Saturday, April 3, 2010

Spring Break

Had to take a few days off from the Internet - the weather’s been so nice it seemed a crime not to go out and enjoy some of it. Though I’m sure some people definitions of enjoyment would not include so much yard work, heavy lifting, and the trapping of groundhogs. (Evil beasties, grr!)

I have to admit I haven’t been paying too much attention to the horses this week, either: I think it’s the collection purge and repack that did it. I’ve been doing my daily lurking and a little field research, but the horses were definitely not my first priority.

Once the flea market opens (two weeks!) I’ll be just fine. Nothing like cheap, plentiful horses to get the heart going again. (I know, I know, I shouldn’t be rubbing it in. I’m perfectly willing to share the wealth, provided you’re willing to meet me at my house at 5:45 a.m. on Sunday mornings to caravan it. No joke - neither the time, nor the offer!)

I did spot new Pony Gals merchandise at Target this week: new molds, even. Smaller, unjointed, My-Little-Ponified versions of Jasmine, Chloe and Dixie, in Play Sets with hair manes and tails and various accessories:

7088 Jasmine Travel Boutique Play Set
7089 Dixie Travel Barn Play Set
7090 Chloe Travel Arena Play Set

They’re cute, but not my thing. The whole MLP thing was a little after my time.

I’m a little more excited about the small-scale resin "Big Lex:" a SR being done in conjunction with Lexington’s visual identity program, which will include a big giant blue horse:

The dramatic sculptural likeness of "Big Lex" will become a beacon for visitors and a popular tourist attraction during the World Equestrian Games. A banner based on traditional horse racing graphics can be draped across the Big Lex sculpture to announce special occasions and upcoming events.

http://pentagram.com/en/new/2009/03/new-work-lexington-kentucky.php

I’m not normally a big fan of resins, but as this will be a small-scale reproduction of a big giant blue horse, I’m all in. Because y’all know about my obsession with giant fiberglass livestock - and if you don’t, you will in the near future, now that the weather’s all nice and stuff…

Like everyone else, I’m also excited to see that Giselle and Gilen will debut in plastic at BreyerFest, presumably as a Tent Ticket Special. They’ll be sold as a set, with Giselle in light gray, and Gilen in baby black. I guess that solves the riddle of what the hot, must-have item will be this year. I hope that means a 2011 regular run release - or dare to hope, a Fall 2010 release - follows. (If only to save those coveted SRs from the customizer’s knife.)

There’s also some talk that Reeves is in talks with the owner of one of the horses that played Gandalf’s horse Shadowfax in The Lord of the Rings films, as a possible 2011 Celebration Horse. That’s led to speculation on next year’s theme, with the bulk of commentators seeming to think that it’s "Horses in Literature." Yeah, maybe, but there are other possibilities: "Legends," "Fantasy" or even the dreaded "Pretty, Pretty Princess" theme that was hinted at in the beginning of the Theme Suggestion thread on Blab a few months back would all work with Shadowfax.

I’m not a big fan of the Literature theme, mostly because (gasp!) I’m not big into horse-themed literature, beyond Marguerite Henry and Walter Farley. Too much sentimentality and wish-fulfillment for my tastes. The rights issues could be a bit of a problem, too; the Tolkien estate can be difficult to work with.

2 comments:

BluelineGoddess said...

Breyer decided that since they can release TWO bay Rejoices for BF, they can release 2 gray Andalusians (3, if you count Alborozo, but at least he was way different than the Moody one).

I'm not a fan of the Shadowfax rumor, the real horse is pretty, but come on Breyer - put a few more years between repeated ideas.

ANDREA said...

First, the original Rejoice was chestnut, not bay. The second bay was the catalog release Naranda. The Shatners chose the Rejoice mold, not Reeves, so your disappointment oughta be directed at them.

And for the record, the photo of All Glory in the BreyerFest flier is the spittin' image of the Rejoice mold, so I can see why they chose it. I'll withhold my judgment of the actual model until I actually see one in person, or a decent photo of one.

Second, we have no idea what mold the Shadowfax will be on - new or old - or even if the idea will make it "across the finish line," so to speak. They could be researching several ideas at this point, or have backup plans - since, as I noted before, the Tolkien estate can be difficult to deal with (and not unjustifiably so, for reasons unrelated to this discussion.)

Seems a bit harsh to be dissing the mere idea of a horse - especially when absolutely nothing has been confirmed yet.