The September Collector Club newsletter is out!

Just in time for October to begin, the September Collector Club newsletter has been released! If you're a  Collector Club member, check your email (possibly your spam folder) to read it! Lots of exciting stuff in here - there's an article about the In-Between Mare! Check out these amazing tests for Zahra:

Sheesh. I would bet money that one of those shows up in the Breyerfest live auction next year, or possibly the silent auction. That silver bay is incredible! Any guesses as to what she'd sell for? Holy moly. 

 Also, Breyer is doing a giveaway of one random Zahra to a lucky winner! Click here to enter. Most excitingly, we have a new sneak peek! 

It's a release for October, and my first thought was the final Premier Club model of the year...but those usually come out in November, so I'm not really sure about that. Wait a minute - the last Premier Club release is a splash pinto, so scratch that. Maybe it's the second Collector Club special run of the year? We haven't seen anything about that yet. They've been doing two special runs per year for so long, I can't imagine they'd stop now. But is that level of detail something they'd put on a CC SR? Who knows. Hopefully we don't have to wait forever to find out! 

Halloween Stablemates are here!

 Good news, everyone! Well, I'll get straight to the point - my Halloween Stablemates are here! 

As you can see, I got a nice assortment across the four bags I purchased. Which is good, because I wouldn't have been happy if I'd gotten four Poltergeists. But anyway...

I still think the blind bags need to be done away with, but I'll admit it's still fun to open them and see what you got.

It's hard to see, but mini Twilight Terror has a little Skullduggery on his butt, just like the original. I can't believe the amount of detail they squeezed onto these guys. Also, I'm glad Breyer is continuing to expand their Halloween line - it was only a few years ago when we weren't getting anything at all for a while, ostensibly because they'd "run out of ideas." 

Quality-wise, they're all pretty nice - one of the Night Mares is tippy due to a warped hind leg, but otherwise they're good. I've seen a lot of these arriving with broken legs, so I was a little worried - hopefully people can get those replaced without too much trouble. But these little guys are definitely a win - I hope we get more mini Halloween models in the future! 

Featured Model - 9/26/2020, Devil's Food

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Model, the weekly blog event where I pick a model I don't own but would like to, give some stats on it and provide commentary about it. This week's model is....Devil's Food! 

This pretty girl was the Breyerfest Overall Grand Champion prize back at Breyerfest 2009. She's item #711449, and was a run of 9 on the Bluegrass Bandit mold sculpted by Kathleen Moody and Sommer Prosser.

While I don't own a Devil's Food, she's one of those ultimate holy grails I can only hope to someday get my hands on. IDYB's photo of her isn't the best, but you can still see those pretty dapples amongst the black. She's stunning, and her name suits her really well! Maybe someday my prince(ss) will come...but until then, I'll have to admire her from afar. I'll admit it's hard to screw up a glossy black paint job - that's another one we don't get very often, for some reason. 

As for Bluegrass Bandit, she's definitely cartoony. But maybe that's why I like her? I've always had a fondness for Disney animated movies, after all. Her latest release was the TSC special run Stella, so she's been used recently enough that I could hope she shows up as a web special. She hasn't been on RR shelves since the Bear run ended in 2013, though, so maybe she'll get another regular run release? She was a web special in 2012 and 2015, so maybe RR is more likely. If not, there's always Breyerfest! 

Tamu and Chai are here!

 Good news, everyone! While I didn't end up getting drawn to purchase the Tamu and Chai set, I was able to snag them from a Blabber for a reasonable price, and they arrived today! Exciting! I haven't bought or been drawn for a web special since February, so I was pretty happy to see these. I wasn't so happy trying to get the box out of my mailbox, though - it barely fit in there. Must have been worth it to the mail carrier not to have to walk up to the house. Anyway, here they are!  

Here's the other side.

They were both pretty nice, and I guess I can see why the price point was so high - they both have pretty complicated paint jobs, and while Tamu has a few small booboos, I didn't see anything wrong with Chai at all. 

I definitely like Tamu better of the two, probably because he'd be a more-or-less realistic color if you took out the stripes. But then you wouldn't have a baby bongo. 

And here's Chai! 

As cute as they are, though, I think I would have preferred Breyer make a baby giraffe and baby okapi to match Nadifa and Kehinde. I mean, unless Breyer comes out with adults for these in the future, they're going to be baby orphans forever. I suppose it's not impossible that they'll get parents in the future, it just doesn't seem likely. But that may be a nit not worth picking. 

Anyway, at least they're in good condition and they're here! I needed a pick-me-up in these trying times. Now let's hope my luck with web specials comes back for the next one, eh? 

Featured Model - 9/19/20, Glossy Esprit

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Model, the weekly blog event where I...pick a model I'd really like to own, give some stats on it and provide commentary about it. This week's model is...Glossy Esprit! 

This handsome guy was the glossy version of the original Esprit release sculpted by Kathleen Moody. Only 33 of these models were glossed, as volunteer models at Breyerwest 2010 - back when Breyer went all out for their Breyerwest show and produced glossy prize models for the show and volunteers, and there was even a special run you could buy! 

Anyway, the original Esprit, even in matte, is still kind of a hot commodity, and obviously the glossy ones are as well. The early Esprits had a weird square on their backs that didn't have any dapples, and it looks like that's true for the above glossy model as well. The speculation was that whatever the models were clamped into for the dappling part of the paint job kept that area of their backs from having dapples on it. I believe it was fixed later in the run? I think my matte Esprit has it, so he must be from earlier in the run. Anyways, dapple gray is a really nice color for this guy - but dapple gray is one of my favorite colors, so I may be biased. You don't really ever see glossy Esprits for sale, either - I think I've only seen one or two in the 10 years since they were released. But maybe someday I'll have one - if I can find a money tree! 

As for Esprit himself, it's hard to say where we'll see him next. Maybe he's the next collector club special run? Or he could be a web special. It's been a while since he's been used for anything, so he could really show up anywhere. Well, as long as I can get my hands on one, I'll be happy! 

The 2020 Halloween line is now available!

 More good news, readers! Breyer's 2020 Halloween offerings are now available to order...like this rat-tastic Classic! 

His name is Ratsputin...a bit of a mouthful, but plays on words are always fun, right? Fortunately (or not), I don't collect this mold, so I don't need to buy him. Which is good, because, well...I mean, I don't really have anything against rats per se, and wouldn't mind having one as a pet, really, but...rats? Bleh - it just makes me think of dirt and filth. But to each their own! 

There's also some fun new Stablemates, which is what I'm most excited about, despite the dreaded blind bags:

Those are some pretty ambitious paint jobs, so I won't complain about the $25 price...this time. Let's hope the factory can pull them off! Plus, they qualify for the 10% Collector Club discount (CLUBPLUS20), so order away! I'm hoping to get the Cantering Warmblood and the Friesian, so here's hoping! 

There's also a cute plush:

Aww, I love candy corn! I may be alone in that opinion, but whatevs. If you order $75 worth of merch (any merch, as far as I know), you can enter a code (SUGAR20) to get the plush for free! 

Humorously enough, there's also still leftovers of last year's Halloween Stablemates. You'd think they'd take the hint from the last few rounds of blind bags not selling out (these and the Starry Skies) and QUIT DOING BLIND BAGS AND JUST MAKE IT A SET WE CAN ALL BUY....but I'm trying not to be too negative here. Anyway...happy early Halloween! 

Vintage Club Zahra is now available!

 Attention, Vintage Club members! The next release in the club, Zahra, is now available to order! Here's what one of the colors looks like: 

She's this year's gambler's choice model, so you won't know what color you'll get until you open the box. I'm not in the VC this year, so I won't be getting one, but looking at that photo...well...let's just say I can understand why the mold never made it to production. The colors are pretty though! 

So, this probably means Barrington, the old-style sorrel Bristol, will probably ship in October or November. Hurry up, dang it! 

Tamu and Chai selections!

 Exciting news - the selections for the Tamu and Chai web special are out! Unfortunately, it doesn't look like we were drawn (again...), but I suppose there's always hope for the wait list. Congratulations to all the winners! 

In other news, my Eclipse arrived at TSC today! Behold! 

 His blue shimmer is definitely intentional - they even call it out on the back of the box! He's beautiful. 

I'm a bit of a sucker for black pinto, I have to admit, and blue is my favorite color, so...we all knew where this was going to go. And this one has so much blue, he's almost a decorator! Ooh, he'd also pair well with Fiona and Rory if they were the same scale. 

I LOVE his head in this color, too! He's like a whole new mold for me. I can't wait to get him onto the shelf next to my other Emersons. Dare I hope they do this blue-black color on another model soon? I love it! 

Quality-wise, he has some small imperfections on his off side, but nothing major. I've seen a lot of complaints about this one, but this guy is mostly pretty nice. I'm just glad I got one! In the interest of full disclosure, I do have another one coming - my first order was cancelled, so I ordered two when they went back up, hoping I'd get at least one of them. Well, more for the sales pile I guess. But I'm definitely happy I was able to pick this guy up today! 

Featured Model - 9/12/20, Music Row

 Hello and welcome to this week's edition of Featured Model, the weekly blog event where I pick a Breyer model, give some stats on it and provide commentary about it. I'm still featuring models I don't own, but would like to, for this event - so say hello to this week's model, Music Row! 

Music Row was the Breyerfest Open Show 2013 Reserve Grand Champion prize model, with a total of 8 produced. She was done on the head-up version of the popular Make a Wish mold sculpted by Kathleen Moody. Darn, she's pretty! I'd love to have her in my collection. That was our second Breyerfest, and so far it's been the only time I actually made it up to the Alltech on Friday to take a look at the live show in action. There were a lot of spendy models on display that day! Someday I might get up the courage to try showing there myself, but in the meantime, it's fun just to look at the things on display! 

While I wasn't so crazy about the head-up version of Make a Wish at the time, I find I have just as many of her in my collection as I do the head-down version. The head-down version is just a little more attractive to me for some reason, despite the double-shoulder issue. But I'd be just as happy to see a new release of the head-up version, don't get me wrong. 

The upcoming release Raia has the flip tail, which had previously only been used for head-up versions of the mold, so that's an interesting twist. So I'm thinking we probably won't see Make a Wish again for a while after this, since the older molds tend to get muscled out by newer ones these days. Nevertheless, I wouldn't say no to a new Breyerfest release or a web special! It's been a good 10 years since she was a web special, so I'd say she's long overdue. 

Tamu and Chai!

 Well, that was unexpected. Say hello to the latest entry in Breyer's Wild Animal Series! 

A foal set, featuring two foals whose sculpts are wildly mismatched? Say it isn't so! But tapirs have a rather short stature, so that's probably why they picked the smaller foal for that one. 

Anyways, I'm definitely entering for these! Hope I get drawn....though their price made me wince a bit too. $150 for two foals? Sheesh, their paint jobs had better be worth it. But the piece count is decreased to 300, so that's probably their justification. 

Good luck to everyone who enters! 

2020 Retired List

Well, Breyer's list of retired products for 2020 came out today, courtesy of Triple Mountain. It's a little bittersweet to see popular (or not-so-popular) products leave the regular line, but on the other hand, it's also exciting to think about what might be coming next! 

There's nothing really surprising in the list - I would have thought some of those Classics models would have longer production runs, but that's okay - that means we're getting lots of new Classics next year! I can't wait to see them. 

On the Stablemates side of things, I'm also a little surprised to see the Stable Surprise sets are already being retired after one year, plus the Deluxe Horse Collection. Presumably they'll come out with new Stable Surprise sets next year, but the Deluxe being retired after one year, when the previous iteration of it (the shadowbox set) ran for a number of years previously, is something I didn't expect. Maybe we're getting another Deluxe Horse Collection next year? I hope so. 

On the Trad side, the Sable Island horse is already being retired - wasn't she a mid-year release? Sheesh. When something gets retired that fast, you have to wonder if it went down in flames sales-wise, or they're just trying to keep it rare for some reason. I'm also a bit surprised to see Justify get retired so soon - maybe they're trying to get ahead of the inevitable backlash if/when he gets retroactively disqualified from the Kentucky Derby and his Triple Crown rescinded. Not that I think that's going to happen - there's too much money at stake for that. 

Anyway, this makes me even more excited to see next year's new releases! While fall isn't quite my favorite season, it's pretty solidly in second place for me - and a large part of that is because we get to see all the exciting new reveals for the following year. I can't wait to get this year's deluge of catalogs so I can see all the exciting stuff Breyer is coming out with for next year! 

Featured Model - 9/5/2020, Muse

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Model, the weekly blog event where I pick a model, give some stats on it and provide commentary about it. I'm still on my "featuring rare or hard-to-find models that I don't own," kick, so this week I'll be covering Muse! 

Muse is item #711410 and was a run of 26 on the Nokota mold sculpted by Kathleen Moody. She was the Saturday raffle model from Breyerfest 2011. 

It's hard for Breyer to put any color on the Nokota that I don't like, but Muse is just gorgeous. I like her shading and how soft here color is, plus the way her tail almost turns red at the ends. And the wings! She's beautiful. Definitely one of those models you don't see for sale very often, and it's not hard to understand why. 

When will we get a new Nokota? Last time he got a new release was as the event model for the Scottsdale Stampede. Maybe another Breyerfest special run next year? I've seen speculation online that he doesn't get regular run appearances very often due to his wide stance, but who knows. He's only been a web special once, so he might pop up again there - or maybe he'll be a holiday model? Some type of color-shift filigree - or dare I speculate on a return of the silver filigree? Mmm, I hope so! 

Tractor Supply special runs are available!

 Good news, everyone! This year's Tractor Supply special runs are now on TSC's website! Find them here. And here they are! 

Best of all, TSC is having a Labor Day sale right now, and the new releases are included in the sale! I scored an Eclipse for $27.99, and you can have it shipped to your local store for free! Definitely don't miss out on this if you want these! I love the blue shimmer on Eclipse, so I can't wait to get him in hand! 

2020 Fall Releases!

 Good news, everyone! Breyer's fall releases have been announced! Behold this year's Limited Edition!

Oooh, Spectrum is pretty. But I don't collect Bobby Jo! Must...resist...rainbow...

And here's the brick-and-mortar special run! 

I'm much more excited about Raia - we haven't had a new flip tail on Justadream for ages, and I love the bay with high white socks. She's gotta find her way to my house! Too bad she's the brick-and-mortar special run and we don't have any of those around here. Hopefully I can get my hands on one eventually...

ETA: Oops, I missed the other two releases. There are two new carry stable sets! Observe:

From left to right, the molds in there look like the Cob (gold charm?), the G2 Standardbred (woodgrain?) or perhaps the G2 Thoroughbred, the new mini Indian Pony (chestnut leopard Appy?), a black Charleston, the mini MFT in white, and a bay G2 Paso Fino on the end. Darn, I'm going to have to buy this one. 

Here's the other carry stable! 

Fortunately, none of those unicorns look new. It's Magnolia, the G2 Clydesdale, the G3 Arabian, Magnolia again, another G3 Arabian and Alborozo. These are interesting new additions to the line, though - I don't think they've done a carry stable in quite a while. 

There's also a new Land Rover and trailer set with a G3 Highland Pony and G2 Shetland Pony:

That's all I have for now. Sheesh, it seems like it's been ages since Breyer released anything new. Keep it coming, guys!