New Arrivals: Roan Salud, YOLO and Sabino YOLO

 Greetings, readers! It's another New Arrivals post today, since we still haven't gotten those run numbers. Let's start with the roan Salud! 

Lesli Kathman did confirm this is supposed to be a roan in a public post on her Facebook page, which includes an explanation of all three Salud colors. Hopefully you can read it! All three colors are beautiful -I'm still not sure which one I like best, though I'm still leaning toward the solid black. Well, mostly solid black. 

Next we have the original dapple gray YOLO! This guy kind of got left in the dust when the sabino and holographic variants were revealed, but he's still so pretty! I was expecting this release to have a matte/glossy split, because he would have looked amazing as a glossy. Oh well! 

And here we have the sabino YOLO! All of the YOLOs I got were sadly riddled with flaws, unfortunately - not sure what happened in the production process that some of the Breyerfest models were perfect, while others weren't - but these are another example of the QC falling down somewhere. Oh well - he looks good from a distance! Too bad I couldn't get a holographic YOLO, but there's always the second chance sale...if there were any not picked up from the VIP and All-Access lines, that is. 

That's it for today - tune in again soon for more New Arrivals! 

Mallorca is here!

 Good news, everyone! My Mallorca arrived today - a whole day early! I wasn't expecting him until tomorrow. He makes a great birthday present. Behold! 

What a beauty! I love his blue eye. He isn't as yellow in person as he appears in these photos, though - must be the lighting. 

I like his subtle frosting, too. 

Did I mention I love his blue eye? 

Like the writeup said, he does have a slight shimmer to his coat, but it's VERY subtle. He's pretty good-quality too - I noticed some minor flaws, but nothing too nasty. I'll have to bring him to a show soon! Not sure if I'll bring him to Saturday's show, but my next show for sure. 

Mallorca winners and March CC Newsletter!

 Well, readers, the selections for Mallorca are out - and I’m a winner! Woohoo! Now if I can get my husband to pay for it (it’s my birthday next week!) things will be great!

In other news, the March Collector Club Newsletter was released today! If you’re a club member, check your email to read it. The feature article is a full scan of the Sept/Oct 2003 issue of JAH. Hey, I just covered that one not very long ago! Copycats! (I jest…) I admit I do skip some of each issue to keep the blog posts from being too long. 

Besides the feature article, there’s also a giveaway of the new AQHA anniversary model, and this sneak peek:

Something spotty, obviously, but other than that, no idea. The pattern looks like something you’d see on a Stablemate, so maybe there are new blind bags coming or something. Hope we find out soon!

Definitely not a typo!

 Greetings, readers! Well, my speculation about yesterday didn't take long to be clarified, because today we have a new web special! Say hello to Mallorca! 

Was there a special on Duende bodies? I'm guessing they made the whiteware for this guy plus the Ambassador models at the same time as the TB Trueno run - maybe they were running out of warehouse space and decided to paint up all their Duende bodies to clear some space. Or maybe this was the plan all along - who knows. Anyway, this guy is really pretty! Also, I was right about his color being a reference to sand! Woohoo! I'll take any small victory I can get. See, this is the type of buckskin I like better, with the darker legs. He looks like he has a little bit of "frosting" on his mane and tail, too. The writeup says he'll have a bit of shimmer as well, so I'm excited to (hopefully) see that! Good luck to everyone entering! Don't wait too long to enter, because the deadline is Thursday (eep!). 

BreyerMidwest Day 1

 Greetings, readers! Well, the first day of BreyerMidwest is over. It feels weird writing about this! I only typically do this type of post during Breyerfest. Oh well - it's not like I have anything else to post about, right? Hahaha...anyways. After waking up at 5:30am due to people making noise in the hallways (who's awake willingly at that horrible hour), I was too excited for the show to fall back asleep. So I (eventually) found my way to the show hall and things got going promptly at 9! Here's how I did:

Not as good as I would have liked, but I guess it could have been worse. Seems my mistake was mostly bringing Stablemates - I was trying to avoid wrangling a ton of plastic totes into and out of my car (not to mention the 12.5-hour trip and only having a half table) but I think a lot of other people had the same idea, considering the size of the OF Mini classes compared to pretty much everything else. If I'd brought all regular run Traditionals, I'm pretty sure I would have been a lot more successful. Possible strategy for Breyerfest Live, if I manage to get into that? Are the regular run classes comparatively small at that show? Food for thought.

Anyway, there were also several Breyerfest 2025 models on display! Whoops, I missed getting a photo of the Celebration Horse, but here's the Stablemates:

That black Augustus looks absolutely luscious in gloss!

Hoopla and Shindig were both looking handsome - I'll need to get both of those (although I've been considering selling off my Bristol conga lately...decisions, decisions). Next, the Limited Edition Beau N'Arrow:

And the Limited Edition Halcyonia Night Life:

And Limited Edition Game Day Surprise:



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the last Limited Edition, Belesema Sapphire:

Very pretty! Next, here's special run Future is Bright:

And special run Hats Off to You:

And special runs Let the Good Times Roll and To The Ties that Bind Us:

They all look pretty good in person. 

Also, although I didn't get photos, the silent auction lots include the Design Your Own Breyer, a glossy Worth It manager's model, a colorshift Speos, a glossy Athena, a Breyerfest 2024 vendor pack, a Bondi and possibly other things I'm forgetting.

Lastly, the volunteer/ambassador model (well, two of them) was revealed at the end of the day:

Just my luck they'd pick a mold I collect, again. Fortunately, I managed to make this happen:

Success! Apparently his speckly white markings are intended to be something similar to manchado markings. He reminds me of cookies 'n' cream ice cream, so that may end up being his name.  I haven't gotten my hands on a gray one yet, but hopefully tomorrow! It's great actually being here for the event so I don't have to pay for shipping and then wait for it to arrive.

Lastly, here's my glossy Marc of Charm, with a passenger:

Geralt couldn't resist going for a ride on that glossy goodness.

Well, that's all I have for today. Tomorrow I'm planning on sleeping in (if I don't get woken up early again - who knows) and then heading to Equifest to check out those activities. Still gotta check out the vendor fair and see if they have anything good for sale. I'll be back to write up my report on Day 2 after I get done with the swap meet tomorrow night. See you then!

New Arrivals: Cyrus, Solana and Athenian Lady

 Greetings, readers! I hope everyone is sufficiently recovered from Breyerfest. Welcome to the first Breyerfest New Arrivals post since 2022! I didn't end up doing any of these last year due to the craziness of moving to Kentucky, so I hope you enjoy this one! I'll start with Cyrus. 

Technically these were a slightly-pre-Breyerfest purchase, as I picked them up at the KHP gift shop on Thursday. They had a ton of them! I also got a Picante, but she'll show up in a later post. Cyrus is very pretty! Though I didn't get a photo of it, he has a nicely stripey mane. Quality is pretty good too, but I can't say the same for Solana, unfortunately. 

She's pretty good on the show side, but has some kind of box (?) rubs on her right shoulder despite not being anywhere near the side of the box and having one of those plastic guard things to support her. These things happen, I guess. She makes a nice match for Cyrus! 

Lastly, we have Athenian Lady:

It occurs to me that this is the first Celebration Horse I've kept since 2020. Nice! Quality is good other than a couple of shiny spots. But Dundee looks good in chestnut pinto! 

That's it for today. Check back tomorrow (hopefully) for more New Arrivals! 

2024 mid-years or Salvino II: Electric Boogaloo

 Good news, everyone! Breyer finally revealed this year's mid-year releases! I'll start with Salvino:

Yes, this is the same Salvino that got his own portrait on Salinero for Ponies & Palm Trees a couple years ago. The model is pretty (actually really pretty, must have one!), but I'm a little confused as to why they're doing another portrait of Salvino when there have to be other prominent dressage horses they could have chosen instead. Especially since it's an Olympics year. Maybe I'm just being crotchety. For the record, I don't own (or want) the Salinero version of him, so I don't really have a dog in the fight. He is pretty though. Calling it now: he'll be one of the Breyerfest glossy prizes next year. 

Next, we have Quietway Spinabbey:

This one is a portrait of one of Guy McLean's horses, with a custom roached mane! I wonder if Breyer is trying to step up their game and compete with Stone a little more with all these factory custom releases they've been doing lately (roached Mirado, Newport and now this). This guy isn't anything I need, but he looks nice without his mane. 

Next we have a unicorn set, Cyrus and Solana! 

Ooh, I really like these! I'm sensing a "brown" pattern with these releases, but this set is so pretty I don't mind! Selene has been a unicorn before, but Duende makes a good addition to the unicorn herd. So, since Breyer usually does the unicorn set during the holidays, I wonder if there are going to be two this year? Or if the yearly set just got pushed forward a bit? Maybe they thought it would sell better. 

There's also a new Freedom Series playset and some new Collectas. All new releases can be seen here! I hope they have these releases at Breyerfest so I can get a close look at them! 

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! 

A veritable avalanche of news!

 Wow, so many things to report on today! Okay, I'll admit I kinda forgot about updating some new reveals on the blog yesterday, so I'll start with those. Firstly, the special run for next year's Breyerwest has been revealed! 

That's right - it's a glossy version of Chardonnay from this year's Breyerfest! I wondered if we were going to ever get glossy store specials. I believe they'll need to be preordered in advance, one per customer, and ID will be checked at the door - they're really serious about people only getting one of these. So if you want one, good luck! I don't need one, fortunately. 

Next, here's my first Atli model! 

Not gonna lie, I was hoping to get one of the other colors, since the chestnut doesn't seem to be very popular so far. I have another one coming at some point, though, so let's hope that one is a more exciting color than this one. Quality-wise he's fine - I didn't see any issues with him, except that the chestnut color on his legs doesn't go quite far enough to cover up the gold underneath, so it looks a bit like he has gold mapping. No biggie. 

Okay, on to the news from today! I'll start with the Black Friday sale (not sure why they opened it, uh, checks notes two weeks before Black Friday, but whatevs). Lots of cool stuff there for Collector Club members, so if you got anything, congrats! I didn't see the sale in time to buy anything, but wouldn't have gotten anything if I had, so I'm cool with it. 

It'll be interesting to see if anyone gets a matte Claude - I'm surprised they had any left over to start with. Same with Midas, honestly. 

And lastly, the Ponies & Palm Trees event is going on as we speak, and the special runs for the event have been revealed! Behold: 

Ugh...very sad I didn't get drawn to go. I need that Duende and Bouncer for the conga! Secondhand prices will be through the roof, but maybe I can trade for one someday or something. Anyways, congrats if you are there and get to buy some of these beauties! I hope attendees are able to get the models they want. Kind of a weird mix of molds for something that was supposed to be based on polo, but I guess that's Breyer for you. I guess the Strapless fits, but not the rest of them. 

That's all I have for today - I'm excited to see the centerpiece raffle model for Ponies & Palm Trees, though! Good luck to the attendees! 

Featured Model - 12/19/20, North Star

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Model, the weekly blog event where I pick a model I don't own but would like to, give some stats on it and provide commentary about it. This week's model is...North Star! 

This handsome guy was the Saturday Raffle at Breyerfest 2019. He was item #711357, a run of 26 on the Duende mold sculpted by Mindy Berg.

Like most of the raffle models from the last few years, I wanted this guy really badly, but my luck wasn't to be that year. Someday my star will come and I'll win a raffle model...well, maybe. Anyways, it definitely stung not to get to take one of these guys home, but I can't really complain too much - at least I got to go, right? Anyway, Duende is particularly stately in this color, isn't he? The nearly-white mane complements his dark body color really well. And the gloss brings it all together! 

Hmm, now that I think about it, the new Holiday Horse for next year ought to be a pretty similar color once you get all the trappings off. I might have to nickname mine, "Budget North Star"! Heh heh heh. It looks like the Holiday Horse has a dark mane, though, so he's not TOO similar.

Will we see Duende pop up anywhere else next year? Breyer does like to get the most out of a mold in production, so I'd say it's somewhat likely. Maybe as a web special? I don't anticipate seeing him at Breyerfest, but maybe he'd be a prize model or something. He's pretty much already done everything else in his short existence so far, so we'll have to wait and see.

Florian and Cystalline and Fabio, oh my!

Greetings, readers! My Crystalline model has arrived (as well as Florian and Fabio)! Hooray! Okay, they've all been here for a few days now,  but I've been too busy to post about them until now. First, let's take a look at Florian!

I love that he has the tiniest of blue eyes! It's amazing the kind of detail they can get on Stablemates these days.

He's definitely a handsome guy! He makes a good addition to my G2 Warmblood conga. But this release leaves me wondering which future one is going to be the matte/glossy - the decorator? Or maybe the G2 Arabian? Hmm, that might make all of mine easier to sell. I guess we'll hopefully find out in June.

Next, let's look at Crystalline!

Did anyone else notice Crystalline's box design is identical to Prism's? I thought that was neat. As for Crystalline herself, this one is another home run as far as I'm concerned. She's beautiful!

I love the color transition from blue to purple on her mane. Can we see more of that, please?

I like the way her pink tail fades out to white, too. You know, now that I think about it, it would be fun if Breyer brought some actual "decorator" horses to Breyerfest some year. You know, just take a white (or white-gray) horse and some non-toxic paint/dye and just go to town on it. I'd love to see a real-life Crystalline! Make it happen, Breyer! Maybe that's easier said than done, though...

Anyway, let's move on to Fabio!

Hubba hubba indeed. Splash pinto is definitely a knockout on this model, and he's not nearly as orange as the prototype! And, I love his slightly-pearly tail! Wins all around.

Part of me just wishes he'd been glossy, but I guess we can't have glossy everything. They'll probably gloss one for the Breyerfest silent auction just to spite me.



Florian and Crystalline were both pretty nice quality-wise, but Fabio has a few booboos. Nothing major or worth sending him back over (and the point is moot, because there aren't any replacements left). Lots of things have been selling out lately - is Breyer just that on point with the new releases, or are people just bored at home and looking for things to buy? I guess we'll find out if/when the stay-at-home orders are lifted. In the meantime, keep coming out with the incredible releases, Breyer!

Hubba Hubba

Well, in case you were wondering who won the "Makin' a Splash" contest at Breyerfest last year (splash pinto on Esprit, Duende or Desatado), take a look at our winner...Fabio!



I voted for the Esprit, because I thought it looked best on him, but Duende looks good too, honestly. So I ordered one! Hopefully he looks nice in person.

The Breyerfest Blues - Again

Although this year's Breyerfest was much more of a hassle this year, I'm still sad that it's over - time seemed to flash by faster than ever before. Yesterday morning I was at the Kentucky Horse Park taking photos (they were still dismantling things from Breyerfest), and today, the following afternoon, I'm wistfully writing about it on my blog. How does the time go so fast? Oh well.

One thing that isn't going so fast is Breyer posting the numbers breakdown for the Hero's Welcome Surprise and all those variations in the other special runs. Hurry up, dang it!

My daughter and I got home very late last night after our flights back were delayed, but we made it. My husband is still driving and will be home in a couple of hours, so my models (and camera) are still packed in the car. But, fear not! I'll start working on my Breyerfest Closeups series as soon as I have access to my photos again.

In the meantime, voting is still happening for the Making a Splash contest on the Breyer website. If you need a refresher, Breyer is holding a vote for one of these three horses to be a Collector Club special run next year:



Honestly, all three of these are molds I collect, so I'll be happy with whatever the result is. I voted for Esprit, but I'm guessing Duende will probably win due to how new he is. And since I don't have space for any new Desatados or Esprits, it'll be easier fitting him onto the shelves! Voting ends on 7/22, so don't waste any time getting those votes in!

Splish Splash, I was taking a bath...

Happy Monday, everyone! We've got four more auction models listed today and I have to say - Breyer is really knocking it out of the park with the auction models this year. They've all been stunning so far! Let's start with Lot 10, North Star:

I know we've already seen him (he's the Saturday Raffle), but I couldn't remember if I'd seen him from the off side yet or not. Oooh, I hope I win one...

Anyway, on to this incredible Giselle/Gilen set:



The blog describes them as a "chalky Soft Dapple Palomino Splash Pinto" and a "chalky Silver Black Splash Pinto." As usual, I'm not really a fan of the chalky look on these - the white is just too stark. But I really like that palomino Giselle! Not sure why they don't just say they're basecoated white rather than chalky - probably to make them sound more exotic.

Next is this amazing Forever Saige!



I think she's my favorite of the auction models we've seen so far. Look at her! The blog calls her a "fantastical Dark Bay Splash Pinto with White Zebra Stripes." Those stripes don't look white to me (and they resemble brindling more than zebras), but who cares? She's incredible! I want this color on everything! Please don't let this be the only time we ever see it, Breyer! Although I'm sensing a pattern with all the splash pintos...

Lot 13 is another hidden lot, so here's lot 14:



I guess Breyer must have decided they need to try to get their investment costs back after letting this mold sit unused since its 2014 introduction. First there was Espresso, then there was Peplum, now this? Well, she's not my favorite mold, but that's an excellent color on her! And another splash pinto...is Breyer trying to tell us something? Maybe we'll see one of these patterns on a regular or special run next year? If so, I hope it's the one on the Forever Saige. She's a beauty!

No tricks on April Fools' Day, eh?

So Breyer finally revealed the hint they posted last Thursday...well, part of it, anyway. Meet North Star, the Saturday raffle model!



He's gorgeous! From the blog:

Remember how we totally got you with the sneak peek of the Dead Heat split color run last year? Hilarious, right? Well, no tricks on this April Fool’s Day, we swear. 

I suppose I remember being annoyed about that, yeah. Well, whatever. I'm definitely going to have to buy a lot of raffle tickets for this guy! Breyer has really been knocking it out of the park with the glossy paintjobs on this guy - first Straight Bet, then Benasque, now North Star...it's like they're trying to make up for something. Nah, that can't be right.

But, uh...they didn't reveal the mysterious feet from Thursday's teaser. You know, from when they said they were giving us a two-fer? Why say that and then not reveal the second one? Was it part of the joke? Bleh. Maybe we'll get to see the second part tomorrow? One can only hope.