I knew it!

 After yesterday's sketch peek, and Breyer's past history of giving partial sneak peeks on the last day of the year, I figured there might be a real sneak peek of another Premier Club sculpture (presumably the first release for next year)...and I was right! Behold! 

Wow, he looks great! I'll hold off on making my final decision until I have this one in hand, but I love the color! Looks very nice. In the email, he's the first one listed after Tigerlily and Firestorm, so I'm guessing he's the first release. And speaking of Tigerlily and Firestorm, I think this is pretty definitive proof that they are, in fact, the third release: 

The box says "third release"! I don't know why they couldn't just come out and say it, but there it is. 

Okay, NOW I think I've reached the end of things to post about for this year. See you next year, readers! 

Looking to the Future: 2024 Vintage Club

 As usual, this post is really late, but it never hurts to do some speculating, does it? It's almost 2024, and the possibilities are endless! Just as an FYI, much of this post will be cribbed from previous years' worth to save some time. To start with, let's take a look at my predictions from last year. Last year I predicted the gambler's choice would be the FAM and FAF (wrong), the optional model would be on Vermeer (also wrong), and other entries would include El Pastor (wrong!) and Duende (so, so wrong). Let's just suffice it to say that, well, I'm bad at predicting things. Edit: I forgot about the Stablemate! Last year I predicted Cassidy (not the worst guess, considering they finally seem to have remembered she exists) but was wrong about that as well, as they used Darwin instead.

Let's move on. As usual, this photo is probably too old to be worth anything, but it's still fun to look at:

So far, club members have seen the following models from the photo above:

Amigo, the charcoal Adios;
Halo, the Appaloosa-Performance-Horse-colorway on the Stretch Morgan;
Commander, the smoke Five Gaiter;
Denim (Diamonds?), the Copenhagen pinto Shetland Pony;
and Kiowa, the Indian Pony pinto on the Jumping Horse mold.
Also, the glossy palomino Semi-Rearing Mustang was one of the losers in the vote that gave us Tanner.

Molds that appear in the photo, but were used in the VC in other colors, include the Running Stallion, Man o' War, Quarter Horse Gelding, the Belgian (twice), Semi-Rearing Mustang, Fighting Stallion (twice), Running Foal (with Mare), the Western Prancing Horse, the Grazing Mare (with Foal), the Western Horse and the Thoroughbred Mare and Foal.

To conclude with that, pretty much all of those molds have been used by now, except the Longhorn Bull. Who knows if he'll ever end up in the club someday? Maybe in the far future when all other vintage molds have been used.

These are the vintage Breyer molds that haven't been used in the club yet, with molds unlikely to be used crossed out:

Black Beauty, the Black Stallion, Bolya/Halla,  Buckshot, the Donkey, El Pastor, the FAM and FAF, Galiceno, Haflinger, the Hanoverian, the Lying Down Foal, Midnight Sun, Morganglanz, Phantom Wings, Phar Lap, the POA, possibly the PAF, Quarter Horse Yearling, the Race Horse, Saddlebred Weanling, the Scratching Foal, Sea Star, the Stock Horse Stallion, Mare and Foal, Stud Spider, the Trakehner and the Western Pony.

The only thing we've seen for the 2024 lineup is the Geronimo night light, so that would make him the modern mold. That leaves us two vintage molds for regular entries, and I'm going to assume the gambler's choice will be on a modern mold, considering the last few have been. I'm still holding out hope that we'll see the glossy alabaster Thoroughbred Mare and Nursing Foal, but it seems unlikely (unfortunately). I still think El Pastor is likely to appear in the club eventually, so I'm going to stick with him again for 2024, along with, let's say Buckshot? As for the gambler's choice, Murphy's Law would dictate that it be something like Georg or Hamilton, but I'm going to go with the Moody ASB, because why not. Slap some old Five Gaiter colors on him and you've got a winner, at least in my book. I'm going to guess the Old Timer for the optional model because he's relatively popular, and his previous VC appearance will have been 12 years prior, so that seems like an appropriate length of time between releases. As for the Stablemate, guessing that is a total crapshoot, but I'm going to go with Twist as some type of old-timey Arabian. 

That's it for now - I guess we'll find out if any of these guesses were correct in January when the welcome letters go out and (I think?) the first release shows up. Unless it's Kirk, in which case we won't know much of anything. Woohoo! 

Well, that's it for this year. Happy New Year, everyone! 

A last-minute Premier Club "sneak peek"

 Well, we have a last-minute Premier Club "sneak peek"-  I put that in quotes because, well, the kind of sneak peeks we want don't seem to be the ones Breyer wants to give us, for some reason.  

I do like what I see, though. And since the Welsh Cob is listed first in the emails, I'm guessing this means he (or she) is the first release of the year. Based on this sketch, I think I'll probably be adding a new Welsh Cob to the collection. 

There is still one day left in the year, so now I'm wondering if we'll get a real sneak peek tomorrow? I guess we'll find out! 

Featured JAH - 12/30/2023, Jan/Feb 1997

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured JAH! We're almost at the end of the year, but starting a new JAH year with Jan/Feb 1997. Let's get going, shall we? 

On the front cover, an adorable foal walks around looking adorable. On the back cover, Amber and Ashley make their debut! Interesting that they're "Ashley and Amber" here, considering they're almost always referred to as Amber and Ashley by the hobby. 

After skipping a few pages, we find an announcement of Rugged Lark's farewell tour and the return of his Breyer model to the regular line on page 6. There's also a blurb for the Multimedia Horses: The Complete Interactive Guide to Horses, an "all-new CD-ROM available from Inroads Interactive." The CD-ROM descriptor makes me smile a little bit (when was the last time you saw it used?) as well as the "Contact your local CD-ROM distributor" at the end. Nowadays we'd just open up the Internet and place an order on Amazon or similar, if we bought it at all (pretty sure most of the content can be found on the Internet for free these days). I'd be interested to see what the games were like, though. On page 7 is the New for 1997 list (read it and weep). 

On page 8-9 we see a photo of Breyer's Wilderness series, featuring pretty much all of their Wild Animal molds, which have for the most part been out of production for many years, aside from small runs here and there. 

After skipping an article about customizing, we come to a Brushstrokes article on page 13, featuring the production process for Amber and Ashley. 

On page 16 we find a story about the bloody shoulder Arabian - refer to it when you see Breyer's various bloody shoulder models, including Freedom and Assam, and maybe others I'm forgetting. On page 17, the Blast From the Past features past Breyer show specials. I had the gold Secretariat and Little Chaparral, and maybe King of Hearts? I don't remember for sure. Anyways, they were sold off because of - you guessed it - shelf space issues. 

In the centerfold is a collection of photos of various customized Morgans, showing the height of customizing being done at the time. And they're pretty nice! 

On page 24 we have a birth announcement - and also model announcement - of SS Morning Star, daughter of Breyer portrait horse Karma Gypsy (also sister to Breyerfest Celebration Horse Tseminole Wind). This model was part of my carpet herd. On page 25 is the first page of Horse Trader. 

On page 34 is a photo of a variation Family Arabian Mare missing her spots, while the Who Am I? features a model that should be easy to identify if you read the Sept/Oct issue (or my blog post on the subject from a couple of weeks ago). On page 35 is the first page of the Vintage Point article, this time focusing on the G1 Morgan Stallion. 

On page 36-37 the Vintage Point article concludes. And that brings us to the end of this week's issue! Check back next week for Mar/Apr 1997. 

The Grinch strikes again, and other stuff

 Good news, everyone! My Wassail models all arrived today - I was able to use UPS to delay their arrival until today. So without any further ado...here we go with the unboxing! 

What a tantalizing stack of boxes. While I am getting pretty tired of the gambler's choice everything, it is fun to open up a stack of random things every once in a while. 

I carefully opened each box, pulled out the model inside without looking at it, made a pile on the table, and took a photo (also without really looking at it, which is why it isn't centered). 

And after a lot of unwrapping...behold! 

Rats, I was hoping for a better color distribution than that (doesn't everyone?) - but hey, at least I didn't get four solid greens. 

There's actually a lot of variation between the three solid greens. The one on the left is pretty dark, the one in the middle is about average, and the one on the right practically GLOWS green in comparison. I was a little torn about which one to keep, but ultimately settled on the greenest one, because...he's just so green! And these paint jobs do look better in person than they did in the photos. 

Here's a closeup where you can hopefully see more detail on the glitter. How cool would it have been if they'd had some holographic effects on these guys, too? But they still look pretty cool. 

So I'm keeping the green filigree and the brightest of the solid greens, and I'll be looking to trade the other two for the solid red and filigree red. I may have a trade for the solid red lined up already, which is good. Hopefully I can get the other one traded as well and have the full (obtainable) set! 

In other news, there are so many things I need to write about today! I'll start with the stuff from yesterday, since I just didn't have a chance to write a post yesterday. We were busy flying back home to KY after a Christmas visit to our home state. So where do I start? We got another Breyerfest Stablemate silhouette:

Cool, it's the Prince Charming mold again. Hmm, I thought to myself. Could they be on a streak here? Dare I hope they pick four molds I don't collect, and I don't need to bother with getting any of the single-day Stablemates for once? It's too much to hope for! 

Yesterday's other big reveal (unless I'm forgetting something) was the optional purchase for the 2024 Stablemates Club! Behold: 

It's Cassidy! And two foals! The foals are randomly shipped, so you won't know which foal you're getting until it arrives! I am not happy about this! 

I had reservations about this year's Breyerfest mare and foal set for the same reason - anyone that collects both the Standing Stock Horse Foal and the Action Stock Horse Foal would inevitably end up with an extra of the Lady Phase from this set (if they didn't end up buying multiple sets trying to get both versions of the foal). I don't have quite the same problem, since I only want the standing foal from this set, but it still irritates me. 

Also, I'm confused by the Cassidy's color (clearly Breyer really is trying to get their money's worth from the mold). The clue about the Breyerfest Cassidy seemed to imply a primitive color, but Hadley's color is primitive too. Would they do two? I'm confused. Maybe the clue was referring to something else. But I suppose we'll find out more next week. 

So that's our full Stablemates Club lineup for 2024! It looks like I'm only going to need three of the releases (or I guess four if you count the standing foal version of Holden). Oh well - I think that's better than this year. So I broke down and joined the club today (along with the 2024 Premier Club because I didn't want to forget about it). 

Back to Breyerfest 2024: today's teaser was...this! 

Holy crap, they did it! They actually did it! I won't need any of the single-day Stablemates next year! Hooray! It probably sounds weird that I'm celebrating not needing to buy anything, but every little bit helps, right? Maybe I won't need to bother with a VIP ticket, either. Well, maybe I won't hope for that yet...much. 

Let's see. What else was revealed today? The final Collector Club newsletter of 2023 is in email inboxes, so check your email if you haven't. There's a whole bunch of archive footage from the 1990s, a giveaway of a Mustang throw blanket (really? That's all you could find?), and this sneak peek:

There's been some speculation online that this is a new bull. That works for me - I won't need to buy it! The new for 2024 line is slated to be released next week, apparently (so much for releasing it before 2024 actually gets here). So we won't have to wait too long to see it. 

Other random things that were released sometime in the last few days: updated packaging for the Premier Club (Nobody cares about the packaging! Give us the first release in the club!); the PC Stablemate will be a new mold (Trying to figure out the odds on whether this is an actually new mold, or something shrunk down to Stablemate size again); Grab bags are being offered again on Breyer's website (not worth it! Avoid! Avoid!) and 2024 Stablemates Club releases will be released in window boxes rather than the hat boxes (Boo! Go back to the satin bags!). There may be more I'm forgetting.  

At any rate, I can't believe we're already at the end of 2023! I don't know if I'll have anything else to post about before the end of the year, aside from one more Featured JAH post. Let's hope there's something...but in the meantime, I hope everyone has a happy New Year! Here's to a great 2024, everybody! 

Another Breyerfest Stablemate silhouette!

 Another day, another silhouette…but this one is for Breyerfest 2024! Huzzah! It’s always great when they reveal things early. 

Looks like they’ve decided to finally get their money’s worth out of the Cassidy mold. I wonder if she’ll get a RR release next year too? Anyway, I’m wondering if the descriptions on these are a clue as to what they’ll look like - yesterday’s mentioned a “green light” to speculate as to what it was (something car-related?) and today’s says we won’t have to wait a million years to find out what it is. That’s a relief, I guess. So…does that mean this one will be some kind of primitive dun? How does that tie into the Against All Odds theme? I’m no expert, but I don’t think Cassidy really resembles a Przewalski’s Horse at all, and that’s the only primitive breed I know of that’s survived to modern times. Guess we’ll find out next week.

I forgot to mention this yesterday, but Breyer’s yearly warehouse sale is going on now until 1/1, and Collector Club members get double the usual discount. So if you’re flush with Christmas cash, head on over to the website and do your part to help Breyer empty out their warehouse for the new year.

Yet another Stablemates Club reveal!

 Good news, readers - the burning question about the 2024 Stablemates Club has been answered - which mold will be the gambler’s choice? And the answer is - the donkey!

That’s right, the G3 Donkey - a mold so obscure, the only time it’s been used outside of a play set was as Senor Carrots in the Spirit Riding Free blind bags. I don’t know about you, but I wasn’t expecting a donkey for a gambler’s choice. Sheesh, and I thought the packaging for the G2 Shetland gambler was tiny this year!

Fortunately for my wallet, I don’t collect the donkey, so it looks like I only need one club membership yet again next year. Woohoo! These four donkeys are cute (and the zonkey looks like it’ll be interesting), none of them need to join my herd. Now we just need to see the optional model and we’ll be set!

In other news, we have a silhouette hint on the Breyerfest Blog!

Not sure when the reveal is going to be, but I’m guessing this is one of the event Stablemates. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait too long to find out!

Also also, per an email from Breyer today, the other two Premier Club releases for next year will be a Criollo by Morgen Kilbourn and a Welsh Cob by Eva Rossiter. Cool, but I’d still like to see some kind of visual representation of what we’re getting. Like a photo? Preferably of the first release. Come on Breyer, time’s a-wasting!

Wassail is revealed!

 Season’s greetings, readers! Well, the heavily-anticipated Wassail reveal happened today - behold!

Ooh, pretty! When they’re all arrayed together like that, they look great! Although I don’t think anyone was expecting Coal to literally be the charcoal colorway (or very close to it) rather than solid black. 

The hobby was also surprised to see none of these models had a bald face, despite that descriptor appearing in the original (pre-deletion) description of the models. Honestly, the solid faces look a little weird to me, and when you see each of these models by itself, they’re all a little cheap-looking. But at least two Coals have already been bid to more than $3,000 - which is about on par for a run of 24. 

People are still receiving their Wassails and so far I think I’ve seen about seven Coals pop up - so there’s still hope for the people still waiting for their models, like me. I was able to reschedule delivery for all four of mine, so Friday is going to be a fun delivery day for me! Crossing my fingers that I’ll get a Coal! Good luck to everyone else out there still waiting, and Merry Christmas!

Another Stablemates Club preview!

 Merry Christmas Eve, everyone! Good news tonight - we have another Stablemates Club preview! Say hello to Dylan!

Hmm, he looks like a miniature Anamar. But haven’t we pretty much already seen this color in the Club? Phineas was a very similar color, complete with poorly-executed star dapples. Phineas was also rather hard to resell afterward, and I suspect this one will be the same situation since I don’t collect the mold. On a more positive note, Breyer does need to do more practicing and experimenting if they want to improve, so let’s hope this leads to something better in the future!

Well, I think the only reveal we’re still waiting for is the gambler’s choice. Oh, and the optional model. Any speculation on which they’ll reveal first? The gambler’s choice would probably sell more memberships, so I’m going to hope for that. 

Featured JAH - 12/23/2023, Nov/Dec 1996

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Model! How fitting that it's almost Christmas and this week's issue is Nov/Dec 1996! Well, let's get going! 

On the front cover, a Chincoteague Pony looks photogenic while the wind ruffles his/her hair. On the back cover, Sasssafras is revealed! Oh, I desperately wanted Sassafras back in the day, but the order form is still in the back of the magazine, so I must not have been able to convince my parents to order it. I did eventually get a Sassafras later on, but (not a surprise at this point!) sold it off for shelf space. 

In the editor's desk, Stephanie leans on Misty II and apologizes for the "erratic mailing schedule" of the 1996 JAH magazines. This may explain the long wait I had to receive my first magazine back when I first subscribed. On the opposite page, new editorial assistant Renee Bordonaro introduces herself. 

On page 4 we have the discontinued list for 1997 and a Breyerfest bulletin. On page 5 is the beginning of an article about mold variations, written by Breyer historian and well-known collector Sande Schneider. 

The article about mold variations continues on page 6-7.

This issue's Brushstrokes article on pages 8-9 talks about how the Dapples line came to be. 

After skipping an article about various pony breeds (and cutting out the first part of an article about showing model ponies), we come to the Blast From the Past, featuring the SR chestnut pinto Haflinger, and the Just About...Breyer Animals! featuring Benji and Tiffany. 

 

After skipping the results of a coloring contest and the rest of the model ponies article, we come to the rest of the mold variations article and the beginning of Horse Trader. 

On page 34 we have an article showing all the JC Penney and Sears special runs for 1996 (RIP) and on page 35 is the beginning of the Vintage Point for this issue, featuring the Shetland Pony. 

To bring this issue to a close, we have the last page of the Vintage Point. I cropped out the other page because it was the blank side of the Sassafras order form. 

That's it for this week's issue. So we're now done with 1996! The time is going by way too fast - it feels like I just started doing these! But time waits for no man (or woman), I guess - so check back next week for Jan/Feb 1997. 

Newport!

 Well, readers, now that we’ve started getting Stablemates Club reveals, they’ve been coming fast and furious! Breyer sent out a link to an unboxing video today, with an epic reveal of Newport! Here are some screenshots from the video!

This is the polo pony that was alluded to a few weeks ago. More importantly, it’s a reworked G2 Thoroughbred! She looks so different with a roached mane and new tail. 

The resculpting was done by Franceyn Dare. I like her with this new look! I wonder if the mold will always look like this going forward? Or maybe we’ll effectively have two versions of this going forward? I guess we’ll find out eventually. Well, I’m excited to see the next reveal!

2024 Collector Event, and more!

 Exciting news today, readers - the 2024 Collector Event has been announced! I’m typing this post on my phone while traveling for the holidays, so please forgive any formatting errors.

Ooh, interesting! We’re heading to Oklahoma City this time. I was just thinking about this event the other day and the possibilities for the theme - though I thought it would probably be in New Jersey, since it’s been almost 10 years since the last NJ collector event.

So, here are the ticket models for the event! Each attendee will receive these models as part of their ticket. Behold!

Whew! Nothing I need so far. Nice color on the Bobby Jo, though. The tickets are being done via lottery again, and I’m definitely going to try to enter - I’ll have started a new job by then, but I’m hopeful that I’d be able to take Friday off if I managed to be drawn to attend. Shouldn’t be too hard to jump on a Thursday night flight to OKC from where I am if I do get chosen. I’d be thrilled to be able to report from the event as it’s happening - I haven’t been able to do that since 2016! But I’d better not start counting my chickens before they’re hatched. Let’s just hope I manage to get drawn.

In other news, we got another Stablemates Club reveal today, too! Say hello to Wallowa!

So this is the G1 release for next year! And he’s being released in a glossy and matte finish - bad(ish) news for people who collect him, not-so-bad for people who don’t, like me. Huzzah! Kind of a strange color - why are the spots on the front half of his body so light? Actually, he looks like a fleabitten gray in front and black Appaloosa in the back. Maybe he started graying out in front first. At any rate, he’s nothing I need, so I’m going to need a little more encouragement before I join the club for next year. Maybe we’ll get another reveal tomorrow?

In other, other news, people who shelled out the money for the expedited shipping on the Wassail models started receiving them today (!), and while I don’t have any photos I can use just yet, they’re definitely interesting-looking. No one has gotten a Coal yet, but all four of the other colors have appeared. First off, none of them have bald faces, so I have no idea how that description got into the original description on the website yesterday. Secondly, I guess “with filigree” just means “filigree” after all, because both the red and the green “with filigree” were the same as every other filigree model we’ve ever seen, except they don’t have bald faces and look a little weird as a result. The colors look nice though! I was just kinda hoping for a slightly more interesting paint job…and they would have tied in really well with the Swirls’n’Snowflakes horses. Oh well. 

That’s all I have for today, and I’m tired after a day of traipsing through airports. Let’s hope there’s more exciting stuff to post about tomorrow!

What is happening?!

 Well, the Christmas Day surprise model has been released (Wassail!), and then sold out (Wahhh-sail!) - what a long, strange trip it's been! 

The initial release went okay - no website glitches that I'm aware of. At first I was incensed, because there were no actual photos of the model, and I thought they weren't going to reveal the mold at all - but then I saw Huckleberry Bey was in the description, and was somewhat mollified - with photos to be revealed on Christmas Day. The description also revealed the four colorways - glossy metallic sparkling red, glossy metallic sparkling red with filigree, glossy metallic sparkling green, and glossy metallic sparkling green with filigree, with 24 glossy black Hucks thrown in there too (edit: it's my assumption that the Coal models will also be on Huck). I'm using past tense to refer to these items, because not long after the surprise went live, the page was scrubbed of any reference to Huckleberry Bey or the four colors. Uhh...is somebody asleep at the wheel in NJ? Why are they doing this in the sloppiest way possible? Did the higher-ups already check out for Christmas and leave the interns in charge? Why is this being done so haphazardly? 

I guess I'm glad about the Huck reveal mistake, because like I said earlier, I would have been pissed if they actually intended to make us wait until Christmas to reveal the model, while still expecting us to buy it a week beforehand. I was fully prepared to close the page and not buy anything at all until I saw Huck in the description. But now it seems the Huck reveal was a mistake, and they weren't intending to tell us the mold at all? This is a lot of money to be spending on a gamble - if I'd purchased these not knowing what they were, and then had it end up being Big Ben or Gem Twist or some other Moody mold I don't collect, I'd be super upset! It was bad enough buying the 2020 and 2021 Breyerfest surprise models sight-unseen - I really don't need that to become a regular occurrence! Not to mention the fact that the model price has gone up to $145 and the piece count breakdown (2624) evens out to 650 models per color - so if it turned out to be an unpopular mold, I'd likely end up having a hard time getting my money back. 

My best guess as to why they're doing this is because they don't want to have people in the office on Christmas Day trying to figure out the inevitable technical glitches (many people outside the US were charged for shipping when they weren't supposed to be). Add that to many customers' repeatedly voiced desire not to have to be haunting the website on Christmas and a heavy dollop of the usual Breyer ineptitude, and here we are. 

Okay, anyway, with all of that out of the way, let's talk about the colors themselves. Here they are again:
Glossy metallic sparkling red
Glossy metallic sparkling red with filigree
Glossy metallic sparkling green
Glossy metallic sparkling green with filigree

Before being scrubbed of information, the website said the models would have bald faces and stockings shaded by hand, and black muzzles and inner ears. Let's take another look at the sneak peek from last month's Collector Club newsletter:

I dismissed this being a sneak peek of the Christmas release at the time, but now that all of this *waves hands wildly* has happened, I don't think I'm going out on a limb by saying this is probably the "glossy metallic sparkling red" color. Well, it looks promising, at least! As for the "with filigree" ones, I think the common assumption was that the mention of filigree meant they'd be a red or green filigree, but there's some speculation that the use of "with filigree" means they could end up looking more like the Swirls'n'Snowflakes Stablemates. Sounds good to me! So if that's the case, they're probably basically like big versions of the red and green Swirls'n'Snowflakes models. 

Some people were confused by how the models could have bald faces in combination with black muzzles. Since that verbiage has now been removed from the website, I guess it's anyone's guess how they're going to pull that off, though I did see speculation that they may end up looking like some kind of Mari Lwyd reference. So we may have some exciting reveals to look forward to! 

I did order four of these guys, since I have a large Huck conga (and like I said yesterday, a glossy black Huck would be great!), and only realized as I was checking out that...since we're flying back to our hometown tomorrow, if these models get shipped this week they're likely going to arrive here and end up sitting on our doorstep until we get home. Curses! Now I'm wishing they'd kept the release on Christmas Day after all! I did send an email to Breyer requesting that they not be shipped until after Christmas, but I haven't gotten a response yet - I may have to call them in between flights tomorrow, I guess. 

That's all I have to say about the Christmas models, but we did get one other tidbit today: the full-body reveal of Lanin in the Stablemates Club! 

So it looks like most or all of his mane is gone, but the tail is more-or-less the same? It looks like the tips are different on the tail, but it could also be a horrendous cutout job in Photoshop, so I'm going with that. Mirado looks a little weird without his mane, but not nearly as weird as the maneless Nokota, so I'm okay with it. Let's hope we get some more SMC reveals this week! 

Huh?

 Well, I guess Christmas is coming early this year! From this afternoon's email from Breyer:

I guess that image doesn't really say anything. Well, we're getting this year's Christmas surprise model...tomorrow, rather than on Christmas itself. This email was so unexpected I actually said, "What?" when I read it. Well, it was either than or some type of expletive - I can't be sure, since I was so bewildered. So...merry early Christmas, I guess! There's been some complaining about the early release, but they're probably doing it so people don't have to be trying to order stuff on Christmas Day - I know I've seen complaints about that in the past.

From the email:

To celebrate the season, we’re getting festive with a beloved sculpture by Kathleen Moody in four glittering colorways – plus a little bit of coal for those on the naughty list!

We already knew the mold was a Moody sculpt from the Winterfest broadcast, but now the guessing is ramping into high gear. At first I thought it was Emma, but from that verbiage, now I'm starting to wonder if it's something else instead. Pretty much all Moody sculpts are beloved, to be fair, but I'm not sure if Emma quite fits into the category of beloved just yet. So maybe it's something else instead? They tend to use smaller sculpts for this, so if it isn't Emma, my first guess is the Arabian Mare/Justadream - she's pretty beloved, isn't she? Even bodies on that mold tend to sell pretty well, and a glossy black Justadream would be pretty great. But then again, Huck hasn't been used lately and a glossy black Huck would be pretty amazing too. Well, I guess we'll find out tomorrow at 11am EST! 

Finally, a Stablemates Club preview!

 Well, I have good news - we finally have a preview of a 2024 Stablemates Club release! Not before time...but I digress. Here he is! 

He's a Mirado with roached mane and possibly a modified tail! He's kind of like a small version of this not-well-received Nokota auction model from 2022. I'm cautiously optimistic about this guy, but it's not enough to join the club just yet. I'm guessing this is the polo pony they hinted about earlier, but I demand more! At least give us the outlines like usual. 

Featured JAH - 12/16/2023, Sept/Oct 1996

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured JAH! This week's issue is Sept/Oct 1996, so let's dig in! 

On the front cover, a horse rears up majestically, while on the back cover, the Horsepower set makes its debut, featuring Giltedge the Florentine Hackney Pony and the die-cast yellow delivery truck. The Giltedge release was another one I desperately wanted, but it either sold out too fast or I just didn't have the money for it at the time - either could be true. This release was notorious for some of the Giltedges being horribly yellowed in the white areas, and the returned Giltedge models were repainted and became Excalibur, a Breyerfest SR in 1997 (possibly one of the first Breyerfest special run line models). 

On the inside cover, the G2 Saddlebred makes her debut...sort of. The sculpture shown in the photo still looks like a work in progress, and the actual debut for this mold didn't come until 1998 when the JAH special edition set was released. I'd be interested to know the backstory on this one. There's also a photo of the real Iron Metal Chief! What a beauty. On the opposite page is the info page for the Horsepower set. I did eventually get a Horsepower set (formerly owned by Sheryl Leisure, no less!), but sold it off later for shelf space.

On page 4-5 is an article about Missouri Fox Trotters, including Tri-Mi Boot-Scootin' Boogie, a model I really wanted back in the day - not sure if I thought it was pretty or if it was just because of the name. Never got one, though. 




I've skipped a few things here, but on page 12-13 we have an article about the beautiful Iron Metal Chief, as well as a Who Am I? featuring the Classic Mustang Mare. 

I cropped out the end of an article about showing gaited models on page 16, and on page 17 we have the Blast From the Past about the palomino pinto Nursing Foal, and a Just About...Breyer Animals! featuring the bear cub. 

In the centerfold we have a gallery of customized models by various artists, many of whom are still active in the model horse hobby today. I admired these a lot and was especially partial to L. J. Dreamazon. I wonder where he is now? 

On page 20-21 is the Breyerfest '96 recap! 

The Breyerfest recap concludes on page 22, and some live show results are on page 23. 

The issue concludes with a Vintage Point about the Foundation Stallion. I wanted the original black one when I was younger, but never did get one - another victim of lack of shelf space, and I've never even owned anything on this mold! One of my friends had Appaloosa Champion, though. 

Well, that's it for this week - check back next week for Nov/Dec 1996 and the conclusion of 1996! Sheesh, I can't believe we're already almost done with another year (the literal year, and the magazine year). See you then!