Say What? Say Sayen!

 

A minor mystery has sprung up regarding Sayen, one of the exclusive Tractor Supply Company models. Sayen is a Mustang on the beloved Indian Pony mold. The first photo appeared in August (it’s quite fuzzy) showing the models on retail shelving. Sayen is unquestionably bay with a white left rear sock. Some collectors now have her in hand, and she is bay as seen in the original photo. On the Tractor Supply Company website, she is not bay, but chestnut. Here is the chestnut Sayen:

Clearly the chestnut photo is a mistake; she is photoshopped onto a box front. I don’t expect any chestnut Sayens to be running loose in the TSC stores, but admittedly it would be fun if they were. The question is, who is she, and will we be seeing her soon? I hope that the chestnut version will be available sometime. 

*Sayen photos are from the Tractor Supply Company website.*

Double Thriller, or a Creature Double Feature

 

Let’s swing into the Halloween season like a brachiating gibbon, unlike our walking gibbon friend above. We have dual traditional Halloween models to discuss, plus a matching pin! I ended up with two Thrillers this year; he was definitely one I didn’t want to miss out on. I had preordered Halloween horses in the past, and had orders cancelled and refunded. I missed out on last year’s Apparition for this reason. This year, I ordered two Thrillers (from different dealers) just to be safe…with all of the shipping issues, who knew what would happen. I did receive a cancellation email and refund for Thriller from one dealer. I don’t hold a grudge against the dealer; I’ve ordered from them before and have no problem placing future orders with them. I didn’t know if I would get a cancellation email from the other dealer, so when I heard that Thriller was available on Breyer’s website, I bought one. He arrived surprisingly fast from Breyer, and this past Saturday the Thriller purchased from the dealer arrived. Also arriving in a bubble mailer from Breyer was the Thriller pin. I’m usually not big into pins, but I bought both the Thriller and Obsidian pins. I just took a fancy to them. Now onto our Creature Double Feature! Here are the two ghastly ghouls still bound in their boxes. The Thriller box on the left is badly damaged, and although it can’t be seen in the photo, the is a crack in the plastic window box running from the top to the bottom. The model is fine though, as I needed to free a model to be the runway model on the classy grill. Here are the double Thrillers:

If you look carefully, the Thriller pin is at the bottom where the two boxes meet. A closeup:

A photo of the Thriller pin, and BONUS! his visible skeleton and white streaks glow in the dark as demonstrated in the second photo to truly mimic the model:

Here is the Thriller pin glowing. I had to use Breyer’s photo since the photos I took were blobby for whatever reason:

Since one Thriller has been ripped from his box (see what I did there?), let’s appreciate the design of his box. The front of the box, with the Thriller pin clinging onto it:

The back of his box:

And look at the beautiful moon insert:

Time for those runway shots from the grill.

The tattooed tummy:

The height of fashion with a mini-me barrette in the mane:

And from the blooper pile we have this:

Overall, I am impressed with this year’s traditional Halloween horse. He’s got very light elements of gore (partially exposed skeleton), and his pink/green/grey dead flesh coloring is very much, “Hi, I died and I just popped out of my grave.” The triangle on the anterior of the nose and circling of the eye orbits with black paint further evokes a skull-like image. I like that Breyer did a darker themed horse this year after last year’s fun model with Scooby Doo-ish ghost faces. Bet you aren’t surprised that Scooby Doo is one of my favorite cartoons of all time. I haven’t kept up with any of the new incarnations of the cartoons over the decades, but I will always favor the original series. Zoinks! Jeepers! Meddling kids! Meddling ponies!

2022 Collectors Club Membership Renewal

Just happened to check my email looking for something when I spied an email from Breyer for 2022 Collectors Club renewals… HOLY CANNOLI my eyes bugged out of my head at the sight of this banner:

Another Georg to add to the conga! Georg is one of my favorite molds ever produced by Breyer. I am ridiculously excited for Honeybear, as he has been named. Here is a full photo:

I wish we were able to see his other side. Breyer is continuing to offer a Deluxe CC membership option in addition to the basic CC membership. The exclusive Stablemate for members of the Deluxe CC is Ellington, described by Breyer as “a glossy shaded bright bay tobiano Friesian cross.” Ellington is on the popular Django mold, and I find it interesting that Breyer is using two very popular molds to entice memberships into both levels of the 2022 CC. I’m not complaining because Georg!, but I think 2022 will be the largest CC yet. Speaking of club numbers, I am wondering if Breyer is going to increase the number of Vintage Club memberships after last year’s fiasco. The VC is capped at 500 memberships, and the renewal for the VC should happen in October. I just checked my order history and I renewed my VC membership on Oct. 27, 2020. Guess we’ll have to wait until then to see if Breyer has increased membership numbers. Oops, got sidetracked there! Here is the photo of Ellington:

That’s it for now, I need to finish another Halloween entry for the blog…

*Photos of Honeybear and Ellington are from Breyer’s website and/or email.*

Eek! And a Spider Friend for Measure

 

Eek! has made his way to my house and is among my favorite Halloween Classic/Freedom Series models. Here he is posing on the classy grill:

  

Interestingly, my Eek! has both a green and purple sheen to him, as can sort of be seen below on his right foreleg:

It was hard to photograph, but the two colors are there. The purple dominates over the green (Gregor Mendel joke, lolololol!) on my model. I assume that all Eeks! have this, but I have only seen two in-hand photos as I am not on FB. In one photo Eek! had a greenish cast, while the other Eek! had a purple one. It probably depends on how the light hits his coat. Here are some more Eek! photos:

Now, if you don’t like spiders, run run ruuuuun!!! away now as there are spider pictures coming up. 

Keeeeeep ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuning!!! Spiders are on the horizon!

Gooooooooooooo noooooooowwwwww! Last chance!!!!!!!!

Our friend Measure is back to help put things in scale. I think Measure last appeared in April to help us get an idea of the size of some hailstones from storms that had passed through. This year we seem to have an abundance of banana spiders/golden orb weavers/zigzag spiders or whatever name people choose to call them by. When I lived in Florida, we had the biggest banana spider I have ever seen living in the carport. No joke, her legs easily spanned a dinner plate. I have a picture of her somewhere. On the farm, we had a ton of these spiders set up shop, placing their webs between the rows of sorghum. Good thing too, as they kept the grasshopper population in check (many grasshoppers were the size of my index finger). This particular spider has been hanging out on our backyard fence:

Notice Measure’s expression while looking at the spider’s size:

Although it’s not yet October, it’s never too early for Halloween!

Halloween Horrrrrrrrors! Oops, That’s Halloween Horses

The Halloween traditional, Thriller, is already in collectors’ hands. We have seen this year’s Halloween Blind Bag Stablemates, which comprises of a miniaturized Boogeyman (G4 Loping Quarter Horse), Spirit of Hallowed Eve (Fighting Stallion) and Jack-O-Lantern (G2 Clydesdale). They should be popping up for sale on Breyer’s website soon, I would wager. 

*Drumroll please*   This year’s Halloween Classic/Freedom Series model is a black and white Appaloosa decked out in spiders. Named Eek, this guy is on the Rearing Mustang mold. Naturally, all of the white areas are glow in the dark. Here is our spider-infested friend, Eek:

Hoping I can snag an Eek! My favorite Series 3 Halloween BB horse is Spirit of Hallowed Eve, especially since the traditional one was not a part of the regular Halloween Series. He was one of the models offered in 2008’s Velvet Rope Event, and was a run of 75 pieces. I probably won’t ever get the traditional one, so a miniature version is most welcome!

*Photo of Series 3 Halloween Blind Bag Stablemates are from Breyer’s website*

*Photos of Eek are from Breyer’s website*

Two New Fall Releases!

 

Just what the title says! Introducing Steele and Equidae!

Steele is a brick and mortar special limited to 2,500 pieces. He is on the Wyatt/Gaming Stock Horse mold. For those who may be unfamiliar the term ‘brick and mortar special,’  this means that this model may only be purchased in a physical store (usually a Breyer dealer). I am not too surprised to see the Wyatt mold, since he was one of my guesses for being the 7 Arts Surprise model for Breyerfest (Destado was my first guess). The time seemed ripe for a Destado or Wyatt appearance, and both have appeared. Destado was this year’s BF volunteer model, and now we have a new Wyatt release. Here’s Steele:

And the rainbow horse trend continues with the debut of Equidae, a rainbow pinto with horses hidden within his pattern. And not just any old horses, but breed specific horses. On his right side there is a Standardbred, mule, Andalusian, Shetland pony, and a Thoroughbred mare and foal. His left side has a Marwari, Shire, Kladruber, Arabian, Saddlebred, and Mustang. Equidae went up for orders yesterday through Breyer dealers and I believe the dealers’ allotment for this model was 18 pieces each…naturally he sold out in a blink, and I missed him. Being on the wildly popular Othello/Windsong mold, I’m sure he will be available at some point on Breyer’s website.

*Photos of both Steele and Equidae are from Breyer*

Baruti Isn’t Cigar (Wild Animal Series), Breyer National Fun Day

 

The fourth release in Breyer’s Wild Animal Series is Baruti, patterned after a Gemsbok antelope. I guessed the mold wrong (Cigar), but I got the breed right (Thoroughbred), so that kinda sorta counts for something, right (even if it is a tiny tiny something)? Baruti is on the Carrick/Walking Thoroughbred mold, and he looks quite dashing dressed as an antelope:

He is supposed to be basecoated, which should give the sandy tan of the coat a softer look and more depth. Baruti is limited to 300 pieces, and is priced at $195. Love the paint job, but not crazy about the price. Collector Club members may enter for this model through September 13, with one entry accepted per person. While I think he looks neat, not sure if I will be entering for him yet. His price plus shipping could instead be used to buy hairy vetch seed for cover cropping. Here’s some hairy vetch, because we all need purple flowers in our lives:

Now if Baruti had been on Duende or Georg, I would have forgotten all about cover crops…

Breyer is presenting a Halloween themed National Fun Day this year. It will be held as an in-store event at various retailers, as well as virtually. 

Workshops and Artists will include:

1. Skeleton Stablemate with Janine Haq

2. Zombie Stablemate with Kristy (Kirsty? Breyer has both spellings on their website) Thiessien 

3. Decorate Your Barn for Halloween with Lauren Hoeffer

4. Ghost and Candy Corn Costumes with Trinity Honaker

No information has been given in regard to how the virtual option will be handled, but I suspect it will be done in a manner similar to Breyer Bootcamp which was held earlier this year.  

Oh, my second Stablemate Club Raider showed up today. I need to open the box and inspect him for any issues such as broken legs/ears as his tiny shipping box was a bit smushed…will try to do that later this evening or tomorrow morning. 

*Baruti photos from Breyer’s website and email*

*First photo of hairy vetch plants is from the Outsidepride Seed Company website*

*Breyer National Fun Day photos are from Breyer’s Website*

Return of the Sneak Peak Square, 2021 TSC Models, Other News

 

The Breyer Sneak Peak Square has returned in the latest Collectors Club newsletter. It hints at this model being a part of the Wild Animal Series, due to the phrasing “We’re wild about this upcoming Web Special model for Collector Club members!” Here’s the Sneak Peak Square:

I’m thinking the Cigar mold on this one, which means it probably isn’t the Cigar mold. The reveal is due sometime this month, so we’ll have to sit tight until then. Other features of the August Collectors Club newsletter include tail changes on models (Lady Phase, POA, etc.), the August photo show deadline, and the August giveaway of a Truly Unsurpassed. 

The long awaited unveiling of this year’s Tractor Supply Company models has finally happened, but unfortunately we don’t have clear pictures of the models. Sure we can see the colors and which molds are being used for this year, but they’re kinda fuzzy. I’m not going to post the photo as I don’t know whose photo it is, and therefore cannot credit them. The photo is of what looks to be a TSC planogram set up with this year’s Breyer offerings, but there are no closeups of the individual models. We can see (though fuzzy) a bay Indian Pony, a grey Bobbie Jo (aka Working Cow Horse), and an Ethereal who looks to be a light bay blanket Appaloosa. Stablemate Blind Bags have been reported. The chase piece is a Copenhagen Price Charming, so hoping I can snag one of those guys. I haven’t heard anything about a TSC Classic as of yet, but last year’s TSC exclusive grey Percheron with an ill-fitting blanket is still available on the TSC website:

Maybe he is meant to be available for two years, but I am hoping for a new TSC Classic. You know, just so I can spend more at TSC. Hahaha!!! I am monitoring the TSC website for the new models so I can order them ASAP. Last year I bought Yuletide Greetings sometime in September, even before the TSC toy coupon was available. I was concerned that due to the popularity of the mold, he would sell out, and he did. I don’t see this year’s Arctic Grandeur completely selling out, but it may come close. I conga that mold, so Mr. Grandeur is a must have. The grey Bobbie Jo is a want, as is the Indian Pony. I’ll probably end up getting the Ethereal as well, along with the Blind Bags if my local TSC has them. 

UPDATE: Clear photos have emerged, but again, due to being unable to credit the photo owner, I won’t post them here. Undoubtedly they are flying over various social media platforms, and should be easy to find.

In other news, Breyer has sent a letter to their dealers that a new (supposedly temporary) 8% surcharge will be imposed due to supply chain disruption. The surcharge will apply to “all existing orders, including back orders, and new orders beginning with shipments taking place on September 1st.” It’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out.

 It seems as though my local Walmart may only be carrying the Classic Unicorns. The unicorn Blind Bags and Mini Whinnies disappeared awhile ago and have never been restocked. Their shelf spot and shelf tags have been replaced with other toys. The shelf tag for the Classic unicorns remains, with a Serendipity and a Sarafina on the shelf. However, I found a floor display for this:

This is the first time I have actually seen Reeves’ The Big Dig sandbox thing for sale in a store. Hmmm…y’all can get a sandbox scooper in but not my precious Stablemates?!  Lol, don’t they know horse models take precedence over everything? Hoping the Stablemates will resurface eventually, especially since Walmart is carrying more of Reeves’ products. 

*Sneak Peek Square photo taken from Breyer’s Collectors Club email*

* Photo of TSC grey Percheron from the TSC website*