Ooops, there was a quiet spell

 Apparently I've been busy and forgot to post here for a while. 

Brief update - I just ordered the first of the 2023 Club horses - the Vintage Club has a silver bay pinto Justin Morgan, and the SM Club has the G1 Arabian Mare and Laying Foal. A blind bag is riding along with each order, and fingers crossed maybe I'll get one of the chase horses. 

 

Tomorrow is the release of the first Collector's Club horse, a glossy bay on the new Fireheart mold.  We'll see if I can get one, and how expensive they are.

Vintage Club Overload

 Covid must be messing with the shipping (still) - we've gotten two of the four Vintage Club models in one month.  

At the beginning of the month, Cooper the Appy Performance Horse showed up, with his vintage-style bareback pad and bridle.   He also has, instead of the normal Vintage Club belly stamp, the stamp for an upcoming Bird Series horse, Kingfisher.  Can't wait to see what the real Kingfisher looks like, and if it's on the same mold as Cooper here.

 

 

Then, just a few weeks later, Breyer released Sandman for purchase, Smoky the Cowhorse in a really nice red dun pinto with gloss.  And both eyes are looking in the same direction. 

 

 

 

 

 

 Other recent Breyer things:  My NaMoPaiMo horse for the year did get done before the deadline.  This year I painted a SM Iron Metal Chief as a nice buckskin.  I tried to blend the leg markings more, but it needs a little work. 

 

 

 

 

 

And I found two of these at the grocery store, one sort of light blue, the other fuschia.  They poop little tiny candy.

And Honeybear, the Collector's Club horse.  Gorgeous pinto, glossy, and chunky

Another posting gap

Oops No pictures with this quick post, because new computer has no photos on the hard drive yet. Been on a bit of a buying spree, it seems. Last of the Vintage Club horses - a really nice Wedgwood Brighty named Nugget, and a glossy charcoal Marabella and foal (Ashley?) called Dusk and Dawn. Plus the bonus SM, a mini Smart Chic with Yellow Mount's paint job - mine was the no forearm spot version. Other purchases: Theo, a Brahma bull, a leopard Cheyenne at a price I could not cringe at, because he's missing the saddle and reins but only one small eartip. The Sucesion & Le Fire unicorns (Diadem and something) because it's the only affordable way I'll ever get that set. I thought of buying the original RR release, but passed on it, waiting for a color I liked better. Which hasn't happened.

Champion, the Vintage Club horse

 Champion was delivered yesterday.  He's going to be a tricky one to get a good picture of, between the gloss and the very dark bay color.  

I ordered 4 blind bags along with him, hoping for the chase pieces, but nope.  One orangey-yellow Prince Charming, and three Walking Arabians (2 orangey-peach, one blue).  

The two Tobias SM Club horses are on the way. 

Oops - post gap

 My plans to post more often seem to have gotten lost.  At least for a while. 

Back on track:  I ordered the third Vintage Club horse today, along with four blind bags from the newest series.  I still haven't found the chase horses from the Anniversary bags or the newest Rainbow unicorn bags.  I waited a few days to order this one, waiting to see if the next SM Club horse was released, but this  morning I decided I shouldn't wait any longer.  Missing the deadline means I lose my deposit and the rest of the horses this year. 

This will be my first Presentation style horse.  I hope mine looks as good as the one in the picture, he's gorgeous.

The other Atticus, and a Gold Charm

 For once, I managed to find a swap for a gamblers' choice horse fairly quickly.  So now, I have a pair of Attici.  Glossy Atticus is named Percy (or Perseverance), and the matte Atticus is Jezero.  Both named for the Perseverance Mars rover - the matte is named for the landing crater, which is dusty and therefore not glossy.  The other is Percy because Perseverance is the shiny new rover. 

And the gold charm SM that's the bonus Vintage Club model arrived the same day.  Both got delayed a day for whatever reason.  But now I've got to figure out how to get this gold Native Dancer out of the package without destroying it.  

 

 

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. 

Incoming horse - Vintage Club Julius

 Breyer put Julius up for purchase this morning, so he's on the way with a paint-your-own-Walking TB Unicorn as a travel partner.  I kind of wish they'd shown the rest of the VC horses before I rejoined.  I decided to renew the VC because of this mold, and then they add a regular-run Georg to the 2021 lineup.  Oh well, I'm sure the other VCs for the year will be great too.  And I do like that old splatter roan.

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.

Good grief, Reeves, slow down!

 

Another flood month of Breyers.  Late last month was the Halloween horses, where I got a trio of Mini Poltergeists and one Mini Nightmare, plus Ratsputin and the plushy.

 

Then I stopped at Becky's Breyers for Yuletide and a couple of Anniversary SMs that weren't the chase pieces.  I messed up really badly with the Smart Chic, thinking it was an Indian Pony. 

 Traded one of the Mini Poltergeists for Mini Twilight Terror.  

Then the 5th SM club horse, times 2.  And today they released the optional Vintage Club horse, Barrington, the new jumper in classic Cantering Welsh Pony chestnut, and a non-black Carltonlima Emma as a Christmas pony in palomino with a cute blanket.  

 

 

 Sigh.  I hate to think what that all adds up to.  I thought about the Yuletide enamel pin, but changed my mind.  

 

One of the Stablemate Club horses arrived today, the other will be here tomorrow.  First one is the blue and purple pinto unicorn, which was third on my ranking.  Depending on which one I get tomorrow, I may try and trade for the pinto or Appaloosa.  Or maybe not.  

 

Zahra is here

 UPS delivered a day earlier than their first estimate - although really, leaving the box 10 feet from the porch, in full view of the street, is not optimal.  

But, Zahra is better than I expected.  I got the matte palomino - the other two possibilities in the gamblers' choice were glossy bay and glossy grey pinto.  I'm a sucker for a palomino, but the dapples in the promo pic were way too obvious.  Luckily, Breyer again has horses that look better than the promo pics.  The dapples are more subtle, and importantly, not perfect circles.  

The body is smooth, but the lower legs have some roughness that I'm curious about. And the chestnuts are really tall.  

She looks pretty good. 

When it rains, it pours

Or, the flood of new horses. 

First, Breyer announces the mid-year releases, which include Apparition (a blue-purple glow-in-the-dark Halloween horse) and the 70th Anniversary shrinky-dink SMs.  I pre-ordered and paid for an Apparition at Becky's, and then went "damn the torpedos" and added a whole case of the SMs.  With any luck, I'll get one of the chase pieces, but even if I don't, I'll have neat minis of the Fighting Stallion, Fox Trotter, and all the others.  The mini charcoal Fighting Stallion will be awesome, if it looks anything like the large one.  Same for the pinto Indian Pony, the woodgrain Clydesdale, and most of the others.  They're doing two chase pieces this time - 1 in every 4th case, and a super-chase in every 12th, I think.  I'm betting one is an Alborozo, because they put mini Alby everywhere, and I think the other one might be the FAS or Western Horse, since those are the reliable old standards.  I just hope if it's a FAS, they don't go lemon-yellow on him.  But a mini Western Horse would be amazing.

Then they sent the email about the Vintage Club horse being ready to order.  This one is the Wedgewood pinto Belgian, Josiah.  I held out for a few days on ordering, since this week last year is when I paid for one of the SM Club horses last year.  And my patience was rewarded, because the email for Chroma, the clearware SMC horse, came a few days later.  So, combined shipping on one account. 



And now I must avoid eBay, because Breyerfest is next week, and while my Single Day SMs and ticket are paid for, the SRs and store specials aren't.  And I have a list.  Which will probably get cut down a lot after I see the prices on the store specials, but it won't go down to $0, I'm sure.



 

New horses

This is Trailblazer, with his grooming blanket and then the normal saddle.  That color is absolutely gorgeous, especially with the gloss.  Wow.

I need to work on it a little, the grooming kit has a snap girth, but it seems a bit too short to me, unless it will stretch a bit.  

 

Carter, Trailblazer, and Klaus

Breyer put Carter, one of the Collector Club models, up for order last week.  It's a new mold that I don't have, so I was tempted.  But, after seeing the dapples on the demo model, and remembering that I've got one Vintage and two SM Club memberships this year, I decided to pass.  And then the local dealer posted about getting the new shipment, which has High Tide, Fairfax, and bunches of new SMs.  Helps me stick to my decision to skip Carter, and also to not bite on Breyer's 20% off the "Freedom" (aka Classic) models.

So, Trailblazer was released for payment earlier this week, and today Klaus was.  Wonder of wonders, I can pay for both at the same time, and save a bit on the shipping.

And then today they announce a BOGO sale on blind bags.  And the Starry Skies SMs are included.  Which irks me a little, since I paid full price for all 4 of mine, plus the postage to swap my two duplicates.  But oh well, can't grump too much - my silver chase Alborozo last year came from another one of their BOGO sales.

Candy Cane and Clubs

The first horse of 2020 (*) is Candy Cane.  Who technically isn't a horse, but an equid. 

My blue horse herd continues, because I got the blue Candy Cane today.  Was kind of hoping for the 1-of-12 random Licorice, but then I'd feel guilty and think about selling it because that's a lot of money.

I was a little surprised to find the box in the mailbox, not on the doormat.  This is the first Zebra I've seen in person, and it's smaller than I realized. 

(*) Technically, Candy Cane was paid for on Christmas Day, but it's the first horse in the door for 2020.  And usually I date my spreadsheet by the day the critter is actually in my hands. 

In other news, I was sucked back into the Vintage Club for 2020, mostly because of the In-Between Mare.  And then Breyer announced the horses for the Stablemate Club, and the darn Mini Alborozo is the Gambler's Choice model for this year.  So after much waffling and calculating numbers, I signed up for a second membership, because I figure (as do other people) that the secondary-market prices for Alby are going to be high enough that the second membership will be cheaper than buying one on eBay or whereever. 

Figuring that the club, plus the Collector's Club membership, will run about $180, and guessing that I can sell 4 of the duplicate models for about $20 each (a loss of $5-10 each), that makes the Alby portion around $100. 

Gah.  I'm actually talking about $100 SMs without cringing. 

Back in the Vintage Club

Breyer did it again.  Sucked me back into the Vintage Club.  They did it with a gorgeous Western Horse, and a gambler's choice on the rarely-seen In Between Mare.  And then the color pic of the Belgian came out, and he's Wedgwood pinto, and I have a thing for blue horses.  I actually went grocery shopping early and got home in time for the new membership window to open up.



 I have a thing for the Western Horse, even though most of my older ones are missing eartips.

Someone asked if this was a reworked Black Beauty, but no.  I can see a vague similarity though - I think maybe it's the tail set combined with the head.

Rosemary

Meet Rosemary, the bonus Stablemate from the 2018 Vintage Club. 

I'm a sucker for the old-style red roan, ever since I got a Strawberry Fields a few decades ago.

I think her show name is going to be Thyme to Rock, referring to a TV show called Rosemary and Thyme, and the fact that she arrived on the day I scheduled my gallbladder surgery ("rock" is close to "stone" anyway). 

Ulysses is here

Incoming! Ulysses

The first Vintage Club horse for the year is up for purchasing. 

Ulysses is on the way, with a couple of SMs for repainting purposes and to ensure a double layer of cardboard.  He's the Legionario III mold in black dapple, the same color as the Indian Pony from earlier in the VC.  I'm planning to name mine Danziger or something along those lines, referring to a TV series from 20+ years ago called Earth 2.

Vintage Club - Quinn

I managed to forget to renew my SM Club membership, but I did join the Vintage Club again.  The Classic QH Family were what definitely sucked me back in. 

Quinn is the second horse for the year (and it's only March!), after the Clydesdale mare and foal.  They did an amazing job on the masking, I could only find one fuzzy area on mine so far. 

The vintage carrying-case box is also lovely.  I don't have many of those, so I'm liking that option for this year.