Lavinia available now!

 Just a short note that Lavinia, the first Collector Club special run of 2026, is now available to purchase! Well, she’s been abailabls to purchase for a while. She hasn’t sold out yet - at $95 it may take a while. I’m not buying one, but I hope the ones that do enjoy her! 

Juriaan is coming tomorrow!

 Attention, Collector Club members wanting to purchase Juriaan! 

He'll be available to purchase tomorrow around 1pm EST, so set your alarms! Looks like I'm going to have a decision to make, because I have been regretting selling my models on this mold and I want to buy Juriaan. I usually don't regret selling models, but I think it may have been a mistake to sell mine - I feel sad every time I think about my original Vermeer, and my daughter was sad that I sold Leif and sometimes asks why I sold him. But if I buy Juriaan, I have to buy all the other Vermeers back, and there's no way I'll be able to get my hands on an original Vermeer for less than $400, which I don't want to pay. Decisions, decisions...but he's so pretty! 

Breyerfest Closeups: Juriaan

 Hello and welcome to the first of this year's Breyerfest Closeups, today featuring Juriaan! This handsome glossy red Friesian on the Vermeer mold will be the next Collector Club special run. Not gonna lie, I'm still kinda kicking myself for selling my Vermeers. My daughter was pretty sad that I sold my Leif. Oh well - maybe someday I can buy them back. 

Anyway, he sure is a handsome boy! 

It's kinda funny that Breyer managed to come out with a chestnut release on this mold before doing a black one, considering red Friesians are much rarer than the black ones. Maybe they're waiting for just the right black Friesian to come along? 

I don't know, man, I'm going to be resisting ordering this guy pretty hard, but I needed money for Breyerfest...

I do still have my matte Seurat, so I'll have to be happy with him for now. Tune in next time for another Breyerfest Closeup! 

Maddox is now available!

 Well, Maddox is now available for Collector Club members to purchase! Here’s his picture again - isn’t he beautiful?

I have to have this longboi for my collection, so I ordered one as soon as they came available. He’s slightly more expensive than Heath ($90 vs. $85) but shipping is included in his price, so it more or less works out the same. They’re still available as of a few minutes ago, but I’ve seen a lot of people expressing sticker shock online, so that’s probably why. Anyway, I can’t wait for mine to get here!

Maddox!

 Good news, readers! The first Collector Club special run of the year, Maddox, is almost upon us! Behold him again:

He'll be released on the Breyer website tomorrow at 1pm EST, so don't miss out! I have no idea how many they made, so it's anyone's guess how quickly he'll sell out. It's a nice color on a moderately popular mold, so it might sell out fast, but who knows. I'll definitely be ordering as soon as I can! 

I'm also expecting the first Stablemates Club release to pop up anytime, so that'll be fun and exciting. I'm not going to wait on ordering Maddox, though, just in case he's a quick sellout. 

September Collector Club newsletter and Antonia!

 Wow, I can’t believe it’s already time for another Collector Club newsletter. If you’re a Club member, check your email to see it - there’s an article about airbrushing, a giveaway of the new brick and mortar release (!), and this sneak peek!

The newsletter says to “cozy up for another new release coming to Breyerhorses.com next month,” so my guess is it’s another holiday pony release, possibly with a doll and earmuffs or something. Maybe it’s cocoa-with-marshmallow-themed? Guess we’ll find out soon! 

In other news, my Antonia model has arrived! Behold!

What a beauty! I love her. 

She’s a really nice color and doesn’t have major flaws, at least none that I noticed.

She does have a few small issues here and there, but I’m still considering taking her to the show tomorrow and seeing how she does…if I can figure out what breed to assign to her. Wish me luck! As I mentioned before, I’ll be at Hard Knox Live in Elizabethtown, KY tomorrow, so stop by and say hi to Geralt and me if you’re there!

Antonia is now available!

 Good news, everyone! As announced yesterday, the latest Collector Club special run, Antonia, is now available for sale! 

I got mine ordered right away at 1PM, so hopefully she's on her way here soon! I'm excited to see her. It's been more than an hour since she went up on the website and she hasn't sold out yet, so I wonder how many they made. Seems like things haven't been selling out as fast (or at all) lately, so I guess we'll see how long she stays in stock. 

Finally, an update!

 Well, readers, it looks like we've reached the February doldrums again. Most of the Breyerfest reveals are over (other than the raffle and prize models, presumably), so there hasn't been a whole lot to post about...until today! I'll start with this year's first Vintage Club release, which was revealed today:

His name is Scorpion! What a handsome boy, although nothing I need. There was apparently a bit of a snafu right after he was released - some of the promotional copy was apparently not vetted well enough and called him a dunalino (I think) and said he would come with leg wraps. As far as I can tell, that wording has now been removed from the website. Still, uh, proofreading is a valuable skill, guys! Maybe give it a try sometime? 

Anyway, here's Scorpion's box! 

Wow, the model matches the picture on that box pretty well. 

In other exciting news, there's a new St. Patrick's Day plush! 

He's cute, and kinda reminds me of the plushie from Breyerfest 2020. Nothing I need, fortunately. 

In other, other news, my Heath came today! Woohoo! 

The sun wasn't quite down when I took the pics, but I didn't want to wait any longer to photograph him! He's a beauty. 

Definitely one of the best colors they've done on this mold - I'm excited to see what he looks like next to Saltire and Rainier. 

Of course, the big controversy surrounding this release (other than the release-day delay) has been the honeycomb paper he was wrapped in. For some reason, whoever wrapped these guys at the factory apparently forgot that you have to stretch out the honeycomb paper before you use it, so it'll, you know, protect the model. There's absolutely no protection if you don't use the paper properly - you might as well wrap it in Walmart bags or tissue paper. The technique can't be that hard, as it was used to good effect at last year's Breyerfest (though the glue on those paper bags needed to be stronger). So... what happened? While the Heaths were still packed in a plastic bag before the paper was wrapped around their heads and tails, many of them suffered rubs to the left ear due to the ear poking through the plastic bag and rubbing on the tightly-wrapped paper. When I opened my Heath, his ear had indeed poked through the bag, and while I think the ear does have a small rub, the paint on the edge of that ear is thinner than in other places, which effectively camouflages the rub and makes it hard to see unless you're looking from the right angle. 

So how do we fix this? Clearly whoever's packing the models needs to actually stretch out the honeycomb paper (for economics' sake, if nothing else; you use a lot more of it if you don't stretch it first), but they need to either use thicker bags on the models or wrap the heads less tightly (or go back to bubble wrap, but we're trying to be environmentally conscious, here). This issue has been pretty much all anyone can talk about for the last couple of days, so hopefully Breyer got the message. 

That's all I have for today! Presumably Breyerfest tickets will go up for sale tomorrow, since Breyer said it would be this week and well, it's Thursday and nothing yet. Hey, tomorrow is payday for me, too...but I also need to pay a visit to the KHP gift shop and see if they have the 2024 new releases yet, so I shouldn't get too crazy with the spending! 

Heath-anigans

 Well, after a bit of a delay, Heath came available for sale today! 

Barely a blip in the grand scheme of things, really - at least the sale still happened today. Last time there were technical issues, it took a little while for the sale to actually happen. Hopefully Breyer will get those glitches figured out at some point? It's only been 5.5 years since they switched to this new website...

But anyway. I'm excited to see my Heath! His mane and tail almost do look pearly in these promo photos. I'm looking forward to seeing him in person! It doesn't look like he's sold out yet (as of 7:48PM EST), so they must have made plenty of them (again). Still, Othello is a pretty popular mold, so I wouldn't suggest waiting too long before you order yours, if you want one. 

It Begins

 Well, like I said yesterday, it looks like the holiday buying season is upon us! Jota will finally be available at 2pm (EST) tomorrow! 

Pretty, but nothing I need. I hope everyone who wants one can get one! If he's anything like previous Collector Club web special, he'll be priced around $75, so not overly expensive. I wish they had put that color on a mold I liked for this release! Oh well. 

In other news, we have an unboxing video of the PC mare and foal from yesterday. Check it out here - plenty of useful views, including confirmation that they aren't as small as some were fearing yesterday. I wasn't that worried, considering the size of some of Kylee's other sculpts, but there was some consternation on the Internets about it yesterday. 

Santino coming August 29!

 Attention, Collector Club members! Check your Club Home for some information on the Classics gambler's choice release, Santino! Here's an official photo! 

From the news post:

 If you stopped by the Collector Club Tent at BreyerFest this year, you might have noticed a sneak peek at this year’s Freedom Series Gambler’s Choice model: Santino! For the first time since 2008, the Polo Pony will be returning to the line in three fabulous, modern colors designed by Lesli Kathman. The Polo Pony first debuted in 1976 and was one of the first Breyer models to use a base to support a dynamic pose!

They'll be available for purchase on 8/29 - no time listed, but maybe we'll get that later. So if you haven't ordered the latest Stablemates Club release yet, it might be worth waiting until this guy is available so you can combine shipping. He's nothing I need, but I hope everyone gets the colors they want! 

Breyerfest Closeups: Jota

 Good (or I guess bad) news, readers! We've reached the last of our Breyerfest Closeups posts for this year. Let's take a look at Jota, the next Collector Club special run. He's a very handsome glossy black splash pinto on Smart Chic Olena - here he is!

I like his white face and tail! 

I'm thinking he's chalky as well? It's amazing how much more striking a black pinto looks when they add a coat of gloss.

Definitely chalky! 

I don't need to buy this guy, but I really do like his white tail. The pointy part of his splash marking reminds me of Silky Keno from several years ago. 

That's it for today - let's hope we get more exciting reveals this week! 

Breyerfest Closeups: Santino

 Greetings, readers! Well, it's time for another Breyerfest Closeups post! This time we're taking an up-close look at Santino, the new gambler's choice (groan) release on the Classic Polo Pony. It's about time this mold got some love! Check them out: 

So we have a glossy dappled palomino, an interestingly-patterned bay pinto and a chestnut extended blanket appaloosa. Hooray! They're all really attractive colors, though nothing I need to buy. 

Here's a closeup of the chestnut appaloosa. I like the blue bands in his tail! 

Here's the bay. It looks like all three colors have the same color tail bands, which is a little disappointing. I can't decide if the bay pinto or the palomino is my favorite. 

The palomino has a TON of dapples! I wonder if the mane and tail are pearly? Doesn't look like I got close enough to tell in these photos. 

It seems like these guys have a different type of base than usual, too. Isn't it usually plastic? These look like wood. Maybe it's just plastic that looks like wood. The ones on IDYB look like plastic that looks like wood, so I guess we'll find out. 

I'm mostly just glad that this is a release I don't need to buy, because my wallet is still pretty tapped out from Breyerfest. These guys are pretty, though! 

I wish I'd been able to get some different angles, but I tend to obey the "Please don't touch" signs, so these were the only ones I could get. Oh well. 

Well, I think most of us are hoping Breyer waits a good long while before they release these, so people can recover from Breyerfest. Of course, that probably means they'll be released this week - let's hope not! 

Artisan's Gallery Fun!

 It's Breyerfest Eve, everyone! Woohoo! I hope everybody is having a good time shopping at the CHIN and/or frantically preparing for Breyerfest or the live show tomorrow. Or both! After a fun day of horse farm tours, we found our way back to the hotel just in time for the craziness to begin! After a while I was able to make it down to the Artisan's Gallery to see the Breyerfest models, and this was the result - behold!

Above we have the Celebration Horse, Bravour 54, plus the Single-Day Stablemates and the Best of Breyerfest set. I'm happy to announce that I did manage to sell my signed Bravour 54 from yesterday, but I'm not looking forward to trying to sell nine more. Oh well, on with the show!

Next we have the special runs Nemea, Wells, Jump & Drive and Scurry. Conspicuously, the lineup was missing Speos, Araba and Peanutine, which leads me to believe they're split runs (which hasn't stopped Breyer from showing the expected version of those special runs in the past, so...who knows what's going on). I'm guessing Speos will be matte and glossy, and Peanutine will have a color split. There's speculation that Araba will also have a color split that matches the Huck in the live auction, but it seems like kind of a stretch, so we'll have to see what happens tomorrow.

Here we have Surrey and Axle, Delft, Sulky and Phaeton. I'm looking forward to getting a Delft tomorrow! To be honest, I saw a picture of Sulky earlier and thought he was something from Breyerfest 2018, so I feel like he's kind of misplaced here. But I'm not buying one anyways, so my opinion probably doesn't matter.

Here we have the Stablemates Club releases that are yet to be released. I'm excited for one I can finally keep (the G3 Cantering Warmblood) and the appaloosa mini Georg. No sign of the final release - hopefully we at least get to see the sculpt in the Collector Club tent this weekend.

And here we have Adonis, yesterday's Premier Club reveal. I'll get more pictures of him in the Collector Club tent later.

Next is Tuxedo, yesterday's Vintage Club reveal. The three variations will be: solid face with four white socks, bald face with four white socks, and solid black with no markings. I did find one to purchase, but I kinda hope I get anything but the solid black one - he's kinda...boring (IMO). 

Here we have this year's Holiday Horse, Highlander. Not to be confused with Homelander. I don't think we've seen him in hand yet, so it's nice to be able to get photos of him. Still nothing I need, though.

And here's an out-of-box photo of this year's Halloween Horse, whose name I have forgotten. I like him a lot, though! If I see one in the Breyer Store tomorrow, I'm totally snagging it.

Sorry for the poor photo here, but after the Artisan's Gallery I decided to shop my way back to our room and then stumbled across the live show manager's room (Michelle Masters), where she had this year's glossy prizes on display! Huzzah! It's ATP Power and Marciea Bey. Which is totally fine with me because I don't need either of them! Woohoo! Unfortunately, it also throws fuel on the fire that is Hamilton as a possible surprise model. I really, really hope that doesn't happen! I'm sticking with my Goffert hopes here.

She also had the grand prizes on display! Very pretty, but also nothing I need. This may be the first time in a very long time that I didn't need any of the prize models! Yay!

In other news, there was another exciting reveal from Breyer today! Check out this year's second Collector Club special run!

 He's stunning, and his name is Jota...but also nothing I need. More for everyone else, I guess! But aren't we still waiting on a reveal for a sneak peek from last month?

That's all I have for tonight. I hope everyone has a great Breyerfest! I'll be back tomorrow, I'm sure with more exciting things to post about! 

 

The Shelbys are here!

 Greetings, readers! Well, it's the moment you've all been waiting for (well, at least the moment I've been waiting for)! My Shelby models are here! First off, here's a pic of the boxes (and the hands of a very excited 4-year-old):

Next, the three models, carefully stacked and photographed without looking at them:

And the results! 

Score! All three colors! My luck was in today! 

The very handsome Appaloosa, who apparently had the same stencil as the 70th Anniversary Indian Pony from a few years back. He had a few smears on his spot edges but nothing major otherwise.

Here's the pinto, with the unfortunate masking mistake on his mane (not sure what happened there, but it seems to be present on all of them). I didn't spot any flaws on him other than the masking error.

Lastly, the glossy bay! What a handsome guy. I'd like to have gotten a picture of him with Bolero, but my Bolero is already packed away in the storage unit, so that's going to have to wait a while. I didn't see many flaws on this one other than the typical little bits of lint, and the gloss under his mane on the off side is a bit lighter than I'd like, but hard to avoid with that mane in the way. Also, shame on me as a former Mustang owner for not immediately recognizing the Shelby - Mustang connection. D'oh! 

All in all, a great mail day for me! So glad I got all three colors and don't have to bother with trading to get the ones I want. It looks like a lot of other people have gotten good varieties of colors too, so maybe the warehouse didn't take the "gambler's choice" thing too literally this time. I'm excited to see what we get from Breyer next! 

Finally some news on Shelby, and the April Collector Club Newsletter!

 Good news, everyone! The wait for Shelby is finally almost over! 

Breyer posted on Facebook today that Shelby will be available at approximately 1:30EST on Monday, May 1. Woohoo, I can finally stop haunting the Breyer site! Now let's hope I can find some free time at work at the appointed time on Monday! 

In other news, the April Collector Club newsletter is finally in members' inboxes! Check your email for more. There's a feature story about artist Karen Beeson, a Hope giveaway, and of course a new sneak peek of the next Birds of a Feather release:

It's too zoomed in to see anything, of course. I have no idea what it is, but there's speculation on Facebook (I think?) that it's a burrowing owl on Astrid. Hmm, seems reasonable since she's a new RR for 2023. Guess we'll find out next week! 

Lastly, I'm really late with this, but this year's Breyerfest volunteers have finally been notified. Congrats to everyone who was selected! I didn't apply this year, so I'll have to cheer you on from the sidelines!