Another new sneak peek!

 Well, well...it's that time of month, but...no Collector Club newsletter! According to the email I got from Breyer today, it's been delayed due to technical issues. I'm resisting the urge to wag my finger and scold them, but...I mean, if they didn't wait until almost literally the last minute to release it, they wouldn't be in this situation...just sayin'. 

Anyway, they at least threw us a bone and gave us a new sneak peek: 

Popular opinion online is that this is Georg, or perhaps Shannondell. I'm hoping for Shannondell, because then I don't have to buy it. Georg in silver filigree would be really, really hard to resist! It's good that the silver filigree is making another return, though. Can't wait to see what it is! 

Astrid is here!

 Greetings, readers! I hope everyone had a happy and healthy Thanksgiving. It's been pretty slow around here for the last few days, arrivals-wise - I didn't buy Brunhilde or enter for Midas, but I do have one more new arrival - Astrid! Not sure what, if anything, else is going to be arriving in the near future. 

There's been a lot of commentary about this one on The Internets, mostly centering around how narrow she is through the chest (horribly narrow for something as beefy as Fjords tend to be) and just how small she is (though Fjords aren't huge, they're usually a little bigger than this). 

I haven't managed to get my hands on a matte one yet, but I'm sure there's one out there somewhere. Her paint job is, of course, more simplistic on the plastic models than it was on the resin prototype - story of our lives, really. 

Quality-wise she's quite nice, although that eye does leave something to be desired. I really like the way her tail flows, though, and it'll be interesting to see what Breyer does with her next. I'm sure she'll probably be a raffle model for next year's Breyerfest - and there have been some mutterings around the seams around her mane - perhaps she's rigged for a mane change? I wouldn't be too surprised if she is, considering there are only about five shades of dun out there, which kind of limits Breyer if they want to do more than that handful of colors on this mold and then call it a day. Ha! 

Anyway, not much else to report around here - I did get my winter catalog, but there's nothing in it we haven't already seen. I got my yearly JAH as well, and aside from one small tidbit (next year's Ideal AQH is a palomino), there wasn't anything new in that either. I guess we'll have to go back to pouncing on whatever scraps Breyer is willing to throw us over the next couple of months. Hopefully we get some exciting new reveals soon! 

Peace, Love and Breyers!

 We've had a couple of new reveals for 2022 - check them out! Breyer seems to be embracing a '60s theme - check out the Classics decorator: 

He's definitely...colorful. Personally, I think he'd have looked better without the gold (and possibly the horn), but it's good to see another new release on the Morgan. Maybe this means he'll get another unicorn release later in the year? Who knows.

And check out these Stablemates:

They're reminiscent of the swirly plastic Stablemates given out as trivia prizes, etc., way back when. I'm a bit curious as to why they're unicorns, though - seems a bit superfluous. Maybe I'm getting tired of all the unicorns lately? Who knows. And they could really stand dto give the G2 Clydesdale a rest, honestly. But the colors are pretty, anyway! Just, you know...maybe dig out some different molds? Anyway, it's good that we get to see a couple of the releases for next year. Let's hope get get more soon! 

The Midas Touch, and other new arrivals

 Just when I had pretty much forgotten about the Ambrose special run from 2019, and the lack thereof from last year...Breyer strikes again! 

From the email:

Breyer’s master artisans have the “Midas touch” – every model they touch turns to (figurative) gold! Midas, a fabulous sport pony, represents the pinnacle of Breyer craftsmanship. This highly-limited edition of 250 pieces was handpainted at Breyer’s New Jersey facility by the same artisans creating our most limited models, including BreyerFest raffle and auction models.

Midas is painted as a loud chestnut splash pinto with two blue eyes. His white markings are fully mapped, and his chestnut base color is beautifully shaded with plenty of contrast. He’ll be perfectly at home both on display as a collectible piece, or under saddle as your next performance prospect. Midas has “Breyer Special Edition” printed on his belly for authenticity, and is packaged in a mail-order box.

Well, he's definitely beautiful, but I'm not a Flash collector (nor do I want to spend another $295 on top of all the other expenditures I've had lately and will have in the near future), so I'mma just sit this one out. Good luck to everyone entering, though! 

In other news, the other two sculptors for the 2022 Premier Club have been announced - Sarah Mink and Kitty Cantrell. (They can't use Kitty's name in the announcement because of contractual obligations).  Sounds promising, though I've not been a big fan of Sarah's prior work for Breyer so far except for Malik, and his toothpick front legs bother me whenever I look at him. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing a new Moody sculpt...though I may be the only person that would! Oh well. On the other hand, I didn't like her last sculpt for Breyer (the Classic Thoroughbred), nor was I enthralled by her latest sculpt for Copperfox (the Hackney) so maybe I don't want a new Moody after all. 

I also have a couple of new arrivals today - Snickerdoodle and Eira! 

Snickerdoodle is just as cute as she looked in the photos! I love her.

Her mane and tail are decently well-masked to boot. I love how pearly she is! 

She has such a sweet face! And her quality is pretty good other than a small rub on her nostril, and somehow she's developed a bad case of pigeon feet in the front. 

Here's a look at Eira! 

Despite the description on the box, this one is in fact a stallion (as is the Stablemate version of Emma). I had been hoping this would basically be a Stablemate tree ornament, but he's molded from something other than the usual Stablemate ABS (probably resin) and is significantly bigger than the Stablemate Emma): 

He's a beautiful color, though - I love that shade of blue. I feel like the horn could have used a little more effort, but otherwise I like him. Now I'll just have to go back to hoping we get a real Stablemate version of the Spanish Barb someday...

Clydesdale Christmas Stablemates!

 Well, the holiday season is approaching, people, and I guess that means it's time for more blind bags! Behold...

So is this the blue sneak preview we saw last month? Could be. I'm still hoping it was for the holiday web special, though, since we haven't seen that yet. These guys are cute, but nothing I need. They go on sale tomorrow at 2pm EST to Collector Club members only, and any left over will be made available to the general population later. They're only allowing people to purchase two per account, so beware of that limitation. Good luck to everyone purchasing! 

Featured Model - 11/13/2021, Silver Cup Series II G2 Warmblood

 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 G2 Warmblood from the second Silver Cup Series set! 

This handsome fellow was part of the Silver Cup Series, a five-piece (actually six if you count the cup) set sold through QVC in 2002. I don't know how many were made, but he was produced on the G2 Warmblood sculpted by Kathleen Moody. 

I like this one because the gloss makes him look like porcelain and he's an attractive gray color in addition. I never got a chance to buy these when they first came out because I was still in high school and wasn't allowed to shop on QVC, and haven't managed to get my hands on them since then. Maybe someday! I really do like their resemblance to porcelain, though. 

The G2 Warmblood has had a fairly steady run of releases since his original debut, including a number of Breyerfest releases. He's one of my favorite of all the G2 molds, so it's safe to say I have quite a few of them in my own collection. He's had more than one release this year, including in those French-language blind bags that were sold by Triple Mountain and a few other retailers recently, and the carded "cheapie" Stablemates that are apparently starting to show up at Dollar General stores around the country. As if we needed more places to try to find Breyer models...but anyway. Let's hope he has a healthy run of releases for years to come! 

New test run and Black Friday sale!

I guess it's that time again, people - time for another test run to pop up for sale on the website! Check him out: 

He's a fleabitten gray test run on the Traditional Black Stallion Mold. Well, uh...he's cool and all, but I don't think he's $950 cool. Seems a bit steep for a mold that isn't terribly popular...but with the sky-high prices for auction and test models lately, who knows anymore. Maybe the resellers won't bother to enter for this one so the people who actually want him can have a chance at him. We can always hope, right? 

In other news, the Black Friday sale has apparently already started, and Collector Club members have early access. Check out the sale items here - many of them sold out pretty quickly, including Nayati, Ashquar, Tamu and Chai and a few others. Other things have decidedly not sold out, including the candy cane zebras that are being sold at a price that's actually higher than their original sale price. If they were lower, maybe I'd order one and hope to get a black one, but at $150 a pop, that's not happening. You'd think more of their regular run stuff would be on sale, also (aside from Collecta models) but there isn't much of that, really. Oh well. 

In other other news, the new pin board is finally available for purchase, at $35 (ouch!), but it does come with a special Secretariat pin, so there's that. It qualifies for the collector club discount, and it's not hard to add on a few pins to get to the free shipping, so...I may have ordered a pin or five. My VIP pins needed some company, okay? And speaking of pins, when are Breyerfest VIP ticket holders going to get their special "We're sorry" pins we were supposed to get? Let's hope we get an update on that soon, along with a reveal of that blue sneak peek from the October CC newsletter! 

Wilder is here!

 Exciting news, everyone - I got tired of waiting for our "local" TSC to get their Breyer stock in, and ordered a Wilder using the ship-to-store option on the website. And he arrived today! After all the shipping delays we've had lately, it was kinda refreshing to order a model and have it here less than a week later. 

Ethereal looks great in this color, and I love the little heart-shaped spot. 

There wasn't a ship-to-store option for the new mystery Stablemate unicorn foal sets, but it looks like other dealers will be able to get those eventually, so I'm not too worked up about it. 

Quality-wise, he's pretty nice, and his paint job is relatively free of oopsies, but I wasn't terribly happy about how his tail is attached to his body:

Sorry about the butthole shot. But I feel like his tail could have been attached better.

Anyway, Wilder is quite the handsome fellow! Let's hope we get some more releases on Ethereal soon. 

Brunhilde has been postponed!

 Sad news today, readers - the Brunhilde release has been delayed until tomorrow due to a large Internet outage. Check your email for more information, but as of now it looks like she'll go live at 1pm EST tomorrow instead.

It's a Christmas miracle!

 Exciting news for your Monday, everyone - we have an announcement about Brunhilde - check her out! She's the second Collector Club special run for 2021.

Okay, this isn't a full-body shot, but there's one in the yearly JAH, I promise. And in a stunning turn of events, she isn't actually available yet - this is from a heads-up email from Breyer! She'll be available tomorrow at 1pm EST. Now if they could just start doing this for all their releases (maybe stagger the timing a bit, though)! I'm not a Wixom collector, and mealy bay is one of my least favorite horse colors, so I'll be sitting this one out - but good luck to everyone who wants her! I wish I had the space for some Wixoms....but anyway. 

In another stunning turn, Astrid, the second Premier Club release, is finally available! We've been waiting so long I'd almost forgotten she was coming at all! 

Unfortunately, the glossy one looks a  bit freakish in the above photo, but don't let that stop you from ordering - Breyer's promo photos are notoriously bad, and the matte one in this photo is pretty clearly the resin prototype, with the prototype paint job. I'm sure they'll look fine when we get them in hand (at least, let's hope so). Can't wait to see my glossy girl! And I need to get my hands on a matte one, as well...

Featured Model - 11/6/2021, Order of the Thistle

 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...Order of the Thistle! 

This handsome boy was a raffle model from Breyerfest 2020. He was item #711385 and was a run of 26 produced on the Hamilton mold sculpted by Jennifer Scott. 

Whew! What a pretty model. He definitely looks good in champagne! I was super sad when I wasn't one of the names drawn for one of these guys last year - and more sad when I saw the prices they were selling for on the secondary market. Maybe they'll come down someday - I hope so, because it hurts not having this guy in my collection. But his other releases are pretty spectacular too, so I'm glad I have those. 

Hamilton is in the regular line now as Marc of Charm, which has been a pretty popular release as far as I know, so he'll probably stay in production for quite a while. I wonder what the likelihood is that he gets a few other releases while the mold is in production? He hasn't had a Breyerfest special run yet (other than this raffle), and Premier molds tend to get those fairly early on, so I'd say he's due. Never mind that he doesn't fit the theme - they'd probably just name him something German and call it a day. Hey, I wouldn't complain...too much. More Hamilton is always a good thing! 

I wouldn't put it past them to give him a web special, also, but I guess that remains to be seen. Or maybe he'll be the 2022 Holiday Horse! Ooh, there's an idea! 

Diadem and Alcor are here, and Snickerdoodle!

 Exciting news, everyone - my Diadem and Alcor models are here! 

After getting a look at them in hand, Diadem reminds me of a much softer version of Alida. While I'd prefer a silver horn and hooves (I prefer silver over gold in most situations), she's still quite pretty; though maybe she'd have been a bit nicer with green or blue eyes? The black eyes look a bit weird. Also, her horn is off-center on her head, which is a little irksome.

She's pretty nice other than the horn issue, though. She had a few small marks on her underside that easily came off with a little scraping with a fingernail. In other words, no biggie. 

Others have said the pinking on her nose is a bit extreme, and I think I agree - the rest of her color is so soft that the pink nose kinda overwhelms everything else. But it's a minor issue. 

The foal is much more interesting, color-wise - he looks like he's black with a few different colors of pearl paint over the top of it - to the point where he almost looks like an oil slick. 

His quality is pretty nice, also - I didn't see any issues at all. 

The closeup makes it pretty obvious why this foal has sometimes been customized to a mule baby - his ears are huge! Haha. I guess that just makes him a little bit cuter. 

In other news, Snickerdoodle can now be ordered on the website, along with most of Breyer's holiday assortment for the year. Her price is a little steep at $59.99 - that doll and reindeer hat must have been more expensive than we thought. Maybe the doll should have been switched out for her foal in palomino, instead? Just a thought. 

That's all I have for now - looks like we won't get a reveal of that sneak peek this week, so hopefully next week. And maybe we'll get Astrid soon, also? Pretty sure they said she was coming "very soon" a month ago...

Gingerbread is here!

 More exciting news, everyone! My Gingerbread has arrived! 

First off: this model is indeed a mare, despite being referred to as a "he" in the promo material. Oops! 

What a little beauty! Her blanket is darling, also (doofy me didn't get a photo of it, though). 

Unfortunately, her quality leaves a little to be desired - lots of little booboos all over, and she has the dreaded blanket stains. It's nice that they wrapped the horse's middle in plastic to protect it from stains, but the edges of the blanket still got her front and rear legs on that side. D'oh! Maybe it's time to start packing the blankets alongside, rather than on, the models? Might save some money on wasted plastic, also. 

Lastly, I forgot to mention yesterday that the second Collector Club special run of the year is also pictured in this year's JAH - it's a mealy bay Wixom named Brunhilde! Let's hope the official photos get released soon so I can post them here (though with a name like that, the only thing I'm thinking about is this). 

Things that were, things that are...and some things that have not yet come to pass.

 Exciting news, everyone! Lots of new things to post about today - but I'll start off with an alert for Vintage Club members: Nugget and the Dusk and Dawn set are ready to purchase! 

This is the gambler's choice release for this year's Vintage Club, so you won't know which color you're getting until you open it. In addition, the free Stablemate for this year must already be in stock, as they're shipping with the Nuggets. That's a refreshing change from the norm; usually we don't see those until January of the following year! 

The Stablemates, mini Yellow Mounts on the Stablemate SCO mold, are also randomly shipped - some with a forearm spot, and some without. This all makes me really glad I don't collect Brighty or SCO!


Dusk and Dawn are an optional purchase:

 

In recent years I would have wanted to get my hands on these, but my Marabellas went down the road quite a while ago, and my Ambers will probably be on the chopping block soon as well. They look really nice, though, so I'm a bit sad about that. 

Anyway, to move on...there are a couple of new additions to the website today! They were revealed in people's JAH magazine yesterday, but fortunately Breyer was on the ball about adding them to the website promptly. Firstly, here's Snickerdoodle:

A new release on Rhian? And without her foal?? Gasp! Must order this one as soon as it's available! I'm pretty ambivalent about Cadell, so I'm not too bothered that he isn't included with her. She looks so cute in palomino, I just wish there was a photo of her sans blanket! I love those little reindeer antlers, too. 

Lastly, here's Baltazar, this year's Winter Decorator (and Limited Edition):

Ohhh, he's pretty, but I just don't want to start a new conga. Too bad...I really like his design. But I have to save room on my shelves for other things! 

Let's hope they get Snickerdoodle and Baltazar on the website soon, because I have more ordering to do!