So every time I wake up now there’s going to be another BreyerFest reveal? Okay, sure. I guess that means the VIP tickets are going to go up for sale sooner rather than later.
(I have no idea how that’s going to go down this year. I have enough on my mind this month not to want to think about it.)
First let’s talk about Montanara:
I like him! The original Herrick Friesian mold has many loyal fans, so this Store Special will be undoubtedly very popular. My only hesitation with this fellow is that that color is hit or miss: when it’s rendered right, it’s gorgeous, and when it’s not, it bears a striking resemblance to baby poop.
And there’s the possibility that we might be offered a Gloss option on him like the previous two years’ worth of Store Specials, and if that’s the case, I might need him in Gloss.
(For the record, I am not a Gloss Addict, nor do I ever use the word “pop” in a sentence except to refer to music or carbonated beverages because I am a civilized person, yo).
Incidentally, the mold has rarely been offered in anything other than a Matte Finish – and all of these Non-Matte models have been BreyerFest Special Runs! The 2005 Celebration Horse Fire Magic was Semi-Gloss, the 2014 Store Special Athos was Pearlescent, and in 2019 the Black Appaloosa Harley release was offered in Gloss as a Live Show prize.
The Mare and Foal set they’re offering this year is on the just-released Premier Club Firefly and Hawkeye molds, in Red Bay Tobiano:
I haven’t seen these molds yet in person – I am not a member of the Premier Club, obviously – so I can’t really make a judgement about them. It does not help that the photograph is not great, but that’s par for the course here. The Foal is definitely cute, and the Mare is very reminiscent of the Thoroughbred Mare from the #3155 Thoroughbred Mare and Suckling Foal set.
Allegedly these molds are controversial and/or are not going over well because their scale is off? Breyer Traditionals have been all over the map in terms of scale since pretty much the beginning, so variations of scale don’t bother me as much as it apparently does hobbyists who are more active on the showing side of things.
(There’s also some nonsense about their scale being a larger plot to get us to pay Traditional prices for Classic Scale molds, which is… something. Really, if there is anything going on, I think it’s more an issue with their moldmakers or the moldmaking process than some convoluted conspiracy to get more money out of us.)
3 comments:
I liked the 2011(?) Black Forest horses "Hänsel and Gretel" much better than Montanara. They kind of did him dirty. The real horse looks a dark rich red and yet the Breyer expy seems to be a lighter chestnut with dark brown shading. Their photos aren't always the best but if the actual model has drastic shading like this I'm gonna pass.
A glossy version could elevate the color scheme a lot, especially with his pearly mane.
I am happy this is a virtual offering but at the same time holding out hope the next one will be on a newer mold and not on the Chriss Hess Trakehner or similar, heh.
My Firefly and Hawkeye are sitting at the post office waiting to be picked up, so I haven't handled them yet; this kerfuffle makes me think of the often-maligned Sham mold, which is also "smaller than Traditional" in size -- but it's because the mold depicts a smallish horse. People seem to forget that horses come in all different sizes, even within the same breed. When I took riding lessons during my time in Japan, I rode a very sweet and calm OTTB who was barely 14 hands high! If someone saw him without knowing he was a Thoroughbred, it would have been easy to mistake him for a Welsh pony.
She also makes a wonderful Paint or PtHA pony... just sayin'.
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