will be the year)
Othello in buttermilk buckskin
Bouncer in any color
Duende in a nice red bay
Carina and Selene in any color
Ashquar as a RR, any color
Bluegrass Bandit in palomino sabino
Nokota in red roan

Classics:
 Some type of new release on the Shire A, Shire B and/or the Show Arabian. The other molds I like are already in the regular run line, so I doubt we'll see much from them.

Stablemates:
New shadowbox set with any of the following molds: G4 Icelandic, G4 Andalusian (Chrome), G3 TWH, G3 Rearing Andalusian, G3 Standing Foal, G2 Morgan, G2 Andalusian, G3 Belgian, G3 Cantering Warmblood, G3 Peruvian Paso, Django or Mirado. And if they aren't used for a shadowbox set, I'd like to see those molds as singles releases or possibly in some new four-piece sets. Colors aren't terribly important to me for these, since Stablemates are usually cheap enough to justify buying them no matter what they look like.

I'd also like to see a continuation of the America the Beautiful web special series, though that seems unlikely.

Another idea I had is for a new Classics series release like the Blossoms and Zodiacs: Holidays. Think about it - almost every month of the year has some kind of holiday. Here's how it could go down:

January: New Year's Day (or Chinese New Year)
February: Valentine's Day (or Groundhog Day or Mardi Gras)
March: St. Patrick's Day (or Purim)
April: April Fool's Day (or Easter or Earth Day)
May: Cinco de Mayo (or May Day)
June: Father's Day (or Juneteenth)
July: 4th of July (or Canada Day for Breyer's Canadian collectors)
August: National Watermelon Day? Not a lot of August holidays.
September: Labor Day (or Rosh Hashanah)
October: Halloween (or Make a Difference Day?)
November: Thanksgiving (or Day of the Dead)
December: Christmas (or Kwanzaa)

Okay, it's not the greatest theme ever. But I think it could work!

That's about all I can think of for now - hopefully Breyer unveils the new releases soon.

2018 Kid's Club memberships are now available!

Hello, readers! Just a small update today to tell you that Breyer is now selling memberships for the 2018 Kid's Club! Check out these goodies!

Those are the goodies you (or your kid) will receive with your (deluxe) membership! Let's take a closer look at the horse.



It's the Classic Morgan Mare in...buckskin? I think that's how you'd describe that color. She's pretty, although nothing I need to buy (luckily). She is a special run for the club, so if you want her you'll have to buy a membership. More information here!

Mirado is here!

Greetings, readers! My first (of two) Mirado models has arrived! Behold:

I've seen a few photos of other people's Mirado models, and it looked like some of them had front legs with a weird bend at the knee that I wasn't a big fan of - but mine seems to be okay in that department, although his hind legs seem to be warped inward slightly. No big deal, though.

I like him in general, though! I'm a little iffy about the crest on his neck; it looks a little odd from the right side, but the left side looks fine. But I like his color, and his long mane, and his pinto pattern.

His eyes are incredible! I can't get over them. I have no idea how they painted eyes so tiny, but both of mine look pretty nice. Some of the blue eyes I've seen looked really weird (and I've heard rumors of some Mirado models with two brown eyes), but I don't see any issues with mine.

Quality-wise, he's mostly okay - he's got some debris in his paint on the right flank area and a couple of pinpoint black spots, but otherwise I don't see anything wrong with him.



I still have one more Mirado coming in the mail, so we'll see what that one looks like - maybe he'll be better than this one or have two brown eyes or something. I guess we'll find out when he gets here! Overall, though, I'm happy to add him to my collection.

Featured Model - 12/9/2017, Fleabitten Gray G2 Thoroughbred

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...the fleabitten gray G2 Thoroughbred!

This model was part of the Parade of Breeds II set, item #410185, which was sold through JCPenney in 2005. She was issued on the G2 Thoroughbred sculpted by Kathleen Moody.

I'll admit fleabitten gray isn't usually my favorite horse color, on models or in real life, (although I do like a good contrast between the horse's body and mane/tail, with nice dark fleabites) but I like this model. I think the color looks nice on her. I wish the Parade of Breeds sets were still a thing! I love big Stablemate sets and they hardly exist anymore other than the shadowbox set. I hope we get a new shadowbox set for the new year!

As for the mold itself, it's a decent representation of a Thoroughbred, and I like that it's in the phase of the gallop it's in without looking like the horse's hind end is paralyzed and about to collapse (the Copperfox ISH looks this way to me). I have a lot of models on this mold in my collection, and I'd be happy to add more! Let's hope we get something new when the 2018 releases are revealed!

Breyerwest 2018 and Stablemate Club raffle!

First things first - Breyerwest 2018 is officially happening!

Breyerwest is like a mini version of Breyerfest, but without any special runs (since it was restarted last year). There's a model horse show, workshops and Stablemate painting (of course!). And since it takes place at the Northwest Horse Fair and Expo, there'll be plenty of live horses on hand! Sign up here. I'd like to attend Breyerwest someday, but I don't show, and the lack of special runs and the distance (Albany, OR is about a 25-hour drive away from us) means we'll probably never get there. Maybe someday!

In other news, we've been informed of exactly what the Stablemate Club raffle is this year - and it's a doozy! It's a full set of the Fylkir gambler's choice models - but all of them are glossy!



Be still, my heart. Now that's a raffle worth winning! But shouldn't the smoky black one be matte? Oh well. They all look really snappy in gloss - I hope we win! Although honestly, with the number of people in the club, they could really give away 5 of these sets and they'd still be worth a ton of money. Not that I'd sell them if I won - they'd go with my other Icelandics! I'll be crossing my fingers. The drawing takes place the last week of December, so don't forget to order your Mirado! I believe the order deadline is the 18th. Good luck to everyone!

We finally know the Mustang popularity contest winner!

You may remember that earlier this year, Breyer held a vote for Vintage Club members to choose which of three Semi-Rearing Mustangs would be used in next year's Vintage Club - more about that here.

Well, the winner of the poll has been revealed! Meet Tanner!



According to Breyer, he's a "freehand pinto." ...Does that mean they're all going to have freehand markings? You could get some gnarly variations that way; just saying.

But anyway, evidently the club is almost full! If you have to have this guy, don't waste any time signing up - the deadline is 12/31, and who knows how many spots are left. Fortunately. this is the optional model for next year's club, so he's not a required purchase - which means I won't have to bother with buying him, since I joined the club for the first time. I'm just in it for the Weather Girl, folks!

Holy Cows! Or something like that...

I guess now we know what this year's animal web special is - a cow/calf set!

It's kind of late in the day to be posting new stuff on the website, but I'm not complaining!

I shouldn't be surprised that the Cow mold is involved, because they did just use her at Breyerfest this year. I suppose it would be trivial to hunt down some Calf bodies and paint up 350 sets.

I won't be buying these as I don't collect animal molds (though they do look pretty cool), but don't wait if you want them! They're only available to Collector Club members for now, but I bet they'll sell out fast!

Mirado is now available for purchase!

Right on time - (more or less) - the final Stablemate Club release of the year, Mirado, is now available on the website! 

After a long year of waiting, I can finally add Mirado to my collection. Yay! 

Part of me thought about holding off on buying him so I can combine shipping if something else pops up on the website, but...meh, what's another $5? I want my Mirado ASAP! 

Even if you don't want your Mirado for whatever reason, be sure to buy him anyway - everyone who completes the purchase (thus fulfilling their Stablemate Club obligations for the year) will be entered into a special raffle! If it's anything like the raffle for last year's club, it'll be a set of all four Fylkir colors - which would be excellent if I won, because I still need the smoky black one! So we'll buy Mirado on both our memberships and sell the extra one later. Kind of a smart move on Breyer's part to do that, to try and ensure a bunch of people don't drop out of the club at the end of the year. 

Hopefully Mirado ships fast - I can't wait to see mine! 

Featured Model - 12/2/2017, Mini Cryptic

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 about it! This week's model is - Mini Cryptic!




This, uh, "cute" little guy was issued as part of the Spooky Stablemates II set in 2006. The set consisted of three mini versions of prior Trad-size Halloween models. As such, mini Cryptic was a mini version of Cryptic, issued on Big Ben a few years prior. The Spooky Stablemates set was item #710016, and mini Cryptic was issued on the G2 Warmblood mold sculpted by Kathleen Moody.

He is sort of cute, I guess, and his paint job was a clever idea. Although I believe the original Cryptic's skeleton was glow-in-the-dark, which I don't think got carried over to the mini version.

Not that I don't like the model or anything - he's just more on the Spooky side of things. I wish Breyer would do this type of thing more often, honestly. We need more mini versions of Trad releases.

As for the G2 Warmblood, he's one of my favorite Stablemate molds - I love his pose. He's the quintessential Warmblood, even if his conformation isn't the best. This year's BreyerFest special run was great - silver bay is an excellent color and they pulled it off really well. I'm going to sound like a broken record here, but we're due for new Stablemate releases next year - maybe we'll get something fun on this mold. I hope so!

New picture of Bristol!

Wow, these last couple of weeks have been pretty slow, news-wise. Fortunately, I do have something new to post about today: We finally got a full-body photo of Bristol, next year's first Premier Club release!



Okay, that's mostly the full body.

The photo was sent out to Collector Club members who haven't already joined the Premier Club for next year. And I have to say, I like what I see! I wasn't a fan of Morgen's previous sculpts for Breyer, but...Bristol is really growing on me. I like his tail, and of course I love his color. I'll still need to see what he looks like in person, but things are looking good so far!

I do wonder what his final stand will look like. That acrylic rod looks kind of awkward, although it could just be the photo angle. I like the simplicity of it, though - hopefully that's the final product.

So that's all I have for today. It's a new month, so hopefully we get some exciting reveals next week! It's been weird not having much to post about.

Porcelain to Plastic: Addendum

A few months ago, I wrote a post about Breyer's fondness for introducing new porcelain molds that are later released in plastic, and the likelihood (or lack thereof) that any of the old porcelains from the '90s would ever be released in plastic.

Well, the other day I was reading through some of my old issues of JAH, and stumbled across this little gem.

So, if this little blurb is accurate, it explains (kind of) why we haven't seen any of those old porcelains released in plastic: "Something something too hard to do, something something." Or, the porcelain molds have more detail than a plastic mold would, therefore never going to happen? But they make new molds from resin sculptures all the time, and we all know how detailed resins are. But I do remember reading an article by Sarah Mink about sculpting for Breyer, and the sculpt in question had to be able to cleanly pull the finished plastic out of the mold without catching on anything - maybe that would be an issue with the old porcelain molds.

Or, a simpler explanation would be that Breyer doesn't think there would be enough of a market for these old molds to justify the expense of converting them to plastic. Surely the technology has advanced in the last 23 years to make it possible, right? But if Breyer doesn't think the demand is there, they aren't going to spend the money on it.

Which is unfortunate, because I'd really like to see the Spanish Barb and the Sarah Rose Hambletonian in plastic, but it doesn't look like that will ever happen (though the Hambletonian is a bit newer, so might actually happen). But I can always hope!

Featured Model - 11/25/2017, Blue Roan Pinto G2 Scratching Foal

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 about it. This week's model is...the blue roan pinto G2 Scratching Foal!

This cute little baby was the titular foal in the Mystery Foal Surprise Family 6 set, item #5883, which ran from 2013-2014. He was issued on the G2 Scratching Foal sculpted by Sarah Rose.

I usually like Breyer's various attempts at roan, probably because so many of them end up looking like candy. This one almost looks like he's made out of Sweet Tarts or something - I just want to eat him! Unfortunately, I don't think ABS plastic tastes very good, so he'll have to stay on the shelf with his friends.

I like this mold because, well, what's not to like about him? He's teeny and cute and doing a cute little scratch, like a mini-me of the Trad Scratching Foal. Best of all, he doesn't take up much room, so it's easy to accumulate more of him!

Although I may be starting to sound like a broken record lately, we are due for new Stablemate releases next year, so maybe we'll see something new on this guy. I wouldn't mind seeing some new Mystery Foal Surprise sets. We should find out soon! 

2018 Celebration Model Brass Hat - Confirmed!

Greetings, readers! I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I don't have the biggest news to report today, but thought I'd post it.

It's been a couple of weeks since the news of Brass Hat being the 2018 Breyerfest Celebration Horse escaped into the wild, but the image used to promote it was on a card purportedly being handed out by Breyer at the Royal Horse Show. Well, the same cards got slipped into the shipping boxes for St. Moritz! Behold!

So, there it is! Official confirmation that doesn't involve blurry cell phone photos of the card. The Brass Hat model looks appropriately brassy in the photo - maybe he'll be metallic? Theoretically we'll get better pictures in January when tickets go on sale, so that's not too long of a wait. Have we ever found out the Celebration Model this early before? It feels like a record.

And here's the other side of the card, just for kicks.

I can't wait for next year's Breyerfest! Only 33 weeks left to go! 

St. Moritz is here!

Greetings, readers! My St. Moritz model arrived today, so I thought I'd post some photos of him. Behold!

I have to say: I love, love, love this model. His blue color is a little more intense in person than it appears in the photos, and I love it. He's beautiful!

A couple of days ago I saw a post on Sommer Prosser's Facebook art page indicating that she had designed this model. I should have known! Her designs are always great!



The model is clearware, obviously, but an unexpected touch here is that the snowflakes are masked all the way through the paint, making them see-through! Genius!

Quality-wise, he's pretty good - some blurred masking here and there and some kind of weird rough white spot on his mane tendril - but nothing really bad. Even his eyes are nicely painted, and that's saying something in the era of black-splotch-eyes!

Finally, I want to talk about how his mane, tail and feet start out frosted and transition to clear on the ends, for an icy look - it's perfect for this model.

See? It's genius! Oh, I said that already. Well, suffice it to say that this is one of my favorite new releases from Breyer in the last few years - something to break up the monotony of silver filigree releases year after year, and a way to use up those leftover clearware Esprit bodies at the same time!

The only other question I have relates to the prototype - Sommer said she designed this model on a different mold, not having a clearware Esprit on hand at the time. So, which mold did she design this model on originally? That would be fascinating to know - this is a paintjob I think would look good on any model. He's a welcome addition to my collection!