Special Effects: Classic Gambler's Choice Models, Part 2

In my March Special Effects post, I covered the Classic-scale Gambler’s Choice models in my collection from 2017, 2018, and 2019. Today, we’ll round out the rest.

 

 

#712344 Nayati was the April 2020 gambler’s choice on the new Rearing Mustang mold, which had debuted the year before. There were three color choices - matte dark bay pinto, glossy dunalino, and glossy chestnut leopard appaloosa. I’m not a fan of loud pintos and the dunalino looked decidedly greenish-yellow in the promo photo, so I only bought my allotted model from my membership and hoped for the leopard appy. Happily, that’s who I got.

The dunalino ended up being a perfectly normal, nice color in-hand, and I’d probably pick one up someday if the price is right.

 

In late April 2021, the gambler’s choice was #712392 Slyder, on the Hollywood Dun It mold. It’s not one of my favorite molds, but the colors were outstanding, and they were all glossed, so it was an easy choice to order one on my membership. The chestnut splash was the one I received.

 

 

I purchased the gray Slyder a couple weeks later from a seller on Model Horse Sales Pages.

 

 

This Slyder has an awesome story.

Every May since 2014, I’ve struggled with an intense bout of seasonal depression. May of 2014 was difficult - a relationship ended, I moved out of my home, and I had to put my cat to sleep, all within the span of two weeks. I expected some feelings to crop up in May of 2015 when the anniversary rolled around, and they definitely did. What I didn’t expect was for that pattern to continue. And continue. And continue. Every May, like clockwork.

I didn’t understand it - after all, I had long since moved on from those losses - and I berated myself for being so dysfunctional when everything outside was getting bright and warm and beautiful again. 

Then I did some reading on it, and some work with my therapist, and I started to understand that this is just a thing my brain does, and that it’s not uncommon for people (and even animals!) to struggle with depression in the spring. That helped normalize it, and now I just have the depression to deal with, rather than the guilt and anger and frustration about being depressed. I work extra hard on balance that month, giving myself a couple activities with friends to look forward to and to avoid isolating, but also being careful not to book activities and social time beyond what I know I’ll have the energy for. I take days off from work when needed. I remind myself that a messy house isn’t the end of the world, and that it’s okay to come back to tasks when I have more energy. I have people in my life that know what I experience in May and are there to help if I ask. I allow myself the minutes/hours where I can do nothing more than sit on the couch and stare into space. I remind myself that this is just something my brain does.

I struggled worse than usual with my annual May depression during the pandemic (no surprise there; even the healthiest, most well-adjusted people I know struggled with their mental health during the pandemic). May of 2020 was the worst, but May of 2021 was no picnic, either, even as we started to creep back toward normal life with the vaccines. I was in charge of a brand new program at work that was not doing well. People were still leery of getting together, so I didn’t have the usual social or hobby activities to look forward to. BreyerFest was confined to online-only again, so there wasn’t a Kentucky trip to look forward to, either.

I had been messaging with my friend Nina pretty regularly since buying her Smurfy Sham the year before, and we were talking about the appaloosa Slyder. She had an extra and offered him to me, but I was really after a Crane (the web special on Emerson) and wanted to wait to see if I got picked or not before buying her Slyder. I didn’t end up getting selected for Crane, and as we were lamenting our relative lack of luck with web special draws, I mentioned my annual May depression. She was supportive and we commiserated a bit about how hard things had been with the pandemic.

Three days later, the appaloosa Slyder showed up at my house, with Nina’s return address on the box.

I messaged her right away. It went like this:

Me: “Nina! What is this that just arrived at my house!!!”
Nina: “I wanted to send you some cheer. You need the set!”
Me: “Oh my gosh, he is gorgeous. I love him. You have to let me pay for him. At least cost plus shipping!”
Nina: “Nope! All is good! He’s a gift! I just thought it would help put a smile on your face this May.”

He sure did.

I say this a lot in this blog, but I truly have met the best people through plastic ponies. Five years later, Nina and I are still messaging each other several times a week, celebrating the good times and hobby successes, and supporting each other through the tough times and hobby disappointments. I am so glad we became friends.

***

I wasn’t too worried about the gambler’s choice when it rolled around in April 2024. I had just found out I needed to replace my car and had cut myself off from hobby purchases in the anticipation of that gigantic real-world expense. I hadn’t needed any of Johann the Lipizzan in 2022 or Santino the Polo Pony in 2023, so I figured I was probably safe.

HA.

 

 

Enter #B-CS-10011 Zayn. 

 

Of all the molds they could have picked in 2024, it had to be the Classic Arabian Stallion. My first Breyer love. My first complete conga.

Of all the colors they could have picked, they had to do three ultra-realistic Arabian colors, including a SHINY BAY THING.

Doomed. Instantly doomed.
 

I bought one on my membership, and then threw all caution to the wind and paid for a membership for Felice and bought a second one on hers. I was fully prepared to purchase a third membership on my gmail account … but then Nina and I were messaging back and forth, and she said she was able to secure my third on one of her extra memberships. We would each end up with three, and probably have to do some trading with other hobbyists to each end up with a full set.

Nina received a fleabit, a rabicano, and two Shiny Bay Things. Both of my Zayns arrived a few days later. In the most bizarre twist of fate ever, I, the lover of all Shiny Bay Things, had to root AGAINST a Shiny Bay thing in the boxes. I just needed them to be a fleabit and a rabicano for us both to have a complete set.

 

 

What are the odds?!

I picked up the extra Shiny Bay Thing from Nina at BreyerFest a couple months later, and the rest is history.

 

The chestnut rabicano is the only one of the three I've shown so far; he took first place in his class and NAN'd his first time on the table. His show name is Like A Charm. 

 

Favorite release of the gambler’s choice Classics by miles and miles.

 

 

I didn't pick up any of the 2025 Gambler's Choice, Rambler, not having been a fan of the mold or the colors. We'll see what they throw at us for 2026.

 

If it's a Classic Arabian Mare, think good thoughts for me.

On a Regular Basis: #683 Colorful Foals Gift Set

Back in February, as I was moving some models around to take blog photos, I experienced a calamity in the form of multiple broken G2 Rearing Arabs, who plummeted to their doom and snapped legs off like twigs as soon as they hit the hardwood floor.

It almost made me give up the blog.

Instead, I’ve been confining myself to writing about the models I already have photographed. That’s actually a decent amount of my collection, so it hasn’t been too much of hinderance so far.

For today’s regular run post, I’m going to talk about three little shits that multiplied themselves literally overnight (it’s not my fault, I swear!) and have turned into an unintended popcorn horse - the leopard appaloosa Classic Andalusian Foal from the #683 Color Foals Gift Set. I also have a couple of the models that have accompanied him in those sets, so they’ll get their turn today also,

 

 

My first acquisition from the #683 sets was this shaded dun Classic Quarter Horse Foal (CQHF), whom I purchased through Model Horse Sales Pages in November 2018. I’d been on the lookout for a nice one for awhile. The CQHF was only part of the #683 set in 2005, and was then replaced with Rojo for the rest of the run after Breyer lost the rights to produce the HR molds. The CQHF isn’t as easy to find, since he was only in the set for part of a year, and he also tends to be outstanding as far as the depth of his color and shading, so the ones that come up for sale aren’t cheap.

I knew this guy wasn’t minty-mint when I bought him, but he arrived in worse shape than the seller’s photos showed. It wasn’t worth the hassle of a refund/return, so I kept him. I would still like to find a showable one someday.

 

 

This is the Rojo from the set, who replaced the CQHF sometime in 2005. Aside from the noticeable difference in the conformation of the sculpts - the CQHF is pretty well put-together, while Rojo is definitely a more artistic sculpt - they also didn’t take nearly the time with the paint jobs on the Rojos, as they tend to be much flatter and more monochrome than the CQHF. Still, I conga all the Mesteno molds, and this Rojo was one I needed for my collection. He and the Classic Andalusian Foal on the left in the photo below were acquired from my friend Heather B in July 2020.

 

And then they multiplied.

I’ve loved the Classic Andalusian Foal since I was a kid, with his cute little cocked head and those giant eyes. Even though I’m typically not an appaloosa person, I’ve always been impressed with the detail on this particular paint job - they tend to have nice body shading and several layers of spots, from the large round ones to tiny flecked ones. It wasn’t a hardship to get one in the set when I bought the Rojo.

Fast forward to 2024, when I went over to Heather B’s house to hang out. Heather was trying to purge some things, so we were sitting on the floor going through her sales stuff, while one of her cats, Wally, who had never met me before that day, shoved my arm out of the way and made himself right at home in my lap. (I love all of Heather’s cats, but Wally is far and away my favorite favorite. He is the best, sweetest little old man cat who just wants to love and be loved.) Heather is a giant Maureen Love sculpt fan and had bought numerous #683 sets in the hunt for a nice, showable CQHF. She had the little leopard Andy Foals already sitting aside and turned to me and said, “Mel, you’re taking those home with you.” I told her I already had one, from the set I’d bought from her several years ago, but she insisted. She also wouldn’t let me pay her for them. They’re the middle and right foals in the picture above.

They're all slightly different as far as the size and concentration of their spots, so how could I possibly part with any of them?

Maybe, when I finally find a showable CQHF from this set, he'll be for sale by himself … but if not, these little Classic Andalusian Foals are in danger of further multiplication.

Do That Conga: Stone ISH, Part 2

Last month, I embarked on my ever-growing ISH conga, talking about the short mane/short tail body style. This month, I’ll talk about my long mane/long tail ISHs. There are seven of them. The eighth I thought I had is actually a long mane/short tail who was labelled incorrectly in my spreadsheet (gahhhhh, this data nerd is cringing in horror!) I’ve already written the content for him, so I could probably toss him onto this post anyway, but since July's conga post will need to go up a mere two days before I leave for BreyerFest, I'm gonna save him for then. July Mel will profusely thank April Mel for already having a post ready to go.

 

 

This DAH ISH was my second ISH ever. I ordered him in May 2017. He’s seal bay with dapples, painted by Julie Keim, whose seal bays are absolutely to die for. I ordered gloss, of course, because all bays should be glossed, though he initially arrived to me in matte and I had to send him back to get his proper coat of shiny.

This horse kicks ass and takes names in the show ring. He was the overall breed champion at his first ever show and continues to do well almost ten years after his purchase despite the gargantuan size of Stone Paint classes. He's definitely not the flashiest Paint out there, but he is correct - the badger face is a sabino trait, so I gave him knee-high whites on the front and extreme high (up onto the belly) whites on the rear legs to be consistent with that, and blue eyes because the white covers them both. His show name is Zenith.

 

 

I’ll give you two guesses as to who painted this ISH - Letting Go, a run of 10 for Art of the Horse 2021 - but you’re only gonna need one.

Yet again, Mel falls victim to a lovely light flaxen chestnut painted by Audrey Dixon.

I’m pretty sure I stalked the website the day he was released so I could make sure I got one. I adore his soft color. I left him matte; I wasn’t sure if the color would go too orange or yellow in gloss. I’ve seen glossed ones and while they didn't stray too far into orange or yellow territory, I do like him better in matte, so I’m happy with my decision. His show name is Moving On.

 

 

This is #IS17043 Goo, a run of 200 pieces for the Artisan Hall series in 2003, designed and painted by Sarah Minkiewicz. The Stone Horse Reference site says “an unknown number of mares were made.” My copy of Goo is one of them.

Goo has a story. She was a Mercari purchase in late June 2023. The seller shipped pretty quickly, but UPS didn’t see fit to deliver her for eight days. I was at BreyerFest by the time the box arrived. I was sitting in our hotel room at the CHIN one night, minding room sales, arguing via text with Chris that pickles DO NOT belong on tacos (long story), when I remembered Goo’s delivery and asked Chris to get her box off the porch. He said he already had … and if there was a horse in it, it was probably broken, because the box looked like an accordion. He sent photos.

It was bad.

Chris is afraid to be anywhere near my horses most of the time and will only go into the horse room if I'm in there with him, but I called him and begged him to open the box so I could see if Goo was okay, and so I could let the seller know if there was any damage. Chris said he was also Very Concerned and agreed to open the box. He took lots of pictures before opening and also took pictures of every step of opening the box and unwrapping her.

Miraculously, Goo survived with nary a scratch. He even took her into the horse room and set her on the floor next to one of my shelves, and sent me a “proof of life” photo.

Her show name is Treacle, because treacle tarts have a gooey filling.

 

 

Oh look, a shiny blue thing! I talked about Little Bird in my January Full Spectrum post, so you can read his deets over there, if you’re so inclined.

 

 

This model is somewhat of a mystery. He was advertised for sale in June 2024 as Monroe, a run of brindle ISHs from 2011, but those were the short mane/short tail body and had only three stockings. I let the seller know that Monroe wasn’t a match for what she had, but she kept the price as-is.

The best we can figure is that this is a OOAK ISH painted by Julie Keim somewhere around 2008 or 2009. Her initials are on the bottom of one of his hooves (she was kind enough to confirm them as hers at a show we attended together), and he’s the cream-colored plastic, which was commonly used in 2008-2009. Stone’s record-keeping at times has been as hit-or-miss as Breyer’s, so there are many OOAKs out there that have unknown origins. I provided photos and a write-up of what I knew about him to Barb Bacon, so he’s on the Stone Horse Reference site now.

His show name is Uomo Misterioso, which is Italian for Mystery Man.

 

 

This is Black Tie, a 2004 run that was evenly split between glossy stallions and glossy mares. Mine is a mare. I got her from my friend Eleanor at BreyerFest in 2024. Her show name is Just a Formality.

 

 

Dazzle was a special run for the Ginger Horse tack shop in 2004. She was evenly split between 50 glossy and 50 matte models. I bought her in November 2024 through a Facebook group that offers weekly auctions from the estate of a long-time collector. She is unshown.

There are seven long mane/long tail ISHs on my wish list: Abby, a matte Black Tie, Denali, the Holiday Horse, Miss Dainty Doc, Ragtime, and Silver Spur. The only one that might take a little bit of searching is Denali, as there are only five of him.

Factory Custom ISHs coming up next in May!