Featured Model - 6/30/2018, London Pride

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 dipping back into the Stablemates this week with...London Pride!



This pretty lady was produced for Breyerfest 2012. She was a run of 1,000 on the G3 Belgian mold sculpted by Jane Lunger. Along with three other Stablemates, she was one of the four possible One-Day Stablemates that year, all issued as item #711141.

The four One-Day Stablemates that year were all draft models named after beers, but apparently people didn't like (or just didn't get) Breyer's little joke about draft models = draft beers, because all four of them were readily available in the Breyer Store in 2013. That's where I snagged my three, and fell into a trap of foolishly not buying single-day tickets because I thought I'd just be able to find leftovers in the store the following year. I'm not sure why I kept doing that beyond 2013, because it's not like anyone was going to find leftovers of the 2013 One-Day Stablemates in 2014 - they were too popular!

I did finally start buying one-day tickets in 2016 (Still looking for a Crepe Suzette, by the by), but I'm not sure why it took me so long to learn my lesson about that. Just buy the stupid tickets!

Okay, enough yelling at myself. Back to the model. I really like this color on her - she's not just a flat black, but more of a smoky black. Plus she has all that bling going on, and a layer of gloss to boot! She's one of my favorite G3 Belgians.

We still haven't seen the G3 Belgian show up in the Stablemate Club, but hopefully next year! I have a weakness for drafters, and I'd love to see her used again! I did attend the local draft horse show in my town last week, though, so I may still have drafters on my mind. Ooh, what if they used her for next year's gambler's choice? There are still plenty of colors to paint her in - I bet she'd be a hit! Crossing my fingers.

Even more auction models!

Surprise, surprise - Breyer posted more auction models on the blog! Oooh, exciting! Let's start with Lot 15, the Few-Spot Appaloosa on True North (!):

Ooh, he's pretty! I bet this guy will go high. Definitely a unique color! Nothing I need to take home, but somebody will spend a pretty penny on him!

Next, lot 16, on Wixom with a custom tail:

It's the Shannondell tail, according to the blog. Ehhh...I don't think I like it. Her color looks similar to this auction Totilas from 2015, but not glossy. It's not bad, but I don't think the tail works on her.

Next is lot 17, on a totally-unexpected nonhorse mold:

It's the Longhorn Bull! In "Brown Brindle," apparently. Uh, that doesn't look like anything brindle to me - Breyer does know what brindle is, right? Maybe the brindling is more visible up close. Interesting that there's a bull in the auction - maybe they're going to put the mold into production in the near future?

Next is lot 18, and according to the blog, they "hate to keep doing this to you, but you'll have to wait a bit longer." Okay, really? No one's making you do it. You're just doing it so we can't figure out what the surprise model is. Don't waste our time with that apologetic nonsense when you could just show us the model so people wanting to bid can plan how to spend their money. Ugh.

And lastly, lot 19:



Oooh, I like this one! The blog describes him as a Shaded Black Rabicano Sabino with a Gulastra Plume (meaning he has a white tail). This is similar to his only other auction appearance, back in 2014. I definitely like him, though - I think this is the first auction model I've seen that I actually wanted, not that I'm going to bid or anything.

That's it for the auction models. As for the surprise model speculation, it's looking more and more likely that it's Smarty Jones, since he's a racehorse mold and he hasn't popped up anywhere else yet. But this is Breyer we're talking about, and Smarty Jones is too obvious. Are there still any other candidates? Taking a quick look at last year's auction models, the Show Jumping Warmblood is still a possibility, along with Totilas, the Fell Pony (both unlikely), Laredo (also unlikely), the Cleveland Bay, the Indian Pony, Desatado, Giselle, Gem Twist, the Trakehner, the PAM and the Fighting Stallion. Of all of those, Smarty and the SJW are the only standouts - the others are too old and/or too unpopular to be used. Unless Smarty shows up as one of the last few auction models, I'm going to consider him the surprise. Can't wait to see the rest of them!

If you missed out on Illumination...

...he's now available on the Breyer website, in "extremely limited quantities!"



If you still need one, order him here.

Also, on a slightly related note, Breyer is doing a 10% off sale on all their Breyerfest portrait horses (what a savings...). Check them out here!

Just when I thought it was safe to avoid the pop-up tent...

...Breyer comes out with one last special run! Say hello to Winner's Circle, the autograph horse!




However, due to some misplaced fingers when I started typing his name, I may have to give him the informal name of Wubbalubbadubdub...

Ahem. Anyway...this guy is the official autograph horse of the 2010 WEG 2018 Breyerfest! That's right; Breyer has done autograph horses before. Look familiar? That's the 2010 World Equestrian Games autograph horse, on the Cleveland Bay. I'm not sure why these guys have matching paint jobs, other than to make the autographs more visible. Maybe we'll get more autograph horses in this color in the future?

Interestingly, although I don't own an example of the WEG autograph horse myself, it was reported at the time that they were molded from ABS, which is what most modern Stablemates are molded from. The prevailing thought was that this was so they could keep the model's price down. Since Winner's Circle is being sold for the low, low price of $25 (the same price as the WEG autograph horse), I'd say the chances are good that he'll be molded from ABS too. Which could lead to issues with yellowing in the future, similar to what we have now. Just remember: if he does start turning yellow down the road, don't put him in the window! Exposure to sunlight makes ABS turn yellow faster.

I had been quite happy that we wouldn't need anything from the Breyer Store or the Garland Gift Shops this year, so I'm mildly disappointed that this guy popped up. I'm hoping his quantity will be fairly plentiful so I don't have to stress myself out too much getting one, because it's looking like we're going to be really busy this year. Hopefully we can squeeze a trip through the gift shop into the schedule!

More auction models!

It's Monday, which means we get to see more auction models on the blog! Check them out!

Lot 10 is...another hidden lot. Grr. Oh well, on to the next one...



Lot 11 is the Live Show Reserve Prize, Hot to Trot. I didn't notice this right away, but someone pointed it out on Facebook: This model is pacing. Why did they name a pacer Hot to Trot? Blegh. Anyway, we've seen him before, so I don't have much else to say about him.



Lot 12 is a "Glossy Dapple Blood Bay" Cigar with a custom tail (the loose Show Jumping Warmblood tail, to be exact). This model was visible in the background of a recent Breyer "Monday Minute" video on YouTube, which led to speculation that he was this year's volunteer model. Unfortunately, these types of modifications on molds not normally built for having their manes and tails exchanged are almost never used for any kind of wide release - the only one I remember was the Lonesome Glory Thrillseeker with the modified tail, seen as the last Connoisseur release in 2011 - and that was a simple tail bend. While this guy's color is yummy, I'm not sure I like that tail on him anyway, and I think he needs to be redder - he looks a lot like the original Cigar release as is.



Lot 13 is a red dun splash pinto on the Valegro mold. I've seen mixed reactions to this model online, and I have to agree - he doesn't look quite right, although I like his bald face. Red dun has never been one of my favorite colors, though, so I might be biased.



The last lot for today is a, "5th Century B.C. Amphora-inspired Decorator on the Marwari mold." I saw a little bit of speculation online that this guy could be a clue for the theme of next year's Breyerfest (Horses in Ancient History, or similar) but...ehh. Lauren Hoeffer posted a photo of an old custom very similar to this on Blab this afternoon, and since she's done work for Breyer before, it's entirely possible this model was inspired by that custom.

Sadly, that's all the auction models we get to see today. Hopefully they step up the pace of releasing these things - there's only 2 more Mondays (!) until Breyerfest, and at a rate of 4 (or 5, counting hidden lots) release every week out of a total of 28 lots, they'll only be up to 24 lots by 7/9. Hmm, maybe they'll release an extra one somewhere and then do a mini-countdown of the remainder during Breyerfest week? That could be exciting! I hope they do.

Featured Model - 6/24/2018, Royal Kaliber

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...Royal Kaliber!



This handsome guy was produced in 2004 as a special run for the USET. He was a portrait of the real Royal Kaliber, who sadly died not long after competing in the 2004 Olympics. He was item #701604 and 750 models were produced on the Show Jumping Warmblood mold sculpted by Sue Sifton.

I still remember when I found this model - it was Sunday night at Breyerfest 2016, around 11pm. That was the first year we stayed at the Clarion for Breyerfest, and I'd decided to take a last walk around the hotel to see if any rooms were still open. Most of the rooms were closed by that point, but in the last open room I found, somewhere in the 600s, I found this poor Royal Kaliber, missing his stand. He had some dings, but was for sale for a very reasonable price. So I took him home and got him a new stand! Now he's a proud member of my collection.

As for the Show Jumping Warmblood, he pops up every once in a while, usually being used as a portrait model for various real horses. He did show up in a very unconventional way last year, when Sugarmaple was released. Definitely a departure from his usual releases - he'd only been a decorator twice before (aside from auction models), and one of those releases was very limited!

The original chestnut Show Jumping Warmblood was one of the last models I bought in 2003 or 2004 before I stepped back from collecting to attend college. In those days he came with a fancy stand sculpted to look like green grass and flowers. His first few releases came with that stand, including Royal Kaliber, and I'd like to find one for him someday. For better or worse, at some point Breyer must have realized most show jumping competitions take place in dirt arenas - well, that and the clear stands are probably much cheaper to produce. So for the most part, subsequent releases have used the clear stand we're all familiar with. But if you know where I could get an old grass stand, hit me up! Royal Kaliber needs his original stand back.

Where will the Show Jumper pop up next? Hard to say. He hasn't been a web special since the highly-sought-after Apollo in 2013 (curse my terrible luck), so he could show up again there anytime. He's been out of the regular run line since 2015, so he's probably due for another one of those releases soon, unless Breyer wants to give the mold a rest. We've seen most of this year's Breyerfest releases, and he's already been the volunteer model, so he probably won't show up there unless he turns out to be the surprise (which I'd be happy with!). So we'll have to wait and see! I'm sure we won't have to wait very long.

Glossy Prizes and Breyerfest 2018 App!

The Breyerfest 2018 App is now available, for those lucky iPhone users out there! Check the App Store for more - it's free! For everyone who's not using an iPhone, well...here's a link, I guess. There's nothing terribly exciting on the app right now, except an interesting listing in the silent auction. There's a full set of the Dark Horse Surprise models as one lot, and another lot consisting of a "Dark Horse Surprise Test Decorator." So does this mean all four Dark Horse Surprise (I mean...I'm guessing there are four, like usual) models are realistic colors? They usually are, anyway. So maybe the decorator test is an alternative decorator version of one of the existing colors. I guess we only have to wait 3 more weeks to find out!

In other exciting news, photos of this year's glossy prize models have been posted on the blog. Say hello to glossy Brunello and glossy Hwin!





Over the last few years, Breyer has gotten into a pattern of using new-for-the-current-year regular run releases (more or less) for glossy prizes at Breyerfest. At first I was a little surprised to see Hwin and Brunello here, as they're not new for 2018 releases, but then I remembered last year's glossies weren't new for 2017 models either. And then someone said something on the Internets that made a lot of sense - after last year's Breyerfest Live cheating scandal, maybe Breyer is using these less-popular molds to try to dissuade some of that cheating. I would hope a lot of the incentive to cheat is gone now that Breyerfest Live isn't a NAN-qualifying show, but there's still a lot of big money behind these glossies. Just...not as much money as if they'd used something newer and more popular like the new Ashquar or the unicorn Yasmin or something. (Or the unicorn Othello...gasp!)

As for the models themselves, I'm kind of facepalming over that Hwin. They couldn't have picked one with better dapples to slap the gloss on? She looks like a chicken wire fence. Oh well. And that Brunello...I'm still really liking Idocus more with that braided mane, guys. I might just have to be on the lookout for one at Breyerfest. Just saying...

Sapporo is here!

Good news, everyone! My Sapporo finally came, and I had some time today to snap some quick pictures of him. Behold!

He's definitely a pretty guy. He's not that blue-tinted in person - it's been a cloudy, rainy day here today. But I guess that fits with the inspiration for his name!

This photo is more true to his color. I can't get over how much of a mini-me to Brishen he is! They did a really good job shrinking him down. The crotchety traditionalist inside me is still grumbling about the whole situation, though. Get off my lawn, and all that.

I didn't see much wrong with him quality-wise, though I didn't look at him that closely before or after I dropped him behind our couch, so I don't know if he has damage from that or not. He was really loosely tied into his box, though, similar to the Aiden situation. So I'd still rather see the satin bags.

He did have this weird half-dorsal-stripe I've been seeing on other people's models, so I'm wondering what's up with that.



He's definitely a beauty, though - too bad he's the only Stablemate Club release I'm going to keep this year, unless I really like the Arab at the end!

More auction models!

The slow dribble of auction model releases continues! I don't know if I like this technique better than the usual countdown or not...I mean, one new model every day vs. four new ones every week? Seems about the same in the long run. Oh well. Here's lot 6!

Oooh! This is only the second time we've had a Secretariat auction model. My only gripe is that they could have photographed him from a less-weird angle. Nice color, though.

Next, lot 7!

Looks like we've had a handful of Phar Lap auction models in the past, but not anytime recently. This guy is pretty! The blog describes him as a, "Chalky Warm Dapple Gray," designed by Sommer Prosser. The angle is still odd, but better than the Secretariat.

Next, lot 8!

This one I'm not so crazy about...he reminds me of the test Clydesdale Mare sold on the website a couple years back, or last year's Rana raffle model, and not in a good way. The weird angle (again...) doesn't help, either. I'm sure he's posed like that to show off the stripey mane, but it irritates me when people photograph the off side of a model for promotion. I want to see the other side! Gah.

And lastly, lot 9!



There sure are a lot of old racehorse molds popping up in this auction group, huh? I guess it was inevitable, since they're using all or most of the more recent racehorses in the racehorse-themed Breyerfest. As for this Racehorse, he's a vintage mold in a yummy vintage color. Charcoal isn't my favorite colorway, but when it's nice and dark (I don't like the brown highlights on some of them), with a nice glossy finish...yum! There's a test Charcoal Nokota floating around Breyer headquarters that I'd love to see in a wider release, by the by.

That's it for this week's auction releases - hopefully we see more exciting things next week!

Silent Auction lot revealed!

So this was an exciting addition to the Breyerfest Blog on Friday - one of the Breyerfest silent auction lots was revealed. Behold!



Okay, normally I'm not really into tack on models, but...I LOVE THIS. I love it! There's so much detail, and I love the little flowers! And that test Carrick is to die for. He looks very similar to the test that appeared on the cover of JAH a few years back, but he's definitely not the same model - the socks are different. I wouldn't say no to that as a regular run!

I can't wait to see this set up close at Breyerfest. Didi Hornberger really knocked it out of the park this time! I bet he'll go really, really high in the silent auction. I hope we get to see more lots soon! 

Featured Model - 6/17/2018, Red Bay Herd Stallion

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 Red Bay Herd Stallion!



This handsome guy was produced for the 2008 Treasure Hunt event, in which collectors sent in the UPC codes from three mare and foal sets and received one of several possible stallions in return, all on the Huckleberry Bey mold sculpted by Kathleen Moody.

There were four different possible stallions you could receive from this Treasure Hunt. In order of presumed rarity, they were the Black, Red Bay, Mahogany Bay and Glossy Honey Bay colors. The Glossy Honey Bay is still highly sought-after even to this day. I don't own one and probably never will, because I've never been a fan of the honey bay colorway and thus am not willing to pay the high prices he usually brings.

I wasn't participating in the hobby when this treasure hunt took place, which makes me really sad now! I would have been super excited to guy all those fun mare and foal sets and see what color stallion I would get. I only have two of the mare and foal sets now (both variations of the Susecion and Le Fire), but it would have been fun nonetheless.

It might seem odd that I'm writing about another Huck so soon after I wrote about a previous Huck, but them's the breaks, it seems. Blame my busy work schedule, I guess.

Interestingly, this is the model I mentioned in a previous post as having spent most of the last two years on his side due to a broken peg stuck in his hoof. Fortunately, I finally had my husband extract the peg for me, and with a quick application of a replacement stand, he's standing on his own...two? four? feet again and taking his prancy spot on the shelf next to his Huck brethren. Woohoo!

Not much else to say about this guy except that I hope he pops up again soon? Maybe as the last America the Beautiful web special? We've never had a Huck web special, so anything is possible!

Dundee is revealed!

It's official - this year's second release in the Premier Club has been revealed! Meet Dundee!



Although Breyer hasn't confirmed it, I'm guessing this is the Kitty Cantrell sculpt. He's pretty and all...but I'm 99% sure I'm not going to keep mine. He just kinda looks like a cross between Flash and Roxy to me, neither of which are molds I collect.

The bad thing is, some of the chatter on the Internets was wondering if this model could eventually be used for the Justify portrait...and I could see that happening. It doesn't seem likely, since Breyer is likely to want to get on the Justify train ASAP, and according to their own rules they can't use this mold again until next year. But...what if they do? Gah.

He's definitely pretty, though! I'm just not really into stock horses. Hopefully the Sifton sculpture is more up my alley! 

Premier Club #2 Sneak Peek!

More good news, everyone! Breyer has posted a sneak peek (ugh...why can't they just show us the model?) of this year's second Premier Club release on the Club News. Say hello to Dundee!



This is apparently a "flashy Australian Stock Horse gelding," although he looks more like a drafter to me. I guess we'll find out when we see the full photo! Hopefully Breyer doesn't make us wait until Breyerfest for the full reveal.

The thought on the Interwebs is that this is the Kitty Cantrell sculpt. I generally like her stuff, but based on that photo, this guy's chances of staying in my herd aren't looking good. I'm not big on stock horses, and, well...he's just not that appealing to me right now. Maybe once we see the full photo? I'll reserve my final judgement until I see the resin at Breyerfest, but the rest of him will have to be pretty spectacular, honestly.

Vintage Club Roman is now available!

Hello all! If you're a 2018 Vintage Club member, Roman is now available for purchase!



Truth be told, I was hoping the Weather Girl release would be next, so I could order mine and then drop out of the club. I am really not much of a vintage fan and that way I wouldn't have had to deal with reselling Roman. Sure, I'd lose the end-of-year Stablemate, but I've always hated the old-style red roan colorway so...not a huge loss.

Oh well. Hopefully I won't have as much trouble finding a buyer for this guy as I did for the Grazing Mare and Foal set (lost about $70 on that one, ouch!). You win some, you lose some. This guy does have a nice color, but I'm just not interested in the mold.

The 2018 Auction Model Countdown has begun!

Well, I don't know if it actually is a countdown this year, since they posted 5 (or 4, rather) auction models all at once and the countdown shouldn't have started until later this week, but anyway...we have auction models! Here's lot #1, on Halla (!):



I'm pretty sure that's the Halla, not the Bolya. We were told at Chasing the Chesapeake that the centerpiece model, Dixon, was made from the last of the Halla whiteware from before the mold was permanently altered to become Bolya. So are they super-serious about it being the last of the whiteware this time? How many more do they actually have?

As for the model itself, she's gorgeous! I would have called this one this year's chump change model, but I have a feeling she'll go high just because of the stunning paint job. She's a winner! I just wish her head was a little prettier - I'd be more inclined to collect the mold if it was.

Oh well. On to Lot 2, the Wyatt!

This one is less stunning to me, possibly because he isn't glossy. He definitely has a lot of detail in his paint job, though!

Next - the Clydesdale Stallion!

Looks like somebody decided to put Bluebird's color on this guy, only slightly less blue. Plus, he's a Packers fan! But I'm not really a fan of this one at all...I think it's his dark legs. I'd prefer to see lighter legs or even some white stockings...but that's just me.

Next - a mystery lot. Grr. It's becoming increasingly apparent that they're only doing this so we can't guess the surprise model in advance. Boo, hiss, etc.

And lastly, one we've seen before - Cloverleaf!



He's still described as silver bay on the blog, which irks me because he clearly isn't silver bay! And we know Breyer knows what silver bay is, because Callahan just came out! Gah.

That's all the auction models Breyer decided to grace us with today - maybe we'll get some more tomorrow! I'll be crossing all my fingers and toes!

Featured Model - 6/9/2018, American Pharoah

Woooo! Congratulations to Justify, the 13th winner of the Triple Crown! I'm sure there are plenty of people frantically shouting into phones over at Breyer headquarters. (Psst: put him on Lonesome Glory Carrick!) In honor of Justify's win, for this week's Featured Model I present...American Pharoah!

This illustrious model was obviously produced to honor American Pharoah, the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years. He's item #1757 on the Ruffian mold sculpted by Sue Sifton.

This model marked the first time Ruffian had been used with an alternate tail, to portray the real Pharoah's shortened tail. Since then the short-tailed Ruffian has appeared as 2016's Poltergeist and will appear at Breyerfest later this year as Dead Heat.

When Pharoah first won his Triple Crown, we of course didn't know which mold would be used as his portrait model, and we indeed didn't even have confirmation of it right away, so there was a lot of speculation as to which mold it would be, or whether he would get his own new mold. So when this test model appeared during that year's Breyerfest auction countdown, there was a lot of speculation that it was a test for American Pharoah:

When I looked at the model in person, though, it clearly had facial markings, so the jury's still out on that one.

Anyway, eventually the American Pharoah model was confirmed to be on Ruffian, which brings us to today. I wonder which mold Justify will get? I'm hoping for Lonesome Glory, but it could just as easily be Smarty Jones or...hmm. Ruffian and Cigar are already in the regular run line as Pharoah and California Chrome. That doesn't really leave a whole lot of options from newer molds. But someone on the Internet suggested using True North, which I suppose I could get behind, considering he's being used as Icabad Crane at this year's Breyerfest. If they do use True North I wouldn't buy it, but at least he'd be a pretty new mold for the new Triple Crown winner.

EDIT: I forgot about Carrick! I would totally be down with Breyer using him, since he hasn't been done in chestnut yet. Definitely rooting for Carrick over here! Hopefully we hear something soon. 

Go Ahead; Make My Day

Good news, everyone! My Callahans finally came, and I just had to get them opened up. I was so excited to see this mold appear in the (Breyer) dead pool! But first, I have to torture you a little bit. Here are the three boxes!

By some miracle, only one of them was smashed. Apparently many, if not most, of the boxes for this release have been getting pulverized.

But anyway...What could be inside? What mysteries do the boxes hold? Do I feel lucky? Time to see if Breyer went ahead and made my day.

The plot thickens! I think I can see what they are! Time to get these punks unwrapped. I'd tease you more, but a good woman always knows her limitations, so I'll cut to the chase.

Drat! Breyer must have forgotten my fortune cookie - I'm SOL. I didn't manage to hit the trifecta, but at least I didn't get three of the same color. Here's a pic of one of the silver bays up closer.



I'm having trouble deciding which of these three colors I like the best, but I think the silver bay wins. He's got just a touch of pearly in his mane and tail, though, which puts him in the lead. Here's a picture of the silver bay and palomino with their Trad-size doppelgangers:



I think Breyer did a pretty good job of emulating the original paint colors, although the Callahans don't have any dapples like the original releases do. Nor does the silver bay have mapped markings like Silverado, although I wouldn't have expected that. The original Silverado doesn't have the pearly mane and tail, though, which makes Callahan unique! They almost look like proud dads escorting their kids to a show (or a Vikings game, going by the palomino's ribbon colors), or perhaps experienced police inspectors taking their rookie partners out on patrol. Just as long as the rookies don't get killed, right?



Quality-wise, they run the gamut - one of the silver bays is quite nice, while the other has a number of minor flaws that are making me consider exchanging him if I can't get him traded for a silver filigree. Maybe if I exchange him, I'll get a silver filigree! As for the palomino, he's mostly nice, but his eyes are very sloppily painted. I'll hang onto him though - with my luck, if I exchanged both of them I'd get two silver bays back and be even more SOL.

All in all, I think this was a great special run - the Shire B mold is sadly underused, and this special run was a totally unexpected sudden impact! Maybe Breyer saw my Featured Model post about the Shire B back in October, eh? Probably not, but it's nice to dream. Maybe we'll see the mold pop up somewhere else, since they put it back into production for this special run? I hope so!

So many exciting things happening!

I'm woefully behind on the news lately! Firstly, in yesterday's excitement I didn't get a chance to post about the Breyerfest 2018 crystal being revealed. Meet Home Straight!



Bwuh? It's a crystal of the Sarah Rose Hambletonian resin! But I want this guy to be released in plastic! Wahhhh!

Also, as impressive as the crystal horses have become in recent years, this one kinda seems like a step backward in quality. Last year's Bobby Jo crystal was practically indistinguishable from the plastic sculpt, so I have to say I'm not terribly impressed by Home Straight. I don't collect the crystals anyway, though, so my opinion probably doesn't matter all that much. I'm hopeful that this means we'll eventually get Hambletonian in plastic, though!

In other exciting news, the latest entry in the 2018 Stablemate Club is available for purchase! Say hello to Sapporo!



Kind of an odd name there, but the description says he's inspired by "cool, snowy mountains," and Sapporo, Japan hosted the 1972 Winter Olympics, so there's that. This is the only release from this year's club that I actually want, so I couldn't hit the order button fast enough!

Lastly, the selections for the Scottsdale Stampede were released today. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like my husband or I were drawn, but I'm hopeful that we'll get pulled from the waitlist. The starting ticket purchase deadline is on the 15th, so we won't have too long to wait...for the first waitlist round. I guess we'll see what happens!

(I'd grumble more about them switching up the ticket purchase method every time, but I suspect they do it in an attempt to keep the attendees from always being the same people.)

You're killing me, Breyer!

This year's mid-year releases escaped into the wild today, and all I can say is...you guys are killing me over here! Look at this model! LOOK AT IT!



Excuse me while I hyperventilate for a second. This design made its debut years ago as an auction model, and now we're getting it as a special run? Holy crap!

Clearly I'm not the only one having that reaction, because I'm pretty sure Prism (the model) is sold out pretty much everywhere. Needless to say, I ordered one as fast as my fingers could hit the keys on my phone, so I'm definitely excited for his arrival (not until August, sadly).

In other mid-year releases, here's another fun one! Meet Nevermore!

She's limited to 3000, so I ordered one. I can't remember if previous Halloween releases have been this limited? Oh well. I'm definitely an Edgar Allan Poe fan, so this girl definitely needs to come to my house.

Here are some other releases!

I love Harley's pattern and color, but not the mold. He's nice, though!

I'm not a fan of the Stock Horse Stallion at all, and what's with the weird brand? Have they put that on the horse in real life? Next.

Ooh, I definitely need this one! More Yasmin goodness! Although it's been difficult to get her to fit on my shelves...

...Is that a Stablemate Alborozo? What happened to the whole show of good faith to Brigitte in destroying the mold? Is nothing sacred anymore? Bleh, I'll probably have to buy one anyway. But why are there so many mold repeats? That's the old resin Magnolia shrunk down to Stablemate size, too, but I've never been a fan of hers. And I'm irritated that the chase piece (probably another Stablemate Alborozo for some reason) is only in 1/4 boxes again.

Edit: It's good that they're doing some colors other than white, though.



I'm not surprised to see this one, because there have been grainy photos floating around on the Interwebs depicting this mold appearing as a unicorn named Sarafina at someone's Walmart. I haven't seen one in person yet, but I'm sure I will eventually. Regardless, I'm not a fan of this mold, so I don't need to buy it, luckily.

There's also a Sgt. Reckless reissue, but I don't think it's any different from the previous one.

All in all, definitely a lot of exciting (and frustrating) releases! I can't wait to see Prism and Nevermore! I'll probably wait on buying LV Integrity until I can get some nice discounts at the end of the year, but he's definitely on my list. I'm still grumbly about the Stablemate Alborozo, though, but that might just be me being crotchety. Bring on the new releases!