Featured Model - 2/27/2021, 2016 Auction Valegro

 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...the 2016 Breyerfest Auction Valegro! 

This unique model was offered at Breyerfest 2016. He was a OOAK model done on the Valegro mold sculpted by Brigitte Eberl.

I decided to talk about this handsome guy because he looks really similar to the 2019 Breyerfest prize model Victory. His pattern is a bit different, but otherwise they look a lot alike. It would be fun to see them next to each other! Maybe someday at a live show, eh? I like how the Valegro has darker shading on his legs and head - it gives his paint job a little more depth. He looks reasonably detailed, but his eyes look like plain black - maybe it's just the angle. You'd think an auction model would get special eye detail, but maybe not. He sure is handsome though! 

As for Valegro himself, he's appearing as the already-popular Pollock for this year's Breyerfest, so I'm not sure that we'll see him anywhere else for a while. He's also been a Collector Club special run and a web special in recent-ish years, but I wouldn't protest if he got another web special or a regular run model, since the original release was retired in 2019 and he could use another RR appearance. Let's hope he gets something else new soon! 

February Collector Club newsletter!

 Wow, the February Collector Club newsletter is out today too, and it's only the 26th! That's gotta be a new record. Anyway, there's an article about Brenda Breyer, this month's Collector Story is about Jaime Potkalesky - events coordinator for Breyer - and this sneak peek for an upcoming Birds of a Feather web special! Check your email to read more. 

I don't have a clue as to what it is, though the speculation I've seen online is that it may be Big Ben or Newsworthy. Newsworthy would be a good choice for something I'd want to buy, while Big Ben would be a definite no, so I guess we'll have to wait and see. I do like what I can see of the color, though - buckskin? And glossy? Yes please. 

This month's giveaway is for a set of two Breyer dolls, which pairs nicely with the Brenda Breyer article. And collectors from the UK and Canada (except Quebec) can now join the giveaways! Woohoo! Enter for them here. 

Lafayette is finally available!

 The moment we've all been waiting for is here, folks - Lafayette is finally in stock! 

As of right now (1:15pm CST) he's still available, but don't fret if the stock sells out - he'll be available for backorder for anyone that misses out on the initial stock, to be shipped in September. I kinda have to wonder how many they made, since he's been available for a good hour now and hasn't sold out yet. Maybe the backorder won't even be necessary? In any case, if you don't want to wait until September to get yours, get your order in now! 

Bonus Stablemates are finally shipping!

 Heads up, people - last year's bonus Stablemates for the Vintage and Premier Clubs are finally shipping! Check your Collector Club account to see if yours has been added yet - they've been showing up in people's order history. It would probably be a good idea to check and make sure they have the correct shipping address - I've seen a lot of reports on the Interwebs that some of them are getting shipped to incorrect addresses. I'm excited to see my Lyric, if he ever arrives! 

Now back to my regularly scheduled refreshing for Lafayette...

Featured Model - 2/20/2021, Red Roan Auction Saddlebred

 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...the 2002 Breyerfest Live Auction American Saddlebred Stallion! 

As you might have guessed, this model was a OOAK issued on the American Saddlebred Stallion mold sculpted by Kathleen Moody. 

It doesn't seem like it, but the Moody ASB turns 21 years old this year. When did that happen? So, this model itself is 19 years old. I wish some of these older tests and auction models would surface sometime so the rest of us could gawk at them a little - so many of them seem to disappear into the ether, never to be seen again. I'm sure a lot of them turn up at shows, though. Maybe one of these days I'll go to one, when the pandemic is over...

Anyway, the ASB is quite handsome as a red roan.. We haven't gotten a more attainable roan, or any roan other than the realistic/decorator Spring Has Sprung a few years ago, so I wouldn't say no to a new roan paint job on this mold. We're getting him in a very handsome dark bay pinto for this year's Flagship model, though, so I suppose a roan isn't likely to happen anytime soon. Maybe in the meantime I can get my hands on Spring has Sprung? I doubt it, but then again, hope springs eternal. 

Julius is here!

 Good news, everyone! My Orange Julius model is here - behold! 

Sorry for the bad photo. He's certainly handsome, though! Old-style red roan still isn't my favorite colorway, but it looks good on him. He came with an old-style gold sticker on his shoulder, which was fine, but since it didn't look like it was going to stay on him, I pulled it off - and wasn't terribly happy when it left glue goo on his shoulder. I don't think the previous stickers have done that, but I could be wrong, and I didn't want to use Goo Gone on him in case it took the paint off. Blah. 

Quality-wise, he's pretty good - I noticed a minor scratch on one of his hooves, but nothing else really jumps out at me. Definitely better quality than my Puffin.

The edge of his mane could have been painted a little better - it's like someone airbrushed the middle of it but didn't bother to go back and try to get the ends of the strands. I wish he had eyewhites, but I don't have any vintage red roans to compare him to, so I'm going to assume none of those had eyewhites either. In any case, I'm glad to have him in my herd! I hope I can get my hands on a Theo soon. 

Well...that happened.

 I know, I swore I wouldn't do it. I fought and fought and finally just...clicked the enter button for Puffin. I'm not really sure what came over me...but I entered...and then to my great surprise, I got the email that I'd been selected, so...here she is! 

She really is a beauty! Sorry for the terrible photos. 

She's basecoated white, which isn't my favorite thing in the world, but I can live with that...once I decide where I'm going to put her. Like all Wixoms, she's huge! She has a lot of the white showing through her black areas, too, which makes it nicer from a detail standpoint, but I'd have liked her better if her black was solid black all over. I do like the contrast of her tail ribbons, though. 

I wish she had eyewhites, too - those brown irises make her look like she's just coming home from the bar after partying all night or something. 

Quality-wise, she's...not great. I keep spotting more little issues every time I look at her (gloss flaws, eartip rubs, scuffs all over her hooves), but I don't think any of them are bad enough to try to get a replacement, if there even are any. I can see her from my desk right now and she looks pretty good from a distance! Honestly, they could have used this exact same design on the same mold as a Breyerfest raffle model and she'd sell for big bucks. I love her cute little puffin stamp, too. All in all, I'm glad to have her...if I can find a place to put her. Does this mean I'm getting back into collecting Wixoms? I don't know...but I'm going to have to find more shelving somewhere! 

Also, we now have the deets for this year's Breyerfest contests! Check them out here. The Diorama contest model's name is Stubbs! I wonder if it'll be something rearing, like Whistlejacket? Or a set with the Bucking Bronco and a mountain lion? Hah...just joking. Anyway, the costume contest is making a return as well! And they finally released the judging criteria! Will this carry over to future Breyerfests? Time will tell. Let's hope they show us Stubbs soon!

Featured Model - 2/13/21, Alegria

 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...Alegria! 

Ahh, the elusive Alegria. He was the early bird model for Breyerfest 2014. We all knew it was going to be a great Breyerfest when he was unveiled, because it was the first time since 2008 that he'd been used in a run that wasn't a OOAK. I mean, a run of 3 may as well be OOAK, but still. He's the holy grail for a whole lot of people, myself included. It stung pretty badly when I didn't hear my name called for one of these bad boys. He's item #711192 and was issued on the popular Alborozo mold sculpted by Brigitte Eberl. 

Alborozo has had a bit of a renaissance lately since being repurposed as a Stablemate. We're still very unlikely to ever see a run of more than one of the Trad version of him ever again, but he's certainly had no shortage of Stablemate releases. Now if we could just get some more realistic colors on him we'd be set! Almost all of his Stablemate releases have been decorators in some form or fashion. Let's see some realistic colors! I suppose I probably should have just used a photo of his smaller, mirrored form for this post since, like I said above, we're not likely to see a new Trad Alborozo anytime soon. The safe bet is an auction model at Breyerfest eventually, but who knows - maybe he'll get a small run of 5 or 10 for a collector event some day. That would be fun! Provided I had a good place in the boutique line, of course. In the meantime, we'll have to keep collecting our Stablemate Albys and dream of an end to Covid times. 

Atticus is now available!

 Good news, everyone! This year's first Stablemates Club release, Atticus, is now available to purchase! 

He's the Trad Clydesdale Stallion, shrunken down to Stablemate scale and given a new hairdo. Since this is a split run and the models are "randomly shipped," we won't know if we've gotten a matte or a glossy one until we open the box. I hope everyone gets the finish they want...and if you don't, hopefully it doesn't leave as bad a taste in your mouth as the Everything Bagel ice cream I just tried. (Yuck!)

Puffin emails and Julius!

 Good news, everyone! The Puffin emails have gone out, so check your email (especially your junk folder) and see if you were a winner! Congrats to everyone who was drawn! 

In other news, the first release in this year's Vintage Club, Julius, is available for purchase! I have one on order from someone I know, so I can't wait to see what he looks like! Don't be confused by the "Vintage Club 2020" heading he's listed under on the Collector Club homepage...looks like somebody forgot to update that. Hopefully they fix it at some point? Anyway, I hope this means they'll show us the rest of this year's lineup so I know if there's anything else I need to make purchase arrangements for!

Also, when will the first Stablemates Club release come out? Perhaps tomorrow? Let's hope so! I'd also like an update on last year's PC and VC Stablemates...

Featured Model - 2/6/2021, 2016 Auction Weather Girl

 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...the 2016 Breyerfest Auction Weather Girl! 

This beautiful girl was one of my favorite models at that year's auction. She's just beautiful! She has great shading and detail in her paint job, it looks great on her and has a layer of gloss on top to make it all pop. I especially like the darker edges on her colored areas. She's amazing and I'd love to own her someday. Now if we could get something similar in a more attainable release! 

As for Weather Girl, she appeared in the Vintage Club in 2018 and at Breyerfest in 2019, among other things, after making her triumphant return from the "Breyer Vault" in 2016 (am I the only one hoping the "vault" concept never comes back? Dumb marketing gimmick if you ask me). So where will we see her next? She still hasn't appeared as a web special, so it's entirely possible we see her as some type of fowl-inspired release this year. She might also get a new regular run release, too - Arabians are popular and she's been out of the RR line since 2018. Maybe she'll get a mid-year releases? I'm holding out for a web special, though...as long as I can get drawn for it!  

The Birds

 Exciting news, everyone! The first web special of the year has been revealed, along with the web special theme! Birds of a Feather, eh? Does this mean we'll get a set at some point, to represent the proverbial "flocking together" that logically follows? Interesting. Well, anyway, say hello to Puffin: 

I'm not a Wixom collector, though I used to be, and I've never been sad about it until I saw this model. She's stunning! I almost want to buy one, but Wixoms tend to be shelf hogs (which is why I sold off the few I had) so I must resist the temptation! She's a run of 380, too, so Breyer must have decided to increase the run numbers a little to try to compensate for the increased numbers of collectors we've had lately. 

She wants to come to my house...but I have to resist! 

I had to giggle a little bit when I saw the fine print in the email - someone forgot to fill in the piece count, so it reads "limited edition of pieces." One wonders if that means people will just get broken bits of models? Haha. On a happier note, it looks like we only have to enter once for this one, instead of remembering to do it every day. So things will be a little bit easier there. Good luck to everyone who enters! 

Breyerfest tickets are live!

 Well, the big event happened this morning - Breyerfest tickets went up for sale! I'm happy to say I was able to snag a VIP ticket despite being woozy from 3 hours of sleep beforehand. After it was all said and done I went back to bed and didn't get up until 4. So nice to finally get that all squared away! I guess tomorrow we'll get the email to select our model choices for the VIP ticket and we'll have until Wednesday sometime to pay for things. I can't wait to secure my Pollock and Ansel! 

The VIP tickets sold out within a few minutes, but the rest of the tickets are still available, including the Stablemate four-pack. Check that stuff out here. I'm a bit surprised that the four-packs aren't gone yet, but $80 is a decent chunk of change for four Stablemates. That does represent an increase of $2 each for the Stablemates, since the single-day tickets had been $18 previously. I guess prices can't stay the same forever.

I did purchase my usual number of regular/All-Access tickets - gotta get as many of those surprise models I can in case they're a mold I collect. I'm optimistic that I won't have too much trouble getting the other models I want with Pollock and Ansel out of the way. Now I'm even more excited for Breyerfest! I guess I'll have to go back to haunting the website for Lafayette now...