The Classic Liam is getting some love!

Looks like some of the 2017 new releases are starting to show up! Breyer's website has a new Classic Black Beauty on Sir Buckingham/Liam!


He certainly looks dashing in black! There's been some murmurings on Blab about 2017 being the 140th anniversary of the novel's publication; perhaps he was produced to commemorate that? I guess we'll see. He's very reasonably priced ($14.95!), which comes to about $20 with shipping. Not bad! I ordered one - too bad he wasn't on the website yesterday so I could bundle him with Yasmin and Django. 

There are also rumors/photos floating around of a couple of other new Classics releases - a chestnut Liam and a bay/roan Appaloosa Mesteno. I'll refrain on posting more of those until we get official announcements - but the chestnut Liam has me excited! I'll definitely be tracking him down. I hope we get a new Gretel and/or Hansel, too!

Finally, Yasmin is available to order!

I knew it was a good idea to wait on ordering Django! Yasmin is finally available now:



I'm looking forward to getting this girl - every time I look at her I like her a little more. Hopefully she looks just as nice when I get her unboxed! And I'll get my Django at the same time. Looking forward to seeing the final 2016 Premier Club release in the flesh (as it were)!

Definitely still crossing my fingers for a new draft mare and foal next year, though!

Django is now available for purchase!

Django, the last release in the 2016 Stablemate Club, is now available on the website!



"Meet Django! Sculpture and decoration design by Josine Vingerling, exclusively for members of the 2016 Breyer Stablemates Collectors Club! This lovely Friesian cross is a beautiful mahogany bay tobiano pinto and will be an exciting new addition to your Stablemates collection."

I can't wait to add this handsome guy to my collection - he's so stately and dignified! And I like his paint job, too - pinto, but minimal. He'll be a popular one, I bet. I wonder if he'll be one of the single-day Stablemates at Breyerfest next year? That would be pretty cool.

So,  this release wraps up the inaugural year of the Stablemate Club. I didn't have many complaints about the club other than the lack of releases I wanted to keep - but that was always the risk, given the large number of Stablemate molds available and the also-large number of molds I don't collect. A heads-up last January about Primrose being delayed to February would have been nice - we'll see if that happens again. So, here's hoping next year's SMC is a success! All I want from it is more releases I'll keep.

I'm going to hold off on ordering my Django - hopefully Yasmin comes up for order soon so I can combine shipping on them, because sheesh. At this rate they'll be shipping out the bonus Stablemate before Yasmin, and mine will get sent to the wrong address because I presold my Shannondell.

Hopefully it doesn't come to that, though. Crossing my fingers that Yasmin will be available soon!

Special Run Longhorn Bull - Olaf!

There's a new special run on Breyer's website - Olaf, an "alabaster" Longhorn Bull:



"Beautiful Olaf has delicate body shading, tan hooves, subtle growth ring shading on his horns and a rich high gloss finish!
Limited to just 350 pieces, this glossy alabaster bull is a rare Breyer livestock special run.
Get Yours Today, While Supplies last!"

I don't know if I'd really call that color alabaster - at least, not in the historical Breyer sense. Interesting that it doesn't appear to be limited to Collector Club members, nor do you have to enter to be drawn for it. The price is about average - $145, but the fine print says this guy is excluded from all discounts. I don't collect the animal molds, so I won't be buying one. The piece count is high enough that most everyone who wants one will likely be able to get one - and I wonder if this means Breyer is planning a larger run on the Longhorn sometime in the near future. Time will tell!

New 2017 Classics posted!

Finally, something new and exciting to report! Two new Classics releases for next year were revealed today! Firstly, the 2017 Classics Horse of the Year, Bella:

And secondly, a Unicorn release named Forthwind:



I am...ambivalent about both of these releases. Bella, sculpted by Kathleen Moody, looks like an upscaled G2 Thoroughbred, and her right foreleg looks weird to boot. Forthwind is a nice color (despite his name, which makes me feel like someone meant to type Forthwith and hit the wrong keys), but I've never been into the Mandrake mold. Swing and a miss, I guess.

Featured Model - 12/3/2016, Rachel Alexandra

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 victim is...Rachel Alexandra!




This model, item number 1429, was a regular run from 2010-2011. She was a portrait of the champion racehorse Rachel Alexandra, on the Ruffian mold sculpted by Sue Sifton. Rachel Alexandra is one of my favorite racehorses, so I was happy to add her model to my collection! I enjoyed following her daughter Rachel's Valentina's racing career and was sad to hear of her retirement this past July. But, at least she retired sound and healthy!

I really like the Ruffian mold - she's another one I wish I had a few more of (though she is a little too big to fit comfortably in my photo tent). She's a fairly popular mold, as evidenced by the high eBay  prices of most of her releases, and she's been used as a web special an unprecedented three times.

There does tend to be some degree of variability in how she sits on her stand - some are tilted forward or backward more than others, and the metal peg in her planted foot can bend rather easily, as I found out when I put my new Rags to Riches on the shelf and noticed how much she was leaning compared to the others. But I don't think this mold will have the same degree of "droop" that I've noticed with my Show Jumping Warmbloods (a subject I addressed here), because the model's weight is distributed better.

As I said earlier, this model gets used with some frequency - along with the three web special releases, she was also this year's Halloween model Poltergeist, and is currently being used in the regular line as American Pharoah (and was Black Caviar before that). So she's definitely gotten plenty of love in the last few years! All the same, I wouldn't mind seeing her used at Breyerfest next year - the more Ruffians in my house, the merrier!

Grab Bags (yawn) and Free Shipping Weekend!

Another month, another round of grab bags!



This time they're Collector Club grab bags. There are three different grab bags - each containing $219 of items, all for the low, low price of $135! I won't be buying one - grab bags haven't been worth it in years, IMO - but good luck if you do!

Breyer is also doing another free shipping weekend on purchases over $25 - and the grab bags count toward it! So there's that, I guess.

That's it for this week - hopefully we get some exciting announcements next week!