Singles Bar: The Letter D

I’ve only got two singletons on molds beginning with D, but today’s post will be a little bit longer than that. In pulling my list of D molds, I realized I have completely neglected my CollectAs, so this post will include a “catch up” for my singletons on CollectA molds starting with A through C, so they can get their turn in the spotlight.

Starting with the D molds first:

 

 

This is mini Nazruddin from the #711354 30th Anniversary Stablemates Commemorative Set, a BreyerFest special run of 2000 pieces in 2019. Each of the ten models represented one of the Celebration horses from BreyerFests 2010-2019. This set was issued in a similar vein to the first Commemorative Set in 2009, which contained Stablemate versions of the first 20 celebration horses (1990-2009). The first Commemorative Set was limited to a quantity of only 500 and sells for big bucks; individually, the models are often $50 or more apiece. This second Commemorative Set was four times as big on the piece count and sells for much less; sold sets are averaging $100-120, or $10-12 per model.

I’m not a fan of this mold at all (like, at all) so he will likely be my only one, unless they release it as part of a Best of BreyerFest Set or another BreyerFest Commemorative Set.

 

 

I’ve never really been into the more rubberized plastic models like Schleich or Safari, so it was kind of surprising to me when I fell in love with CollectAs. The sculpts seem a bit more realistic to me and the paint jobs tend to be nicer and less cheap-looking. I currently have 25 of the horses and 4 animals (three cows and the calico cat, for obvious reasons).

This little Dartmoor is the one who made me go, “Oh God, I forgot about the CollectAs!” He’s #88604 Bay Dartmoor Pony on the Dartmoor Pony III mold, produced from 2013-2020. I got him as a Christmas gift from my parents in 2016.

He’s been on the show table a couple times under the names Mortimer and Sploof. I used to be kinda terrible at tracking names for models that don’t show very often, and didn’t realize he’d already had a name, so now he has two.

There’s one other color on him, solid black, but it doesn’t really wow me, so he’s likely to remain my only one on this mold.

 

Now for the catch-up on CollectA singletons on molds starting with A through C.

 

 

This is #88846 American Cream Draft Stallion, produced from 2019-2021. He was a “ride along” with one of my 2019 Vintage Club purchases so it would get double-boxed. I’m pretty sure I’ve never shown him, but his name is Banana Frappe in my spreadsheet, so maybe I intended to show him at some point?

He’s the only one they’ve released on this mold, so he’ll remain by himself unless they release another.

 

 

This is #88769 Black Forest Horse, first issued in 2016 and still in production today. I’ve got conflicting records on how I got this one - one spreadsheet says I got him direct from Breyer in an order from 12/18/17, and the other says I got him as a Christmas gift from my parents a week later. My collection documentation was awful in 2017 and 2018, so it might remain forever a mystery.

He’s also the only release on this mold so far.

 

 

This is #88701 Red Dun Campolina Stallion, produced from 2014-2020. I got him as a Christmas gift from my parents in 2016. This is the only color they released him in, so like the others, he’ll stay by himself until something new comes out.

I’ve only got one singleton on E molds, a lone Esprit, but I think I have enough to say about him (and other Esprits on my wish list) that I can get a decent-length post there and keep the F molds as-scheduled for May.

Other Makes: WIA

In 2021, a friend of mine posted a link in our group chat to the modellpferdeversand website in Denmark, where they had WIA models for sale. WIA is a German company producing models in a hard, rubbery plastic similar to CollectA and Schleich, but more rigid. They were pretty cool, but I wasn’t keen enough on them initially to pay the cost of international shipping. Then, in 2022, they put out a Vincenzo, and all of us in the group chat went in on a large order and split the shipping cost. Win-win!

 

 

This is #WIA BE10006, Lancelot, a run of 2500 pieces released in 2021. They had me at “dramatically-shaded dappled bay sporty thing.” He’s got a pretty bad scuff on one side so I haven’t ever shown him.

 

 

This is #WIA BE10003, Sharif, also a run of 2500 pieces released in 2021. The dapples are quite stark, but all the ones I’ve seen have been like that.

 

 

This is #WIA BE10010 Vincenzo, a run of 2500 pieces released in 2022.

I’ve been madly in love with the Vincenzo sculpt since I saw this lovely bone China sooty dapple buckskin for sale on a website sometime around 2006 or 2007:

 

The above guy belongs to a friend and I get to drool over him occasionally when she brings him out to shows. She even offered to sell him to me, but I Break All Breakable Things, so that’s a nope for sure. I will just admire him from afar.

When the relatively unbreakable mini version of Vincenzo came out in 2022 through WIA, I of course had to have one. I need to buy a stand for him - that front leg is really taking a beating from his weight distribution and should definitely not be at that angle. I've straightened it a couple times, but mean old Mr. Gravity ends up flattening it back out again. Triple Mountain sells stands; perhaps it’s time I wander over to that site to buy one ... and see if there are any other WIA models they can tempt me with.

Fantastic Finds: Honey Bay PAM & PAF

Well, it’s 3:48 p.m. as I’m sitting down to write this, and my posts always go up at 5:00, so time management issues are still A Thing right now. Work didn’t get any better as the week went on and I ended up having to put in some extra time in the evenings. 

On the funnier side, my Dad sent me a picture this morning of an asteroid with our new EHR’s name on it and said it was a close-up of the one that streaked almost directly over my sister’s house in Ohio on Tuesday and was visible from Pittsburgh. That inspired me to put the new EHR’s name on the Miley Cyrus wrecking ball meme, because it has made everything about my job 200% harder. 

I’ll take the laughs where I can get them.

I’ve already covered most of the knock-your-socks-off liberations in my collection, so now I’m moving on to the not-earth-shattering-but-still-cool liberations.

 

 

I picked up these two almost a year ago from an antique mall in Ohio as my friend Kelly W and I were driving up to Michigan for the BVG Live show. The Proud Arabian Mare is #14 Sheba and the Proud Arabian Foal is #15 Shah, both produced from 1958-1959. The production run on the early PAMs and PAFs was extremely short due to the copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Hagen Renaker, as Breyer directly copied HR's Zara and Zilla molds for the PAM and PAF (respectively), so the late-50s PAM and PAF releases are a little harder to find and tend to be more expensive. The 50s honey bays and alabasters are significantly more common than the gray appaloosas; the latter tend to fetch thousands at auction.

Both of these honey bays are pretty scuffed up and need restored, but Kelly thought the price was reasonable for their condition and talked me into getting them. At the same store, Kelly nabbed a Cybis Donkey Foal and a Hagen Renaker DW English Bulldog, pictured below with my PAM and PAF. A successful liberation for both of us!