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.

2019 Model Wrap-up

I did a little work with the model spreadsheet last night, after people on Facebook were sharing their favorite 5 models of the year. 

Based on my numbers, I bought or otherwise acquired 208 models last year.  That includes

• 12 Traditionals
• 15 Classics
• 3 Mini Whinnies
• 2 Porcelain Breyers (the white Circus Ponies)
• 2 Marx
• 1 Gladys Brown Edwards trophy
• 3 Hartlands
• 1 awesome Hartland clock with horse
• 3 CollectAs
• 5 Lakeshores
• and a whopping 153 Stablemates

The Stablemate flood is all because of the darned blind bags and trying to find the silver and blue Albys.  Which I finally found.  But there are 7 of the pink and green Clydes, 6 chestnut ASBs (I was trying to find a flaxen-mane variation) and a dozen each of the teal Alby and purple Magnolia.  One of the goals for 2020 has got to be thinning out the duplicate SMs, because sheesh.  

Some of the highlights:

The Christmas Candy Cane

Purple unicorn, and unicorn foals

A Lakeshore Status Symbol SR

Corbin, from the Stablemate Club (can't wait to see him in a color with some face color)

Another Lakeshore SR, 1 of 4, that I got in a barter deal (i.e. practically free)

I finally got two of the Tartan Ponies from 10+ years ago, thanks to a lovely Blab member.

This year's Halloween Horse, the lovely glow-in-the-dark Samhain

The Spooky Stablemates - I got all three!

My luckiest day - I took a chance on the Stablemate Club grab bags, and got a Fylkir!  And even the color I wanted most.

Bought a lovely deco Iris, to go with the silver-bay Iris I got.

Hagen-Renaker Drunk birds SR

Found a second curio cabinet, and have it pretty full.

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.

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. 

Minstrel

No photo yet, but Tractor Supply restocked (although it didn't show up online), and I got the Holiday horse for this year, Minstrel.  And got to use my birthday coupon that didn't get used last time, although the registery realized it had been scanned already.  Cashier was helpful and gave me the $10 off anyway. 

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.