The 2021 holiday horse is now on pre-order on my website, as he is due to arrive sometime this month, provided there are no delays in shipping. I will not up his price with the 8% surcharge until after I receive my shipment from Breyer so order him now while he's still regular priced! Next year I will only be taking a deposit for the holiday horse rather than the full amount with the remaining due upon shipment to me. Breyer is also getting ready to release the Classics Halloween horse and the stablemate blind bags. Before anyone asks, no these are not available to dealers, only through Breyer's website as web exclusives. I think this year's Classics sized Halloween horse is my favorite thus far! Cats and rats aren't nearly as creepy to me as spiders, plus this guy is on one of my all time favorite Classic molds. For the stablemates this time there will be a mini Boogeyman, Spirit of Hallowed Eve and Jack. They seem to have an overabundance of the Clydesdale mold over at Breyer because honestly that wouldn't have been my first choice of mold for this horse (it would have been incredibly cool if they did both Jack and Casper as a stablemate foal set) but I like him nonetheless, and the Clydesdale mold is one I have a conga of - probably because they use it so much. I really hope to get the rearing stallion too. I'm kind of meh about Boogeyman, both the mold and the color, so if I get him I'll probably be looking to trade, provided I'll even be able to order before they sell out. Finally there is Hermie, the Frankensteed plushy. I don't typically collect the stuffed animals but I have to say that Hermie makes me want to make an exception. I love his hat and his Frankenstein patches. I'm hoping they'll have enough left over to offer him as a freebie with so much in merchandise purchase later on. No guarantees though. With the amount of collectors there are, he'll probably go fast. As far as I know, they are not limiting the Halloween shop to Collector Club members this time. It'll be first come, first serve until sold out. One final treat was that Spendthrift arrived today! This is my first Peter Stone horse ever, and I'm pretty impressed. The size is like a smaller Breyer (he's about the same size as Carina) but being the first I don't know if he's just small because he's a mustang or if Stones are typically smaller than traditional Breyers. The paint job is phenomenal and nearly flawless, a couple goobers here and there but nothing too major. The making is a lot more crisp and realistic looking, as even the hairs are etched. His eyes are extremely detailed and he just looks full of fire. He came with a leg tag with my name on it and information about him (limited to 20 pieces, '21 Equilocity edition, etc) which was pretty cool. I do plan to add a few more Stones to my collection in future, although due to their high pricing, it'll probably only be no more than one a year. Will I get that DAH I've been wanting of my own horse? As soon as they come out with more molds for that, I'm seriously considering it!
My VIP box landed today! Apparently a couple people got their special runs with their box before Breyer realized their mistake. Ugh... Breyer really needs to get their warehouse in order. Just too many mistakes this year. Thankfully, at least to my knowledge, nobody that did get the special runs got the surprise yet or that really would've spoiled everything. Anyways there were models with the VIP box so Breyer didn't lie about that, however they weren't the special runs yet. Included was the stablemate four pack and Dani, who is to DIE FOR by the way! This horse should cost way more than what she does, and is actually the first celebration model that I've had sell out BEFORE the event, so I'm glad that Breyer decided to use her instead of Intuit now. Once he gets here my grail True North will make a dream couple with her! My swag stuff came in an adorable gift box made of some pretty sturdy cardboard. In it I got a collectible cup with a straw, a pair of really cool rainbow sunglasses, lip balm, a sun hat and a little iridescent color shifting carrier to put all the stuff in. All this would be great to take to Breyerfest if it is live next year. Finally there was a sticker sheet and five enamel pins. Now I never knew what the big deal was about the pins but they're honestly very cute! I love them probably more than anything in the VIP kit. Those alone probably cost at least $40. I might actually have to start collecting those from now on. Darn it, Breyer! I really don't need to have a reason to collect more stuff... Now for the horses you've all been waiting to see: the four pack of stablemates. They turned out amazing, my only complaint is that I thought Dada was going to be a bit of a shimmery blue but instead he's flat matte, which is a bit disappointing but he's still very pretty. Rococco is probably my favorite of all with his pearly white areas and metallic rose gold color. The Fighting Stallion is... well... unique to say the least. I was unsure whether or not I was going to keep him but I think that I might. The purple Fjord is cute with her darker purple dorsal stripe and realistic mane/tail color. This set sold out the first day of Breyerfest. I loved the artsy bags they came in with their names on them. Honestly I look forward almost as much to the designs of the bags as I do the single day stablemates themselves and I wish the Stablemate Club would go back to them since they're a lot more space efficient than the boxes. I would say there is at least $100 worth of goods in the box (in Breyer pricing anyways) and the fact that it wasn't available in the swag store made it all that more special plus the box itself is probably a good collector's item to keep because we don't even know if Breyer will continue the VIP ticket or if this will be the last year they do it. The extra farm tour included was probably worth another $20 in itself so that kind of justifies the extra $200 for the VIP ticket. Will I get one again if they do decide to offer it still even when the event is live? I may to get the models I want especially because I have such crappy luck in the lines in real life. Day 2 was mostly just watching all the videos there is to offer. In one of the videos Jamie showed some upcoming fall releases of their Halloween stablemate blind bags and a cute Frankenstein plushy. They also showed in-hand pictures of the Halloween horse, Thriller, as I know many of you are eager to receive him. I can't wait to see him too but according to Breyer he has been pushed back until September to release which is why he wasn't offered in the store at Breyerfest. The stablemates are miniatures of Spirit of Hallowed Eve, Jack and Bogeyman.
Breyer has announced they are leaving all the videos and content up until the end of July because there is literally hundreds of hours of videos on there. I've been watching customizing workshops to give me some new pointers. I will post some video screenshots of upcoming releases in my blog post tomorrow so stay tuned! For now I'm just enjoying this weekend relaxing and not having to worry about the heat or walking or getting through the crowds. At the same time though, I do miss it. I spoke too soon. Breyer revealed the mid year releases through email to dealers today. They are expected to arrive to us dealers around the last week of June. Unfortunately we were also informed that the pandemic has increased prices of supplies and shipments so current prices are what they are up until July 1st. After that, pricing will be going up, so I encourage anyone interested in purchasing models to get their order put in early to beat the price increase. Breyer confirmed that Old Glory will be made in unlimited quantities and is estimated to be re-released in September. He is still available on my website for those of you who'd like to pre-order one from that shipment. Now to introduce the new guys... That rumor about Marc of Charm being a future Breyerfest horse? Well, he's actually going to be a regular run, and he is part of the mid year lineup. Not surprisingly since we just had Livingston released on the older Saddlebred mold that Marc of Charm is on the Hamilton mold. Next up is Tiz the Law. Everybody loved him for his unique facial markings, and he was a pretty good horse on the track as well. Breyer made a model of him already despite being recently retired. He is on the Lonesome Glory mold. Omega Fahim is a black beauty in his own right. He is a champion Arabian stallion and has a shimmery solid black body with an iridescent blue sheen. He is on the popular Shagya Arabian mold and would be the perfect addition to your conga! To round out the traditionals there is the annual Halloween horse, Thriller, who is on the Gypsy Vanner mold and glows in the dark. He is Breyer's intake on a zombie horse. Finally we have two new Classics, a Black Stallion model and book set on the Malik mold, and a new addition to the Cupcake horse series: Red Velvet. He looks similar to the original Cupcake except he has a chestnut base coat instead of bay. All these new models are available on my website for pre-ordering. All are in unlimited quantities (meaning you can order as many as you want) except for Thriller. Dealers are limited to only 12 models of him so he will sell out quick. I appreciate all pre-orders and your support of my small business :)
My Halloween horses arrived from Breyer today, my Ratsputin and Spooky Stablemates both series 1 and 2. I'll start with Ratsputin. He is, what I'd call, a regular bay... not too light and not too dark. Weirdly he doesn't have black legs, only shaded legs. His markings are nice and crisp. The gold iridescent sheen is so subtle that you can't even really tell it's there, so those who were afraid he'd look more deco than realistic can rest assured he's not. I actually like him better than Salem, mostly because I don't like horses with a ton of white. I do, however, wish they would've given Ratsputin blue eyes like they did with Salem. He also came with a hang tag around his neck. For my Spooky Stablemates, by some miracle I ended up with my favorites. I did get duplicate Bats in the Belfrey in my two series 1 bags but I'm planning on trading for a mini Ichabod, my other favorite. I didn't really like Calavera. I also received my two favorites from the series 2 stablemates: Twilight Terror and Poltergeist. Twilight Terror is actually a clearware and Poltergeist glows in the dark. Honestly I like series 2 far better than series 1. Oddly, both series of horses came in the same exact packaging so at first I thought they gave me all series 1 until I opened the bags. Speaking of Halloween horses, I'm officially done with my Halloween customs for this year, however because I've just come into a lot of stablemate bodies, I've decided to start on a Christmas series, which I will talk about at a later date. A sneak peek into my upcoming 2021 Halloween series will be called "Hauntings Across America" and will portray some of the most haunted locations in the country. I foresee this series going into next year as well because there are way too many haunted places in America to put them all in one year. The first few I've already started on: "Witch Hunt" will portray the Salem witch trials, "Voodoo" will be for the New Orleans celebration and "Sleepy Hollow" will represent the small town in New York where the legend of the headless horseman was invented.
I'm also going to make a Sleepy Hollow Classics horse for this year that I haven't decided upon a name yet but he's in the planning period. He will be a little sample of what's to come next year. Since the bigger the horse, the more detail required, as I hand paint all of my horses with bristle brushes (not air brushed) while adding details using a quill feather from my geese after they molt instead of colored pencils or acrylic pens, and considering that I'm back to working full time now five days a week outside the home, due to limited time I probably won't have him done until closer to October. Breyer has just released their 2020 merchandise for Halloween! Back are the Spooky Stablemates from last year so if you didn't get the chance to buy mini Calavera, mini Ichabod or mini Bats in the Belfrey, here is your chance! I foregone this series last year and regretted it ever since so I'm glad they offered it again. They are limited to only 2 per order, however, so order quickly! Breyer is also offering a series 2 for the Spooky Stablemates this year. This time you can either get mini Poltergeist, mini Night Mare or mini Twilight Terror. These ones are super cute. I like all of them, although you're only limited to 2 as with the first set. Finally, the horse we've all been waiting for: the 2020 Halloween Classic! This year it's a Warmblood stallion. Personally I love it when Breyer releases a Halloween horse in a realistic color with paint markings that are shaped like something spooky, in this case rats. His name - fittingly - is Ratsputin. This horse doesn't seem as popular as his buddy Salem from last year. His white spots glow in the dark and he does have gold interference, which you can't really tell from the pictures. I think this guy will look a lot better in real life. I'll review him once he gets here. For any of you who collect plushies, they've released a special Halloween plush named Sugar Rush. He has various candy treats on him and is a purple color with black mane, tail and hooves. If you purchase at least $75 worth of Breyer products, you can use the code "SUGAR20" to get him free with your order. This was incredibly generous of Breyer! There is also a Halloween grab bag available (most likely regular runs though I'll be curious to see if they include anything special) in which you get approximately $103 worth of merchandise for $49.95.
If you're a Collector Club member, be sure to remember to use your club discount "CLUBPLUS20" to get 10% off your order! Shipping for all Halloween horses over $49 also gets free shipping. This is where you can buy them: www.breyerhorses.com/collections/halloween-2020-collection Breyer has released their Classics Halloween horse for Friday the 13th early to Collector Club members, along with the adorable stablemates from the Collector Club tent at Breyerfest. If these horses are available after then they will be offered to everyone who visits their website as web specials. However, the Fruitcake Fillies sold out before they were even offered to the public, and I'm expecting the Spooky Surprise stablemates to do the same so this is one of the perks of being a CC member. This is Classics sized Salem who sports the "purrfect" combination of paint and pattern. He is a grullo with a spooky cat pinto design with paw print shaped spots, a purple pearly sheen and the white areas glow in the dark. I have to say that Breyer really surprised us for this one who is, in my personal opinion, the best Classics Halloween custom they've done. Bad for my wallet though, as I had to have Salem after already just buying Samhain, who is now sold out. The stablemates sized horses are called the Spooky Surprise collection and they include a gambler's choice of either Calavera, Ichabod or Bats in the Belfry in miniature. When I saw these at Breyerfest, I wanted them, but after seeing their price tag and due to the fact that Breyer is just releasing too many darn things I want this year, I decided to forego them. If you'd like to purchase my two (they were limited to 2 per order) I do have them available on eBay. Last but not least, the Halloween customs that I have made for this year are already hitting the shelves! I've made the Horsemen of the Apocalypse my series this year. I've made four "horsemen" in stablemates size, all are completed, and two have already been sold. As traditional horses take so much time to do (I've actually been working on "Death" since last fall) I will only be customizing two this year. "Death" is on the Thoroughbred Mare mold - one of my favorite vintage molds - because she has to be old if she's dead, right? The other horse "Famine" is on the Desatado mold and was just finished. I predicted him to be done by September, and was correct. He is probably one of my best customs to date so stop by my Halloween customs page and check him out! I also have a test run that I was going to use for "Death" on the stablemates series but I decided to use a different mold instead. He will be offered on eBay as well. Finally, I've also customized two Mini Whinnies foals, my first Mini Whinnies customs ever, in my most popular glow-in-the-dark skeleton designs. If you would like a sample of my work but can't afford the more expensive customs, the Mini Whinnies are perfect for all budgets! If they sell well, I will make more ;) If you're interested in any of my customs, feel free to check them out on eBay. I'm trying to save up for the upcoming holidays, which admittedly is hard with five children to buy gifts for, so I often sell my customs this time of the year to help out. I'm hoping to take advantage of the CC Appreciation deal this year. I missed the last few years because there wasn't enough RRs that I wanted, but this year they've released quite a few that I would like to add to my collection. With so many good horses they've come out with this year, my wallet isn't too happy with me LOL!
The Collector Club tent is always full of goodies! Reveals for the regular Collector Club and the specialty clubs are always a treat. You need to be a member of the Collector Club in order to get in, or sign up at the door. The voting has begun on Makin' A Splash, who will be a special run for the Collector Club next year. This is the first time Breyer has made a splash pinto in a long time. My preference is Desatado, but really any of them look great. The only thing I'm disappointed about is the choice of color. Red dun has been used a lot lately (Moondance is a good example) and it's really getting kind of tiring. I think this pattern would have looked better in black. I'll still end up getting him because he still falls in the "rare" color category but he is going to be the fifth red dun horse in my collection. I believe this will be the fall 2019 release for the Collector Club. When I saw him, I did a happy dance (hope y'all didn't see that lol) because I've always wanted a horse on this mold, and his dun pinto coloring is beautiful! Can't wait to get this guy! The Stablemates Club 2019 gambler's choice horses were cute. Really, after seeing them in real life, I'd be happy with any of them. Even the deco was pretty. The second new mold, the Warmblood I've been speculating on, was far from exciting. I'm not too thrilled with it. Hopefully it's on a nice color or I'll probably resell it. Hamilton has been revealed! He's the second Premier Club model and he's a beauty! I'm very impressed by this horse, and also quite envious of those in the club. He has mapping, striped hooves, realistic tri-colored eyes and a stunning pinto pattern to boot. I can't wait for Breyer to use this mold for either Breyerfest or a regular run! I saved the best for last! Breyer will be coming out with new Halloween blind bags in stablemates size! How cute are these???
Merry Christmas to all my readers! So lots of people were waiting for the second of the year's gambler's choice to be released. After Scotty and then Calvin were released last year, both Classics sized gambler's choices, followed up by Calahan this year, we all waited for another gambler's choice to be offered. Well on December 1st Breyer released the new Fruitcake Fillies! Surprised? I sure am. Not only are they stablemates rather than Classics, they are all holiday related decorators rather than just two regular horse colors and one decorator, like in the past. A new tradition maybe? I'd sure like to see more in the future for those who can't afford the traditional sized holiday horse released to Collector Club members on Christmas day. They were limited to 2000 total pieces, with only 500 of each color. Santa Surprise was the Christmas day special for 2018. It included a gambler's choice between one of three different colors of unicorns, with the possibility of being 1 in 12 people to receive a glossy coal black donkey, appropriately named Coal. Unicorn colors included green, blue and gold. They were limited to 350 of each color. Were you naughty or nice this year? The last of the raffle models in the Collector Club for the year, meet Hawthorne the pig. He was released as a raffle model for the Collector Club. He is painted in Breyer's popular vintage woodgrain color. He was $125 postage paid. Considering that Breyer only made a handful of pigs and only two were available as regular runs, this is actually a good price. The 2019 Holiday horse will be Minstrel who looks like he's going to be a silver bay! He is on the Loping Quarter Horse (aka Latigo) mold. This was a sneak peek photo of what he will look like.
The fall brick-and-mortar exclusive is Alejandro, a grey Lusitano on the re-sculpted Gypsy Vanner mold. He is only $49.99 versus the $59.99 most flagship specials have been going for and is limited to only 3,000 pieces. One of the yearly Tractor Supply special runs, released around the holidays, is Boone who is a beautiful red dun pinto on the Cody mold. This horse is gorgeous and I'm hoping to scoop him up. The second Tractor Supply special run is named Jasper. He's a bay Mustang on the Desatado mold. I'm in love with the Halloween horse, Nevermore! As some of you may know one of my favorite molds is the Mustang Mare mold so I definitely want to get my hands on one. She is limited to 3,000 pieces. Bogeyman is the Classics sized Halloween horse released as a web exclusive only. Unfortunately she doesn't glow in the dark so I think I'm personally going to pass on this one, however if you're into decorators, she is a good price. Finally, here is a sneak peek at the 2018 holiday horse, Celestine. She is a beautiful silver Lipizzaner on the new Carina mold.
I'm getting excited for the holiday sales that Breyer will be offering this year. Last year I really took advantage of it and got a lot of great deals. Also with the upcoming season are a boat load of limited editions: Tractor Supply/Mid States special runs, Breyer web exclusives, Collector Club holiday horses, the Christmas horse Woodland Splendor and flagship model Glorioso! I bought Poltergeist when she was released back in July and Breyer offered another Halloween horse, Crane. Well, luckily he was released when I had enough money saved to buy him so... I bought him. I also bought two Grab Bags, the Halloween Grab Bag for my daughter and the Collector Club Grab Bag #4. Crane is a web exclusive that is another Halloween horse, this time in Classics size. Remember Ichabod from last year? Crane is his miniature twin. Since I didn't buy Ichabod because of his $60 price tag that I didn't have the money for last year, I'm glad Breyer offered Crane. I don't collect many Classics sized models but there are some exceptions. I'm glad they offered this guy, as I really wanted to get Kasper and Jack last year but they were sold out before I had a chance. I received my Halloween Grab Bag today. A lot of people weren't satisfied with it but I have to say that I'm very happy with it! If you saw my post last year about the Elf Grab Bag, I wasn't too thrilled with it since there were absolutely no traditional sized models in it, but I have to say that this one certainly made up for it. Overall it contained a nice mixture. In it was: *Traditional Holstein cow and calf set (this is probably worth $50 in itself) *Junior rider Ashley doll *My Dream Horse paint on canvas *Kona's Treehouse play set *Classic Morgan mare and foal set When they released the Collector Club grab bags in April, I was disappointed that they were sold out before I had the money to buy one. As luck would have it, I was glad when they brought them back this fall. This time I had enough saved up to purchase one. They only had #2 and #4 left so I purchased Collector Club grab bag #4 and I have to say that I was very happy with it! It contained FOUR traditional sized models! Included was:
*Traditional Saddle Club Prancer - chestnut Thoroughbred *Traditional palomino Marwari *Traditional flagship model Elska (I really wanted her last year but she sold out before I had the chance to buy her) *Traditional Aintree from Breyerfest 2012 *Metal livestock corral *Junior rider Ashley doll I had a Marwari once before but I sold him due to needing the money. The one I had before was a bit lighter with very limited dappling. This Marwari I got with the grab bag was darker, which I liked, and had beautiful dappling. As with the other, the paint job on this one was horrendous (I even found a red fuzzy stuck in his tail where the tail meets his body... I take that as a signature from the artist) but I think it is more because this horse would be a difficult mold to paint. The first picture shows the Marwari from my grab bag and the dappling around his rump/lower belly area. You can also see Aintree behind him. |
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