Oh, deer!

 Well, after a bit of a Thanksgiving hiatus, Breyer is back in black (or, well, piebald) with this new web special - behold! 

From the website:

White-tailed deer can be found from Canada to South America. Highly adaptable, they make themselves at home in the forest, meadow, and even the suburbs. Garret is a mature white-tailed buck. He sports unique coloring called piebald, which is similar to pinto markings in horses. His shaded brown coat is accented by white markings, which is a recessive trait not commonly seen in the wild. Piebald white-tails can vary in appearance, with some appearing almost completely white, while others may just have a few patches. Some studies estimate that only 1 in 1,000 deer will be born piebald, making this fellow a rare and beautiful sight!

He's interesting, but nothing I need. I wonder if a matching doe and fawn will come out later? 1,000 seems like a pretty large run size, almost too big - but last year's disco ram seems to have sold well (edit: fewer of those were made than I remember - oh well), so who knows. 

We also have this month's Collector Club newsletter! If you're a club member, check your email inbox for more. There's an article about eco-friendly packing material, a giveaway and of course a new sneak peek:

Something sparkly and red - perhaps part of a shoulder? No idea what mold it is, or what release this could be. They don't do sneak peeks of the Christmas morning release, so it probably isn't that. Maybe it's a surprise special run for Winterfest, to be revealed tomorrow? I hope so! 

Rhiannon and Rhemi (and Akilah) are here!

 Good news, readers! My Rhiannon and Rhemi set have arrived, along with Akilah! Behold:

What a set! They're magnificent. 

I love the color on the mare - it's so rich. There's a lot of detail in the paint jobs on both of them - namely the discolored feather on the legs of both - typical of a broodmare and foal just in from a muddy field, which these two clearly represent. 

I love the teeny little chestnuts on the foal! 

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I love the expression on the mare's face - she looks like a wise old matriarch who's raised her share of babies. 

Quality-wise they're both very nice - I didn't see a flaw on either of them, other than some blurred spot edges on the mare. Very nice quality set! 

Also included in this shipment was Akilah, the miniaturized Zafirah! 

Something seems to have been changed with her front feet so they're not dead even with each other like they are on the full-sized model. This makes me like the sculpt a little more, but not enough to want to keep it. 

Pretty, but still not my cup of tea. 

Her quality was also very nice; I didn't see any major issues with her, though her eyes are a pretty plain black color - I'd have expected eyewhites or something, considering this is a Premier Club model, after all. But I guess I shouldn't expect too much from a freebie. 

Well, that's the conclusion for this year's Premier Club. Time for another long wait before we see next year's models! 

Featured JAH - 11/25/23, Mar/Apr 1996

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured JAH! I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. This week's JAH issue is Mar/Apr 1996, so let's get going! 

On the front cover, a cowboy in a very pink shirt prepares to rope something. The font color on the front page matches the guy's shirt nicely. On the back cover, the 1996 Breakfast Tour Special "Mighty Buck" makes his debut. 

On the inside cover, we get a look at the upcoming Offspring of Leo model, the Porcelain Saddlebred and Malibu, the raffle model for Breyerfest 1996! On the next page is the Breyerfest 1996 ticket order form/event announcement for Breyerfest 1996, which took place July 26-28, 1996. 

On page 8-9 we have the full schedule of events for Breyerfest 1996. This appears to be the first year of the Parade of Breeds that's now commonplace in the Covered Arena during Breyerfest. 

On page 16 we have an article about Breyer portrait horse Laag, and on page 17 is Blast From the Past featuring the SR chestnut Legionario, and Just About...Breyer Animals featruing the original Spanish Fighting Bull. 

The centerfold features the Breyerfest 1996 Celebration Horse, Tseminole Wind! I think I wanted Tseminole Wind back in the day, but of course there was no chance of us ever going to Breyerfest when I was a kid, so I had to wait until my post-college return to the hobby in 2010 to obtain one. Then I ended up selling him and the rest of my Shams for shelf space anyway. Oh well. 

On page 20-21 we have a Breyerology article about chalky models, with photos. Chalky models from the oil crisis time period are still sought after today, and modern chalkies can still be found today, though they're generally referred to as being basecoated white instead. 

On page 22-23 we have another Brushstrokes article by Kathleen Moody. If you'll remember the article from last week which had some Stablemate-size armatures in it, in the top photo on page 22 we can see an early version of the G2 Warmblood. Many of the G2 molds appeared as sneak peeks like this before they were officially revealed in 1998 when the JAH 12-piece Stablemate set made its debut. 

This issue's Vintage Point featured Yellow Mount, who had also had a healthy number of releases by this time. He was/is a pretty popular mold, so it's nor surprising that he'd had a lot of releases. 

That's all I've got for today - check in next week for May/June 1996! 

Black Friday strikes again!

 As some people suspected would happen eventually, Breyer added some new stuff to their Black Friday sale today - check it out here! Some surprising stuff there, though most of it is sold out by now. 

I was busy prepping for Thanksgiving, so I missed out on this one. Baruti's the only thing I would have wanted, so that stings a little. I'm sure I'll find one eventually. A little surprising to see older stuff like Fiero and Moondance on there - they must have a huge warehouse for things to keep popping up years after the fact. There's a pretty good sale on Spectre down at the bottom if you haven't gotten him yet - $44.99 versus the original $64.99? Not a bad price if you haven't already picked one up. Now I'm going to be wondering if they'll add even more stuff on the actual Black Friday! Guess we'll have to watch and see. 

Whoa - Winterfest?

 Wow - exciting news today, readers! Breyer announced a new event called Winterfest! It seems to be like a little Holiday-themed Breyerfest, judging by the name. From the email:

Hosted on BreyerHorses.com, Breyer's WinterFest is a free online event featuring eight fantastic, holiday-themed workshops created by talented model horse hobbyists, plus exclusive programming featuring holiday greetings from Breyer portrait horses, visits to the legendary Breyer Archive Room, and extra holiday fun, hosted by the Breyer Events Team.

WinterFest will also feature two exclusive, limited edition Traditional scale models, available on BreyerHorses.com while supplies last.

So I wonder if there's going to be some kind of live broadcast, like Breyerfest? Or a bunch of prerecorded segments? This could be interesting. I'm excited to see it! And here are the exclusive models, starting with Trueno! 

 

What a stunner! According to his product page, he's Sylvia Zerbini's mount during her performances. 

Next, here's Mouse! 

This is the braided version of Nikolas, with a cute little costume to boot. These guys are both runs of 3,000, so they shouldn't sell out too quickly. Let's hope so, anyway. I don't need Mouse, but I'm desperate to get Trueno! Duende looks really good in that color! 

Along with the workshops and other activities, there will also be three prize bundles to enter for, so that's exciting! It all gets started on Friday, December 1 at 11am EST - I'm excited to see this! I wonder if it'll be a yearly thing from now on? Just the pick-me-up I needed today - I had surgery yesterday and I'm currently feeling like I got hit by a truck, so this helps me feel better. I'm super-excited for Trueno! 

Vail is here!

 Good news, readers - my Vail model has arrived! Behold! 

What a beauty! 

If I'd been thinking, I'd have gotten a photo of him with my La Molina and Masella models, but just didn't think of it. He's a beautiful model, though! I like the purple interference. 

Quality-wise he's really nice - some tiny bits of lint in the gloss, but otherwise flawless. I love him! Another great addition to the collection. I can't wait to see what web specials are coming up next. 

Featured JAH - 11/18/2023, Jan/Feb 1996

 Hello and welcome to Featured Model! We're starting 1996 with this Jan/Feb issue, so strap in and let's get going! 

On the front cover, horses mill around underneath a rainbow. Very nice photo. On the back cover is the other end of the rainbow, and show special Cream of Tartar makes his debut. 

On page 2 we have the Editor's Desk article, plus a concept sketch for Phar Lap, done by John Bellucci rarher than Chris Hess, who sculpted the model. Interesting. On page 3 we have Dear JAH and a recap of the 1995 West Coast Model Horse Collector's Jamboree, a now-defunct gathering that was kind of the West Coast version of Breyerfest, run by Sheryl Leisure. 

The next few pages of the magazine contained the results of the "Why My Horse Would Love to be a Breyer Model" essay contest results, so I skipped over those. 

On page 13 we have a Brushstrokes article by Kathleen Moody, showing several sculptures in the beginning stage. The top photo shows the first stage of the Big Ben model, while the bottom photo shows various armatures that will become Stablemates models. The one on the upper right looks a bit like the G2 Andalusian, but I'm not sure what the other three are, if anything. I cropped out page 12 because it was the end of a How-To article. 

On page 14 we have the New for '96 list. It's kind of mind-boggling how long this list is, compared to what we get now. Had to streamline the product line over the years, I guess. On page 15 is the first part of a Breyerology article about old Breyer rider models like Robin Hood, Davy Crockett, etc.

On page 16 is  more of the Breyerology article, and on page 17 we have Blast From the Past, featuring the Stablemates Stable Set, and Just About...Breyer Animals, featuring the German Shepherd mold (unused since 1973). Hmm, maybe this year's limited animal run will be on the German Shepherd to mark 50 years since it was last used! 

The Breyerology article continues on pages 20 and 21. 

On page 22 we have the conclusion of the Breyerology article, plus a Who Am I? featuring a dapple gray Clydesdale Foal. I cropped out the opposite page because it was part of an article about insuring model collections. 

Lastly for this issue, the Vintage Point focused on the Running Foal mold. Looking at the article, the mold had already had a ton of releases by 1996. Must have been popular! 

That's all for this issue - check back next week for Mar/Apr 1996! 

Rhiannon and Rhemi are now available!

 Good new for Premier Club members! The final release, Rhiannon and Rhemi, are now available for purchase! 

The bonus Stablemate (matte or glossy mini Zafirah) is shipping with these as well, so make sure to thoroughly check the box when your set arrives! Wouldn't want to accidentally toss it or something. There was some speculation that the last Stablemates Club release might come available so people could combine shipping, but historically the last SMC release hasn't come out until December (at least), so it should be safe to just order this set. Hopefully mine get here fast - I'm excited to see them! 

The 2024 Vintage Club is open---aaaaaaand it's gone.

 Well, the signups for the 2024 Vintage Club were briefly open today - but whatever was left sold out in about 10 minutes, or so I hear. Here's a picture of Kirk: 

Congratulations to the people that managed to get in, but I was hoping it would take a few days for the memberships to sell out - we might have gotten a few more hints to entice people to sign up. Maybe they'll show us something anyway? Fat chance, but maybe. 

Swirls n' Snowflakes and 2024 Vintage Club!

 Well, the Swirls n' Snowflakes Stablemates went up for sale today, and the sale seems to have gone relatively smoothly, other than a temporary website outage. And they're still available for sale, so they must have made plenty of them! I'm fighting the urge to order one and see if I can get the Greyson...but I'm sure there'll be plenty of them for sale later and I just don't want to be bothered right now. 

In other news, the 2024 Vintage Club opens up for regular memberships tomorrow! Last year's members have had their chance to join, so the remaining memberships become available tomorrow! Huzzah! I'm...still not going to join, and even if I were, I'd wait until the absolute last minute to "encourage" them to show more of the releases. Let's hope everybody else does the same, eh? 

Featured JAH - 11/11/2023, Nov/Dec 1995

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured JAH! This week's issue is Nov/Dec 1995, so let's get started! 

On the front cover, wild horses run through the sand. On the back cover, more wild horses and the debut of Sierra, the popular red dun Fighting Stallion. 

In the Editor's Desk, Stephanie waxes philosophical about horses and talks about her old horse Majesty. On the EquiNews page, a huge development! Peter Stone, Breyer Man has left his position as the head honcho for Breyer. Shocking news, made all the more shocking by only giving him one short paragraph to acknowledge his departure. Methinks the separation wasn't amicable. Is there a clue to the reason for his departure in one of the previous issues? Who knows. There's also a death announcement for Breyerfest 1993 Celebration Horse Grayingham Lucky Lad, who died at the young age of 13, and an announcement of the dates for Breyerfest 1996. 

On page 4-5 is the Breyerfest '95 wrap-up. Too bad these photos are in black and white - it'd be nice to see the auction models in color. 

The Breyerfest wrap-up wraps up (haha...) on page 6, while the Brushstrokes article begins a long series discussing the creation of the Fine Porcelain Saddlebred Parade Horse model. 

On page 8-9 we have an article about Mesteno, prominent Breyer portrait horse who was the star of the "Reflections" series of molds sculpted by Rowland Cheney. There's also a Who Am I? featuring what looks like a palomino Running Mare. 

On page 10-11, Breyerology talks about different vintage Breyer packaging, including the rare Touchability boxes and even more rare shrink-wrap boxes. All of these boxes are extremely valuable now, so if you find one, hang onto it! 

In the centerfold we have some photos from Breyerfest 1995. 

Page 24 has a photo of the vaunted Showcase Collection boxes. There aren't many of these left, but it never hurts to be on the lookout! Page 25 was the first page of Horse Trader, so I cropped it out. 

This issue's Vintage Point focused on the Fighting Stallion, which had had a healthy number of releases by 1996, including the sought-after decorators and the flocked circus horse. The opposite page is cropped out because it's the back of the order form for Sierra. 

That's it for this issue, and we've also reached the end of 1995! Check back next week for Jan/Feb 1996! 

Vail, Early Access Black Friday sale, and Swirls n' Snowflakes update!

 Good news, everyone - the selections for Vail have been made! If you entered, check your email or the Collector Club home page to see if you were drawn. Happily, I managed to get drawn on one of my alternate accounts, so hopefully mine gets here fast! 

Also today was, unexpectedly, the early-access Black Friday sale for Collector Club members!



 Unfortunately, the most popular items are long sold out, including Zugspitze, Slyder, Astrid and more. But sometimes more stuff gets added later, so it might be worth checking things out. 

Lastly, there's been an update on the Swirls n' Snowflakes Stablemates situation - they're now scheduled to go up for sale on Monday at 1pm EST. Let's hope it works this time! 

I was right!

 Well, the reveal has been made - 2024's Breyerwest special run is indeed Glossy Harkness! Behold:

If only I could predict other upcoming releases with this accuracy! I'll have to keep practicing, I guess. Still working on having my Denver contact pick one of these up for me. 

In other news, today's release of the holiday Stablemate blind bags was derailed by technical issues, and Breyer didn't announce when they would be released...so your guess is as good as mine whether they'll come available tomorrow or at another time, though they'll probably send out another email in advance. Maybe on Friday? Time will tell, though I think a lot of people are hoping the Premier Club mare and foal are released soon, too. Let's hope they hold off a little longer on that so people can prepare their bank accounts...

Vintage Club and Stablemates blind bags and Breyerwest sneak peeks, oh my!

 Lots of stuff to report today, readers! First and foremost: if you're a Vintage Club member, the 2024 club is now open for current members to join, and we got a new view of Kirk! 

He really is quite pretty - too bad I sold off all my Geronimo models. Lack of shelf space strikes again! 

Next, this year's Stablemates holiday blind bags have been announced! Behold, the Swirls n' Snowflakes collection! 

They're cute! And they really do look like Christmas ornaments - one almost wonders why they didn't go all the way and make them actual ornaments. But I suppose then people would have complained. Fortunately for me, they managed to mostly pick molds I don't collect, so I think I'm going to sit this one out. It shouldn't be too hard to get my hands on the Greyson later on. They'll be available to current Collector Club members around 1pm EST tomorrow, so good luck to everyone buying! 

Lastly, we have a sneak peek for the Breyerwest special run! 

I'm pretty sure this is a glossy HD Harkness, since those didn't sell very well at Breyerfest and the trend has been for Breyer to gloss something leftover for Breyerwest. Which means I'm going to have to find a way to buy one, since I don't plan on traveling to CO for the event. Fortunately, I know someone in Denver, so hopefully I can get my hands on one without having to pay an arm and a leg. I guess we'll have the reveal sometime later this week! 

Vail revealed! Also Wintergreen!

 Well, we have a reveal for the hint in last month's newsletter - it's Vail, this year's Winter Decorator! Behold: 

As many people thought, it's on Totilas, and it looks like the popular Benasque color is making another comeback! I entered, naturally - my Totilas collection needs the newest release (and I'm still smarting a little over not being drawn for Benasque). Good luck to everyone entering! 

In other news, my Wintergreen has arrived! 

What a cutie! Actually, now that I think about it, it's kind of weird that the "sky" on this model is such a deep green - is the snowy treescape about to be hit by a tornado? Or a nuclear bomb? Maybe I'm overthinking this. 

I don't remember if I noticed the clear swirls in her green area before, but they're a nice touch. 

Like I said before, I like how the tail fades to clear at the end, along with her lower legs. Very nice effect! Her quality is pretty good, too - I didn't see any major flaws. Another worthy addition to the collection!