The May Collector Club newsletter!

Well, leave it to Breyer to wait until the very end of the month (again) to release this month's Collector Club newsletter! If you're a CC member, check your email to read it. There's a fun story about Altynai's creation, another new My Collector Story, an Altynai giveaway, and another (groan) sneak peek! Suffice it to say I'm tired of sneak peeks...but I'll leave it at that. Here it is!



This is one of the upcoming Mid-Year releases that'll be revealed in June. What could it be? Looks like a shoulder/neck to me. This is probably a good place to talk about the supposedly-reliable rumor that the Saddlebred stallion Marc of Charm would be a Breyerfest store special on Hamilton. Obviously that store special never materialized, but I'm wondering if the horse's owners got a little confused about how the model would be released? Maybe he'll be a mid-year release instead - those models are typically first available at Breyerfest, so it's possible Breyer told them "He'll be available at Breyerfest," and then they (or we) thought that meant he'd be a store special. I mean, he's probably not this sneak peek, because he's not a roan, but it's definitely a possibility. Yes, the palomino Hamilton is part of the 70th Anniversary Collection right now, but that will probably only run until the end of the year, so it wouldn't be a big deal if the two releases overlapped for six months. I certainly can't wait to see this year's mid-year releases!

The last (I hope...) sneak peek!

Good news, readers! There's yet another sneak peek on the blog! I really hope this is the last one, because I'm getting tired of sneak peeks. Anyway, on to the peek!



Well, at least we can somewhat tell what it is this time. I thought it was a Stablemate G2 Cantering Warmblood at first glance, but more astute investigators on the Internets think that spotted butt actually belongs to the Stablemate G2 Thoroughbred painted like the raffle model Windswept. Good eye!

This, of course, begs the question...is this model part of some sort of Stablemate raffle-model-mini-me set? Exciting! I certainly wouldn't say no to that. Unfortunately, we have to wait until at least Monday to find out the answer...

Guess I was wrong!

So Monday's teaser has been revealed...and I was wrong! It is a Stablemate!

His name is Éire, and he's the Stablemate for the Fling! pop-up-shop. I guess that shamrock isn't too intricate for a Stablemate after all. It would be nice if his eyes were more detailed, though. I guess my opinion doesn't really matter that much, since I'm not going to buy it anyway (he's a bit blah for my tastes, and I don't like his tail). He's supposed to be clearware, though, so I bet he'll look spectacular in person.

So that just leaves one reveal - I wonder what it is? We've got our Classic, our crystal and our Stablemate - what else is there? Hopefully we find out next week? Or this week? This week would be good too.

Another day, another sneak peek...

I hope everyone had a good Memorial Day! It really doesn't feel like a Monday today. Anyway, since we're getting so close to virtual Breyerfest, we have a new sneak peek on the blog...



Looks like a hindquarter, but I can't tell any more than that. Probably not a Stablemate, since that would be a really intricate design for something so small? I wonder what it is...maybe they're doing another Classic? Two green Classics would be weird though. I guess we'll find out!

Featured Model - 5/23/20, Celestine

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...Celestine!



This beautiful girl was the 2018 Holiday Horse, Celestine. She was a regular run (as far as I know) and was item #700121 on the Carina mold sculpted by Brigitte Eberl.

I picked Celestine because I love her color so much! I know it's not realistic, but I hope we see this again someday on another mold. She's somewhat similar to Snow Princess, so we might be waiting a while to see the color again, I guess. I really like her blue eyes, though! Maybe someday we'll see a repeat on another mold.

Carina herself is also a pretty mold - she's been rather lightly used since her 2017 debut, but she and Selene did finally get a regular run release this year with the Airiella/Favory Airiella set, so that's something. She was also used as the rose gold charm/rose gold filigree winter web special Avoriaz at the end of last year (curse my terrible luck!), so she definitely hasn't been idle lately. She just has a lot of quiet elegance about her, and she's so cool and collected. I especially like her just-slightly-swishy tail.

Where will we see Carina next? Probably not as a web special or Breyerfest special run anytime soon, and she's in the RR line now, but maybe we'll get a collector club special run or something. Time will tell!

Kelpie!

Good news - the crystal hint has been revealed! It's Bouncer!

Like I said yesterday, I don't envy anyone trying to buy one of these. I have a feeling there are going to be a lot of broken ones this year...

Sage, sneak peeks, and Breyerfest updates!

Lots of new today, readers! First off: Sage, the final release in the Fairytale Friends Club (at least for now) is now available, so make sure to get her/them ordered!



I'll note here that Sage is indeed referred to as a mare, and she's on the new Stablemate Warmblood Mare who keeps being referred to as a stallion for some reason, so...the new mold should really be called the Warmblood Mare, since that's...what it is, and I'm not sure what's been causing the confusion, since all of her releases so far have been mares. Anyway, her companion for this set is the Spanish Barb, transformed into a Mini Whinny! Exciting stuff, though I'll be selling the Mini Whinny and hoping he makes another appearance as a Stablemate someday.

Now that the Fairytale Friends Club's first year has been completed, I'll just say that I hope they put some better paint jobs on the models if they do it again. Pastels and glitter might work for a $4 Walmart release, but people expect something a little more complicated than that for $25 a pop. Let's hope Breyer takes those ideas into consideration!

In other news, I can't believe I forgot to post about all this yesterday, but there's a new sneak peek on the blog (Reiterating that I'm tired of sneak peeks - just post the thing!):



Clearly it's the crystal, but which one? It kind of looks like the back of a shoulder/part of a belly, but I don't know what it could be. Once again, the photo is cropped too closely to tell what it is. Hopefully we see it tomorrow! I don't envy people trying to buy crystals this year, though, what with all the fragility and shipping through the postal system and all. Fun times!

In other news, more Breyerfest updates have also been posted on the blog. I'm not going to try to sum everything up here, but Bonus Benefits for ticket holders have been posted here (free raffle tickets, woo!), and an explanation of model categories is here. Also, Jaime has a new video explaining some more of the benefits here (apologies if you're unable to watch that one; I wish they'd post it on YouTube). Lots of exciting stuff in store to be sure, and even some fun items for international collectors that can't participate in raffles and contests!

Altynai: Horse, or dancer?

Good news, everyone! My Altynai model is here - behold!

I've seen a lot of posts online calling him a long boi, and that's definitely not an exaggeration - he's definitely long! I haven't actually compared him to Yasmin, but I'm guessing he could definitely give her a run for her money.

But the first thing that comes to my mind when I look at him isn't his length - rather, it's that he looks like he's wondering, in the (slightly modified) timeless words of The Killers, "Are we horse, or are we dancer?" Things to consider.

Anyway, this guy is definitely pretty! I love his dark shading on the shoulders. I've seen a lot of variation online and was hoping to get a dark one, and he doesn't disappoint in that regard! He has to be one of the more unique Breyer sculptures we've gotten in the last few years - usually you don't see them stretched out like that, and he's loaded with details besides! I noticed his hooves aren't carved, though, which is kind of confusing considering the amount of detail he has everywhere else. Just a little odd.

I like his blue eyes, but...again with the pink eyewhites? I was hoping that particular trend would go by the wayside, but I guess not. But I guess that's a pretty small thing to complain about.

Quality-wise, he isn't the best...he's got a partial fingerprint on his left flank and some other small issues, but I don't know if I want to bother sending him back. At first I thought he was worse, but what I thought was little back flecks of debris in the paint on both his flanks turned out to just be grime or something that rubbed off easily, so I guess that was good. Still a little disappointing, though. Maybe someday I can trade with a customizer and get a minty-mint dark one. Here's hoping...

Bilberry and the Dyflin winners!

Well, looks like I struck out twice today. The Dyflin winners were revealed on the blog today - nothing here, sadly. Maybe someday I'll win an early bird, or a raffle model...But congratulations to the winners! One of them (that we know of) is a Blabber, so at least there's that.

Also today, the winners of the Bilberry purchase lottery were announced! ...And none of our accounts were drawn for that either. Bleh...my luck has not been very good with those lately. I'm not interested in paying double or triple for him, so I guess I'll hope for the waitlist. Congratulations to all the winners!

Featured Model - 5/16/20, Rosalind

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...Rosalind!

This pretty girl is item #712235 and was part of a set with the matching Gilen foal Rigel, both sculpted by Brigitte Eberl. She was released in 2017, but the piece count on them was never released by Breyer (Grr, they've been doing a lot of that lately).

I picked this girl because she was released in the fall of 2017, shortly after my son was born, and thinking about it reminded me of what it was like when he was a tiny baby, and it made me happy. Anyway, she's definitely a beauty! At first glance she looks like another white unicorn, but on further inspection, she does have nice peachy undertones and subtle dapples - and I love the spiral detail on her horn. Clearly I wasn't the only one who liked the set, because they sold out pretty quickly.

Where will we see another new Giselle (and perhaps Gilen) set? She does occasionally get used without him, so it's not a given that we'll see him. She was last seen as the web special Teton last year, so I doubt she'll be another one anytime soon. She was last used (in an obtainable way) at Breyerfest in 2010, so it's not out of the question that she'll show up there. I don't think she's popular enough to be the surprise model, but you never know (my guess for this year is still the Cleveland Bay). The GG Valentine and Heartbreaker set was finally retired last year after a healthy 9-year run (practically an eternity these days), so maybe they'll get another RR release. I guess it's anyone's guess! I wouldn't mind seeing her as a TSC special run, honestly. I guess we'll find out eventually!

Quarantini, really?

So the virtual Seattle Soiree Zoom meetings happened today, for the people lucky enough to be drawn to attend said event, and the winners of the centerpiece models were revealed!



And apparently his name is...Quarantini. Okay...I don't know if that was really the best name they could have gone with (obviously it was changed). Maybe I'm being too sensitive? But I feel like doing things like this is making light of a very serious situation. I mean, we've had more than 80,000 deaths in the US alone due to this; should we really be jokingly naming models after it? Bleh.

He is pretty, though! Congratulations to everyone who won one!

Glossy CC Appreciation model and PC/VC blind bags!

Good news, everyone - my glossy CC Appreciation model from the second round is here! It seems like I've been waiting for an eternity, so I was super excited to open the box. I was making an effort to open the box without looking at the contents, so I ripped through the tape, got the box open, pulled out the packing paper and started feeling at the model box to pull it out, desperately hoping to get a glossy LV Integrity but fully expecting to find a glossy King instead. This box feels really skinny, I thought. Could it be? So I pulled it out and...glossy LV Integrity!



Just what I wanted! I was also hoping for a glossy Khalid, and by the look of things I probably should have been hoping for him instead - it looks like they might be more rare (thus, more difficult to buy) than the Integritys. Oh well - it could have been a King instead!

She's definitely beautiful with a coat of gloss, though! And yes - mine is also a she. My matte Integrity is a gelding, so I guess I get to have both of them! Maybe someday I'll track down a matte mare.

And yes, my entertainment center is getting crowded. I tend to let new models build up there so I can photograph them all as a group before I put them away on the shelves. There are more above these, plus I have to put last year's Premier Club models on the shelves when Altynai gets here. But I digress...

The glossy Integrity seems to be much more metallic than my matte one, not that I'm complaining. With the coat of gloss, she seems like she glows! Just beautiful.



The gloss seems much less haphazardly done than it was on the 2018 glossy CC appreciation models, so that's a bonus, too. And I didn't see any other quality issues, either, aside from typical factory flaws. I can't wait to put her on my shelf!

In other news, Breyer apparently STILL has leftover Premier club models from 2013 and onward, so if you're a current PC member and interested in entering a lottery for those, check your Club account! They've got Vintage Club models too, for current VC members. Not a risk I'd be willing to take, personally (they're all blind bags, and there are probably a ton of Clara and Mae sets in there).

Bilberry!

Whoa, what a shock! We got a new Berries Pony today! I guess it was about time, but I was still surprised:



He's a Bouncer! I wondered if they'd ever use him for a Web Special. And he can be yours, for the low, low price of...$160! Sheesh, that's a lot of money to spend on something as small as Bouncer. I guess I'll be entering anyway, but jeez...

Anyway, I do like him, especially his stripey tail and black feet. At first I thought he was just a plain black-and-white leopard, but on closer inspection he does have some pinking going on, so that's nice. Too bad they didn't gloss him so he'd look more like a mini of Rialto! Oh well. Good luck to everyone entering!

Plush reveal and swag preorders!

Greetings, everyone! We got a reveal of last week's furry sneak peek - check it out!



Say hello to MacKenzie! He's definitely cute, but an easy pass for me.

In other news, the Fling! Souvenir Shop's swag is now available for preorder. Check that out here. Some of that stuff does catch my eye, but the shipping is a little steep. Looks like everything has to be preordered by May 31 though, so I'll have to think about it some more (personally, I think it's a few years too late for the Game of Thrones stuff, and season 8 ruined the whole series for me anyway, so I'm really only interested in the tank tops).

Featured Model - 5/9/2020, Red Christmas Candy

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 Christmas Candy zebra!



This tasty-looking girl is item #712304. She was part of the Christmas Candy Zebras release from last December and was a run of 500 on the Zebra mold sculpted by Kristina Lucas Francis.

I like this model because many of us had been clamoring for candy cane zebras for years and finally got them! I'll admit I didn't expect to get any colors other than red/white and green/white, so the blue/white and gold/white were a nice surprise. Plus they did the delectable Licorice! I love them, though I still haven't found a blue/white one for my collection yet. Maybe someday!

In the meantime, will we see a new release on the Zebra anytime soon? They had to run 2,000+ blanks to make this run, so theoretically they've got some more waiting in the wings. This run was only the third/fourth time the mold has been used since its introduction 20 years ago, though, so it could be a while. I hope we get a new Zebra in the regular run lineup, though - surely their masking techniques have improved enough since 2000 to get a more accurate one? Or a regular run Quagga or something? That would be pretty cool. Let's hope we get something soon!

Nayati models and a new Classic unicorn!

Greetings, everyone! Good news - my Nayati models came! I had fun unboxing them all - here are some photos for your enjoyment. First, the three boxes...

The suspense was killing me. What if I got three of the same color, like the three blue Othellocorns? What a headache. I thought maybe I'd get lucky and only two of them would be the same color.

Hmm, I see some spots in there, and some not-spots. Could it be? Did I hit the trifecta?

SCORE!!! I got all three colors! Time to go buy a lottery ticket!

While I like all three colors, I think the dunalino is my favorite, followed by the bay pinto. Not to say I don't like the leopard - the color is definitely growing on me. I think the pinto would have been spectacular if he was also glossy, but they probably did that for the people who don't like gloss.

It's hard to see, but the pinto does have a blue eye (along with some weird paint issues on his chest/shoulder). A lot of people think Breyer's blue eyes look weird, but I like them most of the time.

Like I said, the leopard is growing on me too. If I could only get my hands on a Jackpot, this guy would have a twin! Oh well.



I love the shading on the dunalino...and I don't even like palomino models that much! This guy would make a nice companion for Cheveyo, or a glossy Cheveyo if I had one of those. Maybe someday! In the meantime, this guy has a very appealing color. I hope we see it again sometime!

In other news, there's a new Classic-size unicorn showing up at Walmart. I don't have a photo I can use yet, but it's a white unicorn with rainbow mane/tail on the American Quarter Horse Stallion mold by Moody, and his name is Sugar. Nothing I need to buy (the mold has always looked weird and awkward to me), but he's definitely pretty!

Plush sneak peek and Altynai!

Good news, everyone! There's another new teaser on the Breyerfest blog!

 

It, uh...looks a little scandalous. I wonder whose idea that was...

Well, anyway, it's clearly the plush, and in what appears to be a non-decorator? Should be interesting.

In other news, the first release of the 2020 Premier Club, Altynai, is available to order!



Can't wait to see what mine looks like! Let's hope he's not as ridiculously long as he looks.

Single-Day tickets and Custom Contest reveals!

Exciting news, everyone! Single-Day Breyerfest tickets are now available, including the 4-pack! Find them here.  As a reminder, the only way to get all four Stablemates is to buy the 4-pack, which includes a Breyerfest 2020 magnet. If you buy four tickets separately, the Stablemates you get will be randomly selected, so you might not get the ones you want. So make sure to buy the 4-pack before they sell out! 4-packs are limited to two per purchase!

In other news, Monday's sneak peeks have been revealed: they're the Custom Contest prizes! Firstly, meet Cornwall, the grand prize:

He's Latigo, but in black! I guessed it would be Hamilton in black, so at least I was close. And whew, this is one I don't want.

Next, let's take a look at the finalists' prize, Breton:



Like many others on the Internets...ugh, there goes my conga. He's Darwin, but in black...but...my conga...you'll have to excuse me while I go mourn a little bit.

Okay, anyway, those are the prizes! Interesting that the diorama contest and the custom contest seem to be going full steam ahead with the limited, expensive prizes, but not the live show...

More Breyerfest Updates

So, Breyer has posted some new information on the blog about how things are going to work this year. With regards to the special run line, it looks like we'll have two preference options - the "Master List," where you submit all of your ticket preferences at once, and models for all of your tickets are selected based on that, or the "Preference by ticket" option, where you make all of your selections individually by ticket. Which...I guess helps - I would probably take the Master List option - but I'm still wondering how the surprise models are being handled. The blog says if your top selections aren't available, they'll go down the list and try to avoid duplicates, but...the surprise model is the one item in the list that people are going to want duplicates of. Does this mean you can only get one surprise model no matter how many tickets you have? I'm not a fan of that scenario, and if that does turn out to be the case, I want to know what the surprise mold is ahead of time so I can prioritize properly.

Next, there's also been an update on the model horse shows - the Open Show is still happening, and participants can enter an unlimited number of classes (only 2 entries per class). The prizes this year will be randomly-selected Spring or Mid-Year Release models for the sectional winners and randomly-selected Breyerfest special runs for the overall champs. So...probably a lot of stuff they haven't been able to clear out of their warehouse previously.

Lastly, there's an update about the 5K! It's taking place online and will still happen on July 12 - you just do your run at home and then submit your times. Fun stuff!

That's all I have for today - hopefully we can get some more information about the special run line conundrum soon.

More sneak peeks, and a special run line update!

Breyer put a couple of new sneak peeks on the blog today. Here's the first one:



And here's the other:



Live show grand and reserve prizes, I presume? I'm not seeing a lot of speculation about them, and (as usual) they're cropped so tightly you can't tell what they are. I hope we find out soon!

In other news, they've announced how the Breyerfest special run tickets are going to work - they're using the same (apparently successful) model they used to distribute the Seattle Soiree special runs. I'm not sure how I feel about it, honestly - I feel like we need to be able to change what models we want, or we'll just end up with multiples of some and none of others, depending on how our luck falls. I suppose I'll just rearrange my preferences for some of my tickets in hopes I don't end up with duplicates? I wish they'd show us the surprise model in advance, so I'd know if I even need one or not.

In other other news, they've also announced what they're going to do with the centerpiece models from the canceled Seattle Soiree - they're holding a virtual costume party! Each color group will have five winners randomly drawn and the centerpiece model shipped to them. I hope it's something fun! The party happens on May 15, so if you're in that lucky group, don't forget to dress up!

Featured Model - 5/2/2020, Justify

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. In honor of today being Derby Day, today's model is...Justify!

This handsome guy is item #9300 and was/is a regular run on the Carrick mold sculpted by Sue Sifton.

This was only the second time Carrick has been used as a portrait model, shortly following the 2018 Breyerfest Celebration Model Brass Hat. I think chestnut looks pretty good on him! I don't think Carrick is quite massive enough to really portray Justify, but there aren't a lot of molds that are, that haven't already been done to death as portrait models. Does this mean Breyer needs more Thoroughbred molds? Sure, why not?

As for Carrick himself, I know he has his problems (mostly with his legs), but he's still one of my favorite of the Premier Club molds we've gotten so far. He's still in the regular run line, so I really hope we don't see him show up as a live show prize for Breyerfest anytime soon. But I guess they already used him for the glossy Cortes C prize a few years ago, so it's probably unlikely. He won't show up as a Berries Pony either, for obvious reasons, so it's hard to say where we'll see him next. Maybe as a collector club special run in the latter half of the year? We've yet to see him in a nice dun or dark/dapple gray, so something like that could be nice. Either way, I hope he gets another new release soon!

It's the Jolly Green Giant!

Woohoo, I finally got a prediction right! Behold, the pop-up store Classic for Breyerfest 2020!



From the blog:

Say hello to this year’s Freedom Series-scale decorator model – Greenman!  Done on Melanie Miller’s Walking Draft Horse, mold #668, this mossy-colored model painted with a splatter technique features a horned Greenman on his barrel - a nod to the ancient Celtic god Cernunnos - with a face made of lush oak leaves and surrounded by flitting fairies.

Wheel of Time readers might also recognize him...heh heh. Anyway, this guy isn't anything I need, but it's definitely a clever design. I was almost expecting him to be a unicorn, since the unicorn is Scotland's national animal, but that must have been a bridge too far.

 

I'm excited to see what else is in store for the pop-up store, though!

Florian and Cystalline and Fabio, oh my!

Greetings, readers! My Crystalline model has arrived (as well as Florian and Fabio)! Hooray! Okay, they've all been here for a few days now,  but I've been too busy to post about them until now. First, let's take a look at Florian!

I love that he has the tiniest of blue eyes! It's amazing the kind of detail they can get on Stablemates these days.

He's definitely a handsome guy! He makes a good addition to my G2 Warmblood conga. But this release leaves me wondering which future one is going to be the matte/glossy - the decorator? Or maybe the G2 Arabian? Hmm, that might make all of mine easier to sell. I guess we'll hopefully find out in June.

Next, let's look at Crystalline!

Did anyone else notice Crystalline's box design is identical to Prism's? I thought that was neat. Asfor Crystalline herself, this one is another home run as far as I'm concerned. She's beautiful!

I love the color transition from blue to purple on her mane. Can we see more of that, please?

I like the way her pink tail fades out to white, too. You know, now that I think about it, it would be fun if Breyer brought some actual "decorator" horses to Breyerfest some year. You know, just take a white (or white-gray) horse and some non-toxic paint/dye and just go to town on it. I'd love to see a real-life Crystalline! Make it happen, Breyer! Maybe that's easier said than done, though...

Anyway, let's move on to Fabio!

Hubba hubba indeed. Splash pinto is definitely a knockout on this model, and he's not nearly as orange as the prototype! And, I love his slightly-pearly tail! Wins all around.

Part of me just wishes he'd been glossy, but I guess we can't have glossy everything. They'll probably gloss one for the Breyerfest silent auction just to spite me.



Florian and Crystalline were both pretty nice quality-wise, but Fabio has a few booboos. Nothing major or worth sending him back over (and the point is moot, because there aren't any replacements left). Lots of things have been selling out lately - is Breyer just that on point with the new releases, or are people just bored at home and looking for things to buy? I guess we'll find out if/when the stay-at-home orders are lifted. In the meantime, keep coming out with the incredible releases, Breyer!