Meet Honeybunch -- Palomino for Christmas

Oh no! Two blog posts in one day! Yes, I could've added to the other one I posted, but it was pretty lengthy to begin with so I decided not to add to that length and just do a new post for this model. Make holiday wishes come true for yourself or someone special with Honeybunch - the 2020 Palimino for Christmas. She comes with a striking palomino coat, complete with a lightly pearled mane, tail and leg feathering that make her appear to carry the sfot shimmer of a winter's frost. Wrap her in her very own pastel plaid and pink-trimmed blanket. Complete with her own gift box, this year's Pony for Christmas makes a very special gift.

I like the gift box. Have they always done a "Pony for Christmas"? I don't remember seeing them before. She's cute and a decent price, but I won't get her. I don't collect this mold and with space at a premium, I can't really buy a one-off I'm not totally in love with. How about you? Will you be buying Honeybunch?

New Horses Coming Up...

 Yeah, I know.  I'm a bit behind the times on these.  But if you have been reading my blog for any amount of time you will know I don't just "announce" new models, but give my impressions as well and that's what I'll do here.  I would have blogged about them sooner, but someone once suggested to establish a posting schedule and stick with it and I had decided Wednesday was the day.  Yeah, I know I have posted on other days since deciding that, but...well...I get lazy.  hahahaha.

So, let's see...I got an email from Breyer about renewing my Collector Club membership.  Well, not just mine, but everyone's since they changed it to having to have an active membership during a certain time frame in order to be eligible for special models.  There are now two levels of CC membership.  Regular and Deluxe with a pretty good-sized gap in price points.  Regular is $25 and Deluxe is $55.  With the Deluxe, you get an exclusive Stablemate model and the one for 2021 is a glossy mini Alborozo:

Alby is a popular mold both in Traditional and SM size so people are going nuts over this one.  It's a duplicate of the record-breaking Breyerfest Auction piece from 2019.  He's pretty, but I don't know if he's worth the extra $30 for the Deluxe club when that is the only extra you get.  I don't know what else I would like for that $30, but... Regardless if which level you choose to join, you will have a chance to buy two traditional sized models at two different times of the year.  The first one has already been revealed and it's a glossy black NSH...

I don't collect the mold and he doesn't really do anything for me so I won't be buying him, but I've seen a lot of people saying how much they're looking forward to getting him.

Also revealed is the last Stablemate Club model for 2020 and one for 2021.  I don't know if it's the first one that will be released or if it will be released sometime during the year, but I am going to have to get both of them.  Cassidy is the one that will be released in December and hopefully I'll be able to find one for sale on the secondary...

She's cute.  I *think* she's a new mold?  I am not sure.  Then the one they revealed for 2021 is a neat-looking loose-mane clydesdale that may have sucked me into joining the SMC again...

Someone mentioned it looks like "he's" missing the left eye and I have to kind of agree.  It looks quite empty.  Hopefully it looks better in person.  I haven't been in the club for two years, I think it is, and have just been buying the ones I wanted on Ebay or MH$P.  It's a neat photo background they used here, but I think the barn probably isn't Stablemate scale, though.

Over the weekend there was supposed to be a Breyer Fun Day at participating dealers, but, of course, they changed it to a virtual event (*grumble grumble*) even though some places were going to actually have in-store events.  Breyer posted tutorials for things on YouTube and a couple of them looked neat.  I didn't do any of them, but they still looked neat.  One was a Stablemate Desktop Diorama.   You use a lamp them build the base around it and I don't have room for it, plus it wouldn't look anywhere near as good.  I don't have the patience for trying to make it look that good...

The models they used are obviously customs, possibly because one of the tutorials was for painting dapples and that grey horse kind of looks like the one they did, but I could be wrong.  It could just be similar.  But anyway, if I tried to do the diorama, it would probably be condemned.  By who, I don't know.  Hahahaha.  Another tutorial they did was on painting a Sabino pattern on a horse and the example used looks incredible.  I have a hard time believing it's not an OF, but I know there's talented people out there who are capable of this sort of paint job.  It is done by Kristen Taylor and while I don't collect customs, I would have no problem owning this one...

Just look at it!  Gorgeous!

I think that is all I had to share about models.  I feel like I am forgetting something, though, but I don't know what.  So I guess I'll move on.

A few blogs back I mentioned my disappointment in that they won't be releasing a Martin Brody doll from Jaws.  Something about issues with licensing.  Amazon still had it on their website with a March release, but now it's saying they don't know if or when it will be in stock, which is another disappointment.  The Quint doll and other Jaws related stuff are still being released so the licensing is obviously doesn't have to do with the move as a whole.  I asked my brother what he thought it could be and before I could even finish my sentence he said it it because the person, or in this case their estate, said No.  I can appreciate that, but I don't understand why, unless they decided they wanted more money.  The doll was tastefully done and looks a lot like Roy Scheider.  Hopefully they'll get it figured out and the doll will be released sometime in the near future.  Obviously his estate had agreed to it initially or NECO wouldn't have produced the doll, or the proto-type at least, and offered it for sale.  Makes me wonder, now, if maybe the Richard Simmons doll isn't going to happen either.  It was supposed to be released in October and there's been no updates and October is almost over.  I wasn't going to buy one anyway, but that's besides the point.

So, last month I went to Las Vegas for a quick overnight.  I drove up on Sunday and came back Monday.  It's only the second time I've driven there and the drive made me nervous.  Well, the THOUGHT of the drive did, but the drive itself wasn't too bad and I feel it's something I could do more often, but I'm not able to get away from home to go more often so there is that.  I hadn't been to Las Vegas since 2015 and it's obviously a little different right now.  It felt different, too.  I can't quite put my finger on what it was.  Not the masks and lack of people because there were plenty of people.  I stayed at the Mirage and ended up with a suite.  I asked if the "Nick Pappageorgio Suite" was available and the desk agent chuckled.  He said it wasn't and I asked if they got a lot of people asking for it and he said there's been a few.  Anyway, the suite was HUGE.  1,200 some odd square feet.  I was on the 26th floor, so only 2 floors from the very top and I had to use a certain elevator to get to the top floors and my card key to access them so I felt special in that way.  Anyway, I had asked if it had a view of the volcano because I didn't want to pay for the upgrade if I didn't have a view of the volcano.  The first one he offered didn't and I said then I wanted a room with a view of the volcano and he said let him see what he could do.  The *2nd room* he offered, he assured me had a view of the volcano, so I paid the upgrade fee, which really wasn't that much.  I was in the mood to spoil myself a little.  So, I got my key and went up to my room and decided to take a nap.  I had already been up and down the strip and combined with the 5 hour drive, I was a little tired.  I should have looked out the window to make sure I had the view I wanted, but I didn't.  I slept for a couple of hours then went across the street to Denny's to get dinner.  At 8pm the first volcano show was set to start so I went to the window and saw...the Rio.  Uhm...huh?  That's not on the strip side.  Out another window, I saw Caesar's Palace.  But no volcano.  I was very disappointed.  My original room assignment was for a volcano view.  I should have stuck with that, but the suite really was nice.  Biiiiiiiig.  And I wanted to treat myself.  But I felt mislead.  If I had known I wouldn't have a view of the volcano, I wouldn't have spent the extra money for the upgrade.  In the end, I submitted a complaint to the Mirage and they refunded my Resort Fee charge, which was almost half of the upgrade fee.  Because I didn't look at the view right away and rectify the problem, I felt that was an acceptable resolution.  I never did get to see the volcano erupt, though.  Another complaint about my room view was that because I was near the top of the building, there was the "signage" for the Beatles' Cirque show Love and so instead of a "clear" view, all I saw were little tiny circles.  Not exactly conducive to taking pictures or even just looking out the windows and enjoying the view...

I will be going back in April, for my birthday.  Even though the September trip was supposed to be my birthday trip for my 50th, I want to go back for a "re-do".  As I was leaving on Monday to go back home, there were things I realized I hadn't done or taken pictures of that I wanted to.  I never made it to an ABC Shop.  That was mostly because of broken elevators.  Because I have arthritis in my right hip and my left knee has no cartilage in it, I had rented an electric scooter to tool around the strip on.  Thank goodness for those things!  I was able to get from the Mirage down to New York New York, across the street to MGM and back up to the Mirage.  I wouldn't have been able to do that on foot.  Anyway, a couple of broken elevators kept me from being able to do everything I wanted because it would've meant having to go to the next pedestrian bridge up, cross LV Blvd then backtrack.  I had wanted to ride the High Roller Observation Wheel, but wasn't able to because it was on the side of the road with the broken elevators.  So I will go back in April.  I did get to have a couple of adult beverages at Fat Tuesday, though.  The bars weren't open yet, unless they served food, so this particular location got around it by making it required to buy a bag of chips for $1.00, which I was fine with.  I got a Pina Colada and a Strawberry Daiquiri.  Yum.  I want to say that the majority of the people I encountered while out on the strip in the scooter were super nice and helpful.  When I encountered a broken elevator at Aria, a couple told me I could get down to the street level by using the elevator inside the Crystals Shops then proceeded to show me where to go.  Others held open elevator doors for me.  The only "issue" I encountered was outside M&Ms World.  They only allow so many people inside the store at a time so there's often a line outside and people gathered, waiting to get in.  Well, the line isn't always very well-defined and people can be a bit scattered, just kind of hanging around.  There were a bunch of people there when I was trying to get through and I just kept repeating "Just trying to get through.  Just trying to get through." so they didn't think I was trying to cut in line or anything.  There's been a lot of bad publicity about people on scooters on the Strip lately and I was trying very hard to be polite and not be associated with that type.  I always am when I'm on a scooter.  I don't try to force my way through or anything.  But like I said, there's people who rent scooters and go zipping all over the place and have been known to run into people.

On Monday, I slept in.  Showered.  Then headed back home.  Overall, it was a good trip.  I did get to see two fountain shows at the Bellagio, though.  And I am thinking of staying at the Bellagio on my next trip.  I have stayed there before and the bed was super comfortable.  The one at the Mirage was kind of hard and I didn't sleep well.  Anyway, here's a couple of photos from the fountain show.  I just love the first photo.  I've had this bear for 42 years and take him on all trips with me.  I am actually using this photo as the background imagine on my work computer because it just makes me so happy to see it.

The fountain show at Bellagio has long been one of my favorite things to see when in Las Vegas.  I just love the power of it.  I got to see two shows because I was there at 12pm when the first one started, which is always a patriotic song, and then they did another one right afterwards.  The sound of the water jets is really cool, in my opinion.  The last couple of times I was in Las Vegas I wasn't able to see the fountain show so it was great to see it again!

Okay.  Well, if you are still reading...thank you!  lol.  I hope you are all doing well and til next time!

Sassy ---- Breyer Collector Club Exclusive

A feisty gal who lives up to her name, Sassy is the perfect mare to add to your herd this fall!  This appaloosa Sport Horse has a fantastic varnish chestnut appaloosa coat that is reminiscent of the red and brown hues of the autumn leaves.  To finish off her look, this lively is topped with a high gloss finish.

 Hmmm...what do I have to say about her?  It's not a mold I actively conga, although I do have a couple (3 or 4?) in my collection.  I do like the semi-leopard appaloosa pattern, but the dark front that morphs into the lighter body kind of looks a bit off to me.  The price is nice, that's for sure.  Am I going to buy one?  Maybe.  I think I will take a couple of days to think about it. What do you think about her?

She seems to be pretty popular from what I've seen on Blab.  Nobody is saying they aren't ordering it because they don't like her, but rather because they don't have the money at the moment.  Only a couple of people have said they like that she's glossy.  That part has no bearing on whether or not I'd buy her, although I know it does influence others.

For the last couple of months I've been thinking of having a photo show.  Just one for fun, no big pressure.  But it seems like the "market" is being saturated with photo shows and some with some fancy prizes so I think I'm going to shelve the idea.  I remember having photo shows back in the 1990s where people would mail in their photos.  Those were fun.  I would like to have a mail-in show so I could be drowning in photos of model horses, but when the show was over I would have to get to the post office to mail all the photos back to their respective owners.  Online would probably be easier, but I can't compete with Anne Fields, Mares In Black, MEPSA.  They're all getting great prizes donated.  Who would want to waste time with a fun show with okay prizes?  I know I'm sounding whiney and I don't mean to, but it's a bit disheartening, for lack of a better word, when you have no place in the hobby.  Nobody knows who you are.  I started a thread on Blab asking for ideas on how to advertise and also to feel out the interest and I got ONE response.  <sigh>

Okay.  I'm done feeling sorry for myself.  hahahaha.  I hope everyone is doing well.  I know I said I was going to be better about blogging, but there hasn't been much going on and there's only so many times I can post about Jake the Farrier and Family.  Til next time!

Introducing Tamu & Chai

The Third Edition in the Breyer Wild Animal Series.
For this special Wild Animal Series set, artist Lauren Hoeffer creatively reimagined two beloved Breyer foals as a young bongo and tapir!

Considered the most primitive large mammal in the world, the tapir is born with spots and stripes that act as natural camouflage against the jungle floor while mom forages.  Chair features a shaded brown coat with tan stripes.

Much like the tapir, forest-dwelling bongos also have stripes for camouflage, but their stripes remain for their whole life.  Tamu has a white basecoat that's shaded the bongo's trademark reddish-brown hue, and completed with white stripes and markings.  Both have "Wild Animal Series, Limited Edition" on their belly. 

Limited to just 300 pieces, Tamu & Chai are priced at $150.00 for the set, including free domestic group shipping.

Bongo:

Young Tapir:

Color-wise, an adult tapir looks quite a bit of different from a baby, but a bongo doesn't.

Anyway, when I first saw the set, I thought it was a mother and baby and wondered why they'd be using two different species, but then I realized it was two foals, just quite a bit of size difference.  The models are definitely interesting-looking, but $150 for a  pair of foals?  I don't think so.  I won't be entering for them.  Plus, I don't have any of the other models from the Wild Animal Series.  I do give Breyer an "A" for using animals many people may not have heard of before rather than just the obvious of big cats.

Well, that's it for now.  I know this was short, but...<shrugs>  hahaha.  Til next time!

 

 

Well, dang it!

 Back in late July / Early August I pre-ordered an 8" Chief Brody doll from the movie Jaws.  I wasn't due out until September, but you didn't pay for it until it shipped.  I am big fan of the movie Jaws and when I saw the doll, I just KNEW I had to have it!

Look at all the fun accessories he comes with!  There's also a Quint doll, but who cares about that?  lol.  So, fast forward to either Sunday or Monday and I get a cancellation notice from the store where I'd ordered him from.  They said that due to some sort of licensing issues, they weren't going to be able sell him.  Huh?  Why didn't they have that all sorted out before offering him for pre-sale?  I don't get it.  Amazon has him for pre-sale, but it says it won't be in stock until March 2021.  Needless to say, I am super disappointed.  But what can I do?  Maybe the toy company didn't want to pay the licensing fees in order to be able to sell it...?  Who knows the reason behind it?  They're advertising other Jaws products on their website...I just don't know.

There's another doll that I won't buy because it's just too goofy, but I haven't shared it before.  It's Richard Simmons...

It's funny that there's two different heads for him, but both are kind of over the top.  Would this be Flamboyant Uncle Rick?  hahaha.  I like Richard Simmons, though.  I grew up watching his infomercials for his different diet programs.  He always seemed so genuine in his desire to help people.  It crushed me to see some of the comments people made when he took a step back from the spotlight a few years.  Some people even speculated that he was being held captive in his house by a housekeeper or something and that's why nobody saw him anymore.  But come on.  The guy spent his entire life helping people and he deserved a break.  Unfortunately, other than an appearance to show he wasn't being held hostage, nothing has been said about him.  I hope he's doing well.

On Saturday I have to go get my oil changed and windshield wipers replaced for my trip to Las Vegas on Sunday.  After that I have to drive to the closest Tractor Supply Co to pick up my Eclipse and a surprise.  hahaha.  The closest TSC is about 20 minutes or so away.  I'm looking forward to getting Eclipse.  A lot of people on Blab had their orders canceled, but it looked like the ones who did were picking them up at the store and the people whose orders weren't getting cancelled had done Ship To Store.  I didn't take a poll or anything so I don't know if that's the case, but there were people using the word "Pick up" and others used "Ship".

Well, not much else is going on right now so I guess I will go.  I hope everyone is doing well.  Til next time!

Jake the Farrier's Family Grows...

In my last blog, I mentioned that Jake the Farrier and his cousin Cassie welcomed their Eccentric Uncle Bob into their home.  Well, apparently he brought Cassie's brother Adam with him and now there's 4 people living in Jake the Farrier's tiny house with all his dogs and Cassie's cats.  It's really quite a menagerie.

Some of you may be wondering what makes Uncle Bob so eccentric.  Well, he runs around talking about Happy Little Trees and Puffy White Clouds and Serene Little Bushes and Little Babbling Brooks.  He's harmless, really.  He was  a Drill Sargent for many years and when he left the military he swore he'd never raise his voice again.  And now he speaks with a very soothing voice.  Eccentric Uncle Bob likes to paints and he's really quite talented at it.

Adam is Cassie's older brother by two years.  They are quite close, which is why he decided to move with Eccentric Uncle Bob.

Unlike his sister Cassie, who didn't join the "horse game" until an adult, Adam has always considered himself a horse person.  He has competed in rodeos at the high school level and has had some success.  Not much, but some.  He isn't sure what he wants to do right now, though, and hopes to figure it out one of these days.

So, how are all these people connected?  Well, Cassie is Jake the Farrier's cousin.  And Adam is Cassie's brother so that makes Adam, Jake the Farrier's cousin as well.  But where does Eccentric Uncle Bob come in?  Is he Jake the Farrier's dad?  Cassie and Adam's?  The answer is, none of the above.  Jake the Farrier grew up raised by his mom, whose brother is Eccentric Uncle Bob, whose brother is Cassie and Adam's dad.  Confused yet?  hahahaha.

Eccentric Uncle Bob doesn't know much about horses, but he wants to learn.  He even tried tacking up one of Cassie's horses...

Given her own limited experience with horses, though, she probably wasn't the best person to help him. (I need a better background hahaha).  Don't worry.  No horses were injured in the attempted saddling of  "Freddie” (barn name for Bohemian Rhapsody).

Well, Tractor Supply Company finally got in some of their mid-year releases on their website and there's a sale going on, so I promptly bought Eclipse.  EEEK!

I say "eek" because I seem to be spending a lot of money lately.  And on nothing of any real importance either.  hahaha.  But look at him.  And at a great price for a traditional sized model.  Of course, I couldn't just get one thing so I ordered something else, too.  And I selected "ship to store" because none of the TSCs in my county have them in stock yet and the closest one is too far away to go check on a regular basis.  Plus, the sale price.  The website doesn't say when it will be shipped, though, so I have to wait for an email telling me when I can go pick him up.

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

Tractor Supply Horses...

Well, the new models for TSC have been sort of revealed.  Someone posted a photo on Facebook, possibly from a catalog or online ordering system, onto Facebook and then someone on Blab posted a picture.  It's not a very good picture, but that's okay.  I'll still share it.

I know it's difficult to see much, but from what I can see, I will definitely be getting the Eclipse model as I am conga-ing the Emerson mold and I like paints.  I don't know if he's a black and white paint, though, or a brown and white.  I imagine there will be at least one Stablemate Surprise I will have to have and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need the Dog and Doghouse set.  I will have to wait on any other until I can see a better picture, which will hopefully be soon.  Not that I'm in any big hurry to spend money.  hahahaha.

Not much has been going on in my Breyer world.  I know I've been a bit absent lately, but the Powers That Be at work have to decided Blogger poses a risk to our system so while I can open the main page, I can't read any posts on other blogs other than a few lines and I can't even read my own blog.  I don't know why suddenly they've decided it poses a threat.  I'm able to watch YouTube and visit a lot of other websites, but...I don't know.  I am hoping the photo of the TSC horses will show up.  If it doesn't then I will have to set up my laptop anytime I want to blog or just learn to live with the shortcomings of my iPad mini.

The other day I got a nice PIF in the mail.  A few weeks ago I had decided to make some halters for a few of my models.  I haven't done it in awhile, but decided it might be "fun" to do it again so I went to Rio Rondo and ordered the supplies I would need.  But then a couple of days later I realized I had forgotten to order buckles.  Grrrr.  So I was going to place another order, but the shipping would have cost more than a sheet of buckles.  Really?  So I posted on Blab in the PIF thread asking if anyone had any spares they weren't using.  I said I only needed a few and the only requirement was that they had to be Traditional size.  I didn't think anyone would actually send me any, but you never know until you ask.  Well, last week I got an envelope in the mail and in it was a card and a sheet of bits and buckles in various sizes!

YAY!  I was quite happy, to say the least.  Of course, now it means I have to actually MAKE the halters.  hahaha.

In some Jake the Farrier news...another family member has come to live with him and his cousin Cassie.  It's their eccentric uncle Bob.  I'm not ready to reveal him yet, though, so be sure to check back.

I hope everyone is doing well.  I will try not to be gone so long next time.  Take care and I'll talk to you later!