The May newsletter came out, and it was a bit unique. First off, Breyer is offering a survey to Collector Club members that I highly recommend you taking if you want to have a say in what kind of information is contained in the newsletter. It even has a text box where you can tell them what you'd like to see if you have any suggestions, so be sure to check it out! Another new addition is instead of a collector story, they instead wrote about the True Blue event. I'm sore about not being chosen especially since I have yet to be chosen for any of the special events as yet. Unlike Breyerfest where you can choose if you want to go or not, you have to rely on the luck of the draw for the special events, and we all know that Breyer is notorious for their lotteries. Honestly though, after seeing the horses in hand, the only one that I really liked was Home and Away, and even he is a horse I can live without. Hopefully it'll be back to a live event next year and - hopefully - one of these years I'll actually be able to attend. Those of you in the same boat I'm sure understand. The giveaway of the month is a four pack of event stablemates for Breyerfest 2021 which really surprises me since the event hasn't even happened yet. This is new too as usually it's something from years back. It also makes me think that Breyerfest will not sell out this year so fingers crossed that there's enough models for everyone and most people get what they want without having to wait until December for backorders. Finally, the sneak peek was not a Collector Club reveal, but a reveal for Vintage Club members only. Folks, I believe this is our Classics sized model that was going to be a mini me of the Presentation Series. It is supposed to be a dappled bay on the Terrang mold with a wooden base and brass nameplate. I'm curious to see what his full reveal looks like however... This horse will be offered for sale since I don't collect many Classics models. If you'd like to purchase him, come back to my website when he's released and you can purchase him in my Model Horse Store. He will be offered pretty close to cost since he's just a Classics scale.
Since we're still limited on the new release news, I've decided to write a post about my own collection. I get messages on YouTube all the time from fans wanting to see my personal collection. Although I do have them catalogued on a separate Collection website, I honestly don't have a huge collection. I don't even think it'd be enough to make a video of. Although I've been collecting since the early 2000s, I'm VERY picky about who I keep. More times than not, I end up selling what I buy with the intention of keeping it because it doesn't quite fit my strict criteria. While I'm not necessarily breed specific, there are certain breeds that I tend to congregate more towards, most of them are breeds that I've worked with in real life. For example, I'm rather limited in my experience with gaited breeds in real life having only ridden a Missouri Fox Trotter once, and that is reflected in my collection. The only gaited breed I have more than one of is Bluegrass Bandit. Warmbloods and Andalusians are others that I haven't had experience with in real life, however the Andalusian Stallion reminds me more of a Mustang than an Andalusian because of the long, flowing mane. He is probably my largest conga to date for that reason. As a child in 4-H I rode a BLM mustang so I'm very fond of the breed since it was the first horse I rode, even though technically my little guy was only 13.1 HH. As a teenager, I volunteered at a farm animal sanctuary with the horses there. We have a large Amish population here in Ohio and because they rescued a lot of horses from the Amish horse auction, mostly draft breeds and Standardbreds. The number of draft horses in my collection represents my fondness of the gentle giants. There was a silver bay Belgian drafter at the sanctuary that I used to ride around bareback, and was probably the horse I rode there the most. Although I'm not fond of Breyer's pacer mold due to it being tippy, I long for the day when Breyer remakes the Standardbred. I think Troubadour came pretty close, even though he was supposed to be a Morgan. The breeds, however, are very similar in appearance since Standardbreds were actually developed from Morgans. Still... a mold that had perfect Standardbred confirmation (I always thought the Pacer was a bit too pudgy) would be my ultimate wish! Thoroughbreds are another breed you'll see in my collection a lot since I currently own a couple ex-racehorses in real life. I actually started collecting Breyers by focusing solely on racehorses, and at one point I had every single one ever made, even the glossy version of Man o'War and Affirmed. Eventually I got tired of the various shades of bay, black and chestnut so I sold them off and focused on colorful horses instead. I still favor the Thoroughbred molds though, and try to collect as many colorful models as I can find on those particular molds. I'm more picky when it comes to color in my collection. Anything with the silver gene (bay, black, chestnut), roans (bay, red, blue), flaxen chestnut, leopard appaloosas, medicine hat markings, sooty palomino, sooty buckskin, buttermilk buckskin, dun/dunalino, grullo, pearl/cremello, star dapple greys, rose greys, dark dappled greys and rabicanos. My favorite decorators (non-horse colors) are anything filigree, rainbow and blue. While I mostly collect traditionals, I do have a few Classics. I have a horse that my grandpa inherited to me when he passed away that isn't anything special as far as collectability but that I held onto for his sentimental value. I also have Mancho and Gato from Tschiffely's ride, as this guy was always an idol to me ever since I read the book years ago. How cool would it be to ride a horse that far? I was so excited when Breyer portrayed this pair for Breyerfest! The gambler's choice models available through the Collector Club are probably my most valuable Classics sized models. The only molds I conga for Classics are my two favorite breeds: the American Dream mold (mustang) and Bella mold (Thoroughbred). I'm least picky with stablemates since they're the most affordable of Breyer models. I had close to 100 at one time, though I sold off a lot and probably have about half that now.
So this sums up my collection in a nutshell. Although I don't keep the majority of the horses I buy, I do enjoy seeing the different paint jobs. I can't tell you how many times I've bought a horse from Breyer thinking it would have a plain paint job, only to find out that it looked a lot better in real life. Unless you were selected for the True Blue event, it has been pretty quiet on Breyer's end of late. I decided to go ahead and write a post anyways despite there not being any new releases other than a prize model from Breyerfest and a test model to Collector Club members for - now hold your hats - $1350! He's pretty, and I was actually tempted to put my name in for him even though my odds of winning him were astronomical. I didn't because Breyerfest is just around the corner, as are the mid years, so I need to save as much as possible. In all honesty, I've been itching to buy some new ponies but market prices have been ridiculous for months. However, with people now starting to sell off some pieces from their own collections to make money/room for Breyerfest models, the tables are starting to turn. I recently just purchased a good portion of a fellow hobbyist's collection because she was downsizing for This reason. This was my first large collection I've ever purchased, and it certainly made up for the dry spell. Some of the horses will be sold, others will be kept for my personal collection. Hopefully it'll help cure the buying bug until July.
Crane selections have already gone out to those who entered as well as the waiting list, and Stablemate Club members should have their buying bug cured soon, as will Premier Club members when we will be able to finally purchase Fireheart next month, which I'm really excited to see this boy in person. Breyer has revealed the next in the Birds of a Feather series: Crane after the rare white bird. While I'm fond of his mold, this color doesn't look much different than the regular run Shire, unless Breyer plans on adding something you can't tell in the stock photo (like pearling) as they did with Goldfinch when they made him chalky. For $185 rarity is what this guy has going for him. Honestly - and this might just be my aching head talking - I haven't been too impressed with the Birds of a Feather series so far, which is a shame considering I'm a bird fanatic as well as a horse lover. I was hoping for some colorful decorators thrown in the mix. After all, they did so with the Berries Ponies. A parrot would be a must have. Maybe next year... For those of you in the Premier Club, it was announced, not surprisingly, that Fireheart will be delayed until mid June. This guy will be one I'm keeping so he won't be available, but in case anyone else in the Premier Club didn't get the email, just know it is now official. *sigh* Unfortunately after all us dealers have been going through this year with waiting so long for regular run shipments, I saw this coming. It sounds like Breyer is getting a huge shipment in June (the timeline Breyer gave me for most regular runs I have on backorder) in which Fireheart must be included in that.
Customs are now available on the website. I still have three more in the works that I should be able to get finished over the weekend, so check back Monday if you're interested. They are also available on my eBay page. Breyer has finally revealed the Breyerfest limited edition Stablemate, and I really think you deco lovers are going to be thrilled! His name is Kaleidoscope and he's a beautiful rainbow splatter dapple horse on a blue base background. He's on the Darwin mold, a mold I didn't particularly care for when he was originally released, though I think it was more his orange-y color I didn't like because I now have an accidental conga going, and you can bet I'll be adding Kaleidoscope to my collection! I'm offering pickups for this boy if you're a Stablemate collector and don't think it worth buying a ticket just for him. Keep in mind this guy is one of the models in the Breyerfest store that will NOT be available for backorder, so once they run out, they're gone for good.
I decided to rearrange the website a bit to make it (hopefully) less cluttered and easier to navigate. My store page still lists Traditionals available but I have sub tabs for Classics, Stablemates, Breyerfest and Holiday so everything is not all crammed on one page. I even plan to start selling miscellaneous horse related gifts such as jewelry. I will announce a few more changes later in the year that I plan on making come 2022, as I'm trying my best to cater to my fellow hobbyists :) Well, it happened. It was bound to happen sooner or later. I had a spill on my horse. It was due to no fault of his however. I was galloping him when the catch bar on my English saddle somehow unlatched itself and my left stirrup came completely off, taking my boot with it. It flung off, spooking my horse mid gallop, and he flipped up, unseating me. I fell, landing on my back hard enough to crack my helmet. I ended up with a concussion and badly injured my wrist and elbow. I will have to be in a cast for a few weeks. Sadly, I was in the middle of a few customs when it happened. As you can see a couple were inspired by Old Glory, though with my own twist, of course. I will also have a few Halloween horses available and a beach unicorn on the Walking Arabian mold. My customs take me several days to weeks to complete them depending upon their size and how detailed they are. I paint all of them in free hand, no stenciling or masking is ever used, so fine details need precision. Thankfully, it wasn't my writing arm that was injured so I am still able to use a brush, however it will be holding the models still enough with my other hand that will be a challenge. Completing them will give me something to do while I heal. If all goes well, I hope to have them finished by next Monday at the latest. I'm out of matte finish right now so all these guys will be glossy when finished.
Old Glory has arrived! After a tiring 10 hour shift, it was nice pick-me-up to find these beauties waiting on my porch. I will be busy packaging up orders over the weekend with the hopes of getting my first orders shipped out tomorrow and the rest on Monday. Overall they were great, some just had a bit of overspray on the stars and stripes, but I'm very happy with their quality. They are clearware so they are see through, not white plastic. I bet they're going to look great in the sunlight! Everyone who pre-ordered should have their tracking numbers by now. I had a couple last minute cancellations when Breyer released him through their website so a couple of customers on my fall order list will bumped up to my spring order and happy to find out that they are going to be getting their ponies a bit early :) This spring batch is SOLD OUT however I still have some fall orders available. They are due to ship in September, though I'd give Breyer until October just because everything is behind this year. Old Glory is an example since he was supposed to come by the end of April and it's now May, so just take estimated arrivals with a grain of salt. Here are some in-hand pictures from as many angles as I could get with him still being in the box: My 90s Throwbacks also came today for anyone interested. They are in hand and ready to ship! I will update as soon as Breyer ships me more regular runs, as I'm currently on the backorder list for all the traditionals. The stablemates I posted about a few days ago were actually supposed to be mid year releases but Breyer is aiming to ship them out a bit early to make up for the issues with delays in shipping regular run products this year, so kudos to them for looking out for their dealers. *At this time, we don't know what the rest of the mid year lineup will look like, but stay tuned! It will probably be announced next month!*
Also for those who haven't heard, Breyerfest tickets will be on sale only until June 7th, or until sell out, whichever comes first. If you plan to attend, be sure to buy your ticket! They also leaked on social media that Breyerfest grab bags WILL BE BACK THIS YEAR (*internally screaming*) and will include some vintage warehouse finds. Attention stablemate collectors... there ARE going to be a new series of regular run stablemates this year after all, and I think you're going to like them! We will have a beautiful bay varnish appaloosa on the elusive Corbin mold, who has only been made a handful of times. There is a mulberry grey Alborozo, black Charleston (finally a regular run!) and a palomino pinto Standing Warmblood. Finally, my two personal favorites are the blue roan pinto Cob and dun - or buckskin - Django. Here are pictures: These guys are available for pre-ordering on my Store page as individuals or the complete set. They are expected to be released late spring. The models for the True Blue event were also revealed today, and I really regret not getting a ticket. I would've loved to have that Old Timer and Ruffian! Congrats to the winners of the True Blue event! Fingers crossed y'all get what you want!
The only Slyder I didn't want was the appy. Although described as a sooty buckskin. Breyer has yet to make a proper sooty buckskin. I think their best specimen so far was Altynai, as most of the time they either look bay (Slyder is an example) or too green, like with the original Croi and last year's Topgun at Breyerfest. Thankfully, I ended up with the flaxen chestnut splash pinto, my favorite of them all because of his blue eyes. The grey followed shortly behind. In fact, I may have to track down the grey later on when prices come down a bit, as I love me a dark grey any day. Might take me a while though, as I'm still on the lookout for the dunalino Nayati from last year. Can't really say anything bad about this horse. He's practically flawless. I haven't seen many people complain about the finish on these guys so maybe Breyer's quality control is making a turnaround. I really hope so since Fireheart is due to release this month and I'm really looking forward to him!
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