Featured Model - 7/29/2017, Dapple Gray G3 Tennessee Walking Horse

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. We're back to Stablemates this week as this week's model is...the dapple gray G3 Tennessee Walker!

 

This model, like many new Stablemate molds released in 2006, was sculpted by Jane Lunger. This particular release was a regular run and was available from 2009-2011.

Resist dappling (the painting technique where a horse was splattered with paint-resistant grease before being painted and the grease was wiped off afterward, leaving unpainted spots on the model) was how many of Breyer's vintage models were painted, and we still see the technique get used occasionally despite improvements in painting models over the last 30 years.

A lot of the resist dappling you see these days is on Stablemate models - perhaps it's more cost-effective to paint them that way, since they're so small and painting Stablemate-sized dapples would be enough to make anyone go cross-eyed. I'll admit the resist dappling isn't my favorite way to paint models, but this one is pretty nice even so.

As for the mold, this guy is bombastic and fun, though I wish his gait were a little less exaggerated - he looks a little too much like a big lick horse for my tastes. However, he at least isn't wearing stacks, so I give him the benefit of the doubt.

That's all I have for today - tune in next time for more exciting Breyer-related news! Or photos from Breyerfest, or new arrivals...I'm not sure what's coming up next on the docket. I'll think of something!

New Arrivals: Navya, Vivaan and Mishti

This will be my last Breyerfest New Arrivals post! Yay, I'm finally done! Next week I'm hoping to post some photos and commentary about things in the Collector Club tent, if I can find the time. But time is short, so let's move on and take a look at Navya!

 

I was a little apprehensive about this guy's color in the promotional photos, but in person I love him. He's glossy and flawless and his colors go together really nicely - and he's translucent to boot! Excellent all around.

 

This pretty much proves that Breyer could release Django in any color and I'd be all over it. Hmm...I think we're due for new Stablemates next year. Dare I hope Django is one of the new releases?

 

Sorry for the blurriness of that photo. If I have one nitpick about this model, it's that I wish the eyes had been a little more detailed. The rest of him is too detailed to have those black dots for eyes! Oh well.

Next: Vivaan!

 

I really like this model, but I really like silver bay, so I may be biased. I love how pearly his mane and tail are - he looks like a mini Jubilee! 

 

 I didn't see any flaws on this guy, either - I love it when Breyer does a good job on their Stablemates, and the Breyerfest ones are usually pretty nice. I definitely wouldn't protest to see Django in this color!

And finally, Mishti:

I'm not as enamored with this model as I am with Vivaan, for some reason. I think her lack of pearliness is kind of a letdown after Vivaan, and she isn't as eye-catching as Django either. Hmm.

 

Maybe I just need some time to warm up to her. She's definitely a pretty girl!

 

I almost hoped this model would have a blue eye or two, but I suppose that would have been too much detail even for Breyer. The eyewhites are nicely done, though.

And that brings me to the end of the Breyerfest 2017 models. I had a blast at this year's Breyerfest (as usual) and I hope to attend again next year. Can't wait to see what they have in store for us next year!

New Arrivals: Nazruddin, Repeat the Beat and Volunteer Model

I'm almost done taking quick cell phone photos of my Breyerfest 2017 models! Huzzah! More photos of things from the event, like the sneak peeks in the Collector Club tent, will have to wait until I've dug out my camera card. I've been extremely busy with work since we got back, and that's not going to change anytime soon, so it might be a while until that happens...oh well. Let's take a look at one of my Nazruddins!

 

Unfortunately, all I've been hearing online (and seeing, amongst all of my Nazruddins) is that somebody at Breyer really screwed the pooch with these models.  I'm not usually one to complain about poor quality models, but I got 8 Nazruddins and all of them have nasty flaws. These models are the model equivalent of Scrubs' HFFA.

 

Now, don't get me wrong - this color is really nice, and and it looks really good on the Marwari. They also looked good being carried around by all the little kids at the Horse Park all weekend - like they belonged there, unlike something like Simba or last year's squashed-looking Imperador. But then you look at it up close and see things like this:

 

 What even is that? Did they paint the area underneath the mane the mane color before they actually attached the manes? Did they try to mask the mane off? The edges look too sharp to be overspray, but I'm not an airbrush expert. And all eight of my Nazruddins look like that to varying degree. I have all of the previous releases on this mold and none of them look remotely like that.

 

This particular guy's paint job isn't that horrible other than the mane thing, but another thing I noticed was that of a total of eight Nazruddin models, five of them have visible seam lines on their faces. It's not guaranteed that these will turn into seam splits, but it's not good all the same. I've never seen so many models in the same run with seam issues before, and now five at once? Sheesh. And the three that don't have the seam lines have other issues (warped legs, paint booboos, etc) that are making me lean toward keeping one of the others despite the seam issues. I still haven't even decided which one I'm going to keep yet because every time I start looking at them, I see more issues! Bleh. You'd think of all the recent celebration models to slack off on, they'd have done it with Gooitzen, since all they were doing with those was spraying them flat black and then glossing them afterward. These paint jobs at least took a little effort!

Well, enough of that. Let's move on to Repeat the Beat!

 

In contrast to the Nazruddin fiasco, I couldn't find a single flaw on my Repeat the Beat (after I spent a few minutes in the Breyer Store first looking for one that had decently-painted horseshoes and no other visible flaws). So, another Bluegrass Bandit joins my nearly-complete conga! 

 

I really like the color on this model - this style of painting roans is very appealing to me for some reason (although if I was really going to nitpick I'd say the real Pete isn't quite as roany). 

 

I really liked the brownish undertones on this model, though it was hard to get them to show up in the picture. He's a handsome guy!

Lastly, let's take a look at this year's volunteer model, who doesn't seem to have a name:

 

There was a fair bit of controversy around this model due to her weird blood mark. I'll admit it is a little oddly-placed, but it doesn't really bother me - I'm just glad I was able to get one, despite not volunteering.

 

I was very fortunate to be able to trade one of my glossy Bollywood Surprise models for her - I guess the surprise being on a model I don't collect is a good thing after all! Word on the street is that these models were painted in New Jersey, as has been the trend for volunteer models the last few years, and like Repeat the Beat, I couldn't find a single flaw on her (other than her bloodshot pink eyewhites, but that's just personal preference).

 

Look at her pretty face! I actually think the blood mark sets off her color very nicely - her other side is sorta boring without the blood mark. She's a worthy addition to the herd! Hopefully we find out her name and the quantity produced at some point.

That's all I have for tonight - I'll try to get to photographing the Breyerfest 2017 Stablemates I got, but once again, no promises!

New Arrivals: Saffron, Glossy Saffron and Kaalee

It's late, but I got a post written! Huzzah! More pretty ponies for your viewing pleasure! I'll start with matte Saffron:

 

I don't remember if I've mentioned it before, but this really is a nice color for the hunky Geronimo. I think it suits him very well! Although they could have also gone with a really yellow dun or bright yellow buckskin, with a name like Saffron. But, I digress.

 

I'm surprised this model wasn't more popular - word on the street was that Saffron was among only three (!) special run line items not to sell out, along with Kaalee and the cow.  I suspected this would happen ahead of time, since they made 1600 of him, but I had hoped that the matte/glossy split would make him more successful. Evidently not!


 

Ooh, I did not get the right angle for that photo. Quality-wise, the only things I could find wrong with this model were a bit of black fuzz behind his left ear (somewhat visible in the photo) as well as a slightly bent left ear tip. Otherwise, he was perfect! Too bad they can't all look like that.

Next: Glossy Saffron!

 

This guy is just as handsome as the matte, and shiny to boot! Whoo! I have to admit I didn't expect Breyer to do a matte/glossy split on more than one item. But I'm not complaining - the more the merrier!

 

 I think I mentioned in my previous post that I ended up with three matte Indu models at one point in my efforts to get a glossy. (4th time was the charm!) In contrast, it was easy to get a glossy Saffron - too easy. I ended up with two of them in two attempts. Glossy being more desirable than matte, it was very easy to find someone at the Clarion who'd trade a matte for a glossy, and my efforts in that department were complete!

 

Quality-wise, this guy is even better than the matte one - one or two pinpoint specks in the gloss, but otherwise I couldn't find anything wrong with him. Excellent!

And finally, Kaalee:

 

With all the unexpected glossies popping up, I wouldn't have protested at a glossy Kaalee, either, but that didn't happen. Oh well! I really like the color on this model, as well - she's flashy and beautiful and makes a good addition to my collection.

 

Some of the Kaalee models I've seen photos of have a rather abrupt transition from the white rabicano markings to the solid black, but mine looks pretty nice. The only issue I have with this mold is that she's so big it's going to be hard to get her to fit onto my shelves.

 

As for quality, this girl definitely wins - I couldn't see a thing wrong with her anywhere. She's perfect from top to bottom! Definitely a keeper!

That's all I have for today - yet again, I'll try to keep posting photos this week, but no promises. Until next time!

New Arrivals: Indu, Glossy Indu and Marigold

The Breyerfest blues are still going full swing in this household. I can't believe we left for Breyerfest two weeks ago, and we've now been home for almost a week. Where does the time go? I guess time really does fly when you're having fun.

In happier news, I was fortunate enough to be drawn for Zion and Moab, so they'll be on their way here soon. In the meantime, I still haven't had a chance to dig out my camera's battery charger (darn work!), so I took some quick cell phone photos of some of my Breyerfest acqusitions. First up is Indu!

 

There has been a lot of variation within this run, which was to be expected. Some of the models have really obvious, chicken-wire looking dapples, while others (like this one) are more subtle. Shading variations also exist, with lighter and darker models reported.

 

I'm happy that I got a model with subtle dapples (I had 3 at one point in my quest for a glossy), but the quality isn't the best, unfortunately (and this seems to have been common throughout the run). Mine isn't too terrible, but does have some issues.

 

Somehow I didn't even notice that left eartip until I was taking these photos - ugh! Other than that he isn't too bad, he just has some little bits of debris embedded in his finish here and there and his shoes could have been painted a little better. Not anywhere near as bad as that silver splotch on my Acadia, though.  Next: Glossy Indu!

I always try to keep my expectations low for glossy models like this, since they're essentially just taking half the run and spraying some gloss on afterward, flaws or not. But other than his very prominent dapples, this guy actually isn't too bad - some lint in the gloss in a couple of spots and the edge of his left ear looks like it didn't get sanded down very well, but overall he isn't bad.





His shoes are also decently painted, if a little more sloppily than the matte Indu's were. But this model could have been much worse, so I'll take it. The Internets are saying this model was one of many that sold out on Sunday, so clearly he was popular with someone!

And lastly, Marigold!

I love the colors on this little guy, and it sounds like I wasn't the only one - he sold quite well from what I heard, though I don't know if he sold out or not. Even my husband liked him!

Quality-wise, this model is very, very nice. I don't see a thing wrong anywhere on him, despite all those big decals. Someone took their time with this one, and it shows! He's gorgeous.



That's all I have for today - I'll try to get some more photos of my other purchases up this week. Until next time!

Featured Model - 7/22/2017, Sundown

Hello and welcome to Featured Model, back this week after last week's Breyerfest hiatus! Featured Model is 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 a sentimental favorite, Sundown!

 

This model is on the Proud Arabian Stallion mold sculpted by Chris Hess. A regular run release, he ran from 1995-1996. It's hard to believe this model is already so old. He was one of my favorites growing up because of his unique color. He really does look nice for a 1990s release - maybe by 1995 Breyer had started working through their late '80s - early '90s growing pains. 

Sundown has always been special to me, because of his color (and the fact that I thought his tail looked like a french fry). He's got a cute little snip on his nose, too, and has a decent paint job for the time period (not that you'd really know now, because he's pretty beat up from being played with).

I used to have more examples of the PAS, but the dreaded shelf space shortage struck again a few years ago, so my other PAS models went down the road. Sundown stayed, though - it's not as hard to find shelf space for just one model. I always liked the PAS when I was younger because he looked like the quintessential Arabian to my mind, along with Sham. Of course, then I didn't know as much about anatomical faults and ABCs and conformation. Still, he makes a handsome model despite his problems.

The PAS is an old favorite with the vintage crowd - he was a Breyerfest raffle only a couple of years ago, and he gets an auction model every once in a while. Maybe he'll be next year's diorama contest prize? I don't think he has the build to be a racing Arabian, but we'll see. They'd just have to name him Flash and bam, he fits the theme. I guess we'll find out next year!

Zion and Moab!

Whoa, that was fast! Zion and Moab are already on the website!





 From the website:

In southern Utah, there is a fantasy land of strange and wonderful places, winding slot canyons, towers of rocks that stand like sentinels of the desert. High sandstone cliffs ripple with color. Hot desert sun reflects off rocks, while cool canyons offer relief. These magnificent parks are a delight to hikers and adventurers from around the globe. This rich western landscape inspired Zion and Moab, a striking bay dun overo mare and foal. The gentle nuzzling mare and her newborn have distinctive dun striping, wild pinto patterns, and the baby sports blue eyes. The mare is marked with Zion and Moab on her belly in gold.

 The colors are interesting, for sure. They're a very attractive set - I hope I get drawn for them! I wonder if they'll be metallic at all? Here's a quick photo I took of the set they had at Breyerfest:

 

It could be the lighting, but they look a bit redder there than in the promo photo. I hope they're closer to that color, honestly - I think it looks better. Good thing my room sales went so well this year, because their price is $195. Seems fair, since we're getting two models instead of one. Good luck to everyone entering for this pair - I have a feeling they'll be popular!

The Breyerfest Blues

I got hit by the Breyerfest Blues as soon as I woke up Monday morning - the sad realization that Breyerfest was over for another year and there wouldn't be any room sales that evening. Sad times...but, at least I was there and got to experience it for another year. Breyerfest is my favorite event of the year, and I love being right in the middle of it and experiencing all that goes on!

So we packed up our things Monday morning and headed home. It's a 1,000-mile drive for us, so we didn't get home until last night - with just enough time to get some unpacking done before we hit the sack to go back to reality the next day.

Of course, now that Breyerfest is over we probably won't have fun daily reveals like the auction models, etc. Hopefully they get that fourth America the Beautiful web special put up soon, though - maybe next week? And as soon as August rolls around we should be seeing what the next Stablemate Club model is. I believe Duende is due out in August as well - and they'll probably throw the Breyerfest leftovers on the website sometime in August, too! So there are plenty of exciting things coming!

I'd post some photos and reviews of my Breyerfest models, but that'll probably have to wait until tomorrow - my good camera is locked in my husband's car and I can't get to it right now.

I could speculate about next year's Breyerfest, with the racing theme, but I'm not feeling a lot of inspiration about that. Clearly there'll be a few Premier Club molds in the special run lineup, which already means they aren't going to adhere to the theme very well, considering True North is a warmblood, Duende is an Iberian, and the prevailing thought is that the Eberl set coming up is a draft mare and foal. Who knows, though - it could be some type of sporthorse that might be able to be passed off as Thoroughbreds. We already have Giselle and Gilen though, so my bet is still on it being a draft mare and foal. So, that's three special run line items already that won't match the theme except for the names. As for the animal, the only thing I can think of for them to use would be a goat, since goats are frequently companion animals for racehorses. Is the Goat mold really big enough for that, though? I think it's more Classic-scale than Traditional. I guess we'll have to wait and see - only six more months until they reveal the Celebration model! Sigh....

Breyerfest 2017 Day 3: It's All Over

Breyerfest is over for another year. Sigh...

Fortunately, we know when the next Breyerfest is - July 13-15, 2018 - and the theme is Off to the Races!

I don't have any fun photos for this post, sadly - those are all on my other camera. Also, I forgot to mention earlier that Featured Model is on hiatus this week due to, you know, Breyerfest stuff.

Anyway, more on next year's theme in a bit. In our last two ticket times, I managed to accomplish my only real goal - find a glossy Indu. I now have all of the models I wanted from the special run line! In retrospect, it's a good thing I only wanted three of them to start with - I haven't wanted that few models since back in 2012, and it was kind of refreshing not to need absolutely everything. And since I didn't need the surprise models, I was able to trade one of my glossies for the volunteer model! Handshakes all around.

I also did very well, sales-wise - I'm only down $100 from the spending money I brought, and I bought a lot of models...let's not dwell on that. This was a great Breyerfest, at least for me! I was a little iffy about the change to how the special run lines line up, but once everyone figured out what was going on it made sense. We may have issues fitting everything into the car, but since we had issues fitting everything into the car to leave, that's not going to be a new thing. And if nothing else we can just ship stuff home if we need to.

Quality-wise, most of the models I bought were pretty good (I think - I haven't taken a lot of time to really examine them closely), other than my glossy Indu having some kind of plastic residue in one of his ears. A lot of the Indu models looked like they had fish-scaley dapples, but I was expecting that. The celebration models, on the other hand...I haven't had a chance to look at them myself, but my husband looked through them and thought they were all terrible to various degrees. I've heard a little bit of rumbling about that in other places, so I wonder what happened with those.

As for next year's theme, I'm definitely excited about it! There will be a lot of fun possibilities for special runs - I'm wondering if they'll limit it to Thoroughbred racing or incorporate other types of racing as well? Not going to speculate on which molds they'll use for special runs, although we'll most likely see True North, Duende and the Eberl set as special runs. Maybe the Eberl set will be the mare and foal set? If that ends up being the case, it would be awkward if they were drafters, despite our desperate need for a new draft foal. But I suppose it wouldn't stop Breyer as long as they named them something along the lines of [Insert Famous Thoroughbred Mare Here] and [Insert Famous Thoroughbred Mare's Offspring Here].

Of course, talking about the theme begs the question of who the Celebration Horse will be. A Thoroughbred? Perhaps a Standardbred? Or they could mix things up a bit and find an Arabian racehorse. Don't they race Appaloosas, too? That would throw everyone for a loop. Personally, I think they should use a former racehorse that went on to have a successful second career, to throw a bone to the aftercare industry. We'll have to wait and see, I guess. Either way, I'm sure I'll enjoy it - Breyerfest is my favorite time of the year, and I can't wait to experience it again!

Only 52 more weeks until Breyerfest!

Breyerfest 2017 Day 2: Double Whew!

Breyerfest day 2 is over - what a long day! Fortunately, the heat and humidity weren't as terrible as they were yesterday - though we didn't get an afternoon thunderstorm either. Alas, I didn't get lucky in the raffle or in the early bird raffle. Better luck next time, I guess!  But I was able to pick up my celebration models, my single-day Stablemates and hit the collector club tent as well, so I'm happy. I also made it to most of the Celebration of Horses show, which I missed last year. In model news, I managed to obtain matte and glossies of Saffron, so now I just need a glossy Indu and my Breyerfest 2017 collection will be complete. Anyone want to trade a glossy for a matte? I have 3 of them....

Okay, well, let's get down to business. I'll go into the subjects of these photos in more detail later on, when I've had a chance to upload the photos from my real camera. In the meantime, here's a cell phone photo of Mirado from the collector club tent!

 

I really like this little guy!

Next, the new Stablemate-sized Brishen!

 

I like this one, but he fills me with dread.

Next we have the resin Duende, soon to be issued in plastic to Premier Club members!

 

I like this guy a little bit more every time I see him. I hope he becomes available to buy soon!

And lastly, a photo of the contestants in the "Who Wore It Best" contest that's currently being voted on.

 

None of these molds are anything I collect anymore, so I'm not going to vote in the contest. If I had to choose, though, I like the Croi the best.

It's getting late, so I'm going to end things there for now. Tomorrow is the last day of Breyerfest and we still have two more ticket times to get through, plus the Sunday raffle! Maybe I'll have more luck with that one.

Breyerfest 2017 Day 1: Whew!

It's been a long, hot, sweaty day, that's for sure. But that's just something you have to get used to when you're at Breyerfest. And we did get a nice rainstorm in the middle of the day, so that was something.

So many exciting reveals today! The Bollywood Surprise turned out to be on Latigo! Who would have thought? I was convinced it would be the Moody Andalusian, since this Breyerfest has an uncharacteristic lack of Moody molds. Oh well. Fortunately for me, I don't collect Latigo, so any surprise models I get can be sold or traded toward models I do want. And the volunteer model - a bloody shoulder Weather Girl! Sorry I don't have photos of any of these - I've been too busy with other things.

Here's a picture of one of the silent auction models, though. I'm not sure if he's OF or a custom.

 

Then there's the Collector Club tent, which we didn't get a chance to get into today. There are a lot of previews of upcoming releases there - a palomino Cleveland Bay is this year's second collector club model! (Don't need him either.) The last America the Beautiful release is on Susecion and Le Fire! (Le sigh...doubt I'll get drawn for those.) The Premier Club Stablemate for this year is inexplicably on a Stablemate-sized Brishen, which begs all kinds of questions for the future. (He stays with me.)

Here's another one of the silent auction models. So pretty!

 

Although I'd fully planned on attending the live auction this year, I was just too worn out from the heat and humidity (and having to hoof it around the horse park at full speed to get to places I needed to be at the right times). So, I decided to skip it and stay at the hotel instead so I could shop and sell out of our room! Fun stuff.

This last photo is of the silent auction glossy Rainier. Be still, my heart.


So many exciting things to talk about! I haven't even mentioned both Saffron and Indu being matte/glossy splits this year! Ack! That's going to make things complicated, since I'll need both finishes on both of them. All I managed to accomplish so far is a matte Indu and a Kaalee...although I also managed to pull two glossy Bollywood Surprises, so I really can't complain. Let's hope our next few special run tickets over Saturday and Sunday will yield matte and glossy Saffrons and a glossy Indu so my mission can be complete. I (well, my husband) was able to obtain Marigold and Navya as well, so we won't need to bother going through the pop-up tent for the rest of the weekend. So many things we had to get done today! We missed out on getting our celebration models, though, so we'll have to get that done tomorrow.

That's all I have for now - hopefully more exciting things will happen tomorrow! I haven't seen many blog readers stop by our room for a free Stablemate - come on! We still have plenty left. Don't miss out!

Artisan's Gallery Snapshots!

In lieu of skulking my way through the KHP visitor center today, I wandered through the Artisan's Gallery instead to see if I could get my eye on the special run models for Breyerfest. And, lo and behold...

 

In the above photo we see Indu, Vahana, Kaalee, Darjeeling and a little bit of Saffron.

 

And here we see more of the previous, plus Namaste and the rest of Saffron. These are the seven (horse) models that will be available in the special run line, minus the surprise model. I had hoped that if there's a matte/glossy split this year it would be revealed here, but all of the models had the expected finishes.

In this photo we see Diwali, the Official Breyerfest Cow (tm), as well as slightly different angles of Namaste and Saffron, plus the plush horse Lotus.

 

The Single-Day Stablemates are as cute as expected, though I didn't have the time to examine Tushar and see if he's as butt-high as he looks in photos. I'm still planning on getting Mishti and Vivaan, though. Hopefully we'll have time to get that done tomorrow.

In the above photo we can see the Celebration Model Nazruddin, the plushie elephant Jaipur, the regular elephant Holi and the Classic Marigold. Drool! Marigold must be mine, and I love Nazruddin's box despite my dislike of pink. I'm still not planning on buying a Holi; I don't collect the animal molds and I have reservations about how well-executed those decals will be.



And lastly we have Navya, the curiously attractive clear Stablemate. Gah! I need him. We're going to be getting up really early tomorrow in hopes of getting in line early enough to get our hands on him and Marigold - hopefully we're successful!

I'll close with that - good luck at Breyerfest tomorrow, everybody! Try not to keel over in line - I know I'll be doing my best.