Hey, guys! I just wanted to pop in and update that the Holiday Collection is on it's way, however Breyer for whatever reason didn't actually ship it out until Thursday (which is a couple days later than usual... usually they have them out the door by Tuesday) so my order most likely won't be arriving until tomorrow or Tuesday. However, I do have all the labels placed on the boxes and the boxes ready to go, so once they get here they'll be out the door within 24-48 hours of arriving to me. All in all, you should still get them by the end of next week. I will update once I hear any news about the rest of my Equidae models, but apparently Breyer is receiving them from overseas VERY slowly and are dispersing them to their dealers first come, first serve, so the dealers who didn't order literally within a day of receiving their emails to order Equidae were only sent a partial shipment. While this unfortunate since now I have to pay double the shipping for them to be sent to me from Breyer, I'm just happy that you all will have your Equidae models by Christmas. These guys turned out beautiful... I didn't see a single one that had any major issues from what I could see of them so hopefully the quality control is improving. Did any of you take part in Peter Stone's Moonlight Madness event? This was my first time attending and oh my goodness did they all sell out FAST! Reminded me of Breyerfest 2020 all over again. Apparently Peter Stone was making every 13th horse (for Friday the 13th I'm assuming) a backlight reactive trick or treat variation. I bought the backlight reactive OOAK Blood Moon who they showed in the preview video around 40 minutes in. He was one of only two graveyard ponies this year, the other was Zombified, whom I lost out on halfway through checkout. I'd always wanted a graveyard horse though from Peter Stone, so I was super lucky to have snagged at least one. He is on my favorite Pebbles sized mold, the Thoroughbred. The moon on glows red, hence his name. I may have to do a Youtube video of him when he comes to show y'all the blood moon because it doesn't show up too well in pictures. My other purchase was a kind of frustration purchase on my behalf because I lost out on the main run models. This horse wasn't a OOAK (you were only allowed one of those per person) but was a limited run of only 7 pieces, so still very rare. Another I'd been wanting from Peter Stone for a while was a calavera, or sugar skull, horse. Peter Stone made these for a few years and I was finally able to obtain one this year in Balthazar. Granted, I never wanted to own an ISH, but he didn't look too bad with his modified mane and tail, plus he was GLOSSY so I didn't have to pay extra for that. I do love his dappling, however. I've way overspent but I'm sure they'll be worth every penny. I'm planning on doing my own little holiday sale closer to Christmas. I haven't decided for sure yet when it'll be, but I'll definitely let you all know. In the meantime, I have updated my store to include only in stock models for the time being, not any that are on backorder to avoid confusion. If, however, you would like to purchase any models not listed, especially the models that are going to be retired at the end of this year, please feel free to contact me and I can submit a special order to Breyer for you. As soon as the first year 2022 models are revealed, I will be listing those for pre-ordering.
I hope you all had a fun Halloween and don't eat too much candy ;) Oh, geez. Where do I start? Lots of information in this post today. First off, if you're a Collector Club member for this year, I've just received an email today stating that the JAH annual magazine is on its way to collectors, so keep an eye out for that to come to your mailbox soon. Unfortunately there were no sneak peeks revealed on the cover, like there sometimes is, but they did say there will be some future reveals in it so yay for that! Now to begin talk of the unicorn frenzy, the main topic of this post. Some say the more the merrier. Others say "ugh... enough already!" and so whatever category you fall into, the next unfortunate - or fortunate depending on which way you look at it - victims in line of putting a horn on everything is Susecion and Le Fire. Yep, they are obtainable at Breyer prices, but only while supplies last. Meet Diadem and Alcor your annual holiday mare and foal set. Due to their popularity Breyer is limiting these sets to one per email address. I admit I'm in the latter category, although I did invest in my very first traditional unicorn pair last year with Bellatrix and Spica, but I ended up reselling them because they just didn't grow on me. I thought I would like them a lot better in real life than I did. Well, Breyer got me again, but only because this is the first obtainable Susecion and Le Fire set I've been able to get my hands on. Although I can't wait to have a set on this mold, the other half of me is dreading Breyer's unicorn addiction. Not that I have anything against anyone that collects these fantasy ponies. Not at all, I'm just not a fan of unrealistic horse colors. Breyer might be able to change my mind about unicorns though if they'd make them in realistic horse colors and with more complex patterns, like dappling and spots, something to give them more weight to their price. With this set, Alcor (the foal) looks similar in coloring to Bellatrix and Spica from last year, while momma is supposed to be white with a soft blue, purple and pink shading. I think they were trying to mimic how fading grey roan foals are often born black and turn white with age, which is kind of a neat mystical twist. It sure looks better than the randomness of colors that the new Tractor Supply celestial unicorn family sets had in them. Yes, folks, that's right. My local TSC has finally gotten in their Breyers. The new unicorn surprise sets are very pretty. I love the yellow Croi, who looks almost like a palomino, and the pearly white Morgan stallion. Again, probably because they are more realistic colors. I don't mind the metallic sheen or pearling, but the decorator colors are what I avoid. Except blue. I love the blues. Which is why I'm a bit depressed I can't find that dang coppenhagen chase from the blind bags. It's probably better for my mental health if I just acted like he never existed in the first place. Just as a spoiler alert, if you don't want to see the surprise babies, I highly suggest you skip this next part. I do show the babies below: The babies of the Croi and Walking Arabian stallion set was a cute dark blue lying foal. Funny that both the stallion and foal of this set were the color of Alby stablemates from previous blind bags. Finally, I am happy to now own Cirrus and Wilder. Albeit typical of TSC models they have a lot of little factory flaws, but any horse is better than no horse is my moto in these cases. There were two of each at my store. One Cirrus was a lot lighter than the other and had very little shading. The one I picked was darker with a bit more pearling. The pearling isn't excessive as to be overdone though, and she does have flea bites in her coat. Now Wilder I haven't removed from his box yet, as I haven't decided for sure if I want to keep him. He's kind of plain to me, with a lot more bare plastic than I like on my models, and very little spots. Of course, he could be a few spot appaloosa. I do like his ghost shaped blaze and heart shaped spot on his hip. Which is why I haven't decided for sure I want to sell him. He has those neat characteristics about him. He does have a very soft looking face with a lot of expression in his eyes, so he might just be a keeper, at least temporarily. I left the remaining two at the store in case someone else is looking for them. They are also currently available on Tractor Supply's website now.
I did receive my Pony for Christmas Bouncer and will review him in my next post since this post is already too long. I also should - hopefully - have the Christmas horse in either tomorrow or the next day and will review him with my Bouncer on the same post. Also, if you are a Peter Stone collector, be sure to check out Moonlight Madness this weekend. I may shop for a couple more Stones myself :) Happy Halloween weekend, everyone! Breyer said we'd get our first 2022 Breyerfest model reveal by the end of this month, and they delivered! Meet Nikolas, a German Riding Pony owned by the same owner as Jazzman, the Morgan also portrayed by Breyer as a regular run. Nikolas gets a new mold for next year, sculpted by the same artist of the first Premier Club release of 2022, Brigitte Eberl. It is very fitting that they used a German artist to sculpt a German breed, in my opinion, since after all the theme is Prost! This is the fifth time a new sculpture has debuted as a celebration model: Rejoice, Alborozo, Roxy and the Marchador were the others. So what do y'all think of this guy? What other breeds could he be used for? I could definitely see him as a Connemara Pony in future because a lot of people considered the Connemara Mare (Croi) mold far too showy so this guy would be a good replacement, and I'm sure if they ever needed to make a Connemara Mare they could make "alterations" to the gender like they did with so many other molds. However, how do you guys feel about a pony mold being used as the celebration horse? Looking at the picture above, he looks pretty leggy, but looking at the picture of Jamie holding him below, he looks rather small. Tell me in the comments! While I was hopeful that Georg would be used for Breyerfest next year since he should be as a German Rhendish draft mold, however with him being used as a Collector Club special run, I'm beginning to feel a bit less hopeful. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean he won't be used, but it's not too common for models used the same year for something else (aka regular runs, limited editions and special runs) that they also are used for Breyerfest. Again, not impossible, just typical. Also, since he was already used as a special run in 2020, it hasn't been that long since he was a part of Breyerfest. Still, I'm crossing my fingers we'll see Georg in the lineup. One can never have enough Georg models.
Who else are we likely to see in the lineup? While it's far too early for speculation since the first model reveals likely won't be until after the first of the year, I personally would also like to see Idocus make a comeback. He looked really good on Wapiti, who is currently the only model I have on this mold. I would like to see a Black Forest horse finally made on a Breyer. We had Markus who was a Black Forest cross as a flagship release years ago. I think Goffert would fit the bill perfectly, but I know he's kind of a yesterday's news mold by now. The Aegidienberger could be made on the Icelandic mold since the two breeds are both known for the tolt gait. Of course they may not even stick to German breeds, but rather random horses named after German traditions, like with the India and Brazil themes. We'll just have to wait and see what the creative minds at Breyer come up with for us! I have just been notified this morning that the holiday horse, Arctic Grandeur, is on the way and will be here by the end of this week! Also coming with him are the ornaments, the Advent calendar and the Palominos & Pintos stablemates gift set (haven't seen that since it was released way back in early 2021) so those of you who pre-ordered should see shipping notices start hitting your email account early next week! The holiday collection did sell out this year so unfortunately I don't have any extras, however I will be sure to double my order for next year so hopefully each of you that want one will be able to get one Again, anyone who pre-ordered this guy - or any ornaments - that have moved since I began offering him last spring, please let me know of any change of address, otherwise he will be sent to the address on file and I have only purchased enough of them to fill orders. Meaning that if you moved and didn't notify me of an address change, I won't have any additional stock to send you another because, as mentioned above he did sell out, so please let me know by the end of this week if you need him sent to a new address. Thank you! I almost forgot that I ordered these little guys but they were hovering at the bottom of my box with Equidae. These are the mystery Mini Whinnies that Breyer released around the same time as Equidae, and us dealers were confused as to which series this was going to be. The description from Breyer said "series 6" but the pictures showed a different series altogether, while most dealers thought it was series 3 with Pixie as the chase. I can confirm now that it is in fact the series 5 blind bags that were available through Walmart for a short time before the pandemic hit. I thought this series was one of the best, color-wise. It had a buckskin, metallic-y silver bay, pearly white gelding, leopard appaloosa, chestnut Saddlebred, red roan Quarter Horse and black and white pinto. Not really anything common. The chase for this series was Reed, and I actually did end up pulling one from this set despite my rather bad luck with Mini Whinnies blind bags. He was a copper filigree. I am offering the complete sets here on my website, minus the chase, for those who are Mini Whinnies collectors that didn't get the opportunity to find the entire series. These guys, being sent directly from Breyer, weren't felt through or rubbed up. Being able to offer my buyers complete sets of series is one way I try to stick out from other dealers, who typically only offer them blind or in full boxes. Although I can't release any more information just yet, I do want to say that I plan to make 2022 my best year yet in the what will be three years now as a dealer. I will be updating more on that later in the year, closer to Christmas, but I think y'all are going to like the changes coming :)
Last but not least is the retirement list for 2021: Traditional Series Models 1435 Lil' Ricky Rocker 1773 Voyeur - Champion Show Jumper 1821 Stingray 1822 The "Gangsters" - Driving Ponies Set 1826 Avatar's Jazzman 1827 Favory Airiella Gift Set 1833 Thriller 1839 The Ideal Series - American Paint Horse 1845 Old Glory 1850 Steele Freedom Series Models & Accessories 699 Country Stable with Wash Stall 62054 Cupcake 62121 Hope, 2021 Horse of the Year 62206 Zoe & Zander, Unicorn Foals 62212 High Tide 62214 Solaris Stablemates Models 6048 Unicorn Gift Collection 6051 Mystery Horse Surprise Series 3 - 70th Anniversary Collection 6052 Unicorn Foal Surprise Assortment 6900 Stablemates Horse Singles Assortment0 The complete list of CollectA models are listed on Breyer's website. The majority of the retirement list is expected. Steele, Thriller, Hope and Old Glory are obvious since they are limited editions anyways, and the Ideal Series will likely see a new paint job next year. The retirement of Lil Ricky Rocker is really a long time coming. Cupcake is a bit surprising since he was just released this year, but it may be possible that he just wasn't very popular, hence why I never ended up selling any of mine. Steele... don't even get me started about how much of a thorn in my side that horse has been. I've looked at every place I know where he could be and haven't found him yet. The same with the Tractor Supply limited editions. I've stopped at no less than six Tractor Supply stores from here to Kentucky and haven't found Wilder or Cirrus. I see people posting multiples on social media so my guess is that they are taking whatever is put on the shelf, leaving only Sayen, who is all I've been finding. Those blind bags are another thorn. I did find the grullo pinto I wanted, but the bags at the TSC I found him at were clearly already rummaged through (the bags of all the Loping Quarter Horses were torn open) and he was sadly marked up. However, I'm at the point where I don't think I'll be able to find any more blind bags anytime soon, let alone the chase model, so I went ahead and added him to my collection. The good news... Equidae is here! I've spent the weekend packaging him up so the orders that will be going out will be shipped out starting tomorrow. He is phenomenal! Definitely one of the best rainbow horses yet in my opinion. From what I can see, doesn't look like he has the quality issues that Spectrum had last year, and all the boxes arrived in decent shape as well. The bad news... I did not receive my entire order, as has been the norm this year. So I'm shipping these guys first come, first serve. Those who pre-ordered him who will be receiving a model from this shipment will be sent tracking numbers soon and should get him by the end of next week. If you don't receive a tracking number, your model(s) will be part of my next shipment of Equidaes. I'm hopeful that the rest will arrive by Christmas. Some old news... my second Dahlia (finally) arrived and I ended up with the blue. I was hoping for either the blue or champagne for my second gal so she'll be kept. I do want to track down that champagne eventually though. I love the blue, it glitters like the ocean, and is also hard to photograph for that reason. She makes a good mini me for my blue Lancelot. She actually was "helping" me while I packaged up my Equidae orders today :) Now for some new news... I went to the flagship dealer in my area where I bought Livingston from earlier this year in search of Steele. Of course they didn't have him. They have been doing this quite a few times of late, like with some of the Tractor Supply models and Hwin, but I had no idea of a chalky Stingray until I went to the KHP. Let me tell you, I love the chalky coloring a lot better than the regular! Her chalky version is a lot less red (one reason I hesitated about adding her to my permanent collection was because her model looked nothing like the real horse... she looked almost silver bay) and much more tan. The chalky version appears much lighter, almost a sooty palomino color.
Above is a comparison of the chalky version (left) with a Stingray I received with my first order many months ago (right). If you looked closely at the chalky you could see on her white areas the chipped painted basecoat showing underneath. Although I don't know how many were made chalky, there have to be others floating around out there somewhere. I didn't get any with my own first shipment, but of course I haven't ordered any more Stingrays in a while due to Breyer being out of stock. If you haven't been under the new releases on Breyer's website, meet Gingerbread, the next in the annual A Pony for Christmas series. I've collected this series since they started it with the Haflinger in 2018 and so I have already purchased Gingerbread for my personal collection who will be joining said Haflinger (who didn't have a name) and Honeybunch on my shelves. I will not be carrying these on my website. They are a Breyer web exclusive, not available to dealers. He comes with a cute gift box and blanket. Being on the Bouncer mold, this guy will probably be pretty popular. So what's left? Well, we already have our Classics unicorn in Solar Flare. There may or may not be a limited edition holiday decorator, Christoff was offered last year but this was the first time they'd done it so I have no idea if it'll be a new tradition or if it was just a one time thing. We should also be getting a web exclusive holiday mare and foal set. Speculation was that this will be the Arabian mare and foal mold teased to us in the Collector Club newsletter from last month but it's possible they'll be the holiday lottery models. I truly hope not because I would love to have an obtainable set at original price but then another part of me feels like they're going to slap a horn on them.
The past few years they've also offered stablemate blind bags for the holiday season. It started with the Fruitcake Fillies, then the Starry Skies, but then it really got into the holiday spirit with the Festive Filigrees. The Collector Club Appreciation event, which was done last year around this time but so far has been no mention of this year, is still up in the air. Deluxe members from this year are still eagerly awaiting their exclusive stablemate (whose name I cannot for the life of me recall but he was on the Alborozo mold and was a replica of the $22,000 auction horse) that was supposed to arrive fall 2020. So all in all, still quite a bit to look forward to. The best time of the year is upon us! I know a good majority of you are Stablemates Club members and are awaiting the reveal of the first Stablemates Club model of 2022, and here he is! His name is Dax and he is a beautiful red chestnut appaloosa on the mini Fighting Stallion mold. While I do love the Fighting Stallion mold, I would like to see what else Breyer plans to offer for the Stablemates Club before I join. I'm hoping they show the rest of the lineup, as the lack of quality from this year has me a bit hesitant to rejoin. I had to get replacements twice this year because of the flaws. The other details is that it'll include a bonus optional purchase, just like the past two years, and new miniature Breyer boxes with a "new design for 2022" as per Breyer. Thankfully despite the regular run prices increasing, the club model pricing hasn't changed, knock on wood. There has been no mention of the Collector Club Appreciation event, which was done last year around this time, nor has there been any mention of the Deluxe membership stablemate. Hopefully Breyer will update us on those next.
Finally, before I conclude this post, I would like to mention that a few fellow hobbyists have discovered the elusive Cirrus and Wilder at their local Tractor Supply stores. My store told me December when I asked but I truly hope it doesn't take that long, however my store does seem to take their sweet time when it comes to putting out their holiday merchandise. I visit my local store at least once a week for horse and chicken feed so the next time I'm in there, I will definitely be on the lookout for these two. I don't have any pictures I can post - yet - but Cirrus is not a dapple grey but a shaded fleabitten grey, however it appears that she does have a slight pearly sheen. I'm hoping I'll be able to add pictures soon! So a while ago I mentioned about adding some new stuff to my store for the holidays as gifts since I won't have many regular runs to sell due to the backed up ports. Originally I was thinking candles or bath bombs, until I discovered that I'm a much better painting than I am a candle maker hehe, so back to the drawing board I went. Well, I discovered via a fellow Youtuber about T-shirt campaigns that she offers to her supporters, so I thought I'd give it a try. I've come up with a few cute ideas that I think y'all will really love! It will be posted under my new Holiday Gifts page, as it is a limited campaign that will expire soon, so if you need some gift ideas for a fellow equestrian or collector, be sure to check it out!
The first of the 2022 Premier Club horses was shown today after that reveal of the Vintage Club horse last week, so that makes two. Now all we're waiting for is the Stablemates Club reveals. Unfortunately if you're not a current member of the Premier Club, Breyer doesn't give away any information on this horse on the signup page, only about the club. It was sent in an email to current PC members that her name is Zafirah. When you consider that Brigitte Eberl sculpted her, it's not too surprising that she is an Arabian since, after all, Brigitte also sculpted the majority of Breyer's modern Arabian molds. While we finally we get an Arabian in a stable (aka non-tippy) standing pose with it's head held high in the typical show stance for the breed, I'm personally just not a fan of her color so mine will be for sale. The lighter mane and tail, although I do see what the artist was trying to get at with it, just reminds me too much of Emerson, another I didn't keep because of his color. That hoof on her hind leg is pretty detailed though, and I'm curious to see how Breyer translates her to plastic. It also looks like she may have subtle dappling too. Here is the picture of her: I was teetering on getting a second Premier Club membership for next year mostly because I had a couple of people who wanted one or two of the PC models but didn't want the commitment of having to purchase all of the models in the club. The club models would cost $525 for all three models alone per year, not including the shipping for each model, which is out of reach for many people, including myself when I first got back into collecting. I didn't join the Premier Club until 2019 because I had a rather poor paying job at the time. This was another reason why I never dabbled much in Stone horses, and to those of you crying for Breyer to bring their production back to the US to avoid shipping issues... unless you understand that Breyers would inflate to Peter Stone prices in order to pay their artists a living wage. Please no. I would not be able to collect if traditional Breyers were $300+ a piece.
A thought I mentioned earlier this year to help ease the burden for pre-orders was the possibility of a partial down payment with the rest required upon their actual release, and I think that I'm going to go through with that for any pre-orders four months or more in advance... club models, Breyerfest pickups and holiday horses mostly. Once the model is closer to the release date, I will send you an invoice to pay the rest via the same payment method you used to pay the deposit (for example if you used Paypal it will be sent as a request through Paypal or if you used credit card you will receive an email with an invoice) so if that changes at all, please let me know prior to release. You will have up to a week to make the final payment for those who don't check their email regularly. I really hope this helps a lot of people who are skeptical about pre-orders. Come 2022 payment plans will continue on pre-ordered items, however I will be starting to charge a 3% fee per payment to make up for the processing fee that both Paypal and Square charge me. This will be for time pays only, the 3% fee does NOT apply to PIF orders. It's only because that 3% charged to me for each payment I receive, when broken down into four payments, essentially totals 12% by the end of the payment plan, which is equivalent to what I paid for eBay fees. While I do sell on eBay every now and then, I'm really trying to bring most of my business to my website to avoid paying costly eBay fees. I'm sure those of you who sell via eBay can relate. I couldn't believe my luck when I ended up with one of my favorites! Really makes up for the gambler's choices last year when I was given all the same color each time. I was actually really happy to get this beautiful gal, as I believe she is the most detailed of the lot. She not only has subtle dappling in her coat, but a splash pinto pattern, blue eyes and a metallic sheen to her red chestnut coat. Very beautiful. I absolutely adore her! I'm still waiting on word from the Dahlia on my second account. If she's a duplicate she'll most likely be up for sale in my Model Horse Store. I have updated the store to include more inventory, but please take arrival times with a grain of salt, just due to the way the world is right now. If anything changes, I'll be sure to post. Posting here on my blog just makes it easier than responding to several different messages asking the same thing. If you hear nothing, that's good news, that means that the models are due to arrive on time. As soon as they arrive to me from Breyer, you can bet that I'll have them out the door the next business day. I don't wait around when it comes to shipping so long as I actually have the stock.
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