Happy New Year's Eve to everyone! I hope your new year's resolutions involve something horsey. I've seen a lot of people post that this is going to be their first year in all three specialty clubs, so that gives a lot to look forward to! Speaking of the specialty clubs, Breyer has been throwing some last minute releases at us left and right, including some sneak peeks that they've never shown before in other years. Yes, you read that right. But first, let's show a reveal that they typically do show every year, a January release that was viewable in the Collector Club newsletter. People have said this reveal could possibly be the new regular run Arabian since, technically, they haven't officially been announced yet. However, others are saying that they wouldn't show regular runs in the Collector Club newsletter (even though they have shown web exclusives that have been available to everyone, not just CC members, in the CC newsletter before) so they're guessing possibly the first lottery model of the year, which isn't a bad guess considering that they haven't done a bay in the Birds of a Feather series yet. Now to the awesome, brand new, never before seen stuff. They have shown a sneak peek of the unfinished Stablemate Club new mold! *gasp* This horse has future unicorn vibes written all over it! Typically we have to wait until Breyerfest for this reveal. Which leads me to the next reveal... the final stablemate mold used for the event stablemates... and it is Kit, the new Haflinger. Not really surprising, I kind of saw this coming based on the theme, but I'm still excited to see what new coat pattern they are going to use nonetheless. I love the mold, Kit had such a soft face and sweet eyes, just wasn't sold on the clipped coat. The final reveal is the third Premier Club release. Say what? I know, I was shocked too. Never before has Breyer shown a sneak peek of all three club models. Here is what they showed us today: It looks like my guess as to a draft mare and foal set, most likely by Kylee, was correct because that, my friends, is a draft foal butt if there ever was one. I must have! I may end up actually keeping all of the Premier Club models next year, and I finally decided to go with glossy for Cancion. I can't wait until that boy is a regular run so I can paint a portrait model of my little Paso Fino, Roberto, on the mold. I wish Breyer had waited to do Vivaldi on the new Paso, especially given how excited his contacts were to have their baby portrayed as a Breyer, but I'm hoping Breyer has something else up their sleeve to turn the Cancion mold into in the coming years.
So here's the one last day of the year and the start of a new year is upon us! Happy 2023 y'all! Apparently I was wrong and the Gypsy Vanner is going to be one of the event stablemates after all. Breyer just showed two of the other three over the past couple days, and I'm sure we'll be seeing the fourth one shortly (this post will be updated when this happens) however we likely won't know the colors until January/February when the special runs start being revealed. What colors do you think we'll see on them? Personally, I believe this is going to be a realistic color year rather than a deco year. I'm guessing the Saddlebred will be a chestnut color and since Corbin is almost a perfect stablemate sized version of the Cleveland Bay, I'm going to say he'll be bay in color. The Gypsy Vanner will likely be a pinto of some sort. These are my guesses, but who knows? Also, the final model for the 2023 Stablemates Club, the gambler's choice, has finally been revealed. I kind of saw it coming with the pony being the gambler's choice, and I'm still waiting patiently for mini Emma to be used for the Stablemates Club. This is Virkie and you'll be able to get one of four different colors following Breyer's typical patterns of a deco, a solid color, a splash pinto and an appaloosa. My favorite is the appaloosa followed by the pinto followed by the deco. Don't forget if you're joining the Stablemate Club, we are in the final days to do so. Same with the Premier Club. As a reminder, you must be a Collector Club member to purchase specialty club memberships, however you do not have to buy all of the club models released through the Collector Club, only the specialty clubs. For example, you do NOT have to buy Chadwick through the Collector Club, but you did have to buy all of the Stablemate Club models for this year to retain your membership. Rumor has it that Breyer is also cracking down on those who do not end up purchasing all of the models in the club so keep your account in good standing. If you aren't ready for the commitment of purchasing all the specialty club models, then possibly find someone willing to split their membership, especially since Premier is going up in pricing this year.
Breyer showed us an unexpected surprise today on the Breyerfest blog... a silhouette of what is most likely an upcoming Breyerfest model... There was no other hint so the question is... is this a single day stablemate or the traditional Gypsy Vanner? Most likely (in my personal opinion from years previous) it'll be traditional since they usually show those first before the single day - or now called event - stablemates are shown, and especially since this is the year of driving horses, I think we'll be seeing a lot of drafts.
The next in line for the Orren Mixer series. This appaloosa is complete with lightning stripes and would be the perfect twin for Chocolatey. I'm happy to see that Breyer has finally made a model of this horse. Normally black horses look rather drab to me, but I love the color on Wyatt! It's more his story though, as I remember this gal popping up on my Facebook newsfeed once and I was inspired by her story, not letting becoming paralyzed after a car accident affect her ability to barrel race. This girl is a legend, and her horse would proudly be displayed in my collection! We have our first regular run release on the new Arabian mold. Not surprisingly in bay, since the majority of Arabians are either bay, chestnut or grey. This is a rare year in which I love almost all released, however I will be bypassing this gal since I still haven't warmed up to those loooooong legs on this mold. This color is one I've wanted on this mold since it's release. She will make an OF conga if you have the original roans from the Premier Club and the pintos from Breyerfest last year. They will make a flashy trio with the addition of these palomino beauties. This was kind of foreseen since they did the same thing with the original Secretariat mold, and they're even making a miniature resin! I plan to track down the gold guy for sure for my racehorse collection. Finally we get to see this mold in the traditional dun Fjord color! She's a beauty, and I really think I need one to add to my pony herd! New stabelmates on blister cards, meaning no blind bags for these little guys! I'm loving that roan appy and the grey Mustang. A frosted dun Cantering Warmblood, a bay roan Morgan and a dapple grey Valegro? Yes, please! I'm really loving the stablemate selection. Apparently Breyer is hearing us out on getting rid of the blind bags because here is their new stablemate unicorn set, also not in blind bags. These guys look super shiny and metallic. Last but not least, we have an entire new classics lineup, including a new cupcake model!
Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope y'all are staying warm after the monster polar blast that left much of the country in snow and negative temperatures. Did anyone partake in the Collector Club Santa Surprise, Gabriel? If so, which are you hoping to get? While I was a bit hopeful for Misty (since Breyer has been using many of the pony molds the past few years) it was actually Nikolas. I'm not a huge fan of the mold and I also thought the paint job too simple for a pony mold at the $135 price tag they were asking, even with the modified braided mane version, so I passed. Yes, I know, they were trying to portray glass bulbs, but honestly they also said the same thing with the Merry and Bright stablemates and they were still color shifting. If these guys were color shifting, despite the mold, I probably would've went for it. Nevertheless what I think, they still sold out, probably mostly due to people wanting to take the gamble on the glossy black Coal model. Another club model for 2023 had been revealed last week, in the form of the Cantering Warmblood from the Stablemate Club, whose name is Brighton. This guy looks like a miniature version of Marzipan, in my opinion. This only leaves the Shetland Pony, who must be the gambler's choice as I previously thought. We should see the colors of those this coming week since this is the last week for Stablemate Club and Premier Club signups! Christmas hasn't been too good to us this year, unfortunately. I did get Snowbird gifted to me from my family, making an official conga of the Morgan Stallion mold as model number three. However, the storm left us without power and we're having a difficult time over here keeping water flowing to all the livestock because everything, including the water pumps, are frozen. We've been having to manually carry water buckets out to the horses. On top of that, sickness has been going around our home. It started with me honestly, I came down with the flu the day my work called off and had to take yesterday off as well. I'm finally feeling better but my poor husband now has it so Christmas hasn't been too great for us this year. However, the good news is that my boss announced last week that the overtime will be pretty much over with, so I'll be back on my regular work schedule come January. This means I'll get more opportunities to blog and chat with other model horse hobbyists.
On a very rare occasion, I was given today off work awaiting the snow storm due to hit Kentucky later today. I've decided to use this time to blog, so since I had my Anamar and Giorgio arrive today, the Premier Club will be the topic of discussion. We already know who the artists are for next year's Premier Club. Starting out the year with the new Paso Fino sculpt wasn't too shabby to get me to rejoin, but adding Heather Puleo and Kylee Parks to the mix sure didn't hurt. Heather Puleo did two of my all time favorites: Altynai and Greyson. She also designed the coat for Anamar that everyone, including myself, was a bit iffy about based on Breyer's stock photos. However, once I got him in hand, I have to say that he is simply amazing and I'm glad I didn't sell him. I had him on my website for a few days with no takers when I finally pulled him from my shop and bought him for my own collection. I'm not disappointed in the least. My boy thankfully has no issues that I can note, and his dappling definitely does not stick out like a sore thumb like it looks in Breyer's photos, a main reason I was unsure about his coat. It is slightly pearly and his dapples eventually fade into the rosey greyness of his coat, which blends together really well. Basically, no one in the Premier Club has ever even attempted a color like this before so I'm proud to have him part of my collection and Heather really knocked him out of the park despite going out on a limb with the amount of artistry she put into his coat. I can't wait to see what she'll bring to the club next year. Anamar isn't too huge in size, consistent with sculptor Sarah's smaller but highly detailed molds, as he isn't much taller than my Performance Appaloosa vintage molds. He is, however, not cartoon-y looking like Breyer's stock photos made him appear. Sarah did an amazing job on his details, so amazing in fact that, as per usual when Breyer makes highly detailed molds, it came with a lot of molding flaws that have been popping up on social media. However, I'm sure Breyer will fix those issues each time this mold is made which, I'm hoping, will be used quite a bit in the upcoming years. Definitely thinking about a conga. Now, we come to the part I was looking forward to most about my Premier Club order... mini Giorgio! I'm a bit saddened to say that Breyer gelded this guy because we all know that traditional Georg was very well endowed, but he is still cute nonetheless and all the rest of Georg's detail was transferred to his mini me. Another conga I'm planning on starting and I must join the Stablemate Club for 2023 because of that leopard appy. This guy also has a very pearly rose grey coat but he has the sprayed on star dapples of old. I honestly cannot find a single flaw on him. We got a sneak peek from Breyer today for one of the two upcoming Premier Club 2023 releases, a buckskin appaloosa that looks to be a similar pattern to Carina. I really feel like this is the Heather Puleo sculpt, but who knows? If it is, I'm guessing Knabstrubber since Breyer made the comment that Heather is known for her rare breeds and because it looks similar in pose to Valegro, another warmblood breed. A couple other guesses by the social media community is either a rearing Nez Perce to be a modernized version of Silver or a sliding stop appaloosa, a pose many have been wishing to see translated from Classics to Traditional for years. I can't wait to see the full reveal. Are you going to join the Premier Club? If so, what breeds do you hope to see? I'm hoping for a newer replacement for Bluegrass Bandit, a nice Tennessee Walker. Probably won't be this coming year since the breed doesn't come in appaloosa, and we already know the first is a Paso Fino, but eventually. I'm still intrigued by what on earth that third model could possibly be to have Breyer ask a whopping $200 for it. Some are guessing possibly a horse with a cart, others are saying a mare with twins or a family set, and there's even speculation that it could be a group of ponies.
Those of you who are being affected by the polar blast, please stay safe and warm! I apologize for not updating sooner. I will get around to my emails, I promise, but this week I'm pulling another 60 hours at work and just found out I'm working 50 hours next week after working 50 hours the past two weeks, so I'm really struggling to find time to get anything done. I haven't even got around to wrapping my Christmas presents. I've also heard rumors that we might even be working overtime after Christmas because people will be returning lots of packages and using their gift cards to make more purchases so my blogging will be limited for a while. Anyways, the Collector Club winter decorator is now open for entries to CC members only. His name is Tahoe and he's made in silver filigree on the Hamilton mold. Those of you who guessed Hammy... y'all were right! Personally I would've liked to see a return of the blue filigree, as I think that would have looked amazing on the Hamilton mold, but he's still pretty nonetheless. They've really upped the entries with him to 1,000 selections who will pay $195 plus shipping per model if you win one. Good luck to those who enter! Entries are only being taken through tomorrow, December 18th. We've had two reveals for the 2023 Stablemates Club, one was revealed last week, named Eclat, who is a beautiful chestnut pinto Missouri Fox Trotter. He looks so similar to my real life unicorn that I'm half tempted to join the club just because of him. I still have yet to join the Stablemates Club, as I'm waiting to see all the releases first, however I have joined the Premier Club for 2023 since I can't resist that Paso Fino. I'm still waiting on my Anamar and mini Giorgio to ship, however from the pictures I've seen on social media, they are both much more stunning than their stock photos do justice. The most recent Stablemate Club reveal was sent to my email today but is not up on Breyer's website yet. His name is Nero and he's a leopard appaloosa Noriker with minimal peacock spotting on his face. He is the optional release, which is why his silhouette wasn't featured in the lineup shown. Again, I will try to keep my blog updated as much as possible in the meantime. Please be patient with me as far as new releases because I literally need at least 30 minutes to write even a simple post. Regular runs for 2023 should be being revealed soon, and I'm expecting a whole new Classic lineup since most of them are being retired this year.
Those of you who are planning on joining the Vintage Club for 2023... set your alarms! All those currently in the club have rejoined by now that want to rejoin (myself included) and Breyer is opening up the club tomorrow for the 250 new members to try to get a spot. Remember that the Vintage Club is going up to 1,000 memberships, which still really isn't a lot in the grand scheme of things, especially when you consider how much Breyerfest models now number in quantity. Also, don't forget that the models will be $10 more next year than they are this year. We still haven't been given any clues as to who the remaining molds are going to be on, but there is a rumor that the Justin Morgan mold will be one of them since he was used as the logo for the 2023 club. Stablemates Club, however, usually has all the reveals, and they are this year as well. We've seen the adorable Arabian mare and her tiny foal set that will be the first release. One of the releases will be Sidewinder. He is on the new Smart Chic Olena mini mold in a stunning grullo appaloosa complete with peacock spots, a cute crescent moon shaped star, silvering in his mane, hoof stripes and leg barring. I mean these little guys are getting almost as detailed as the big guys! In addition, we've now seen silouhettes of all the molds that are going to be used in the Stablemate Club for 2023. I'm sure, if this year is like previous years, that Breyer will eventually show all of them except the new mold. As of right now, we know that (besides the Arabian set and Sidewinder) the Missouri Fox Trotter, Shetland Pony and Cantering Warmblood will make an appearance. Which will be the gambler's choice? Well, going by previous years it's usually the smaller mold, which would be the Shetland Pony this year, however I'm personally hoping for the Missouri Fox Trotter myself. To current Stablemate Club members, the final release (and new mold) Kit is now available for purchase, along with the optional 7th release, Helios, neither of which I will be purchasing for my personal collection. If you're interested in Helios, I do have him currently available on eBay, but I presold Kit. I was expecting a Haflinger mold to be a little more... chunky? Kit reminds me more of a mustang than a true draft-type Haflinger. Not bashing the artist in any way, I'm just saying that every Haflinger I've ever seen looked like a mini drafter with foot feathering and a big ole round belly. Still a cute model, just not to the breed they were looking to get.
I'm still waiting to see what the other models in the 2023 Stablemate Club look like before I jump into that membership for sure, but it shouldn't be too much longer before we find out. I still haven't joined the Premier Club yet either, mainly because I cannot decide for the life of me if I want the Paso Fino in matte or glossy. Maybe I'll end up purchasing two memberships, who knows? I'm hoping we'll get a hint as to why the third model in the Premier Club is the only model whose pricing is going to be so much. Will it be that mare and foal draft set that we've all been wishing for? |
Archives
April 2024
Categories
All
|