New Arrivals: Nazruddin, Repeat the Beat and Volunteer Model

I'm almost done taking quick cell phone photos of my Breyerfest 2017 models! Huzzah! More photos of things from the event, like the sneak peeks in the Collector Club tent, will have to wait until I've dug out my camera card. I've been extremely busy with work since we got back, and that's not going to change anytime soon, so it might be a while until that happens...oh well. Let's take a look at one of my Nazruddins!

 

Unfortunately, all I've been hearing online (and seeing, amongst all of my Nazruddins) is that somebody at Breyer really screwed the pooch with these models.  I'm not usually one to complain about poor quality models, but I got 8 Nazruddins and all of them have nasty flaws. These models are the model equivalent of Scrubs' HFFA.

 

Now, don't get me wrong - this color is really nice, and and it looks really good on the Marwari. They also looked good being carried around by all the little kids at the Horse Park all weekend - like they belonged there, unlike something like Simba or last year's squashed-looking Imperador. But then you look at it up close and see things like this:

 

 What even is that? Did they paint the area underneath the mane the mane color before they actually attached the manes? Did they try to mask the mane off? The edges look too sharp to be overspray, but I'm not an airbrush expert. And all eight of my Nazruddins look like that to varying degree. I have all of the previous releases on this mold and none of them look remotely like that.

 

This particular guy's paint job isn't that horrible other than the mane thing, but another thing I noticed was that of a total of eight Nazruddin models, five of them have visible seam lines on their faces. It's not guaranteed that these will turn into seam splits, but it's not good all the same. I've never seen so many models in the same run with seam issues before, and now five at once? Sheesh. And the three that don't have the seam lines have other issues (warped legs, paint booboos, etc) that are making me lean toward keeping one of the others despite the seam issues. I still haven't even decided which one I'm going to keep yet because every time I start looking at them, I see more issues! Bleh. You'd think of all the recent celebration models to slack off on, they'd have done it with Gooitzen, since all they were doing with those was spraying them flat black and then glossing them afterward. These paint jobs at least took a little effort!

Well, enough of that. Let's move on to Repeat the Beat!

 

In contrast to the Nazruddin fiasco, I couldn't find a single flaw on my Repeat the Beat (after I spent a few minutes in the Breyer Store first looking for one that had decently-painted horseshoes and no other visible flaws). So, another Bluegrass Bandit joins my nearly-complete conga! 

 

I really like the color on this model - this style of painting roans is very appealing to me for some reason (although if I was really going to nitpick I'd say the real Pete isn't quite as roany). 

 

I really liked the brownish undertones on this model, though it was hard to get them to show up in the picture. He's a handsome guy!

Lastly, let's take a look at this year's volunteer model, who doesn't seem to have a name:

 

There was a fair bit of controversy around this model due to her weird blood mark. I'll admit it is a little oddly-placed, but it doesn't really bother me - I'm just glad I was able to get one, despite not volunteering.

 

I was very fortunate to be able to trade one of my glossy Bollywood Surprise models for her - I guess the surprise being on a model I don't collect is a good thing after all! Word on the street is that these models were painted in New Jersey, as has been the trend for volunteer models the last few years, and like Repeat the Beat, I couldn't find a single flaw on her (other than her bloodshot pink eyewhites, but that's just personal preference).

 

Look at her pretty face! I actually think the blood mark sets off her color very nicely - her other side is sorta boring without the blood mark. She's a worthy addition to the herd! Hopefully we find out her name and the quantity produced at some point.

That's all I have for tonight - I'll try to get to photographing the Breyerfest 2017 Stablemates I got, but once again, no promises!

Artisan's Gallery Snapshots!

In lieu of skulking my way through the KHP visitor center today, I wandered through the Artisan's Gallery instead to see if I could get my eye on the special run models for Breyerfest. And, lo and behold...

 

In the above photo we see Indu, Vahana, Kaalee, Darjeeling and a little bit of Saffron.

 

And here we see more of the previous, plus Namaste and the rest of Saffron. These are the seven (horse) models that will be available in the special run line, minus the surprise model. I had hoped that if there's a matte/glossy split this year it would be revealed here, but all of the models had the expected finishes.

In this photo we see Diwali, the Official Breyerfest Cow (tm), as well as slightly different angles of Namaste and Saffron, plus the plush horse Lotus.

 

The Single-Day Stablemates are as cute as expected, though I didn't have the time to examine Tushar and see if he's as butt-high as he looks in photos. I'm still planning on getting Mishti and Vivaan, though. Hopefully we'll have time to get that done tomorrow.

In the above photo we can see the Celebration Model Nazruddin, the plushie elephant Jaipur, the regular elephant Holi and the Classic Marigold. Drool! Marigold must be mine, and I love Nazruddin's box despite my dislike of pink. I'm still not planning on buying a Holi; I don't collect the animal molds and I have reservations about how well-executed those decals will be.



And lastly we have Navya, the curiously attractive clear Stablemate. Gah! I need him. We're going to be getting up really early tomorrow in hopes of getting in line early enough to get our hands on him and Marigold - hopefully we're successful!

I'll close with that - good luck at Breyerfest tomorrow, everybody! Try not to keel over in line - I know I'll be doing my best.

BreyerWest 2017 Photos!

BreyerWest 2017 took place this past weekend, March 24-26! I wasn't able to attend, sadly, but luckily for us, Breyer posted some photos from the event on their Facebook page! I was mostly interested in the Breyerfest models, but there are a few other interesting things here.

(Photos are from Breyer's Facebook page, and faces have been cropped out)

First up is a view of one corner of the Breyer booth, where we can see Vahana, Darjeeling, Saffron, Nazruddin, Sokkar and Rangoli.


 

Nazruddin looks really nice, and so does Saffron. I was halfheartedly hoping Breyer would reveal another special run at this event, but no such luck. Oh well.

Next, a view from just around the corner of the booth - on a different day, when the models had been rearranged.

Not getting a good angle on Sokkar in either of these photos, but Saffron (and Vahana) look mighty handsome. Let's see what's next!

 

It's a view from the opposite corner of the booth! Nothing particularly earth-shattering, but there is a view of Saffron's off side, which we don't have a photo of on the Breyer site.

Astute viewers may notice that Kaalee is not in attendance, along with the store specials Repeat the Beat and Dally and Spanky. I remember hearing last year that Breyer only keeps one or two examples of each model on hand, and if one isn't available to bring along, for whatever reason (such as Kaalee and the others) they simply aren't available to view. Patience, readers! We're a mere 15-ish weeks away from Breyerfest and the time will go by fast!

Lastly, here's a view of another part of the Breyer booth, showing some of the new for 2017 releases.



I really like the color on Espresso, the Springtime Filly. If only I were a fan of the mold, and/or the gigantic scale. I'm honestly surprised they continued the series (albeit with a delay) after Camilla's lukewarm reception, but I suppose they need to at least try to get back their investment in the mold.

That's all I've got for tonight - let's hope Breyer releases another special run model soon! We're down to 2 1/2 weeks until the early bird deadline, and they still have 3 special run line models and the surprise teaser left to reveal! Hurry up already!

Breyerfest Blog Updates

As of last week, the Breyerfest Blog on Breyer's website has begun posting new things related to this year's Breyerfest Gateway to India. I couldn't help but notice they posted some new information about Sokkar, the Early Bird raffle model.

Sokkar is a shaded black, minimal Splash Pinto on Kathleen Moody's Icelandic mold, number 729. His super high gloss finish is set off with four stockings, a big blaze, and two mesmerizing blue eyes.

I had been thinking Sokkar's paint job actually reminded me a lot of Fox Valley Oliver's, especially the glossy prize FVO (although, on further inspection, Sokkar has more white on his feet than FVO). But if Sokkar is a splash pinto, could he have some white markings on his other side? It would be interesting if we could see a photo of his other side (cough, cough).

In other news, today's post gives some history about Marwari horses and Nazruddin, the Celebration Horse. His owner, Francesca Kelly, donated three horses to the Kentucky Horse Park, which can be seen at the Breeds Barn; here's my (bad) photo of one of them from a few years back.



Wow, I forgot that was from 2012. Here's the same horse in its stall later.



 

We'll have to swing by the Breed Barn this year and say hello - we've missed the Parade of Breeds the last few years we've been there.

Anyway, now that the blog is being updated, hopefully they start showing us some of this year's releases. Maybe this week? One can only dream.

Breyerfest Tickets Available Now!

Greetings, all! I hope everyone had a good New Year's. Mine just got a whole lot better - Breyerfest 2017 tickets are now available! You know what that means - the unveiling of special runs! First off, the Celebration Horse, Nazruddin:

So it looks like he's keeping his original mane and tail. Exciting! I like what I can see of him - can't wait to add him to the collection!

Unfortunately, the only other model that's been revealed thus far was the Early Bird raffle model - a luscious glossy black Icelandic named Sokkar:



My initial reaction to this was, "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Because I want him, badly. Oh, so badly. I haven't wanted an early bird raffle this much since Alegria in 2014. I need him. Ugh. I'll be crossing all of my fingers and toes at the Saturday raffle, I can tell you that right now.

So, that's all we've been shown thus far - am I off base in thinking they usually show us one of the regular raffle models at this time, too? Bleh. Darn Breyer and keeping their secrets so secret. I hope they reveal it soon.

Other tidbits on the website are the "Bollywood Bash" costume contest and the "Gateway to India" diorama contest. I have to admit I have some reservations about this whole theme. I can see a whole host of ways the costume contest - and this Breyerfest theme, in general - could go wrong, with regards to cultural appropriation and stereotypes and...I kind of don't want to go anywhere near that. Which is bad, because I actually thought about trying the costume contest again to try to win a glossy Nazruddin. Let's hope Breyer puts a little more thought into the special run names - Mamacita and Chico and Sheila were particularly cringeworthy choices last year.

(I tried to look up Sokkar on Google, but couldn't find much. Anyone know what it refers to? Is it a common surname in India?)

We'll have to wait and see what Breyer has planned this year. Let's hope they can pull it off!

Featured Model - 12/10/2016, Kalahkaari

Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Model, the weekly blog event where I pick a model from my collection, give some stats on it and provide commentary about it. This week's pick is...Kalahkaari!



This handsome guy was the second release in the 2012 Premier Club! Sculpted by Brigitte Eberl, around 750 of these models were produced. I had to re-photograph this model for the blog, and he's spent so much time on my shelf I forgot how much I liked his paint job. He's gorgeous!

The first thing I liked about him was his head, though - I just like his head and expression. So handsome! And of course, this was the first Marwari model Breyer had ever produced, with the curly ears. I knew right away he was going to stay with me forever.

Of course, the big question with this model was whether it would always have the curled ears, and even how the ears are curled in the first place. I've heard conflicting stories about whether the ears are an alternate mold or if they do it in the factory with heat guns, but either way it makes this mold unique.

I did have an ulterior motive with picking this model to feature this week - I happened to be lurking on the Breyer website last night, and noticed the Breyerfest ticket photos have been updated (look in your order history, if you've ordered tickets in the past) - and look what I found!



It's a thumbnail, but I like what I can see of the chestnut Marwari! It looks like he has the original mane, too - there was some speculation on Blab that Breyer might mix and match his mane and tail from the 2015 Breyerfest release, Haute Couture - but I'm going to guess they'll leave him with the original mane/tail. Can't wait to see more updates!

2016's JAH has arrived!

First things first: it doesn't look like either of us was drawn for an Avalanche. Curse you, silver filigree gods! *shakes fist* I'll get my hands on one eventually. Congrats to all the lucky winners!

More importantly, my yearly JAH issue arrived yesterday, and it's past time to discuss its contents. So, I tossed it into my scanner. Behold, the cover I alluded to a month ago in my Chasing the Chesapeake recaps:



Fantasia Del C will definitely be mine at some point (bobblehead dolls aside). Unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot else in the issue that we didn't already know about. The editorial page makes mention of two new product lines to be released next year, but it seems we already knew what they are - one of them is probably the Spirit Riding Free line that was leaked online earlier this year, and as for the other - the scuttlebutt on Blab is that Reeves has purchased CollectA. The relevant blurb:



Since one of the collections is described as "durable vinyl," that probably refers to the purchase of CollectA, and like I said, the other is probably the Spirit Riding Free line.

Another exciting tidbit is an official announcement of the 2017 Celebration Horse!



I can't wait to see the model of Nazruddin - I collect the Marwari and I bet he'll look awesome in chestnut!

Lastly, in the 2016 Product Guide, we got a photo of Yasmin from a slightly different angle:



I definitely like that angle better. The likelihood of her staying in my herd has just ratcheted up to about 99%. Let's hope she comes up for purchase soon! Probably right after the purchase window for Avalanche ends, if I know Breyer.