"Losing" Models...

Or whatever you want to call it...Losing.  Misplacing.  Or just forgetting that you have them.  hahaha.  I get 99% of my hobby "news" on ModelHorseBlab and sometimes I'll see something on there that will make me start looking for models I want that maybe I haven't looked for in awhile.  Today was one of those days.  But what I start out looking for often leads to other things.  In a thread I started about a traditional sized model I was thinking of buying, it shifted to other models that I want so I started looking those up because I hadn't looked for any of them in awhile.  Somehow that search switched to Stablemates, which led to this post.

I conga the Valegro mold on both sizes and I already know there's traditional size models I don't have, but I wasn't sure if there were any SM size and briefly thought there was one I didn't have so I went to ebay to see if there was one for sale there.  And there was.  And then I saw the packaging and it looked familiar:

gotfreeshipping.com

I KNOW I've seen that packaging before and I was pretty sure it was in my room.  But the color didn't look familiar.  And I certainly didn't recognize the model.  hahaha.  But still, I decided to hold off on buying one until I could look at home to see if maybe I do have it and I'm just not remembering the color of the box correctly.

Smaller packaged models, it's easy to misplace or forget about, but what about when it comes in a larger package?  I also conga the Dungaree mold as mentioned in another post.  I have one on my desk at work

It's from the Horse Crazy Surprise Series 2.  I was able to successfully feel up the bags as WalMart to find the ones I wanted.  Anyway, so I looked at IDYB to see who I may have missed from that mold and saw the Western Play Set with a really neat appy.

which is really a two-fer since I also conga the other mold.  But wait.  Don't I already have that one?  So I went to Amazon and looked in my purchase history.  Yup.  I have it.  BUT...I don't know where it is.  I have a couple of ideas, but I'm not entirely sure of it's exact location.  The only model I'm missing on this mold is the one from the Spirit blind bags, but I don't like the weird eyebrows they all have.  I like the paint pattern on her, but I can't get past those eyebrows.

I really need to get my act together and straighten up my collection so I know who I have and who I need.  It's a good thing Dungaree / Loping Quarter Horse is still relatively new and not a whole lot has been released on her yet or who knows how many duplicates I'd end up with.  hahaha.  If I was capable of customizing a model, it wouldn't be a big deal.  But a 5 year old can paint better than me.

So what about you?  Have you ever misplaced/lost/forgotten you had a model?

Shrunken Down Traditional Models...

I think I've seen this topic on Blab before, but I wouldn't swear to it.  I'm talking about taking a traditional size mold and shrinking it down to Stablemate size.  For the 30th anniversary last week at Breyerfest, they did something like that, although I don't know that all of the horses were SM size of traditional models

On the top row in the middle is Carrick or the Walking Thoroughbred.  Below Oliver on the 2nd row is Gooitzen Fan Teakesyl.  Bottom right is Mariah's Boon and in the 3rd row on the left is supposed to be Imperador Das Aguas but they used an existing mold for him and for Mariah's Boon.  Actually, they  also did it with Gooitzen (I keep wanting to call him by one of his many nicknames lol).  I think Brass Hat is the only "new" mold, right?  I don't know.  I don't recognize the pose unless it's from the 2019 Stablemate club.  I dropped out of the club because I was selling more of the models than I was keeping.  Anyway, so my point is...do I have a point?  Oh yeah.  So.  I would like to see Breyer shrink down traditional sized models into Stablemate size.  Who would I like to see them shrink?  That's easy:

Lady Phase
Idocus
Cantering Welsh Pony
San Domingo
Mesteno
Stud Spider
Appaloosa Performance Horse

Those are the molds I mostly collect these days, although my Mesteno conga is only 2 models strong.  Or should that be "weak"?  hahaha.  I am probably missing one or two molds to add.  Maybe Roxy?  I loosely conga her so it would be fun to have her in Stablemate size.  Or even Zippo Pine Bar.

Who would YOU like to see shrunken down to SM size?  Or even as a flip...who on the Stablemate molds would you like to see be made as a Traditional?  That's not quite as easy for me to come up with some because part of the reason I like them is the size and I don't think it would be quite as cute as a larger model.  Take the Andalusian that first premiered in 2014 at the Breyerfest 25th anniversary as Chrome

I don't know.  Maybe he would make a decent Traditional-sized model... And then there's Dungaree, whom also debuted at the same Breyerfest

But there's already a couple of molds who resemble her already.  Maybe not exactly, but enough that we probably don't need another.  But the Clydesdale Stallion would be fun as a Traditional...

Wouldn't he?

Who else?

Scottsdale Stampede

Well, here it finally is.  I say "finally" because I've been wanting to do this for awhile, but just haven't gotten around to it.  I'm hoping that by blogging about it I can finally bring some closure to the whole thing, but that doesn't seem likely since I pass by the host hotel often and every time I see it, I think of the event.  Anyway, my manager gave us an extended lunch today and I thought what better way to use it?

So, a bit of a back story.  We learned last summer that there'd be a collector event in Arizona sometime in the fall.  There's always speculation about when the next even will be and where it will be and since I live in Arizona, I wanted it here.  Most of the events are in the eastern half of the country.  In fact, before Scottsdale Stampede, only one event had been held "out west" and that was Passage to the Pacific in 2012, I think it was.  I had just come back to the hobby after a hiatus of about 10 years (no money and no room for models) and didn't know about it soon enough to try to plan to go.  So, like I said, there was always lots of speculation.  I would always say Scottsdale and mention horse ranches the attendees could take tours of so imagine my surprise when it was announced the 2018 collector event would be in Scottsdale and one of the barns I mentioned several times would be hosting the attendees.

Initially, I was excited about the prospect of having the event so close to home, both literally and figuratively.  I live about 10 minutes from the host hotel, but in a different city.  That excitement turned into apprehension.  I'd never been to one of these events before and I don't have any hobby friends locally.  I used to know people in the hobby who lived here, but during my hiatus I lost touch with them.  Anyway, I'm a huge introvert and being around lots of people I don't know makes me very nervous.  Heck, being around lots of people I do know can make me nervous.  hahaha.  A bunch of people on Blab kept pushing me to go and honestly, the more they "pushed", the more I didn't want to go, but I eventually decided to go ahead and enter for a chance to go anyway since I live so close.  I would figure out how to pay for it later.  When the time came, I entered daily (was it daily or a one and done?  I don't remember), and when the winners started getting their notifications, I was disappointed that I wasn't chosen.  Someone offered to let me be their +1, but since you had to pay for the ticket so far in advance and I didn't know this person, I didn't feel comfortable doing that.  And it's a good thing I didn't because I ended up getting picked from the first wait list.  But then came...how do I pay for it?  $275 is a good chunk of change, especially during the summer when our utility bills are high due to needing to run the air conditioner.  Anyway, I decided to try to pre-sell my Phantom Face model.  I don't care for the mold and while it would be nice to have a model exclusive to an event, if it meant the difference between going and not going, I figured why not?  I came up with a price and posted it to Blab.  Very quickly I got a bite and she was willing to pay in full, right away.  I had only asked for a deposit but she said she'd pay in full so that was that.  I was going to Scottsdale Stampede.

It seemed to take forever for November to get there, but it did arrive finally.  On Friday, I went to the airport and picked up an attendee from Canada.  I live near the airport and I used to drive hotel shuttle vans to and from the airport so I knew my way around.  I had planned to take the long way to the hotel to show her some of the city, but we were inching close to when check-in and registration was so we just went straight to the hotel.  No.  I take that back.  I showed her my neighborhood and where I live.  It was on the way pretty much.  It looks so different from what she's used to in her area of Canada so it was fun to show her around and tell her the different things about the city and stuff.  I showed her Hunt's Tomb, which is the burial place of Arizona's first Governor.

He was really into Pyramids and Egyptian things so he wanted to be buried in a pyramid.  Also buried there is his wife, his kids, his mother-in-law and the family dog.  Gov WP Hunt gave women in Arizona the right to vote.

We arrived at the Doubletree Resort and she med up with her person who'd won the ticket (she was the +1), who had arrived the night before.  We all got registered for the event, received our celebration model and finally found out what the special run models would be and then we just sat around the lobby socializing while I awaited my +1 to arrive from Texas.  At about 3:45 we all loaded onto our buses according to the color group we were in and headed to the Scottsdale Museum of the West where the welcome reception was being held.  There were some finger foods being served and you could get a drink from the cash bar.  I didn't do either.  I just kind of sat around and watched everyone else.  That's what I do, though.  hahaha.  My +1 had gone off with her friends (I didn't expect her to stay with me), but came back after awhile and we socialized.  They had the special runs set out for us to look at ahead of time

These were the models closest to me so they're the ones I took pictures of.  I'm not going to lie.  I wasn't too thrilled with the options, which is strange since I like two of the molds available and conga one of them. 

Eventually we got tired and bored and "TX. H" (to differentiate her from "V's" friend with the same first initial) was ready for bed after the long drive from Texas so we boarded the bus and went back to the hotel.  As I left, I ran into a girl we'd met on the bus on the way to the museum.  She was attending from Kansas but has an uncle in the area so she was staying with him and was waiting for him to pick her up so I hung out with her while she waited. 

Saturday...what can I say about Saturday?  During the day was the trips to Schmersal Reining and RaeDawn Arabians.  I decided not to go.  I had already made sure "TX. H" could still go even if I wasn't then texted her to let her know I wasn't up to it.  I also let "V" know so she wouldn't expect me.  I was supposed to stay the night that night in the hotel with her and her friend, but I ended up not being able to do that either.  Oh well.  Such is life, right?  I did go to the dinner that night, though.  It had a Steam Punk theme and some of the costumes were pretty neat.  None of these photos are mine but the person who posted them to the event Facebook page gave permission to use them.  All were taken by Sandra Gibson

The dinner wasn't too bad.  It was served buffet style and it tasted pretty good.  I didn't discover the dessert table until everyone had already been through it and there was literally one item left.  hahaha.  A lot of people were taking more than one dessert, though, which wasn't cool.  The only issue I had was where it was located.  There didn't seem to be any consideration to people with mobility issues because it was a looooong walk from the lobby to the area where the dinner was held.  After dinner, "V" wasn't feeling well so she went back to their room (she'd gotten sick earlier while touring the horse barns) and I didn't really know anybody else, but they all went off to socialize and stuff.  I had no idea where "TX. H" had gotten off to so I decided it was time to go.  I think it was about 8pm.  Yeah, I'm a lightweight.  hahaha.  I get up early for work so I'm usually in bed fairly early, too.

Sunday was the big day.  The day of the special run store.  I met up with both "TX. H" and "V" at different times and was with "TX. H" when it was time for our color group to get into line.  Our color was the second group.  "TX. H" and I had already discussed which models we would get depending on who got there first.

 "V" and her friend "H" were near the front of the line and I was standing nearby with "TX. H" when we started to line up and she told me to just stay where I was.  And boy am I glad she did.  The gal from Breyer came out to start handing out numbers.  "V" and I just kind of stood there, dumbstruck, and the girl shook the little basket and said someone just grab a number so we both did and I got number 4.  "V" got number 3 and that was the number they called out as the first number so I was 2nd to go in.  You were allowed one model from Category A and one from Category B.  I conga Lady Phase and while I like the Show Jumping Warmblood mold, I didn't like the dark head with such a light muzzle.  "TX. H" wanted Chica Bonita so I was to try to get one for her and she would pay me for him.  Well, since I was second in line I was able to get both!  Even now I'm shocked at how that worked out and I will forever be grateful that "TX. H" insisted I stay by the door and that nobody caused a fuss when I grabbed a number.  It was only one spot so it's not like I took up a bunch of line places. 

Also on Sunday we picked up our Stablemates.

photo by holidays.net

I'm not fond of the mold or the color so I ended up selling him to a Blabber. 

After that we all just hung out and socialized for awhile.  "TX. H" and her friends decided to head back because the weather report had bad weather in New Mexico and they wanted to beat it so they took off.  I went with "V" and "H" back to their room so they could check out and then we took off to find some wild horses.  I was really hoping to be able show them some and we got lucky.  As we drove through the area, a small band trotted across the road ahead of us and then we saw some more at one of the recreation areas.  My Canadian visitors were quite happy.  It was a special experience few others got to have (I don't know if anyone else went out looking for them) while attending the event.  We went to Wal-Mart so they could get some things then had a wonderful dinner at Outback Steakhouse.  It was getting late so we decided to head for the airport, but first I showed "H" my neighborhood and house, too.  Just because I'm weird like that.  I then dropped them off at the airport.  Even though they'd come in on separate days, they were going back on the same flight, which was nice for them.  After I dropped them off I went home and crashed.  hahaha.

All in all, it was a nice event.  I liked how they did the special run line with the categories like that.  There were a couple of things I didn't like about the weekend, but I won't get into that.  I had told "TX. H" that I was glad to have finally been able to attend a collector event but I probably wouldn't do another and she said she probably wouldn't either, but I have since changed my mind.  I would do it again, but there are things I would definitely do differently.

Breyerfest 2019

Yes, I am probably doing this backwards.  I probably should've blogged about 2019 before 2020, but I didn't have easy access to photos to do 2019, so there!  hahaha.

Anyway, so here we are.  Post Breyerfest 2019 by 3 days.  Most everyone is home now and horses may or may not have been unpacked and put up on display already.  I haven't received mine yet.  I didn't get any pickups, although now I wish I had, but a buddy I have got pickups and had an extra Oliver so she gifted him to me as that was the only model I wanted.  Or so I thought.  Now I wish I'd gotten Rocket and Diana.  But I will be getting an Oliver from my friend's pick-up person.  It's just a matter of waiting for her to sort through her orders and then he'll be sent directly to me, which is good since the friend who gifted him to me lives in Canada.  Her pickup person is in the US.  I offered to pay for shipping or at least part of it, but she wouldn't hear of it.  She says it's because I was so nice to her when she and her friend were here for the Scottsdale Stampede in November when I showed them around then took them to the airport.  I'll post more about that in its separate blog, though.

Breyerfest 2019 seemed to make a lot of people a bit nuts.  It was the 30th anniversary of the event and it was predicted, although not really in much detail only mild speculation, that there'd be some kind of special models like there had been for the 25th anniversary.  For that one, Breyer had some of the models painted silver.  Well, for the 30th anniversary, they took it a step further.  I won't go into a whole lot of detail, just the models I'm interested in.  lol.

For starters, there was Diana, a lovely glossy bay Roxy.  Initially, it was believed she had a loose mane and tail

pawprints_saddlery on IG

Absolutely stunning and would've been fine if it had ended there.  But no.  Quickly it was realized she had a variation

pawprints_saddlery

WOW.  A loose mane and tail AND a braided mane and tail!  Wasn't there a mystery horse of Roxy who had both versions, but in different colors?  I forget which Breyerfest had that one.  So this was a bit different from that because it was on the same color.  BUT WAIT...it doesn't end there...noooo.  There was actually a THIRD version!

shamrock.studios on IG

Wholy smokes!  Needless to say, this set the collectors into a frenzy.  In the beginning, this is the one I would've wanted to pull because I'm usually all about Paints, but I think now I would prefer the braided version and that is the one I will be in search of on the secondary market.  Besides, this paint version is very low in production run so the people who got one and plan to sell are doing so at a very high mark-up.

Another model with a variation was Rocket.  When he was first released as Emerson, I thought he was okay-looking.  Nothing really spectacular, but when I saw a picture of Rocket, I fell in love with his sweet expression


wpdr.mindy on IG

Apparently there was a chalky and a non-chalky version on the regular version and then there was the paint, which is my favorite

dancing_breyer_studiso on IG

<sigh>  This one is even less obtainable than the paint Diana, it seems.  I've seen quite a few of the braided mane/tail version but so far none of the paint Rocket.  I must be patient.  I have a habit of wanting something as soon as it comes out. 

The one model I want, but is totally unobtainable because I'm not willing to pay that much for him is the volunteer model...a beautiful grey roan Totilas.

pawprints_saddlrey

Oh man he is very drool-worthy!  I love this mold and conga it.  I don't have all of them, but I'm only missing the custom BF model Bluebird, Zydeco from the 2014 Breyer event Big Easy Bash.  I have NEVER seen Zydeco go up for sale, but it's not like I've stalked ebay and MH$P looking for him either.  They only made 12 of Zydeco so the 200 or so (I'm totally guessing) they made of the volunteer model is much more obtainable.  Again, though, I'm not willing to spend $600 plus on one.  <sigh>  Oh well.

The single day Stablemates were done a little differently this year.  In the past, they've been put in denim pockets, cardboard sleeves and fabric bags.  This year, it was kind of a throwback to the old days when they came on blister cards.  Can I just say real quick how much I dislike the word "blister"?  LOL.  Random, yes, but I just don't like that word.  It's gross.  A couple of years ago I was in a planner group on Facebook and they had writing prompts for something, I don't even remember what it was for, but one of the words was "moist" and a lot of people said they didn't like that word.  Well, I like "moist" a lot more than "blister".  hahaha.  But I digress.  Here is what the single day Stablemates look like...the regular purchase ones were in small window boxes as shown in the photo above of the paint Rocket

The packaging is kind of cool, but I would've preferred them to be like the store special of Sarge and be in a mini window box, but that's just my opinion.

Well, I guess that is all for now.  I don't want to bore anyone, even though it doesn't seem like anyone is even reading this.  Hopefully that will change soon.  I am trying to produce content that is a bit different from the other model horse blogs I've seen.  I hope everyone enjoys their Wednesday!

Breyerfest 2020

well, as Breyerfest 2019 winds down, the thing everyone waits for has been announced:  next year’s theme.  We already found out the date is July 10-12 and now we know the theme is:

I’m not sure how I feel about this theme.  There was a lot of speculation on Blab about what it could be and some of them were...well...Anyway, someone said they’d discovered an Irish band was booked in Lexington the same weekend and concluded the theme would be Celtic or Irish and she was correct.  It’s still nice to get confirmation, though.

Will 2020 be my year to go?  I don’t know.  I’m actually more excited for the opportunity to visit 3 zoos in the area than I am about actually attending Breyerfest.  I already have it mapped out in my head.  I know people go to BF just for BF, and I get that.  It costs a lot of money for some people and they want to make the most out of it.  I also know people who go every year and don’t do anything outside of BF a and catching up with friends.  But as I said, they go every year.  I’ve never been to that part of the country before so there’s other things I’d like to do.

As I mentioned in my last post, 2020 will be a milestone birthday so I’d like to do something big.  That being said, an event that might change my mind about going to BF would be the location of an annual planner conference called Go Wild.  It is held in a different location every year and 2020 hasn’t been announced yet.  The producers of the conference held a bracket style poll of where to hold it and it was dwindled down to four cities:  Chicago, Orlando, Philadelphia and DC.  If it’s held in Chicago or Orlando I would definitely consider it because I would also be able to combine Lighthouses and zoos.  If it’s Philly or DC then I won’t.  I just don’t know yet but I may bust out Larry and Tim just to be on the safe side...

These two were the first Stablemates I got as a pickup from Breyerfest and decided a year or two later they would be my mascots for helping me get to the next BF.  I had a decorated box for saving money and everything.  But I didn’t go...obviously.  So I may have to “dust them off” and put them to use again.  We will see.

Happy Sunday!

Let’s try this again...

Hey, Everyone.  I hope you are all well this mid-July Saturday.  I have decided to give blogging another try.  I had one...well, it’s still there but inactive...under a different gmail account but I didn’t really like it.  Even though it wasn’t 100% model horse content, I had a couple of followers who weren’t in the hobby and didn’t understand about little plastic ponies when they had real ones and a couple of times made comments that made me feel embarrassed to still be collecting Brewers at my age.  Really, who cares what other people think but I want a fresh start and there’s nothing wrong with that, right?

So, my name is Brenda and I live in Arizona.  Not married.  No kids except a couple of felines.  I have been collecting for more years than I can remember.  At least since I was 8 and would beg my parents to take me to Toys N Things or the Doll House so I could get a model.  Back then, they came in cardboard boxes and were about $5.99 for a traditional.  Those were the days.  Back then you could find Breyers on the shelves at stores like JC Penney and Sears, before they became catalog-only.

I am hoping this blog will help keep my Breyerfest-fueled in collecting again going.  It’s difficult when you no longer have local stores who carry Breyer.  My longtime dealer, whom I’ve been buying from since they opened in 1982(ish), decided to close a couple of years ago.  The owners were a wonderful couple who treated their regular customers really well.  Well, they treated everyone well, but their regular Breyer customers got first dibs on everything.  They’re now enjoying retirement with their grandchildren and can do it together rather than make sure someone was around to watch the shop.

Speaking of Breyerfest...I have never been, although I have come close three times.  Every year I say will be the year, but I have yet to go.  I don’t fly well and it gives me anxiety to think of spending that much time on an airplane, to say nothing of the cost.  I wish I’d gone this year because of all the variations that have been popping up due to it being the 30th anniversary.  I’ve been wanting to go since it started.  Maybe next year.  My birthday in 2020 will be a big one so going to BF would be a good way to celebrate it.  I wouldn’t go just for BF, though.  I’d also go to visit a couple of zoos.  That’s another of my hobbies.  Visiting different zoos.  I’ve been to ones all over Arizona (of course), plus California, Nevada and Washington, although I was only four and don’t remember much.  I have been to a collector event, however.  In November 2018 I attended Scottsdale Stampede and will do a post about that in the near future, even though it happened 8 months ago.

I collect mostly traditional OF models, but I have a growing number of Stablemates.  At one time, I collected whatever horse caught my eye but now I’m a bit more selective and try to stick with molds I conga.  My favorite is Lady Phase with Idocus and San Domingo close behind.

I had a hard time finding model related blogs that were still active.  I guess everyone is on Facebook or YouTube now?  Hopefully someone will read this.  Lol.