Featured JAH - 11/30/2023, Nov/Dec 2004

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured JAH! We're finishing up 2004 with Nov/Dec this week (fittingly, for the date), so let's get started! 

On the front cover we have the winner of that year's JAH cover contest in a very wintry, Christmasy scene. 

In the Editor's Desk, Natasha talks about some philosophical stuff and sums up the magazine. There's also a reveal of Goin' for Gold! I always thought he was one of the prettier Lonesome Glory releases.

On page 3 we have Letters to the Editor! 

On page 4 is the first part of the article about Smarty Jones, 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner. 

The article concludes on page 5 with a reveal of the Smarty Jones mold/model! Also his Christmas tree ornament. 

On page 6 is the first page of an article about my favorite sculptor, Kathleen Moody! Huzzah! 

The Kathleen Moody article continues on page 7. 

After skipping an article about MEPSA and the 2004 Retired List, on page 10 we have an article about the equestrian portion of the 2004 Olympics! 

The Olympics article concludes on page 11. 

On page 12, the fabulous Tortuga makes his debut! Maybe someday I'll find one to add to my herd. 

After skipping Breyer jr., Collector's Corner and a reveal of JC Penney Breyers for 2004, on page 19 we find the conclusion of the Kathleen Moody article and winners of the Bull Art Contest that I don't remembering being announced before. Maybe I missed that. Anyway, I still hope we get a new Moody sculpture someday - I want one so bad it's almost physically painful. Here's hoping, I guess! 

On page 22 we find an article about ethics in live show judging - always a timely subject. 

The ethics article concludes on page 23. 

After skipping most of Horse Trader (still hanging in there at 1.25 pages), on page 25 is the Holiday Cover Contest results. 

On page 26 is the first page of this issue's Vintage Point, this time focusing on the G2 American Saddlebred. 

The Vintage Point article concludes on page 27. 

On page 28 we have the reveal of Capella, the benefit model for the (sadly now-extinct) Abaco Barb breed of horse. 

After skipping the Calendar of Events, we've reached the back cover, featuring the 2004 Holiday Collection! And with that, we've reached the end of both this issue and 2004. Check back next week for Jan/Feb 2005! 

November Collector Club Newsletter!

 Good news, readers and Collector Club members! The 2024 Collector Club newsletter is out in the wild! If you're a Collector Club member, check your email to read it. Firstly, the feature story is "A Closer Look at 2025 Specialty Clubs," which offers, among other things, a turntable video of Winnifred, the first Premier Club release of 2025. Here's the thumbnail:

Ehh...I'm thinking, "Nah," on this one. I like her head from certain angles, but that's about it. The rest of her doesn't really appeal to me, nor does the mealy/pangare coloring. Better luck with the next one, I guess. 

Excitingly, there's also a turntable video of Madonna, the PAM/Zara release in the 2025 Stablemates Club! Here's a more-different angle of her: 

I'm toying with the idea of keeping her just for the novelty - and really, she's one Stablemate, so it's not like I don't have room for her. I'm somewhat irritated that it turns out she's the "new sculpture" for 2025's club - I thought she was the first release! So we won't even get her for another year. Happily, there's a reveal of another 2025 Stablemates Club model! 

Cute! He's almost like a mini version of Churchill, though the whites are different. I was already planning on joining the club, but this guy definitely makes it easier! 

That's about it for the feature story, but there's also a giveaway of a Hot Cocoa and this sneak peek: 

At first I thought it was something 75th Anniversary related, because of the blue and gold, but then someone pointed out it appears to be some sort of color-shift paint (see the red/purple in the bottom left). So, I have no idea what this is. Hopefully we don't have to wait too long to find out! It's probably the winter decorator web special, but who knows. 

Black Friday Sale Pt. 2

 Well, the second part of Breyer’s Black Friday sale went live this morning - and what a sale it was! Lots of exciting stuff this time:

Julius was probably the hottest item of the sale - I actually remembered to check it this time and I saw everything appear on the page precisely at noon. I’m pretty sure Julius sold out first (within a few seconds) but it could have been something farther down the page…

Yep, there was at least one Peregrine, too! 

I’m a little mystified that things like Go Figure, Guinevere and Raleigh sold out so quickly, since they weren’t terribly popular on release and Go Figure can be had for under $100, but maybe people just wanted to get something? Like the previous sale, inventory was low on most of this stuff and there was a lot of cart-snatching happening. I didn’t need anything from this sale, fortunately, so it was interesting to watch everything sell out. Congratulations to everyone that managed to snag something! I suspect more may be added for the actual Black Friday and/or Cyber Monday, so stay tuned!

Earl selections and another Black Friday sale!

 Greetings, readers! Well, if you entered the Earl drawing, check your email - the selections went out today! I didn't enter for him, but congrats to all the winners! If you weren't drawn, fear not - it probably won't be hard to find one for around his issue price later on. 

In more exciting news, Breyer announced another Black "Friday" sale tomorrow! I put Friday in quotes because, well, tomorrow is Wednesday, not Friday. But anyway...

Supposedly there will be even more special stuff going on sale! I'm excited to see what they have. I set an alarm on my phone this time so I wouldn't forget about it at work. The sale is happening at the same time as last week: 12pm EST. Good luck, everyone! 

Featured JAH - 11/23/2024, Sept/Oct 2004

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured JAH! This week we're covering Sept/Oct 2004, so let's get going! 

On the front cover, Pat Parelli rides his mare Magic while working with Casper. 

In the Editor's Desk, Natasha crows about various awards JAH has won and talks about Breyerfest 2004. 

On page 3 we have Letters to the Editor and a correction. 

On page 4 we have the first part of the article about Pat Parelli's Casper. 

The Casper article concludes on page 5. It appears that Casper passed away in 2017 at the age of 27. 

On page 6 is the first page of the Breyerfest 2004 wrap-up. 

The Breyerfest wrap-up continues on page 7. 

The Breyerfest wrap-up wraps up on page 8! That was a long one. TJ is/was so beautiful! I love seeing photos of him. 

After skipping the live show results and Collector Corner, on page 12 is the legendary Stablemates Mini-Fanfare set! This set was highly popular and (if I remember correctly) sold out quickly because of the G1 Drafter, which had not been used for quite some time at this point. I was lucky enough to get one of these sets, but I remember thinking I'd be happy with any of the drafters other than the pink one. Which one did I get? The pink one, of course. But I got over it, as one does. 

After skipping Breyer jr., on page 18 we have an article about Curly horses! I think I saw one of these at the KHP recently. 

The Curly article concludes on page 19, with some show ideas for Curly foals and an interesting Curly resin sculpted by Kathleen Moody. Huh - if that was produced in plastic, I'd probably buy it. 

After skipping an article about fixing broken models, on page 22 we have an article about Breyer lamps! 

The lamp article concludes on page 23. 

On page 24 we have the first page of this week's Vintage Club, featuring the Western Pony! Fitting, considering he's about to be featured in the Vintage Club next year. 

The Western Pony article wraps up on page 25. 

After skipping most of Horse Trader, on page 27 we have a write-up on what would become the last West Coast Model Horse Collector's Jamboree. Kinda like BreyerWest before BreyerWest, really. 

After skipping various event-related stuff, we've reached the back cover of the magazine! Cryptic makes his debut here, along with some Halloween plushes. And that brings us to the end of this week's issue! Check back next week for Nov/Dec 2004! 

Goodbye, Earl (And Black Friday Early Access)

 Well, the early access Black Friday sale happened - with predictable results. There wasn't anything particularly exciting in the sale - mostly old web specials with a smattering of Collector Club, Stablemate Club, Christmas, Premier Club and Vintage Club stuff. This apparently included exactly two Zugspitze models. Needless to say, lots of people were upset when the predictable cart-yanking happened (even though Breyer warned about super-low quantities on some models). One wonders if more will be added later? Perhaps something for Cyber Monday? Guess we'll find out later. 

In more exciting news, this year's animal web special was revealed! Goodbye Hello Earl: 

He's very handsome, I have to admit. I've always kinda liked the Charolais Bull sculpt. Not enough to buy any (including this guy). Space is at a premium and I'm really more interested in the horses. But...maybe, someday, I'll find some room, somewhere, for a Charolais Bull. 

There are 1,000 of these guys, so it probably won't be hard to get your hands on one if you're not drawn. The entry deadline is 11/25, so don't dawdle! Get those entries in now. 

Breyer's Early Black Friday Sale!

 Oops, I forgot to post about this yesterday. Collector Club members, there's an early Black Friday sale today! 

From the email: 

We've plucked some incredible finds from the Breyer vault which include previous Club releases, Web Specials, and more - that's in addition to all the savings you can find in our collection of regular line deals.

I'll be interested to see what they have available - like the email says, usually it's old web specials and unsold club releases, but there could be some juicy stuff in there like Vintage Club stuff that's not normally available to the masses. The sale is happening at 12pm EST today (mildly irritated it's not at 1pm like they usually do), so I'll definitely be checking it out!  

Buckeye's Bluegrass Bonanza show report and Crinkle Cookie goodness!

 Greetings, readers! Well, my last show of the year went pretty well - I was running late that morning and only got there about five minutes before the show was supposed to start, but other than that minor snag, things were pretty great. Here's how I did! 

Once again, I managed to get one of every color ribbon, for breed and collectibility. I had a lot of fourth-place finishes this time for some reason. As usual, my Via Lattea stayed consistent and placed third (!) in breed and fifth in collectibility. Maybe someday she'll win a class! All in all it was a great day, other than some weird judge decisions, but odd stuff happens at every show, right? 

In other news, I got my Freshly Baked Stablemates today! Behold, the jackpot! 

That's right - two Crinkle Cookies! I'm not even mad that I didn't get a Peppermint Bark, because it shouldn't be difficult to trade a Crinkle Cookie for her. Woohoo! I suspected they were Crinkle Cookies as soon as I took them out of the box, due to how heavy they were. And was elated to see I was right! Huzzah! 

Here's a closeup of one of them. He doesn't have rubs on his nose - that's just a trick of the light (but he does seem to have a rub on his ear). Both of them are pretty nice other than the aforementioned ear rub. I'll be at the Silas Model Horse Swap this Saturday, so hopefully I can trade for a Peppermint Bark there. 

WGC Marc of ARRGH!

 Well, I didn’t get a chance to post about the hint over the weekend, but Breyer teased the BreyerMidwest special run model and revealed it today, and it’s THIS…

That’s right…glossy WGC Marc of Charm. Just when I thought I was safe! I may have uttered a few swear words when I saw the teaser. Darn it, if the event had stayed in Denver I could have had my SIL pick one up for me! So now I’m trying to figure out if I can make my way out to Salina, because I just know they’ll be selling these guys for $1,000 after the fact. If I’m going to spend that much money on a horse I’d rather go there myself and have a nice experience there to boot. Something to think about, I guess. 

I guess it makes sense that they used him, since the last few glossy Breyerwest models didn’t exactly set the world on fire. Who would have figured that glossing unpopular Breyerfest models wouldn’t make them more popular? It was only a matter of time until they changed up the strategy. 

Featured JAH - 11/16/2024, July/August 2004

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured JAH! This week we'll be covering July/August 2004, so let's get going! 

On the front cover, a bull rider and bull do their thing (this is kind of an odd cover, considering the magazine is called Just About Horses, but I'll let it slide because of the CollectiBulls). 

I usually skip the inside covers of the magazines, but I couldn't skip this one because it featured the debut of the Flash mold! Huzzah! 

In the Editor's Desk, Natasha talksa bout the PBR and the CollectiBulls, and mentions the non-equine cover thing. 

On page 3 is the announcement of another JAH holiday cover contest, as well as Letters to the Editor. 

On page 4 we have an article about Breyer portrait model Rowdy Yates. 

The Rowdy Yates article concludes on page 5. While I couldn't find anything definitive, it appears that Rowdy died around 2016 (RIP). 

On page 6 we have yet another Breyerfest 2004 preview, featuring bull rider Adriano Moraes and the Design a Pair of Maracas contest. Whatever happened to those fun little contests? I think the last one was the Hair Fascinator contest at Breyerfest 2012 (the prize was glossy Brookside Pink Magnums). 

The Breyerfest preview continues on page 7, with the highly-coveted Fandango live show prize and some more special editions. 

On page 8 is the first page of a tribute article about Maureeen Love, sculptor of many models for Hagen-Renaker, which were later "borrowed" by Breyer to be produced in plastic. 

The Maureen Love article concludes on page 9. 

After skipping an article about building your own website, on page 12 we have an article about Breyer portrait model Savanna Dial! While I couldn't find any definitive information on the subject, Savanna Dial was born in 1992 and thus has probably passed on by now. I could be wrong, though! 

After skipping Breyer jr. and Collector's Corner, on page 19 we have an article about Irish Setters and a short Olympics article. 

After skipping articles about Cowboy Mounted Shooting (I feel like there's plenty of information about that out there already) and how to sell your models on the Internet (lots of model sales happening on Facebook...just saying), and also skipping Horse Trader and a book review, on page 26 is this issue's Vintage Point! The poor Classic Andalusian Foal gets the spotlight this week after being left out of the last issue. 

The Vintage Point article concludes on page 27. 

On page 28 we have "On the Trail with Breyer" featuring the Minnesota Horse Expo, which I attended a number of times over the years. Not in 2004, though. 

After skipping the Calendar of Events, on this week's back cover we have the CollectiBulls! Apparently some of the bulls were shrunk to Stablemate size? Huh. I don't remember these being a thing, but apparently they were. Or were they always Stablemates size? I thought they were a little bigger than that, but maybe not. 

And that brings us to the end of this week's issue! We're flying through 2004 here - check back next week for Sept/Oct 2004!