More exciting reveals!

Well, readers, the new year is approaching fast, and the reveals are coming fast and furious as Breyer tries to clear out the warehouse and sign people up for the clubs. Firstly, the annual Warehouse Sale is happening now, and there are some pretty good deals to be had if there’s any items from 2024 that you haven’t purchased yet. Collector Club members have some extra models to choose from, such as less-popular Premier Club releases, Collector Club special runs, leftover Deluxe Collector Club Stablemates and more. 

Secondly, there’s a full-body reveal of Cosimo, the Italian Stallion - and an unexpected surprise! 2025 Premier Club members will be able to choose between a matte and glossy finish for this release.

What a hunk! I like him a lot, which means it looks like I’ll have to get two Premier Club memberships for next year. Normally I wouldn’t, but I want both versions of Rowan anyway, so I’ll just have to find someone to buy two Winnifred’s and I’ll be set. I wouldn’t be surprised if they do something sneaky with the PC Stablemate for next year, too.I wouldn’t have thought Breyer would do two of these sort of releases in the same year, but don’t get used to it - I’m guessing this is a 75th Anniversary thing and we’ll be back to normal next year.

Lastly, we also got a tease of a Breyerfest Stablemate today! 

The year is almost over, and Breyer is teasing us with a few Breyerfest-related things! Or one, anyway. What could they be using Augustus for? Probably one of the single day/general admission Stablemates, since those tend to be the second things revealed, after the Celebration Model. Hopefully we get to find out what it is soon! I’m also waiting to find out what the gambler model will be for the 2025 Stablemates Club. I’m hoping we get to see that tomorrow, since the end of 2024 is creeping ever closer.

O, Tannenbaum…

 Wow! I actually guessed correctly on this year’s Christmas surprise! Maybe I’m not so bad at this after all. Emma just seemed like the most obvious choice, and, well…

Four new Emma models it is! I think I like the red one best, despite blue usually being my favorite color. Think the red could pass for a chestnut? I guess there wouldn’t be much point in trying, since Black-Eyed Susan exists. They’re all so nicely shaded, too. At first I wondered why they used the same mold for the Coal release, since Emma has already been done in matte black twice, but the description does say this Coal has purple highlights and eyes, and silver hooves along with a belly stamp, so it shouldn’t be too hard to tell her apart from the original Emma. 

I did end up ordering four of them (I misread the descriptions in my haste to order and thought there were more than three common colors), so I’m going to really hope I get at least one black one. My luck has to come in sometime, right? Good luck to everyone else ordering! 

Another Stablemates Club reveal, Cosimo and Christmas surprise (oh my!)

 Well, it’s been a crazy weekend of reveals! Quite a lot of things have been revealed, actually - like next year’s regular run releases, but those will supposedly be officially revealed tomorrow, so I’m going to wait until then to talk about them. But in the meantime, we also got to see another 2025 Stablemates Club release! Say hello to Alana, who can be seen here. I’m not at home and my tablet isn’t cooperating, so you’ll have to view the links to see the models. Anyway, Alana is very promising! Another release I’ll have to join the club for. I love her turquoise braids! So that just means we have one more reveal to go - the gambler’s choice for next year. I’ll wait on joining until we see what that is. Hopefully it’s on a mold I don’t want so I can just get one membership like I’ve been doing for the past few years, but we’ll see.

We also got an unprecedented third Premier Club reveal! They teased a sketch of the model yesterday and then revealed a cropped photo today, which can be seen here. I definitely like what I see! But I do like a nice Roman nose on a horse, so it’s not surprising. I also like black horses! So he’s probably going to stay with me. Dare I hope we get to see the Stablemate next? Hahaha. I’ll hold out on joining until he very end of the year, just in case. I don’t think we should necessarily expect to get this many reveals next year, though - I suspect it’s a 75th Anniversary thing and we’ll be back to normal at the end of next year. I hope I’m wrong, though! It would be great to be able to see all the releases in advance every year.

Lastly, Breyer sent out an email today that this year’s Christmas surprise will be revealed tomorrow at 1pm EST! So I’ll have to haunt the Breyer website tomorrow to see what it is. My guess is some type of Fell Pony, but who knows. I think I guessed her last year and it turned out to be Huck. Guess we’ll find out tomorrow! Good luck to everyone! 

Featured JAH - 12/21/2024, May/June 2005

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured JAH! This week we're covering May/June 2005, so let's get started! 

On the cover, a beautiful palomino Morgan looks nothing like the Kennebec Count in the box. 

In the Editor's Desk, Natasha talks about the Middle Ages, relating to the upcoming Breyerfest 2005. 

On page 3 we have Letters to the Editor. 

On page 4 is the first page of an article about Morgans! 

The Morgan article concludes on page 5, along with an article about Kennebec Count and photo of his model. 

On page 6 is another Breyerfest 2005 preview, including reveals of the beautiful Gwendolyn and Arthur. 

The Breyerfest preview continues on page 7. 

After skipping a how-to article, on page 10 is the first page of an article about Breyer portrait horse Ideal! 

The Ideal article concludes on page 11. I was unable to find a date of death for Ideal, but he has to have passed on by now, considering he was born in 1985. Cripes, that means he was older than I am! 

On page 12 is the reveal of the first Connoisseur gambler's choice, Jokers Wild! While I kept subscribing to JAH until 2006 or so, I wasn't paying much attention to the hobby during my college years and thus, didn't enter for any of the Connoisseur releases. I probably should have tried for this one, though - imagine how exciting it was for whoever got those two Joker models! 

After skipping Breyer jr., an article about jousting, another how-to article, a judge's clinic, Horse Trader and a book review, on page 26 we have this week's Vintage Club featuring the G1 Drafter! 

The Vintage Point article concludes on page 27. 

On page 28 we have a listing of Breyer Fun Days from 2005, featuring that year's Tour Model, Tristan (the Tour Model has since been discontinued, along with the Breyer Tour). 

After skipping the Calendar of Events, on the back cover we have the beautiful Wapasha, the 2005 Mid-States special run. Mid-States special runs are also now a thing of the past, but we probably have enough other special runs to replace it. 

And that's it for this issue! Check back next week for July/Aug 2005! 

Courchevel and another Premier Club sneak peek!

 Good news, everyone! My Courchevel model arrived today! Behold:

He's definitely more purplish than the promo photos, but still not really that purplish, if that makes sense. They should have used color-shift paint on this one, honestly. 

Like many others, I didn't get the shipping notice for this guy until after he'd been delivered, but UPS MyChoice was still up-to-date, so I knew he was coming. Christmastime is always a busy time for Breyer, but lots of people have had issues with being shipped the wrong items or their orders taking a long time to ship - I don't remember it ever being this bad before. Maybe Breyer will finally give CCG the boot? I hope so. 

Quality-wise he's pretty nice, despite being wrapped in un-accordioned paper. Like come on, guys. How are they not getting that they have to stretch out the paper first? It's like popping bubbles on the bubble wrap. Get with the program already! 

The only flaw I noticed was a mangled back edge of his right ear, which must have happened during the production process as it's under the paint. Oh well. 

In other news, Breyer defied tradition and posted a preview sketch of the third Premier Club release for next year!

Looks like something Spanish? I generally like the Spanish horses, and/or a nice Roman nose, so I'm sure I'll like whatever this turns out to be. Dare I hope they show him to us? 

I'm sure I'll post again before or on Christmas, what with the inevitable Christmas Day surprise model (they must have decided to go back to revealing it on the actual day), but in case I don't - I hope everyone has a good Christmas! 

Wow, Breyer is really upping the ante next year

 I guess I shouldn't be surprised that Breyer is coming out with so much cool stuff for next year, since it's the 75th Anniversary, after all. One can only wonder what they'll do in 25 years (if we're all still around by then) for the 100th Anniversary! But anyway. The optional release for next year's Stablemates Club was revealed today! Say hello to Harbinger! 

Harbinger of what, you may ask? Someone online joked that he's a harbinger of doom for our wallets, or something along those lines. It's great to see a Stablemate with actual, permanent wings! The only other Stablemate-sized Pegasus I remember is this one, and those wings are removable. So this is a bit of history in the making! And for some reason, although Harbinger is the wrong color, he makes me think of the TriStar pictures logo, so mine might end up being named TriStar...But anyway. We only have two reveals left for the club, so hopefully they get that wrapped up this week! 

Whoa! I wasn't expecting this!

 Wow, we actually get to see what color the Rowans are going to be next year! That's right - I said Rowans, plural. Take a look! 

There are two of them! And they don't just have different manes/tails! From the webpage:

In honor of Breyer's 75th Anniversary, 2025 Premier Club members will have some fun surprises and additions in store for their club experience. These will include the ability to choose between two versions of Rowan the pony – members can select a picturesque Highland Pony stallion or a British Riding Pony mare with a lighter build, less cresty neck and clean legs that suit her breed perfectly.

I'm super-excited for this release! I think I like the braided/mare one better, but they're both pretty nice. Can't see the mare's tail in that photo, but I'm guessing it's also braided in some way. I think I'll order a braided one, since it seems the stallion version may be easier to find on the secondary market. No need for a second Premier Club account here...yet. I'm super-happy that we got to actually see this release! I wonder if signups are down, or if it's just a 75th Anniversary thing. Maybe a little bit of both? Dare I hope we get a peek at the third release, too? I can tell it's going to be hard to wait until August or later to get these two in my collection!

Also, if you haven't gotten a Courchevel yet, they're now available to the masses, and Breyer added the production quantity to the description - they made 2,000 of them. Seems like a bit of a high number for the price - oh well.