Featured Model - 8/11/2018, Harmonie

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...Harmonie!



This handsome guy was a regular run from 2007-2008. He's item #1276 and was produced on the American Saddlebred Stallion mold sculpted by Kathleen Moody. He was a portrait of the real Harmonie, a Dutch Harness Horse stallion.

I think this is one of the better colors Breyer has put on this mold. He has lots of shading and highlights, dapples, and his four white socks make him look dashing and handsome. If only his mane had been masked off to avoid the overspray! But that's a small nitpick. He still looks like a beautiful bay Saddlebred (or DHH, if you insist), regally standing in an arena with the wind riffling through his mane. I love him!

As for the mold itself, we haven't seen much of it lately (aside from Patriot in 2016). Could he be due for another Breyerfest appearance? Aside from auction models, the last time he popped up there was as Paddyngton's Mark of Distinction in 2014 (and the Argento resin).  The banner for Breyerfest 2019 featured a palomino Saddlebred that we haven't seen anywhere else so far - could he be next year's Celebration Horse? I suppose we'll have to wait until January to find out, but I'd be cool with it.

Breyerfest Closeups: Duende

Hello, readers! Today I have a new Breyerfest Closeups post for you - Duende! I decided to feature him first since he's presumably going to come up for purchase soon. We were able to get photos of him in the Collector Club tent on Sunday morning at Breyerfest, and I have to say this model is starting to grow on me despite his clunky head. I got as many angles of him as I could, but I didn't want to incur Breyer's wrath by touching him, so I didn't get a photo of his right side. Without any further ado, let's see some photos!



If I'm not mistaken, this is an actual plastic production piece, not the resin master. At least it looks like plastic to me.



I think his color is really nice. He looks like a dunalino? I like his pattern too; it's nicely understated and doesn't break up his outline.

I just wish his head were less clunky! I'm hoping I like it better when I actually get him in hand.



Considering my original plan was to pre-sell him and have him shipped to his new owner, seeing him in person at Breyerfest has definitely helped the situation. Will this be the year I keep all of the Premier Club releases since 2012? Time will tell.

Raleigh is now available!

Good news, everyone! Raleigh, the fourth release in this year's Stablemate Club, is now available for purchase!



He's cute (and looks really nice in that gloss!), but not really my cup of tea. I think I'm going to hold off on buying him for a while in case anything else pops up on the website.

I'm excited to see if I get a rainbow mule, though! Looks like we'll be getting those in October.

New Arrivals: Glossy Dark Horse Decorator, One-Day Man o' War

Hello everyone! Today I'll be covering the last of my new arrivals - the glossy decorator Dark Horse Surprise and the One-Day Stablemate Man o' War. Let's start with the decorator!



This guy is just as nice as his matte counterpart, but glossy! I like how the gloss makes his mane and tail look like gummy bears. ...Now I'm hungry. Anyway, his color pops quite a bit more in gloss, although I'm a little perturbed by his red eyes. Not sure what color I'd have painted them instead, but the red just seems a little weird. Maybe red eyes make him go even faster?

Next, the One-Day Stablemate Man o' War!



I still haven't gotten a picture of them together, but I'm pretty sure this guy and Straight Bet are the same color, and they're even both glossy! It's a nice color, though; a very rich red chestnut that looks postively luscious with gloss! I love him. Edit: I can't remember if I've mentioned how happy I am that Breyer dropped the McPie Stablemate boxes they've been using the last couple of years and gave these guys actual pouches this year, but I'm definitely happy with that!

This guy got the dubious honor of being part of my costume contest entry. It was certainly fun trying to devise a way to attach him to my hat in a removable manner, but I figured it out eventually.

An odd thing I noticed about this year's Single-Day Stablemates was that the Silver Charm one isn't glossy. I'd thought it would be, since the other three are, but something got missed along the way, I guess.

So those are all of this year's Breyerfest models I was able to acquire. Hopefully someday I can get a matte and/or glossy Dark Horse, but I suspect it'll be a while before the prices come down on those. Keep checking the blog for more Breyerfest updates - I still have a lot of Breyerfest Closeups to post!

Featured Model - 8/4/2018, Mason

Hello and welcome to the latest 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...Mason!

I figured I would talk about Mason this week because he's a relatively new purchase on a brand-new mold and I never got around to talking about him earlier! Here's his other side.



Mason is the 2018 Classics Horse of the Year, which seems to be Breyer's program for introducing new Classic molds. I definitely like it! More Classics are definitely needed. I seem to remember reading that this model was sculpted by Kitty Cantrell, but I can't remember where I saw it now.

In any case, I really like this guy! He reminds me of the old Traditional Five Gaiter by Chris Hess, but less beefy (that's a good thing, in my book). I'm guessing he represents a more modern body type? I don't follow Saddlebreds that closely, but that would be my guess.

Since this guy is a regular run, you can't really expect him to have a lot of detail to his paintjob, so he doesn't have dapples. He does have nice shading though, and plenty of variation to his paintjob so he's not just a boring gray color. Plus, he has a two-tone tail! I love it when that happens.

I'm excited to see what colors Breyer puts on this mold in the future. Maybe we'll see it at Breyerfest next year? I'm sure it'll get used in the regular run line again as well. Uh oh - I just realized there's going to be a glossy version of this guy raffled off at qualifying shows next year as well. Another glossy to put on my list! Fortunately, glossy Classics aren't nearly as expensive as their Traditional counterparts.

Anyway, I can't wait to see what they do with Mason next! I wonder if they'll do another crazy Halloween release like they did with Goblin last year? That would be fun!

New Arrivals: Matte Appy Dark Horse, Chestnut Dead Heat and Matte Bay Pinto Dark Horse

Hello, everyone! I have more new arrivals to talk about, so let's get right to it! Firstly, the matte Appaloosa Dark Horse Surprise:



I hate to say it, but of the five different Dark Horse Surprise colors, this one was my least favorite. I guess maybe I'm just not into leopard Appaloosas? I liked Pay N Go well enough back in the day, I guess, but since then the leopards just tend to fall to the bottom of my lists.

I'm also wondering why his base color is bay, when we also had the matte bay pinto as one of the surprise colors? I don't know, make him a chestnut or gray or something. Gray leopard could have been really interesting! Oh well.

Next, we have the chestnut Dead Heat!



I really like this model - just not quite as much as I like the palomino one. The color looks really nice on Ruffian, though the short tail still looks a little odd to me. I love his shading, and I love the little snip on his nose! I always like to see a little white on a horse's face, so that really appeals to me. Also, this one's name is now officially "Dead Hat" in my records, to set it apart from the palomino "Dead Heat." Heh heh.

Lastly, let's look at the bay pinto Dark Horse Surprise!



I'd probably rank this guy just above the leopard Appy, but not because I don't like him - he's just overshadowed by the black, decorator and palomino splash. He has a nice pattern, and the color looks really good on him. I like his two-toned mane and tail - I bet the glossy version of him is really nice! Hopefully I can get my hands on him somewhere down the road. In the meantime, this guy is a worthy addition to the collection!

Quality-wise, these models were really nice - again, I've seen few quality issues with this year's Breyerfest models. Either I got lucky, or Breyer stepped up their quality game. Either way, I'm happy with it!

Justify's models are announced!

Exciting news today - the Justify Breyer models were officially announced! And his Trad model is on Carrick like I was hoping!

Mmm, I like. I wonder if we'll get glossy ones at Breyerfest next year? I hope not, because I'd never be able to get my hands on one.

Part of me was kind of hoping Breyer would find some loophole to let them bend the rules a bit and put Justify's Breyer on Dundee, but I suppose even they don't want to break their own rules too much. I think he would have looked nice on Dundee, though. I like that garland too, although I'm not really into accessories.

Anyway, here's his Stablemate!

...It feels a bit contrived to put him on the G2 Thoroughbred, especially since they already used it for the Stablemate American Pharoah, but I suppose they don't have all that many appropriate molds to choose from.

And he'll also get not one, but two ornaments!

And here's the other one.



I have to say I'm not terribly impressed with that sculpture, but I don't collect ornaments anyway, so my opinion isn't all that relevant. Apparently one of those silks colors will be rarer than the other, but I'm not sure which one.

Those are all the pictures I've seen so far. I'm pretty sure there was supposed to be a Classic too, right? Hopefully he gets a better mold than the Best in Show Thoroughbred. I hope we see it soon!