The last few auction models have been revealed!

 Happy Friday, everyone! In just one week, it'll be Breyerfest time in Kentucky for the first time in three years! I'm so excited to leave on Tuesday night - just four more days, and only two more work days! Breyer unveiled the online auction platform today, along with the last few auction lots we hadn't seen yet! I thought we'd have to wait until next Friday to see them, but looks like Breyer decided to be merciful for once. Anyway, here they are! You can view them by clicking on the link to BidSpirit's website in the Breyerfest Blog post and then viewing the auction catalog. 

First off, it's a glossy color-shift-paint version of Dani! Very nice. 

Next, a glossy smutty buckskin Hamilton! Oh, he'll go high. Personally, I'd prefer if this one had a little white, but to each their own. 

Next, a beautiful Astrid in red roan pintaloosa, and with a new mane option we haven't seen yet! I wonder if we'll see this mane in the special run line as well? I hope so! 

Next, an amazing pegasus on Silver that's very reminiscent of this auction Esprit from 2014. Is he a test of a test? It's turtles tests all the way down! Ahhhhh! 

And lastly, an In-Between Mare (!) and PAF who clearly takes after her sire! I kid, I kid...but these two would make a great family for that Ukraine benefit piece that was auctioned off a few months ago. 

These reveals also remove True North, Hamilton and Silver from contention as the surprise model. I think I had been saying the Cleveland Bay, since my original guess of Brishen is out, but I think I'm going to go with Goffert. Othello would be the other obvious choice, but he's already been done in just about every color and was a treasure hunt model, so I don't think it'll be him. There's a suspicious lack of draft models in this year's lineup, and Goffert is close enough to make me think it's probably him. 

This year's raffle models are also in the auction, as per usual, so there are photos of them as well. Check out the Zafirah/Dirndl model: 

I just...I want to like her, but I can't get over her front end. It's like her entire shoulder area should be twice as wide (long?), and her front legs are super-skinny. It's too bad, because I like her head and neck, and the hind end isn't so bad (though I'd rather she be standing squarely). It's just the front legs and shoulder area that bother me so much. Oh well. Her color is nice, at least.

I don't think this color is doing Troubadour any favors, honestly. But if I won him, I wouldn't turn him down, I guess. I may be toying with the idea of selling off my Troubadours, though, so we'll see what happens with that.

I'm also wondering why there are only 21 lots, when there were 28 lots in the before times. I thought reducing the number of lots in the live auction was a Covid thing - I guess Covid isn't strictly over just yet, but it still seems odd to have so (comparatively) few auction lots. Spread the money around, as it were. 

Anyway, that's all I have for today. Not sure how much more posting I'll be doing until we arrive in Kentucky, but never fear - if all goes well, I'll be reporting from each day of Breyerfest as it happens, like I usually do! Safe travels, everyone! 

The September Collector Club newsletter is out!

Just in time for October to begin, the September Collector Club newsletter has been released! If you're a  Collector Club member, check your email (possibly your spam folder) to read it! Lots of exciting stuff in here - there's an article about the In-Between Mare! Check out these amazing tests for Zahra:

Sheesh. I would bet money that one of those shows up in the Breyerfest live auction next year, or possibly the silent auction. That silver bay is incredible! Any guesses as to what she'd sell for? Holy moly. 

 Also, Breyer is doing a giveaway of one random Zahra to a lucky winner! Click here to enter. Most excitingly, we have a new sneak peek! 

It's a release for October, and my first thought was the final Premier Club model of the year...but those usually come out in November, so I'm not really sure about that. Wait a minute - the last Premier Club release is a splash pinto, so scratch that. Maybe it's the second Collector Club special run of the year? We haven't seen anything about that yet. They've been doing two special runs per year for so long, I can't imagine they'd stop now. But is that level of detail something they'd put on a CC SR? Who knows. Hopefully we don't have to wait forever to find out! 

Vintage Club Zahra is now available!

 Attention, Vintage Club members! The next release in the club, Zahra, is now available to order! Here's what one of the colors looks like: 

She's this year's gambler's choice model, so you won't know what color you'll get until you open the box. I'm not in the VC this year, so I won't be getting one, but looking at that photo...well...let's just say I can understand why the mold never made it to production. The colors are pretty though! 

So, this probably means Barrington, the old-style sorrel Bristol, will probably ship in October or November. Hurry up, dang it! 

Holiday mare and foal set, Winter web special and more!

So it turns out Zenith was just the first of today's exciting reveals! First, the colors of the 2020 Vintage Club In-Between Mare, Zahra, were released:



Well...at least the colors are pretty...especially the glossy ones...but that's the most I can say about them. She's just so...well...let's just say I won't be searching them out on the secondary market. Is it just me, or do her eyes look too big for her face?

Edit: I forgot there was also a hint about the 2020 Vintage Club's optional model - something about him "leaping into our hearts" or something along those lines. Considering the Newsworthy and Jumping Horse molds have both already been used for the VC, could this mean we're getting a Bristol? Exciting!

Next, a hint for the upcoming Winter Web Special was revealed in the Collector Club newsletter that was emailed to CC members today:



I appreciate the correct usage of "peek." Looks like some kind of bronze or rose gold filigree? Opinions are mixed on what it is, but it looks like Carrick to me. Hopefully we find out soon!

Lastly, there was another surprise reveal today - Breyer's holiday catalogs are going out, and there's some exciting new things in there! I don't have photos I can use yet, but there's a delightful dark bronze/bay Hermosa and Corazon unicorn set named Mira and Antares, and a blood bay Haflinger with a cute little blanket. Hopefully we get our catalogs soon!

Stop the world, I want to get off

The reveals are coming fast and furious - almost too many reveals for me to handle! Where do I start? The full Vintage Club lineup for 2020, minus the bonus model, has been revealed:



So we've got the Western Horse, the In-Between Mare (!), the Bubble-Butt Belgian (making his second appearance in the club), and Yasmin. Wait - taking a closer look at the photo, the two mares next to the IBM look like FAMS, not IBMs...I wonder if the gambler's choice will mostly be between the two FAMs, with the IBM an extremely rare variant? One of 70, perhaps? That would help keep the original handful of IBMs' value from plummeting.

Anyway, there's nothing here I need to buy other than the Yasmin, unless the optional model is something I need. Here's hoping!

Next on the reveals list, the 2020 calendar has been posted on the Breyer website, and the cover photo is A DAPPLE PALOMINO HAMILTON AAAAAHHHHHH!!!



He is a must-have! Dare I hope he's a regular run for next year? Or, failing that, something obtainable in the 70th Anniversary Collection? I'll be sorely disappointed if this is a test or limited run I'll never be able to get my hands on! I'm going to continue to hope he's a RR, since this year's Dominante made his debut in the calendar about this time last year.

Speaking of the calendar, we also had this reveal inside it - a side angle of the new Premier Club Altynai:



Well, that does it - I'm going to have to add him to my collection too. Drat it all! I'd been hoping to cut back a little bit next year, but if these reveals are any indication, I don't think that's going to happen. But hey, I love all the new things being unveiled right now - it's definitely better than the news wasteland we had going at this time last year. Bring on the reveals - I'm ready to see the 2020 regular run line!

2019 JAH is here!

Good news, everyone! My JAH arrived today, with a wealth of new reveals! There's a lot of exciting things to go over, so let's just get started!

I decided to leave out the cover this year, in case those of you who haven't seen it yet don't want to be spoiled. I will be covering the reveals inside, though, so beware!

I'll start with next year's first Premier Club release, Altynai:



The prototype is beautiful, and I definitely like the color (sculpted by Heather Puleo, sculptor of Greyson) and painted by Amanda Brock), but I'm not sure if I like this one enough to keep him yet. I'll need to see more photos of him before I decide...hopefully they show us more when club signups open up. Also, why all the buckskins lately? Were those paint colors on sale?

Anyway, next year's other two sculptors are Lynn Fraley and Kylee Parks. I took a look at Lynn Fraley's other work and didn't see anything that I had to have, so the jury is out on her sculpt too; Kylee Parks has done some impressive work for the custom contest at Breyerfest for the last few years, so I'm sure hers will be pretty nice.

Next, let's take a look at this little item on the Table of Contents page:



Ooh, a giveaway! I took a look at the entry website, and it looks like we have until November 30 to enter. I haven't submitted my official count yet, but it looks like they got clever with a lot of the images, so make sure you pay close attention to every page of the magazine!

Next, here's a sneak peek of a new sculpt by Mindy Berg on the editorial page:



While the magazine doesn't say what this new sculpt is for, it looks like a Classic to me - probably next year's Classics Horse of the Year. Honestly, he looks like Duende with his head turned up and to the right, so I can't see him being a Traditional. I wonder what color he's supposed to be - silver bay maybe? I hope we find out soon.

Next, a look at next year's Live Show Benefit horse and the 4th release in the Fairytale Friends Club:



Another buckskin, on San Domingo! He looks like he'd match Lillian and Molly pretty well. The ad copy says next year's glossy Classics model will be the glossy Malik - a return to glossing the previous year's Classics Horse of the Year model, which makes me wonder even more why they didn't gloss some Masons for this year (not that I'm complaining!). In the bottom photo, we see the fourth release in the Fairytale Friends club, with a glittery purple G3 Arabian and what looks like a shrunken-down resin Rising Sun. Makes me wonder if we'll see Rising Sun in other scales eventually? With all those new Walmart Mini Whinnies, it seems like Breyer is going nuts with shrinking stuff lately, so I wouldn't be surprised.

Next, here's the Fighting Stallion sneak peek:



In Stephanie Macejko's editorial, she mentioned that the "70th Anniversary Collection" will consist of a number of Traditional-size releases, and this Fighting Stallion will evidently be one of them. Maybe they'll pick one mold from each decade for this collection? That would be fun. The Fighter here is pretty, but nothing I need to buy. Can't wait to see the other releases!

Next we have the Vintage Club sneak peek that has everyone excited:



Yes, that's the In-Between Mare! What color is she? Looks like some kind of glossy dapple black to me, but it could be a dark bay. More importantly, will this lower the value of the handful of IBMs in collector hands? Probably not, since they're so old. I wonder if they'll all be this color, or if they'll be the gambler's choice for next year? Another important question is...will they be popular? The IBM is definitely valuable, but, well...there's a reason the mold was rejected in favor of the FAM, if you know what I mean. Food for thought, I guess.

Next, here's a look at the Fairytale Friends Club's third release!



That's Mini Magnolia and a Mini Whinny I don't recognize. Maybe it's a flipped Show Arabian? Not sure why they'd bother to flip it, but that's the closest guess I have. I won't be keeping either of them, fortunately (or unfortunately). There's an article in this issue about unicorns in other parts of the world, featuring a number of unicorn illustrations by Rayvin Maddock. I hope we see some of those colors in the Fairytale Friends Club next year!

Lastly, here's a look at Corbin, who also appeared on the cover of this issue:

He's pretty, but I don't think I'll be keeping either of mine. More for the sales pile!

Edit: Gah! I forgot about the Premier Club Stablemate, Charleston! Here he is!



He looks a lot like the G2 Paso Fino...which is a bad thing, for me. I've tentatively arranged to trade him for the mini Misty and Stormy set from this year's Vintage Club, though, so at least I've got that going for me. His paintjob looks like a pretty faithful representation of Hamilton, though, even down to the slightly-pearly whites, so there's that.

All in all, it was a great issue - I think there were more reveals in this issue than the one from last year, so that was nice. And it's great that they're doing a giveaway for the test Beau! Now if we could just see the rest of next year's Vintage and Stablemate Club releases, that would be great!