The October newsletter showed up in my mailbox today. It contained a really interesting article about the history of the Halloween horses and a giveaway to enter for Salem and Ratsputin. I entered for the fun of it since my Salem I had ended up taking a nosedive off the shelf and got a nice scratch down his side along with an ear rub so I sold him off for a lot lower than I would've liked. I don't expect to replace him ever again given the prices he's going for now so it'd be nice to win him back, though I don't expect anything to come of it since they're only giving away one set. It looks like the winter decorator which is done as a lottery model is going to be on time, as it's usually available in November and the newsletter contained a sneak peek of it. It appears they're going back to the blue filigree coloring of Benasque from the previous year, which is awesome because I missed out on Benasque and I love Breyer's glittery blue ponies. Mirror Image and the blue Lancelot will forever be part of my collection. The mold for this one is hard to tell (there was no indication in the description) but it appears very muscle-y. There have been so many releases lately that Identify Your Breyer has even had a hard time keeping up. Some of the latest releases still aren't pictured on there. I think we can finally breathe a little easier now. Unless There is still Black Friday to look forward to, although with most stores putting out their deals early, it wouldn't surprise me if Breyer does the same. For Collector Club members, there may be previous club releases posted that had a hard time selling, though if you've been up-to-date on the club for the past few years, it most likely won't be anything too spectacular. For those who are new, you might find some diamonds in the rough.
Other than that, unless Breyer has anything else up their sleeves, which I wouldn't put past them, the only others left are the upcoming blue filigree guy, the lottery animal and the Santa Surprise. Two on the rocks are a winter stablemates gambler's choice (last year it was the Starry Skies which didn't sell really well so they may not do another) and the Connoisseur quality Ambrose that they released right before the new year. Will they do another at the end of this year or was he just a fluke? I guess we'll find out. Ambrose was $295 to purchase though, which is pretty steep for all but the most serious of collectors. So while everyone is getting their CCA models, apparently Breyer made quite a few different glossies including Buckeye, Truly Unsurpassed, the Sable Island Horse, EZ to Spot, the Orren Mixer QH, Dominante, Winx and Catch Me. If you received any other not listed, please feel free to chime in, but that's all the ones that I've heard of so far. Hopefully Breyer will announce later how many of each they made. I thought my favorite would be Winx but actually I kind of liked the Orren Mixer. He looks really good in glossy and Breyer apparently also added a gold interference to his paint that wasn't there in the regular runs I got earlier in the year. Surprisingly Troubadour is now available for purchase to Premier Club members, in case someone needed to remind Breyer that it's not November yet. I'm going to hold off a little longer before placing my order to make sure Breyer is done - I mean really done - with the new releases so Troubadour can have a buddy to ride with. He is beautiful. I'm really excited for this one! While at Walmart today, I decided to stop by the toy aisle since they just did their reset for the holidays. Lo and behold, they had a brand new box of Mini Whinnies series 3 and the chase model was the absolute first one in front on the right. I could tell it was him when I felt the bag by the bend in his tail. I've been looking for this booger for months and now I'm happy to say he's mine! I've started on my Christmas customs. In place of the glow in the dark finish that I used for my Halloween customs, I bought glossy finish this time, so all my holiday customs will have a nice high gloss shine to them. This seems to be very well liked based on how much the CCA models are selling for. My head is spinning at the sight of $500+ horses that were free all because of the gloss crave and people are actually paying that much for them! I understand second hand inflation... I'm guilty of it myself... but good grief! Anyways, I'm sold out of Halloween horses except for one stablemate and hope to have my holiday horses on eBay in November.
I have some good news! I just got word from Breyer that some of my wooden stablemates stables will be on their way here next week so the mystery of "which horses?" will soon be solved! I don't know if this order will include the blue or pink stables because I'm not receiving my entire order (some of it is still out of stock and will be shipped later) so I guess we'll see when they get here. Breyer also managed to squeeze in another web exclusive release today. Meet Bellatrix and Spica, the annual holiday mare and foal set. Unfortunately, I do have to complain a minute here, and I know Breyer is tired of hearing about it but I noticed the previous pattern for the holiday mare and foal set has been horse-unicorn-horse-unicorn. If going by that pattern, since last year's Mira and Antares were unicorns (which never sold out and are still available on the website by the way) I don't understand why these two are unicorns. Ok, rant over. Despite the horns, I'm having a hard time avoiding these two but I promised myself no unicorns. Breyer makes it so darn tough, though! They had to put one of my favorite colors (blue/black) on a mold I conga and then expect me to pass it up. I'm thinking I may need to make an exception just this once. Finally, I would like to show you guys Honeybunch in the plastic. She is adorable and has very pearly white areas, just as an FYI for those who aren't big on pearling. I was kind of hoping for some white under her blanket, or even some lovely dapples, but she has neither, she is just plain ole palomino. She's still a cute addition to my little Fell Pony conga and the horse I received was pretty flawless, I couldn't really find anything wrong with her. She came in the beautiful printed box in the background, though the box wasn't as thick as the one sent with A Pony for Christmas last year. All these releases are so close together that, like many, I'm having a hard time coming up with the funds for all of them. I still have the club deposits yet to purchase. I've decided to join the Stablemates Club and Premier Club again next year but will most likely forego the Vintage Club even if I do have the opportunity to join. As much as I love that red roan Georg, more often than not I am able to find those horses less than cost. If I collected vintage models for my own collection, I probably would join, but considering that I only like maybe one a year, I may have a hard time selling it for the original cost I paid for it.
Breyer is still cranking them out. If you go to their website and check under new releases (go to products then highlights) you'll see their new releases including the Black Beauty re-release on the Silver mold. It appears that, while this year Breyer was mostly concentrating on appaloosas, we usually get a little hint at what they're going to focus on for the next year at the end of the previous year, and this time it appears to be black horses going by the new Black Beauty, the unicorn mare/foal set and next year's Collector Club special run. The release date for Black Beauty is estimated to be November. If you haven't seen them yet, here they are: Honestly I'm surprised with the Fairfax gift set because of the fact that typically Horses of the Year are only released one year but it looks like Fairfax will be available for a little while longer. The final newest release is Nova, a Classics sized unicorn. Although he's meant to look like the sun, in my opinion he looks like a dragon. Unfortunately all the horses listed above are web specials, meaning sold through Breyer's website only and not to dealers, therefore I will not be getting them in. The wooden stables that I'm supposed to be receiving are confusing because Breyer apparently changed the molds and colors of the horses coming with their wooden stable sets. The unicorns appear to be a whole new set too instead of the blind bag ones they showed in the original stock photos as well as the stablemates and there has actually been three different sets of stablemates shown for the blue stable. The question is which set will it be? I really hope it's not the latest one shown because they really do look very cheaply painted. I won't know what the actual colors are until they're in hand, which should be soon since their estimated arrival date is November, but once I do, I'll surely let y'all know! So what's left? Well, we've just had the Collector Club Appreciation deal, seen the fall CC special run (Sassy), the Halloween Classics horse (Ratsputin), we got our Spooky Stablemates, our Wild Animal series lottery models, our web special pony (Honeybunch), our Classics decorator web exclusive (Christoff) and now the Classics unicorn (Nova). That leaves the holiday stablemates web special gambler's choice, the holiday mare and foal set, the holiday animal lottery model, the holiday lottery horse and the Santa Surprise. Still quite a few in store for us these upcoming months!
After tossing about the idea of making an entire post dedicated to my feelings regarding the removal of the celebration horse, I decided that I just don't want to deal with the backlash and will instead write about something more neutral. I know many hobbyists had voiced their opinion for Uniquely Destined to be the celebration horse, but here again we have the issue of the HYPP gene, so I hope Breyer doesn't open that can of worms again, even though I absolutely adore the horse despite her many physical issues due to her breeding, poor gal. I'm honestly not a big follower of any other disciplines than Thoroughbred racing (even though at one point in my life I was a barrel racer) so I don't know if I could come up with any ideas for a celebration horse in particular outside of maybe Koda Chrome, Southern Phantom, Buchiko and Silvery Moon, though a couple I doubt would be willing to be a celebration horse since they'd have to ship him in from overseas. Although I don't know any famous ones personally, Knabstrubbers are flashy, as are many colors of mustangs, and we haven't had a mustang as a celebration horse in a while. I'm sure Breyer has some lined up just in case this happened, and I'm excited - as well as nervous - to see who they choose next. Anyways, I'll leave this subject as it is for now, because I know y'all are tired of hearing about it. So today I stopped at Tuesday Morning which, by the way, I'd never heard of selling Breyers until someone mentioned it on Facebook. We actually have one about 30 minutes away from where I live. Some people spoke of finding the Sable Island Horse, Justify and several others there. Unfortunately all they had when I went was Enzo, and he was in a badly damaged box. Since Enzo wasn't part of my regular run order (which I'm not even sure when Breyer is going to finally send me) I bought him. Granted, I absolutely hate the mold, but for $20 and the fact that I did like the coloring - didn't know his mane and tail were pearly - I really had no reason not to. Thankfully, despite the badly bent box, he was in superb condition. While I applaud Sarah Minkiewicz for the minute details like his veining on his legs, the wrinkles on his neck and the bumps on the horse's nose, as you probably know if you read my blog back in 2016 when this mold was released, I'm not a big fan. His head was just way too large for his small, narrow, lanky body for me to want to conga him. Of course, I've collected molds I don't like if it came with a color that I do, and this color is growing on me. Admittedly I was going to get him to resell, but considering the fact that I have had so many non-paying buyers on eBay lately that I haven't been posting as much as I typically do, I might hang on to him for a bit. Gah! The mold though! Speaking of eBay, really guys I do hate opening a UPI because I know that it makes people bitter so please please please don't bid/buy if you cannot pay within 48 hours or at least contact me to tell me when you plan to pay. I'm fairly lenient about payment so long as you're upfront from the beginning, I have let many people purchase horses when they don't have the funds. I've been in your shoes before so I completely understand that sometimes you need more than that 48 hour window to pay, however if I don't receive communication within that 48 hours, I have to open the UPI to recoup the fees that eBay charges me when my item sells. I could cancel but cancelling makes me look bad in eBay's eyes so I could lose my selling privileges, and if a buyer still intends to pay late, they could potentially leave me negative feedback from cancelling on them.
I do intend to try to veer away from eBay soon. In January when I start doing pre-orders for the 2021 regular runs, I'm planning on starting a store here on my website so you can purchase directly from me rather than being transferred to my eBay page for purchases. Also selling on my website would save me the 10% of shipping eBay charges, the fees taken out for each item sold and the Paypal transaction fee. Already in a year I've grown so much thanks to all of you. At this time last year, I was teetering on joining the Premier Club because I didn't know if I could afford it. I had to sell my CCA glossy to purchase the deposit. I'm very, very grateful for every purchase everyone makes, whether a $5 stablemate or a $100+ special run. All this will be leading up to my eventual goal of starting a brick-and-mortar store so I can offer a bigger, better selection, as well as the flagship specials to everyone. Fingers crossed! We've all been pretty much preparing for this one, but here finally is the first Vintage Club 2021 release, and he's a stunner! I don't know why I like the coloring on this mold, but I do. If you want to try your luck getting in to this limited club, the Vintage Club will open in November for memberships, with current members getting the chance to renew first. The club is limited to only 500 members total and most people renew year after year, so getting in is rather difficult. It requires a $100 deposit if you do. For the Vintage Club you'll receive four models a year and an optional fifth model will also be available for purchase later in the year. The price of the models is $135 each but the $100 deposit is dispersed between the four models making it $110 each plus shipping. The optional purchase is the full $135 if you choose to purchase it. The other four models you will be obligated to purchase, meaning that if you can't purchase them, you are kicked out of the club and will be unable to purchase anymore Vintage Club models the rest of the year. You will also be forfeiting the rest of your $100 deposit. If you don't want every release, the best thing to do is to buy second hand. Vintage Club horses typically drop well below original price, unless they're extremely popular or gambler's choices.
Will we see the entire Vintage Club lineup early this year, just like we did last year? I've had a couple people mention to me that the Breyerfest celebration horse (who was supposed to be Intuit) has been removed from Breyer's website, blog and social media platforms. There was so much controversy going on with the real horse that the owners apparently backed out of their deal with Breyer (click on the link to read Breyer's official announcement) "for the safety of their horse" which is a real shame. I don't want to start a debate but personally I was looking forward to the Intuit model and I do think this was taken too far. Regardless of how you feel about the real horse, the model was stunning even if he looked similar to Ambrose, and the models are the reason why we're here after all. By the way, if you didn't get the opportunity to see the model before it was deleted, this was what he was going to look like: So while we wait to see who will be our next celebration horse, I would like to introduce you in the meantime to the first Premier Club 2021 horse, Fireheart. Although we most likely won't see the other Premier Club horses for next year, this guy alone has already made me decide to renew. It's now just a waiting game for the clubs to open, which Breyer has announced will start some time next month, most likely after the third release for the club is in hand. He is a beautiful sooty palomino blanket appaloosa, though honestly I feel as if the blanket is going overboard. I would've bought this boy without it. I love his subtle, realistic dappling and those hooves are just incredible! I love how his mouth is slightly open, and his eyes just appear as if they're looking right through you. Yes, this boy is a no-brainer for me! He's got all the awesome qualities I look for in a model.
The price of the Premier Club models is $175 each but the $100 deposit you have to pay to get into the club is dispersed between the three models making it $141.66 each plus shipping. You will be obligated to purchase all three models, meaning that if you can't purchase one of them, you are kicked out of the club and will be unable to purchase anymore Premier Club models the rest of the year. You will also be forfeiting the rest of your $100 deposit. If you don't want every release, the best thing to do is to buy second hand. It will be a bit more expensive than original price but it beats having a bad reputation in the Breyer specialty clubs if you can't afford all the models. Just when you think it was over, Breyer has cranked out yet another release today. This is Christoff the new Classics winter decorator. I'm assuming this guy is taking the place of the previously released web exclusive Classics (examples are Frosty, Coeur de Lion, Zenith, etc.) but this guy is unique because he's a clearware, and his pattern is very similar to St. Moritz. I may end up adding this guy as a buddy to ride with when I purchase the final Premier Club horse, provided he's still available by then. Only 2,000 were made. I'm assuming they'll release some wintry stablemates either next month or in December so I'll let y'all know if that happens. In the meantime, I've received Valerio, and I ended up with the sooty buckskin appaloosa. The first thing I thought was that he looks very similar to Andante. Here are some in-hand pictures of him before I package him up to be sent to his new home: Unfortunately he just wasn't my cup of tea. Although he was described by Breyer as a "sooty buckskin" he just looked too bay to me, especially as the one I received was super dark, hardly any yellow at all. I probably won't hunt down the rose grey since prices are outrageous for this guy so instead I will be looking forward to the dapple grey Clydesdale and the chunky broodmare in December!
Breyer has been going crazy with all the new releases and sneak peeks of late, and they're still trying to take our money. First of all, meet the Palomino for Christmas, the second in what appears to be a series of "ponies for Christmas" which kind of surprises me with how poorly the Highland Pony sold last year (he's actually still available on the website) but maybe with the more sought-after mold we'll see more in future. This gal's name is Honeybunch and she has a palomino coat with a pearly mane and tail. As with the Pony for Christmas, Breyer didn't show us what's under her blanket. Is she dappled? Pinto? Or knowing this year she's probably appaloosa. I guess I'll be finding out when she shows up at my door soon because of course I bought her with her being on one of my all time favorite molds. It's a shame she didn't come out a bit sooner or I would have bought her with Valerio to save on shipping... oh well. Finally, at least for now, for all you Vintage Club members, the optional horse Barrington is now available for purchase. She is $135 plus shipping to those who are in the Vintage Club and would like to own this model on the Bristol mold.
Breyer made the announcement today that it's Collector Club Appreciation! If you're a Collector Club member that means that you can get a FREE glossy model with your purchase provided that you buy at least $125 worth of regular run merchandise. People were complaining about it being too early, that they weren't saving up for it yet, but remember last year people complained about it being in December because most people are broke after holiday shopping. See? We asked Breyer to do it at a different time of the year and Breyer listened :) I was really surprised that Adiah HP was back in stock after Breyer told me she wouldn't be until 2021, but maybe it was because they were saving stock specifically for the CC Appreciation? It would make sense. I still haven't received a new regular run dealer order and I'm thinking it's because they're probably going to gloss some of the models that I ordered so they will probably send me a shipment once they see how many participate in the CC Appreciation They didn't say all the models they were going to gloss but they did say there would be at least glossy Winx, glossy Buckeye and glossy Catch Me, along with others. Although I will not be participating this year, if you're a CC member and you do participate, make sure you add the 8224 model to your cart along with $125 worth of merchandise and enter the code THANKSCC20 in checkout in order for the $150 for the glossy model to be deducted from your cart. You must do all of this, otherwise you will have to call Breyer to change it, and sometimes they won't change orders once they're put through.
This deal is only going on for 24 hours or until sell out so be sure to get your order in! |
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