Breyerfest Second Chance Sale!

 Well, the Breyerfest leftover sale is more-or-less over - it's still going on until Thursday, but I think the exciting part is over. All of the special runs were available (more or less), as well as most of the limited editions except for Buggy and Tilly. From reports online, I believe the Stagecoach Surprise and Peanutine sold out first, followed quickly by Speos, Wells and Araba, along with Studebaker, the Best of Breyerfest set and the Oregon Trail tank top. Everything else is still available. 

I had two Stagecoaches in my cart immediately after the sale started (no Studebakers were in the sale when it started, so I figured she was sold out), but I just didn't want to have to bother with reselling the inevitable doubles - highly unlikely I'd get the glossy black overo, which is the only one I still need. So I walked away from the computer and was sitting down to eat my lunch when I checked Facebook and saw Studebaker had become available, at which point I ran back to my computer and quickly ordered four of them. I was originally going to only order two, and I'm probably going to regret buying four, but I really want that blue one, dang it! 

Surrey and Axle, Jump & Drive and poor unwanted Nemea are the only special runs still available, and who knows when (or if) they'll sell out. The remaining Limited Editions are still available as well, oddly enough - I thought Via Lattea would have sold out by now, at least. HD Harkness seems to have flopped pretty hard, so his not selling out isn't as much of a surprise. I'm just hoping neither of them gets glossed later and used for next year's Breyerwest. 

In any case, I hope everyone was able to at least get something they wanted - there were a lot of reports of items getting yanked out of carts. And good luck to everyone hoping to get a variation! 

Adonis and Breyerfest second chance sale!

 Lots of great news today, readers! First off, my Adonis arrived today! Behold: 

Very handsome! 

Definitely an impressive sculpt. At first he just looks like a rearing horse, until you look a little closer and realize he's actually hopping. 

Unfortunately, I think this is the first Premier Club model I've had whose paint job could be described as "atrocious." He had little bits of something black and sticky all over him, along with debris in the paint job, rubs/smears on some of his spots, and something that was hard to pick up in photographs - brown overspray over parts of his white areas.

It's hard to see, but in the above picture, the overspray (if that's what it is) forms a vague upside-down U shape over the horse's back. It's also present on the top of his right hindquarter. 

It's somewhat visible in this photo - it almost looks like a shadow on the horse, but instead it's that brown overspray over the top of the hindquarter and also on the stifle. You can also see one of his messed-up spots in this photo. 

His eartips are a little questionable too. Some of the black specks I was able to pick off without too much trouble, but others, not so much. Is this the worst-painted Premier Club model I've ever seen? I think so. I guess he looks fine from a distance? I'm actually tempted to ask for an exchange on this one, but we're moving in less than two weeks, so it's going to have to wait until afterward. Maybe I'll just put him on my shelf and call it a day. I'm also a bit unhappy that I paid for 2-3-day shipping and the horse still took 6 days to get here. Normally my orders are here in a week, so this is within a normal shipping time...if I'd stuck with standard shipping. So I suppose I'd have been waiting until Thursday for him if I hadn't paid for the faster shipping. 

In happier news, the Breyerfest second chance sale has finally been announced - it's happening tomorrow at 1pm EST. I'm probably going to try to get a couple more Studebakers, and I'm toying with the idea of getting a couple more Stagecoaches to try to get a glossy black one. But do I want to risk getting stuck with a couple of mattes nobody wants? I'll admit it's fun to open them, and they probably wouldn't be too hard to get rid of if they're not what I want, considering Hamilton's popularity. I guess I've still got a few hours to think about it. But the Studebakers are definitely my first priority. Good luck tomorrow, everyone! 

Oriole is here!

 Well, there's still no sign of my Adonis (sigh), but at least my Oriole arrived yesterday! Here she is! 

What a beauty! I love her minimal white markings. They don't always have to be so flashy, you know? 

She isn't metallic at all, and definitely has tons of leg barring. 

Here's her trademark boss mare stare. Stay out of her way or get trampled! 

Her eartips (and bottom of her forelock) are kinda weird-looking, and she has a few other tiny issues, but nothing major. 

All in all, another worthy addition to the Forever Saige conga. I wonder if we'll get more Birds of a Feather models next year? Breyer's posts on the subject were kind of ambiguous. As for Adonis, I don't think I'm going to pay for 2-3-day shipping again if I'm going to wait...let me check my notes...5 days and counting for it to arrive. Actually 6 days since the earliest it can arrive now is tomorrow. Let's hope day 6 is the charm? Sheesh. 

Featured JAH: 8/12/23, Summer II 1993

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured JAH! In this issue, we see some pretty horses (as usual), learn about Peter Stone the Breyer Man, and more! Let's get started.

On the front cover, a guy gives a thumbs-up on a strutting park horse. On the back cover is the same horse from the opposite side (you can see the back of the ribbon in the first picture). Curiously, the back cover photo appears to have been cropped to just show the horse's head, as the photo credit on the table of contents page shows the entire photo (the guy sitting on the horse bareback again). Interesting. The credit says the horse is Countess Vanessa, but no information on the rider's identity. 

On the Editor's Desk page we see a stallion being goofy on a visit with Megan. They visited a stud farm for a photo shoot for a new model for 1994 - ooh, a mystery! Who could it have been? I guess we'll find out in a couple of months when I get to that issue. I also liked the bit at the bottom about things coming in the next issue, including "the Clubs listing, really!" They must have had some trouble with that. 

On the opposite page are some announcements and the Pen Pals for this issue. Apparently advertising was free? Seems kind of counterproductive. 

Next we have an article about National Show Horses, the next big thing in the showing world. Ahh, so Countess Vanessa is a NSH and her rider was Jim Stachowski. Mystery solved! 

And on this page we discover that Vanessa ended up being a six-time national champion park horse. Pretty impressive! Aww, the article is continued (again; that's awkward). Anyway, on the opposite page is an article about the one, the only, Peter Stone! Yes, Peter Stone (now of Stone Horses, the main competitor to Breyer) was once the head honcho at Breyer. 

Feast your eyes on Peter Stone's life story. 

I think that article may have been longer than the one about Countess Vanessa. Anyway, keep your eyes peeled for more of Peter's antics. On the opposite page, there's a Blast from the Past about the Open Top Buggy with flocked PAS. Breyer flockies are kind of the stuff of legend and tend to command high prices whenever they show up for sale. 

Here's the rest of the article about Countess Vanessa. Maybe the Stone article wasn't longer than this one. In any case, it's interesting that Breyer would make this horse the cover model for the issue, do a huge article about her and then not make a Breyer model of her. Maybe they just didn't think they had a mold that could do her justice? Heck, the Saddlebred Weanling probably would have worked, if nothing else. And it ended up taking another five years for Breyer's NSH mold to debut. 

Hey look, the Vintage Point for this issue is about the Saddlebred Weanling! It could have been perfect...oh well. I guess Countess Vanessa's article helped set the stage for Rejoice down the line. Edit: on further contemplation, the Saddlebred Weanling appears to have a set tail, which isn't allowed with the NSH breed. But they could have put her on an Arabian or something, I guess.

Other things appearing in this article: a death notice for Dixie Blue Devil, subject of the "A Pony for Keeps" book and gift set (issued in 1990); an update on the Misty of Chincoteague Foundation; a how-to article on photo shows; a sneak preview of the Rowland Cheney illustration that became "The Challenger" gift set; and a how-to article on indoor photography. 

Check back next week for the Fall 1993 issue! 

TSC special runs are here!

 Good news, readers! My Tractor Supply special runs (Merle and the Playful Pony Family set) arrived today, a day early! Huzzah! Let's take a look at Merle first: 

He's a bit darker than in the promo photos, and I was kind of hoping he'd be metallic, but doesn't really seem to be. 

It's a really handsome color nonetheless! 

His ears look bizarrely long in this photo. Must be the angle. 

Quality-wise he's pretty good; some small factory flaws, but nothing major. I'm glad I got this one, and super-glad he arrived this fast - looking at things last year, these models weren't arriving at people's houses until September or later and I was really worried I should have had them shipped to our new address. Fortunately it wasn't a problem! Now if my Adonis would show up...

I also received the Playful Pony Family! 

I didn't take the stallion out of the box because I'm hoping to resell him. 

I really like this pair! Attractive colors on both. 

I really like this color on her - she has a slight pearly sheen, but it's not nearly as noticeable as on the Stagecoach Surprises, for example. 

I was also pleasantly surprised to see the mare has tiny little eyewhites, though the stallion and foal don't. The eyes at at least neatly painted on all three, though- a lot of the recent Classics releases have had really sloppy eyes. 

Quality-wise they aren't bad - some minor flaws, like Merle, but nothing major. Guess I didn't take any separate photos of the foal, but he's pretty nice too. 

In other TSC-related news, I got a report that the TSC Flash (Applegate) isn't a flat bay, but rather has metallic undertones, so he's probably worth picking up if you're a Flash collector. In addition, the blue cow ornament may be too heavy to hang on a tree - probably cast in resin like the recent unicorn ornaments. Thanks to Sarah M.! 

That's all I have for today- maybe tomorrow we'll get an announcement about the Breyerfest leftovers sale! 

Adonis is now available for purchase!

 Attention, Premier Club members: this year's second release, Adonis, is in stock and ready to purchase! 

That's a bit earlier than most people were expecting - I think at Breyerfest they said he'd be available in the fall. Guess they were just trying to be realistic? Maybe the shipping problems are a thing of the past? Let's hope so. I paid for faster shipping on this one to make sure he would arrive before we move, so I'm excited to potentially see him in two to three business days! 

Of course, this means the next Stablemates Club release will probably come out tomorrow and I'll be kicking myself for not waiting a day. I'll just have to pay for faster shipping on that one too...

Breyerfest Closeups: Jota

 Good (or I guess bad) news, readers! We've reached the last of our Breyerfest Closeups posts for this year. Let's take a look at Jota, the next Collector Club special run. He's a very handsome glossy black splash pinto on Smart Chic Olena - here he is!

I like his white face and tail! 

I'm thinking he's chalky as well? It's amazing how much more striking a black pinto looks when they add a coat of gloss.

Definitely chalky! 

I don't need to buy this guy, but I really do like his white tail. The pointy part of his splash marking reminds me of Silky Keno from several years ago. 

That's it for today - let's hope we get more exciting reveals this week!