Another clue on the blog!

Another day, another clue posted on the blog when they could just skip the suspense and post the model...oh well. Here's the clue!



Looks like some type of Appaloosa, maybe? From the blog:

Our next Special Run model made a brief appearance in 2018 as one of our live auction molds. Can you guess who this is? 

Hmm, the plot thickens. Taking a quick look at the molds used in last year's auction, here are what I think are the likely contenders:

Wyatt
Bouncer
Cigar
Marwari
Wixom
Smart Chic Olena
Ashquar
Salinero


While I haven't taken the time to compare the muscling in the clue photo to any actual models, I'm thinking this is probably SCO (not my favorite mold - I'd prefer Bouncer or Ashquar, or even the Marwari). SCO's appeared at Breyerfest numerous times, but never in the special run line. Could this be his time to shine? Hopefully we'll find out tomorrow! 

Brownie!

Greetings, readers! Valentine's Day is fast approaching, and this year's free plushie, Brownie, is now available on the website!



She briefly popped up on the website a few days ago, but the offer must not have been ready for prime time, because she disappeared almost as fast as she showed up.

They did a plushie like this last year, as I recall. I wonder if this is going to be a yearly thing now? She's free with $25 purchase. I'm mildly irritated by this, as I placed an order for more than that not very long ago, but then again I don't do plushies, so it's not a huge deal. She's cute and all, but not really my thing. C'est la vie!

Featured Model - 1/26/2019, Chinese Year of the Horse Esprit

Hello and welcome to the latest 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. In honor of the upcoming Chinese New Year (Feb. 5), this week's model is...the Chinese Year of the Horse Esprit!



Issued in 2014, this model is item #1715 and was a regular run for that year only. He was issued on the popular Esprit mold sculpted by Kathleen Moody.

I have to commend Breyer for embracing some multiculturalism with this release, though I can't help but wonder what the Chinese painters thought while they were working on these models. It's an interesting design - I wonder if anyone actually from China gave input on it, or if it was strictly designed by Breyer? Either way, I like the shade of blue they used on the mane/tail/legs, though the other color combinations seem a bit garish (maybe that was intentional?). Either way, it would be great to get a Chinese person's take on it. And for that matter, I wouldn't mind seeing some other decorators based on other countries' traditions - that could give us some interesting designs and patterns.

If I remember right, there were some slight variations to these models, too - some of them had more green, while others had more red or purple.

Esprit himself has his detractors, and I'll admit he has a few unflattering angles, but I like him nonetheless. He does what he was intended to do - capture the essence of the equine spirit (IMO). While his anatomy isn't perfect, many Moody molds have the same issues, yet they sell well with the public - so clearly I'm not the only one that's not a stickler about correctness. It'll be interesting to see what Breyer does with the mold next. He's been a web special twice, was the surprise model for Breyerfest 2016, and has appeared in the regular run line twice, amongst other releases. Will we see him again as a web special this year? Or maybe he'll show up at Breyerfest? I kinda wonder if he'll appear at Breyerfest in some fashion. Hopefully it's an attainable release, if so!

I found Serendipity!

And no, I'm not talking about that crappy movie! I found a Serendipity unicorn in the wild!

Isn't she pretty? I was cruising Brickseek a couple of days ago and happened to notice the Sarafina/Serendipity SKU had been restocked at our local Walmart. We aren't getting the Series 2 unicorn blind bags (or anything else) so I hadn't been expecting to find a Serendipity here, but I was pleasantly surprised to find two on the shelf! So one of them came home with me.

I'm not thrilled about how close the tip of her horn is to the edge of the box, though. You can see scratches in the plastic above where the horn has been coming into contact with the plastic. Fortunately there weren't any rubs in her paint, but I'm sure they won't all fare this well.

Anyway, here she is out of box!



Have I mentioned how much I like the color scheme they used on her? She's not rainbowy, but the box describes her mane and tail as "candy-colored," and I can agree with that. I love it!



I may just be a sucker for those colors used together, but either way I think she's great!



Quality-wise, she's pretty good - I didn't see any paint flaws at all, though she does have some spots of extra plastic here and there that should have been washed/ground off. All in all, though, she's very nice for a $15 Classic.

The existence of this model makes me wonder if we'll see another unicorn Harper in the future? Skyler and Sarafina were both preceded by slightly different unicorn releases on those molds, so I'm hoping we get another unicorn Harper as well. I'd definitely buy her!

2019 blind bags are here!

Greetings, readers! Exciting news - my box of blind bag Stablemates came today! Was I lucky enough to get a chase piece? Sadly, no...(grr) But at least I got a full set otherwise! Is that a guarantee? I feel like it's not a guarantee.



I'm not keeping the bay Quarter Horse or palomino Magnolia, but included them  in the photo anyway for completion's sake.

Quality-wise, they were decent. I wasn't expecting perfection, but most of them had little nicks and rubs from the packaging. Like I said, I wasn't expecting a lot for 3.99 models. Fortunately I had multiples of each model to choose from, so I was able to put together a mostly-unflawed group of models I wanted to keep. There were only two of the Alborozos to choose from, which was disappointing, and one of those has warped legs and doesn't always want to stand, so he went on the reject pile.

I'd write more complaints about not getting the chase model when it seems like everyone and their dog is posing the ones they got on Facebook, but that's just beating a dead horse at this point. Maybe I'll find one for a decent price in the future.

So, these are the only 2019 releases I've purchased so far, but I am planning on ordering some stuff from Breyer as soon as they get more of the new releases in stock. Hurry up already! With the free shipping over $50 deal still on the website, it's looking like ordering from Breyer may actually be cheaper than buying from Amazon as long as I remember to use the Collector Club discount. Hopefully they get the rest of the new releases in stock soon!

Also, it sounds like the Vintage Club Stablemates from last year are finally shipping, so hopefully that means the Premier Club ones will go out soon as well. I need my Rosemary and Darwin!

Kids' Valentine Grab Bags!

First off, I apologize for not getting a Featured Model post up last week; I was too busy (and tired) last weekend to get it done! Featured Model will return this week.

In today's news, it's good to see Breyer has their priorities in order - they're too behind to ship out our Premier and Vintage Club Stablemates or let us know there's been a shipping delay, but they can still get the Valentine's Day grab bags in stock!



Hopefully they get caught up soon, because the first Vintage Club release of the year usually comes out in January, and they're running out of time!

Anyway, my feelings on grab bags remain unchanged - not worth it. But apparently there's $108 worth of merch in each bag, so they might be worth it. Then again, they might just be full of unsold stock Breyer hasn't been able to get rid of before now. I like how the fine print has to say the items don't actually come in a bag - heaven forbid they put something in there that actually matches the holiday theme. But I digress. It'll be interesting to see what's in these bags, but not interesting enough for me to buy one.

Pepper Potts, ready for showtime!

The special run has been revealed, and it's...the Clydesdale Mare!



Her name is Pepper, as in Pepper Potts from Iron Man:

Pepper has no need for billionaire playboy inventor-types – she’s the star of her own show with her beautiful coat and commanding posture.  After all, who doesn’t love a confident, sassy redhead?

She's pretty! I especially like her fiery mane and tail. She definitely looks like a pepperpot! And I like the borrowed superhero names they've been using so far - Cap, Pepper - hopefully more of the special runs are in that vein. I can't wait to see what they show us next! 

That still leaves the mystery of the ears in that Facebook picture, but maybe those are for a different special run. Hopefully we find out soon!

Breyerfest special runs are starting to be revealed!

There's a new Breyerfest clue on the blog!

Good to see they finally figured out the difference between "peek" and "peak," by the way. Anyway, my first instinct was to guess Adios on this one, but the Internet consensus seems to be that it's the Clydesdale Mare. Specifically, her left shoulder:

Why the Clydesdale Mare as a possibility? The clue mentions that the mold in question is celebrating its 50th birthday this year, and that's a short list. Adios, the Clydesdale Mare and Foal and the Lying Down Foal would be the only possibilities (Man o' War is erroneously listed on IDYB's Trad mold list as having been introduced in 1969, but his actual page lists his correct year of introduction as 1967).

Also, did anyone else notice the little pair of ears on the photo for Breyer's Facebook post about the clue?



I want to say they're the Clydesdale Foal ears, but I don't have one to compare against the photo, and pictures on IDYB are inconclusive. It would make sense if the foal was included with the mare, since that would give us our Breyerfest mare and foal set, but it seems odd that they wouldn't say the clue was for two models. Of course, that would give it away too quickly if they did that...hmm, what a quagmire. Perhaps they could just skip the clue garbage and reveal the mold? No? Maybe I'm just getting too crotchety (and tired of the clues)!

But anyway. If this does turn out to be the Clyde Mare and Foal, I won't need to buy it, fortunately. At least my bank account will be pleased!

Breyerfest volunteer applications are now being accepted!

It's January 14, and that means one thing - volunteer applications are now being accepted! The application form can be found here. Applications are due by Feb. 28, so don't waste any time getting yours in! I'm not applying this year (we're hoping to do fewer things and make it more of a family vacation this year; woe betide me if the surprise is something I have to have), but I've volunteered four times now and always enjoyed it! It's as close as I'll probably ever get to working for Breyer, so the experience is invaluable to me!

If you're a first-time applicant, you've got a pretty good chance of being selected, so don't let that stop you. 50% of every year's volunteers are first-time applicants - that's a pretty good chance!

Unicorn Surprises are showing up at Walmart!

Hello, readers! As you may have heard, Walmart is getting the latest round of unicorn blind bags, and hey're starting to show up in the wild now! Excuse me while I go cry a little bit about having to deal with even more blind bags...

Ahem. Now that that's out of the way, here are some photos, courtesy of IDYB:

The Alborozo:



His color is certainly...interesting.

The purple Magnolia:

I really like the color on this one - too bad I don't like Magnolia. It looks like this one has a lot of color variations too - so variation collectors can go wild!

The pink G4 Arabian:



The color on this one is really interesting - he looks like he's made out of lipstick. And I love his little silver hooves and horn! Unfortunately, I don't like the G4 Arabian either, sadly.

The other G4 Arabian:

Gah! This color is really cool too! Why do they keep putting the best colors on the molds I don't like? I suppose that's good for my pocketbook, at least.

The G2 Clydesdale:

Yay, a more-different shade of pink. Or would you call that salmon? I guess I should be happy he isn't white.

And lastly, the mythical chase piece:



That's right - Magnolia this time! In some type of Halloween-esque filigree color - now that's different from the norm! Fortunately, I don't have to be too frustrated about this one, because I'm not a Magnolia fan. And it's a good thing, because they're really pumping out the releases on her for some reason...

Well, anyway. Word on the street is that while some of these have been escaping into the wild early, they weren't officially supposed to be stocked on shelves until today. So with any luck, the Walmart I've been having my husband check (because our local one isn't getting them for some reason...) will finally have them on shelves tomorrow! Let's hope so - I need that Alborozo!

Speaking of Alborozo, the other new blind bags have apparently also been escaping into the wild, and the chase piece is a silver charm Alborozo! No photos yet, but they can be found on Facebook and Blab. Another Alborozo chaser? Boo, I say...but he is pretty! I did preorder an entire box this time, so maybe I'll get lucky and get one!

Featured Model - 1/12/2019, Gray Sabino 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. This week's model is...the blue roan G3 Tennessee Walking Horse!



This pretty guy is item #5906 on the G3 Tennessee Walking Horse sculpted by Jane Lunger. He was a regular run from 2006-2008.

I love the color on this model! I'd been looking for him off and on, but never found one at a good price until Breyerfest 2017, when I found him in one of the rooms at the Clarion. Score! I just think his color is really well done, especially for a regular run from 10+ years ago. He definitely doesn't look like something you'd see on a regular run shelf.

The G3 TWH seems to be fairly popular - he's had a lot of releases over the years, most recently appearing in a couple of last year's blind bag assortments and the Suncatcher Stablemates painting kit. He's also been used at Breyerfest a few times - the five (!) filigree colors at Breyerfest 2009, and the All-American Tribute set from 2007.

So where will he pop up next? Maybe we'll see him again at Breyerfest this year. It doesn't look like he had any new 2019 regular run releases, and we've already seen all the releases for the 2019 Stablemate Club, so he won't show up with those. Hopefully they come out with some new regular run releases soon! 

The mystery Saddlebred is revealed!

Greetings, readers! With the almost complete lack of new reveals since Breyerfest tickets went on sale a week ago, I can already tell it's going to be a long six months until this year's Breyerfest. But, we finally got a new reveal today - this year's early bird model, Cap!



The hobby has been wondering about this model since we saw him on last year's Breyerfest 2019 announcement banner!



I definitely like him! From the blog:

Cap is a stunning golden palomino with a little bit of pearl shimmer in his mane and tail and a high gloss finish – after all, it is our 30th anniversary celebration, so we had to make sure we had some pearl! He is on mold #571 sculpted by Kathleen Moody.

I wonder what else pearly we'll see at Breyerfest this year? Dare I hope they randomly put 30 pearlized models into the mix for the special run line, like in 2014? It would be fun if they did, if predictable of them - and we all know Breyer likes to be unpredictable. I'm definitely hoping to win Cap, though - maybe my luck will finally change this year!

Featured Model - 1/5/2019, LV Integrity

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. It's a new year, so I decided to feature a new (for me) model - LV Integrity!



LV Integrity is still in the regular run line as item #1797, issued on the Yasmin mold sculpted by Brigitte Eberl. He (more on that shortly) was one of the new for 2018 releases, though I just bought him a few weeks ago as part of my Collector Club Appreciation order.

And yes, this model is male - the real LV Integrity is a gelding, so a sheath was added to this run to make them anatomically correct. I see a lot of posts on Facebook about Breyer not bothering to add/remove parts to portrait models as necessary, which usually happens with Breyerfest releases and smaller runs. I work in manufacturing, and it makes sense to me that Breyer doesn't add gelding parts to smaller runs - like 2017's Repeat the Beat special run. I'll admit I don't know the exact process for adding a sheath to a normally female model, but it wouldn't be economical to do it for a run of 1,000 - factories run on deadlines and need to be able to finish orders in a timely fashion so they can move on to the next order. Interestingly, the regular run Bear and later reissue also don't have gelding parts, though a quick Internet search was inconclusive as to the real Bear's gender.

However, there are several other regular run models over the years that have had male parts added - Kong would be one,  as well as BHR Bryants Jake, Puuku, American Pharoah, Scallywag (the bodies for this run were probably manufactured at the same time as Puuku), All Glory and probably others I'm forgetting. With the exception of Scallywag, these were all larger runs that would have made it worth the extra expense. So I don't generally get too upset if Breyer doesn't add the proper set of parts to a model - it all comes down to manufacturing.

As for LV Integrity himself, Yasmin looks great in bay! I wonder if this guy will be a glossy prize at this year's Breyerfest? I'm not sure how popular this mold is, and last year Breyer went with less popular molds as the prizes, probably to try to deter cheating - so it's entirely possible we could see a glossy LV Integrity at Breyerfest. I hope so! And since this model is already in the regular run line, it seems likely we could see her (or him) pop up somewhere else - maybe as a web special, since it would be easy to divert 350 bodies from the regular run production line for a web special. I think Yasmin would make a great web special, so I'm crossing my fingers!

My Santa Surprises are here!

After what seemed like ages, my three Santa Surprises are finally here! I was pleasantly surprised to see all three boxes stacked up outside my door today, because the one my husband bought hadn't been scheduled for delivery until tomorrow. I wanted to wait and open all three boxes at the same time, which would have meant an agonizing extra-day wait. Fortunately, that didn't need to happen!

So, here are my boxes!



What could be inside? Could there be an elusive Coal in there? Or the ultimate trifecta - all three colors in one shot? Let's open the boxes!



Well, there's no Coal, sadly...but surely I got an assortment of colors?



Nope - I got the dreaded blue trifecta. While blue is my favorite color, three is too many! So I'll be looking to trade for a yellow and green. I'm not going to lie, after I unwrapped the first one, I was hoping one or two of the others would be broken so I could exchange them and hopefully get different colors, but alas, they all survived the shipping process. Hopefully I can find some trades! They aren't too bad, quality-wise - the one I kept has maybe one small flaw (other than his crooked horn, which they all suffer from), and the other two had some dings here and there, but nothing major. I've seen a lot of them arriving broken on Facebook, though, so it should go without saying that these models should have had bigger boxes. Hopefully Breyer will learn from that mistake, but I doubt it.

It was fun ordering these, though - getting three of the same color has never happened to me before, but that's the risk you take. I wonder what they'll do for Christmas next year?

Breyerfest 2019 Tickets Available Now!

Exciting news, everyone! We may be trapped in the dead of winter with no end in sight, but at least Breyerfest tickets are up for sale on the website! If only they'd shown us some of the special run models we could hope to obtain, rather than the nothing that's on the website now. How long will they drag out the reveals this year, one wonders? But I digress...

Breyerfest tickets are for sale here. New this year: ticket buyers can select the special run line times they want. This could be handy if you want to be able to pick your line times. I'm not terribly picky about those things, so I'll probably just let them pick for me. It's almost a tradition to order tickets at this point and inevitably get at least one for first thing Friday morning, and who am I to interfere with tradition?

Interesting to see the ticket designs are the same shapes as last year. Presumably the buttons and magnets will be the same way. The ticket page doesn't seem to mention whether there are wristbands again this year, though.

They're also offering the lounge above the Covered Arena again this year, this time for the increased price of $35 per day. Uh, I think I'll pass.

This year's Breyerfest will feature some major schedule changes - the Costume Contest has been moved to Friday night before the Celebration of Horses, and the Live Auction has been moved to Saturday night from 5:30-6:30 at the Hall of Champions. This is probably a good thing as it frees up Open Show participants to attend the auction, and costume contest participants won't have to frantically rush to the Alltech after the Saturday raffle. People that want to attend the auction will most likely have to go to the Friday Celebration of Horses if they want to do both activities, however. I'm not sure what our plan is for this year - we're planning on bringing our son along, so I might have to attend the Celebration of Horses and auction on my own depending on when he goes to bed.

Also, volunteer applications are also available on the website now. Applications will be accepted between January 14 and February 28 this year. I'm not planning on volunteering this year, but good luck to everyone that applies! Interestingly enough, I'm in that photo of the volunteers in blue/green shirts on the volunteer page...but I won't tell you which one I am! Haha.

In other news, the food trucks will still be located in Celebration Park this year; hopefully they're in a spot more akin to where they were in 2017, so we won't have quite as much of a hike to get to them. And there's also going to be a pop-up shop in the Covered Arena itself this year, which should be interesting.

That's about all I have for today; hopefully we get more exciting Breyerfest reveals soon!