Live Show Reserve prize revealed!

 Well, readers, we have a reveal for the teaser earlier in the week - it's Lapland, the live show reserve prize! 

Ooh, I thought it was a buttermilk buckskin! He's so pretty! Nothing I need to collect, but that's a good thing - I won't be too sad when I don't win one. I feel bad for the Peruvian Paso collectors, though - this is the second time he's been a live show prize. Although this one may be slightly easier to obtain than the first one, which was a run of 4. Silver lining, I guess. Good luck to all the Breyerfest Live showers out there! Which reminds me, I need to start working on my show string...

Machu Picchu!

 Well, that was unexpected - a new web special was revealed today! This must be the reveal for the teaser we saw in last month’s Collector Club newsletter. Anyway, meet Machu Picchu, the latest entry in the Exotic Destinations series:

What a beauty! The Peruvian Paso looks great in black. Looks like his markings are even masked. He almost makes me sad I sold off all my Pasos. Good luck to everyone entering!

I haven’t had a whole lot to post about lately, but hopefully that changes soon. We did get grab bags for the various Clubs last week, but my luck with grab bags tends to be Not Great, so I didn’t buy any. I’ve  seen a lot of cool stuff being posted, though! At least two people got In-Between Mares in their Vintage Club grab bags, and someone else got a Thunderbird with Anton. So maybe it’s worth the risk after all? The jury’s still out on that one, I think. 

2023 Fall releases announced!

 Good news, readers! The 2023 Fall Releases have been announced! More information can be found here, but let's look at the releases. Firstly, here's Leif, the 2023 Limited Edition/Fall Decorator: 

Ooh, what a pretty Vermeer! I love the gold leaves on his coat. Definitely screams "fall decorator" to me! 

Next is the Cheryl White horse/rider/book set we've already seen, so I'll move on to...Cody's Wish! 

I can't think of a racehorse more deserving of his own model right now than Cody's Wish. Glad to see him getting some attention from Breyer! I can't wait to add him to my collection! 

Next we have Clooney 51!

Ooh, very pretty! This one is very similar to Get Rowdy from last year - I wonder if Get Rowdy is being retired at the end of this year? That would let a new release slot into his place pretty well, and I think Clooney 51 looks basecoated, so I don't think it'll be hard to tell them apart. I also have a fear that Clooney 51 here may end up being a glossy prize model at Breyerfest next year. Ooh, let's move on from that nightmarish thought.

Next, let's take a look at Norwich! 

Hey, a new release on the Hackney Pony! He hasn't had a release since 2020 and that was a web special, so it'll be good to see him in the regular line again. 

Lastly, this year's brick-and-mortar special run, Barranco! 

He's very pretty! Looks pretty similar to Raia, the brick-and-mortar special run from 2020. Maybe a tad lighter shade. With one less sock and a wider blaze. These are only available in physical store locations, so good luck with getting one! 

That's it for new releases for today! The unpacking has been continuing, but is now on hold temporarily until we can get another new shelf built. In the meantime, I haven't had any major casualties, but was dismayed yesterday to discover my palomino Callahan's gloss coat was damaged by the bubble wrap he was stored in. Normally I try to wrap glossies with the bubbles facing out to prevent this kind of damage, but I wasn't paying the most attention when I unwrapped him, so I don't really know if I wrapped him with the bubbles in or not. I guess I wasn't too worried about it since I've never had an issue with bubble wrap and OF gloss before. Lesson learned, I guess. I still have a number of boxes to unpack, so let's hope that's the worst of my issues! 

The next reveal!

 Sheesh, I'm a bit late with this one, I know. I saw the reveal earlier, was going to write a post about it, then saw the bit at the bottom that said there was more coming later and forgot about the whole thing completely...until now. Anyway, here he is - Gran Cavallo! 

From the blog:
 

In 1482, the Duke of Milan commissioned Leonardo Da Vinci to create for him what would have been, at the time, the largest bronze horse statue in the world - standing at a massive 26 feet tall. In preparation for his creation, Leonardo did an extensive amount of research on horses, and even wrote two separate treatises dedicated to the project – one on horse anatomy, and the other included detailed project plans for this commission. Leonardo’s Horse, also known as Gran Cavallo, was unfortunately never created and the original clay model was ultimately destroyed.

Never mind the fact that the model doesn't look anything like the sketch...oh well. He's pretty, but I'm conflicted about him - a few months ago I decided to cull all of my Peruvian Pasos for shelf space, but haven't managed to sell any of them yet, so...I still have them...and this guy could easily be added to the collection...but I don't have room for them! Blargh. I guess I'll have to do some thinking about it. Anyway, he is definitely pretty! 

Featured Model - 9/28/2019, Manco Capac

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 model is...Manco Capac!



This beefy guy was the Collector's Choice model for the first half of 2010. He's item #1358 on the Peruvian Paso mold sculpted by Linda York.

In a ranking of Collector's Choice models, this guy would definitely be on the higher end - he looks pretty good in red roan. I like the contrast of his dark head and legs against the rest of his body, and he has three socks to give him some flash! Definitely a handsome guy. I wish Breyer would bring back the Collector's Choice series - I'd really like to see what designs people could come up with on the newer molds.

As for the Paso itself, I think it's high time this mold had a new release - I've been thinking about selling off the ones I have for shelf space, and a new release would help convince me to keep them a while longer. On the other hand, I'd have to spend money if he got a new release....so maybe not. Time will tell, I guess. I don't think he's ever been a web special, so that would be my guess for his next appearance - but probably not this year, as I don't see him being a good fit for a holiday design (since they wasted silver filigree on him already).

Where else might we see him? He's not a terribly popular mold, but maybe they'd use him as a Breyerfest prize. He has been a prize before, but that was back in 2005, so I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility. I suppose he could also be a special run, though he wouldn't match the theme. But that hasn't stopped Breyer before - so anything goes, I guess. Either way, I hope his next release is something I can get my hands on!

Another New Test Color?

So I guess Breyer decided to try to squeeze one more person's purse dry before Breyerfest - there's another test lot available for entry on the website. Check him out:

 

I have a more-or-less complete collection of these guys, so I entered. The website calls him a "pearly slate grullo," but I'm not seeing a lot of pearly there. Maybe it's more apparent in person? I'm not the biggest fan of solid colors with no chrome, though - he needs some white to make that pearly sheen pop. It'd be fun if I got drawn - though scrounging up $850 right before Breyerfest would be painful. Oh well. Good luck to everyone who enters! I'll close with a view of his luxurious mane.

Featured Model - 11/26/2016, El Caballo Peruano de Paso

Hello and welcome to another installment of Featured Model, the weekly blog event where I pick a model from my collection, give some stats on it and provide commentary. I hope we've all recovered sufficiently from Thanksgiving! This week's lucky model is...El Caballo Peruano de Paso (The Horse from the Land of the Incas)! Or, as I call him, Champagne Ride (because who can remember that mouthful?).

 

This handsome guy was a limited edition set (item number 1223) released in 2004; he was a run of 1500 on the Peruvian Paso mold sculpted by Linda York. He came in a fancy window box and included a traditional Peruvian saddle, bridle, and rider (with the requisite tray of champagne glasses). The COA for this set came tightly rolled up and tied with a ribbon - when I got mine out of the box, I thought it would never lie flat. Even now, it's pressed between the pages of a book, hopefully flattening out.

The only real issue I had with this set was that I didn't realize the bit for the bridle was actually in the horse's mouth - they put a hole in his mouth for the bit to go in! I had to use a nail clipper to clip the bit in half so I could take it out. I had been hoping to keep all the tack intact, so that really irked me - especially since it's a situation with no good resolution. Either you damage the tack getting it off the horse, or you leave it on and risk the tack itself damaging the model, either from dye leaching onto it or "shadows" from the paint fading around it. No thanks!

This is another one of those molds I'm somewhat conflicted about. Most of the issue is wondering which side is his "show" side, and which is his "off" side. It seems like his luxurious mane (right)side should be the show side, but he's looking slightly to the left, which would put the show side on his left side. Argh! He does look good in palomino, though. I wouldn't mind seeing him in a palomino like Breyer has been doing lately with dark shading on the points.

I think this is one of Breyer's more underrated molds. He has his own particular charm, and he's been issued in so many great auction model colors! I drooled over the blue roan tobiano from 2011, the red bay overo from 2010, and of course would kill to own the silver filigree one from 2003 (Curse you, Breyer!). And the silver bay Breyerfest prize is to die for. On the more attainable front, RCH Ventarrones was a great color, too - especially in gloss! Droolworthy for sure. Let's hope this mold gets another release soon! He deserves it.