The 2024 Collectors Club Classic/Freedom Series Gambler’s Choice

 

I was bouncing with joy when I saw the mold for this year’s Classic/Freedom gambler’s choice:

Meet Zayn, done on Maureen Love’s Arabian Stallion sculpture which will ship by random color. Originally sculpted for Hagen-Renaker, this stallion along with his mare and foal first appeared in Breyer’s lineup as a set in 1973:

Photo copyright Identify Your Breyer

The Classic Arabian Stallion mold was last used in 2015. Appearing as Julien (#712162), a bay tobiano, he was accompanied by Sophia, the Classic Arabian foal also painted as a bay tobiano. They were available as a Web Special and had a matte finish. The set was then available in a glossy finish for the 2016 Collector Club Appreciation Day event free with the purchase of $100 or more. The matching mare, Cosette, had been glossed as well and was part of the CCAD. The models were shipped randomly to participating collectors.

Zayn’s three color ways are as follows, starting with the chestnut rabicano:

The flea bitten grey with a bloody shoulder marking:

Lastly we have the glossy dappled red bay:

Zayn will be available to Collector Club members on a first come, first serve basis beginning April 25 with a limit of one Zayn model per Collector Club member.

*Photos of Zayn are from Breyer’s website.

2024 Vintage Club Second Release: Domingo

 

Not San Domingo, just Domingo:

This model turned out to be a surprise for me. Certainly not a bad surprise, but I wasn’t expecting another rendition of San Domingo. In the Vintage Club welcome letter, members were told that “other releases throughout the year will include a Marguerite Henry character,” so naturally there was speculation. Which of Marguerite Henry’s characters would we get? We have not seen any characters from The Little Fellow, Gaudenzia: Pride of the Palio, Five O’Clock Charlie, Born to Trot, or White Stallion of Lipizza. 

Speaking of White Stallion of Lipizza, I unrealistically hoped for a model of Maestoso Borina on the Adonis/Lipizzaner Stallion mold. I envisioned a heavily shaded alabaster Adonis, perhaps glossy, with Borina’s brands. That would differentiate a VC run from a regular run should Breyer release Adonis as a typical grey Lipizzaner. Certainly not a candidate for the VC Marguerite Henry character considering the mold was introduced in the 2023 Premier Club and is a Special Run model for Breyerfest this year. 

As far as Marguerite Henry characters made into Breyer models, here is a list, in no particular order:

Misty

Stormy

Sea Star 

The Phantom

Black Gold

Brighty

Misty’s Twilight 

Hobo

San Domingo

Sham

Lady Roxana

Justin Morgan

Brown Sunshine

Our First Pony (Shetland mare with two foals)

*Edited to add Lath, son of Sham and Lady Roxana. One of my wonderful readers let me know I had forgotten him. Lath was part of the Classic King of the Wind set.

Hopefully I haven’t forgotten any Marguerite Henry characters. I have omitted models that haven’t appeared in Marguerite Henry’s books, such as Phantom Wings. Although he was one of Misty’s foals, he never appeared as a character in her books. 

San Domingo isn’t the first Marguerite Henry character to have appeared more than once. Sham (# 410) was introduced in 1984 in the traditional line, with Lady Roxana (# 425) joining in 1986. Both characters resurfaced later in the King of the Wind Classic set. Sham returned again as a traditional model on the Huckleberry Bey mold, along with a copy of the book King of the Wind. Misty and Stormy, introduced into the traditional line during the 1970s, emerged as VC Stablemates in 2019:

Sorry, had to put a photo of them in as they are just so darn cute! In 2022 Misty made another appearance as a foal in the Phantom and Misty set. Moving back to San Domingo, he was introduced as a new sculpture in 1978, and graced the front cover of the collectors manual for that year:

Photo copyright Identify Your Breyer 

 

Photo copyright Identify Your Breyer

Photo copyright Identify Your Breyer

San Domingo made his second appearance on the semi-rearing mustang mold, accompanied by a paperback copy of San Domingo, the Medicine Hat Stallion from 2007-2008:

Photo copyright Identify Your Breyer 

Photo copyright Identify Your Breyer 

The VC version of San Domingo (referred to as ‘Domingo’) includes a paperback copy of the book. Mine should be arriving soon, so stay tuned to see the new Domingo and his traveling companion! 

*Photos of Domingo are from Breyer’s website.

2024 Stablemates Club Second Release: Wallowa

 

The SMC second release, Wallowa, is now available for members to order:

Wallowa (# B-CS-10033), designed by Lesli Kathman as a black varnish leopard Appaloosa, is presented on the SM Citation mold. Half of this run will be matte and the other half glossy. They ship randomly, so collectors won’t know which finish they received until they open the box. Here is the matte version of Wallowa:

The glossy version:

One thing that strikes me as odd is how elongated the model looks in Breyer’s photos. Perhaps it is just me. The ears look shorter and more rounded, but some of Breyer’s molds do lose definition over time. I am looking forward to getting him to see how he actually looks in hand. I am more of a matte finish fan, but I’m feeling neutral about which finish I get.

*Photos are from Breyer’s website. 

2024 Mother’s Day Plush

 

Yesterday Breyer unveiled the 2024 Mother’s Day Plush, which is comprised of a mare and foal:

Meet Queenie and Beanie (# B-PL-10008), a matching chestnut pair ready for Mother’s Day:

Beanie the baby is adorned with a bow, while mama Queenie wears a blanket:

Queenie and Beanie are the second plush mare and foal set to be released by Breyer. 2023 saw the first plush mare and foal set, Truffles and Bon Bon (# 8679), a set of Palomino Appaloosas:

Undoubtedly we shall be seeing more plush mare and foal sets every year!

*Photos are from Breyer’s website and email.

Spring 2024 Releases

 

Hark ye! Spring has arrived at Breyer, and two Spring releases have made their appearance. First up is the Brick and Mortar model, Picante. Described by Breyer as a bay roan Arabian/Quarter Horse cross, she is on the Trotting Arabian Mare (Weather Girl) mold and is limited to 2,500 pieces:

Remember this Sneak Peek square?

The reveal is for the Spring decorator and not my guess of the next Exotic Destinations model. Dubbed Gilded, the gold and blue colors are an homage to the earliest Breyer decorators. Gilded is on the Geronimo mold:

I have to admit I didn’t see that coming, lol. I don’t plan on getting Picante and Gilded is currently in the “Huh, unable to decide” category. The Geronimo mold is one of those unintentional congas for me, and one that keeps growing… 

A quick edit to this post - I found another picture of Picante and Gilded that I wanted to add:

*Photos are Breyer’s, gathered from various places.

More April Foolishness With Blind Bags

 

Ah yes, the blind bag foolishness continues! The Breyer April Fool’s blind bags were made available for purchase today, with a change to the quantity permitted per order. As a quick recap, in yesterday’s post I talked about the one bag per order limit Breyer posted on their website, as seen here:

I also mentioned in yesterday’s post (4/2/24) my hesitation to purchase the blind bags due to the cost, shipping, and taxes popping a single blind bag up to almost $40. I decided early this morning I wouldn’t be buying any blind bags, even though I really like them. Well well well, Breyer made a change to allow two blind bags per order:

Oh, and free shipping was applied to the purchase of two blind bags, which has been the usual with the holiday blind bags. The email and site banner announcing their availability went up:

Due to Breyer changing the quantity per order, I did end up buying blind bags. Orders are slated to begin shipping on April 8th, so stay tuned to see which of these April Fools arrive here!

*All photos are from Breyer’s website and emails.

Fools of April

 

As most of us are aware, on April Fool’s Day Breyer nonchalantly pops up interesting models to trick collectors. This year was no different. On April first, Breyer presented four mini-me Stablemates:

Breyer claimed these Stablemates were “an upcoming Spring release,” hinting that blind bags were on the horizon. Many speculated that we would be seeing SM blind bags in some form, but certainly not the models shown. Practically everyone responded with “yeah, right, not falling for that” and moved on. Then April 2nd hit with the news about the presumed April Fool’s SM joke. Uhhhhhh, turns out they actually were not a joke. Breyer succeeded in fooling us by showing us models that we thought would never be put into production, and surprise! the models have been made. Clever on Breyer’s part, and I would not be surprised that when the blind bags arrive, totally different color ways are on the models, lol. 

Here is the rundown of the April Fool’s blind bags (# B-CS-10032):

Mini Overo Paint - “The Stud Spider sculpture’s first pinto appearance in 1979 featured markings that resemble puffy clouds and a dramatic hand.”

Mini Cloud - “A miniature recreation of “Cloud” from the 1995 from the Classics B-Ranch series, with large resist dapples.”

Mini Cinnamon - “This Limited Edition 1996 Ara-Appaloosa mare is known for her distinctive dot and zig-zag blanket appaloosa pattern.”

Mini Arabian Stallion - “Intended to be a bay-going-grey, this 1994 model often had a greenish appearance due to inconsistent airbrush layering that didn’t always turn out as expected!”

While I really like all of these, I am quite hesitant to purchase them due to price. Previous holiday blind bags (April Fool’s Day is a holiday now?) had been limited to two per order, which pushed the purchase threshold into the free shipping tier. The assumed price of these pranksters is $24.99 each, however they are being limited to one per order. This means that shipping on one April Fool’s blind bag is $10.95, plus whatever tax rate your city and/or state has, placing the price at almost $40 for one blind bag. I may spring (seasonal pun!) for one, but as of right now I am leaning towards not purchasing any. 

*Photos are from Breyer’s website and emails.

*Descriptions of models are quoted from Breyer’s website.

April 2024 Odds n’ Ends

 

Originally, this post was to be published as Part 2 of the March Odds n’ Ends feature, but surprise, it didn’t make it. So now it is the April 2024 Odds n’ Ends feature, lol. First up, a gofundme initiated by Bernadette Phillips to purchase a memorial plaque for Andrea Gurdon, the Breyer History Diva, has reached its goal. This plaque was be placed in the Kentucky Horse Park, the home of Breyerfest to honor Andrea’s memory and her contribution to the model horse hobby. Instead of a plaque, a memorial bench is to be placed by the BF entrance gate at the KHP. The inscription is to read:

Andrea M. Gurdon
Breyer History Diva
Forever First in Line

 Thank you to all who helped make this possible!

Photo from tripadvisor.com

The March 2024 Collector Club newsletter hit inboxes in the last days of March and it is not terribly exciting. I miss the “My Collector Story” feature, which allowed hobbyists to share things about their collections and how collecting intertwined with their life. That segment was then to be expanded to what was called  “The Collector Club Showcase.” This was to give collectors a broader stage to share things about their models and the hobby, such as “Breyer fanart, photography, short stories, model horse show wins, collection photos, and whatever else your creative mind can come up with!” Since at least December 2021, the Collectors Club newsletter has only provided a feature story, a giveaway, and a sneak peek. Not to say those items are bad, I just wish there was more content in the newsletters. I for one truly miss Breyer’s “Just About Horses,” a former quarterly publication. Now we get *one* issue at the end of each year. I look forward to that yearly issue very much, but I am greedy for more! Moving on to the contents of this month’s newsletter, the feature story is a fully digitized issue of JAH from 1980:

The March giveaway model is RD Marciea Bey:

And last of all we have a Sneak Peek square, featuring a metallic-y gold and blue pattern:

I suppose this decorator is the next installment of the Exotic Destinations, and the shimmery gold and lapis bring the obvious guess to mind - ancient Egypt. Probably a wrong guess, but due to brain drain I’m not feeling particularly inquisitive. So we have to wait for the upcoming reveal.

BreyerWest took place during the weekend of March 15-17, 2024 in Denver, Colorado. It had model horse shows, meet and greets, Stablemate painting, raffles, workshops, etc. BreyerWest also had an exclusive Event Model limited to one per BreyerWest attendee. The model, HD Harkness, was a Breyerfest 2023 Store Special, and glossed specifically for BreyerWest. Glossy HD Harkness is a run of 250 pieces and is numbered the same as the Breyerfest release, with the addition of a capital G for glossy (# 711263G). The cost of the event model was $175 and includes a certificate of authenticity:

BreyerWest featured a display of the upcoming Breyerfest models, along with the latest Exotic Destinations model, Mumbai. In addition to all of those models, the Ambassador (aka Volunteer) model was revealed. The Ambassador/Volunteer model will have three different colors, two of which were revealed at BreyerWest and the third to be seen at Breyerfest. It is the Bluegrass Bandit mold, and she is named Worth It. This sabino mare has been shown in the medium and liver chestnut colors, and in July we shall see the third one. Here are the two revealed colors:

 

Hmmmmmm…oh yes. Since we were just talking about Event Models, let’s take a gander at the Event Models for Breyer’s 2024 Collector Club Event. This year’s event, dubbed Spokes and Spurs, is being held in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma from May 3-5, 2024. Tickets were available via lottery purchase, and the event, limited to 200 people, is sold out.

There are models exclusive to each event, and while we don’t know what those are yet, we do know what the Event Model and Stablemate are. The Event Model, a run of 200, is on the Bobby Jo/Working Cow Horse mold and depicts Wimpys Little Step, a stunning palomino:

The Event Stablemate is on the mini Clydesdale Stallion and is named Ned. Ned is a black sabino with white and blue bobs, and is a run of 200 as well:

I have to say that I really like these event models - I conga both of them! Arrrrrrggghhhh!!! I will simply have to admire them from afar, or wait it out until an opportunity arises for their potential purchase. Lol, yeah right, but who knows, this is one of those be-patient-and-wait scenarios. That is it for now, and hopefully I can get the next Odds n’ Ends installment up in a timely manner. 

*Photos of Breyer models and Spurs and Spokes logo are from Breyer’s website and social media.