The Rest Of Them

The connection between the 2016 BreyerFest theme and this year’s BreyerFest theme is a little stretched – Oktoberfest is just like Carnivale! – and I’m okay with it only because it gives me a Mini Me of Caipirinha and the chance to own teeny versions of both Brigadeiros and Polomar, who are both so rare they don’t even qualify as Grails. 

(Brigadeiros hurts a little more than Polomar, because I wrote an article in a Sampler about the Morganglanz that advocated for a Pinto release, not long before that. Sigh.)

I was wondering when the Arabian/Arabian-adjacent component of BreyerFest would show up, and here he is!

Technically he’s inspired by the crest of the House of Wittelsbach, but for about 98 percent of us who first took a gander at him, we immediately thought of the 2018 BreyerFest Special Run Newmarket, on the Flash mold. That particular release didn’t go over so well – I bought one on Sunday afternoon during the sale of the leftovers, hoping that I’d eventually fall in love, and I didn’t – but the pattern looks way cuter and more appropriate on this flamboyant little Eberl Arabian.

The Stablemate that surprises me the most, though, is Torlinie, who is another Online-Only item:

I am not a fan of either form of Football – my childhood was spent grimacing through Detroit Lions games – but I have to say that I think Torlinie is my favorite of the Stablemates releases for BreyerFest this year. 

I know a lot of hobbyists feel this mold has been overused and are so over it by now, and I get it, but if there’s one mold that looks like he’s kicking a soccer ball down a field, it’s the G2 Clydesdale. The mold choice is just so spot on. (No pun intended!)

And like the pattern on Wittelsbach, it’s not something that I think any other mold at any other scale could pull off, except maybe the Brishen. 

All in all, this is a nice crop of BreyerFest Stablemates; I’m going to ignore whoever/whatever the Stablemate is going to be for the Finalist prize in the Customs Contest, because I’m a little too wrapped up in getting all my Quilting UFOs done this year to either start – or finish – anything worth entering. One of these years, I swear...

Nikolas

Reeves threw us a curveball this time around with next year’s Celebration Horse: instead of a Draft or Warmblood on an existing mold – as many of us were expecting – we’re getting a new German Riding Pony mold by Brigitte Eberl!

https://www.breyerhorses.com/blogs/breyerfest-blog/our-2022-celebration-horse

The prototype for Nikolas is very reminiscent of the 2009 BreyerFest Special Run Buttercream, on the Idocus mold. That release initially met with a cool reception, but has only grown in popularity in more recent years. 

And also, a little bit, like the Classics Buckskin Duchess released as a “Thoroughbred Cross” in 2006 through 2008. From personal experience she appears to be one of the tougher Duchesses to find, at least in good condition.

New mold introductions are nothing new for BreyerFest; the first was the Celebration Horse Rejoice in 1998, and one of the best known is (of course!) Eberl’s legendary Alborozo in 2008. 

It has been a few years since we’ve gotten an entirely new mold for the Celebration Horse, but it makes perfect sense that they’d enlist Brigitte Eberl to bring it to us. 

(I hope this means that we’ll get a Brigitte Eberl seminar, yes? In person, or at least online? Because I want to pencil that in as one of my activities if that’s the case.)

My only minor concern at this point is that there is definitely going to be some grumbling about the size this mold: as is the case with the paint, some hobbyists put a lot of weight into the weight of the materials used to make it. 

In this case, the fact that my Internet time is very limited right now is a blessing: not that I don’t think there’s some merit in discussing the issue, but now is just not a good time for me to engage in it.  

More stuff has arrived at my door – including Gingerbread! – but the boxes will have to remain unopened until the weekend. I did get a chance to open my Dahlia and she… was unsurprising. But more about all that next time.  

Valegro vs. Valegro

Here’s a side-by-side comparison you won’t see very often: a production Valegro next to its Central Park prototype variation:

(Yeah, I know. I can’t believe I have one either – and I clung to it a little more tightly after I saw how much Reeves auctioned one off for back in July for BreyerFest. But I digress.)

Aside from the prototype’s transparent base and the lack of the ribbon, there aren’t obvious between the two. (FYI: there’s no significant size difference: the production Valegro is just slightly heat warped, presumably from storage. He was purchased secondhand in a box lot.)

The differences between the two paintjobs are a little too subtle to photograph, but are much more noticeable in person. The prototype version has a more matte, almost textured finish. It’s something I have observed on other samples and prototypes, but I’m not sure if it’s due to differences in the painting technique or in the way the model’s surface was prepped for painting in the first place.

Whenever I see an argument break out on the Model Horse Internet about Alabaster, Aged Gray, and other mostly White-colored models, it’s one of my bugbears when hobbyists assume that the translucent white areas of modern Breyer models are raw, unpainted plastic. 

Anyone who has actually seen a factory unpainted model in person would know this is not the case. In fact, I’d argue that these kinds of models are even more highly prepped and finished that more painted ones, because there are fewer opaque pigments to camouflage any flaws inherent in the plastic itself.

But anyway, off my soapbox and back to the Valegros in hand. 

The markings are more finely rendered, and the hoof color and detailing are a little different. The eyes are more tightly painted also, though the quality of any given model’s eye detail depends more on what kind of day the painter of your model is having than anything else. There’s also a small gold Breyer logo imprinted on the belly of the prototype.

There are some differences in the mold, as well. Details are a little tighter and cleaner in spots, and you can even faintly see the nails in some of the hooves, though I suspect this is something that still there in the mold, and it just gets wiped away during the factory painting prep. 

And finally, the most obvious? No mold mark! I actually squealed a little when I discovered that little detail. You know I’m such a dork for things like that.

The Naming of Colors

On one hand, I think I’ve finally found the colors on the Eberl Andalusian Mare and Foal that finally do it for me, with the Winter Web Special La Molina and Masella:

But on the other, it is highly unlikely that I’ll ever be able to complete the family with a Duende Benasque. 

Eh, I’ll enter anyway and see what happens. If I get them, great! 

If I don’t, I’ll just sit back and watch the trainwreck that the aftermarket sales will be. Since the piece count is 450 (as opposed to the usual 350) on this set, I’m hoping not very, but I’ve seen some frankly very scary prices on eBay lately so I am not that optimistic.

(In case you were wondering, I didn’t even try for that White Boxer.)

It’s interesting that they appear to have settled on the name “Blue Filigree” for Masella’s color: that seems awfully generic and mundane for a color that glossy, iridescent and color-shifting. 

Unless they come up with something better (Glossy Metallic Heliotrope? Dappled Iridescent Cyan? Purple Monkey Dishwasher? Or my personal favorite: Blue Raspberry Snowcone!) I’m going to keep calling it Benasque Blue. 

There is logic and precedent to this: the “Sorrel” color that originated on the #52 Five-Gaiter is often referred to as “Five-Gaiter Sorrel” when it appears on other Breyer releases. (Yeah, Breyer tried rebranding it in the 1970s as “Honey Sorrel” when they put it on the Bell-Bottomed Shire, but that did not stick.)

Speaking of, I’ll close today’s brief post with a picture of my semi-gloss Sorrel Five-Gaiter with eyewhites who also did nothing at the BreyerFest Photo Show this year. I bought him years ago in a box lot on eBay with a mint Sorrel Family Arabian Foal; this is one of the reasons why I presume that the Sorrel Family Arabian Variations are from the early 1960s, and not the later. 

That’s all for today, folks!

The 2020 Info Dump

Remember last year, when Reeves was oh-so-coy about giving us any detailed info about anything for 2019 until it was absolutely necessary, and even then – not so much?

As you might have noticed over the past three days, they’ve apparently decided to go in the opposite direction this year! 

First it was the 2020 Celebration Horse, a portrait of Irish Sport Horse Ballynoe Castle RM, aka “Reggie”, on the Show Jumping Warmblood mold:

I was thinking a few days ago that the Show Jumping Warmblood mold might have been a good choice for the Surprise model – aside from having multiple mane and tail options, it’s also had two Translucent releases (2007 Halloween Horse Twilight Terror, and last year’s Sugarmaple).

It’s an interesting, and uncontroversial mold choice (as either the Croi or Vanner would have been), though I do expect the inevitable mutterings from the “solid Matte Bay is so boring” crowd. We all thought the same thing with 2018’s Brass Hat, and he turned out gorgeous, right? And this guy’s photo looks way more promising than Brass Hat’s ever did…

Then there’s Klaus, the first release in the 2020 Stablemates Club:

I figured that Darwin would be a part of next year’s club lineup, but first up, and in Leopard Appaloosa, too? Sweet. I am a little annoyed that the first three releases of this mold were/are all Special Runs or limited in some way, though. I know they are trying to recoup their initial investment and get everyone all het up about him (mission accomplished!), but just get to the inevitable Aged Gray already, as the masses demand…

Then there’s the gorgeous Premier Club release Georg, Eberl’s highly anticipated Rhenish German Coldblood:

Like Weather Girl, Georg (pronounced “Gay-Org”, incidentally) is a reworking of one of Brigitte’s earlier resin sculpts – in this case, Valentin.

I am in love with this big beautiful chonk of a horse, but I’ll probably have to wait until next year to find a more affordable release. (I would love him as a BreyerFest Special Run, but I fear he’s got Raffle Horse written all over him.)

And finally, instead of stringing us along like they did last Fall, this time they’re hinting at doing a full reveal on the Vintage Club 2020 lineup. I am not going to read anything into this marketing strategy one way or another, other than to comment that it would definitely be better for my mental and physical well-being. I’ll just let the picture of the next reveal do all the talking for me now:

Okay, now to take a moment to drink something relaxing, before diving into the existential terror that is Star Wars Ticket Presales….

Double Take

No, not that Double Take. This one:

When I caught my first glimpse of the new Collector’s Club Special Celeste, my first thought was “That’s kind of a bold move Reeves, going with a Misty’s Twilight mold.” 

Then I did a face palm and realized it was actually the newer Eberl Andalusian Mare, instead. But take a gander at the 1997 State Line Tack Special Run Kokopelli’s Gold, and you can (maybe?) kind of see why someone like me might have been a wee bit confused?

Yes, even I conflate one model with another. Maybe moreso than the average hobbyist, since I have a bigger-than-average reference file: my brain goes straight to old stuff, instead of the new.

Maybe conflating Misty’s Twilight and the Andalusian Mare is also another reason why I’ve been having a hard time mustering more affection for the newer mold? If anything, I slightly prefer the Misty’s Twilight, and the historical shout out to Currier and Ives prints.

(If I had had the time – and more motivation – to do it, my Diorama Contest entry for BreyerFest this year would have been a recreation of a Currier and Ives harness racing print, preferably one of the legendary Maud S.

In addition to the customizing involved, I would have also had to do a fair bit of tackmaking, sulky-making, and some crazy engineering to suspend the whole shebang inside a shadow box with a vintage-looking picture frame.

So yeah, obviously that wasn’t going to happen.)

Since I’m still enjoying a horse-buying semi-hiatus, whether I really liked Celeste or not was sort of irrelevant anyway. I’ll save my cash for whatever other end-of-year holiday silliness they have planned.

To be honest, all I am asking for is to actually have the opportunity to see the Special Run Holiday Animal – whatever it is! – before it’s sold out.  Since we already got the Special Run Elk Inari at BreyerFest this year I am probably safe even if I do miss it (again). Just having the chance means more to me than the actual buying.

Unless it’s the Deer Family. All bets are off on that.

FYI everybody: while I’m still “out” for the duration, I’m hoping to have more of a hobby and online presence again, soon. While I am nowhere near done with my literal and metaphorical housecleaning, I may be in a more manageable place in the near future.

A Different Kind of Black Beauty

Next up: a Black Rabicano Sabino Yasmin, named Kaalee.

I haven’t seen the mold in person yet, but I am slightly obsessed with the breed she’s supposed to represent (Shagya Arabian), it’s an Eberl, and her paint job (designed by Lesli Kathman) is unique and interesting, so all signs so far point to her being a “Yes” here.

Kaalee is also very reminiscent of the original release of the Traditional #89 Black Beauty, except prettier and more correct. Allegedly she’s just as much as a shelf hog, but since I also collect the Pacer mold, I know how to deal if it becomes a deal.

Just when I thought I had made peace with my “just one ticket this year” rule. Sigh. Time to do some budget number crunching again…

I have nothing further to say about Kaalee or the Yasmin mold, other than noting that she’s the third of the last year’s three Premier Club molds in this year’s lineup. (And will make a mighty fine ladyfriend to Polaris!)

It’s good that they got the new Premier molds out of the way early for the sake of the Special Run speculations, I guess? Maybe that means the rest of the Specials will be on older molds, for balance?

While it’s pretty much a given that we’ll get the Elephant at some point, beyond that I’m going to stick to my minimal public speculating rule for the year. I’ll just go with the flow around and let it all be a surprise, more or less.

And how’s this for a surprise – I actually “won” a Wailua! It’s been two years since I’ve won a Web Special of any kind, so I was a bit gobsmacked when the e-mail showed up in my In Box. I only have the one official account and my luck is typically about average luck, but that dry streak was just starting to make me think otherwise.

The only downsides to winning are that I have to push the BreyerFest ticket buying two more weeks down the road, and I have to scale back some of my eBay bidding ambitions. (Darn it, and just when it was starting to get interesting there!)

Not Making a Fuss

I should be panicking now, but I am simply too tired from work these past two days to work up a fuss. I’m so not working up a fuss that I’m considering whipping out a small quilt project I’ve been messing with on and off for the past couple of months and finishing that in the meantime.

Quilting as my BreyerFest prep burns: how very Nero-like of me. (Yes, I know it’s a myth. Just go with it.)

Anyway, here’s that neat Breyer knockoff I was talking about. I bought it during the town-wide garage sale a few weeks back; he’s been in my car ever because of his annoying habit of blending in with the throw blanket I keep on the back seat of my vehicle:

He appears to be cast aluminum, and not in any way related to the cast iron ASC knockoffs, or (gack!) Hubley, the go-to name that all flea marketeers use whenever they find something made out of cast metal. (You know, just like any injection molded plastic horse = Rare Breyer!)

There were/are a number of companies that have done cast metal Breyer knockoffs over the years, aside from ASC. Like the situation that exists with the numerous Breyer lamp manufacturers, I doubt we’ll ever know much about most of them. And if we do, it’ll only be by accident.

I got so excited when I saw him from my car window that day; I momentarily thought - yes, a Black Family Arabian Stallion! (He is actually FAS-sized, hence my assumption.) I already have one, but I’ve never found one "in the wild". As I think I brought up before, the Black Family Arabians were a nationally distributed Special Run promotion, and produced in sufficient enough quantities that finding one at a yard sale or flea market is not as remote a possibility as it seems.

Wasn’t the case with me, this time. He was still pretty reasonably priced, so I bought him anyway. It’s true that being trapped in my car for the past month is not necessarily a step up from his previous station in life, but I’m working on it. I haven’t decided whether or not he’s coming with me to Fest or not, though.

In other modelly news…

I did well enough on my Hartland sales this week that the cost of my gas - and most of my hotel bill - will be covered. Thank you Armada Flea Market! (No worries, I'll still have a bunch of stuff from that box available in Kentucky, if you thought you saw something worth your while.)

My Denim and Diamonds Vintage Club Shetlands arrived today, but I doubt I’ll be opening the box before the trip. I just don’t have the mental space to deal with them at the moment.

I didn’t get picked for the latest Web Special Dionysus. I actually liked him enough to enter twice, rather than once - I found the Primitive Bay color very appealing, in almost a retro "Breyer Bay" way. But nope, no dice again.

A photo of the latest Premier Club release came out today - a Chestnut Arabian Stallion by Eberl, presumably the "husband" of Weather Girl. I’ve only just skimmed the usual sources and it looks like more stuff I don’t want to deal with, either, some of it residual frustration over Carrick, I assume.

As always, I will reserve judgement on him until I see a better photo, or see him in person, which will most likely be the case for some of us next week.

And yup, did a facepalm when I saw the photo of the Red Roan Pinto Othello Auction piece circulating shortly after my last post. I think he’s really quite pretty, but yeah, I’m so not hoping he’s the volunteer piece this year. (On the other hand: Bay, Black and Chestnut Roan = matched set!)

I happen to think it’s something we haven’t seen yet. (Among those candidates: Rejoice, Adios, Andalusian, Cigar, the Peruvian Paso…)

Marwari

I can tell BreyerFest is only days away: the chaos is increasing. I came home from the store yesterday (an emergency craft supply run) and I tripped and fell on the step up the porch. I scraped up my knees pretty bad, but the worse injury was to my dignity: all I’ll say is that I required a change of clothes afterwards.

Before I get to discussing the Marwari, please also allow me to pout a little about this year’s volunteer model. Dang it, she had to go and be all nice and stuff.

I take some small consolation in the fact that the piece count’s now been upped to 150, though I wonder where the extra 15-20 pieces are now going towards. (Hey Reeves, if you have a spare, I certainly won’t turn it down.)

Anyway, the Marwari, who can be seen on the Breyer web site here.

My first reaction - other than, "Ooh, pretty!" - was "Hmm, I see they went with something trendy."

I have nothing against the breed personally; it’s just that I was sort of expecting an Akhal-Teke first, though. (Lonesome Glory makes an okay Akhal-Teke, but the "real thing" has been a long overdue.) But everywhere I look online it feels like everyone seems to be doing Marwaris resins and customs, so I suppose it makes sense.

I have nothing against creating molds of more exotic breeds. Some of my favorite breeds (ahem, Dales Pony) are a bit on the rare side. Creating molds of rare breeds also helps raise awareness of them, and perhaps lead to their preservation and survival.

The only problem with the creation of molds of rarer or more exotic breeds is that it fosters a certain level of unreality in the model horse world.

There’s definitely a strong undercurrent within the hobby that wants to emulate the real horse world as much as possible. However, when you have just as many production molds of a somewhat more common breed - such as a Missouri Fox Trotter - as you do a significantly less common one - like the Marwari - that’s simply not going to be the case.

It’ll be hard to argue that a "model horse" show is just like a "real horse" show, when you will inevitably have an overabundance of Marwaris compared to Missouri Fox Trotters, or even Akhal-Tekes.

A true and accurate representation of the "real horse" world in miniature has never been - and will never become - a reality in this hobby. There will always be more stallions than geldings, and more exotic colors and patterns rather than the more mundane grays, bays and chestnuts. And always more rare and exotic breeds than most normal horse people will ever see in person, or in their lifetimes.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’d be nice to see a greater acknowledgement of the fact that the hobby is more its own thing than a downsized version of another.

I am curious if there is - or will be - a mold change out for the ears? With the ears that the mold has, it’ll be hard to sell it as anything other than a Marwari, or the closely related Kathiawari. Marwaris come in just about every conceivable color, it’s true, but switching out the ears with something more standard might make the mold a little more versatile in the long run.

Busy News Day

I spent most of Friday sleeping (deservedly!) And the rest of it catching up on the news. Quite a bit apparently happened this week while I was gallivanting around. (Not just model horse-wise, either: the President was in town, and I had no idea! Oh, so that’s why the freeway was shut down. Duh.)

First off, they apparently did change the rules a bit in the Children/Youth Show at BreyerFest - making some of the awards Regular Run models, and not those coveted-beyond-reason Glossies. This is supposed to minimize the temptation to cheat, but on the flip side, it also makes those particular Glossies that are being awarded more rare, and more coveted.

In other words, I think it’ll be a wash as far as remedying the bad behavior. It appears that this change may have come about as a result of the brouhaha over the BreyerWest prizes last year, though some folks at Reeves may be being a little disingenuous about not knowing about the quality and quantity of less-than-ethical goings on at the BreyerFest shows.

(Per the discussion on Blab, which I won’t link to since it’s in a paid section of the site.)

Second, there’s another Web Special coming up this week, for Mother’s Day, called (presumably, from the original e-mail) A Mother’s Love. From the sneak peek photo on the Breyer web site, it’s quite obviously a Flaxen Chestnut Sucesion and Le Fire set, most recently seen in the screen saver they were giving away on the Breyer web site a week or so back.

I’d love to have it, naturally, since other Sucesion and Le Fire sets are insanely expensive and hard to come by nowadays. Since I only seem to get drawn for things when I don’t have the cash to spare, and I will be somewhat flush by the end of the week, my odds probably aren’t all that good.

And finally, there’s news of not one, but two new molds of the dressage horse Totilas, both by Brigitte Eberl. One’s a Traditional, and the other’s going to be done in that five-inch "Breeds of the World" scale that Reeves seems pretty intent on expanding. (There was a Clydesdale previewed at Equine Affaire that’s also going to be a part of that scale/series.)

No pictures of the little resin were offered up, but the pics of the Traditional on the web site look very promising. Some hobbyists are a little concerned because they see it as a tacit endorsement of rollkur. I have to admit it does trouble me a little bit, but I’ve already zoned out of that discussion, since it now appears to have descended into a game of "I hate this abusive training practice even more than YOU do."

Discussions like that, no matter how well meaning, never end well.

Without Much Ado

Yes, I am a glutton for punishment:


I wasn’t sure I was going to do it, but I figured if I could churn out a decent amount of text the first day, I’d go for it. Besides, the rigor of writing daily will be good for me, even if the writing itself isn’t.

Like all my other attempts at fiction writing, the plot’s the problem. 3,300 words in, and so far the most exciting thing in the whole exercise is an old lady in a Cadillac who drives too fast.

It shouldn’t interfere with the blog; if anything, it ought to help it. I mean, I’m already at the keyboard, right? What better way to avoid writing, than with more writing? Well, I suppose I could avoid writing with quilting, but I just finished another difficult project over the weekend, so maybe not. (At least, not this week.)

I haven’t been paying much attention to the model horse biz the past few days; I’m still doing my usual Internet rounds, but I think I’m still shaking off my October funk. I did notice that they’re coming out with another Traditional Man o’ War - this one, a representation of "Joey" from the book War Horse:

http://www.breyerhorses.com/news/detail.php?eventid=914

Some hobbyists are in a bit of a snit because, goodness gracious, it’s the Traditional Man o’ War, and not something showable. Apparently every new release nowadays has to be on a brand-spanking new mold, or one of the half-dozen or so "acceptable" older molds.

(Guys, you do realize it costs more than $50,000 to bring a brand new mold to market, right? It’s not just one guy working in a workshop anymore, a la Chris Hess.)

I haven’t read the book; I actually don’t read that much equine fiction, as I’m not that big a fan of schmaltz. (Not saying that that book is, just that there seems to be an unnaturally high correlation between the two concepts.) Whether or not he’s an accurate representation of the horse in question, I have no idea.

And I don’t really care. What I do care about is that it’s another Traditional Man o’ War (yay!) and the paint job, from what I can see on Breyer’s Facebook page, seems pretty nice.

(Gosh, do I dare dream that the sample turns up in the NPOD next year?)

I’d like to think that all my recent jibber-jabbering about the Traditional Man o’ War might have had a tiny effect on the selection of the mold, but probably not. He was just due for another release. The press release I linked to above mentions "an affiliation with Michael Morpurgo to make the portrait model of ‘Joey,’" so it’s possible that the author might have had a hand in selecting the mold, just like the Shatners did with All Glory last year.

In other words, it may be more "much ado about nothing," again.

Look, you got three new Eberls this year, new releases of two older ones, and at least two more new molds the next. No worries folks, there'll be plenty of Eberl goodness to go around.

Herd Mentality

Can I say it? Wait a minute, of course I can say it, it’s my blog: I’m tired of these customized Weather Girls already.

I get it, y’all just loves her to death, and most of the pieces I’ve seen so far are at least competently done. But too many customs on the same mold in such a short period of time - no matter how pretty or correct it may be - still makes my eyes glaze over. They all start looking the same to me, just like those blandly beautiful supermodels on the cover of Cosmo or Vanity Fair.

If you really want to impress me with your mad customizing skilz, do something special with more run-of-the-mill body box fodder, like what Maggie Bennett’s been doing lately with Family Arabian Stallions(!) and Smokies(!!) That’s the kind of thing I was aiming for, back when I was still brave enough to customize: the audible gasps of "I had no idea you could do that with that mold."

(Alas, my ideas were a little bit beyond my sculpting talents. I still dream of turning a FAM into a rocking Dales Pony, though.)

For as many pixels that are devoted in the hobby to expressions of one’s creative and intellectual independence, there’s actually darn little of it, at least online. It’s especially true in semi-autonomous communities like Blab, Fallen Leaves, and even Haynet, where some ideas Are Not Discussed, some authorities Must Always Be Deferred To, and Some Opinions Have the Weight of Truth.

In other words, the exact opposite of creative and intellectual independence is being fostered: it’s herd mentality. Herd mentality is not necessarily a bad thing, especially when it’s harnessed to achieve a greater good, but it’s definitely disconcerting to see it in a hobby full of self-professed "independent spirits."

I never set out to be a contrarian voice, but one of the numerous reasons I started this blog was to give voice to opinions otherwise unspoken, and by my act let other hobbyists out there know that it’s okay to not "follow the herd."

Yeah, it’s a little lonely out here sometimes. (S’alright, I’m used to it.) I’ll confess up front that I’d rather be an insider than an outsider, but sometimes you just gotta say what needs to be said, and do what needs to be done.

Do it well, and do it honestly, and the rest will follow. Eventually. I hope.

I’m not the kind of person who enjoys watching other people have a great time (yes, jealous - your point?) but I’ve been following the SCE coverage on Blab because, unfortunately, that’s where the news is. I haven’t gotten my JAH yet, either, and I was jonesing for some new Breyer news.

I am quite pleased to see we are getting more Eberls sculpts in the near future - a pair of Classic-scale ponies, for BreyerFest! Yay, more ponies! I’ve always wanted a Classic-scale Pony Family; let’s hope that "Papa" isn’t too far behind. I’m not too crazy about the color they’re coming in, but it might just be the photos messing with my eyes again.

It’s going to be darn hard for me to narrow down my BreyerFest SR choices this year. I need the Goat, the Ponies, the newly announced dappled bay Weather Girl … fooey! Wish I could afford more than one ticket. At least there are enough good choices - I think - to make my position in line irrelevant.

Who's That Girl?

I wasn’t planning on purchasing a Weather Girl any time soon; I was willing to wait for the frenzy to die down a bit before I attempted a shopping excursion. But I just so happened to be in the right part of town for work on Thursday, and figured that since that store was just around the corner, it wouldn’t hurt to look:


Yay! A happy way to spend the last little bit of my tax refund. (The rest went to bills, bleh.)

They had all three colors available, but both the Palominos and Pintos had some condition issues just bothersome enough to leave them behind. The Thunderstorm has a couple, too - a slightly rough seam on the mane, and a small paint blooper on her left hind leg - but nothing that screamed "body quality" to me.

I was a bit tempted by the Palominos, in spite of their masking problems. That has to be the most gorgeous, spot on original finish Palomino paint job I’ve seen in a long, long time: rich, bright, shimmery, and golden. Now that’s Palomino!

My first thought, actually, was how neat it would be if Reeves ever decided to re-issue the Palomino Family Arabians - that’s the shade of Palomino they’d need to be. (The Western Prancing Horse? Yeah, I’d go for that, too.)

I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole concept of the Weather Girl Treasure Hunt might have sprung out of the notion of justifying that Palomino paint job. I’m sure someone at Reeves must have thought that it would be fitting that their newest Arabian should be released in that most iconic (and notorious) color.

Wouldn’t it be neat if the "Rainbow" Reeves is referring to in regards to the Redemption Horse "Rainbow" would be the range of colors the original "Old Molds" came it - Shaded Alabaster, Honey Bay, Gray Appaloosa, and Woodgrain? I think she’d be particularly fetching in Gloss Alabaster, with lipliner and detailed muscle shading. Mmm.

We’ll find out soon enough, I suppose. I’m in no rush to send in for a Rainbow, myself. I managed to get the one Weather Girl I wanted with a minimum of stress and effort, and that’s good enough for me, for now.

Regarding the Palomino Proud Arabian Mare on eBay: oh yes, I’ve seen her. I don’t believe that the Gloss Palomino paint job was ever truly considered a viable color option for the mold’s rerelease in the 1970s. What I think happened in this case is that Marney felt the need to reproduce the original colors of the Old Mold Mare on the Proud Arabian Mare. In the photo album of hers that I own, there are pictures of other PAMs that look like reproduction attempts of other Old Mold paint jobs, too.

If anyone were to run across these other repro/tests today, most would be dismissed either as oddities (at best) or fakes (at worst.) What makes the Palomino different is that the Old Molds never came in Palomino. The color didn’t appear on the successors of the Old Molds, the Family Arabians, until at least 1961 - a year or more after the Old Molds were taken off the market.

Marney was operating under the mistaken assumption, back then, that they did. Instead of recreating something old, she accidentally created something new.

We all know where the gal in the auction will end up, eventually. The rest of us will just have to be content with a much more accessible Sunny.

Rainbows and Rhinestones

That’s it, I’ve had it with the snow! No more! Normally the snow isn’t as big a bother to me as the cold, but we’re running out of places to shove the white stuff. Spring can’t get here soon enough.

I’ve also had it with wading through the online Treasure Hunt discussions. I’m just as happy as the rest of you that it’s an Eberl, but could y’all lay off the exclamation point key? My eyes just can’t process that many randomly punctuated exaltations of glee in such a short period of time.

I’m glad to hear that Brigitte has expressed an interest in doing more sculpts for Breyer, including (yes!) a Draft Horse Mare and Foal. I’ve wanted another Draft Foal for years. Another Arabian-type mare is great (especially since the Proud Arabian Mare is indefinitely off-limits) but the Breyer lineup is not as bereft of Arabians as it is of Drafts, especially in the Foal department.

I love the Clydesdale Foal as much as the rest of you, but that poor baby could use some time off.

I’m hoping that the "Rainbow" redemption horse is referring to either (a) the use of Color Change paint, or (b) the variety of different colors that will be available, and not a Rainbow Decorator. I’m not a big fan of that paint job. It worked on the "Fruit Stripe" Zebra auction piece a few years back, but all of the other Rainbows I’ve seen since then - Custom, and Test - just don’t do it for me. And that’s coming from a person who does this to Family Arabian Mares:


(Hey, it seemed like the most logical thing to do, when I did it. What else was I going to do with a surplus of rhinestones and FAMs?)

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got to say about that matter, until I can actually see a "Weather Girl" up close and personal.

In other news… yes, I saw that "volunteer opportunity" on the Breyer Facebook page - organizing their sample room and archive. Seems tailor made for me, no?

As much as I want to, I can’t apply.

It’s not the distance between Michigan and New Jersey that’s the problem, it’s the money. I can’t afford to do it. I don’t have any of these things: a full-time job, paid vacation time, a trust fund, a husband, or a sugar daddy. I can only afford to take one big trip a year, and I can just barely do that.

I can’t come up with any clever or funny way of expressing the way I feel, because there’s nothing funny or clever about it. My life is kind of small and sad, and this …is making me feel smaller and sadder.

There are some things rhinestones can’t fix.