It’s Almost the New Year—Time’s Running Out!

 

Panic panic panic panic panic!!! The clock hands will strike DOOOOOM at 11:59 pm EST tonight! 

The last chance turns into a warning!!!

I was so scared that the Breyer Club Monster would get me that I joined! What if the Breyer Club Monster hides under my bed, in the walls, or in the pantry and eat all of the snacks and cocoa? I had to join to prevent these things from happening. I had no choice in the matter!

Lol, what a way to rationalize getting a second Stablemate Club membership. Yep, I caved when I was so sure I would go back to having one membership. I also renewed my Premier Club membership (which was planned), so that is taken care of. Oh, one more thing:

2022 INCOMING! HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

*Photos are from Breyer’s Twitter.*

Miscellaneous Odds n’ Ends Part 4 or Whatever

 

2022 is closing in, and Breyer is pushing to get people to join their clubs. As a recap, we first got this Sneak Peek Square of one of the other 2022 Premier Club models:

And we got to see a little bit more:

This sculpture looks sorta Iberian to me, but I’m probably off, lol. I think for the 2021 Premier Club we only saw Fireheart, with no sneak peeks of the other models, but I may be wrong. I still haven’t renewed for the 2022 PC, and plan to do so today when I order Firefly and Hawkeye (the third 2021 PC release). Since the deadline for PC signups is nearly here, yesterday Breyer unveiled a mini-me enticement:

Yep, the 2022 bonus PC SM is a mini Georg. Now that we have a mini-me Georg and a mini-me Fireheart, I really wish that Breyer would be more attentive to the Stablemates. There are quite a few choices now, and with Breyer’s shrink ray, any mold can become a Stablemate. It would be great to see the SM scale used more frequently and with greater variety— one would think the G2 Clydesdale, mini Alborozo, and Magnolia are the only molds Breyer has. With the rise in prices of everything, not just Breyers, having a more affordable option would keep the doors open to collectors, both old and new. And okay, I want a ton of the mini-me Georgs. Speaking of the PC and bonus Stablemates, Breyer announced yesterday that they will be shipping the 2021 PC SM separately. That means get ready to stalk your mailboxes, folks. 

I renewed one membership for the 2022 Stablemates Club, and as of this moment I don’t plan on renewing my second membership. Last year was the first year I had two memberships, and that was because of Atticus being offered in two finishes and Dahlia being the Gambler’s Choice. I lucked out as I received a matte and a glossy Atticus, and two different Dahlias (I will eventually hunt down the other two). I’m feeling so-so on the color choices for the 2022 Gambler’s Choice (Atli). My favorite is the rose grey and I like the decorator, but the chestnut and silver bay are meh. The chestnut especially looks like a RR, not a SMC model. I really like the Lyric/Norwegian mold, but I find the SMC colors chosen for him disappointing. 

As for the flurry of lottery web specials, I have seen a few photos of Bunyan the microrun Bull and wow, is he ever pretty. That blush Wedgewood paint job did wonders on his textured coat; he has such a soft, soothing look to him. Bunyan looks like he’d be at home in a child’s nursery. Forget bunnies and duckies, we need blue bovines! If Breyer ever makes a Wedgewood Spanish Fighting Bull, oh goodness, I’m in trouble. Even though I wasn’t drawn for Zugspitze, I am enjoying seeing his photos. It’s great to see him from various angles; he really is beautiful. On to Montana, the popcorn sheep… I was drawn for one, probably because Breyer didn’t get as many entries for him as they have for other models, plus he is a run of 490 pieces. Whatever, I’m glad I was drawn. His weirdo-ness is welcome here. The horns in this photo of him reminds me of the 1960s bouffant hairstyle:

Lol, I need that sheep to wear a bouffant wig, or a beehive wig of great height. Another piece of news concerns the Christmas Day Horse Spice Drop. The model for coal has been identified as being a black Croi. I was wondering what Breyer was going to do after last year’s coal stunt; there were only twelve made, but it seemed many collectors were not amused with the Galiceno mold as the coal model. I know I was quite surprised by it not being a glossy black Icelandic along with everyone else. I wonder if someone will get two Coals this year. It’s happened before, once with the Coal Brighty and I *think* it occurred with the Coal Zebra, too. 

Breyer had a Warehouse Sale (hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!) and there really wasn’t anything there worth writing home about, or buying for that matter. Which is a good thing, considering how much many of us have spent on Breyers these past few weeks (including yours truly). I guess this wraps up this installment (get it? in-STALL-ment) of Miscellaneous Odds n’ Ends, and I’m sure I forgot stuff…

*Photos of 2022 Sneak Peak model are from Breyer’s emails.*

*Photo of Georg and mini-me Georg are from Breyer’s website.*

*Photo of Montana from Breyer’s website.*

2021 Premier Club Third Release: Firefly and Hawkeye

 

The mare and foal set, Firefly and Hawkeye (#90202HD) are now up for purchase for PC members: 

PC members have until 1/12/2022 to make their purchase. No word on the PC bonus Stablemate. I suppose this means it will be shipped out at some point, but maybe Breyer hasn’t received the PC Stablemates yet? It was quite convenient to have the bonus Vintage Club SM shipped with final VC purchase and I’d hoped for a repeat performance with the PC. But hey, sending the PC SM separately means another pony box to open, along the excitement and anticipation that accompanies a pony box. Here is the duo again:

*Photos of Firefly and Hawkeye are from Breyer’s email and website.*

2022 Stablemate Club Reveal: Helios

Breyer has been busy sending out emails, and the optional SMC model, Helios, has been revealed:

Annnnnnnnnd it is a unicorn on the mini-Heart mold. He is a glossy black color shift pinto thing, and I absolutely love him. I’m kind of surprised that Breyer unicornified him so soon, but I’m happy that he is not wearing the unicorn-uniform. The horn sort of melts into his forelock, doesn’t it? Makes me wonder if we’ll be seeing him in another round of unicorn blind bags. I think the days of Walmart/Breyer blind bags may be done as I have been checking around and there has been no allotted space for Stablemates or Mini Whinnies of any kind since late summer. There is only a spot for the Classic/Freedom Series Unicorn boxes. I for one hope that the Stablemates return as it was nice to be able to get them locally. 

*Photos of Helios are from Breyer’s email and website.*

2022 Stablemate Club Reveal: Atli

 

So it’s official that the Lyric/Norwegian Stallion is the Gambler’s Choice:

Atli will be in four randomly shipped colors:

-chestnut 

-rose grey

-silver bay

-dappled pastel rainbow

Here are the four of them against the nature background with no script or logos:

So if Breyer follows the pattern from last year, on December 31 we may see the silhouette of the new sculpture and what the optional bonus model is. 

*Photos of Atli are from Breyer’s email, Twitter, and website.*

The Unicorn Chronicles: Going Solar

 

Solar panels, solar generators, solar cookers, solar tomatoes, solar unicorns… haha. Lots of solar things, but let us focus specifically on solar flares of the tomato and unicorn variety. 

A solar flare from our sun:

Cool, but that’s not the kind of solar flare we’re looking for. Let’s let’s try again:

A-ha! We’ve found the solar tomatoes. This is a variety of tomato called Solar Flare due to it possessing streaky sun-like hues. I have at least 34 varieties of tomato seeds, but I don’t have Solar Flare. Need to buy some Solar Flare seeds now. They are pretty tomatoes, but we still need to search for the correct solar flare. Oh look, found him! Here he is, Solar Flare (#712398) the solar unicorn:

Breyer did a good job on the colors with this guy. Mine doesn’t have golden hooves, but that’s fine. I was excited for Flare’s arrival and was not disappointed. It’s refreshing to have a unicorn that isn’t dressed in the typical unicorn uniform (white, purple, pink, or rainbow). Breyer has done a few out-of-uniform unicorns, such as the traditional mare and foal sets of Bellatrix and Spica, and Mira and Antares. Some of the Stablemate unicorn blind bags (such as the dark green walking TB and the raspberry Alby) strayed from typical unicorn colors as well. Lookout, here comes a Solar Flare!!!

Oh, and here are some photos of Solar Flare on a Home Depot bucket. You know, for… no reason.

Here are some photos of Solar Flare looking all posh and not hanging out on work buckets:

One of these days I will have to do a side by side of Solar Flare and Solaris, who is a similarly colored unicorn on the Walking Draft Horse mold. Solaris’ color resembles Solar Flare’s, but I think Flare’s color is richer and and has a heavier gold sheen to his coat. Solaris also has to dreaded glitter in his mane and tail, which Flare (thankfully) lacks. 

2022 Stablemate Club Reveal: Shelburne

 

I didn’t expect to see a SMC reveal yesterday, but we got one. The G5 Cantering Morgan will be a glossy dappled dun. I suppose this means that the Lyric/Norwegian Fjord Stallion mold will be the Gambler’s Choice. I hope Breyer reveals all of the Gambler’s Choice colors, along with the optional bonus model. Here is a full body photo of Shelburne:

I like his color—it doesn’t look to have weird undertones, but I see leg barring. Hopefully the barring will be nicely done and not look like it was drawn on with a Sharpie. Breyer did an excellent job on Chalice, so there is hope!

*Photos of Shelburne are from Breyer’s email and website.*

Spice Drop, and the Clydesdales Christmas: The Gang’s All Here

The Christmas Morning Breyer Surprise: Spice Drop

The Croi mold went on a sweet adventure as this year’s Christmas Morning Surprise. Dubbed Spice Drop (#712396), she was available to Collectors Club members in four random color combinations:

-Purple with silver dappling

-Blue with silver dappling

-Green with gold dappling

-Red with gold dappling

While many collectors were leaning towards the Croi mold for this year (last year many guessed the Icelandic mold correctly), I’m pretty sure nobody guessed the Crois would be so… vivid. I admit the colors threw me a bit when I first saw them; the parade of multi-colored Crois with the silver and gold presents a busy image. Look closely and you’ll see they are clearware with the metallic-y dappling on top:

Breyer sure picked an entertaining name for her, lol. Spice drops are different from gumdrops in that they have spice flavors, not the fruitiness of gumdrops. The spice flavors are things like clove, anise, cinnamon, spearmint, licorice, etc. I think she looks more like a Gumdrop due to her vibrancy. Either way, Breyer made Willy Wonka proud. According to Breyer, there were a total of 2,025 pieces made, plus an additional twelve ‘Coal’ models for those on Breyer’s naughty list. Last year the twelve Coal models were not done on the Icelandic mold, but on a vintage mold which isn’t held in great favor by many collectors. I have to say that was well played by Breyer, lol. We were all expecting a glossy solid black Icelandic, so Coal on the Galiceno mold was quite the surprise. Last year’s Coal:

One can only guess what Coal will be for this year. It will be exciting to see what pops up; maybe it will be the Khemosabi mold? Or the Lady Roxana mold? I fully admit I am keen to see what mold was chosen for Coal. I’m probably the only person who finds this hilariously funny, lol! Ahem, shifting back to Spice Drop, she sold out just as fast as kids gobbling up their Christmas morning candy. She was gone within 12-13 minutes of going live. I think last year’s sold out in around 45 minutes, and I may have the exact sell out time wrong, but it was under one hour. 

I think these Spice Drops need individual names, and remember, I am bad at thinking up names, so prepare yourselves for ultimate in lame names:

- Lava Spice (red with gold dappling)

- Ice Spice (blue with silver dappling)

- Spruce Spice (green with gold dappling)

- Allium Spice (purple with silver dappling and resembles a purple gumdrop)

Shifting gears again to another set of previously released Christmas themed ponies:

I was beyond fortunate to be able to get the Clydesdales, and even more fortunate that I was able to trade to get a complete set. Usually I have poor luck when it comes to trades; that’s not to say that I never get the opportunity to trade. Generally, by the time my stuff arrives, most of the trades have been arranged, leaving no one left for me to trade with. On occasion, I get lucky. The Clydesdales are one such lucky (and happy) occasion. Here are their close ups:

Gold Clydesdale:

Blue Clydesdale:

Silver Clydesdale:

Cranberry red Clydesdale:

Whew! What a parade of colors; truly a candy-coated Christmas from Breyer this year. For those celebrating, I wish you the Merriest of Christmases!

*Photos of Spice Drop are from Breyer’s website.*

*Photo of Coal (Galiceno) from the Identify Your Breyer website.*

Miscellaneous Odds and Ends, Part 3 (or something)

 

Hahahaha, another photo of Zafirah has sprouted up, just when I thought I’d have to wait longer before a new photo surfaced:

Her front left knee looks wavy, doesn’t it? Like her knee was put on backwards? 

Update on the Grimm’s Fairy Tales book I bought— it arrived, and JACKPOT!!! It does have writing in it! Yay!!!! Whenever I get a book with writing in it I feel like I found buried treasure. I wonder what the people who wrote in that book would think if they knew that seventy-two years later, a stranger would read their message and wonder about them. Here is the book, dirty cover and all:

The hand written message:

And the Forest Man/Creature whose sack-shoes I have always been fascinated with (Breyer had cut him out of their blog post, leaving only Princey-Prince visible):

Back to model news… my CCA order arrived yesterday evening, and I received the glossy Indian Pony. I wasn’t sure when my order was going to arrive, because for whatever reason, the UPS tracking showed the shipment as canceled. I then received an email with a new tracking number, which proved to be valid. I’m just happy the box showed up, and relatively quickly too. I wasn’t drawn for Bunyan, but my hopes are up for Montana (yes, really). Interestingly enough, Breyer put up a message that the selections for Montana are being delayed until next week:

 It seems that the backordered Lafayettes are now on the move and I’m interested to see if any in this batch will be the glossy coal black promo photo or the glossy silver/black of the first batch. I’ve seen a couple of photos, but they look like the initial batch.

The Deluxe Collectors Club Stablemate Chalice models are landing. From the in-hand photos I had seen, he is gorgeous! As of right now, my Chalice is slated for delivery on Monday. Newsflash! Chalice just showed up! Here he is:

Check out the detail on his tummy:

 My VIP pin appeared last night:

That’s all I think there is for now, but I’m probably forgetting a few things. If so, be prepared for a fourth (or whatever) part. Or maybe I should just title it “The Ongoing Miscellaneous Odds and Ends Feature.”

*Photo of Zafirah is from Breyer’s Twitter.*

*Photo of the Montana delayed message is from Breyer’s website.*