2025 releases and Breyerfest 2025 Stablemates!

 Good news, everyone! The new releases for 2025 have finally been (officially) revealed! Here's the full catalog. Too many things to list, but here are some highlights! 

That's right, the one that started it all - the Western Horse! He's part of the 75th Anniversary assortment that was hinted at previously. I like the color, and the horses hidden in his pattern are a nice touch. Part of me kinda wants to start collecting the Western Horse, but I just don't have the space. 

Another 75th Anniversary model - the Esprit! I like him, too. But unlike the Western Horse, this one I definitely want to add to the collection. 

And the third 75th Anniversary model - the Lonesome Glory! This one is making me wish I hadn't sold off my Lonesome Glory models - oh well. 

Let's not forget that there are still two more 75th Anniversary models to be revealed. The hobby had narrowed the hints down to be SCO and the Moody ASB - let's hope we don't have to wait too many months for them to be revealed. 

This year's Holiday Horse - on Flash this year! So, another Holiday Horse I don't need to acquire. A penny saved is a penny earned, or something like that. 

Cloud the Wild Stallion is getting an update in honor of his 30th anniversary! That's a pretty color on Desatado. Another mold I shouldn't have sold off. C'est la vie. 

Say hello to Ophelia, this year's flagship model! Huzzah! What a beauty. I have one on order from Triple Mountain, so hopefully she doesn't take too long to get here. 

Here's the Brilliance Gift Set, the only other thing I preordered (I'll get the rest of the things I want when the KHP gets them in stock). This is probably the release I'm most excited for! Not sure why, but it might have something to do with the blue Othello. And the pearly white Fireheart. I hope they come soon! We needs them, precious. 

Honorable mention: the Big Lex model. Now there's a big Big Lex to go with the little one! Too bad I sold off my Emersons. He does make a decent Lexington, though (presumably the, uh, overweight one in the above image is from later in Lexington's stud career). 

Anyway, that's it for the new releases! But that wasn't the only reveal today. We also got to see the single-day Stablemate models for Breyerfest 2025! From now on I'm going to try to remember to refer to them as General Admission Stablemates. 

Look at their cute little bags! I'm trying to figure out what they're made of. Cardstock, probably? And they're tied with little ribbons. I may have to hang on to these. Anyway, I like three of the four! Well, the color on the Indian Pony is nice, but I don't collect that mold. Like many other people, my favorite is the black appaloosa Augustus, but the bay Mirado is probably my second favorite. 

And even more excitingly, we're getting a Special Run reveal tomorrow! Woohoo! I suppose the reveals will be coming fast and furious now that tickets will be going on sale soon. I'm excited to see tomorrow's reveal! 

Seeing Doubles at Tractor Supply

 More exciting news, everyone - this year's TSC special runs have been revealed! They can be found here (toward the bottom of the page and on the next page). First off, one of the Traditionals - it's a new Dundee named Merle! 

What a stunning model! He's beautiful. 

Here's the other Traditonal: 

His name is Applegate, according to the box. Interesting to see he has his own blanket rather than being blue, like last year's Geronimo. I'll try not to talk about yet another bay Flash...

Next we have the Classics set: 

They're the "Playful Pony Family." I don't think the Classic Quarter Horse Stallion is, uh, a pony? I guess it doesn't matter since he's the same size as the Haflinger mare. 

Next, here's an 8-piece Stablemates box set:

Anything look familiar? Well, don't stop now, because we aren't done yet. More Horse Foal Surprise sets:

Huh, interesting. The gray Vanner is repeated from the blind bags. The palomino G2 Morgan is repeated in the box set and the Horse Foal Surprise sets, as is the Cassidy (finally a new release!) and the buckskin Indian Pony. What is going on? Are the foals repeated in the Horse Foal Surprise sets too? 

There are also new Unicorn Foal Surprise sets, but the Magnolia, Greyson, Croi and Fireheart models are all repeated from the current Sparkling Splendor Unicorn Set, and the Warmblood Mare and G2 Morgan are repeated from the Unicorn Treasures carded regular runs. 

Soooo....why are all these repeats happening all of a sudden? I can't say I'm interested in buying these unicorn family sets just to get the foals - I'll have to wait and see what they are first and hope they're on molds I don't collect. Maybe they're repeats as well? 

I hope this trend doesn't continue. Maybe they figured they could get away with it since these are all technically special runs for TSC and maybe the customer base doesn't overlap that much and no one would notice? But clearly the collectors would, so it's not like they're fooling anyone. Maybe it's a cost-saving measure...? Who knows.

There's also this other FFA-themed Stablemates set:

A lot of people are turned off by the words stamped on the sides of the horses. Maybe they're only on one side? It's kind of an odd design, but at least the colors aren't repeated from another release, eh? 

Lastly, it turns out horses aren't the only Breyer animals being shrunk - check out the FFA ornament! 

It's the Cow! I laughed when I saw it. I'm kind of tempted to get it, even though I'm not an animal collector. I'm sure I'll be in a TSC again in the near future, so maybe I'll pick one up! 

Come on, at least give us a chance here

 Well, we have a reveal and a sneak peek today! I'll start with the reveal - meet Chardonnay! 

Ooh, he's pretty. Like a discount Midas, almost? Nothing I need to buy, but he'll be stunning in gloss (if they gloss the Limited Editions again). He's a Limited Edition, so anyone will be able to buy him. Nice! Uh, although I am hoping they'll come out with something I want eventually, because...I only want 4 things (of, like 11) that they've shown so far, and usually the number is far higher than that, so...maybe this blue sneak peek will end up being something I want? Pretty please?

Also...I mean, it's probably pretty tiring for them to give us sneak peeks that are solved almost instantly by the community, but this is just mean. Good luck divining anything from that...although some sleuths on Facebook think it may be Salinero? Which would be another model I don't need, so I hope it's something else! We'll find out on Monday! 

The Midas Touch, and other new arrivals

 Just when I had pretty much forgotten about the Ambrose special run from 2019, and the lack thereof from last year...Breyer strikes again! 

From the email:

Breyer’s master artisans have the “Midas touch” – every model they touch turns to (figurative) gold! Midas, a fabulous sport pony, represents the pinnacle of Breyer craftsmanship. This highly-limited edition of 250 pieces was handpainted at Breyer’s New Jersey facility by the same artisans creating our most limited models, including BreyerFest raffle and auction models.

Midas is painted as a loud chestnut splash pinto with two blue eyes. His white markings are fully mapped, and his chestnut base color is beautifully shaded with plenty of contrast. He’ll be perfectly at home both on display as a collectible piece, or under saddle as your next performance prospect. Midas has “Breyer Special Edition” printed on his belly for authenticity, and is packaged in a mail-order box.

Well, he's definitely beautiful, but I'm not a Flash collector (nor do I want to spend another $295 on top of all the other expenditures I've had lately and will have in the near future), so I'mma just sit this one out. Good luck to everyone entering, though! 

In other news, the other two sculptors for the 2022 Premier Club have been announced - Sarah Mink and Kitty Cantrell. (They can't use Kitty's name in the announcement because of contractual obligations).  Sounds promising, though I've not been a big fan of Sarah's prior work for Breyer so far except for Malik, and his toothpick front legs bother me whenever I look at him. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing a new Moody sculpt...though I may be the only person that would! Oh well. On the other hand, I didn't like her last sculpt for Breyer (the Classic Thoroughbred), nor was I enthralled by her latest sculpt for Copperfox (the Hackney) so maybe I don't want a new Moody after all. 

I also have a couple of new arrivals today - Snickerdoodle and Eira! 

Snickerdoodle is just as cute as she looked in the photos! I love her.

Her mane and tail are decently well-masked to boot. I love how pearly she is! 

She has such a sweet face! And her quality is pretty good other than a small rub on her nostril, and somehow she's developed a bad case of pigeon feet in the front. 

Here's a look at Eira! 

Despite the description on the box, this one is in fact a stallion (as is the Stablemate version of Emma). I had been hoping this would basically be a Stablemate tree ornament, but he's molded from something other than the usual Stablemate ABS (probably resin) and is significantly bigger than the Stablemate Emma): 

He's a beautiful color, though - I love that shade of blue. I feel like the horn could have used a little more effort, but otherwise I like him. Now I'll just have to go back to hoping we get a real Stablemate version of the Spanish Barb someday...

Volunteer reveal!

Sheesh, clearly I should have waited another day to post about the 2020 Breyerfest volunteer model. Here they are, straight from the blog!



His/their name is Ben Nevis, named for a peak in the Scottish Highlands.

I'm still a little bewildered that they did two colors this year, but I don't need to get my hands on either of them, so at least there's that. I can't help but notice that the bright chestnut has the same hind leg markings as the liver, so now I'm wondering if the chestnut we saw yesterday still has some masking stuck to that part of his hind leg. Time will tell, I guess.

I still haven't gotten all my Breyerfest loot together for a group photo - I'm still working on a trade for the matte palomino and my matte appy hasn't gotten here yet, so I want to wait until those are all squared away. Let's hope we get some exciting news in the meantime!

My last Slainte Surprise, and the 2020 Breyerfest Volunteer Model!

Exciting news, everyone - I can reveal my last surprise model for this year! Behold:



Glossy palomino! As I was unwrapping her, I made sure to stare somewhere else while I felt my way through the wrappings, and once I got the bubblewrap off I remember thinking, "This feels like a glossy." Then I looked at her and saw it was a palomino and my mind blanked out for a second - no way it was the last color I needed AND glossy, right? Then I got her out of the bag and saw she was definitely a glossy. So that's 3 out of 4! I haven't had glossy luck like this since 2017 with the Bollywood Surprises, and those all went out the door since I don't collect Latigo. So I'm super-happy to be able to add all of these to my collection without having to pay an arm and a leg for them. Hopefully I can find a glossy Appaloosa to complete the set in the near future!

In other news, this year's Breyerfest volunteer model has finally been revealed! I don't have photos I can use yet, but the ones I've seen look stunning - it's Flash! And there seem to be variations within the run, oddly enough! Makes me glad I don't collect Flash, honestly. The two I've seen have been a light (flaxen?) chestnut pinto, and a darker, more liver-chestnut (or silver black?) pinto with slightly different markings on the hind legs. Exciting, if a bit mystifying! Hopefully we get more information on those soon, along with the numbers breakdown for the Slainte Surprise!

My Collector Appreciation box is here!

Like the title says - my Collector Appreciation box came today! Check it out!

Ha, I just noticed it looks like the Suncatcher Stablemates box is empty. I promise they're there! Or, well, they were when I took the photo.

So, yes, I got the glossy Cobra - yay! I was hoping for the Shire, but I guess we can't all be that lucky. I do have some gripes about the Cobra, though - it looks like whoever glossed him completely missed the inside of his right hind leg.

I mean, come on. If you're going to do this promotion, at least try to make it look less slapdash and last-minute.

The Cobra is the only thing up for grabs from this box - for once I managed to wait until now to buy the majority of the 2018 releases I wanted, so I'm not stuck with things I can't sell (looking at you, Banks Vanilla I bought last year and didn't manage to sell until last summer). 

Hopefully Cobra sells for a good price - I need to get some money into my PayPal account for whatever Breyer comes out with next! 

The last group of auction models!

Wow, I'm kind of surprised...I would have thought Breyer would have saved some of the auction reveals for Breyerfest week, but I guess not. The last batch of models - well, most of them - was posted on the blog today. Behold, lot 24!

Otherwise knows as Woodford, the Saturday raffle.  I hope I win this guy just so I can trade him for a raffle model I do want.

And we don't get to see lot 25. Since I have to be at the Horse Park on Thursday afternoon for a meeting anyway, I'm definitely planning on swinging through the Visitor Center and seeing this mystery lots for myself.

So, on to lot 26!

This one really reminds me of Silver Fox, the raffle model from 2001, but in glossy! That said, I'm not the Five Gaiter's biggest fan, but I bet this one will go high.

Next, lot 27!



Excuse me for a moment while I play armchair grammarian with this sentence from the blog:

Originally sculpted as a portrait of the Morgan gelding Flash, the United States Pony Clubs [sic] 50th Anniversary Horse and this version of Flash has a Connemara Mare Tail and is a Sooty Dapple Buckskin Overo Pinto.

That's a giant run-on sentence, and adding some periods doesn't even fix it. Interestingly, the IDYB page for Flash has the same missing apostrophe in "Clubs," that appeared in the above run-on sentence. Copy and paste much, interns? Though I admit there aren't a lot of different ways to write about the horse being the USPC 50th Anniversary Horse. Here's how I would have written that paragraph:

"Originally sculpted as a portrait of the Morgan gelding Flash, the United States Pony Club's 50th Anniversary Horse, this version of Flash is a sooty dapple buckskin overo pinto and has a custom Connemara Mare tail."

Much better. There's no reason to capitalize any of the words in the model's color and it flows better to have the color come first. Let's hope somebody gives the interns some grammar lessons, because the previous blog posts about these models haven't been much better than this.

Anyway, let's move on to the final auction lot, which we've also already seen. Say hello (again!) to Jackpot:



Mmm, this guy is yummy. I hope I win him too! I wouldn't trade him away, though.

So that's all of this year's auction models. I kinda have to say...I'm not terribly impressed by this year's group. There are a few gems in there, but nothing really spectacular like last year. I'm surprised there wasn't an auction lot on Carina and Selene, for instance, considering last year's other two Premier Club models did.

In other thoughts, we still haven't seen a Smarty Jones auction model. Unless he's one of the four hidden lots, I'd say it's very likely he's the surprise, or the volunteer model. We won't know more until we see them in the Visitor Center - can't wait until next Thursday!

Newmarket!

Newmarket has been revealed, and it's...Flash?

Okay then! Well, I like his color - blue is my favorite color, after all. And I like that his white areas are pearly - I love pearly!

Sadly, I'm not a Flash collector, so I won't be buying him. And I'm not the biggest fan of his "lipliner" shading - it's too big and makes him look clownish.



I'm not really sure I like the whole "harlequin effect," either, but let's be honest...if it was on a mold I collected, I'd buy it.

As it is, though, my wallet is happy! This means I only need four (possibly five, if the surprise is something I want) of the special run models. Huzzah! More money I can spend at the Clarion instead! Uh, I mean..more money I can...save? Sure, that's it.

Live Auction Lot 10: Lots of Spots!

Is it just me, or is Breyer really knocking it out of the park with the auction models this year? Look at this guy!

 

That is stunning, and I don't even like the mold! I bet this one goes high. Can't help but wonder what he'd look like glossed, though. For that matter, I wonder what he'd look like in that shade of gray, but solid-colored. Very nice! Hopefully we get something just as exciting tomorrow! 

Mid-Year Releases have been revealed!

Good news, everyone! This year's mid-year releases are out, and I only need to buy one of them! Huzzah!

I'll start with this year's Halloween horse, Calavera. Behold!

 

I won't lie; I was a little taken aback when I saw this one. But then  I looked at it a little closer. While I still don't love it, I do like the mane and tail color and the color combinations on the (presumable) decals on the horse's body. I like the lower leg color too, though I wish there was more of it. The Day of the Dead theme is a nice touch; Breyer must be running out of Halloween ideas again by now. All things considered: he's not perfect, but I'll add him to the herd. Bonus: he was designed by the hobby's own Lauren Hoeffer!

Next - Slick by Design!

Interesting enough - I don't really follow barrel racing, so I don't hear much about famous barrel racing stallions. But now we have two successful barrel racers in the regular line, with Babyflo. This is definitely one color SCO hasn't been released in yet, so that's worth a few points. I don't collect SCO though, so won't be buying this one. 

Next: PVF Peace of Mind!

 

My reaction: ho-hum. Do we really need another bay Marabella? More importantly, why did they pick this mold to portray a successful performance horse when the mold itself has been said by the sculptor to be portraying your typical Morgan broodmare? I'm sure Breyer has other molds that could pass for Morgans that could have been used instead. A year ago I would have had to add this model to my buy list, but I recently culled all my Marabellas for shelf space - and so far I'm not regretting it. 

Next: Cosmus!

 

Ho-hum reaction to this one too. Yet another pegasus release on the Classic Lipizzan mold. Can't they find something else to slap a pair of wings on? Harper would look good with wings. Not buying this one either.

And last on our list - Cobra!

 

 This one would make a good companion with Padre - not one, but two dressage mustangs! Now that I think about it though, there was another dressage mustang model back in the day - JB Andrew on the old Friesian mold! I wonder whatever happened to that horse. This model, though, looks nice and snappy with his four white feet and what looks like a nice dark bay color (similarities to the original Flash notwithstanding). That said, I don't collect Flashes, so this guy won't be coming home with me either. He has a really nice color, though.

Conclusion: I'm mostly just relieved by these, as I have pretty much no space left for any new purchases (hence the Marabella culling, along with the Big Bens, probably the Wixoms and maybe even the Henrys if I can convince myself to let go of Naughty and Nice). My pocketbook is relieved, too - money has been tight lately with the move, and it's not going to improve anytime soon. Anyway, let"s hope some of all of these beauties are available at Breyerfest - it'll be nice to see them in the flesh. And since most of them are portrait models, I wonder if any of the real horses will show up as last-minute guests?