Exotic Destinations Series Second Release: Mumbai

 

Get your socks and toothbrush packed, we’re off again! Landing in India, the second destination of Breyer’s new series, we meet a Marwari stallion named Mumbai (#712530). A bay sabino stallion, Mumbai is priced at $195 plus shipping and handling. He is a run of 600 pieces, and will be available to Collector Club members through a random drawing for a chance to purchase him. Entries for the random drawing will be accepted from 3/14/24 through midnight on 3/18/24. 

Mumbai has blue eyes, as did the first release in the series, Reykjavik. And both destination countries begin with the letter ‘I’ as well. Uh-oh, time to get the conspiracy theories going, muhuhuhu! They do differ in that Mumbai is priced $10 more than Reykjavik. 

While Mumbai has intricate jigsaw splats, there is an awful lot of white on this model. I really hope he has a basecoat and isn’t bare plastic. Of course, that will not deter me from entering for him as I adore this mold, but only the Marwari version. I dislike the toupee version very much, and the only toupee version I have is Khalid (#1813). Luck dragons out to all who enter for him!

Here is our destination on the globe:

Where shall we go next? Stay tuned!

*Photos are from Breyer’s website.

New Series for 2024: Exotic Destinations, and the First Release, Reykjavik

This is obviously going up after the fact, and is a posterity post. In January of 2024 Breyer introduced a new model series, Exotic Destinations, designed by artist Sommer Prosser. Visiting Iceland, the first destination model is Reykjavik (#712529), an Icelandic horse with a beautiful silver grullo coat and blue eyes. Reykjavik is a 600 piece run and was priced at $185 plus shipping and handling. Entries for Reykjavik closed on 1/23/2024.

I entered for him, but alas I wasn’t drawn. I eagerly watched for the waitlist, but still wasn’t chosen. Reykjavik has now gone on my lookout list, so he will hopefully be a purchase/trade later on down the road. After all, I never thought I’d get a Cardinal from the Birds of a Feather series due to the popularity of the mold. I was able to trade to acquire Cardinal, so I have hope for Reykjavik. One of the key things with collecting is to have patience. In some instances I have waited years to get a model at the price I was willing to pay or for the right trade to come along. Anyway, here are more photos of Reykjavik:

And as a fun addition, I will use one of my globes to track the destinations of this series. Here we go:

Get ready for our next destination!

*Photos are from Breyer’s website.

2024 Stablemates Club First Release: Lanin (Off With Your Mane!)

 

Off with your head! Off with your mane! Off to the store! A mysterious disappearance, and chaos ahead (pun, hahahaha)!!!

Nothing like having the Queen of Hearts screaming about manes. Better than heads, right? Oh wait, in this hobby, that is certainly not unheard of…

Ahem, let’s get back to the first SMC release of 2024, our friend Lanin. Lanin (#B-CS-10004) is on the Mirado mold, and marks the third appearance of this mold in the SMC. He debuted in 2017 as Mirado, a grullo sabino. He next appeared in the SMC in 2019 as Fiero, a dappled chestnut in either a matte or glossy finish. And his latest inclusion in the SMC has him representing the Criollo breed as a black sabino with a naked neck- his mane has been roached (shaved off). As a quick reminder, this is how the mane originally looked:

And here is Lanin showing off his new haircut:

Photo from the Breyer website 

Photo from the Breyer website 

Now, who gave the “Off with his mane!” order? Turns out, it was not the Queen of Hearts pictured above, but a different Queen of Hearts, specifically this one, who also goes by the name Josie:

Not only did she give the order, looks like she carried out the mane clipping herself. Toting around that giant pair of scissors is making her look mighty suspicious. Come to think of it, she may have been responsible for another roached mane on another black sabino Criollo:

Photo copyright Identify Your Breyer

Hmmm, hmmm, and hmmm…maybe Josie knows something about my Lanin’s disappearance, lol. I ordered my Lanin and he did indeed arrive. I did look over him quickly to make sure there were no broken pieces or glaring flaws and then put him somewhere. I thought I put him in a box with other recent arrivals (Scorpion, Heath, Terran, and the Classic/Freedom Series Pintaloosa). However, when I went to retrieve him for photos to show off his pretty purple tones, he had vanished. I checked some SMC boxes thinking he somehow got mixed in with SMs from previous years, but he didn’t turn up. I am left scratching my head as to where he has gone off to. Stay tuned while we try to solve the Lost Lanin mystery!

*Cartoon Queen of Hearts photo from clipart-library.com

2024 Vintage Club First Release: Scorpion

 

The first release of the 2024 Vintage Club is Scorpion, presented on the Stud Spider mold. Collectors had been wondering when the Stud Spider mold would appear in the VC, and here he is!

I am highly amused that this mold has two arachnid names- Scorpion and (Stud) Spider. I am also amused that Breyer gave two different descriptions of Scorpion’s coat color. On the VC homepage, we have this description:

Now, once you clicked on the complete your order button, you were taken to Scorpion’s order page, which had this description, with no mention of the leg wraps:

I am happy Breyer decided to use Stud Spider’s blanket pattern for Scorpion. Stud Spider’s pattern was also used on the Family Appaloosa Stallion (# 859), who was available in the Breyer line from 1992-1994. The pattern appeared again on a 2020 test run of a wedgewood Stud Spider. The pattern on these models tends to be blurry, but still recognizable as the Stud Spider blanket. 

Scorpion and the Family Appaloosa Stallion side by side comparison:

Photo courtesy of Victoria Krentz

                                                 Photo courtesy of Victoria Krentz

The 2020 Wedgewood Test Run:

Photo copyright Identify Your Breyer

Photo copyright Identify Your Breyer

This blanket pattern was not limited to the Stud Spider mold. It graced the Man O’ War mold on Storm, a glossy charcoal 2016 Vintage Club offering:

Now let us take a look at Stud Spider himself:

Photo copyright Identify Your Breyer 

Photo copyright Identify Your Breyer

Scorpion’s blanket has been crisped up, and has minor spot changes. Once I unboxed him, I was a tad surprised at the bold, shimmery, coppery color of him. I was fascinated by the color of his mane and tail; it is a color I call Builder’s Beige, that standard, neutral tan color slapped on the walls of new homes.

Builder’s Beige tail:

Scorpion hanging out on the classy grill:

Overall, Scorpion turned out quite nice. I do think I need to make him some leg wraps, though!

*Photos of Stud Spider (the real horse) are from Pinterest.

*First two photos of Scorpion are from Breyer, as are both model descriptions.

March 2024 Odds n’ Ends

Just a few things to mention from the last days of February that I was unable to get up yesterday. Breyerfest tickets finally went on sale on Monday, February 26th after some delay. All tickets are now digital, so the days of tickets being mailed are gone. You can read about Breyerfest ticket options here.

The Collector Club February Newsletter came out, and it contains a link to the Breyer Blog post remembering Andrea Gurdon. I am happy to see Breyer acknowledging Andrea.

The newsletter feature story spotlights the Bristol mold, which was a 2018 Premier Club introduction. Great mold choice for Leap Year, keeping perfectly in theme. The giveaway for February is Clooney 51 (#10040), a fleabitten grey Westphalian gelding. Collector Club members need to enter the drawing for him by midnight, March 3, 2024 for a chance to win. Good luck to all who enter!

A Sneak Peak square of the second model in the new Exotic Destination series has been revealed:

Some collectors are guessing the upcoming destination may be an island based on the shared image, and I thought the same thing. Probably because it reminds me of this globe:

I wouldn’t be surprised if the latest destination has nothing to do with islands, lol. We’ll have to wait and see where we land next.

Moving on from the newsletter, Breyer is having another giveaway, this one for Leap Year:

This giveaway is a really nice one. Breyer’s website states “Each of our three winners will receive a Leap Day prize package that includes three jazzy jumpers!”  The models include Queen of Hearts (from Breyerfest 2021), Get Rowdy, and Clooney 51. Entries will be accepted up until midnight on March 3, 2024. I believe this giveaway is open to everyone, not just Collector Club members, but I am unsure. Apparently a non-member was able to enter for this drawing. If you are not a Collector Club member, go to Breyer’s homepage and click on the Leap Day banner. It doesn’t hurt to try. Luck Dragons to all of you!

Annnnnnnd, there is one more March 3rd deadline. This one is for the Collector Club Deluxe option, which includes the standard Collector Club benefits plus an exclusive Stablemate and enamel pin. This year’s exclusive SM is the new mini-me mold of Othello, who is also known as Wintersong. Othello, originally a porcelain model, debuted in plastic as the 2007 Holiday Horse, Wintersong. The exclusive SM is named Horatio, and while he mirrors the markings of the first CC exclusive, Heath, they have different coat colors. Once March 3rd passes, only the standard Collector Club option will be available. Here is a photo of the newly miniaturized Wintersong mold, Horatio: 

That’s it for Odds n’ Ends right now. Stay tuned for more as news items crop up!

*Photos are from Breyer’s emails and website.