Can you believe it's already almost the first day of the last month of the year? The final Stablemates Club horse will be available soon, plus we'll get introduced to Duke, the optional 7th model for the club. I'm really hoping Breyer made enough Dukes for each person in the club and it's not a free-for-all like most of the horses have been this year. Some good news though came in the form of the November newsletter for CC members. Guess who the freebie is this month? These two: If you entered for these two but didn't win, now is your chance to try to claim them again. Maybe you'll be that lucky person, eh? And here is the sneak peek of a December release: I'm 99.9% sure this is the holiday animal. Breyer releases one every year around this time, and considering that we haven't had one yet, this is probably it. Also, in the newsletter their featured story is "Wild About Breyer" talking about Breyer's animal molds, so if that's not a dead giveaway, I don't know what is. The only question is... what animal? To me, it looks like it has long hair so my guess is either a bear or the wolf. "Just a few more sleeps" makes me think a wolf howling at the moon, or it could be a bear hibernating.
What do you think? Which mold is it going to be? Although Breyer is officially calling this part of their Black Friday sale, they have added new items to their Black Friday deals for Thanksgiving today. Most of them were already sold out by the time I even knew about this so I apologize for posting so late. Hopefully most of you have already checked them out by now, but in case you haven't, here is what was available: There wasn't really much from this sale that I was too sad to miss out on. Bandelier was one I liked, though I didn't enter for him at the time of his lottery draw because of his $150 price tag, let alone a $25 hike in price. The Fairytale Friends horses have been reduced too. Breyer can't even seem to give them away so I understand why they didn't renew that club. I wonder if this will be all the warehouse finds or if they'll offer a whole new lot for Cyber Monday? I have my own little Black Friday sale going on right now on eBay before I open my web store. My regular runs have been discounted and Yuletide Greetings is sold out. I currently have my Magic Stables and Breyer Farms stables, although I'm almost out of Magic Stables too. I have one more regular run dealer order arriving this month and then I won't be placing any more orders until 2021 when the new releases are shown. The Bristol custom I've been working on for the past couple months is currently available on eBay. I know a lot of people love my bi-colored horses and I haven't done one in years so I decided to go ahead and make one on this beautiful mold. I love the way she turned out, and I'm hoping someone will love her enough to add her to their collection! My other custom is a stablemate on the Mirado mold. I did a wintry mural that I thought turned out ok. It's hard to make color depth with acrylics though, especially since I use a brush and not a pen. He was topped in a high gloss finish. The last traditional Halloween custom that I've been working on which is on the Emerson mold will be posted once Bristol sells. I just got in a few traditional bodies that I'm planning on starting soon. I hope to have at least one finished by Christmas. We'll see.
I hope y'all have a safe Thanksgiving! Today I stopped at three local Walmarts in my area on the hunt for the new Unicorn Crazy series 4 blind bags. One store didn't have the new series 4 unicorns at all, one had a box but after feeling them all up didn't have the chase, and the last store had two boxes, both ripped into and all the chasers (if any)/Albys were gone. *sigh* I do want this chase because of the color and the new mold reminds me so much of a Standardbred trotter - which goes along with my love of racehorses - so to see this really irritated me. I mean just fondle the bags, people! There is no reason, absolutely none, to rip them open. Then I get home to find my Festive Filigrees waiting for me. Yay! Breyer must have been pretty backed up with sales recently (as is typical this time of the year) because usually my orders don't take that long to ship to me so I was happy to see the stablemates on my doorstep at least. That happiness quickly vanished when I opened the box and tore open the bags. For the third time this year of offering gambler's choices, they sent me duplicates. Don't get me wrong, I'm lucky I was able to get two of them before they sold out, as I know that many others didn't even get the chance to get one. However, I just think that paying $25 for a stablemate should make them more willing to pick two out of different bins, eh? I saw some people order four and got all the same. Really, Breyer? Why can't we just buy what we want? I ended up with duplicates for Nayati and the BF surprise horse too. Although they tried to do the gambler's choice thing with the 70th anniversary horses, I think it's a little tougher with those since they're so much more costly that most people aren't going to spend $200 in hopes that maybe they'll get the one they want. It really takes the fun out of collecting stablemates to the point where I'm thinking if this is the future of stablemates, I don't know if I want to collect them anymore. Rant about the blind bags aside, I ended up with two gold Darwins, which are absolutely gorgeous in real life. The gold paint has a bit of shimmer in the coloring. They aren't too different in pattern besides a bit of darker pinking on one than the other. I was thinking about doing a trade but I'm going to offer my second one for sale on eBay to someone who didn't get a chance to purchase one before they sold out. I'm really hoping Breyer will do the Christmas colored filigrees in traditional again one year. I really like them, I just wish they would use a more popular mold. Flash and Sherman Morgan, though they have their followers, are vintage by now. Put the festive filigree colors on Dundee or Hamilton and I bet they won't have too many leftovers!
I wasn't sure if Breyer, like so many other companies this year (because 2020 has been completely unpredictable) would do their Black Friday sale early this year so I thought that last week's Black Friday preview for Collector Club members was the actual sale coming a week early. Well, that was sneaky of Breyer to do because I almost missed the sale thinking it was going to be all regular runs and they weren't going to offer anything good this year. I had an alarm set on my phone to go off on what I was predicting to be Breyer's Black Friday sale, as it's always a week early for Collector Club members. I thought "but they did their sale last week" however something deep inside of me decided to check anyways, and this is what I found: With how quickly Bristol sold out, this is why when people ask me if the Collector Club membership is worth the price, and I always tell them yes. Even if you don't join the specialty clubs, you still get access to these previously released club models for very close to the original price during their Black Friday sale, and sometimes their New Year sale (hint hint for those not familiar with the lay of the club) because, even if you joined the specialty clubs year after year, there are often lottery models available that you weren't drawn for. Acadia and Ruben are good examples of those. Yes, this was a good Black Friday lineup. Another lottery draw is in progress, a glossy grey vintage Belgian. He isn't my cup of tea but he is a one of a kind, so if you want him, be sure to put your name in for him (another perk of being in the Collector Club as he is only available to members) and one lucky person will win him for $1000 price tag. Finally, I'd like to introduce the new Breyer Farms stables to y'all. They're made of the same material as the unicorns but are painted pretty simply. They don't have much shading to their coats, which gives them kind of a vintage look, especially the palomino Saddlebred and alabaster Quarter Horse. The buckskin has kind of a metallic tinge to their coats. Until my web store is set up, I still have quite a few available for sale on eBay if you'd like to purchase one for yourself or to gift. They are durable enough that they won't break easily if they fall off your shelf, unlike regular stablemates, making them good for play. The stable could also be used as a storage shelf for your stablemates. This little set has lots of potential.
Apparently my assumption that Christoff might be taking the place of the gambler's choice holiday stablemates was false (maybe a Classics winter deco will be a new thing?) because today Breyer released the Festive Filigrees early to CC members. They literally sold out within hours, and not surprisingly. They were miniature versions of the past Santa Surprise filigrees, which I really really wish Breyer would bring back. I loved the holiday colored Santa Surprises, and these little cuties were no exception. I bought the limit of 2. Though I really don't mind any of them, my favorites are the red Smart Chic Olena and green Croi, provided I even get different ones. Breyer has been horrible this year at sending me duplicates for gambler's choices. Honestly though, I'm in the ever expanding group of people that are tired of gambler's choices. Can't we ever just buy what we want? I would have loved to have had the complete set of these guys but I'd rather pay outright for them, not have to trade with someone mine to get the one(s) I need. Breyer... hear us out. We love you as a company but enough is enough driving us batty with the gambler's choices.
In other news, the blue Breyer Farms wooden stables with the six stablemates will be coming this week so we will see which horses they decided to use in it. I will review them as soon as they arrive. They are currently available on eBay to purchase, though after recent changes to eBay's policies in regards to the new managed payments that they're starting in the new year, I will be opening my own web store (which will be right here on my website) the beginning of December. Be sure to visit back around that time to check out my new store and be sure to tell your friends! Without the traffic of eBay, I will be relying upon word of mouth for the future of my website and Breyer business. Any 2021 RR releases will be able to be pre-ordered directly from there as well. We should know more about those soon :) Breyer is now taking names to enter for the winter decorator lottery model. The sneak peek we saw in the October CC newsletter is the Andalusian Foal. This time though we have something rather unique... a mare and foal set that also comes with a silver mare. Their names are La Molina and Masella, and they are priced at rather steep $185 plus shipping (really, Breyer, talk about taking all our money before the holidays!) however their numbers are a bit higher than usual. At 450 pieces, they are not much rarer than the Vintage Club models which - at least in my opinion - doesn't equate to the cost if you're looking at collectibility. Most likely Breyer did it because of the higher number of Collector Club members this year to give everyone a chance at getting a pair, especially since there were enough members to sell out of all the previous club models released this year. Unfortunately, I foresee quick sellouts being a new thing due to the high number of CC members, and adding that Alborozo stablemate to draw people to join didn't help, I'm sure. Breyer is going to have to up their model numbers to accommodate, which of course won't make them as rare. I'm dreading when that glossy dappled black Hamilton is released. I have a feeling if I'm not around a computer within an hour of him being released, I'm not going to be able to snag him. Of course Breyer could always go back to the pre-order system that they used to have, but I honestly don't see that happening. As to La Molina and Masella, since I sadly didn't win Benasque, I won't be entering for them either. I'll leave them for someone else who really wants them. My Halloween Bouncer is complete and up for auction on eBay. His starting price is $45 plus shipping. This little guy took me forever with the amount of detail (and yes, some monsters glow in the dark) he has. My second traditional Halloween custom, on the Bristol mold, will be finished this weekend and up for auction next week. The third traditional custom, the one on the Emerson mold, should be up the week after. Now what do we have to look forward to? Well, unless Breyer has something new up their sleeves, the Santa Surprise released on Christmas day and maybe a winter stablemates gambler's choice is about it. Another New Year's Eve release, like Ambrose, could possibly happen too. I doubt the CC grab bags will be available since Breyer already released those earlier in the year (my past orders say March) so they probably won't offer them again until next year. Hopefully Breyer will give us some sneak peeks of the club models for next year other than the ones we've already seen. Pretty please??
There is apparently a series 5 Mini Whinnies at certain Walmarts, and one of my local Walmarts received a full box. I didn't end up with the chase, but I did get a complete set of all the other horses. I will offer them for sale on eBay to those who have Walmarts that never seem to keep up to date with the latest series. This particular series has, in my personal opinion, the most beautiful horses they've made yet in all the Mini Whinnies series. If I collected Mini Whinnies, I'd keep them in a heartbeat. There's a cute buttermilk buckskin, a flashy black/white pinto, a red roan, a pearly grey, a silver bay, a flaxen chestnut and a semi leopard appy. Rumor has it that there is also a new unicorn stablemate series floating around out there. They unfortunately didn't have them at any of the Walmarts in my area, but the mystery chase piece is a brand new mold in the same black and gold color pattern of the Magnolia chase model in the first series. I'm hoping to get my hands on one, as I never did find the Magnolia chaser and had to get him second hand for a price I don't care to admit I paid.
To my custom buyers, I'm about halfway through my traditional Halloween customs that have been taking me forever. The Bouncer will be up on the market as soon as next week (these guys really do take forever to paint with the multiple layers of paint and amount of detail) and the other two should be up by next week. I *might* do one or two more Traditional Halloween horses before the year is out but we'll see. The Stablemates Club is now open for membership for 2021! You will receive six models which includes a gambler's choice plus an optional seventh model available for purchase later in the year. To join, you will need to join the Collector Club and put down a $30 deposit. Each model costs $20 plus shipping ($5.95 to US residents) but $5 is deducted from each model, making the cost only $15 plus shipping when they're released. You have until December 31st to sign up. This is not a club that is limited and is the most affordable club Breyer offers. I signed up already especially after seeing the molds being used.
The silhouettes of five of the seven releases is shown above (the sixth one is always a new mold and is never shown until right before it's release) so you can see which molds they are going to use. The new Clydesdale will be the first release of the year. The G1 Seabiscuit mold is going to be the vintage mold this year, which I'm super happy about as I adore this mold, with the Appaloosa being the older mold, though not quite vintage. I'm assuming either Croi or Django will be the gambler's choice. Breyer usually shows us pictures of them right before the deadline to join, during the last couple weeks of the year. Now what of the other clubs? What will we see in the lineup? The Vintage Club usually has three vintage models: one with vintage coloring, one gambler's choice and the third with a modern paint job. They usually also include a modern mold with vintage coloring... this will be Julius for next year. Most likely we'll have a mare and foal since we didn't have one last year. The molds most likely to be used are the Family Arabian Mare/Foal or the Stock Horse Mare/Foal. For the gambler's choice, it is most likely going to be the decorator split (gold, gold filigree, Wedgewood blue and Wedgewood blue filigree) but the choice of molds are still pretty endless. For the Premier Club, we know who the artists of the other two horses will be, but that's about all we know so far. We may know a couple more hints when Breyer starts sending out the Premier Club welcome letter early in 2021. The other two artists are: Maggie Jenner-Bennett who I believe is sculpting for Breyer for the first time, though she does have a large following already with her Micro Minis Club and seems particularly fond of Arabians. Morgen Kilbourn loves performance friendly horses, which I'm so happy to see her in the lineup, as she was the artist of my favorites Wyatt, Bristol and Bobby Jo. Can we get a landing version of Bristol this time or a reiner like the Stablemates version? I apologize for this late review, but I ended up having a busier than usual weekend and so had to postpone my post about Troubadour that I promised to write for you guys. Anyways, I'm in love with him! I've honestly looked this guy over several times and can't find a single flaw on him. He's that amazing. Kylee Parks did a fantastic job on him. What I didn't know until I had him in hand is that he is chalky, so his white areas are painted white and not bare plastic. His mapping is crisp and his facial expression is soft. The dappling is very subtle to the point of being realistic and the pearling in the mane/tail. I freaked out a bit when I saw he was going to be on a trotting pose (bring back horrendous memories of tippy horses) but actually he stands pretty solidly. Honestly, I can't wait to see what they use on this guy in future. The Premier Club is now open for membership! You have until December 31st to sign up - this club is not limited unlike the Vintage Club. You do, however, have to be a Collector Club member, either regular or Deluxe in order to be able to get into the Premier Club. A $100 deposit is required to hold your spot in the club. Each horse costs $175 plus shipping but your deposit is deducted from the cost of each horse - $100 divided by three horses is $33.33 per horse which you minus from $175 so each horse is $141.67 plus shipping (shipping is $17.50 per horse for US residents) when released. I have decided to rejoin the Premier Club for next year, as Fireheart is definitely on my must-have list being a sooty palomino. Finally, word has been getting around about possible sneak peeks of future regular runs. In the new mini catalog that Breyer sends with just about everything, there are a couple horses that cropped up that nobody has seen before. The Arabian has the exact same pattern as Natasha from Breyerfest, the palomino Saddlebred was from the 70th anniversary set this year, then Ash from Breyerfest and Klaus from the Stablemates Club. However, the bat Morgan (Fairfax mold) and the chestnut Croi are new. Will they be 2021 RRs? It's not out of the realm of possibility with most RRs being common colors. It won't be too much longer before we find out!
My package arrived today with Troubadour and his shipping companions. However, I plan to review Troubadour in a different post, which I will write on the weekend, because he is truly spectacular. The other two were the mare/foal unicorns Bellatrix and Spice, and the winter Classics, Christoff. First, I would like to talk about Bellatrix and Spica. Although I love that same blue/black color that Eclipse from Tractor Supply has however I'm a bit disappointed with the dappling on the mare. It is very subtle, and dappling was one of the reasons why I bought this pair. The foal has more blue in her than her mother, who is more black than blue or purple. The purple interference, by the way, is also more noticeable on the foal than the mare. They are in excellent condition overall and still my favorite of the unicorn sets but I do hope that next year they use a real horse set. I'm honestly expecting Rhian and Cadell to be used. My other tag-along, Christoff, was actually more impressive than I thought he'd be. Granted, he did arrive with a creaky mane (might be common for this mold though since the mane is slightly lifted - to be honest I've never had one on this mold) and what looks like one of his hooves was filed down a bit too much that it left a scrape mark, but otherwise he's beautiful. His snowflake patterns are nice and crisp with no overspray. My job has been ramping up the hours the past few weeks due to having early Black Friday (will Breyer follow suit or will they have it on time this year?) so I've been slacking on my painting. I still have a few traditional Halloween horses that I still haven't finished, but all my Halloween stablemates are done and all but one have found new homes. I've started working on Christmas stablemates, with my first three already on the market right now. One is a nativity scene, one is a Christmas night scene and the mare/foal pair are cute little tree bulb decorators. I have brought back my beloved metallic silver and gold paint that I used for Christmas customs years back. I will get my traditional Halloween horses completed by Christmas, I promise. I will be using the Emerson, Bristol and Bouncer molds for these customs. I'm excited to share them, so long as I can find the time to finish them.
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