Another double post today because of so much happening. With Breyerfest just around the corner, everything is going to happen quickly. Now that we're nearing the end of the month, the June newsletter is here for Collector Club members. The giveaway is one of my favorites of the year, a complete set of Lancelots. Lancelot was a Collector Club gambler's choice Classics sized model. Breyer started this a few years ago with Calvin but haven't made one yet this year, unless it just hasn't arrived yet like the club models we're all still waiting on. I loved all three of these guys, although I ended up with the blue, whom I still have. The sneak peek was another glossy with a quote from Breyer saying they're on a glossy bay streak. I'd say so, as we've seen lots of them this year from the glossy CCA Orren Mixer paint to Robin and Nestling to Hope the Horse of the Year. Who will this be? So what happened with all the releases we were promised this month? Most likely the ship that was supposed to bring them didn't arrive yet. Although we still have a week before July officially starts, many of us are still waiting on either the Premier or Vintage Club models. Why are the Stablemate Club models still arriving on time but not the bigger guys? Well, the simple answer is that you can fit more stablemates on a boat. Most likely the Vintage Club will be next (unless they're having issues with the flocking) because it's a mold they used before. With the Premier Club model, they have to break the mold and weed out any issues before they can even paint them, so it's a lot more time consuming. The good news is, I'm hopeful we'll see the Arabian mare before Breyerfest because this was shown in the Breyerfest program: Dirndl is apparently on the new Arabian mold. While I thought about wearing a dirndl to Breyerfest to kind of set the mood, I think I'm going to pass. The things are tight as all get out and imagine trying to pull it off when you get to your hotel after Breyerfest when it's clinging to you from sweating like a hog? No thanks. The other model, Lederhosen, is definitely a model I need in my collection. He looks like a Rocky Mountain horse, a common horse here in Kentucky, and that color is just realistically lush! I'd love to see it on a Collector Club model that is available to everyone.
With the fourth of July coming up soon, Stone horses released a new surprise DAH pattern with fireworks similar to Times Square that Breyer made for Breyerfest 2007. However, Stone has added blue interference and glow in the dark paint. If you want one, he's currently on their website for $254.99 in limited molds. Be sure to check him out! This is my first year collecting Peter Stones, and I have to say that I'm very impressed with the amount of detail put into these beauties! Everyone is doing their top purchases of the year on social media, so for my top purchases of the year, I have to say that it's probably going to be them. I'm going to share my original herd with you and give you some reasons why I purchased as well as some critics. My first Peter Stone ever was Spindrift from Equilocity 2021. His pattern was so unique that I had to have him, despite foregoing the first online Equilocity the previous year. I don't know why but Spindrift's spots reminded me of shrimp and his plume tail was a unique touch to an already wildly colored horse. I wish Stone would use this mold more often as well, as it isn't too huge compared to future Stones I've purchased, but I still love it just the same. He was limited to 20 pieces and painted by Ellen. One of my all time favorite colors is flaxen chestnut, and this gal fit what I hoped to see of a flaxen chestnut in a model to a tee. Although plain colored, she has very realistic subtle dappling and nice shading in her mane/tail. My particular model didn't have as good of hoof striping as the picture shows but she is still lovely nonetheless. She was limited to 30 pieces and painted by Julie. My first and only (up to this time) Moonlight Madness purchase was Balthazar, a sugar skull that by a stroke of luck of them making 7 copies I was able to get my hands on one, otherwise I probably would have had to fight with the masses to get a sugar skull of any kind. Since I discovered Stones, I've always wanted a sugar skull. I love the gems on their faces. While not my favorite mold or color - y'all know how much I don't care for plain bays - at least I got something and he is glossy so that makes up for the plain bay color a bit. His dapples are nice too, I love horses that are very well dappled over subtle dappling myself, but to each their own. He was painted by Dawn. They released Kringle as a gambler's choice with 15 long mane and 15 short mane. I purchased Kringle in hopes of getting the long mane version, but instead I ended up with the short mane. This guy would have looked better in gloss, I think, as lighter colors tend to "pop" more when glossed. As is, his buff buttermilk coloring barely stands out against his frosted white snowcap rear end. Also the model I was sent didn't have much nose mottling as I'd seen on social media, which I was a bit disappointed about, and I ended up with a finger print in the paint on his legs. This is probably the horse I liked the least from all the ones I purchased. Not the artist's fault, I just didn't really like how the colors blended and how his hooves are solid black like his legs. By the end of the year, my tastes have changed for Peter Stones a bit. I decided to no longer collect normal horse colors, but they must have a decorator aspect to them. This is, after all, what separates Stone from Breyer in that they put a lot of thought into their models. So it is with my last purchase of the year, RMD Balthazar (ironic that he has the same name as my sugar skull) with his dark grey incredibly fish scaled dappling - I love it! - and Christmas colored painted hooves. While it's not too over the top as far as decorators go, a mix of real and deco is what I plan to collect from here on out.
Eventually I'd like to add a bat chip, a shark body design, a brindle and the Easter bunny design if they still do it next year. I've always tried to refrain from purchasing Peter Stone model horses due to everything being either a limited edition or one of a kind. Unlike Breyers where there is a reasonable chance to buy anything that you want or could ever wish for, nearly all the Peter Stones are nearly impossible to own. Equilocity is Peter Stone's event similar to Breyerfest where they make models exclusively for that event. These models range in price from as low as $89.99 for a chip (about the same size as a Breyer stablemate) all the way up to $650+ for some more popular molds and designs. Last year, just like Breyerfest, Equilocity went online. Last year was the first year I'd ever had the opportunity to attend Equilocity since I never actually went to the hotel in Lexington where it was usually held, but I didn't really see anything in the online catalog that would fit well into my strict personal collection. This year, however, I really fell in love with Spindrift, a horse modeled after Rosanna Brost's artwork of a pied Mustang in a field overlooking a beautiful mountain range. The horse in question looked almost like it had ghost shaped spots with eyeballs/mouths. I know that wasn't the original intention of the artists but this is what I saw and, being a Halloween decorator fan, I immediately thought I had to have him! He was, in my opinion, one of the flashiest of the lineup and had a decent price tag too... only $289.99 verus a lot more that the others were going for. He also was a mustang, a breed that I commonly collect. Besides TBs and Standardbreds, I also like wild horses like mustangs and Chincoteague ponies. My first mount when I was in 4-H as a child many years ago was a BLM mustang (he had a tattoo on his neck to prove it) and really taught me how to ride. Thinking about my old guy Spooky, I could only hold my breath as I hit the "buy" button for Spindrift. I had always wanted to use Peter Stone's Design A Horse to make a couple horses to look like my own guys but I honestly wanted to see if I even liked the quality of Peter Stones first. I've heard mostly good things and being an all-American company (hence the high prices) was a major reason why some people prefer Stones over Breyers. I'm honestly hoping once I see this guy in hand it might give me that final push to get those portrait models done of my beauties once they add more molds back to the DAH option. Right now the only breed suitable for the horses I own is the Palouse for my Standardbred ex-trotter.
The biggest issue I've heard from Peter Stone collectors is the time it takes for them to make it, but considering that they're a hand painted and authentically signed piece, I can see why it takes them about 3-6 months to complete. I can tell you from experience that it's taken me months to finish several of my customs. Obviously this is with me not being able to work on them everyday and yet Peter Stone artists have to work on multiples at any given time so I can only imagine how quickly they'd get backed up. Will I buy another model from Equilocity again? I hope so, but it really all depends upon if it goes back to Lexington next year or stays virtual. I can honestly only afford the models with Paypal's pay in 4 option so if it goes back to Lexington, then honestly most likely not. |
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