Slainte Surprise Reveal...Yes, there are pictures...

Surprisingly, people are already starting to receive their models from Breyer"Mess" that only just ended a couple of days ago.  Some collectors are trying to keep it a complete surprise until theirs arrive on their doorsteps, but not me.  I wanted to know as soon as possible what the surprise model was so I could start planning.  And while I'm not hugely fond of the mold, it could have been worse and I like 3 of the 4 colors so I'm hoping the two I get will be two of the colors I like, but my luck, I'll get the one I like least.  hahahaha.

Anyway, so here we go...The Slainte Surprise is on the Giselle mold and came in 4 colors, as usual.  What isn't "usual" is the lack of a decorator on the set so maybe there's a 5th out there nobody has seen yet?  I don't know.

My favorite, and the one I'm most hoping to get is the leopard appy...

then the 2nd favorite is a toss-up between the glossy palomino...

and the silver bay...

My least favorite of the 4 is the red roan paint...I'm not a huge fan of red roans and the circle of white around her neck makes it look really thin...

I haven't received a ship notice yet for my 4 SR models so I have no idea when they'll be here.  My Ballynoe and 4 pack Stablemates are supposed to arrive today.  I'm glad they went back to using the little bag this year rather than the cardboard boxes they've used in the past.  I don't mean the ones that look like mini Breyer boxes, but the ones...you know what I mean.  These ones...

I don't like those.  The bags for Celtic Fling are really cute, too.  Not as clever as Denim & Diamonds where they look like pants pockets, but still cute nonetheless...

I should say, none of these photos are mine.  I got them from an Instagram user who got them from someone else on Facebook.  Anyway, my SM 4 pack and Ballynoes are supposed to be here some time today.  Each bag is a different color, although all are Tartan Plaid, and has the model's name on it, which is usual.

So, on Monday I was decided not to include some photos from the photo show, but I think I'll do that today.  Some really impressed me while others...ehhhhh...not so much.  First of all, I'd like to give them props, though, for entering the show to begin with.  I've heard showing at Breyerfest can be brutal so the fact that they attempted it is worthy of my respect.  I didn't look at all the classes because many of them I'm not interested in, but here are some of my favorites from the ones I did look at...

This first one is from the Western Trail class and was done by Natasha Kaehler.  I'm honestly surprised she didn't place.  I thought she did a really good job at blending her base with the background.  Sure, there's some minor scale issues with the background, but nothing like I've seen in other photos.  I'm certainly no expert in judging...it's been a long time since I've judged any photo shows, but I think this photo should've placed in the top 5...

When I first saw this photo submission by Nicole Cunningham in Western Games, I briefly thought it was a real horse and wondered what it was doing in a photo show, but then I saw it was, in fact, a model.    Nicole made good use of natural arena footing, but the background is very much out of scale.  The fences can almost be "excused" but the houses are just too big and she probably should've broken up some of the dirt clumps...

My favorite entry is probably from the Scene class by Michelle Seipol and this one actually won 2nd place, but personally, I think it was better than the one that got 1st and ultimately Champion in the Miscellaneous category...

Cat herding.  hahahahaha.  Anyone who is owned by cats knows how impossible cat herding is.  Michelle had all sorts of documentation about how it's a "thing".  Regardless if it is or not, it's very clever and definitely deserved a high placing.

Okay.  So, I saw a lot of photos with wonky backgrounds.  Mostly they were sheets / fabric backgrounds that had wrinkles in them or some such thing.  But this one...this one I had to call out, but I'm not going to say who it belongs to or what category it's from, although it's obviously from one of the Western classes...

When I first got into model horse showing...photo showing...one of the first things I learned was about angles.  You wanted to photograph your horse from the side, with an occasional exception.  The Pole Bending photo I shared above probably wouldn't look quite as good from a side angle.  Not to be super judgmental or anything, but this photo would look so much better if she moved the Celtic Fling railing so it was against the background and shot the photo from the side rather than this angle.  The idea is for the scene to look as realistic as possible and that's kind of hard with the big New York Yankees logo in the background and the table on the right.  And the orange cone seems kind of random.  And whatever she used for the flooring doesn't fit very well together because you can see that big seem running from top to bottom.  The model and doll are spot on and I like the use of the Breyerfest logo on the railing, but because of the distracting background, it's hard to really like this one.

Okay.  That's enough for now.  I hope everyone is doing well.  Take care and until next time...

Virtual Breyerfest...the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly...

By now, most people have blogged about the first ever (and hopefully LAST) virtual Breyerfest, but most of them did it throughout the weekend.  I'm going to do it all in one spot and I'm not going to hold back.  Not that the others did, but the whole experience was beyond frustrating that if they decided to hold it again, I likely won't participate.   Some people have expressed a hope that in the future, Breyer will allow people to attend/buy SR models virtually so as to make it more inclusive, but I can't see that working very well in terms of numbers.  They would have to either make a LOT more SR models or risk over-selling.

So let's start with the "Good".  I like that it was available to so many people who wouldn't ordinarily be able to attend.  As I mentioned before, I had hoped to go this year, but virus aside, that wasn't going to happen.  I missed a lot of the workshops, but the videos will be available on the website for awhile so I'll get a chance to get caught up.  There's only a couple of them I want to see anyway.  On the surface, it looked really well planned out, but then it gets into the "ugly" category and I'll leave that for later.  So it was nice that I was able to go through the "Special Run Line".  I had two tickets: 10am Saturday and 12pm Sunday.  Would you believe, I don't remember what I picked for my choices?  You could either do individual choices or a master list and from the looks of what people on Blab were saying, I'm glad I went with individual picks since a lot of people were getting duplicates.  But that's also part of the "bad".  I know I had picked Epona and Slainte Surprise as my top two picks on Saturday and that's who I got so that made me happy.  We still don't know what the Slainte Surprise model is and won't until boxes start hitting doorsteps, which, who knows when that will be?  Breyer employees usually take a few days off following Breyerfest, but since they now have orders to pack and mail...and LOTS of orders at that...I imagine they'll still take a few days off and actually mentioned that somewhere on social media.  I just don't remember where I saw it.  But people are going to start wondering where their horses are so they won't be able to get away with taking too much time off.  Besides, since no travel was involved and no being out in the heat...  What else was good about Virtual Breyerfest?  During my Sunday ticket slot, I got Oak and another Slainte Surprise.  I don't think they were my top picks, maybe 3 and 4.  I hope the surprise horse is on a mold I like or it's one a lot of other people like so I can sell it.  Some people want it to be a total surprise and won't look at spoilers, but I want to know so I can decide if I'm going to keep it or sell it as a "true surprise", meaning, I don't know what colors are involved.  Another good was the ability to see photos from the "live" show and I'm going to include some of my favorites at the end, along with an "oops" or two.  hahaha.

I would like to put this auction model in the "Good" part because she is just the most beautiful thing and I would love to have her in my collection, but she was already out of my price range when I first saw her so I didn't even try.  It's a Roxy mold done in Leopard Appaloosa and is just stunning!

Hopefully we will have a model like this sometime in the near future.  Obviously not an exact duplicate because that would be wrong and unfair to the person who paid a big chunk of change for her, but something similar.  Well, I guess we already sort of have one in Haute Couture from 2015 Breyerfest, but not quite the same...

So now we'll move onto the "Bad"...There aren't as many "Bads" as "Uglies" so this will be short since it's pretty much all related.  Virtual Breyerfest got off to a bad start.  Glitches with the website and timings with the Special Run "lines".  Models weren't showing up on your account page.  More models showing up than what you're "entitled" to.  Duplicate models showing up.  But that was more of a Master List issue, I think, than anything else.  They did "warn" us that duplicates were a possibility if you submitted a Master List.  Ticket times were running about 2 hours behind schedule on Saturday so my 10am ticket time didn't show up until 12pm and on Sunday, I got this message...

How can I be early if I didn't try to access it until AFTER it started?  And it stayed there until just about 12:30.  And this was AFTER Breyer had assured us the ticket times were "wide open", meaning, they were on time.  Obviously, that wasn't the case, but that goes in the "Uglies".  But I was finally able to access my chosen models and got another Surprise and Oak.  I will be trading Oak to another collector for her Thorn because she really wants Oak and I want Thorn more than I want Oak so it will work out nicely.

Well, now we have to move on to the "Uglies" and that's where it hit the fan.  Yes, I get that they only had about 4 months to plan this.  And I get that they could've just as easily have cancelled the whole thing rather than have it online.  I do appreciate the effort that went into it, but it was just one disaster after another and I really think maybe they should have just cancelled (are there two "l"s or just one?  Neither one gives me a spellcheck hit).  When it was first announced it would be online this year, several people expressed a concern that the Breyer web servers couldn't handle that sort of traffic.  It hasn't before and it was for a much smaller "event".  We were assured that they'd be increasing their bandwidth and would be hiring an IT company to help out and other stuff.  But there were still a lot of issues that continued through the weekend.  Initially, you were limited to the number of times you could make purchases in the store.  Each check out was a "trip".  Well, people would try to buy something, but weren't able to.  They'd have it in their cart and the cart would freeze.  Or it would be taken out of their cart before they could finish the purchase.  Some people sat in front of the computer all day on Friday and Saturday, hoping to get something, just to have the cart freeze or the item sold out from under them.  We didn't know how often they were restocking the store until Saturday when a timeline was posted.  I did not sit at the computer the whole weekend.  There was only one thing I really wanted, the Stablemate set, but I didn't want it enough to spend all that time on it.  I feel bad for the people who did and still never got what they wanted.  Twice I had the SM set in my cart and twice the cart froze.  Yesterday I was doing something else and missed the last re-stock.  Oh well.  I won't lose any sleep over it.  Anyway, on Saturday they said the bugs had been fixed and that things wouldn't be taken from carts and everything should run smoothly, but that didn't happen.  The Special Run times still weren't working properly, things were still being taken out of carts.  There was a data breach on the auction site they were going to use so they had to scramble to find an alternative.  On Sunday, Special Run lines were still behind, albeit not as bad.  Stuff was still disappearing from carts and people were unable to even buy their special runs.  It was a weekend of Epic Failure and many annoyed people.  Breyer kept saying "we thank you for your patience" and I just had to laugh.  For one, we didn't have a choice.  There was nothing WE could do.  But there were a lot of complaints, but they likely fell on deaf ears.  To "make up" for the cart theft, Breyer decided to gloss 3 of the models and offer them for pre-sale. You won't get it until December, though, and a lot of people were annoyed that they offered that.  I'm not sure doing that was the right thing, but I don't know.  I know there has been "cart theft" in the past, but it's not literally people stealing stuff out of your cart.  It has to do with internet connections and carts freezing.  So what they ended up doing was eliminate the "trips" you could take and basically turned everyone loose on the store.  Grab bags were still limited to one purchase per account, but none of them interested me, even if I ever saw them available.  hahaha.

I'm sure there was more "Uglies" than I am remembering, but that's the gist of it.  This blog is already long enough that I'm not going to include the photos from the "live" show.  Maybe later.  Yesterday Breyer announced the theme and dates for 2021...

A very non-specific theme.  Should be interesting to see more details in the coming months.  Hopefully THAT one will be in-person and not this virtual crap.

Until next time!

New Feature and Meet Jake the Farrier's Cousin!

Okay.  So.  I'm kind of excited about this and I hope the 2 or 3 people who actually read this thing will enjoy it.  It's kind of a spin off of featuring different models from my collection.  What I'm going to do is pick a year that has been significant in my life, hobby-wise, and feature the models that were released in that year and which molds I have, even if they aren't the original model.  Does that make sense?  I hope so.  So, my first year is 1970, which is the year I was born.  The Indian Pony was introduced that year, but I don't have the original IP.  I DO have, however, 2 models on that mold so those are the ones I will showcase.  Got it?  Good.  hahaha.  I should offer a bit of a disclaimer, though.  I was unable to find a master list of every model released every year, so my information is coming from ID Your Breyer.  I guess it's possible they only released 2 or 3 models a year back in the early days, but it seems like such a small number.

Are you ready?  Okay.  Here we go.

1970.  The year I was born.  Yes, I'm "old".  hahaha.  Hush up.  In 1970, 3 new models were released by Breyer.  They were:  Indian Pony #175, sculpted by Chris Hess; Scratching Foal #168, also by Chris Hess; and Quarter Horse Yearling #101, sculpted by...you guessed it, Chris Hess.  Now, I haven't owned any QH Yearlings, but I did have the black blanket Appaloosa Scratching Foal at one point.  I don't anymore.  I do, however, have 3 models on the Indian Pony mold.

#882 Ichilay the Crow Horse - Circled Eye released 1993...

And #701796 Halayi, which was an exclusive from PetsMart released 1996...

Oddly enough, I only remember buying Halayi.  Maybe because he came from Toys R Us and I still remember how exciting it was to go into the store and straight to the aisle that held the famous yellow boxes. I don't even recall where I bought Ichilay and why I chose him over the other three variations available.  Maybe the red circle one was the only one available.  Who knows?

Information about Ichilay from the hangtag:
Ichilay (pronounced eegee'leh) is the Crow word for "horse"; it means "to search with".  Warriors painted their horses according to their medicine.  Often, the horse's face was painted to match the warpaint of its owner, or markings were painted to match the warrior's medicine shield.  If a warrior was wounded in battle, he was entitled to tie a red feather in his horse's mane for each wound.  The Crow warrior was an individual and his painted horse reflected his spirit.

And from the Certificate of Authenticity on Halayi:
A wild mustang stops to graze in a clearing overlooking a Hopi Indian reservation.  The golden, spotted Appaloosa looks longingly at the children playing below.  She is alone and longs for companionship.  She senses they are friendly and enters the village anxiously.  She whinnies her friendship, and a child adopts her through a wild horse adoption agency.  Her new Hopi friend has named her Halayi (Happy).  Now this one lonely Appaloosa has good reason to be a truly "Happy Appy".  Halayi was limited to 1,000 pieces, but for some reason they weren't numbered.  Not on the body of the model and not on the COA, but something makes me want to say there was a sticker of some sort on the box and that's where the number was.  I'm not sure.

What do you think of this new feature?  Do you like it?  Is there information I'm not providing that you'd like to know?  I'm open to suggestions to make it a more interesting read.

Next up, I would like to introduce you to Jake the Farrier's cousin Cassie.  She has decided to come live at the Desert Horizon Ranch for awhile...or for good, I'm not sure.  hahaha.  Here she is with one of her many cats she brought with her.  Yes, she's a crazy cat lady.  The cat's name is Cinder.

If Cinder seems to be a bit of an unusual-looking cat, remember...she's related to Jake and apparently the apple doesn't fall far from the tree where knowledge of animals come into play (remember his new "dog" Ribbon?).  Cassie is at a cross-roads in her life right now.  She left a job in the corporate world to go live in the desert and "play with the pretty ponies".  She is thinking she might like to train horses, although she has no experience doing so.  She barely knows how to ride, but just HAD to buy the cute little outfit that would make her look authentic.  Tune in later for possible adventures with her and Jake as well as both of them individually.

I guess that is it for now.  I hope everyone is doing okay.  Until next time!

70th Anniversary SM Chase Pieces “Revealed”...

Well, a couple of people have discovered what the Chase and Super Chase pieces are for Breyer’s 70th anniversary edition of Stablemate blind bags are and Alborozo isn’t either one of them.  I know I don’t usually post on Thursdays...wait...it IS Thursday, isn’t it?  Hahahaha...but if I waited until next Wednesday to blog about, it will be old news.  Besides, I have what I hope is a fun and unique topic for my next Wednesday post.  No hints, though, you’ll just have to tune in to find out what it is.  Teehee.

So, we don’t know which is the Chase and which is the Super Chase, but I’m really hoping the first one is the Super Chase because I don’t really care for the mold, neither Traditional size nor SM a size...

Mini Brishen...

Several people have likened it to a hood ornament because of its shiney-ness.  When I first saw it, my thoughts went to the metal horses you used to be able to win at Legend City in Phoenix.  Legend City was an amusement park on the Phoenix / Tempe border that was open for only 20 years from 1963-1983.  They had a lot of fun rides such as a Log Flume, a sky ride, a car ride plus an arcade area.  One of the games in the arcade was a horse racing one where your prize was different sizes of these little copper horses.  I wish I still had one of the many I’d won.  Anyway, as you played more and beat more people, you could trade up to a larger horses and one of them was a silver horse and that’s what the Brishen reminds me of, even though the prize horses weren’t nearly as shiny as mini Brishen.

The other Chase piece is the one of the two I want the most so it’ll probably be the Super Chase, knowing my luck.  It’s a blue and yellow Florentine Indian Pony...

I’ve seen a lot of comments about the yellow appearance and people saying they hope it’s not as yellow in person.  Some people don’t care.  I don’t care.  And while technically this Indian Pony is considered a decorator, it is what I consider a “realistic decorator” because, color aside, it resembles an Appaloosa pattern.  

I don’t know if I’m going to try to find an entire case to buy and then sell the extras / models I don’t want or what.  Since this IP is a chase piece, finding it for sale at a reasonable price on the secondary market will not be cheap.  The one in the photo is on eBay and is already commanding a pretty penny.

Well, that is it for now.  Make sure you tune in next Wednesday for a new feature that is different from the one I had yesterday...mostly.  Oops.  I’ve said too much.  Until then...

"Regrets" In the Hobby...Or...the Horse Not Purchased...

I try not to have any (or many) regrets in life, let alone the model horse hobby, but every now and then, it happens.  I hear it often on the famous podcast and the model horse message boards, but usually about a resin that was missed out on.  I can't imagine collecting something that is such a limited production that you'll likely miss out on it more often than you'll get it, but sometimes that happens with Original Finish models as well.  And I'm not talking about models that were gone before you could buy one or didn't know of its existence until it was too late.  No, I'm talking about ones that you had your hot little hands on, but for whatever reason, ended up not buying.

A perfect example of that would be the Lady Phase Mother Lode model from 2013...

Mother Lode was released as a Collectors Club special offer on the Breyer Website.  It came in the 3 different color patterns shown above and each one had a different run number.    The solid gold one had the highest run of 80, followed by 10 each of the other 2.  I think they were $80 each and it was luck of the draw which one you got...you couldn't pick which one you wanted.  I don't think the number of each color was known initially.  I actually had one in my cart, as I collect / conga the mold, but I decided NOT to buy it.  When I first saw the sale, I thought it was $80 (or was the price $70?) for all three, not per and I thought that was too expensive.  I didn't know much about micro runs at the time and even though I now better understand the value of them, I don't buy them just because they're such short production.  I still only buy if I like the model / mold.  In the months following the epic release, many were put on the secondary market for usually around $400.  If you found one for less than that, you were lucky.  Now, 7 years later, they aren't often put up for sale.  There is one currently on MH$P, but the asking price is $800.  So yeah, I totally regret not buying one back then.  Not because of the value, but because I wish I had gotten one.  I especially would've liked the paint.  Not because it's a run of 10, thus making it more valuable than the solid, but because it's my favorite of the 3.  I would've been happy with any of the 3.

My only other "regret" is Rialto.  Rialto was a web special from 2018 with a run of 350 pieces.   I entered daily for the chance to buy one and actually ended up being one of the winners, but when the time came to actually buy him, I found myself a little short on money.  I had the money, but it would've left me a bit empty in the wallet so I passed him on to someone else for cost.  I have been trying to find one ever since, but keep running into the same problem:  either there's none for sale or...

Cost.  Eeek!  I'm not sure why some people think they're worth that much money, but that's their choice to try to sell them for that amount.  I will keep looking and hopefully, one day, I will find one for a price I'm willing to pay.  I'm still looking for an Acadia and the only one I've seen for sale currently has a very large price tag as well.

I did manage to snag a "web special" of sorts and thus starts my test of showcasing a model in my collection.  I don't remember all the details, but in 2014, Vintage Club members received a Stablemate named Sonny...

Sonny is on the Draft Horse mold and is gold florentine with white points.  I wasn't a member of the Vintage Club but for Christmas of either 2015 or 2016, Breyer offered some random models up on their website and I managed to get this one.  I know, I know.  I need a better background, but it's what I have to work with at the moment.  I'm surprised I still have him in my collection.  I think a couple of people offered to buy him off of me, but that was quite awhile ago, when he first became available to non-Vintage Club members.  He's cute.

There's a popular thread on Model Horse Blab where you can share models you have recently bought.  I don't check it very often.  I rarely participate other than to say how much I like a recent acquisition.  It's been awhile since I've boughten anything and I usually share it here anyway.  The thread sometimes reminds me to look for the models I am wanting, like it did today.  But someone also posted a photo of a Companion Animal that I didn't even know existed and said she got it from a website I didn't realize had Breyers on it so I went over to look and got excited when I saw there was another...until I saw it had already sold...likely to the Blabber who posted about it...

So cool!  I think Breyer needs to bring the Companion Animals back as a stand-alone purchase rather than as part of a set with a horse, but I guess I should take what I can get, huh?   I  wish I had known about the existence of this dog before and that Mercari had people that sold Breyers sooner.  Oh well.  That's not really a "Hobby Regret" since I didn't know about it's existence until today. 

Anyway back to buying models.    I've been wanting Paint Me A Pepto since he came out, but with BF being just a few weeks away, I should probably save my pennies for that, huh?  But I should also keep an eye out for one of my want list models such as Rocket, Acadia and Rialto.

Well, I guess that's it for now.  I hope everyone is doing well.  Til next time...

Breyer Test Run and Mid-Year Releases...

I know I'm a little "tardy to the party" on these, but that's okay.  I can live with that.  hahaha.

So...a couple of days ago Breyer posted a new Test Run on their website.  A vintage-inspired appaloosa Ruffian...

 Exclusively for Breyer Collector Club members.  Breyer test run models are initial decos painted up to see how a particular color might look on a particular sculpture.  Or, they may be created to test out a painting technique or new colorway.  Not all test run models are used, and they may vary over time as different painting techniques are developed and tested.  Each model has a fixed price and interested members enter a random draw for the ability to purchase the test piece.

Sculpted by Susan Carlton Sifton, Ruffian (mold #597) is certainly one of our fan favorites.  Originally created as a portrait model of the legendary racing filly of the same name, Ruffian has worn a variety of coat colors since her debut in 2006.  This model's vintage-inspired appaloosa coat bears a bit of a resemblance to another model - our BreyerFest 2011 Early Bird model, Perrault!  With her combination of splatter spots and modern shading techniques, this lovely lady is the definition of "something old, something new"

Although in great condition overall, as a true test model, the Vintage-Inspired Appaloosa Ruffian is not 100% perfect.  She does have a handful of shiny marks in her coat from being moved around over the years.  This mare is a fun and unique piece of Breyer history.  

That's annoying.  I guess by putting the wording in between the two photos after uploading the photos, it's caused the margins to mess up and I apologize.  I'm sure it probably doesn't bother anyone but me.  hahaha..

So anyway...what do I say about this model?  I'm surprised by the rather significant price jump from all the other test runs in the past, but apparently that isn't deterring many people because I have seen several say they are entering for her and others asking for extra entries.  I don't collect the mold so, higher cost aside, it's not something I'm interested in entering for a chance to win.  Hey.  At least they're including shipping and handling with it, though.  hahahah.  I don't think there have been any Test Runs that I have really liked enough to spend the money to enter, but I don't know if they'd be able to come out with one.  There's several molds I do conga, but it would have to be a pretty amazing color or something for me to want to part with such a big chunk of change, especially when I don't even like spending $200 on a model.  I'm a bit cheap, I guess.  Anyway, I wish luck to those who enter for her and I hope she goes to someone I know.

Recently Breyer posted some pictures of the mid-year releases.  Not all of them, I don't think.  Most of the photos were of CollectA models and I don't collect those so I'm not going to bother with putting them here.  hahaha.  Let me start with the non-model item.  They're called Mane Beauty Styling Heads.  They are...interesting, to say the least.  When I was much younger, I always wanted one of those Barbie styling heads.  I *may have* gotten one at some point, but I want to say it was second hand and all the stuff wasn't with it.  I don't remember.  But I think I probably got tired of it pretty quickly.

Of course, I can have a pretty short attention span so even if I had all the supplies that went with the Barbie head, I probably would've gotten bored with it just as quickly.  The Horse heads would fall to boredom, too.  I mean, there's only so many ways you can style the mane before you'd be like "now what?" you know?  But for little kids, I don't know.  Maybe really young girls might like it.  I know I saw on Blab some people saying they would've loved it as a kid and some even would now.  I think one or two said they even planned on getting one for their kids.

Next up are a couple of the models.  I will only be sharing the ones I like.  Why?  Because it's my blog.  hahahaha.  Should I show my favorite or 2nd favorite?  I don't want to call it least favorite because it really isn't "least" just not my first choice.  Yeah.  I'll share that one first.  I don't know if I'll get either one and I will explain why, but it should be pretty obvious.

First up is Checkers.  The exciting sport of Mountain Trail combines the thrill of natural obstacles fond on wilderness trails with top-notch horsemanship skills.  Owned by Mountain Trail pioneer Mark Bolender, Checkers has won the overall high point and National Champion titles in 2008, 2009, and 2010 - all while being ridden without a bridle!  Checkers is an American Quarter Horse gelding, with a registered name of Sir Rugged Chex.  His grandsire is the famous Rugged Lark!

He's a nice enough-looking model, but he looks too much like Harley D Zip...

He's not a bay like Harley and doesn't have the same facial markings and lacks one of the hind socks, but he looks enough like Harley that I probably won't get him.  I think I have mentioned before that I don't have an Idocus because I got the Ravel model first and the two were too similar-looking.

Next up is Adiah HP.  Adiah is a dressage champion with a colorful coat and is 3/4 Friesian and 1/4 Dutch Warmblood.  She is owned and bred by Hidden Promise Sport Horses and trained by Jim Koford.  In 2017, Adiah and Koford won the US Dressage Finals Grand Prix Freestyle and in 2018 they came back and won it again, in addition to the Grand Prix.  While she may be an unconventional Grand Prix dressage mount, Adiah's collection, work ethic and happy attitude have helped make her a star.

Adiah hits my interest points for models in that shes a paint and she's on the Totilas mold.  It always tickles me when they change the gender on a model.  Totilas is a stallion and Adiah is a mare so the mold had to be changed...recast maybe...to take those parts away.  hahaha.  But the problem with this model is this...

Change a few of the paint markings on Adiah and you have Enchante.  Not very original.  I haven't decided 100% that I WON'T get Adiah, but they really look a lot alike so we will have to see.

And finally, there's the new Stablemate Surprise 70th Anniversary series.

I don't know where these will be available.  My WalMarts don't seem to like to carry the current ones anymore.  I would prefer to have access to feel up the bags, but if I can't find them in person, I may have to go the Ebay route since I really only want the Indian Pony.  *maybe* the Croi Damsha, but probably only the Indian Pony.  What makes this set even more extra special is that there's a Chase horse, which is in 25% of the displays and a Super Chase horse, which will be found in only 12%.   The Chase horse is an Alborozo, judging by the silhouette, but we don't know what the two chase pieces will look like.

My blog has been getting spammed lately.  An anonymous poster has been leaving the same comment every time.  Saying the post is amazing then asking if I know my true name meaning or some such thing.  I get notifications whenever a comment is left so I delete them when they show up, but it's annoying.  I don't want to block other potential legitimate commenters by requiring a registered account, but it's starting to get annoying.

Breyerfest is just around the corner.  What, 3 weeks now?  Or is it still 4 weeks off?  I don't know.  I haven't done the math.  I submitted my lists for what models I am interested in.  If you bought multiple tickets you were allowed to either submit a master list or do individual selections.  I chose the individual models to lessen the chance of duplicates, which would be a possibility with the master list method, even with them saying they'll do their best to prevent that from happening.  I only want 4 models and only really 2 of those 4 and so thought doing the individual lists to be the better way to go.  I haven't decided if I'm going to get any of the Store Specials.  I will make that decision probably the day of.

Well, I guess that is it for now.  Something I want to ask real quick first.  If anyone is still reading this, is there any sort of topic you would like me to post about?  I try not to duplicate what other bloggers are doing, but...is there certain content you'd like to see?  I kind of like what one person does and that's to highlight one model from her collection each week.  I don't know.  Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well.  Until next time...

Uh-oh...A blog post...on a MONDAY????

That could only mean one thing...there's been a reveal.  And boy what a reveal!

We are only 6 weeks away from BreyerFest weekend and we have saved one of our favorite reveals for last: Series 1 of our new Best of BreyerFest Stablemates sets, where we've taken some of your favorite raffle prizes from previous BreyerFests and made them in miniature!  This set will be available to all BreyerFest ticket holders as part of the offerings in our Fling! Souvenir Shop.

Included in this year's set will be "Kochab", done on mold #5729 sculpted by Josine Vingerling, which has been done as a miniature North Star, the Saturday Raffle Model from our Salute to Horse Heroes in 2019.  Kochab is the second brightest star in the Little Dipper, second to Polaris - commonly known as the North Star.

Also included will be "Gale", done on mold #5602 sculpted by Kathleen Moody, which has been done as a miniature Windswept, the Saturday Raffle Model from BreyerFest's Summer Carnival in 2006.  We know this little one will sweep you off your feet!

We are also excited for you to bring home "Durham", done on mold #5607 also sculpted by Kathleen Moody, which has been done as a miniature Carlisle, the Saturday Raffle model from our British Invasion in 2012.  Just like Carlisle, Durham is also a "cathedral city" in the north of England and boasts a massive cathedral and castle that date from William the Conqueror.

As well, you'll get to bring home "Victoire", done on mold #5622 sculpted by Jane Lunger, which has been done as a miniature Que Sera Sera, the Saturday Raffle model from Vive la France in 2015.  This little one has no time to just let things be and will surely take this place as the winner of your collection!

And last, but certainly not least, we are pleased to round out this series with "Viaje", done on mold #5721 also sculpted by Jane Luger, as a miniature Viajero, the Saturday Raffle model from BreyerFest's Global Gallop in 2008.  This little traveler can't wait to find his place on your shelf.

Happy Monday!

What a great line-up.  I only actively conga the first one, Kochab, but I like the colors and markings of all the others, especially Gale and Victoire.  If I am able to, I will probably buy the set.  The one I like least is probably Durham.  The color and pattern just kind of bug me.  Maybe it will look better in person, eh?

Well, I guess that's it for now.  I would talk about the current affairs going on, but I don't want to give any additional "media" to the domestic terrorists that are destroying cities all over the country, all in the name of justice, but justice isn't about looting and burning things down.

So, until next time...