Never have I felt more out of the target demographic than I did with the not-completely-unexpected reveal of the 2024 BreyerFest Stablemates:
Look, I am all for any excuse to bring back Purple Filigree, because Purple Filigree RULES, but I am NOT a “Girl Power Ballad” person. I’ve got nothing against Taylor Swift personally or aesthetically, but my current musical tastes run more toward 1980s Synth Pop, Metal, and Classic Rock. And to be perfectly honest, the very first thing that popped into my head is:
“Oh no, this is Horse Heroes all over again, isn’t it?”
As in, a tangential reference that might end up taking over the whole darn theme, and one that walks right up to the legal borders of infringement?
Yeah, I know it’s only the Stablemates and Celebration Horse that have been revealed so far, and we have about 50 or so more releases to prove me wrong, but it’s still making me nervous.
Especially since I kind of feel the whole “Girl Power” movement is a little troubling in and of itself; all I’ll say here is that there are people in my life who have completely and utterly embraced it, and… I am not particularly fond of their company.
Update: oof, looks like I was right: they are definitely going 100 percent full bore in that direction. Sigh. The model is beautiful and the Indian Pony always sells well, but seriously, aside from the thematic issues, song lyrics just aren’t very good names.
I am also not thrilled that it’s making me feel old, but some of my ongoing health problems are also to blame for that; I was going to call the doctor yesterday to make an appointment about my back, but I almost ended up in the ER instead for another reason entirely.
(I’ll leave out the gory details: not because I don’t want to share, but because they may be triggering.)
10 comments:
The "girl power" tangent sucks, period. That chance to not be thought of as "aren't those like Barbie horses?" Well, they're waving at it as it passes by. Or is "Against All Odds" just a reference to some other "girl power" song and not a real theme now? I'm losing interest here rapidly.
I’m sorry your back is still bothering you Andrea. I hope you find out the problem & it get better soon. Being I constant pain saps your strength & resolve.
I too am disappointed in the reveals so far. Going from Against All Odds to Girl Power is completely unnecessary & frankly stupid. The theme should have been Girl Power from the start. Switching up after promoting the event as Against All Odds feels like a bait-and-switch.
Breyer has AGAIN totally flubbed the theme. Against All Odds should show case breeds bought back from the brink of extinction, horses that overcame abuse & neglect or serious injuries to thrive. Horses bred or owned or ridden by people that fought & struggled against expectations & circumstances to succeed in careers with horses. Friesians were nearly extinct after WWI so a black Friesian on the new mold would be great. General Patton arranged the rescue of Lipizzaners during WWII so why not a white mare & black foal on the molds? A Przewalski's horse on the zebra mold or old Fjord mold would be great. Unusual coat colors in established horse breeds would work for the theme as well.An overo pinto TB, a Friesian with a blaze & socks (which accepted by the Friesian registry in America) & beautiful Pintaloosa would all fit the theme of Against All Odds. Why aren’t we getting these?!
There are so many beautiful, inspiring stories of people & horses overcoming unbelievable obstacles to succeed & thrive as well as unusual & gorgeous horse colors but we get models based on female pop singers. Really? Guess it’s a good thing I’m not buying tickets. I know the reveals have just begun but based on past BF themes & models I don’t have any expectations that things will improve & we’ll get models that actually celebrate those who truly succeeded Against All Odds.
Has Reeves hired a bunch of 10-13 year olds? I know some states have loosened their child labor laws, was New Jersey one of them?
Well I for one did not see this shift coming. I was looking forward to rescue stories and such.
This? This is a gag me, oh heck no, nope.
I didn't mind the Marvel and superhero names I admit. As I sit here in my Capt Amer t shirt. But that theme went sideways too.
But yuck to this change.
I know, right?!
Dang, all the cultural references have whizzed over my head. Girl Power, wasn't that a thing 20 years ago, the Spice Girls etc? Anyhoo...
The Indian Pony is nice, except- it's just so heavy handed. You can almost see every stage of production. Slap on masks...brown shading...black shading...those little stripey things...it just doesn't hold together! It's like for all their flaws, the older Breyer paint style that was just thin layer after thin layer of paint, angled just so...it's very appearance masked it's production techniques.
With this "girl power" thing that seems to be creeping up in this year's Breyerfest is just reconfirming that Breyers are for girls. Not good if they want to be all inclusive and have boys interested in their products. I know it's only names so far but I can see the Breyerfest swag being all "girl power" themed as well.
The song lyric names are too much. I feel they could have had names like "Hope", "Tenacity", "Persistence ", etc instead.
i dont like taylor swift and im a male so i should hate this but i think its hilarious genuinely
It seems like Breyer is catering to kids lately. Which is kind of funny because when I WAS a kid, back in the 80's, I loved Breyers because they were serious, realistic models. They weren't the My Little Pony, Fashion Star Filly purple and pink monstrosities. Now they really seem to be going that direction. I LOVE Breyer, I've loved them my whole life. And they are doing a lot of things right. (The quality of most of the paint jobs in recent years has been fantastic. And GLOSS, yes, gloss everything!) But the glittery, pink, and combable hair toys are getting to be a bit too much for me. Oh, and the unicorns. I own a fair number. But not everything has to come in a glitter pink unicorn variety.
I too find this turn of events a bit dismaying. Maybe they're saying that "Against All Odds" also applies to female performers who (in theory at least) have to fight and claw their way to the top of the music-industry heap? And yeah, if they're leaning into a "girl power" thing, they're tossing any inroads they may have made towards people not automatically thinking "plastic horses are for GIRLS and GIRLS ONLY" out the window. I also don't care much for spattery pastel colors. Hopefully there'll be more subtle and realistic releases soon.
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