The Big Cat Series Returns with Java!

Wow, I thought the Big Cat series was over with, but evidently not! Meet Java.



Gah! It's a Nokota. I have to have him! Is it bad that I'm angry at Breyer for only making it a run of 255? Bleh. I shouldn't be surprised, since none of the Big Cats web specials have had quantities of more than 280 yet, but still...grrr.

Oh well. This guy will be in high demand, I can tell. Hopefully at least one of my accounts gets drawn - my 14 other Nokotas need their big cat buddy! I think his color is really interesting, too - love the bronze in it. At least it's only a four-day entry period instead of a whole week. Looking forward to the 18th!

Also, since the Big Cat series now has a fifth entry, dare I hope that the America the Beautiful series continues next year? Crossing my fingers!

Jacy is here!

Okay, technically he's been here for a while, but I haven't had time to post about him. So, my TSC Jacy came in, and he's beautiful!

I really like his color, although it does make his head look a little weird for some reason. Probably just me.

He's definitely a handsome guy! He'll look great next to my other Geronimos.

Quality-wise, he's very nice - I don't see any flaws anywhere. It looks like the black of his eyes could have been painted a smidge closer to the edges of the eyes, but it's not that much of an issue.

Besides, I'd rather have this than the opposite effect - black dots slopped all over the eye/eyelids - that's been so common on a lot of models lately.



There's a closeup of his teeny fleabites - they're so small they don't even show up in most of the photos I've seen of this model online! I wonder how they did it - probably some type of airbrush splatter effect, I guess.

In closing, I'm very happy with this model! If only the quality for everything could be this nice.

In other news, word on the street is that we're not getting a Mid-States Exclusive model this year due to low sales. This doesn't really surprise me - our local Runnings store hasn't gotten any Mid-States models since the "Brabant Cross" in 2014 - and I think they still had a few with their meager Christmas display last year! That release was a lovely color, so I have no idea why it sold so poorly, unless it was the $50 price tag. Then again, our store hasn't gotten any of the Holiday Horses in the last few years either, despite the fact that I thought they always sold pretty well. Maybe they just gave up.

Anyway, here's hoping the Mid-States Exclusive gets brought back eventually. In the meantime, my wallet is happy!

Featured Model - 9/9/2017, Cozmic One

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...Cozmic One!



This model was first released in 2012, sometime after the birth of its namesake, Zenyatta's first foal. Of course, at that time the foal didn't have a name, so the models were simply labeled "Zenyatta's First Colt." I'm not sure if they ever did get around to updating that (though I wish the real horse's owners had chosen a less-stupid name). He was released on the Gilen mold sculpted by Brigitte Eberl, and is item #1490. Breyer also did a limited special run of 500 of these models in gloss for the official Zenyatta website, which was very popular!

I really like the color on these models and on the Zenyatta models - they tend to be a really rich, dark bay, like the real horses! And I like most of the Trad foals Breyer has been coming out with for the last few years - not that we've gotten a lot of new foal molds, but the more the merrier! Still crossing my fingers that this year's final Premier Club release will be a draft mare and foal (bonus points if the foal isn't tippy like Gilen and Corazon tend to be).

Gilen himself is a really nice mold - his sculpt suggests movement really well, and he looks leggy and athletic like a sport horse mold should. My only complaint is that they tend to be tippy, like a lot of Brigitte's trotting molds. And I wish they'd use this mold more often, really. I'd love to see a two-piece Trad foal set with a Corazon - that would be great! Definitely something I'd buy.

As for the real Cozmic One, he's been a bit of a disappointment on the racetrack, and at 5 years old, has yet to win or even hit the board in a race (not that he's been in very many races). But it's difficult for any good racehorse to reproduce themselves, and Zenyatta and Bernardini were both pretty successful on the track. Breeding is a roll of the dice every time, and sometimes things just don't work out. Let's hope Cozmic One finds something more to his liking soon! He could always go to Florida like Jess's Dream...

Another test model on the website!

So Breyer has another test model up for entries on the website...and this time it's a Cantering Welsh Pony!



From the website:

The Cantering Welsh Pony is an all-time fan favorite.  Athletic and cute with her braided mane and tail, she's come in a variety of colors through the years since her debut in the 1970s.  This freehand bay leopard appaloosa pattern is a test run created in the last five years.  She sports a pink muzzle, striped hooves, bi-colored eyes and the CHESS mold mark on the inside right hind leg.  She's in top condition with no visible flaws.  Her pretty painted coat is truly unique! 

She certainly looks nice, although I don't collect the mold. I used to have a few of them, but they fell victim to yet another shelf purge a few years ago. I'll enter once just to see if I get drawn, but no biggie if I don't. Her price is a bit steep for a pony anyway, I think. Good luck to everyone who enters!

The Vintage Club Classic Paint Horse Family is now available!

The final release in the 2017 Vintage Club, the Classic Paint Horse Family, is available now on the Breyer website!



Nice colors on all of them, but nothing I need to have (which is good, as I'm not a Vintage Club member). It'll be interesting to see how these are received amongst hobbyists - I remember there being some consternation about Classic-sized models being used in a club that had only used Traditional molds in the past. I wonder if Breyer will do the same thing next year? Per Sommer Prosser, these molds were used, in modern paint jobs, in an attempt to keep the club from falling into a rut. Will it work? I have yet to ever be a member of the club, so I'm not sure I'm really qualified to say. I guess we'll find out when we see next year's releases! It should only be a few weeks now.

The only thing that's left in this year's Vintage Club now is the freebie Stablemate set, Licorice and Jellybean. I wonder when they'll ship? They're cute, but still nothing I need. I guess we'll have to wait and see!

Stablemate Club grab bags? Why doesn't that surprise me?

I suppose it was only a matter of time. Stablemate Club grab bags, everyone!






Unfortunately, they're models from last year's Stablemate Club, which makes them infinitely less interesting to me, as I only kept two of last year's models. But, never fear! There's a chance you'll get a Diesel or Django, rather than someone's leftover Ricochet or Shiloh. And there's two Stablemates per grab bag, so that's double the chances! Current 2017 Stablemate Club members can buy them here.

Edit: Oh snap, they were already sold out by the time I posted this. Wow! Well, I guess the demand for them was higher than I thought it was. Good luck to everyone who bought one!

Featured Model - 9/2/2017, Hansel

Hello, readers, 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...Hansel!

 

Hansel was the companion foal to the mare Gretel, who I covered in a Featured Model post a couple of weeks ago. He was sculpted by Brigitte Eberl and is item #711133. This was the first release of this mold, along with the original Gretel, in a run of 800 made for Breyerfest 2011.

I remember when this set was announced for Breyerfest, because it was unusual for them to do a Classic-scale special run in the first place, and it was also a (badly-needed) new set of molds! At the time I wasn't terribly excited about them, but a few years later I decided I liked them after all (this seems to be relatively common with Classics molds for some reason), and so the set came home to live with me. I really do like the color on this set, although I'm not sure what to call it. Silver bay? They're a little dark for that, but I don't know what else to call them, and IDYB doesn't have a color listed.

He certainly is a cute little guy, and I've made sure to get all of his releases so far (it helps that none of them have been particularly limited except for Hansel himself). He makes a dapper little companion to his mother Gretel. I think I mentioned in one of my posts about Fiona and Rory that I hope they don't do another release in black anytime soon - he's been done in black three times now! Hopefully Breyer comes out with another exciting release soon.