Showing Some Leg

 Now that Breyerfest is merely three months away, we have another sneak peek to figure out! Check it out: 

Popular opinion on the Internets is that this is a black version of Dundee for the Best Customs Contest prize. Makes sense to me! Let's hope we get to find out soon!

Romeo and Anthem are here!

 Good news, everyone! My Romeo and Anthem models have arrived! I'm so happy not to have had to wait until July or later to get these guys. Maybe the shipping problems have finally started to straighten themselves back out? Anyways, I'll start with Romeo. 

He's definitely a handsome guy! As others across the Internets have noted, he has the same leg markings (and star) as the much-maligned roan Seven Arts Surprise from last year's Breyerfest. This doesn't bother me too much - stencils (and before those were used, masks) are reused all the time, so it's just not that big of a deal. 

I could almost wish he were glossy, as that really seems to suit the silver bay paint job for some reason. And I love that his mane and tail are pearly! 

His masking isn't the best I've ever seen, but it's not terrible either, so there's that. His seams could have been cleaned better as well - he seems like he has seams everywhere. I'll have to compare him to my other Dundees and see if they're all the same way. 

 Next, let's take a look at Anthem! 

I gotta say, of all the patriotic models Breyer has done so far, this one has to be the best. Using silver is a bit unorthodox, but I think it works. I suppose they could have just done red/blue with white, but the silver sets things off quite well and accentuates his silver hooves nicely. 

If, by some miracle, I ever win the bidding for a Design Your Own Breyer, I'd probably put this color on Hamilton, probably because so many people wanted Hamilton to be the mold for this release. I think it'd look pretty good on him (but let's face it, this would look good on pretty much any model). 

I really like the shade of blue they used for this guy - it's pretty similar to the color used for Benasque. Quality-wise, he's fine - a booboo here and there, but nothing major. 

That's all I have for now - let's hope we get some exciting new reveals soon! I feel like the past couple of months have been pretty slow in the news department. 

Featured Model - 4/23/2022, Golden Dun Hanoverian

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Model, the weekly blog event where I pick a model I don't own but but has an interesting history behind it, give some stats on it and provide commentary on it. This week's model is...the 2004 Breyerfest Auction Golden Dun Hanoverian! 

This model was a OOAK produced on the Hanoverian mold sculpted by Chris Hess. I almost featured this auction model instead (he's a palomino version of the Art Deco special run for JCP, a prized member of my carpet herd back in the day), but the Golden Dun won out because of his glossiness.

I was drawn to this model because he looks like he may be a test for Goin for Gold, a really great color and one of my favorites on Lonesome Glory. I have a small soft spot for the Hanoverian due to my aforementioned Art Deco model, who I really should have kept. Oh well. He looks great in this color! He sadly doesn't get many releases these days, but I thought this auction model from 2010 was a really nice color too. 

It's hard to say where the Hanoverian might be used next - he's not terribly popular, but he did get to make an appearance as last year's Breyerfest diorama contest prize Stubbs, so maybe that'll lead to another appearance somewhere else? Maybe they'll drag him out for a web special later this year or something - I doubt he'll get a RR anytime soon (his last RR appearance was in 2009). In any case, I hope he gets another auction model someday, as he's only had a handful over the years.

Phineas is now available!

 Attention, Stablemates Club members: Phineas, the second release in this year's club, is now available for purchase! 

The purchase deadline is 11:59pm on May 3, so be sure to get your orders in! 

Featured Model - 4/17/2022, Black Pinto Test Adios

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Model, the weekly blog event where I pick a model I don't own but  has an interesting history behind it, give some stats on it and provide commentary on it. This week's model is...the black pinto Mego Adios! 

This model was a OOAK produced on the Adios mold sculpted by Chris Hess. He was sold at the 1996 Breyerfest Live Auction. 

While he doesn't have that interesting of a history behind him, he's still an example of an alternate color scheme using an existing mask - the one that was used to produce Mego, the 1995 Breyerfest Celebration Horse. At that time Breyer was still using masks that clamped onto the models to paint their pinto patterns, and a lot of those masks got reused for other releases (see also Tseminole Wind and the bay pinto JCP Sham, amongst many others). I can see why they wanted to use the mask again - Mego looks especially striking in black! 

Adios has always been a popular mold, and he's one of the very few vintage molds that has a lot of representation in my herd (though I'm preparing to sell all of them this year, sadly). However, he's only had one appearance as a web special, back in 2009, so I'm wondering if he may get another web special release soon. I'd also expect to see him pop up in the Vintage Club again at some point, since molds have been used multiple times there and several vintage colors were never used on him - I'm still waiting for that glossy bay Yellow Mount to show up. Maybe someday? In the meantime, I'm prepping all 23 of my Adios models to go up for sale later this month, and contemplating keeping just one of them for nostalgia's sake - I don't really want to sell them, but shelf space and life changes demand a reduction in the collection - around 150 other models are slated to be culled as well. That's how it goes sometimes, I guess. Anyway, I hope Adios gets a new release soon - hmm, he's never been a TSC special run either, despite all of the "stock horse" releases he's gotten over the years, so we may see him there as well. Or perhaps as the Holiday Horse - the possibilites are endless! 

Anthem is revealed!

 Well, the wait is over - we finally got a photo of Anthem today! 

Color me surprised...I guessed the wrong Moody mold! Oh well. Now this is a model I need! I like the colors they chose, especially the silver. I wonder if his white areas are pearly? Hopefully I can get my hands on one to find out! These are supposed to ship in June, so let's hope we don't get a repeat of last year and end up with people still waiting for them in September, eh? 

Featured Model - 4/10/2022, Smutty Palomino Auction Alborozo

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Model, the weekly blog event where I pick a model that I don't own but has an interesting history behind it, give some stats on it and provide commentary on it. This week's model is...the smutty palomino Alborozo auction model! 

This model was a OOAK produced for Breyerfest 2008, the year of the introduction and then destruction of the Alborozo mold sculpted by Brigitte Eberl. I believe he was painted by Karen Gerhardt, but I could be wrong on that. 

This guy doesn't have that much of a story behind his creation (that I know of), but his claims to fame are twofold; he's one of the very few Alborozo auction models we've ever seen, and prior to 2019 he held the record for highest-priced Breyerfest auction model, selling for a hefty $13,500 price tag. Adding to his legendary status is the fact that he hasn't been seen in person again since (again, that I know of). Palomino isn't always my favorite horse color, but it's hard to make Alborozo look bad in any color, so this one is no exception. Too bad he wasn't glossy! Seems like I say that a lot...maybe I'm more Team Glossy than I want to admit? Either way, an enviable piece for anyone's collection. 

Of course, since Alborozo's mold was destroyed, we aren't likely to see much else produced in Traditional scale, other than the occasional auction model. But his (mirrored) Stablemate counterpart has seen plenty of use since its introduction in 2018. It's almost easier to ask where he hasn't been used over the last few years! I guess Breyer is just making up for lost time! 

Talk about a glow-up!

 Wow, speaking of unexpected reveals...I guess tomorrow is National Unicorn Day, and Breyer is sparing no expense to celebrate it this year! 

If you're a Collector Club member, check your email! 

Saturday, April 9th is National Unicorn Day! To celebrate, we’re offering three Breyer Collector Club members a special opportunity to win one of three spectacular sets of test run unicorns. One test run glossy set, each produced from three previous unicorn mare and foal sets - 2018’s Rosalind and Rigel, 2019’s Mira and Antares, and 2020’s Bellatrix and Spica - will be given away to three separate lucky winners!

Three winners will be randomly selected. And with a fun twist in our process, the first name drawn gets first choice of three sets, the second name drawn gets second choice, and third name drawn will be awarded the final remaining set. Each of these special sets of test run glossy unicorns will include a certificate of authenticity.

I almost skipped right over the email, thinking the photo was of the matte Mira and Antares and I already have that set, before I doubled back and actually read the email. Holy crap, Bellatrix and Spica are to die for! Be sure to get your entries in quick, because we only have until midnight 4/10 to enter. Good luck, everyone! I'm crossing all my appendages that I'm one of the three lucky winners, though it'd be hard to pick just one set if I did get drawn. They're all on molds I collect! 

As an aside: I wish Breyer would do test run giveaways more often - the last one I remember is Caramel Macchiato from 2012. Maybe slightly more than once a decade? Haha. 

Finally, some Vintage Club and Premier Club reveals! Well, sort of.

 Good news, everyone! Breyer has finally started sending out the welcome letters for this year's Vintage Club and Premier Club, so we finally have some "reveals" for the rest of this year's releases! Huzzah! People have been posting photos of the letters on Facebook, so 

The Vintage Club welcome letter lists out this year's releases - Cooper, the APH from earlier this year; Sandman, the red dun Smoky that was just released; a gambler's choice mare and foal set; and a flocky (!) model, plus the optional model, which is a 1960s mold in a woodgrain finish. And the freebie Stablemate is a mini version of Dandy, the first release in the first year of the VC. Exciting! I imagine the mare and foal set is probably the FAM and FAF, and the flocky is probably a new mold. It'll be interesting to see what the color possibilities are for the mare and foal set. I'm less excited about the flocky, because I'm not a fan of those in general (too tacky for my tastes). So at least we somewhat know what the rest of this year's releases are, though I'm still irked that they haven't just gone ahead and announced them. Oh well. 

The PC letter didn't have quite as many epic reveals - just that Sarah Mink's sculpture for the club is a rare breed, whose face we saw in a sneak peek last year:

And the last release (by Kitty Cantrell) is some type of action breed. Someone on Facebook hoped for a Standardbred and I agree. Also, this year's frameable sketches will not be of Zafirah, but one of the later releases, and the freebie Stablemate is a mini Georg, color to be announced later.

That's all I have for now - let's hope we get more exciting reveals soon! 

Featured Model - 4/3/2022, White/Blue Cai Lun

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Model, the weekly blog event where I pick a model that I don't own but has an interesting history behind it, give some stats on it and provide commentary on it. This week's model is...the white Cai Lun auction model! 

This model was a OOAK offered at the Breyerfest live auction in 2006. He was produced on the Belgian mold sculpted by Chris Hess. 

This guy is interesting because he's an alternate version of the normal Cai Lun, which was offered through QVC in 2001. According to IDYB, he sold for $1200 at that year's auction - a pretty standard price in a year when one of the live show prizes was the sale topper at $2600. In this blue-and-white color scheme, he looks a little like Blue Willow china, which could have been the intention. Interestingly, it looks like the auction model has a little extra detailing - I don't think the regular Cai Lun has those swirls/vine markings on his lower legs. I suppose he would have looked a little plain without some extra details, and we can't have that in an auction model. 

The Belgian (frequently referred to as the Bubble Butt Belgian) has his share of fans amongst collectors, and releases on him tend to sell well, though I don't personally have any in my collection. The Josiah release on him was my favorite of the 2020 Vintage Club releases, for what it's worth - and I did buy the pin of him! Haha. I have to admit most of the colors he's been released in over the last 10-15 years have been really nice - Red Rocket is another good one. There have only been a handful of releases in that time frame, though, so it's hard to say when he'll be used next. Maybe as a web special? I guess we'll find out! 

Disco Duck

 Happy April Fool's Day, everyone! I hope nobody was fooled too badly this year, but it's kinda hard not to when Breyer is putting stuff like this out there...

According to the Facebook post, his name is "Discoheart" and he'll be available at the end of the month...but, well, it's April Fool's Day and they've done stuff like this in the past, as I talked about in my last Featured Model, so...at best, this particular model will probably be in this year's Breyerfest silent auction. I would buy him if he were a real release, though - he's the same pattern as last year's much-maligned Montana. Although if I were going to name a model horse Discoheart, I'd probably give him a holographic color scheme - just saying. 

In slightly happier news, I'm pretty sure this next release isn't an April Fool's joke:

Enterprising collectors found him on the Breyer website today, but I don't know how long he's been there. What a cutie! It's good to see Bouncer get more use, and I like his color (check out the hidden images in his pattern). It says he's supposed to be released in June, so I hope I can get my hands on him. Must add him to the collection! 

In the "nonexistent photo" side of things, this year's patriotic decorator appears to be named Anthem, according to this Amazon listing. Here's a blurb from the listing:

With his mane and tail blowing like a flag in the wind, Anthem is a richly-hued decorator model that pays tribute to America’s national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” His pinto coat takes on the familiar hues of red, white, and blue, along with a splash of metallic silver.

The listing states the model's measurements are 13 inches long by 10 inches high, and enterprising collectors have noted that Hamilton (gulp) and Huck both fit these measurements, plus they both have hair that could be said to be blowing in the wind. After doing some quick measuring of my own, Goffert and the Show Jumper both fit that description, so it's anybody's guess which one it might be. There's no mention of whether this new one is clearware or not, if that makes any difference (The Show Jumper is the only one of those four molds that's been issued in clearware before). For those in favor of Hamilton, the American Saddlebred does seem like a good choice, since it's an American breed - and better yet, it'd rule out all the speculation that he's this year's Breyerfest surprise model, which is always good. I hope we find out soon!