Courchevel! And other things

 Well, readers, I was busy at work last night and didn't have time to get this posted yesterday, but Breyer's winter decorator model has been revealed! Meet Courchevel! 

From the website:

Nestled in the French Alps, Courchevel is one of the premier ski destinations in Europe. Awash in luxury, Courchevel is no stranger to those seeking a winter paradise, attracting everyone including professional athletes and royalty. This mountain oasis has even hosted the Winter Olympics!

Our breathtaking stallion Courchevel, named for this beautiful resort, has a unique metallic coat, which was inspired by the glow of the resort and mountains when viewed at twilight. Pastel shades of blue, gold, pink, and purple flow over his body, and are accented with flecks of gold. Courchevel’s enchanting look is completed by a high gloss finish, and a "Courchevel 2024" gold stamp on his belly.

I'm not seeing a whole lot of purple in that paint job, but maybe it's more evident in person. I think he's pretty! It's always great to see a new release on the Moody Andalusian. I'm wondering if he's also clearware (although I think they would have mentioned it if he was). There's a matching pin as well! The Collector Club discount can be used on the pin, by the by, but not the model, who ships for free (yay!). Interesting that they're saying up front that the pin is a limited edition of 500, but nothing on the run number for the actual model. 

Apparently Breyer is trying a new method for distributing these, rather than as a random-draw web special. Instead, they're being offered to Collector Club members on a first-come, first-served basis until Tuesday, and then they'll go up for sale to the masses. So does this mean the "Web Special" as we know it (limited to some number between 350-1,000, offered by random draw) is now a thing of the past? I'm not sure how to feel about that. Disappointed, I guess? I mean, it is fun to be able to get something that's relatively rare for your collection. I guess we'll see how this release goes - they haven't sold out yet, nor has Breyer told us exactly how many were made. There's speculation online that there could be as many as 2,500-3,000, but that number seems high to be based on the price of the model. I'm thinking the number is probably closer to 1,000. Hopefully Breyer tells us at some point. 

In other news, there was a new reveal for the 2025 Stablemates Club today! Huzzah! Say hello to Javier:

 

Yes! I've been waiting for them to use the Peruvian Paso in the club! Unfortunately, it's another 50/50 gloss/matte split, so I guess I'm going to have to buy two of them. Oh well. 

In other, other news, the latest Young Rider magazine has a couple of 2025 Breyer reveals! 

Presumably that Lonesome Glory is one of the 75th Anniversary releases hinted at previously. See the little horses in his blanket? Cute design! Nothing I need (anymore, sadly), but hopefully the rest of the 75th Anniversary releases are just as clever! 

Sorry the image is so small, but those models are the G3 Highland Pony and the mini Emma as unicorns! Woohoo! Well, if I get that set, my daughter will probably claim the truck and trailer pretty quickly. 

That's all I have for today! Let's hope we get more exciting reveals next week. And stay tuned for Featured JAH later today! 

Kingfisher, at last!

 Good news, everyone! Months after the accidental tease of Kingfisher through erroneous belly stamps on Cooper, we finally have a reveal! Say hello to the long-awaited newest web special! 

Look at that glossy goodness! He must be mine, despite his noodly legs. This is the first time this combination of legs and hair have been used on this model since Novelisto back in 2014! The entry deadline is 5/12 at 11:59PM EST, so don't wait too long to get your entries in. He's a beauty! 

In other news, the Stablemate runners-up prize for the Best Custom Contest has been revealed: it's a Highland Pony! Observe: 

I gotta wince at that bent ear...there's only going to be like 11 of these things, so how do you miss that? Kinda nondescript otherwise - it's a black version of one of the Iris releases in the Stablemate Club a couple of years ago, but like...why that? Seems like one of those choices they made that's clearly only done to keep us from guessing everything in advance. Also can't help but notice one of those front legs isn't touching the ground. Well, let's hope this one is just a sample and the ones they actually give out will be a little better in the quality department! 

Ooh, pretty!

 Our next two reveals have appeared on the blog - let's start with this year's Best of Breyerfest Stablemate set! 

From left to right, we have the G2 Paso Fino as Perrault, Darwin as Nottingham, the G3 Highland Pony as Tom Thumb, the G3 Stock Horse as Camelot, and the Warmblood Mare as Happily Ever After. Interesting that all of the inspirations this year were from 2011 - I don't think that was the case last year. Oh well - this is a great set! I've always wanted a Nottingham, so it'll be fun to have a miniature one on Darwin. The only other mold here in my collection is the Warmblood Mare, and that dapple gray looks really nice on her. Hopefully I'll be able to snag a set! 

Today's other exciting reveal is a model that didn't appear in the Great Photo Leak of last week! Say hello to Rheverence+! 

Ooh, another Ashquar - yes please! Wow, he looks good in buckskin, and that's certainly a unique pattern. This will be the third time Ashquar appears as a portrait model, after Empres and Thunder. The more the merrier, I say! I hope I can snag this one as well! 

My other Iris is finally here!

Well, I'm not sure what happened with my other Iris model - I got a shipping notification for her after I placed the order, and it had a tracking number, but a week later the tracking had never updated from "Label created." So I emailed Breyer and they sent out another one last week. Maybe the first one fell off the back of the UPS truck or something? Anyway, she finally arrived yesterday, and I'm pleased to report I got...the decorator!



I really, really like this color, so it makes me a bit sad that they put it on a mold I don't collect. Maybe Breyer will use it on something else someday? Pretty please?

I'm in a bit of a hurry to write this post, so I only have the one photo. But she was pretty nice from a quality standpoint. I didn't see any issues with her at all - her eyes might be slightly sloppy, but that's it. (Interesting how they can do such detailed blue eyes on the cremello appaloosa, and this one just has plain black eyes...)

In the four years that the Stablemate Club has existed, the gambler's choice mold has only been on a mold I collect once - the Fylkir, in 2017. On the one hand, I kinda wish they'd use more molds I want, but on the other hand...it's nice not to have to get all of them every year, especially since they sell for so much more than the purchase price. I'm definitely not going to complain about that last part! Maybe next year they'll use a mold I collect again and I'll be shaking my fist at the sky for saying anything!

Iris is here!

Well, one of them, anyway. The other one will hopefully arrive tomorrow. I ordered them one right after the other, so it's annoying that they didn't both arrive at the same time. But anyway...Say hello to...the perlino appaloosa!



This one seems to be a lot of people's least favorite, judging by the reactions I've seen on the Internets. But I don't think she's that bad. She certainly looks pink from a distance, though.



I didn't see anything particularly egregious in the quality department, though it looks like she has a fingerprint on her face. I can't get over her tiny blue eyes, though!



How do you even paint something that small without screwing it up? I guess they probably paint the whole eye blue and add the pupil afterward, but I don't know how you'd do it without leaving brush marks. I guess that's for the experts!

Mine will be for sale, sadly, but it was fun to open the box and see which color I got. Crossing my fingers for the decorator tomorrow!

Iris is now available!

Attention, Stablemates Club members! The next release in the club, Iris, is now available for purchase!



It's the gambler's choice model on the G3 Highland Pony! They all look like fun colors, but I like the decorator best. Here's how the website describes it:

Mojave Turquoise-inspired decorator with a gold basecoat layered with purple, blue and interference gold, and a high gloss finish

It's enough to make me wish this was a mold I collect. Alas, I don't, so both of mine will be going to the sales bin. That silver bay is really pretty too, though! Here's a photo of them from the collector club tent at Breyerfest.

 

I'd thought the cremello was a solid color, but it looks like she's an Appaloosa! And the writeup says she has a satin finish, rather than glossy. You'd think they'd go whole hog and gloss her along with the other three, but I guess not.

Whichever color you prefer, I hope everyone gets the one they want! Good luck!

Fine, twist my arm...

Next year's gambler's choice model for the Stablemate Club has been revealed - it's the Highland Pony!



Well, that was unexpected. They showed the silver bay one in this year's JAH, so I figured it wouldn't be the gambler's choice. Boy, is my face red!

I don't collect the Highland Pony, so this isn't a huge priority with me, but I do really like the colors they picked, especially that blue/purple/gold decorator. There seem to be two decorators this time - that's new. Good to see them mixing things up a little bit. And it looks like all four of them are glossy! Fun stuff.

Speaking of glossies, Darley is already arriving at people's houses, and apparently the glossy chestnut Mirado in the club is going to be a gambler's choice glossy and matte. Just when I thought I didn't need to buy an extra club membership...gah! I'm definitely going to have to join on my second account, and maybe my husband's account as well. I'm reasonably confident they'll show us the rest of the releases before the end of the year, so hopefully they don't throw us any curveballs in that regard.

My Darley isn't scheduled to arrive until next Wednesday, but I'll be sure to get pictures of him posted as soon as I can! I'm excited to see him (and the unicorn blind bags I ordered with him!)

Fruitcake Fillies?

New on the Breyer website...meet the Fruitcake Fillies! Collector Club members get early access!

I wonder if they're named that because some fruitcake at Breyer came up with the idea?

I kid, of course. They're cute! Nothing I need to buy, fortunately. They're priced at $25 each and limited to two per account. I can confirm that they qualify for the free shipping order if you buy two of them. They're a run of 2,000 total, with 500 of each color, so I can't imagine they'll last long once they become available to the general population.

Observant collectors may notice that these ladies look similar to Breyerfest 2014's Birthday Cake. Birthday cake, fruitcake? I suppose they'd all match pretty nicely if you got all five together!

2019 Stablemate Club teasers!

Exciting news, everyone! Four out of six of next year's Stablemate Club releases have been previewed on the Breyer website (and the misuse of "peak" strikes again!)! First, an enterprising Blabber found these two silhouettes posted on the Stablemate Club forum:

It's Mirado and the G1 Morgan Mare! I'm glad to see they dug poor Mirado out of obscurity, since the mold has been languishing unused since its debut at the end of last year. As for the G1 Morgan Mare, well, they had to use at least one G1, I guess.

Then, another industrious Blabber found these silhouettes posted on the Stablemate Club blog! (Don't worry, I didn't know that existed either.)






It's a new mold and the G3 Highland Pony! The new mold looks...interesting...the front end looks like Carrick, and the back end looks like they chopped it off of a Morgan or something. I'm sure it'll look better in actual photos. I'm not into the Highland Pony at all, but I'm sure they'll put a cute color on it.

So that's 2/4 for me - hopefully the fifth or sixth are things I want, or we'll be looking at another 2018 situation next year. Come on, G2 Morgan!

As for colors, I wonder what color the Mirado will be? A nice dappled black or bay would be pretty. I'm guessing the new mold is supposed to be a Thoroughbred, but since Breyer has been on a pinto kick lately, I wouldn't be surprised if it's spotted in some way or another.

I'm glad we're getting more new reveals, though! Hopefully we don't have to wait much longer to find out what else is in store for next year. I hope poor Mirado gets more love than just a release in the SMC; maybe he'll show up at Breyerfest or in a new RR set or something. Heck, for all I know he's going to be used at next month's Scottsdale Stampede (I hope not!)