Picture This: Notoriously Framed

 

The winner of Breyer’s “Picture This” contest is Latigo! Those who attended Breyerfest 2020 had the opportunity to vote on which of four models looked the best as a shaded silver bay frame overo. The four model choices were Carrick, Adios, Zippo Pine Bar, and Latigo. Here are pictures of everyone decked out as a silver bay frame overo: 

 Latigo won with almost 50% of the votes. I was surprised by the percentage of votes that went to Latigo-he has quite the fan base it seems. Breyer has two versions of Notoriously Framed Latigo which will be blind shipped. One version will have a long tail and a short mane, and the other version will have a short tail with a long mane. To my eyes, there isn’t much of a difference between the manes. Oh sure, one is slightly longer, but that’s not my interpretation of a ‘long mane.’ If you’re going to do a long mane, do a long flowing Moody Mane.  As I don’t conga any of those molds, I didn’t vote or purchase one. If I had voted, I would have gone with Adios. Not surprisingly, Notoriously Framed sold out quickly and was available to Collector’s Club members to purchase.

The short maned/long tailed Notoriously Framed:

The long maned/short tail Notoriously Framed:

*Notoriously Framed photos from Breyer’s website*

*Photos of the four candidates for the Picture This contest from Identify Your Breyer website *

Um Yeah About That...

 

Annnd here I am behind again on my blog...stuff has been going on, y’all. We have just lost a third family member to Covid-19, and my youngest brother was hospitalized last week due to Covid. He’s doing slightly better but isn’t out of the woods yet.  

So in a nutshell I have been distracted and am behind AGAIN in everything. I am attempting to get caught up...I know, I know, total deja vu...

Moving on with yard news. I’m not treating the backyard for weeds this year either, and surprise of surprises it’s full of weeds, lol. I have some dandelions and these pretty pink creeper flowers:

I’ll have to go and rip out as many as many of the big ugly weeds as I can this week. I found two ladybugs in the yard yesterday, the first ones of the season. Here is one of them:

I’d better start getting stuff posted onto the blog now...

Hailstorm and Meet Measure!

 

Having another week of insanity here...again, I am behind on posting...moving on to an unscheduled (but hopefully amusing) blog post...

Hail the Hailstorm! Actually, no hailing of the hailstorm. We had a severe thunderstorm move through late yesterday afternoon. It started out just like you’d expect-drizzling all day with no significant rainfall. About 4:15 pm it got dark-dark enough that the street lamps popped on. I looked at the weather app and there was a severe thunderstorm warning, with high winds, hail, and possible isolated tornados. Typical spring weather...then an alert came through about damaging hail. Large, evil hail plummeting from the sky to get you. Get your pets in, get your vehicles in, get yourself in-the hail’s a-coming so find shelter. In the first few seconds of the storm the hail was marble size. Then it was mixed with golf ball size hail. The sound from the hail battering the roof was astonishing. There was frequent lightening, so I didn’t run out immediately after the hail stopped. When it was safe, I scurried out to collect some of the hailstones. They were kinda melty, but they were still a good size. The hailstones from this storm left 3 inch (7.62 cm) deep craters in my raised garden bed. There was a lot of damage in the area, especially to vehicles. Plenty of cracked/shattered windshields, and dents. Some houses had roof damage. Take a gander at my hailstone collection:

And now, meet Measure! I like to use this G3 Standing Thoroughbred StableMate as an unofficial ruler (since I find it hilarious). And yes, that is the word measure written in Sharpie. Model horse people will instantly understand the size of an object when Measure is next to something. In this case, I had Measure measure the hailstones:

Measure will be featured in an upcoming post, so this isn’t the last we will see of our pseudo ruler!

Bonanza of Breyer Announcements

Wowza, Breyer went wild with announcements Monday! I checked my email late that evening to discover three emails with exciting Breyer news! Actually, it was more than three emails because one of the announcements came from various Breyer dealers. The announcements from the dealers were for Old Glory, Breyer’s Spring 2021 decorator.  Done on the Esprit mold, this clearware decorator is patterned after the U.S. flag, complete with Stars and Stripes:

I like him, and will see if I can get one. The next announcement was the second Test Run Model lottery of 2021. It is the saddlebred weanling mold, with a test color...which is supposed to look like a vintage paint job but not quite there. I think she’s cute, and the test color came out odd-not a bad thing for a test model. After all, that is the purpose a test model serves. The color idea isn’t terrible, it’s the execution of the paint job that is the issue. I get that the painter was going for the old Appaloosa Performance Horse look, but it didn’t quite work out. Take a look at the old APH:

His splatter dapple pattern fades into the rest of the coat. Now compare with the test run model:

That boundary line from the splatter dapple pattern into the grey smudge is weird looking. There are some of the sharpie dots from the back half of the weaning that travel onto the shoulders and front leg splatter dapples if you look closely, a clear mimic of the APH. This test model is priced at $850, down from the last test run model’s price of $1,100. The saddlebred weanling is petite, which may account for the lower price. Good luck to anyone who is entering for her!

And now the best for last. The second reveal of the Premier Club, Astrid:

I almost fell off my chair when I began reading the email. A fjord, and a mare to boot!  I had been wishing for a new fjord; while I think the old Henry mold is cute, it was high time Breyer popped out a new fjord mold. Breyer did not disappoint, and I love the color. PC members may choose a glossy or matte finish. I have chosen a matte finish as I am more of a matte girl, but I think she’d look stunning in gloss.  It would have been nice if Breyer had shown an actual picture of a glossy Astrid instead of this cartoony photo shop gloss.

Too bad she’s still some time away. I want her now! It is also going to be exciting to see what the last PC model will be for 2021, since I really like the first two. 

*Old Glory photo from Breyer released to dealers*

*Appaloosa Performance Horse photo from the Identify Your Breyer website*

*Saddlebred Weanling photos from Breyer’s website*

*Astrid photos from Breyer’s website*

Stablemates Club Release and Sneak Peek Square

 

The second release of the 2021 SMC is Hendrik-a glossy chestnut with a flaxen mane and tail on the Django mold. I have ordered but haven’t received my Hendriks yet, but from Breyer’s photos his mane and tail look to be very pale yellow-like banana cream pie. I’ve seen a few in hand pictures, and some do look banana-y while others look more ivory. I hope that my Hendriks’ manes and tails aren’t so banana-y. If they are, that won’t stop me from liking the Hendriks. Breyer has already done a Berries Ponies Series, but they could also do a hand pie series of Stablemates. While berries are great in their own right, berry pies are a whole different category. I mean, it’s pie, y’all. And there is no need to stick to strictly fruit pies. This imaginary Scrumptious Series could include:

Strawberry pie-strawberry roan

Blueberry pie-blue roan

Buttermilk pie-buttermilk dun

Pecan pie-golden chestnut 

Mince pie-liver chestnut

Mud pie-nondescript brown

Breyer also showed us a new sneak peek square in their March newsletter, with promises that we will be seeing the full reveal sometime in April. I haven’t a clue who it may be, but I’m thinking it may be the Collector’s Club Classic Web Special offering. It may or may not be a gambler’s choice-it probably will be due to the popularity of it. Past Classic gambler’s choices have included Callahan, Nayati, Scotty, Calvin, and Lancelot. Couer de Lion was offered in a single color, but I would have loved to have seen him in other colors. Really fond of those Maureen Love TB molds-they are so refined and elegant. Back on topic now; here’s the sneak peek square:

Hopefully we won’t have to wait until the end of the month for the reveal! 

*Hendrik photos from the Breyer website*

*Banana cream pie photo from free stock images*

*Sneak Peek Square photo from Breyer’s CC March newsletter*

Breyer Down Under

 

A new Breyer special event centering around Australia, called True Blue, is scheduled to take place virtually May 21-22, 2021. Breyer figured they may as well do a virtual ‘overseas event’ since we will likely never see a Breyer event held outside of the United States. The True Blue event will be limited to 200 participants, who will be chosen via lottery as usual. Breyer has planned virtual farm tours, workshops with Australian artists, and of course the Breyer Boutique. It is limited to one purchase per Collector’s Club member. CC members may enter from April 2nd through April 6th. I don’t know if I am going to bother to enter, especially since I’ve never entered for an event before. Thing is, I’m not sure if I will fancy any of the special models offered for this event. For some of the past special events, there weren’t any models I would have purchased as they didn’t really interest me. On the flip side of that, other special events had multiple models I would have loved to purchase. The True Blue event models (a traditional and a Stablemate which are included with the ticket) are Bondi and Roo. Bondi is a glossy light dapple grey on the Valegro mold, while Roo looks to be a mulberry/rosy/whatever Breyer calls the color on the Mirado SM mold. 

Here is Bondi:

And here is Roo (nice Winnie the Pooh ripoff; fun fact, I am friends with someone related to the late Christopher Robin Milne, upon whom the character Christopher Robin was based).

I really like both of the event models, and I have a short time to enter before entries close. I may take the chance to enter, but with my current bad luck with Breyer lottery drawings, I don’t think I would be drawn, but who knows. What to do, what to do...or as Winnie the Pooh would say, “Think, think, think...”

*All True Blue photos are from Breyer’s website *

This Past Week, Short and Sweet

 Sorry everyone but I have been running waaaaaaaaaay behind and was unable to get stuff onto the blog last week. I royally wrecked my back, which threw a massive monkey wrench into...well everything. Doing much better on the back front (see what I did there?) and I am in catch up mode. I will be getting last week’s stuff up this week, plus this week’s stuff. In local news, the Texas Bluebonnets are in full bloom, as well as some other wildflowers. I don’t know what flower this is, but when growing en masse they look quite lovely on their own and mixed with the bluebonnets. Here is a photo I snapped yesterday of the mystery wildflower:

In keeping with the short and sweet title, off I go now-but expect catch-up posts throughout the week.  Have a great week, everyone!