The anticipation has taken over. I have been going into my local Tractor Supply nearly everyday this week, waiting upon them to get in another truck with Stella and the blind bags on it. I was beginning to give up hope when today, right before work, I stopped in and saw that they had finally put them out! They had two Stellas. As I thought, I wasn't too impressed with her. I've never really been a fan of the "cartoon-y" look of Bluegrass Bandit with her plain face and narrow body but the color was the clincher. Stella was not coming home with me. I know lots of people like bays, and I admit that Breyer has been painting bays for so long that a lot of their bay horses look almost life-like, but she was just too plain for my liking. I would have preferred a little more white in her pinto coloring, then maybe. Now my Tractor Supply only had six Spirit blind bags out. I thought I didn't have much of a chance, and upon feeling the bags, I almost came home with the red roan Esperanza. Almost. I had to check again and lo and behold it wasn't the chaser. Finally, the last horse I felt had that similar outward sticking tail and I knew by feeling the mane that it was going to be the chase. I was right! The Spirit chaser with the Indian war paint had been on my grail list for some time now, and I'm so glad to own him! Made going back to work a bit more cheerful ;) I wanted to add that the new Fairytale Friends Club model, Seafoam, is out! I thought that Seafoam looked a lot like the Walmart Clydesdale from Unicorn Crazy series 2, minus the glittery mane and tail, until I saw him in real life pictures. He has a lot more silver coloring to him. That little Mini Whinnie though is something to adore. I'm still on the edge though whether I feel these guys are worth their price, especially since their coloring isn't much different than the $3 Walmart unciorns, minus the glittery mane and tail. Is it really worth paying that much extra for glitter? Finally I'd like to introduce Nadifa. She is the latest in the annual Wild Animal series, and I kind of like this one! Giraffes are one of my favorite zoo animals and I love the Lonesome Glory mold. It would have been especially cool if they gave her cloved hooves! Unfortunately I can't afford the $175 price tag tacked onto her at this time of the year. She is a raffle model limited to only 300 pieces.
I'd promised myself that I wouldn't get caught up in the chaos, yet here I was, dragging my sleepy husband to Walmart at one in the morning because Brickseek updated that our local Walmart had a new box of Unicorn Crazy stablemates! The last full box didn't contain the chase, so I'm assuming that they didn't put one in every box. I did however find the chase in this box! It was right in the middle of the box, wedged between some Alborozos and some Walking Thoroughbreds - not sure if it's always in the middle of the box or not but I always have people asking me whenever I find chase models where they're located in the box. The Emerald chaser from the Mini Whinnies collection was always near the front in every box I found. Everyone meet Sherbert! I'm not sure if just nobody in my area knows about this new series yet or if they have managed to find the ones they wanted, but I seem to be getting lucky lately with finding them. I've found three Emeralds so far, two pink Icelandics and a rainbow Magnolia. Like I said before, I don't try to drive myself crazy over finding the chase model, but I admit that they are addicting!
Our local Tractor Supply store has also had to mess with my mind about putting out Spirit Riding Free series 2 blind bags and the Unicorn Crazy blind bags from Breyer's website. I'm trying to avoid them as much as possible, especially as the unicorn is on the same mold as a non-chase model, and at $4.99 each I don't want to buy a half dozen purple Alborozos since I already have the purple Alborozo. The Spirit one though... that one is tempting since it's a completely different mold. I'm still unsure about Sherbert, whether I will sell her or keep her. I didn't think I'd like her until I saw her in real life... doesn't that seem like it always happens? Breyer has released their Classics Halloween horse for Friday the 13th early to Collector Club members, along with the adorable stablemates from the Collector Club tent at Breyerfest. If these horses are available after then they will be offered to everyone who visits their website as web specials. However, the Fruitcake Fillies sold out before they were even offered to the public, and I'm expecting the Spooky Surprise stablemates to do the same so this is one of the perks of being a CC member. This is Classics sized Salem who sports the "purrfect" combination of paint and pattern. He is a grullo with a spooky cat pinto design with paw print shaped spots, a purple pearly sheen and the white areas glow in the dark. I have to say that Breyer really surprised us for this one who is, in my personal opinion, the best Classics Halloween custom they've done. Bad for my wallet though, as I had to have Salem after already just buying Samhain, who is now sold out. The stablemates sized horses are called the Spooky Surprise collection and they include a gambler's choice of either Calavera, Ichabod or Bats in the Belfry in miniature. When I saw these at Breyerfest, I wanted them, but after seeing their price tag and due to the fact that Breyer is just releasing too many darn things I want this year, I decided to forego them. If you'd like to purchase my two (they were limited to 2 per order) I do have them available on eBay. Last but not least, the Halloween customs that I have made for this year are already hitting the shelves! I've made the Horsemen of the Apocalypse my series this year. I've made four "horsemen" in stablemates size, all are completed, and two have already been sold. As traditional horses take so much time to do (I've actually been working on "Death" since last fall) I will only be customizing two this year. "Death" is on the Thoroughbred Mare mold - one of my favorite vintage molds - because she has to be old if she's dead, right? The other horse "Famine" is on the Desatado mold and was just finished. I predicted him to be done by September, and was correct. He is probably one of my best customs to date so stop by my Halloween customs page and check him out! I also have a test run that I was going to use for "Death" on the stablemates series but I decided to use a different mold instead. He will be offered on eBay as well. Finally, I've also customized two Mini Whinnies foals, my first Mini Whinnies customs ever, in my most popular glow-in-the-dark skeleton designs. If you would like a sample of my work but can't afford the more expensive customs, the Mini Whinnies are perfect for all budgets! If they sell well, I will make more ;) If you're interested in any of my customs, feel free to check them out on eBay. I'm trying to save up for the upcoming holidays, which admittedly is hard with five children to buy gifts for, so I often sell my customs this time of the year to help out. I'm hoping to take advantage of the CC Appreciation deal this year. I missed the last few years because there wasn't enough RRs that I wanted, but this year they've released quite a few that I would like to add to my collection. With so many good horses they've come out with this year, my wallet isn't too happy with me LOL!
I honestly teetered about joining the Vintage Club last year because of flashy silver bay Rockford, but I decided against it due to the mold he was on. However, after seeing the final VC release for 2019, I'm kicking myself that I didn't. My personal take on the specialty clubs is that you should only join if you are a serious collector because chances are you won't get what you paid for it. I've seen this in my three years with the Stablemates Club and with the VC models I've bought on the second hand market. Anyways, the Vintage Club 2019 final release has just been revealed. Their names are Lillian and Molly a mare and foal set on the Thoroughbred Mare and Nursing Foal molds. Their coloring is described as buckskin, although it looks more like a sooty buckskin by the pictures, as the coloring is more greyish than yellow, so I'm curious to see what these two look like in real life. I definitely wouldn't describe the stock photo as buckskin, or maybe I just don't want to, since Breyer has been a little too buckskin happy (Bandelier, Rocket, Hakan, Sampson and Lucien) and dun happy this year. This horse is the first Vintage Club model for 2020. The name is not yet known. According to Breyer, for their 70th anniversary, they are "pulling out the stops" whatever that means, but knowing Breyer I'm expecting that they'll probably do something extra special this coming year. Although a lot of people were drooling over this horse, I'm personally not a fan. I am curious however to see what they have up their sleeves for this year, although I most likely won't join since the VC horses more likely than not don't sell for what collectors originally paid for them. Unlike the Premier Club horses that go up with time, the VC horses usually go down, except for the gambler's choice, just like with the Stablemates Club.
Since I post the new release list on my website, people have asked if I could also post the yearly retired list so that they could get in any last minute orders. Here it is! All the horses listed below are going to be retired at the end of this year. TraditionalOtherWell, it's THAT time of the year again, the time for the Breyer fall releases! We have been looking forward to the Halloween horses (both Classics and Traditional), the fall flagship horse, the fall limited edition decorator, the fall Collector Club release, the Tractor Supply horses, the holiday horse, the web exclusives and the late releases in the specialty clubs. Most have been released by now but there are still others that are a mystery. Stay tuned! For all you book lovers, there is a new, yet classic, horse coming to the lineup. Remember National Velvet's the Pie? Well if you do, you will be happy to see that, like Black Beauty, he will now be able to be collected in Classics size. I love the markings on this guy, and definitely plan on adding him to my personal collection! The book and the movie were my all time favorites as a child! Ugh... Breyer. You're going a tad bit crazy with the unicorns of late. We're going to have to start calling your company Breyer Unicorns. Just kidding... Anyways, you unicorn and fantasy horse lovers need new horses to collect, right? Well here you go, meet Zoe and Zander the next foals in the Classics unicorn series. Aaaaaaand... you will probably also love.... Yep! That's right! Walmart is coming out with a second series of the Unicorn Crazy stablemates with all new unicorns! Now even though I don't tempt myself by collecting every unicorn Breyer has ever released to date or else I'd drive myself insane, I do collect some in the stablemates size (because they're affordable hehe) so I do plan to keep my eyes out for these guys! I have to admit that the colors on this series are amazing and I like that Breyer used a different mold for the chase piece, probably to avoid all the crazies that ripped open all the Magnolias trying to track down the chaser from the last series. I never found the black and gold Halloween colored chaser from the last series, which I'm really bummed about. Maybe this time I'll have a good chance of chasing the rainbow? No pun intended... Now this guy is definitely on my want list. This is Khalid, the fall flagship horse. I was actually hoping that I wouldn't like the second flagship horse this year, as my wish list for this year is big enough. However, this guy is a Barb horse, and I don't think Breyer has used that breed much before. The modified Marwari mold has, to date, only been used one other time for a Breyerfest SR but I think this coloring looks the best on this mold yet. I'm still a little upset that they made him a - you guessed it! - dun but at least he's metallic so that's a little better than just simply being dun. Those that went crazy over Banner from Breyerfest will go even crazier when they see Lightning Ridge, who is the limited edition decorator. They are only making 3,000 pc of him and I bet that he'll be sold out very quickly once he's released to the website.
Although this changes throughout the years as new molds are added, I would like to make a list of my current favorite molds. I've already made a list detailing my favorite Premier Club molds, but now I'm going to take it a step further and list all my favorite molds ever up to this day. So here goes! They are in no particular order, by the way. Smart Chic OlenaWhen this mold was first released, it blew all other previous stock horse molds out of the water. The long, wavy mane and tail, the alert expression and the muscular body all pointed to a very well-made stock horse. He's been made in so many colors, you can find just about anything on this mold. To this day, this mold still remains one of my favorite stock horses despite all the new molds of similar breeds. I still even love him over - gasp - Dundee. MarwariIf you haven't realized by now from reading my blog, I love the uncommon breeds of horses, especially those that have attributes that differentiate them from other horse breeds. Such is the Marwari with their inward curving ears. These horses are one of my favorite of the worldly breeds, next to the Akhal Teke, so it is a mold that I try to collect when possible. MistyIf I had to choose a favorite vintage mold, it would no doubt be Misty. Not only was she my first Breyer ever, I also love her for her unique shabby coat. Most Breyer horses are smoot but Misty has kind of a rough texture to her coat. Although I don't like every color ever made on this mold, I would love to see some more modern colors done on her. ShannondellHonestly I used to favor the Othello mold until Shannondell was made. I love the fact that this bulky horse is more compact so as to fit on the shelf better, whereas I always had to turn Othello because he was such a shelf hog. The only fault is that Shannondell can be tippy but usually the legs are easy to fix to make him stand better, should you get a tippy model. HamiltonI've always been fond of gaited breeds ever since I rode an ex-trotter as a child. I'd been waiting for Breyer to replace that tippy, pasture potato Pacer with a new Standardbred mold, and to this day I'm still waiting for it. Although they replaced that chunky, googly-eyed Four Gaiter with the American Saddlebred Stallion, I longed for a mold showing the Saddlebred in action, like they did with the Icelandic mold. Finally, and I mean finally they came out with just that in the form of Hamilton! This horse is honestly the first mold I thought about having a conga of. Forever SaigeI know many people didn't like this horse but I thought she was amazingly detailed for a mustang. Her mane and tail have that windswept look about them, she is sniffing the breeze with inquisitive eyes like she's keeping her eyes on something behind her. One foot is lifted and her back legs braced for if she needs to flee. Yes, I believe she is a magnificent sculpture, even if she isn't "performance quality" like people were saying. To me, she is one of the most realistic mustangs done to date. Fell PonyLast, but certainly not least, is the cute-as-a-button Fell Pony. The fluff about this girl makes me surprised that Breyer hasn't turned her into a unicorn by now. Her feathered legs, flowing mane/tail, beard and forelock covering her eyes makes her stand out from all other pony molds. Unfortunately, her only downfall is that she hasn't been made much. To date, she's only been made in three obtainable colors, and two are still very hard-to-find.
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