The Collector Club newsletter released today showed a sneak peek of an upcoming model that will be available "in a few weeks" and when I first saw it, immediately Battlefield Angel came to mind. I have his model, so I bet this is going to be the Collector Club Appreciation event that is done every year. Breyer can't seem to get it right in releasing the CCA. They used to do it around Christmas, then people complained it was too close to the holidays, so they released it last year right before Breyerfest and... you guessed it! Everyone complained they had no money for Breyerfest. I guess this time of the year would be the best time of any. This sneak peek brings up a topic that really should've been posted like yesterday... A bit of a backstory before I get into this post: as a teenager, I would ride these magnificent beasts at the rescue I volunteered at. The rescue housed many ex-Amish plow horses that we would retrain to riding horses. I cannot explain to you the power of the draft horse beneath your knees. I remember feeling like I was in the PBR when one of the drafts I was riding, a 17.1 hh Belgian, decided she wanted to be a rodeo bronc that day and gave me a few solid bucks that I somehow managed to ride out before she stopped right before I fell. This was actually the first time I'd ever been bucked, and it had to be on a draft horse of all breeds. That would have been really far to the ground. All jokes aside, I still find these horses fascinating, although after seeing how much they eat in real life compared to a "regular" horse, I would never want one of my own when you get the same amount of riding time on a horse that is much smaller with less of an appetite. However, I do find the Breyer drafts to be easier on grain and thus have quite a few in my collection. Note that I will NOT be including the Cleveland Bay on this post, as he is more of a Warmblood than a draft horse, nor will I be including any foal molds. The Cleveland Bay will be put on a future Warmblood post. BelgianThis mold hasn't made its way into my collection too many times. I'm not fond of the high stepping action with a smallish head and the huge... um... bum bum... that is even more pronounced with the teeny tiny tied up tail. Basically the confirmation of this horse gets an F and the only model I've ever had is the Trait du Nord. Even in a flashy modern color, I just couldn't fall in love with it, although I know a lot of people who love this mold just because they like big butts. I thought about getting Gibson from Tractor Supply this year, as his coloring looks almost exactly like the Belgian that tried to buck me off, but it didn't help being on this mold and truthfully I don't really want to remember the Belgian that almost unseated me. Clydesdale StallionFor being a Hess mold, he is realistically posed looking as if he is pulling a plow and he has some feathering. I currently do not own any models on this mold, as I don't like models with bobs, although most consider this mold outdated with the more modern releases of Othello and Shannondell. I doubt Breyer will use this mold much more, and of the times they did use it in recent years only Dandy from the Vintage Club and Seamus, a flagship release, were very flashy. Clydesdale MareThis is actually a Hess mold I can be on board with. I've always been fond of the Clydesdale Mare, and she's a rather big mold to boot without an outrageous bottom. I haven't had too many on the mold admittedly just due to the fact that the majority are either vintage or not too flashy of colors, however I did buy Wisteria this year. The flashiest horses on this mold were the Picture Perfect Spotted Draft who is now hard to find, Lanark's Rosebud from the Connoisseur Series, and Pepper from Breyerfest 2019. FriesianAnother mold I don't collect, I've had a couple and they've been kind of tippy, plus that left hind hoof looks weird with it half being sunken in the ground... or shelf if looking at it from a realistic perspective. The Gypsy King was one of the flashiest on this mold, and he was ironically supposed to be a Gypsy Vanner, not a Friesian, but of course back at that time Breyer didn't really have a Gypsy Vanner mold. The palomino from the Let's Go Riding set was also kind of pretty, and so was Harley the track pony. GoffertThis mold represented the Friesian horse well, and is still my favorite of the Friesian molds. I do understand that his biggest flaw is having a stand, but a stand isn't a turn away for me, as I really don't know how Moody could've made him any other way without it. I have several on this mold with Gettysburg being by far my favorite. Kuchi the regular run, Night Mare the Halloween horse, Crystalline the gemstone decorator, Shenanigans from the Connoisseur Series, Noelle from the holiday series, and Kashmir the web decorator from the Big Cat Series were all unique colors on this mold. Friesian SporthorseThis mold was meant to replace the original Friesian mold, and while the details on the mold are astounding compared to the original Friesian mold, down to his eyelashes and shaggy mane, I do wish that he'd been on a different pose and I probably would've loved him more. I do own Battlefield Angel HP because I couldn't resist his flashy color, as he is the flashiest on this mold yet. WixomThis big booty girl has her followers, even until this day. She trots in a very confident manner and has a braided tail. While she is meant to be a Percheron, I beg to differ. I grew up with Percherons and her head is too small for the mold in my opinion. The booty could also have been less emphasized. She also can be a bit tippy. As far as colorful models, she did have the red roan Treasure Hunt mare made on this mold, the Brabant cross limited edition in a metallic bay roan similar to Theo on the Georg mold, Puffin from the Birds of a Feather series, Samhain from the Halloween series, Versailles from Breyerfest 2015 and was sex reversed to portray BHR Bryants Jake who is a much better fit for this mold breed wise. GeorgFor the longest time I mispronouned this dude's name but I loved the mold. Although originally made to be a German Rhenish Draft, it fits Belgians perfectly, and you might even get away with calling him a Percheron. I love how the artist didn't put emphasis on his rear and made him well proportioned. My only complaint is his short cut mane. Most drafts I've seen have long locks, but otherwise this guy is great. Theo the bay roan regular run, Oak from Breyerfest 2020 and Honeybear shown below are by far the flashiest on this mold. I'm sure we'll be seeing him in future, and I expect him to be at Breyerfest again this year since drafts are rescued quite a bit. Gypsy VannerI hesitated a bit as to whether I'd put this breed on here, as you'll get people arguing that they're a cob and not really a draft horse, however since Breyer hasn't made enough cobs to have a post about cobs, and the fact that they're not really ponies either, I decided to add him here. Feather footed breeds have always been my favorites in Breyer models, and the Gypsy Vanner mold was the breakthrough of this rare breed that Breyer had never did before. He is heavy although not very tall, just as Vanners should be. However, with the release of the new mare mold, I've decided to disperse this mold. While I love this guy, he always portrayed himself as a big over the top, a quality a lot of Moody molds have, and the new mare mold is much more realistic. When selecting molds I want to focus on, realism is my number one. While this mold has been modified to an Andalusian form, the original Gypsy Vanner did have a few flashies: the regular run bay pinto Gypsy Vanner, Thriller the Halloween horse, Sampson the Tractor Supply exclusive, and Cheesecake from Breyerfest 2021. Gypsy Vanner MareWhile I don't know the official name for this gal, we will for the time being just refer to her as the Gypsy Vanner Mare. This will probably change sometime down the road. Like the previous Vanner mold, she is solid (heavy) but is also tall, almost as tall as Othello. I'm excited to see more colors on her in future! OthelloThis horse was the breakthrough we asked for with Shire/Clydesdale type horses, and we weren't disappointed! Despite being a Moody mold, Othello is realistic and certainly has an expression on his face to look like he's happy with his draft duties. This mold has been used so extensively, I'm happy to see it being used as a Collector Club special run next year, despite the fact that it's a bit older, as I thought Breyer would dwindle down releases for this guy since he's had just about every color made on him as it is. He is my personal favorite mold over the Hess Clydesdales and even Shannondell. I will not go over every flashy release, as there is way too many to name, but just put it this way... it'd be hard to think of a color that hasn't been used on this mold already. ShireThis vintage Hess mold reminds me of a 70s kid with her bell boot style "pants" with the big emphasis put on her having feathery legs. It's a mold that I've secretly been hoping would turn up in the Vintage Club one of these years in a realistic color and not just the decorator gambler's choices. Besides those, not too many other flashy colors have been made on this mold. My personal favorite was Cheerio from Breyerfest 2012. ShannondellThe latest release of feather footed full size drafts was Shannondell. I don't think this mold was quite a well liked as Othello due to being notoriously tippy, but he does have a large fan base, as Wells (whom was one of the most unique colors made on this mold so far) sold out last year at Breyerfest. I used to have a conga on this mold but sold them after one of them fell and created a domino effect of my other molds, knocking one of my favorite models off the shelf and breaking its leg. Bad pony. My favorites on this mold was Vahana from Breyerfest 2017, Benelli from Breyerfest 2020 and Wells from Breyerfest 2023. If you read my previous blog post from a while back called All The Kings Horses, you'll read about what I wrote about the most popular Thoroughbred molds made by Breyer and the flashiest colors made on each. What I didn't reveal back when I wrote All The Kings Horses was which mold I personally think was the best of the best Thoroughbred mold. It was tough, but I think I've narrowed it down, and I'm going to go with... drumroll please... Lonesome Glory. While Ruffian and Smarty Jones have amazing sculpts, the stands make them wobbly, and is a reason why I didn't choose one of those two. Emerson is the ideal two or three year old in peak condition (Thoroughbreds that are racing fit have muscles all over, even their ribs, which is why he looks like he's starving) but I still think that Lonesome Glory represents the best Thoroughbred at any age group, and his high headedness gives him a look of sass that the hot blooded breed is known for. Although I personally collect all the Thoroughbred sculpts and have at least one in my collection of all the modern sculpts, I find Lonesome Glory to be my favorite.
To be released tomorrow to Collector Club members is Zayn, the Classics gambler's choice for 2024. He will be available in three random colors: glossy red bay, bloody shoulder fleabitten grey and chestnut rabicano. Breyer does note that he will be limited to only one per Collector Club member. This is a mold that has been very lightly used. I had the Julien and Sophia set way back once upon a time, but nothing has been used on this mold ever since. I remember falling in love with the soft eyes and my favorite Classic molds are actually the vintage molds so I will be trying my chances with this one. I'm hoping for the bloody shoulder first and foremost, but would also be happy with the rabicano as well for my personal collection. The glossy bay will be available for sale (or trade) if I happen to pull him. In case y'all needed a refresher, here are the Classics gambler's choices since Breyer began offering them in 2017: Last year we also had a Traditional sized gambler's choice with Shelby, the first time ever Breyer offered it. Whether they offer it again this year or not, only time will tell.
When Breyer talked about a Marguerite Henry model being made for the Vintage Club this year, I expected something new, never made before. What I wasn't expecting was a remake of a previously made model. Not that I'm mad, as I loved the original San Domingo, but he's been made two other times now that he was the last I was expecting. They decided to remake this handsome fella on Fireheart... yes, Fireheart of all molds! Vintage Club members are going nuts! This guy won't be cheap, and I hope I can snag Blue Zeus from Breyerfest because he'll likely sell out in a matter of minutes. Honestly I wouldn't mind if Breyer remade a Marguerite Henry model every year for the Vintage Club. How about a remake of Misty on the Connemara Mare mold? Or Justin Morgan on the new Morgan Stallion? Or Black Gold on Smarty Jones? I'd still even like to eventually see the Born to Trot horse and Lipizzan Stallion made as well! Also, those in the Stablemate Club will be delighted to learn that Wallowa is now available for purchase. I'm not in the Stablemate Club this year but I'll be tracking this one down on the second hand market, as he's one of my favorites for the year because I love both his color and Thoroughbred molds. He is the matte or glossy split.
Welp... it looks like Weather Girl is eliminated from the Breyerfest surprise with this upcoming flagship store special: While I personally didn't have Weather Girl in my top three, I know a lot of people who were looking forward to her as the surprise, and to be honest the mold would have been perfect for the Girls Run the World, but alas she is still young. Who knows? We may still see her as the surprise one of these years! At least we can for sure eliminate her off the list (I swear Breyer is doing this on purpose) and enjoy her instead in this beautiful bay roan named Picante available at Brick and Mortar stores only. Since I am an online reseller, I will not have her, but I will check with a local dealer in my area and possibly offer some second hand. The next release is the spring decorator. He is on Geronimo and is named Gilded. He is a gold and blue pinto representing Breyer's colors. He is also the sneak peek from last month's Collector Club newsletter. I'm not really sure what it is with Geronimo, but he's been popping up a lot lately. Gilded will be available but I'm no longer doing presales on regular runs due to Breyer's sporadic shipping schedule. He will be available once I have him in hand and can ship right away. While we wait for these two releases, I will share with you the in hand unicorn versions of the Paddock Pals that I posted about last week are now available at Five Below. If you don't have a Five Below store near you, you can do what I did and order them online. I'm addicted to these little guys. As mentioned before, I don't collect the Thoroughbred mold, as I like the more dynamic poses, but he is available online as well at the link above if you'd like to collect all of them. They only cost as much as stablemates but are much bigger, about classics sized, and though their colors are simple, they are still better than most of the cheap toy knockoffs on the market. I mean... ...just look at this prancing Arabian! This mold is what got me into the Paddock Pals. I avoided them for a long time because the first series were on the same two molds. However, when I saw this beautiful Arabian arrive in stores, I had to have her. I hoped that Breyer would add new molds, and it appears they are, so hopefully these little guys will be around to stay. Now, Mara (the pink Arabian shown above) is very aromatic. I could smell her through the box when it arrived before I even opened it. It is a very nice smell that will add a candle-like scent to a room, but isn't so overpowering that it is obnoxious. One of the new molds is a classic version of what looks like Alborozo. He has the same dancing pose. Anything that even remotely represents Alborozo has to come home with me, as I didn't go to the Breyerfest that year to obtain the original, and due to crazy second hand prices, I'll likely never own him. This one didn't have as much of a smell as the others. I couldn't really smell it until I put my nose close to his mane. He is a bit darker than the previous purple unicorn they made on the Arabian mold. Finally, the Gypsy Vanner who didn't really look like a Gypsy Vanner in the stock photos, looks much more draft-like in real life. I was worried, as he looked more like a feather footed Icelandic, but in real life his legs do have some thickness to them. He is not taller than the other molds, however, just slightly more chunky. I can't wait for the non-unicorn versions to come out now!
We discussed the Vintage Club welcome letter, now let's talk about the Premier Club welcome letter: We know about the mare and foal set (which it sounds like they are holding off until the end of the year so that makes more sense why the price was again higher on the final release) and the Welsh Cob that we were shown a sneak peek of last year will be the first release. The artwork included with the letter was the Welsh Cob so now we get to see exactly what he looks like in full. His name is Llywellyn and he's incredibly adorable, I'm absolutely in love with his feathers. I am curious to see what his size is in comparison to most traditionals but he looks like he's going to be a long boi. Since I primarily joined the Premier Club for the Mustang mare and foal, I will be putting the Welsh Cob up for presale if anyone is interested who is not in the club, as due to shelf space I'm trying not to collect long or tall models. If you pre-order before he is released, I will include his artwork and sticker for free. The third release is a Criollo horse by Morgen Kilbourn, who is one of my favorite artists that also sculpted Bristol, Wyatt and Bobby Jo. I'm excited to see what she offers us this time. A "lovely coat decoration" makes me feel like this will be the flashy horse of the year, especially since the other two had solid colored coats. Not much is said about the stablemate given at the end of the year, only that it's sculpted by Mindy Berg, so hopefully we'll get a sneak peek in July at Breyerfest for this one. I will, of course, share any and all sneak peeks with y'all!
Thank you to those who partook in my Easter sale. This will likely be my last sale until the major holidays at the end of the year. I just arrived home after spending the weekend out of state with family so I'll be getting orders packaged up today. Tracking numbers will be sent by the end of the day. If you're on the eastern part of the country, you probably know that Kentucky is currently under a severe storm threat so unfortunately I won't be able to actually ship out until tomorrow. I thank you all for your patience! Since those are cleared out, new models will be added to my store by the end of the week. Breyer posted this yesterday on their Facebook page. Everybody thought it was an April Fool's joke: ... but it turns out that it is actually true, and these bags really are going to be released tomorrow, April 3rd at 1 PM EST on Breyer's website. They include vintage style paint jobs on four different models. Mini Cloud is the dapple grey on the vintage Swaps mold and is a recreation of the 1995 Classics B-Ranch series; mini Cinnamon is a recreation of the 1996 era zig zag blanket appaloosa and is on the new Show Stance Arabian mold; mini Overo Paint is just what it sounds like... an overo paint that resembles fluffy clouds on the Quarter Horse mold; and mini Arabian Stallion intended to be a bay going grey with vintage dappling sporting a green appeareance due to the laying style of painting done back in 1994 and is on the Twist mold.
I pesonally will not be getting any of these myself because I typically like it the other way around, modern paint jobs on vintage molds versus vintage paint jobs, but if you'd like one yourself, note that Breyer is limiting them to just ONE per person. If you want multiples, you'll have to use different accounts and pay shipping for each one. The models will be $24.99 each and shipping will likely run about $10 per model. EDITED: Breyer has heard us and has raised the limit to 2 models per account, as per usual, so as long as you buy 2 blind bags you'll get FREE shipping. If you only purchase one blind bag, you'll have to pay about $10 for shipping. Thank you, Breyer, for listening to collectors! Happy Easter, y'all! Easter day (Sunday) only I'm offering a discount of 10% off anything in my Model Horse Store using the coupon code SPRING10 as a way of saying thank you to everyone for your patronage! Also, I'm offering a special discount of 25% off any of my Peter Stone models using the code PS24 and, as always for this year, shipping is FREE! All orders made over the weekend will be shipped the middle of next week once I get home from visiting family for the holiday :) Easter reminds me of colorful eggs, so I've decided to make a post about the new upcoming Paddock Pals! I made a post about these cuties not too long ago, about how they taunted me for so long every time I went to Five Below until I finally gave in and now have congas of $5 ponies because... why not? I mean for the price they are adorable, and even though simple in design, what do you really want for five bucks? Breyer is upping their game now though by making the new ones - the unicorns at least - scented! One of the new scented pals is on the previously used Thoroughbred mold. His name is Lemon Drop (coincidence of being a Thoroughbred and called Lemon Drop?) and he smells like... you guessed it! Lemons. Now, I don't know why this is the only Paddock Pal mold that I haven't wanted so far. I saw the flaxen chestnut and the bay at my local Five Below, but passed on both of them. I don't know what it is about this mold that I don't care for, but I really wanted to like him because Thoroughbreds are one of my favorite breeds. I think it is because he is a simple standing mold and the others are more action-y. If he was running, I would have had a conga of this mold, hands down. Anyways, the other new guys on the block who is also on previously used molds are Chili, a handsome chestnut Arabian, and Biscuit, a unique cremello Quarter Horse. These two are not scented, they are regular horses, but are still beautiful! I love how they added a stocking this time, the first time these have sported anything other than solid colors. The last of the previously used molds is Mara, a very pretty in pink Arabian unicorn who is scented like strawberries. It will be interesting to see, or um... sniff these once they hit the shelves. Wonder what in the world made Breyer want to make them smelly? Now, introducing the new molds. There is a silver black Gypsy Vanner named Mousse and a grey Andalusian named Truffle. I'll be honest here... I'm having a hard time seeing Mousse as a Gypsy Vanner. In fact, when I first saw this mold, I thought it was an Icelandic horse. It looks so much like the Icelandic mold that I had to take a double take. I do like that he is dynamic though, so if I happen to find one in the wild, he'll likely be coming home with me. The Andalusian reminds me of a knockoff of Alborozo, so he'll definitely be coming home with me if I come across him. I like how his color is the opposite of the previous used greys: instead of having a dark grey body and light mane/tail, he has the opposite. Despite being plain colors, Breyer still finds a way to make them unique! These two new molds also have a smelly unicorn counterpart: Sugar Sparkle the Vanner and Concord the Andy. If you haven't guessed it by their pictures, Sugar Sparkle smells like cotton candy and Concord smells obviously like grapes. Finally, I would like to throw in here the sneak peek from the Collector Club newsletter for March. There is an issue of a 1980 version of Just About Horses that Breyer has made readable to members if you're interested to see what the articles talked about back in the day. The monthly giveaway is RD Marciea Bey. Lastly, the sneak peek is a decorator: Breyer didn't give much by the way of hints, but it is most likely going to be the decorator for the new Destination series. It looks like Egyptian gold to me, but who knows? It could really be anywhere!
The Vintage Club annual welcome letter arrived to my mailbox this week with some sneak peeks of upcoming models. A couple have me kind of intrigued. Here is a copy of the letter if you want to read it for yourself... We already know about the first release, Scorpion, the beautiful appaloosa, and the lamp pony on the Geronimo mold, Kirk, who is supposed to be one of the four main releases. There is also going to be a 1980s sculpture in "his" flashiest color yet (the emphasis on the his so it's going to definitely be a gelding or stallion) and a Marguerite Henry character. Now this is one of the ones I'm intrigued about, as I loved Marguerite Henry's stories as a child. The question is, who will it be? In the poster included with your membership it had this small section about Marguerite Henry: My guess is it'll either be the new Premier Club Standardbred mare as the horse from the Born to Trot book, or the new Premier Club Lipizzan Stallion as the White Horse of Lipizza. If it's the trotter, I'll likely keep her for my personal collection, but if it's the Lipizzan he'll likely be for sale, as I have no room on my shelves for that tall of a mold. I know many have been wanting a white Lipizzan so I'm leaning more towards that one, but we'll see! The final release, and I'm guessing the optional release, Breyer said will be "some tiny treasures to melt your vintage loving heart" so I'm guessing it'll be either a foal set, or Classics set. Most likely I'll be offering these to non-club members on the second hand market as well, so stay tuned later in the year if you're interested! Finally, the freebie will be the G1 Morgan in a vintage colorway. Since I'm more interested in the vintage molds on modern colors rather than the other way around, I will likely be offering this guy for sale as well in the near future. Finally, while I was on here, I did want to show off the VIP swag box that you get with VIP tickets. You’ll receive a holographic tote filled with super-cool merch to commemorate your trip to BreyerFest! In addition to your VIP wristband, your tote will have a 32 oz water bottle complete with drink sling, collectible enamel pins, a car sticker, a handheld light up fan, and a neon desk light. If you would like to get your VIP tickets, they are available through April 30th, or until sell out, but remember that early bird pricing ends April 15th so the VIP tickets will be going up next month. I'm really surprised these haven't sold out by now, but maybe they will now with the reveal of the swag box. People always ask me if the VIP ticket price is worth it, and honestly I haven't bought a VIP ticket since the very first year they were offered so I can't really offer much of an opinion. All I'll say is that if I didn't want to wait in the long store line, I'd definitely do it if there were limited editions I wanted. However, if you're more wanting just the special runs and not so much the store limited editions, I would stick with All Access.
The sneak peeks we were teased with earlier in the week that Breyer announced would only be available to in person attendees ended up actually being the Best Custom Contest prizes. One is named I Forgot That You Existed, and he is on the Mirado stablemate mold. I'm absolutely in love with his color, but there goes my conga out the window, as I'll never be able to win the Customs contest with my humble artwork. This is the model that the top twelve finalists receive... If you are one of the lucky six top winners of the Best Customs Contest, you'll get Look What You Made Me Do on the Marwari mold. Another incredibly handsome chestnut pinto. There adds two more new breeds to the lineup: the Marwari and an Andalusian. Does that eliminate the Andalusian Mare as the surprise? Well, not quite, but I can tell y'all that this will likely be a year that I'm wrong because I'm incredibly stumped. I'm honestly a bit disappointed that we're no longer getting an in person only stablemate, nor a plushy this year (unless Breyer happens to reveal those later but I doubt it) because they appealed to the younger collectors. I guess with the stablemate now being online, they don't think they particularly need one for the event anymore. As to the plushy... well that's the biggest shocker, as that was almost as synonymous with Breyerfest as the crystal. I did notice though that the plushy was usually about the only thing left in the Breyerfest store at the end of the weekend, so it's possible they just didn't sell as good as everything else therefore Breyer decided to pull them. Anyways, I know many have been asking about customs, and honestly I have been in an artist's slump since Christmas trying to come up with new designs. I'm happy to announce that I have several that are in the works now, and I've decided to provide a bit of a sneak peek of my own of these unfinished pieces: Right now I'm on doing stablemates due to time. I do have some traditionals planned for later in the year that I've been slowly working on as I get the time, but traditionals take a lot more paint and layers to finish, so I tend to take several months to finish them. They will be out with my Halloween and holiday customs.
Breyer has revealed the surprise horse for 2024: Girls Run the World. Since obviously we won't know what the surprise will be until Breyerfest (and before anyone asks I do NOT do presales on surprise models... I will however have several available during Breyerfest for sale that way you can pick your color) I always like to try to guess ahead of time. Each year, I narrow my guesses down to three by Breyerfest, and for the past four years I've been correct except for the year of Dundee. This year will be a bit of a challenge because the list of breeds is wide open. Now with Bobby Jo being used as the Oklahoma event model, Bluegrass Bandit as the volunteer model and internet favorite Weather Girl as the spring flagship edition, I need to really dig my claws in. The following criteria has applied to most or all previous Breyerfests: *The mold must be one that was used within the past 3 years but can NOT be released the year of Breyerfest. However it may be an active regular run at the time of it's Breyerfest release, just not RELEASED the same year as a run. Confusing, I know. *Premier Club or Moody molds are most commonly used, however for the Premier Club molds, they must be older than 3 years and with Moody molds be no older than 20 years old. *In years past, the mold usually fit the theme, however the 2024 theme is so wide open, it could really be anything. There is no breed specific to the theme, which makes it a lot harder to guess. *It is usually a live auction model from the year before. I say usually because there was two years when it didn't: in 2019 with the Moody Andalusian Stallion and again in 2021 with Dundee, unless you count the glossy Carter from the silent auction. *It is never a pony, animal or vintage mold. Could this possibly change? Well, anything with Breyer is a crapshoot so who knows? For now, we'll say no. *It is never a mold used previously as a surprise model but can be a mold used as a previous Breyerfest model, either a special run, limited edition, raffle model, etc. Also, no mold previously used as a gambler's choice of any sort (like Othello as the Treasure Hunt) has ever been a surprise. *New for this year... must be a mare mold. Breyer's only hint to us so far is that it is a mare mold, not surprising with the girl power theme. While technically any mold can be reverted to a mare, I'm only going to go with the molds that have been previously used as a mare in the past at least once. So who does that leave? Let's start with the live auction molds from 2023. I made the above graphic prior to learning that the surprise model will be a mare, so a few of those shown above will be excluded below because they have only ever been made as stallions.
-Ashquar (used as a special run for Breyerfest 2024) -Pacer (vintage) -Arabian Mare - I can see Breyer using this mold and making it in several different mane/tail variations as they did with the Cleveland Bay surprise from 2022. Will they do it? Who knows? Her last release was in 2020 making it not impossible that she could be used but closer to the longest time used. We do, however, already have an Arabian in the lineup this year so I think we might have another year where the surprise wasn't a raffle model from the year before. At this time, I'm not willing to put her on my top list just yet. -Huckleberry Bey (used as a gambler's choice for the 2023 Santa Surprise) -Georg (current 2024 regular run) -Paso Fino (used as a limited edition for Breyerfest 2024) -Stretch Morgan (vintage) -Desatado (stallion with no mare counterpart) -Vermeer (stallion with no mare counterpart) -Lipizzan Mare *see list below -Old Timer (vintage) -Fireheart (too new) -Bobby Jo (used as the event model for Spokes and Spurs) -Nikolas (pony) -Roy (vintage) -Strapless (over 20 years old) -Lonesome Glory (already was a surprise horse) -Semi Rearing Mustang (vintage) -Anamar (used last year as a Breyerfest SR) -PAS (vintage) -Welsh Mare (pony) -Newsworthy (pony) This doesn't leave very many molds, so the biggest question is if not a raffle model, then what? I'm going to eliminate the Shagya Arabian, much to the disappointment of social media, because she was used last year for the online special run and I don't see them using her twice in a row. Likewise, Emma and Bristol are eliminated for those reasons. I'm really teetering towards a Thoroughbred since that was the breed used on the banner at Breyerfest last year announcing the theme and is just about the only breed that hasn't been used so far. Therefore, my number one still remains: 1) Emerson: This mold actually came into my head recently. Although he was originally made as a stallion, it completely blew my mind that Breyer did make him a mare for Winx, who just recently retired last year. Since Ruffian has actually been retired a bit too long since she was last a regular run, and since Emerson is another Thoroughbred mld - which we are thus far lacking this year - I'm putting Emerson at the top of my list. 2) Wyatt: I said earlier in my post that I was excluding molds that had originally been produced male but changed to female later. Wyatt is still currently being produced for ATP Power. He has also already made his appearance at Breyerfest with Marzipan in 2022 and before that as Bozeman. His time as the surprise should happen soon. 3) Forever Saige: My reasoning for this gal to be the surprise is honestly simply because she fits most of the criteria, has been lightly used and is a current regular run. Yes, her breed has already been used in the lineup this year, but so has a Lipizzan, an Arabian and a stock horse so it's highly possible that the surprise will be a breed already used. Also, I just simply love this mold and would like to see more on her :) Honorable mention - Lipizzan Mare: She was the only raffle model last year that still has a chance, but she has a few other things going for her. This girl has been very lightly used over the years since she's been out, mostly as decorator colors. The last time she was seen as a regular run was the Favory Airiella set which retired in 2022 making her still within the 3 year range of being used previously. She also has the prancing attitude of a girl with confidence. My biggest issue is that historically only Roxy was a mold previously used as a volunteer model and also a surprise. Except for Roxy, none of the other molds used as volunteer models went on to be surprises, and the Lipizzan Mare was used as a volunteer model in 2022. Thinking out loud - Ruffian: This gal has made her appearance at Breyerfest several times as special runs, but never as the surprise yet, and her time is getting close to the 20 year cutoff. She is only 2 years away from being too old to be used as the surprise, but also because she radiates the "girl power" that the real horse was known for. However, she hasn't been used since 2018 when she was used as American Pharoah, which is over the 3 year rule and is the only reason why I decided to remove her from my list. While I absolutely love this mold myself, I must put my sentiments aside and focus solely on the trend of previous years' surprises. Thinking out loud - Andalusian Mare: I have my doubts about this mold since she was recently a gambler's choice for the Vintage Club in 2022 and I think it is unlikely they'd use her as another again so soon. However, she is a mare mold that would fit the theme, and so far the only Andalusian in the lineup is the show prize. |
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