Featured Model - 7/29/2017, Dapple Gray G3 Tennessee Walking Horse

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. We're back to Stablemates this week as this week's model is...the dapple gray G3 Tennessee Walker!

 

This model, like many new Stablemate molds released in 2006, was sculpted by Jane Lunger. This particular release was a regular run and was available from 2009-2011.

Resist dappling (the painting technique where a horse was splattered with paint-resistant grease before being painted and the grease was wiped off afterward, leaving unpainted spots on the model) was how many of Breyer's vintage models were painted, and we still see the technique get used occasionally despite improvements in painting models over the last 30 years.

A lot of the resist dappling you see these days is on Stablemate models - perhaps it's more cost-effective to paint them that way, since they're so small and painting Stablemate-sized dapples would be enough to make anyone go cross-eyed. I'll admit the resist dappling isn't my favorite way to paint models, but this one is pretty nice even so.

As for the mold, this guy is bombastic and fun, though I wish his gait were a little less exaggerated - he looks a little too much like a big lick horse for my tastes. However, he at least isn't wearing stacks, so I give him the benefit of the doubt.

That's all I have for today - tune in next time for more exciting Breyer-related news! Or photos from Breyerfest, or new arrivals...I'm not sure what's coming up next on the docket. I'll think of something!

New Arrivals: Navya, Vivaan and Mishti

This will be my last Breyerfest New Arrivals post! Yay, I'm finally done! Next week I'm hoping to post some photos and commentary about things in the Collector Club tent, if I can find the time. But time is short, so let's move on and take a look at Navya!

 

I was a little apprehensive about this guy's color in the promotional photos, but in person I love him. He's glossy and flawless and his colors go together really nicely - and he's translucent to boot! Excellent all around.

 

This pretty much proves that Breyer could release Django in any color and I'd be all over it. Hmm...I think we're due for new Stablemates next year. Dare I hope Django is one of the new releases?

 

Sorry for the blurriness of that photo. If I have one nitpick about this model, it's that I wish the eyes had been a little more detailed. The rest of him is too detailed to have those black dots for eyes! Oh well.

Next: Vivaan!

 

I really like this model, but I really like silver bay, so I may be biased. I love how pearly his mane and tail are - he looks like a mini Jubilee! 

 

 I didn't see any flaws on this guy, either - I love it when Breyer does a good job on their Stablemates, and the Breyerfest ones are usually pretty nice. I definitely wouldn't protest to see Django in this color!

And finally, Mishti:

I'm not as enamored with this model as I am with Vivaan, for some reason. I think her lack of pearliness is kind of a letdown after Vivaan, and she isn't as eye-catching as Django either. Hmm.

 

Maybe I just need some time to warm up to her. She's definitely a pretty girl!

 

I almost hoped this model would have a blue eye or two, but I suppose that would have been too much detail even for Breyer. The eyewhites are nicely done, though.

And that brings me to the end of the Breyerfest 2017 models. I had a blast at this year's Breyerfest (as usual) and I hope to attend again next year. Can't wait to see what they have in store for us next year!

New Arrivals: Nazruddin, Repeat the Beat and Volunteer Model

I'm almost done taking quick cell phone photos of my Breyerfest 2017 models! Huzzah! More photos of things from the event, like the sneak peeks in the Collector Club tent, will have to wait until I've dug out my camera card. I've been extremely busy with work since we got back, and that's not going to change anytime soon, so it might be a while until that happens...oh well. Let's take a look at one of my Nazruddins!

 

Unfortunately, all I've been hearing online (and seeing, amongst all of my Nazruddins) is that somebody at Breyer really screwed the pooch with these models.  I'm not usually one to complain about poor quality models, but I got 8 Nazruddins and all of them have nasty flaws. These models are the model equivalent of Scrubs' HFFA.

 

Now, don't get me wrong - this color is really nice, and and it looks really good on the Marwari. They also looked good being carried around by all the little kids at the Horse Park all weekend - like they belonged there, unlike something like Simba or last year's squashed-looking Imperador. But then you look at it up close and see things like this:

 

 What even is that? Did they paint the area underneath the mane the mane color before they actually attached the manes? Did they try to mask the mane off? The edges look too sharp to be overspray, but I'm not an airbrush expert. And all eight of my Nazruddins look like that to varying degree. I have all of the previous releases on this mold and none of them look remotely like that.

 

This particular guy's paint job isn't that horrible other than the mane thing, but another thing I noticed was that of a total of eight Nazruddin models, five of them have visible seam lines on their faces. It's not guaranteed that these will turn into seam splits, but it's not good all the same. I've never seen so many models in the same run with seam issues before, and now five at once? Sheesh. And the three that don't have the seam lines have other issues (warped legs, paint booboos, etc) that are making me lean toward keeping one of the others despite the seam issues. I still haven't even decided which one I'm going to keep yet because every time I start looking at them, I see more issues! Bleh. You'd think of all the recent celebration models to slack off on, they'd have done it with Gooitzen, since all they were doing with those was spraying them flat black and then glossing them afterward. These paint jobs at least took a little effort!

Well, enough of that. Let's move on to Repeat the Beat!

 

In contrast to the Nazruddin fiasco, I couldn't find a single flaw on my Repeat the Beat (after I spent a few minutes in the Breyer Store first looking for one that had decently-painted horseshoes and no other visible flaws). So, another Bluegrass Bandit joins my nearly-complete conga! 

 

I really like the color on this model - this style of painting roans is very appealing to me for some reason (although if I was really going to nitpick I'd say the real Pete isn't quite as roany). 

 

I really liked the brownish undertones on this model, though it was hard to get them to show up in the picture. He's a handsome guy!

Lastly, let's take a look at this year's volunteer model, who doesn't seem to have a name:

 

There was a fair bit of controversy around this model due to her weird blood mark. I'll admit it is a little oddly-placed, but it doesn't really bother me - I'm just glad I was able to get one, despite not volunteering.

 

I was very fortunate to be able to trade one of my glossy Bollywood Surprise models for her - I guess the surprise being on a model I don't collect is a good thing after all! Word on the street is that these models were painted in New Jersey, as has been the trend for volunteer models the last few years, and like Repeat the Beat, I couldn't find a single flaw on her (other than her bloodshot pink eyewhites, but that's just personal preference).

 

Look at her pretty face! I actually think the blood mark sets off her color very nicely - her other side is sorta boring without the blood mark. She's a worthy addition to the herd! Hopefully we find out her name and the quantity produced at some point.

That's all I have for tonight - I'll try to get to photographing the Breyerfest 2017 Stablemates I got, but once again, no promises!

New Arrivals: Saffron, Glossy Saffron and Kaalee

It's late, but I got a post written! Huzzah! More pretty ponies for your viewing pleasure! I'll start with matte Saffron:

 

I don't remember if I've mentioned it before, but this really is a nice color for the hunky Geronimo. I think it suits him very well! Although they could have also gone with a really yellow dun or bright yellow buckskin, with a name like Saffron. But, I digress.

 

I'm surprised this model wasn't more popular - word on the street was that Saffron was among only three (!) special run line items not to sell out, along with Kaalee and the cow.  I suspected this would happen ahead of time, since they made 1600 of him, but I had hoped that the matte/glossy split would make him more successful. Evidently not!


 

Ooh, I did not get the right angle for that photo. Quality-wise, the only things I could find wrong with this model were a bit of black fuzz behind his left ear (somewhat visible in the photo) as well as a slightly bent left ear tip. Otherwise, he was perfect! Too bad they can't all look like that.

Next: Glossy Saffron!

 

This guy is just as handsome as the matte, and shiny to boot! Whoo! I have to admit I didn't expect Breyer to do a matte/glossy split on more than one item. But I'm not complaining - the more the merrier!

 

 I think I mentioned in my previous post that I ended up with three matte Indu models at one point in my efforts to get a glossy. (4th time was the charm!) In contrast, it was easy to get a glossy Saffron - too easy. I ended up with two of them in two attempts. Glossy being more desirable than matte, it was very easy to find someone at the Clarion who'd trade a matte for a glossy, and my efforts in that department were complete!

 

Quality-wise, this guy is even better than the matte one - one or two pinpoint specks in the gloss, but otherwise I couldn't find anything wrong with him. Excellent!

And finally, Kaalee:

 

With all the unexpected glossies popping up, I wouldn't have protested at a glossy Kaalee, either, but that didn't happen. Oh well! I really like the color on this model, as well - she's flashy and beautiful and makes a good addition to my collection.

 

Some of the Kaalee models I've seen photos of have a rather abrupt transition from the white rabicano markings to the solid black, but mine looks pretty nice. The only issue I have with this mold is that she's so big it's going to be hard to get her to fit onto my shelves.

 

As for quality, this girl definitely wins - I couldn't see a thing wrong with her anywhere. She's perfect from top to bottom! Definitely a keeper!

That's all I have for today - yet again, I'll try to keep posting photos this week, but no promises. Until next time!

New Arrivals: Indu, Glossy Indu and Marigold

The Breyerfest blues are still going full swing in this household. I can't believe we left for Breyerfest two weeks ago, and we've now been home for almost a week. Where does the time go? I guess time really does fly when you're having fun.

In happier news, I was fortunate enough to be drawn for Zion and Moab, so they'll be on their way here soon. In the meantime, I still haven't had a chance to dig out my camera's battery charger (darn work!), so I took some quick cell phone photos of some of my Breyerfest acqusitions. First up is Indu!

 

There has been a lot of variation within this run, which was to be expected. Some of the models have really obvious, chicken-wire looking dapples, while others (like this one) are more subtle. Shading variations also exist, with lighter and darker models reported.

 

I'm happy that I got a model with subtle dapples (I had 3 at one point in my quest for a glossy), but the quality isn't the best, unfortunately (and this seems to have been common throughout the run). Mine isn't too terrible, but does have some issues.

 

Somehow I didn't even notice that left eartip until I was taking these photos - ugh! Other than that he isn't too bad, he just has some little bits of debris embedded in his finish here and there and his shoes could have been painted a little better. Not anywhere near as bad as that silver splotch on my Acadia, though.  Next: Glossy Indu!

I always try to keep my expectations low for glossy models like this, since they're essentially just taking half the run and spraying some gloss on afterward, flaws or not. But other than his very prominent dapples, this guy actually isn't too bad - some lint in the gloss in a couple of spots and the edge of his left ear looks like it didn't get sanded down very well, but overall he isn't bad.





His shoes are also decently painted, if a little more sloppily than the matte Indu's were. But this model could have been much worse, so I'll take it. The Internets are saying this model was one of many that sold out on Sunday, so clearly he was popular with someone!

And lastly, Marigold!

I love the colors on this little guy, and it sounds like I wasn't the only one - he sold quite well from what I heard, though I don't know if he sold out or not. Even my husband liked him!

Quality-wise, this model is very, very nice. I don't see a thing wrong anywhere on him, despite all those big decals. Someone took their time with this one, and it shows! He's gorgeous.



That's all I have for today - I'll try to get some more photos of my other purchases up this week. Until next time!

Featured Model - 7/22/2017, Sundown

Hello and welcome to Featured Model, back this week after last week's Breyerfest hiatus! Featured Model is 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 a sentimental favorite, Sundown!

 

This model is on the Proud Arabian Stallion mold sculpted by Chris Hess. A regular run release, he ran from 1995-1996. It's hard to believe this model is already so old. He was one of my favorites growing up because of his unique color. He really does look nice for a 1990s release - maybe by 1995 Breyer had started working through their late '80s - early '90s growing pains. 

Sundown has always been special to me, because of his color (and the fact that I thought his tail looked like a french fry). He's got a cute little snip on his nose, too, and has a decent paint job for the time period (not that you'd really know now, because he's pretty beat up from being played with).

I used to have more examples of the PAS, but the dreaded shelf space shortage struck again a few years ago, so my other PAS models went down the road. Sundown stayed, though - it's not as hard to find shelf space for just one model. I always liked the PAS when I was younger because he looked like the quintessential Arabian to my mind, along with Sham. Of course, then I didn't know as much about anatomical faults and ABCs and conformation. Still, he makes a handsome model despite his problems.

The PAS is an old favorite with the vintage crowd - he was a Breyerfest raffle only a couple of years ago, and he gets an auction model every once in a while. Maybe he'll be next year's diorama contest prize? I don't think he has the build to be a racing Arabian, but we'll see. They'd just have to name him Flash and bam, he fits the theme. I guess we'll find out next year!

Zion and Moab!

Whoa, that was fast! Zion and Moab are already on the website!





 From the website:

In southern Utah, there is a fantasy land of strange and wonderful places, winding slot canyons, towers of rocks that stand like sentinels of the desert. High sandstone cliffs ripple with color. Hot desert sun reflects off rocks, while cool canyons offer relief. These magnificent parks are a delight to hikers and adventurers from around the globe. This rich western landscape inspired Zion and Moab, a striking bay dun overo mare and foal. The gentle nuzzling mare and her newborn have distinctive dun striping, wild pinto patterns, and the baby sports blue eyes. The mare is marked with Zion and Moab on her belly in gold.

 The colors are interesting, for sure. They're a very attractive set - I hope I get drawn for them! I wonder if they'll be metallic at all? Here's a quick photo I took of the set they had at Breyerfest:

 

It could be the lighting, but they look a bit redder there than in the promo photo. I hope they're closer to that color, honestly - I think it looks better. Good thing my room sales went so well this year, because their price is $195. Seems fair, since we're getting two models instead of one. Good luck to everyone entering for this pair - I have a feeling they'll be popular!