Collector Club Appreciation and 2024 Premier Club!

 Exciting news, readers - there's another Collector Club Appreciation event happening tomorrow! 

Those models are pretty familiar - they're the same one from the CCA event in June. They must still have quite a few of them left over to be doing another event now. Looks like the details are the same: buy $150 worth of stuff, get a free glossy model (randomly selected, of course). Since this is the second go-round of these models, I kinda think it'd be a bigger sell if we could select the one we wanted. Then I might bite so I could select a glossy Adiah HP and be done with it! But gambler's choice is king, I guess. I'm not going to both to participate - only a 1/4 chance of getting the model I want, and if I get stuck with a glossy Sjord I'm really stuck with it, so no thanks. 

In other news, we finally got a dribble of news on the Premier Club front! An email was sent out today announcing the other two sculptors in next year's club: Eva Rossiter and Morgen Kilbourn. That's...not really a big draw for me, since Eva has only done Corbin so far (not a fan of him) and most of Morgen's sculpts don't do anything for me except Brishen. But I guess if you like Corbin and Morgen's other sculpts, next year's club might be right up your alley! I'm still going to hold off on joining until they give us a little more information - like, oh, THE FIRST RELEASE? Something like that. 

Trueno is here!

 Good news, readers! My Trueno model is here - behold! 

What a beauty! I love him. He's not as yellow in person. 

I like his stripey hooves.

I've been watching Sylvia Zerbini's shows at Breyerfest for years now, so it's fitting that her horse should finally get his own Breyer model. 

Quality-wise, he's very nice - a couple of black specks, but other than that, he's great. I'm really wishing Mouse had been done on the (braided) Idocus mold rather than Nikolas, so I could get both of the Winterfest models. 

All in all, though, Trueno is a beautiful addition to my collection and I'm glad I was able to buy him! Speaking of which, if anyone out there suddenly decides they need Trueno or Mouse in their collections, their availability period has been extended to Christmas (they were supposed to go off the website today). They must not have sold all that well, which doesn't bode well for future Winterfests. Let's hope they manage to sell out by Christmas! 

Featured JAH - 12/9/2023, July/Aug 1996

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured JAH! This week's issue is July/August 1996 - so let's dive in! 

On the front cover, a cowboy sits at a campfire. On the back cover, a cowboy's horse dramatically rears up in front of the morning sun. 

On the inside cover, Iron Metal Chief appears in a sneak preview! He debuted in 1997 and I got him for Christmas that year. He was a much-loved part of my carpet herd! 

In the Editor's Desk, Stephanie reveals that plans are already underway for Breyer's 50th anniversary in 2000, as well as a reference to the hints of new Stablemates molds in previous issues.  Dear JAH deals with a question about flockies, and Who Am I? features a Phar Lap in gray (I think). 

After skipping a Brushstrokes article about sculpting and another article about the 1996 Olympics, we have a short story by a JAH reader on pages 12-13. JAH occasionally featured stories like these, and I liked this one when I was a kid. 

On page 14 we have an article about Breyer portrait horse Karma Gypsy, whose model was part of my carpet herd, and on page 15 is the start of a Breyerology article about flockies. 

On page 16 the Breyerology article continues, and page 17 has a Blast From the Past featuring the chestnut PAM, and Just About...Breyer Animals features the Modernistic Buck and Doe. 

In the centerfold, the Circus Ponies in Costume make their debut. I never bought these because of my fear of breakable things, but if these were ever released in plastic, sans tack, I'd be first in line to buy them. 

On page 20-21 is more of the Breyerology article with some nice color photos, (but still not the end!) and a small feature about the flocking process. 

On page 22 we finally find the conclusion of the Breyerology article, and on page 23 is an article about Breyer portrait horses Misty II, Black Mist and Stormy. 

Bringing us to the end of the issue, the Vintage Point article featured the Proud Arabian Stallion. I really liked the Proud Arabian Stallion and studied the last page many times, wanting more PAS models (I only had Sundown and eventually the dapple gray). I still have my Sundown in a little "carpet herd" area of one of my shelves.

That brings us to the end of this issue - check back next week for Sept/Oct 1996! 

New Arrivals, 2024 PC photos and more!

 Greetings, readers! Well, my Clooney 51 and Cody's Wish models finally arrived, so I thought I'd post a few photos! I'll start with Clooney 51:

What a handsome guy. Normally I'm not that into fleabitten gray as a color, unless they look more like this:

But I can make an exception for Clooney! I especially like his white socks on the rear legs.

I would have preferred this was the loose mane version of the mold, but at least his tail is loose - I'm really not into the braided tail for this guy for some reason. 

Next, here's Cody's Wish! 

He's not this light in real life - must be something with the lighting and the camera. 

He looks pretty good - I think Breyer did a pretty good job matching his color and markings. Now I just need to book a tour to see the real Cody's Wish! And cross my fingers that they don't end up using him for a CCA event or Breyerfest prize or something! 

Next, we have some new photos of next year's Premier Club mare and foal set! 

Unfortunately, I'm starting to like them a little better in these photos (and I'm really noticing how the mare is basically an updated Running Mare). 

I really like the mare from this angle! Gah. Rant incoming - feel free to scroll past it if you're not into that. 

It's looking increasingly likely that these are NOT the first release in the club, or Breyer wouldn't keep saying they were "among" next year's releases. I haven't joined next year's club yet, and frankly I don't want to join if it means I have to wait until next May to see what the first release is! We could end up waiting a full year for this mare and foal set if it turns out they're the last release, and I don't want to wait six months to see what I'll be buying first. Sorry if this reads like I'm throwing a tantrum, but sheesh. Throw us a freaking bone already! And give us some 2024 Stablemates Club previews while you're at it! I won't bother asking about the 2024 new releases, since we'll probably be waiting until after Christmas for those again. 

Bleh, enough complaining. Lastly for today, there's a new giveaway to enter for! 

There's no indication of whether it's open to Collector Club members or the general public, so I'm going to assume it's the general public. I did enter for this one, since I haven't found anyone to trade my purple one for a green yet. Good luck to everyone entering! 

Garret and Stablemates Club conclusion!

 Well, first things first: Garret selections have been made! If you entered for him, check your email (or your Collector Club Home) to see if you were drawn! 

Secondly, the 2023 Stablemates Club has reached its conclusion - Brio the final release and Nero the optional release are both available to purchase! 

I'm excited to see Brio in person (because he isn't really doing anything for me in photos) and Nero (another Sharpieloosa! Hooray! 

Just kidding about the Sharpieloosa thing...or am I? Heh heh heh. I hope they get here soon! 

That brings us to the end of this year's Stablemates Club - let's hope we start getting previews of next year's club soon, so I know if I need to join or not! 

Featured JAH - 12/2/2023, May/June 1996

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured JAH! This week's issue is May/June 1996 - let's get reading! 

As you might be able to tell by the condition of the cover, this issue holds the distinction of being the first issue I received as a young subscriber in 1996. I was 10 years old and had sent in my subscription card some 4-6 weeks earlier (possibly longer  - I seem to recall an apology being published in one of these issues about taking a long time to fulfill new subscriptions), waited eagerly for a few days, then kinda just gave up on ever receiving it. Lo and behold, a few weeks later this issue arrived at our house! I eagerly got to reading and may have also done some customizing work on the front cover, which is a piece of fan art from a Breyer jr. art contest. On the back cover, the handsome Snowbound model takes a jump. Due to his appearance in this magazine, I desperately wanted my own Snowbound and finally got one as an adult, only to sell him later when I got rid of all my Jumping Horses. 

On page 2-3 we have the Editor's Desk and the World of Breyer news column, including a piece about the Snowbound model. According to the magazine, the Snowbound model was "limited" to 14,000 pieces - which seems gargantuan compared to the special runs we have now, or even back then. I suppose they figured a lot of Olympics fans would want him. 

On page 4-5 we have some more news blurbs and a Breyerfest update, including a photo of the new Brown Sunshine model. 

After skipping a How-To article and most of an article about the show jumping at the 1996 Olympics, on page 12-13 we have some nice illustrations of a canter pirouette by Carol L. Howard and an article about Breyer portrait horse Bo Diddley. 

On page 14-15 we have the final step in the process of producing the porcelain American Saddlebred Parade Horse. I guess we don't get to see the painting process, which is a bit sad. 

On page 16 there's an article about J.B. Andrew, another Breyer portrait horse (oops - there's a typo in the article), and on the opposite page we have a Blast From the Past about the Breyer Race Horse and a Just About...Breyer Animals featuring the Walking Black Angus Bull. 

On page 22 was the rest of an article judging various dressage performance setups, and on page 23 is a Breyerology article about various types of brands on model horses. 

On page 24 is the conclusion of the brand article, as well as a Who Am I? featuring what looks like a bay Legionario. The first page of Horse Trader is cropped out. 

Lastly for this issue, the Vintage Point article focused on the Phar Lap mold, which had already had quite a few releases by this point, considering it had only been in use for 11 years. Native Diver, the black Phar Lap portrait of the real horse, was a prominent member of my carpet herd around this time and was played with enough that he ended up one of the few models I had that broke a leg - multiple times, because superglue just didn't hold up very well. The bane of my existence! 

That's all I have for this issue - tune in next week for July/Aug 1996! 

Winterfest!

 Well, readers, Winterfest is in full swing - and its content will be available through Jan 1, so there's no big hurry to participate. There is a broadcast from Breyer to watch, though it wasn't live. The visits to the archive room were enlightening, including glimpses of Holiday Horse tests from days gone by. Definitely worth a watch! 

There's also a raffle for three prize packages, which can be found here. Good luck to everyone entering! 

As of this writing, the two Winterfest special runs (Trueno and Mouse) are still available to purchase, and will be available until 12/11 or while supplies last. I'm a little surprise Trueno hasn't sold out yet, honestly. Maybe it will over the weekend? 

We also got a hint about this year's Christmas Day surprise model (though it's not much of a Christmas surprise if they talk about it ahead of time, even if we all know it's coming): it's on a Kathleen Moody mold. Considering they usually use smaller molds for the Christmas Day special run, I'm going to assume it's on Emma and prepare my wallet accordingly. I suppose it was too much to hope that I'd be able to go a third year without having to buy the Christmas model - let's hope they put some pretty colors on it!