I was online at 12:50 today, with a computer and a phone logged in to my two Breyer accounts.  I was patient and lucky, and managed to get a pair of the Christmas Clydesdales on each account.  They sold out in under ten minutes for the Collectors Club-only early release.  No idea if Breyer kept some back for a general release later or not. 

Aren't they shiny?!?!  I'm a little surprised that there's blue instead of green - the usual colors would be silver & gold, and red & green.  I guess they're going with blue & silver as one pair, red & gold as the other. 

And yes, I have two Collectors Club accounts.  I pay for them both.  I got four Christmas Clydes, I'll be keeping all four (or swapping to get one of each color), and I'm not going to be sorry or ashamed that I have two accounts.  Breyer knows there are households with more than one account.  As long as each account is paid for, what does it matter? 

Julius, and adventures with shipping

 Julius is here finally, and looks amazing.  

His journey was interesting.  First delivery date was Friday the 12th.  So I shoveled a path for the UPS driver.  By 9:00, UPS admitted he wouldn't make it.  New date - the 16th.  On the morning of the 15th, he was out for delivery.  But then it snowed, so he got bumped back to the 16th.  Musical delivery dates. 

And the adventures continue.  Last week, I paid for both SMC Atticuses (Attici?), and two Pocket Box ridealongs on each order.  Yesterday, I got the shipping notices and tracking numbers.  Five tracking numbers altogether.  Right now, three will be delivered tomorrow, one the day after that, and one is "check back later" status.  I'm thinking one order is in 3 boxes/envelopes, and if Breyer's shipper really shipped a Stablemate and 2 Pocket Boxes in three separate packages, then (a) they really need to have a talk with the shipper and (b) they lost a lot of money on that $5.95 shipping fee. 

Prince has arrived

 The Deluxe Collector Club SM finally arrived yesterday.  I got lucky, my box wasn't smashed like many of them were (seriously, Breyer, go back to those sturdy brown boxes, not these flimsy things). 

He's not as yellow as he looks in this picture, and I need to get a picture of him with my vintage palomino Fighting Stallions.  And the charcoal pairs, too. 

Incoming horses

 Well, I've got an unfulfilled order number on my Breyer account now - my Deluxe CC "Prince" will be here someday soon.  Still no updates on the Vintage Club SM, which I think is a gold Northern Dancer this year, meant to be a mini Secretariat.

Shelves and more shelves

 The stupid pandemic has put the squash on my usual weekly round of thrift stores and estate sales, but the local consignment auction is all online, and I've had a bit of luck there.  Last week, it was a trio of DVD/CD/media shelves (made by Sauder, circa 1996).  About 3.5 feet high, just under a foot wide, 6 inches deep.  Perfect for SMs, along with the Schleich/Safari/CollectA brigade.

These models are black inside, although at least one of mine is woodgrain interior.  Since the black turns them into a black hole, I lined them partially with white paper, from an end-roll of statement paper from Husband's work.  The shelves got a lining of assorted scrapbook paper in a variety of patterns.  (To paraphrase Adam Savage - This is the rainy day you were saving that thing for!).  

 

I didn't line both sides with paper, because the shelves are a tight fit and wedging them in makes the paper wrinkle.  So, white on the back and one side it is. And it does make a difference, as you can see.

At the spacing for SM sizes, I could fit at least two more shelves into each unit, but Sauder doesn't seem to sell replacement shelves, or at least won't tell me how much they cost without my providing a lot number that I don't have.  So, for now, I'm on the lookout for 1/2-inch plywood or board of some kind.  Michaels may have something close, but they seem to be closed temporarily at t he moment (probably because of the stupid pandemic). 

First horse of 2021

 The first horse (okay, first in-hand, not first paid-for) is here.  Columbia's three Walmarts each seemed to only get 2 boxes of the Series 3 unicorns, and I never found the purple Warmblood, so I paid $25 for one on Facebook.  And he arrived early, too!  The silver on one hoof is a little sloppy, but that's an easy fix if I want to touch it up - it's not like he'll be a show horse anyway.

Now he needs an appropriately grapey name.

The latest round of newbies

 My two Breyer orders were delivered last week.  

 

The bonus horse from the Vintage Club, Barrington, is really nice.  My first on the mold.  

Honeybunch, a "pony for Christmas" - comes with a nice gift box and a cute blanket.  Also my first on the mold, and I was waiting for something other than a solid dark color. 

Christoff, sort of a little brother for St. Moritz.  Lovely, if a tiny bit tippy. 

And five Anniversary SMs, to get one order up to the free-shipping limit.  No chase, of course, and the Smart Chic won't stand on his own.  But, another charcoal Fighter, an IMC, and a pair of Emmas.

Incoming Stablemates

 The next horse in the Stablemate Club is on the way - a glossy bay G1 Arabian Stallion called Sultan.  I'm doing a slight experiment with mine - ordered one alone, one with a ride-along - to see if my idea that ride-alongs slow things down in the shipping warehouse might be right.  

And Tractor Supply had the paint-your-own suncatcher SMs on sale, so I ordered 5 for in-store pickup.  Ended up with 3 Magnolias, a Warmblood, and a Walking TB. 

Virtual Breyerfest Day 1

Well, Day 1 of Virtual Breyerfest was exciting and frustrating.  As expected, there were technical problems.  The SR Tent times were running about 3 hours behind, so my 3:00 ET slot ended up being available sometime between 4:30 and 6 (when I got back from the grocery pickup run).  For the Tent horses, I ended up with Brighid and Beltane, the new mare and foal set, and Thorn, the appaloosa Trakehner who's a 50/50 split between matte and glossy.  I think both of those were high on my preferences.  I like the old Trak mold, and while I would love a Georg, I have some worries that Breyer will be able to pull off the resist dappling and mottling well.  Can't wait to see who the Slainte Surprise mold is. 

Just before I left, I finally managed to refresh the Fling store and find some things in stock.  Shock!  First was an attempt to get Greenman, Eire, and Benelli - Benelli sold out while Paypal was processing, but I still got my green ponies.  Then when I went back to the store, Benelli was still in my cart, and the SM set and Mackenzie the plush were in stock, so I tried another purchase.  That ended up with only Mackenzie still available.  But, that's 3 of the 5 I wanted taken care of, with two days left to shop.  And, since Breyer's holding everything to combine shipping, it doesn't matter if I have to buy one thing at a time. 

Still trying to get Benelli and the SM set (even though I'd be reselling at least the Arabian), but Breyer's offering pre-orders of glossy Benelli, Cheesecake, and Topgun as an apology for the technical glitches.  So, I could just get a glossy Benelli and stop trying to score a matte one. 

For the rest of Breyerfest, I watched some videos.  There's a video of last year's performace of the RCMP Musical Ride.  Watched part of it last night, and am in awe of their ability to do all that riding at a sitting trot, with a double-bridle's worth of reins in one hand.  Some of them were smiling pretty hard, too.  Seeing the Ride in person is on my bucket list.

Then there are all the workshop and how-to videos.  So far, I've watched 2 on Arabian halter making, one on paint matching for touchups, and one on making braided reins.  the color matching was helpful, but I really need to know if there's a way to match the hooves without an airbrush.  The black Stretch Morgan is having hoof issues, thanks to someone with glitter nail polish somewhere in his past. 

Shopping haul so far

• Brighid & Beltane
• Thorn
• Eire
• Greenman
• Mackenzie

Still chugging away

The pandemic project continues.  Working on the G1 horses now.  Part of this is getting the inventory tidied up - for example, standardizing all the mold names.  I've got the same mold down as, for example, G1 Morgan Stallion, SM Morgan Stallion, and SM OM Morgan Stallion.  I'm starting to realize, I might need a new column, to mark the SMs as to whether they're old or new plastic.

And then there are the twins, and look-alikes.

For example, this foal could be one of three options.  Or two options, depending on how you look at it.  There was a Target exclusive of this foal and the Cantering Warmblood.  That pair, identical, was released later as a regular run under a different number.  And then the foal or one identical to it came in a play set. 

And that is why I need to keep up with tagging all the horses as I buy them. 

Where does the time go?

So apparently that was the quarantine gap in the blog. 

I do have a hobby project I'm working on during the Great Exile (sounds better than "lockdown").  One of the local estate sales is doing online sales during the lockdown, and I found a pretty nice shelf unit.  At $50, it was the price of one on Amazon that was about 1/3 of the size. So, with appropriate personal distancing, we went to pick it up.  Had to take it apart to get it in the car, though. It's going to be a big SM unit.  Right now, it's going to hld the G2 and G3 horses.  G1, G4, and G5 are going in the three small ones I already have.  And there will be further weeding, to go along with the 70+ I culled earlier this spring (mostly from blind bags). 

So, for the past week, I've been going through the SMs and the spreadsheet.  Everyone gets a jewelry tag with their number, and I'm marking the spreadsheet so I know which ones I've tagged and confirmed the existence of.  There's still a pretty big pile of SMs lurking somewhere in a closet though.  This is also making me wish Breyer would stop releasing the same horse under different numbers.  I've also got a notion to swear off buying some of the tippier molds.  Certain horses, even with wax, can't seem to stay upright.  The G2 TB, G3 Belgian, and the G5 Andalusian, for example.  And most of the G2 foals. 

This shows why Breyer needs to lay off the Clyde-icorn.  This is after thinning out about a dozen duplicates.  (Also, why I need to stop buying blind bags by mail.)

NaMoPaiMo 2020 - the finished horse

My first year of the National Model Painting Month:

NaMoPaiMo and nail polish horses

Friend Tracy encouraged me to sign up for the National Model Painting Month, so I did, with no real plans.  Stopped in at Becky's Breyers, and Tracy was there painting, so I, on a whim, bought one of the paint-your-own SMs and had a go.  He was started as a buckskin, but that didn't happen. 

Not bad for my first realistic-colored custom, done with craft acrylics.  The shading on the face could be better, but matching the paint colors is an issue.  I think he might look better glossy. 

Then I did a nail-polish pony for my niece, who is lobbying to appropriate all my old Breyers in Mom & Dad's basement.  It's intended to look a  bit like Minnie Mouse. 

Pink and purple are nail polish, the white dots are craft acrylic.  I meant to clearcoat her, but was out of gloss. 

New Unicorns, and Fairfax

The local Breyer dealer got some of the new 2020 horses two weeks ago.  I meant to go last week and pick up a few, but we had weather.  So I was going to go Wednesday of this week, until I saw the forecast (more weather on Wednesday).  Instead, I went today.  Came home with Fairfax, the new Classic Morgan, and the 3 new Unicorn SM mystery foal sets.  I also want High Tide and the anniversary Saddlebred and Fighting Stallion, but didn't get those today.  Becky didn't get many High Tides, the one Saddlebred had iffy masking, and the Fighter, as it turns out, has overspray speckles around the pinto spots, which I don't care for, so I'll wait for a more subtle one. 

But.  Fairfax is a really nice mold, he reminds me of the UVM Yesteryear resin.  The ones I saw today had iffy paint work on the mane, but I bought the best of the three anyway.  Can't wait to see some of the customs that people do.  More affordable than another Yesteryear.  The new unicorns are good, and at least a few more molds have been 'corned - the cantering WB and Prancing Morgan.  The new foals are great - I like the cantering one the best.  The other one (prancing?) is nice too, but the front legs look too long in comparison to the hind legs. 

And I paid for both Klauses and Trailblazer, so hopefully they'll be here soon. 

Curio #2, and SM shelves

Recent news:  Found a new curio cabinet at my favorite local thrift store.  Only $90.  I waited 20 minutes to see if my husband could get to the store (he works next door) and take a look, then decided the heck with that, and bought it.  So that's what I used my birthday money on this year.  It's really nice, although I'm not crazy about the light placement. 

 

And at Goodwill, found a media shelf that will do great for SMs, only $6.  Had to do a little tweaking, since this one has a black interior.  But, putting white paper on the back (a very tricky thing, getting it flat and getting the shelves in without wrinkling it), and scrapbook paper on the shelves, made a big difference in visibility.  

On the other hand, the tippy models can't go in this one - I can't wax them to the paper, since it's not attached to the shelves.  So, Friesians, the pawing Lusitano, and a couple others will have to go in the other shelf, so I can wax their tippy little dominoing selves down. 

 Shelf with scrapbook paper

 Shelf with white paper behind.

Finished adjustments.  Just need to rearrange and fill it up. 

Irises

Which I keep wanting to type as "Irish" - so I'll just have to name my bay Iris something with Irish in it.

I was going to try to swap my silver bay for the deco Iris, but after I looked at her for a few minutes, I sort of fell in love with her.  So. After some lurking and searching on eBay, MHSP, and a few Facebook groups, I managed to score this one at a tolerable-to-me price ($60 PPD).

And I LOVE this color. 

The SM Club Priscilla is also here, and other than being tippy as heck, is gorgeous.

 

It's been a lucky year for me with Stablemates.  Besides getting my two most-wanted Irises, I finally found the blue Alborozo unicorn at Tractor Supply (and then found two more), after months of searching every Cracker Barrel and farm store around, and ordering 9 blind bags from Breyer (last count - 7 Clydesdales, 2 Magnolias).  Tractor Supply also had 4 Spirit bags, and I found the chase Mustang in one of those.

 

Then, Breyer had a "buy one, get one free" sale on blind bags for Friendship Day, so I ordered a dozen of the series with the silver Alby.  I got one or two duplicates, guessed 11 out of 12 correctly when feeling the bags, and actually got a silver Alby!!  Found three of the rainbow Magnolia unicorns, and swapped one for a Sarge, and after buying 8 chestnut ASB mares, found a pair with the flaxen manes. Walmart also had two more pink Icelandics, and I grabbed a random Mini Whinnie which turned out to be the green dappled chase piece.

 

(I thought Sarge was blue.  Turns out he's green!)

 

And, icing on the cake, Breyer did another round of Stablemate Club grab bags.  I have no willpower, so I ordered a pair.  After seeing someone else get Coco and Wolfgang, the pair I got with the last grab bag, I figured I'd get a third set of those.  Nope, my luck was good, and I got Kohana and Fylkir!  And, it was the roan Appy Fylkir, the one I wanted most - he matches my roan Appy Scotty. 

Then there were the Spooky Surprises. Ordered four, managed to get all 3, and sold my duplicate mini Ichabod to someone who needed one.

However.  I'm now overrun with extra Stablemates, and need to do something with them all.  The Alby conga is almost complete - I don't have the Fairytale Club Alby, but I think I've got all the others.

SM Club Iris

The latest horse from the Stablemate Club arrived today.  Made it a day early, since UPS brought it instead of handing off to the USPS. This one is the Gamblers' Choice horse - the Highland Pony in either pinto, silver bay, cremello Appy, or blue and gold Deco.

I was hoping for the Deco, since I've got a collection of blue horses.  Second choice was the cremello, since I've got the Pony in roan pinto and silver dapple/dark palomino already.  So, which one did I get?  The silver bay, of course. 

Don't get me wrong, she's drop dead gorgeous.  But, that Deco!!  If it were anything but the Gamblers' Choice, I'd just buy a Deco and keep both.  But, seeing what the other GC horses are selling for, not really an option.  Off to the swap group on Facebook I go. 

Estate Sale (August 2)

One of the local estate-sale companies posted some pics with Breyers for a recent sale, so of course I went.  Hauled the not-a-morning-person kiddo out to go with me.  Another local collector wasn't going, but asked me to pick up a couple for her if the prices were right.  And they were. 

I picked up the black wolf, cougar, Custom kit horse, and Spirit for Tracy.  Wolf and Cougar were a screaming deal at $2 each.

The Duchess, Frolic Foal, and SMs are mine.  Most of what the owner had was from the Wild Mustangs Walmart sets, so lots of Mesteno series molds, which I'm not a fan of.  I didn't have the Duchess, though, and she's almost mint.  The SMs were the real score for me, especially this one.

Only $1, he was only released for a couple of years with the Horse Crazy card game.  Missing half his off-side ear, but still fine for photo showing, if I watch the angles. 

An Estate Sale Story

The area is up to 3, I think, people who hold estate sales, and they all put pictures online, and I try to remember to check them out weekly.  Last week, one of them had a couple of Marx horses in the ad (not a big draw for me), but also the Gabriel jointed Silver and Lone Ranger.  I have, or used to have (I assume I still have him somewhere) a Silver, but thought I'd go see if the Lone R
anger doll was cheap enough to come home with me. 

Unfortunately, not so much. 

Somehow, the sale runners had mixed and matched the sets, in spite of doing enough research to know that the dolls and horses were from Gabriel, but that the wagons were by Marx.  The wagons actually go with the Marx horses on the other side.  Not to mention, Silver never struck me as a wagon-pulling sort of horse.  The Lone Ranger set was $175, the Butch Cavendish set (which I'd never heard of) was $150.  And the Marx horses were $15 each.  So, didn't buy those.  I didn't even go back the second day for 75%-off time to see if they'd split the sets. 

On the other hand, as I walked in and saw the Marx/Gabriel sets, I spotted this guy on the top of a handful of small critters. 

Only $1, and he's probably my favorite SM mold ever.  Original bay, and aside from someone getting overzealous with the dremel along his crest at the factory, only a couple of rubs.  Found a little Britains horse too, and two Hartland 7-inch TBs.  Although I just realized that the Hartlands have a distinct odor of something, I'm afraid it's cat pee, so they are in a plastic tub with some baking soda at the moment. 

And then there was the cute Josef Original cat for $1.

I also remembered that where there are horse shaped objects, there may also be horse books, and looked at all the bookshelves.  Scored a pair of C.W. Anderson books, although neither have the dustjacket, and Heads Up - Heels Down is one I'm pretty sure I didn't have. 

 There were also a lot of ceramic deer, and after thinking about it over lunch, and being "deer pressured" by the Clinky Connection and Model Horse Liberation Front people on Facebook LOL, I went back for these.   These two are Lomonosov, made in the USSR. 

And this little guy I thought was a donkey when I bought him.  By R. W. Midwinter of Benslem England.  After much consultation, consensus is that it's also a deer, although a donkey-colored one.  Other possibilities were a rabbit, or half of a pushmepullyou.