This post will be updated if I ever decide to sell off any previously conga'd molds. What I look for in molds to conga are: *Unique characteristics... does this horse have something that other breeds don't? *Size... the mold needs to represent the sizing of the horse in real life accurately. For example an Arabian shouldn't be the same size as, say, Othello. *Collectibility... is the mold lightly used for possible future releases? Or is it pretty much dead? AshquarAs a person who loves the hot/racing breeds, I had to have an Arabian mold to conga, and Breyer has plenty to choose from. In the end I chose Ashquar. This guy displays the fiery Arabian breed very well. Most people who saw him were like "what in the world is he doing?" but those who has watched a live Arabian show will know the tell-tale strike out that the stallions perform, as shown in the picture below. Despite loving blood red chestnuts in real life, I just didn't feel at the time when Ashquar was originally released that his common color justified his Premier Club price so I didn't keep him. I've bypassed quite a few molds I plan to conga for this reason. Ashquar hasn't had too many flashy releases (mostly because of the breed) so I technically don't have a conga yet but I'm hoping Breyer won't push him too far into retirement with the release of the new Arabian Mare. Personally I thought the new Arabian Mare much too tall to represent the shorter Arabians... maybe a Shagya Arabian would be a better fit for her. ConstantiaThis mold is one I've been waiting for the entire time I've been a Premier Club member. I chanted every year "please make a new Standardbred mold to replace that tippy pacer" and although she is actually trotting, not pacing, my wish was finally granted with the release of Constantia! As a person with a background in racing, Standardbreds have a soft spot in my heart, so I plan on collecting everything on this mold, even the plain colors, and will forever keep the original because I've waited for her for so long! Now, Breyer, let's get an updated Bluegrass Bandit... Gypsy Vanner (original)Prior to this mold, like Constantia, Breyer didn't have a Gypsy Vanner specific mold and mold of choice Goffert was too tall to cut it. The new Gypsy Vanner mold represented their smaller size and fluffy feathered feet very well. Thankfully I didn't have to wait for a Gypsy Vanner nearly as long as the Standardbred. I wasn't thrilled with the original release, being a flaxen chestnut with a weird iridescent sheen. The modified Andalusian version has no part of my collection; the feathers are a must! TroubadourWhile most people were disappointed with the release of Troubadour, I fell head over heels in love with him. His beautiful soft silver dapple bay color with one of my favorite pinto patterns, the splash pattern, and mapped to boot! I still have original Troubadour in my collection and I don't plan on selling him any time soon. While I'm new to Morgans, I've heard people who know the breed well say that he is a prime example of the breed, so that's good enough for me. He seems to be a little too tall for the breed, however the introduction of Saddlebred blood into Morgans has made some specimens up to 15.2 HH making them look taller than what they really are. MistyThere are only two vintage molds I conga; one is Misty. The unique shabby coat on this mold is so unique, no other mold is like it, and that's what I look for when selecting molds to conga: characteristics that set them apart from all other molds. She also has some of the most expressive eyes I've seen. She is tiny, just like her breed, barely bigger than a Classics model. Lady PhaseLady Phase is the other vintage mold I collect, mostly because she is still regularly used compared to most vintage molds, which is why I chose her over many of the other stock horse molds. She comes in an array of colors that most molds don't and Breyer continues finding flashy colors to put on her. Flashy colors appeal to me, and she represents a stock horse almost perfectly in size and muscling, so she is still part of my collection. Maybe one day this will change if Breyer decides to finally retire her for good, but I will enjoy her for now. Bobby JoRemember when I said that I tend to collect the unique molds? Well, you can't get more unique than Bobby Jo! No other horse is in that cutting pose. There is a lot of plastic on this gal. She replaced my Nokota conga, whom I dispersed once she was released. I still have her original, a never sell, and will continue collecting everything Breyer releases on this mold that I can get my grubby hands on. We still have yet to see her as a Breyerfest surprise model. DundeeAdmittedly my Dundee conga isn't as big now as it was when the mold was first released (I was obsessed with this mold) however he is still part of my collection. As far as stock horses go, running poses are my favorite. He replaced previously conga'd Roxy, whom I still love but most likely won't be used much anymore since she was already a celebration model, a Breyerfest surprise model, a flagship model, a Collector Club special run, a Mid States/TSC model and several regular runs. Dundee is her gelding look-alike. AltynaiAnother rare breed Breyer added to the lineup was the Akhal Teke mold, released as Altynai. As with the Standardbred and the Gypsy Vanner, Breyer no longer had to use another breed to fake as an Akhal Teke, most commonly the Thoroughbred molds. As I mentioned above, the racing/hot blooded breeds have always appealed to me, and thus the Akhal Teke is right up there with my ultimate favorites. His pearly coat colors doesn't hurt either! Best of all, we still have yet to see him pop up as a Breyerfest surprise model. Drafts, Mustangs & ThoroughbredsBeing my favorite breeds and due to the fact that Breyer makes so many modern sculpts of these breeds that I like, I do not conga all of them but instead collect only the colors I like no matter what mold they're put on, or portrait models of real horses.
After receiving three BF shipments last week in a total of seven boxes, my dealer order due to arrive any day now and two BF shipments this week, I think I owe the UPS man some cookies or even just some cold water with this heat wave we're having right now. As an employee of a shipping service myself, I completely understand how hard these guys work. I just watched a co-worker collapse from exhaustion last week, so let's give these guys some slack for all that they do to make us equine crazies happy. Today I received my surprise models, which made my long work week a bit better. Of three surprises, I amazingly only got one duplicate: the matte palomino pintaloosa. Since I've already shown the pintaloosa in a previous post, I want to give a huge shoutout to Breyer for giving me three different colors in one order. This is what we want to see as collectors, and is definitely a big step up from last year where, of the five I received, I only ended up with two colors. I was able to trade off a matte red roan pinto Giselle for a matte silver black, and thankfully that same trade partner has the champagne this year which she agreed to trade for my buckskin Pech Merle, so I only have the red roan to track down. The sabino was my second favorite amongst all the colors when I saw pictures on social media, but after seeing him in hand, I'm actually having a hard time deciding between him or the pintaloosa, who was my original favorite. I think his color is super realistic and very flashy. It doesn't bother me one bit that he was the most common color. I'm a sucker for all things roan. When Breyer showed the lineup for the special runs, you'll remember me writing a post about "where were all the roans?" Well, apparently they were in the surprises. Should've figured, and Dundee being a stock-type horse looks great in roan. Guess who else I got? The rainbow... and not just any rainbow but Breyer had the audacity to give me the glossy. If anyone wants to make an offer, shoot me a message! I may be tempted to sell him if I could get current internet prices, as I could definitely use the money to help pay for my real horse's surgery at the end of this month. If not I may possibly keep him as trade fodder down the road for something rare that I like even more. There's even a chance I'll forget about him and he'll just slowly become part of my permanent collection, never to leave my shelf. I'm not even sure what I think of him. He's unique, that's for sure, but looks out of place in my realistic collection. I do love his dazzling blue eyes as well as that color shifting blue paint, and that darker green is definitely prettier than Pollock's lime green. He's got a few minor flaws, like a piece of tape stuck on his leg, and some overspray, but overall he's pretty nice. I still have Gran Cavallo, Ansel and Seurat on the way, due to arrive Tuesday. These will be the last orders for my personal collection. I'm crossing my fingers for the Gran Cavallo variant because I love that color shifting blue and purple. I only have one traditional with that color... Mirror Image back from the JAH days. As for Ansel, I like both variations so it doesn't matter, but with Seurat I'm hoping for the matte. He's one of those ones that I like better in the matte from the pictures I've seen. Change my mind yet again, Breyer, I dare ya!
Hello, all! I have some good news coming your way! I've just received word from Breyer that they're expecting a shipment to the warehouse to come in this week, though they don't know what all will be included with this shipment. I'll update as soon as Breyer sends me tracking. I'm just excited to finally see the mid years in-hand! I did have some more Breyerfest orders ship to me so look for those to be filled as well in the next couple weeks. It literally seems like Breyer is shipping Breyerfest items one at a time for some reason rather than consolidating orders so it may still be a while for me to get everything in, but rest assured, it's all coming! I thank you all very much for having patience with me during this hectic time. Updated to add: I also received my holiest of holy grails today, the one and only Dundee, whom I'm very happy with. His shading is truly realistic and blends together nicely. I never knew he had frankenstein-like stitching on his dorsal stripe but it's pretty cool. I don't have any models with that. His leg barring and hoof striping is almost perfect. He also has very light mapping around all his spots and brown colored eyes. They gave him a soft pearly sheen as well. Breyer really paid attention to detail on this boy. I'm very much looking forward to adding his brothers (aka the 7 Arts Surprises) to my growing conga. With receiving such a low number of surprises this year, I have decided that I won't be offering any for sale. If I get duplicates, I instead will use them as trade fodder for the other colors, as I would like to complete the set eventually since I love this mold. I'm hoping that next year I'll be picked for more surprises and be able to offer them.
Well, he is here! I did manage to track one down from a fellow flagship dealer who owns a retail store here in Ohio and was able to take the 2 hour drive today to pick him up. There were a few that had small rubs and flaws but she let me handpick which one I wanted so I was able to pick a nice one. He is flawless on both sides. He goes really well with the flashy colors in my collection. Although I ended up selling off my Hamilton conga, I do like the older American Saddlebred Stallion mold. While Hamilton can't really be anything other than a Saddlebred due to the racking gait he's performing, the American Saddlebred Stallion could be a few different breeds since he's not doing any special pose. I think I'll make this guy a Tennessee Walker. I love the mahogany bay shading and the bi-colored mane/tail. He's a beauty and I'm definitely happy I got my hands on one. Speaking of new releases... The mid year stablemates are on their way now! I was just informed by Breyer that they will be shipped out this week so I'll post in hand pictures once they're here. I still have quite a few to find homes for, so if you were waiting for their release to purchase, know that they should be here by the end of the week. If you've already ordered, keep your eyes on your email for tracking information that will be uploaded sometime this week! This is going to be a busy month. Not just these stablemates but all the other mid years should hopefully be revealed soon (and pre-orders will start as soon as they are) as well as all three club models: Stablemate, Premier and Vintage. Today was the last day to purchase Breyerfest tickets so I'm expecting they'll be doing the All Access preference lists soon.
Since we're still limited on the new release news, I've decided to write a post about my own collection. I get messages on YouTube all the time from fans wanting to see my personal collection. Although I do have them catalogued on a separate Collection website, I honestly don't have a huge collection. I don't even think it'd be enough to make a video of. Although I've been collecting since the early 2000s, I'm VERY picky about who I keep. More times than not, I end up selling what I buy with the intention of keeping it because it doesn't quite fit my strict criteria. While I'm not necessarily breed specific, there are certain breeds that I tend to congregate more towards, most of them are breeds that I've worked with in real life. For example, I'm rather limited in my experience with gaited breeds in real life having only ridden a Missouri Fox Trotter once, and that is reflected in my collection. The only gaited breed I have more than one of is Bluegrass Bandit. Warmbloods and Andalusians are others that I haven't had experience with in real life, however the Andalusian Stallion reminds me more of a Mustang than an Andalusian because of the long, flowing mane. He is probably my largest conga to date for that reason. As a child in 4-H I rode a BLM mustang so I'm very fond of the breed since it was the first horse I rode, even though technically my little guy was only 13.1 HH. As a teenager, I volunteered at a farm animal sanctuary with the horses there. We have a large Amish population here in Ohio and because they rescued a lot of horses from the Amish horse auction, mostly draft breeds and Standardbreds. The number of draft horses in my collection represents my fondness of the gentle giants. There was a silver bay Belgian drafter at the sanctuary that I used to ride around bareback, and was probably the horse I rode there the most. Although I'm not fond of Breyer's pacer mold due to it being tippy, I long for the day when Breyer remakes the Standardbred. I think Troubadour came pretty close, even though he was supposed to be a Morgan. The breeds, however, are very similar in appearance since Standardbreds were actually developed from Morgans. Still... a mold that had perfect Standardbred confirmation (I always thought the Pacer was a bit too pudgy) would be my ultimate wish! Thoroughbreds are another breed you'll see in my collection a lot since I currently own a couple ex-racehorses in real life. I actually started collecting Breyers by focusing solely on racehorses, and at one point I had every single one ever made, even the glossy version of Man o'War and Affirmed. Eventually I got tired of the various shades of bay, black and chestnut so I sold them off and focused on colorful horses instead. I still favor the Thoroughbred molds though, and try to collect as many colorful models as I can find on those particular molds. I'm more picky when it comes to color in my collection. Anything with the silver gene (bay, black, chestnut), roans (bay, red, blue), flaxen chestnut, leopard appaloosas, medicine hat markings, sooty palomino, sooty buckskin, buttermilk buckskin, dun/dunalino, grullo, pearl/cremello, star dapple greys, rose greys, dark dappled greys and rabicanos. My favorite decorators (non-horse colors) are anything filigree, rainbow and blue. While I mostly collect traditionals, I do have a few Classics. I have a horse that my grandpa inherited to me when he passed away that isn't anything special as far as collectability but that I held onto for his sentimental value. I also have Mancho and Gato from Tschiffely's ride, as this guy was always an idol to me ever since I read the book years ago. How cool would it be to ride a horse that far? I was so excited when Breyer portrayed this pair for Breyerfest! The gambler's choice models available through the Collector Club are probably my most valuable Classics sized models. The only molds I conga for Classics are my two favorite breeds: the American Dream mold (mustang) and Bella mold (Thoroughbred). I'm least picky with stablemates since they're the most affordable of Breyer models. I had close to 100 at one time, though I sold off a lot and probably have about half that now.
So this sums up my collection in a nutshell. Although I don't keep the majority of the horses I buy, I do enjoy seeing the different paint jobs. I can't tell you how many times I've bought a horse from Breyer thinking it would have a plain paint job, only to find out that it looked a lot better in real life. Breyer has been shooting out Breyerfest 2021 information every day so far. In the meantime, lookie at who showed up in my mail today! Glossy Cheesecake! I think I ended up with a pretty good one. I couldn't find a single flaw on him and I love his blue eyes. I've heard of people getting orange-y colored glossies but I don't think mine looks orange at all. He's pale cremello, just like the real horse, except the gloss makes the yellow pop out more. When comparing him to the matte version I had that I bought for a customer as a pickup order, I definitely prefer the glossy. The yellow was so pale on the matte version that the horse looked almost white.
After seeing in-hand pictures of glossy Benelli, I kind of wish I would've gotten a glossy version of him too but unfortunately - or maybe fortunately since there were less mattes made? - I decided to go with matte since I personally prefer greys/roans in matte. Him... he was an exception I could've made though. Oh, well. While Breyer has been on their appaloosa fix this year, I couldn't help but be taken in by it. I have decided to add Lil Ricky Rocker to my collection after seeing him in person when he came in one of my dealer orders as a special order for someone. I didn't know Breyer he was pearly! The original Lil Ricky Rocker models that my local dealer had when he first came out didn't look like they had any pearling, it just looked like bare plastic and the spots were smeared. Breyer has really stepped up their game with this guy, as the horse I was sent from them was a nice specimen. He has so much pearling, you can actually see it in the photos. He also has very minimal smudging on his spots. Speaking of appaloosas, I've decided to try my hand at making leopard appaloosas in acrylics since I've just finished up all my Halloween stablemates for the year, and which have been posted on eBay if anyone's interested. I am in the process of painting a traditional Halloween horse which will probably be available in September sometime, as well as a couple unicorn mini whinnies, which will be turned into skeleton horses and available sometime this week. Actually the appys are not turning out too bad! They are still in the works but here is what 2 of the 3 look like so far: I have several more stablemates bodies to keep me busy, and if I can't sell my regular run stablemates, I will customize those as well, as I need the shelf space. I've decided to downsize on my stablemate collection, keeping only the rare stablemates. Those itty bitty guys are like potato chips... they're so cheap you go to get just one and end up bringing home ten, then before you know it, you have hundreds. I really have no control when it comes to these guys, but I truly need to start.
I can't believe that in the past year alone with Breyerfest being online (and thus Clarion sellers selling virtually) I have been able to *almost* complete my collection. Most of the horses I've been searching for were regular runs from the years I was inactive as a collector due to starting a family. It is amazing how many collectors helped me build up my colorful collection. I have about a dozen regular runs and Breyerfest models to search for. One day my hope is to obtain Bobby Jo and, in my dreams, Bristol. In the meantime my man Wyatt has arrived, and I am amazed at this horse in real life. He looked kind of drab in pictures I've seen but in-hand he is spectacular. I wow'd the moment I saw him. I had no idea he was pearly! Now I can understand why he wasn't very popular, as I know a lot of people want realistic looking horses for the Premier Club, and Wyatt's pearling is bordering on decorator. However, I'm a huge fan of pearling and really like him. His star dapples are so unique, and he even has dapples on his belly like Carter. He also has brown eyes, something I couldn't tell from pictures I've seen, and pinking inside his flared nostrils. His rose grey coloring got me adding another rose grey to my collection, Sierra Rose from Breyerfest 2018. She was, in my opinion, one of the better horses of that kind of plain year, and a great example of how a modern paint job can make a vintage mold look 100x better. I've got three now if you include Pepper from Breyerfest 2019 and the new 70th anniversary Fighting Stallion. Sierra Rose was the 50/50 split that year but I preferred matte for her, only because I think greys look much better in matte over gloss because it gives them a softer look. One last horse that joined my herd this week - and I actually stumbled upon her by accident while out shopping at a flea market - was Kodi. I didn't think I'd like her in real life but actually she's really nice, and since I've just added Constellation and Bet Yer Blue Boons earlier this year, the mold is growing on me.
Well, the day we collectors have been dreading has happened: USPS is raising their rates. This increase in rates is supposed to start in October. They say this is a "temporary" increase, although I don't know of any time USPS has ever lowered their rates so I'm thinking this increase will be here to stay. Unfortunately to my eBay buyers, I have to pass on this increase, as I always do calculated shipping on traditional horses. The good news is a secret I just discovered not too long ago: Mercari. I've added a couple new members this past weekend from the website. They have a set rate for shipping rather than paying eBay's expensive calculated shipping, so west coast buyers buying from east coast sellers will get a better shipping deal, and vice versa, so you can find some pretty good deals on Mercari. I was so excited to find Chubasco and Caravelle for $50 including shipping on Mercari, granted they were flawed but they looked very much fixable. Unfortunately the person who sold them to me obviously isn't a collector and thought of them more as toys because look how they shipped them: The box they used was way too small for Chubasco (they took 4 days to find a box before they shipped him and this is the result) with his ears and tail literally poking out of the box. The horses were in a single layer of bubblewrap that wasn't even taped and absolutely no packing material whatsoever so when I opened it, they had rattled out of the bubblewrap and were free floating around the box. I'm really surprised there wasn't more damage. I think this caused a lot more marks than they originally had, and I was half tempted to ask for a return, but in the end, I felt bad for the pair and decided to rescue them. I touched up most of the flaws I could but Chubasco's poor ears were a lost cause since the tip was broken off. They didn't even take the time over those 4 days to clean the horses off. They were covered in dust when I received them. I did ask the seller after day 3 when they were going to finally ship them (maybe they decided they didn't get what they wanted for them or maybe they didn't calculate shipping correctly) so I'm thinking it was maybe a case of seller's remorse. Of hundreds of horses I've received in the mail, I've never had this happen before. I was horrified. I'm trying not to let one bad egg ruin the batch for me, as I have gotten some good deals on there, like this "new to me" Indian Pony, whom I also bought from Mercari, and he was packaged like a mummy. I have one more horse coming sometime this week. I purchased an original Wyatt. I remember when Wyatt was first revealed through the Premier Club how realistic he looked in his prototype photo. I really, really, really liked the mold. Looking back now, he's kind of plain compared to horses of recent years, but for the right price, I've decided to add him to my collection. Besides Hamilton, Altynai and Carina/Selene, whom I already have in my collection, my favorites are Bristol and Bobby Jo, though there are a few other Premier Club horses who I'd love to have if I could find them for a good price. One of them was Wyatt because of his rose grey color, star dapples and amazing pose. I will definitely be posting pictures when he gets here!
This year seems to be flying by. I didn't realize it was already time for the "Makin' A Splash" horse to be released. Not surprising it ended up being on the Duende mold, which is the newest of the molds used. My personal preference was Desatado but I decided to add Fabio (really Breyer... what's with the names this year?) to my herd anyways, as I had a bit of extra money thanks to BF going virtual. Admittedly I have more than enough red duns in my collection, and I was iffy with how orange they looked at BF last year when they were displayed in the Collector Club tent. Fabio looks more brown in the stock photo though so we'll see. Honestly Breyer has been getting all my money lately. I ordered a Crystalline for my own collection last week when she was first released. She arrived today, and is too stunning for words, so I just posted pictures instead. Honestly I didn't even realize Crystalline was a gemstone until I looked it up, so I guess Breyer is adding on to the gemstone series they did last year with Lightning Ridge and Bisbee. Flagship special run, Lionel, has also been released with Crystalline and Winx. Only brick-and-mortar stores are getting him in, and since I sell internet only right now, I won't be getting him. I'm probably going to pass on adding him to my personal collection simply because, as with Makin' A Splash, I don't like how orange he is. In addition to Crystalline, I will have a few Winx as well, and Ballynoe Castle will be up for pre-order in May. It will probably take about a week for Breyer to ship him to me after Breyerfest, and then he'll be shipped out to those who pre-ordered.
|
Archives
April 2024
Categories
All
|