Saturday, October 10, 2015

Two More Small Additions

I decided to take a pass on the Kasper and Jack Halloween Foals; aside from trying to stay focused on budgetary issues, the more I looked at them, the less appealing I found them. To be honest, they just didn’t look that well-designed to me.

If I’m going to buy any Glow-in-the-Dark Halloween horses this year, it’ll be the Fighting Stallion Ichabod, with the cute little Appaloosa skull spots. Or last year’s Goffert Night Mare, covered in vampiric imagery that bordered on the genuinely creepy.

I did make a couple of small additions to the herd this week, though:


The now-no-longer elusive G4 Stablemates Andalusian and Bucking Bronco! I picked this pair up at a Jesse-free Tractor Supply, and found even more at a Meijer; the Meijer had the Mystery Foal Surprise sets also, but I’ll be taking a pass on those through the end of the year.

(Gotta save up for whatever surprises they’re going to throw our way this holiday season – now that it looks like I might be able to afford some of it.)

Remember when so many of us were worried earlier in the year, when the initial shipment of these two pretties sold out in an eyeblink? They’re still showing up as “Unavailable” on the web site, but judging from the number of pieces now turning up on eBay, Reeves must have allotted the latest batch to retailer orders first.

They don’t appear on the Discontinued list for 2015, so if they’re still not in your neck of the woods yet, I wouldn’t worry about it. Stablemates releases, generally, seem to have a longer shelf life, outside of Special Runs and mistakes like the Play Mat Palomino:


Who has reappeared this year, incidentally, in a slightly altered form:


http://www.breyerhorses.com/special-delivery

While most recent switches of medium have been from Nonplastic to Plastic – like the Classics Amelia (formerly Tally Ho) and Liam (formerly Sir Buckingham) – the Stablemates, again, have been a bit of an exception to the rule. There have been a number of plastic-first Stablemates showing up in Nonplastics forms later, like the BreyerFest Specials in the early 2000s, and the “International Miniature Collection” from 2004-2005.

I’d rather see the Play Mat Palomino in plastic again, but it’s reassuring to know the mold hasn’t been completely forgotten.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

When you open your G4 Andalusian, let us know if it stands. I bought a handful to customize and the first two I opened stand horribly. I mean, they BARELY stand, and sure aren't to be trusted. Even as bodies, I have them leaning against other models so they don't fall and ruin another horse.

And using my heat gun (for the first time on Stablemates) resulted in bubbly plastic so now I will have to sand and epoxy. And they STILL don't stand right, so I will have to make them bases. There is just something about the hind legs I can't figure out how to tweak. And I've gotten good over the years tweaking horses with warped legs. Sigh.

I make bases for a lot of my custom stablemates, because some of them can be tippy, especially the foals, but the G4 Andalusian is the worst yet. I don't even know if I am going to keep the extras I bought, they are that much of a pain.

So I'm curious if they are all like that (or not). A horse should at least have the expectation of standing up on it's own, right?

And I loved that mold in the Littlebit scale resin! :(

The Mustang though, he rocks! He's a big bigger than I expected and they stand beautifully....their paint jobs are beautiful. They are just all around lovely. And when I first saw them on the Internet I didn't think I would like them. It goes to show you never can tell until you see it in person. :)

Unknown said...

Wow, I just found your blog! I must say it is very good and I appreciate your effort and wisdom you share.

I found you while I was googling MISCHIEF NIGHT Halloween Web Special Glow in the Dark SR Hobo. I am somehow missing when they make available special run horses like Mischief Night. Could you let me know how to get on a mailing list or something? I am sad I missed Mischief and just paid top dollar for the Halloween foals. (But I did get Ichabod at the retail price.)

Thank you again for your FYI on Breyer Horses!

Barbara

ANDREA said...

Barbara -

There's really no rhyme, reason or schedule when it comes to the surprise special runs, outside of the occasional e-mails I get via the Collectors Club; I just make it a habit of visiting my usual hobby links at least once a day to make sure I haven't missed anything.

I also get the most interesting e-mails.

Someday, in the not too distant future I hope to set up a Twitter feed for late breaking news and surprise releases.

Anonymous said...

@anon- Mine stands on his own, but tips over at the lightest touch. I've got him standing between two sturdy standers on my shelf. I'd recommend a base.

Caitlin said...

Why was the Play Mat Palomino a mistake? Sorry if you posted about it before - I'm curious!

Julia said...

Hi Andrea!
Like Caitlin, I'm also curious about the play mat palomino!
Would you mind sharinf some info?
Thanks,
Julia :)