The May newsletter came out, and it was a bit unique. First off, Breyer is offering a survey to Collector Club members that I highly recommend you taking if you want to have a say in what kind of information is contained in the newsletter. It even has a text box where you can tell them what you'd like to see if you have any suggestions, so be sure to check it out! Another new addition is instead of a collector story, they instead wrote about the True Blue event. I'm sore about not being chosen especially since I have yet to be chosen for any of the special events as yet. Unlike Breyerfest where you can choose if you want to go or not, you have to rely on the luck of the draw for the special events, and we all know that Breyer is notorious for their lotteries. Honestly though, after seeing the horses in hand, the only one that I really liked was Home and Away, and even he is a horse I can live without. Hopefully it'll be back to a live event next year and - hopefully - one of these years I'll actually be able to attend. Those of you in the same boat I'm sure understand. The giveaway of the month is a four pack of event stablemates for Breyerfest 2021 which really surprises me since the event hasn't even happened yet. This is new too as usually it's something from years back. It also makes me think that Breyerfest will not sell out this year so fingers crossed that there's enough models for everyone and most people get what they want without having to wait until December for backorders. Finally, the sneak peek was not a Collector Club reveal, but a reveal for Vintage Club members only. Folks, I believe this is our Classics sized model that was going to be a mini me of the Presentation Series. It is supposed to be a dappled bay on the Terrang mold with a wooden base and brass nameplate. I'm curious to see what his full reveal looks like however... This horse will be offered for sale since I don't collect many Classics models. If you'd like to purchase him, come back to my website when he's released and you can purchase him in my Model Horse Store. He will be offered pretty close to cost since he's just a Classics scale.
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? The Vintage Club opened today this morning and literally sold out within an hour, not surprising with Georg being on the lineup. I'm happy to announce that I was able to sneak into the Vintage Club while it was open. I wasn't going to, but I can't resist that Georg with that vintage red roan coloring. I don't know why I like that coloring on him so much, but I do. His official name is Julius and I'm just glad he'll be coming home with me. I just hope that the rest of the lineup is as nice. I don't like as many of the Vintage Club horses as I do the Premier Club, but I decided I'd try it and see. Worse comes to worst, I'll just have to call it an experience and forego my spot next year. So what do we expect to see? Since Julius is our vintage color on a new mold, most likely we'll get two vintage molds, one on vintage coloring and the other on modern coloring. We'll likely get an appaloosa and a pinto. The fourth will be the gambler's choice which, if it goes by all previous years, will be the four decorator colors: gold, gold filigree, wedgewood blue and blue filigree. I purchased Troubadour finally. It doesn't look like we're getting anymore new releases at the moment so I've decided to add Bellatrix/Spica and Christoff as transport buddies. It was only an extra $5 to ship them with Troubadour. I'm going to bite the bullet about the unicorns, only because I can't resist the color, but I may customize them to remove the horns once they get here. I saw someone who had the horn break in the mail during transit and left a cute little white star where the horn was. It looked a lot better that way. Now for the Magic Stables. Lots of speculation about whether the unicorns are cheap plastic or the rubbery material that Melissa and Doug use with their stables was floating around social media. I now have an answer for you. They are, in fact, plastic, but it's not the same plastic most Stablemates are made of. They are a bit more flexible, though still feel like Stablemates, not the rubbery texture of Melissa and Doug horses. On the shelf, they look like regular Stablemates. Granted they are not painted as well as most Stablemate unicorns, but they're still nicer made than I thought they'd be based on the stock photos, considering that you're getting a wooden stable with 6 unicorns for only $25. Here is a picture of the actual horses: The pearly white Andalusian Stallion and blue appaloosa are my personal favorites. The stable is very nice, I'd say it is very similar to the Melissa and Doug in quality. It could be used as decorative shelving for your stablemates. If you'd like to purchase a stable, I have them now available on eBay, in hand and ready to ship!
We've all been pretty much preparing for this one, but here finally is the first Vintage Club 2021 release, and he's a stunner! I don't know why I like the coloring on this mold, but I do. If you want to try your luck getting in to this limited club, the Vintage Club will open in November for memberships, with current members getting the chance to renew first. The club is limited to only 500 members total and most people renew year after year, so getting in is rather difficult. It requires a $100 deposit if you do. For the Vintage Club you'll receive four models a year and an optional fifth model will also be available for purchase later in the year. The price of the models is $135 each but the $100 deposit is dispersed between the four models making it $110 each plus shipping. The optional purchase is the full $135 if you choose to purchase it. The other four models you will be obligated to purchase, meaning that if you can't purchase them, you are kicked out of the club and will be unable to purchase anymore Vintage Club models the rest of the year. You will also be forfeiting the rest of your $100 deposit. If you don't want every release, the best thing to do is to buy second hand. Vintage Club horses typically drop well below original price, unless they're extremely popular or gambler's choices.
Will we see the entire Vintage Club lineup early this year, just like we did last year? Breyer has been going crazy with all the new releases and sneak peeks of late, and they're still trying to take our money. First of all, meet the Palomino for Christmas, the second in what appears to be a series of "ponies for Christmas" which kind of surprises me with how poorly the Highland Pony sold last year (he's actually still available on the website) but maybe with the more sought-after mold we'll see more in future. This gal's name is Honeybunch and she has a palomino coat with a pearly mane and tail. As with the Pony for Christmas, Breyer didn't show us what's under her blanket. Is she dappled? Pinto? Or knowing this year she's probably appaloosa. I guess I'll be finding out when she shows up at my door soon because of course I bought her with her being on one of my all time favorite molds. It's a shame she didn't come out a bit sooner or I would have bought her with Valerio to save on shipping... oh well. Finally, at least for now, for all you Vintage Club members, the optional horse Barrington is now available for purchase. She is $135 plus shipping to those who are in the Vintage Club and would like to own this model on the Bristol mold.
While us Stablemate Club members are still waiting for our pony this month, Josiah from the Vintage Club has been released. This cute Wedgewood blue Belgian was my favorite release from the Vintage Club this year and I'm having a difficult time restraining myself from tracking one down on the second hand market, however with Breyerfest coming up so soon, I think I'm going to give him a pass. Since not many have shown up on the second hand market, it seems as if many others in the club are keeping them in their collections rather than flipping them, so I'm assuming the price of this guy is going to skyrocket rather than eventually go down, unlike most of the Vintage Club horses. Another recent release to Collector Club members is another test run. This test run has vintage appaloosa coloring on the Ruffian mold. There are some shiny spots but otherwise no other flaws to note. It will be given to one lucky person for the low price of $1000! Now before I get comments about how much the test runs are, remember that the one of a kind raffle models at Breyerfest go for a lot more, so the fact that this is a one of a kind makes this price a steal. I won't be entering because again I'm saving up for Breyerfest, but I thought I would mention this lovely lady for those who do want to enter. Breyer doesn't appear to be doing another year of the Fairytale Friends Club. Not surprisingly since they re-opened membership mid year, something which they've never done with other clubs before. The people that did take the plunge didn't seem too thrilled with the quality of them (and was what made me skeptical about joining the club) because, minus the glitter, the stablemates were too similar to the $3 unicorns from Walmart, and I don't think there are enough Mini Whinnies collectors to keep the club going another year. It was a good try, especially after numerous people requested a fantasy club, but they would have needed to do a little bit more... realistic horse colored unicorns, pegasus, more complicated decorator colors... something... in order for people to want to join the club. Glitter, unfortunately, doesn't cut it.
I own Seafoam and I found his coloring too similar to the new Unicorn Mystery blind bags series 3 blue Walking Thoroughbred. The Clydesdale mold is one of my favorite stablemates molds and I found the guy dirt cheap, though admittedly I wasn't too impressed with the glitter. I did find the Mini Whinnies Gypsy Vanner adorable and I miss the satin drawstring mini bags they used to include with the Stablemates Club. Some good news is that if they don't do another year of the Fairytale Friends Club, the value of the horses will probably increase with time. However, if I'm wrong and they do end up re-opening the Fairytale Friends Club again, I'll surely let y'all know! Amid the coronavirus outbreak, Breyer is still pumping out horses while the rest of the country is shutting down. Here in Ohio schools are closed for the next few weeks, though they're saying expect possibly the rest of the year. I will be hiding in my house for the next few weeks homeschooling my kiddos and working on some customs that I've been putting off far too long to resell to help pay the bills while I'm out of work. I'm thinking of doing miniature animals on stablemates, similar to the Big Cat and Wild Animal series. Meanwhile, we have had a rarity: two back-to-back club releases, so members of both of those clubs can get combined shipping. Fairytale Friends "Sunchaser" and Vintage Club "Starlight" are available for purchase. By the way, Sunchaser looks 10x better in real life than the stock photo. He has more of a gold luster from the in-hand pics I've seen. I'm still underwhelmed by the Vintage Club model and am a bit shocked by how quickly the VC models are being released this year. It's no secret by now that the virus is affecting Breyer as a company since they've had to postpone stock for RRs so maybe they're trying to compensate with the club releases? I don't know, but we're due another SMCC model next month, and then the first Premier Club release (yay for Altynai!) in May.
People on social media are jumping the gun by worrying if Breyerfest will be cancelled or not due to coronavirus. Honestly, let's just take it one day at a time. July is still a ways off, and the virus is predicted to settle down during the warmer months before returning again in the fall, so I personally don't see Breyerfest being cancelled. Postponement is what many events are doing, like the Kentucky Derby, however so many people have already booked hotels (some non-refundable) that it's a lot of pressure for Breyer to still host the event on time. If Breyerfest IS cancelled rather than postponed, I don't see Breyer simply refunding tickets. This is a HUGE money maker for them so I'm sure if worst came to worst, they'd make it an online event somehow, maybe offering so many models during each time slot on their website just as they would at the event, and linking ticket times to accounts, sort of like they do with the lottery models when they make certain models available to certain accounts. They'll figure something out, I'm sure. Let's have some faith, eh? I absolutely love this time of the year! So many reveals happen between the months of October to December that it really makes getting through the busy holidays a little more tolerable. The first reveal is Georg, a Rhendish-German Coldblood stallion in a dappled mealy bay color. I'm a little surprised that Breyer did two standing poses in a year, but they did. Georg is still lovely and I can't wait for a regular run or more easily attainable special run made on this mold. This guy would look great as a Suffolk Punch, a breed I'm hoping Breyer will portray in traditional sometime. In the annual JAH magazine sent to CC members, they've shown a sneak peek of the first Premier Club release. His name is Altynai and he's an Akhal-Teke, another breed I was hoping Breyer would eventually do again. He's got the typical coloring seen on Akhal-Tekes, unlike the previously released limited edition back in 2007 on the Lonesome Glory mold that had very even color, hardly any shading whatsoever. The deer-like, stretched out, lanky body with the short mane has Akhal-Teke written all over it. The only issue I have is the tail. I don't like the tail for some reason. Everything else looks nice, especially the body color. We've already seen the first release for Vintage Club 2020. The second release is Starlight (shown below) who is a grey appaloosa on the Shagya Arabian mold. The third sneak peek looks like the In-Between Mare mold, another like the Western Horse mold I'm not a big fan of. Apparently her name is Zahra and she is going to be the gambler's choice of glossy grey pinto, palomino or bay. Despite in the past only having a decorator gambler's choice every other year (and this year happens to fall on the real horse color gambler's choice) it looks like Breyer kept their word when they said they were bringing out all the bells and whistles for the VC next year because they surprised everyone with Josiah who is a wedgewood blue deco pinto Belgian. The optional horse for Vintage Club 2020 is shown below is Barrington. I'm not fond of how Breyer, knowing how much people love Bristol and want a model of her, is putting the plainest colors on this mold. Just not a fan of the plain Jane coloring of this one. Will we ever get a flashy Bristol? Finally, we have the FREE stablemate that is sent to all VC members. It is a gold chrome horse on the Native Dancer mold. Now on to the stablemates... The first release in the upcoming 2020 Stablemates Club has been revealed! His name is Klaus, a leopard appaloosa (or Knabstrupper) on the ever-popular Darwin mold. Am I the only one that doesn't like the Darwin mold? I don't know what it is about this mold... something that I just don't care for. I got Andante at BF thinking he'd change my mind, but nope. I ended up reselling him. I'm still on the edge about joining the SM CC again this year. This past year - and it could just have been a bad year since most of the horses were kind of plain - but I couldn't get the horses I didn't like to sell for anything. I had to sell a couple for only $15 each, which was taking a huge hit once you factored in the $5 from my deposit I lost out on, not including the shipping I paid from Breyer and tack eBay/Paypal fees on top. Breyer has to release some pretty good horses for 2020 to get me to join, otherwise I'm just going to do what I do with the Vintage Club and buy them second hand. Anyways that being said... See that guy on the right? That's our second Stablemates Club new mold for this year, Corbin. I have to say when I first saw the mold, I was kind of "meh" about it, but after seeing the dark dapple grey coloring (which is one of my all time favorite colors) I have to say I'm impressed! This is a perfect example of how Breyer can take an otherwise mediocre mold and turn it into something beautiful. He will definitely be a keeper!
As to SM CC horse colors for 2020, I think we can guarantee that there will be a pinto, a dapple grey, an appaloosa and a bay. It seems like they use these every year. I kind of wish they'd make a roan. According to JAH there will be a new mold, a gambler's choice (as there usually is) and a 50/50 split between matte and glossy. Personally it wouldn't surprise me if Klaus is the split, just like how Fiero was the first release and was the split last year. Klaus would look better in gloss. Lots of collectors have been waiting for Lucien. I've especially been hoping to get my hands on him after seeing him at Breyerfest, and now he's here! "Brigitte Eberl’s beloved Valegro sculpture looks absolutely elegant when paired with a buckskin tobiano pinto coat. This is the first time a tobiano pinto coat has been used on this mold, and Lucien wears it well! Performing a beautiful canter pirouette, dapper Lucien includes a base and has “Collector Club 2019” printed on his belly for authenticity." Now while I absolutely love this guy and think he's stunning, I do have to complain in that I was a bit shocked at his price. Breyer has been slowly raising the prices of Collector Club special runs (and then charging us $14.50 for shipping to boot which was always outrageous especially because they often are placed in a box barely big enough for them and lack any packing material outside of the bubblewrap around the horse) which was stretching my budget pretty thin at $75. Lucien is $80, and while most people would argue that it's "only" $5 more, the point is that I've been seeing this inflation since I joined the Collector Club back in 2016. While I did end up scraping up enough to buy him, it won't be much longer until I won't be able to afford the Collector Club special runs because the total with shipping ended up being $94.50! Folks, that's as much as my monthly electric bill. You see what I'm saying? Breyer is slowly taking the fun out of collecting by seeing how much they can push the prices without losing customers. I'm sure the second hand market has a lot to do with it because they probably figure if someone's willing to pay outlandish prices for a model they really want, then why can't we charge that? It isn't fair, and I hope Breyer takes note, because these models should be cherished and not just treated as a commodity. Yes, it's their business to make ultra-realistic plastic ponies, but still. They did the same thing with the Christmas Day Surprise last year, which caused a major uproar among collectors. I'm wondering what this Christmas Day Surprise will cost? Ok, rant over. I do love this guy. He will look great in my collection which, despite adding Hakan and Sampson this year, is still very much lacking in buckskins. They need to make more greys and palominos too. I have way too much brown in my collection. Word of mouth has got about that this picture above is the final release for Premier Club 2019. To me it looks like it is going to be another standing pose, no action, since it looks as if both front feet are on the ground. In my opinion, it kind of looks like Eberl's Valentin. I'm kind of glad about this because I was worried that I would be kicking myself for not joining the Premier Club this year. I'm a sucker for drafters, and I knew that they were going to be releasing a drafter for this year's PC. Now that I know it's going to be on a non-action pose, and that it doesn't look like it's going to be a color I need in my collection since I see some brown on the leg, I'm feeling a bit more relieved. I'm already being too hard on myself for not joining the Vintage Club this year after seeing Lillian and Molly, then Breyer had to release this (shown below) to make me really regret not joining the VC. That's right, folks, you are staring at a miniature version of Misty and Stormy. Remember also how I said I hate that Breyer's making shrinkies of everything? Ugh... I'm sorry but I need to get a tissue because I love everything Misty. I'm hoping these guys will show up as a Black Friday deal one of these years as wishful thinking. It happened with the True North mini so it's not completely impossible. One can dream, right?
I honestly teetered about joining the Vintage Club last year because of flashy silver bay Rockford, but I decided against it due to the mold he was on. However, after seeing the final VC release for 2019, I'm kicking myself that I didn't. My personal take on the specialty clubs is that you should only join if you are a serious collector because chances are you won't get what you paid for it. I've seen this in my three years with the Stablemates Club and with the VC models I've bought on the second hand market. Anyways, the Vintage Club 2019 final release has just been revealed. Their names are Lillian and Molly a mare and foal set on the Thoroughbred Mare and Nursing Foal molds. Their coloring is described as buckskin, although it looks more like a sooty buckskin by the pictures, as the coloring is more greyish than yellow, so I'm curious to see what these two look like in real life. I definitely wouldn't describe the stock photo as buckskin, or maybe I just don't want to, since Breyer has been a little too buckskin happy (Bandelier, Rocket, Hakan, Sampson and Lucien) and dun happy this year. This horse is the first Vintage Club model for 2020. The name is not yet known. According to Breyer, for their 70th anniversary, they are "pulling out the stops" whatever that means, but knowing Breyer I'm expecting that they'll probably do something extra special this coming year. Although a lot of people were drooling over this horse, I'm personally not a fan. I am curious however to see what they have up their sleeves for this year, although I most likely won't join since the VC horses more likely than not don't sell for what collectors originally paid for them. Unlike the Premier Club horses that go up with time, the VC horses usually go down, except for the gambler's choice, just like with the Stablemates Club.
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