Featured Model - 11/30/2019, Pokerjoe

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...Pokerjoe!



This unique model is a portrait of the real Pokerjoe, the trick horse owned by Tommy Turvey. He's item #1359 and was a regular run on the Adios mold sculpted by Chris Hess.

I picked this model because I've always liked his white tail! So striking, especially on the real horse. But then, I've always had a bit of a soft spot for red bays with four white stockings, so the white tail just adds to the allure.

As for the mold, I wonder when we'll see him used again? He hasn't been a web special for 10 years, but he was used at last year's Breyerfest as the autograph model. His last regular run appearance, as Cherry Creek Fonzie Merit, wasn't terribly successful despite his goofy name - I have one, but the Tuesday Morning stores were full of them for $20 if I remember right. Sheesh, I can't even remember the last time I found a Breyer at a Tuesday Morning - not that I've been looking, since I hardly ever hear about them showing up there anymore.

Anyway, will we get a new Adios soon? I wouldn't be opposed to him getting another shot in the Vintage Club. Breyer seems to be stuck on using newer molds for the Collector Club special runs, but I guess we might see him there - doubtful, though. But maybe we'll get a new web special? I wouldn't be opposed to that, either. I wonder if they'll do a new theme this year? I suppose I'm getting rather America the Beautiful'd out - it's time to see what else they can come up with. Maybe a 70th Anniversary theme? New paint jobs on old molds? I wouldn't protest that at all, since I wouldn't have to buy most of them!

Mira and Antares are here! UNICORN OVERLOAD!

Unicorns...so many unicorns lately. But...more. I must have MORE! Like Mira and Antares! Now if they only had a stallion, to match them. Duende, perhaps? But would that lead to a unicorn short-circuit? There's only one way to find out...

I like that the mare is a little darker than the foal - sometimes Breyer's mare and foal sets match each other a little too well, when that's not always the case with real horses.

Their color is really interesting - at first glance it looks like a flat bronze, but then you notice the (very subtle, on my set) purple shimmer, and the shading and dapples, and the ombre effect on the foal's horn (not as noticeable on the mare). The mare's horn seems huge!

See what I mean? Their eyes are really nicely done, too, although the shape of the mare's eyes don't match each other. I guess you wouldn't notice it unless you were specifically looking for it, but still.

Quality-wise they're both pretty good - no horribly warped legs, which is what I was afraid of. The mare has some scrapes on her barrel under the paint, and a rough spot in the paint on her front right hoof, but other than that they look pretty good. Well, other than my inner nerd screaming that foals don't usually have dapples in real life and this one does, but then again bronze-colored unicorns don't exist in real life either, so these could be anything they want, and so on.



Either way, I really like the color on these two, and I hope they use it again on something else. Can you imagine it on the Othellocorn? Swoon!

Zenith is here!

Good news, everyone! My Zenith model arrived today - behold!

Ooooh, he's pretty. Check out his other side!

I definitely like him, though (and I'm not sure why I'm saying this) I wish his pink areas were a little pinker. I really like his mane and tail!

I feel like his eyewhites may be a tad too extreme, but that could just be me. At least he has eyewhites; am I right?

Quality-wise, he leaves a little something to be desired - it looks like they got careless with the body color and slopped some of it onto the base of the horn/tail.

There's also something weird going on with his right hind hoof.

Pretty minor stuff, all things considered. I've seen reports of at least one Zenith arriving with a broken horn, so I'm glad mine didn't end up the same way, considering how tiny his box was. I've seen a lot of reports of the unicorn mare and foal set arriving with severely bent legs on the mare, so now that Zenith arrived safely, I only have to worry about that! Hopefully they get here soon. As for Zenith, he'll make a great addition to my shelves! And hopefully this release means the Show Arabian will get some more love soon.

Avoriaz selections are out!

...and I didn't get drawn. Womp womp. This is the second year in a row I haven't been drawn for the winter web special. I'll have to hope for the wait list, I guess. So I'll be frantically checking the website again on Dec. 2!

Featured Model - 11/23/2019, Navya

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...Navya!



This pretty guy was the pop-up-store Stablemate at Breyerfest 2017. He's item #711277 on the Django mold sculpted by Josine Vingerling and is one of 2,000 produced.

I really like this guy, and I must not have been the only one who did, because I seem to remember him selling out fairly quickly that year. He has a really nice (if somewhat odd) color scheme. Unfortunately, while the clearware aspect of him works pretty well, it would have looked better if the models didn't have those distracting bubbles in the plastic. Unfortunately, I don't know if there's any way to get rid of the bubbles, so it's something we'll just have to live with.

As for Django, are we ever going to get him in a realistic Friesian color? Seems odd that he was introduced way back in 2016 (okay...not really that long ago) and we still haven't seen him in solid black. Maybe we'll get one in 2020? I think we're due for new Stablemates, so I hope so. He doesn't seem the type to show up in one of Breyer's special run blind bag assortments, but I suppose it's still possible. I don't think they'd use him at the 2020 Breyerfest either, having shown up there so recently, but I wouldn't be disappointed if he was a single-day model. Hopefully we get to see next year's releases soon!

Barrington, Avoriaz and the Black Friday sale!

Wow, lots more new reveals today! First, check out Barrington, the optional model in next year's Vintage Club:

I figured it would be a Bristol, but I thought they'd use a more interesting color on him, honestly. It looks like I'm not the only one who's underwhelmed by him, judging by the reaction I've seen online. Maybe they'll gloss 30 of them? I should probably hope they don't do that, for completion's sake.

Next, the Winter Web Special has finally been revealed! Say hello to Avoriaz!

But it seems like Breyer just can't get enough of randomly shipped special runs, so say hello to Avoriaz again!



Insert obligatory grumbling about blind bags here...Anyway, she's definitely beautiful! I don't know which color I like more - I'd be happy to be drawn for either (or both) of them, spendy as they are. But at the rate they've been pumping out the releases lately, I really hope the Christmas special run is something I don't want, because I don't know how I'm going to pay for it if it's along the same vein as last year's Christmas unicorns.

Lastly, Collector Club members now have early access to Breyer's Black Friday sale! There is (or was) an array of fun goodies, including Darwin and last year's VC Stablemate, Rosemary. I was surprised to see last year's web special Goffert, Gettysburg, in the list as well - but not at all surprised to see Hawthorn, last year's woodgrain pig. Didn't I say they'd be trying to get rid of those for years to come?

Anyway, that's all I've got for today. If you're entering for Aviana Avoriaz, the entry period is only three days long, so don't dilly-dally. I can't wait to see if I'm drawn! 

Georg, Rose and Mini-Rose are here!

Good news, everyone! My Georg and Rose set finally arrived (well, they've been here for a few days now), and I finally got some time to write about them. I'll start with Georg!

I really, really like this guy. Despite the banged tail, he's definitely handsome (and a chonk)!

If I had my way, he'd only have mane on one side of his neck, but that's a minor nitpick (along with the banged tail). He has a handsome face and I really like his topline and the way he's standing. And color me surprised that the painters actually managed to more-or-less pull off Sommer's paint job!

Quality-wise, he's very, very good - I didn't see a thing wrong with him, although the bottom edge of his dappled area could have been blended into the body color a little better - it stops a little abruptly for my tastes.

Next, let's see Rose and Mini-Rose!



Magnolia's millionth release of the year is actually quite pretty, with the silver and rosy pink. I'm hoping the models for next year don't use the same aesthetic as the current ones, though - the glitter flaking off them is getting old, as is the simplistic paint jobs. I didn't join the club just to help pay for more Mini Whinny molds I don't collect, so let's hope they mix things up a little bit next year.



I didn't see anything particularly egregiously wrong with these two, other than the warped legs on Mini Rose (but I suspect that's pretty common with the bendy plastic they use). I'm surprised the model can even still stand, really.

That's all I have for today - let's hope we find out what that upcoming web special is soon. So much for finding out "very soon," huh?

2020 Stablemates Club is now open for membership, and we have the outlines!

Exciting news today - the 2020 Stablemates Club is finally open to join! And Breyer graciously showed us the silhouettes of next year's molds!



I wonder if they'll fill in one of the silhouettes each week or something? I'm interested to see what that Alborozo will be? I really, really hope he isn't the gambler's choice, though...hopefully it's the Cob so I don't have to bother with it. I won't need him or the G1 Arabian Stallion, but I have to have that Darwin! I'm excited to see what the G2 Warmblood looks like too. Hopefully they aren't too stingy with the details!

Mira and Antares, and a Christmas miracle!

Exciting news, everyone! The unicorn mare and foal set I posted about last week is now available to order! Say hello to Mira and Antares!



My holiday catalog from Breyer did come yesterday, but I didn't have time to post the picture of this set. Speaking of which, the catalog also featured this bay Haflinger I also posted about last week - A Pony For Christmas:

I didn't buy him, but I did snag the mare and foal set as soon as I could. This time I remembered to try to use the collector club discount code (no luck there), but they do qualify for the free shipping, so at least there's that (at least, the mare and foal did - I don't know if the pony does).

In other news, my constellation unicorns arrived today, and....it's a genuine Christmas miracle! Behold:



I got all four! Woohoo! I was expecting I'd probably get four of the Clydesdale, but fortunately that didn't happen! Yay!

I'm still not forgiving Breyer for the sea of blind bags (and the sea of trash it produces), but this at least helps.

That's all I have for today - I'm hoping we find out the 2020 releases and the optional model for the 2020 Vintage Club soon, though.

Featured Model - 11/16/2019, Darwin

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...Darwin!



This little guy was the free Stablemate for last year's Premier Club. He's a miniature version of the full-sized Dundee. He's item #90191 and was sculpted by Kelly Sealey. While we don't know how many were produced, I wouldn't think it would be much more than 1,000.

Darwin was introduced at the end of last year, and since then he was used as Andante at this year's Breyerfest. It was recently revealed that he'll appear in the 2020 Stablemate Club in a black leopard Appaloosa color (probably intended to be a Knabstrupper or something similar), but I'm wondering when/if we're ever going to get him in his intended color: a Lipizzaner. Considering we still haven't gotten a solid black Django, it could be a while, but I hope we get one in the new regular runs for next year.

Other than that, where might we see Darwin pop up? If Breyer stays on their blind bag, unicorn, or unicorn blind bag kicks, we might see him there. I doubt he'll be at Breyerfest, unless he's some type of prize for the custom contest. Anything else seems unlikely. Maybe we'll get a new shadowbox with him in it? That would be the best! I'm going to cross my fingers for that.

Holiday mare and foal set, Winter web special and more!

So it turns out Zenith was just the first of today's exciting reveals! First, the colors of the 2020 Vintage Club In-Between Mare, Zahra, were released:



Well...at least the colors are pretty...especially the glossy ones...but that's the most I can say about them. She's just so...well...let's just say I won't be searching them out on the secondary market. Is it just me, or do her eyes look too big for her face?

Edit: I forgot there was also a hint about the 2020 Vintage Club's optional model - something about him "leaping into our hearts" or something along those lines. Considering the Newsworthy and Jumping Horse molds have both already been used for the VC, could this mean we're getting a Bristol? Exciting!

Next, a hint for the upcoming Winter Web Special was revealed in the Collector Club newsletter that was emailed to CC members today:



I appreciate the correct usage of "peek." Looks like some kind of bronze or rose gold filigree? Opinions are mixed on what it is, but it looks like Carrick to me. Hopefully we find out soon!

Lastly, there was another surprise reveal today - Breyer's holiday catalogs are going out, and there's some exciting new things in there! I don't have photos I can use yet, but there's a delightful dark bronze/bay Hermosa and Corazon unicorn set named Mira and Antares, and a blood bay Haflinger with a cute little blanket. Hopefully we get our catalogs soon!

Holy crap, a new release on the Show Arabian!

Exciting news, everyone - I've been waiting for this day for years! Say hello to Zenith, the new limited edition unicorn on the Show Arabian mold!



He's definitely a must-buy. I have to say, though, he almost has a Minnesota Vikings theme going on in his color scheme. Good thing he has some pink to avoid that. On the other hand, how cool would it be if the gold was blue instead? Dang, I like the thought of that better than the actual model. Oh well - I still ordered one! Get him now before he sells out!

Another test model!

Just in case Breyer hasn't already taken everyone's money, there's another test model to enter for on the website!



Ooh, she's pretty! If I were still a Wixom collector, I'd be all over her (le sigh). The entry deadline is 11/17, so don't waste any time entering for her!

2020 Premier Club is open for membership!

Good news, everyone! The 2020 Premier Club is now open for business!



Ooh, that face! I definitely think Altynai needs to come to my house and stay here forever. He's so handsome! I'm lese excited about Lynn Fraley and Kylee Parks as the other two sculptors for the year (neither's style appeals to me, but I suppose there could be exceptions), but that's not a bad thing - my wallet will thank me, in any case.

Now if Breyer would just show us the rest of next year's Stablemates Club releases and open that up for signups, I'd be all over this! I like to group that stuff together, so I'll wait until the SMC is open to renew my Collector Club memberships and join the Premier Club.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...

It's another day in Breyerland, and we all know what that means - more blind bags!

Oh, joy. What do we get to try our luck on this time?

Well, they didn't get me with the Halloween blind bags, but they done got me with these unicorns on the mini Alborozo (again), the G2 Clydesdale (again), Magnolia (again) and the new Warmblood Mare (again). And all for $25 a pop? What a bargain! Or not...

Unfortunately, I was a dumb idiot and ordered four of them, because I'm a glutton for punishment. At least the shipping was free? I hate to complain here, since I hate all the complaining in this hobby in general, but there are at least three things to be angry about here.

First - USE SOME NEW MOLDS, for Pete's sake. This is the tenth new release for the mini Alborozo in the less than two years he's been available as a Stablemate, and I feel sorry for anyone collecting mini Magnolia - it's the twelfth release for her in the same time period! And we're tired of seeing the G2 Clydesdale as a unicorn - give them a rest already. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say there are dozens of Stablemate molds that haven't been given the unicorn treatment - use them! Or just stop making unicorns altogether if you'd rather do that (but don't do that, I still love unicorns in general)!

Second, are these really worth $25 each? The Fairytale Friends club releases might be worth that much, if you include the cost of the new Mini Whinny molds, but I'm not sure the paint job on these is worth the money. And then we're supposed to be happy that they at least qualify for free shipping?

Third, can we please stop with the blind-bag-everything Breyer is so high on lately? I'm seriously considering calling them tomorrow and canceling my order, because honestly? The only way they're going to stop is if we vote with our wallets and refuse to keep enabling these business practices. I've already decided I'm not going to bother with the regular run blind bag Stablemates next year, if there are any new ones, because I want to be able to just buy what I want without ending up with extras of everything or not getting the ones I do want. It's exploitative, a waste of money, and in the end it's just greedy of Breyer, and I'm tired of it. The randomly shipped/gambler's choice/blind bag conundrum has infiltrated pretty much everything Breyer does (the Christmas Day releases, the Breyerfest surprises, the Vintage Club, so many Collector Club releases of the last few years, the glossy/matte or braided/unbraided Premier Club releases), I wouldn't be surprised if they try to convert everything to that model just to further their business. No thanks.

That rant ended up being a lot longer than I intended it to be, but I think it needed to be said. I don't know if I'll actually cancel my order or not, but the whole thing is just making me angry. If (when) there are more blind bag releases in the future, let's hope I can't get fooled again...

Featured Model - 11/9/2019, Hal

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 on it. This week's model is...Hal!



This guy is still relatively new - he was one of the Store Specials at this year's Breyerfest. He's item #711366 on the Dundee mold sculpted by Kitty Cantrell, with 1250 models produced.

Despite my rather poor photo of him, this model's paintjob is actually pretty nice - he isn't just flat chestnut, but has a lot of shading. Too bad the real Hal doesn't have more white - I'd personally prefer to see a sock or two and a blaze, but I guess we have to take what we can get.

I'm excited to see what Breyer does with Dundee in the coming years, provided he doesn't get lost in the shuffle of new molds we get every year (looking at you, Falhofnir and the Fell Pony). I'm excited to see the Collector Club special run on him next year - that rose grey is delightful!

So, where else might we see Dundee in the near future? Probably not at Breyerfest, since he was just there last year. Maybe as a web special? 2014 seemed like the year of the Gofferts, so it 's not unheard of that he could be used for multiple releases. I'd lean more toward web special myself, or perhaps some kind of holiday release. I guess we'll have to wait and see!

Another Vintage Club 2020 reveal!

Breyer must have gotten the hint from last year that we didn't like not getting to see the whole year's models up front, like they'd done for several years prior to that. It's almost like people want to see what they're buying before they pay for it or something. Weird, huh? Anyway, today the color for the bubblebutt Belgian was revealed - meet Josiah!



While I'm not a fan of the Belgian, he looks amazing in this color. Dare I hope we see something else like this down the line? Something for Christmas, perhaps? Food for thought. Anyway, I hope they reveal the optional model soon, so I know if I need to buy it!

Aaaaaand Georg is now available!

As I suspected...Georg is now available for Premier Club members to purchase on the website! Find him under Club Home.




I bundled him with my Rose, so it looks like next week is going to be a fun mail week! I'm excited to see them. I'm not as excited about those dapples on Georg, though...hopefully mine doesn't look like that.

The next release in the Fairytale Friends Club is available!

Attention, members of the Glitter Unicorn Club! Rose is now available for purchase!


It's Magnolia and her (presumably new mold) doppelganger! I have to say,  I really like Rose's color, despite my general dislike for pink. Sadly, I don't collect Magnolia or Mini Whinnies, so my set will be for sale. Hopefully Breyer gives Mini Magnolia a break soon, because they're going to wear out the mold soon if they don't! Sheesh.

Alas, I'm not going to purchase my set right away anyway - I'm expecting Georg to be released later this week, so I might as well wait and see if I can combine shipping on them. Hope they release him soon!

Featured Model - 11/2/2019, Goblin

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...Goblin!



This spooky mare was the Halloween Classic model for 2017. She's item #712230 on the Harper mold sculpted by Sommer Prosser. We never got word on how many were produced, as has been happening more and more with a lot of special runs.

While the reaction to this girl was mixed, I think she's fun - mostly because her "goblins" remind me of the "Aaahh!! Real Monsters" TV show that aired on Nick back in the day. And I like the contrast of the purple and pearly white/green on the rest of her. Plus, she has snake eyes! Creepy.

As for the Harper mold, she's had a lot of use since her 2016 debut, but we haven't seen her at Breyerfest yet. Could 2020 be the year? We'll find out! I also wouldn't mind seeing her as some type of collector club special run - maybe not as a gambler's choice, though.

I'm not going to lie; I've been getting tired of doing Featured Model posts every week. Last night, however, I looked through some of my back issue of JAH trying to find an old article about the In-Between Mare, which gave me an idea about possibly replacing Featured Model with something called, "Featured JAH," in which I would pull out old issues of JAH and scan the cover and some of the inside pages, then feature those instead of my models. I feel like there's a lot of hobby information that gets posted over and over again due to the constant influx of new people in the hobby; so, I wonder if reposting some of those old articles would help that information permeate into the hobby. Let me know your thoughts!