Getting Things Out Of The Way

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.)

Chill

Hey, look who I found yesterday!

Actually, I found AN ENTIRE UNOPENED BOX of the Unicorn Surprise Stablemates at the Walmart nearest me. I almost had a fit of apoplexy when I saw it.

I walked around the store for about 15 minutes brandishing it like a trophy before I realized that buying the whole box was silly, especially since the current aftermarket price on the Gold and Black Florentine Chase Piece Magnolia has dropped into almost reasonable territory anyway. And did I really need to add more Stablemates to my sales list?

I didn’t want to be THAT person, either. So I put it back and grabbed a couple of loose bags and celebrate Model Horse Hobby Day* a little more modestly, and let some other person have a good day.

So this means that all I need to complete my Walmart Stablemates Unicorn set is the Chase Magnolia and the funky Red Arabian. I’m cool with that. And I am all about the chill today, especially after all the spontaneous eruptions of drama I had to deal with yesterday. Not sure how I ended up being the cool and rational one in all that nonsense.

In other news, I really like the first BreyerFest Store Special Zipped in Black Magic, who does look a lot like the 2002 Mid-States Special Run Shakopee:

Similar yes, but not the same: Shakopee is mostly freehand airbrushed, while Zipped in Black Magic is almost entirely masked, and the markings are nowhere near the same. Additionally, Zip is a portrait (as are most BreyerFest Store Specials) and Shakopee was an idea developed deep in the Breyer’s conceptual laboratory.

(The same place where my fantasies of Wedgewood Blue Polled Hereford Bulls and a Yellow Palomino Tradtional Man o’ Wars languish, in Purgatory. Sniff.)

Like most BreyerFest SRs, I’ll have to see one in person before I make my final decision. Since I have a bit of a fondness for the Zippo Pine Bar mold (How is it that I ended up with three Tests/Samples on this mold?) signs point to probably.

*FYI: I decided to declare February 26 Model Horse Hobby Day, since it’s the 57th day of the year - in honor of the Breyer #57 Palomino Western Horse, the model that launched the hobby, essentially. Buy a model, give a model, tell a friend about the hobby, wear your BreyerFest T-shirt in public, no shame. You do you! Or not: I’m fine either way.

More Hard BreyerFest Decisions

I really like the latest two Specials announced for this year’s BreyerFest. First there is Old Ironsides, on Strapless:

There have been three other Gray releases on the Strapless mold, including the 2005 Live Show Prize Dapple Gray Overo Pinto, the 2007 FEI World Cup Special, and the 2009 Valvella.

I loved the first two, but they are essentially Micro Runs, and unattainable. The Valvella is more plentiful (700 pieces) but I’ve had a hard time warming up to that release. I love fleabites and the loose mane/tail version of Strapless, so this one might be a no-brainer for me.

The Chestnut Snowcap Ruffian Dead Heat is the second (though she looks more Red Dun to me):

There’s our designated “Racing Appaloosa” release! The Traditional Ruffian mold has also come in Appaloosa a couple times before, both as BreyerFest releases: the 2006 Silver Bay Blanket Appaloosa Raffle Model Windswept, and 2007’s Glossy Bay Semi-Leopard Heartland.

Current speculation is that Dead Heat is the item most likely to be the 50/50 Gloss/Matte Split model, though I am more intrigued by the fact that they “accidentally” released a second photo (now deleted/replaced) of this SR with the mold’s original longer tail.

Allegedly this was a mistake and the short-tail version is the official version, but the fact that the second photo existed at all is interesting.

This means that they might have only very recently made the decision on the tail but had photos of both versions made ready, just in case. Or we’ll be seeing the long-tail version in some other capacity such as a Raffle, Auction, or Online piece.

I prefer the short-tail version, regardless: I am more of an “old school” Appaloosa fan. (One of my “dream” Special Runs is a Few Spot Leopard on the Appaloosa Performance Horse mold.)

Breyer’s first Racing Appaloosa was, of course, the Stud Spider back in 1978. While I wouldn’t mind seeing something to commemorate that mold’s 40th anniversary – a Glossy Re-release, or the original Stud Spider pattern on a newer mold – I’m kind of doubting it.

BreyerFest Portrait Special tend to be of the “Store Special” variety, and they’ve already announced three: the Gloss Foiled Again, Icabad Crane, and now the Old Ironsides.

My only hesitation about the Dead Heat is the size of her. I own only two Traditional Ruffians currently (the original release, and the Goddess Series Athena) because she’s a shelf hog and hard to display properly.

I wish I could more ruthless with my affections as some are – we are not even half way through February, and Reeves is already making things hard for me!

Hot and Cold

Rather than catch up on real work last week, I spent it pouring over all the newly posted BreyerFest details. Fantasizing about the baking heat of Kentucky in July is one of the few things that’s gotten me through these past two brutally bone-chilling weeks!

For even the more experienced among us, it might be worth your time to do likewise: there have been a lot of little changes to BreyerFest this year, some more consequential than others.

Among them: the live show is no longer a NAN qualifier, access to the upstairs lounge of the Covered Arena is now something you have to pay for, all the workshops have moved to the museum basement, the Special Runs will be distributed in their own tent, event hours on Sunday have been extended to 4 p.m., and some volunteers will be free-range docents called “BreyerFest Ambassadors.”

(Does that job come with a fancy hat and sash? Inquiring minds need to know!)

One thing that hasn’t changed is that there’s still going to be Store Specials. Here’s a picture of the first Store Special, a portrait of Icabad Crane on the True North mold:

This is the first release on the True North mold that will be relatively cheap and accessible to the average collector. The first True North was available by Premier Club subscription only, and the other two – last year’s Custom Contest Masala, and Sunday Raffle Horse Rangoli – were both extremely limited and things that had to be either won, or purchased at high cost.

Piece counts on Store Specials have ranged from 500 (most of the earlier ones, including the 2006 Peruvian Paso Magnifico) to 1250 (2016’s Dag Dia), with 750 pieces being the median – roughly the same quantity as Premier Club releases.

The accessibility of BreyerFest Store Specials has been a mixed bag over the years, however, and how high or low the piece counts are is usually moot. Some have been popular and heavily fought over (2014’s Novelisto D: with 750 pieces issued) and some have not (2011’s Halla/Bolya Dusty: also 750 pieces issued).

I am guessing that because it’s the first True North that most of us will be able to afford, and the mold itself has been well-received generally, demand will be high.

Reeves should know all this, and plan accordingly.

I hope.

Wanting is different from needing, and I haven’t decided whether or not I actually need the Icabad Crane or not. I suppose it’ll all depend on how nice that red bay color translates into a production run piece, what my budget looks like by then – and what else they may have in store for us.

Repeating Themselves

Well, there’s my first must-have for this year’s BreyerFest, the Store Special Repeat the Beat:

That’s exactly the color I’ve been hoping for on the Bluegrass Bandit mold! It is very similar to another recent roan paint job that I was very fond of, the Classics #931 Bay Roan Quarter Horse:

In its rather short life, the Bluegrass Bandit mold has already made three other appearances as a BreyerFest Special Run model: 2011’s Translucent Under the Sea, 2013’s Store Special Lady C, and 2014’s Store Special Champagne Wishes.

True, it is a bit unusual that a mold that’s only been around since 2008 is now making its third appearance as a Store Special, but Bluegrass Bandit mold has become unusually popular over the past few years; I’ve been trying to add to my tiny (2 piece!) collection, but the prices keep getting in the way.

While it is also true that a Tennessee Walking Horse has little to do with the India theme, I suspect the real horse’s guest appearance at BreyerFest this year may be a not-so-subtle nudge in the effort to get the soring ban finally implemented.

Like the recent Christmas Horse Esprit Bayberry and Roses, Repeat the Beat’s tail lacks a white basecoat; because Samples are usually depicted in these early promotional pictures, it’s too early to tell if this is idiosyncratic to this particular Sample, or a detail that will make it into the final production pieces.

It may see a bit odd, but I do like it, since it adds a hint of translucency to the tail itself. But I’ll be fine with it, either way.

Tesoro de Oro

Another day, another Special Run on the Breyer web site …

Tesoro de Oro is not really a surprise; we had a sneak peak of him in July, at BreyerFest. I’ll probably take a pass on his very shiny self, especially since I’m in the middle of another hobby transaction that’ll tie up my "discretionary income" in the short term.

The Sample I saw in Kentucky did have - as the web site copy says - "a heavy high gloss finish", and I like the braided Laredo mane more than most do, so that could very well change. For the time being, however, I am content with just the Novelisto D, who is all kinds of fabulous:

Lots of other people thought so as well; he was by far the most popular of all the Store Specials, selling out quickly every day he was put out. My only disappointment with the Novelisto D - if you could call it that - is that they did "pearlize" the finish on him after all. I had gotten my hopes up that he would be a plain Gloss Alabaster, based on the initial photos. (Silly me. Of all people, I should know better than to do that!)

I still have hopes that Reeves brings back the Gloss Alabaster finish on something someday soon. For instance, when the Weather Girl mold comes back, I think it’d be a fabulous idea if they released them in the original "Old Mold" colors of Gloss Alabaster, Gloss Honey Bay, Splash Spot Gray Appaloosa and Woodgrain.

This would require a matching Foal and Stallion, naturally. (Ashquar and a new Arabian baby? Please?)

That’s all for today; other commitments will be leaving me short on time all week, so to make up for it you’ll be getting a smattering of short subjects I've been saving up for just such an occasion. Starting tomorrow!

Delicate Condition

Vita is fine now, BTW. Me, on the other hand …I worked over 17 hours on Thursday. Combined with dealing with the latest big blizzard, and Vita, my still-slightly-fragile health went off the rails again.

It’s nothing serious - it’s more exhaustion than anything else. I’m feeling just a bit more tired, rambly, and a disconnected from reality than I usually am.

I haven’t had a chance to take a personal look-see at the new Flagship horse Aurelius - a Gloss Flaxen Chestnut Desatado - even though I had an opportunity to do so earlier this week. In the pictures I’ve seen so far he looks very pretty and very promising, but I doubt I’ll be getting one.

It’s nothing against the mold or the color, I need to do a little bit of downsizing before I start buying again, outside of the occasional Web Special and Vintage Club stuff. I haven’t had the time to do that because of work getting in the way. (Time will be made, once I get these minor health issues out of the way.)

Pictures of the two BreyerFest Raffle models are now making their way about the Model Horse world, via hobbyists visiting the Breyer booth at the Road to the Horse Expo in Lexington this weekend. It looks like that us old farts will (sort of) be getting our wish after all: one’s a Pinto Clydesdale Stallion named Walk Down Memory Lane, the other is an Appaloosa Fighting Stallion, named Kick Up Your Heels. Both are Glossy. More widely-available releases would be even better, but it’s nice that they’re going with two "Vintage" molds this year.

(But would I turn down the Early Bird Raffle Alborozo? Heck, no!)

Everyone is rightly going ga-ga over the Fighting Stallion (striped hooves!), but I’d be just as content with the Clydesdale; he’d make a fine husband for my Gloss Palomino Clydesdale Mare. (Does he have mapping? Hard to tell in the photos I’ve seen. If so, also awesome.)

Like everyone else, I’m suspecting that the Store Special Champagne Pinto Bluegrass Bandit Champagne Wishes is replacing the Nonplastic Store Specials, which haven’t exactly been setting sales records. On the web site she’s described thusly:

Champagne Wishes is a Connoisseur Level model with delicate mapping, silver horseshoes and beautifully detailed eyes.

Connoisseur Level? Delicate mapping? Silver horseshoes? Sound like something extra limited and extra expensive to me. Since they specifically dropped the Connoisseur word on us in the description, I’m expecting something in the same range as the program of old: about 350 pieces, somewhere around $150-200.

This is entirely speculation. Since this is a new thing, I could be wrong. All I’m hoping for is that there are at least enough of them around that I have a reasonable shot. I’ve been waiting for a realistic (and somewhat affordable!) release on the Bluegrass Bandit mold that I can’t live without, and I think she’s it.

Plus I was addle-pated from a lack of sleep last year when I ventured into the Pit, and never did get around to buying the also very pretty Black Pinto Store Special Lady C. The prices on her aren’t too high either, but like Aurelius, some downsizing will have to happen first.