Anyone who knows me knows I’m a data nerd down to the marrow of my bones. I’m lucky enough to have a job that pays me to play with data every day, and I’ve been keeping spreadsheets about my collection and various other aspects of the hobby in my free time for more than twenty years.
At the end of every year, I like to do a breakdown of my purchases according to various categories. This year I was smart enough to track everything in real time, so I didn’t have much data crunching to do to write this post. (Which is great, because I am SUPER behind with posts at the moment!)
Without further ado, I present Mel’s 2025 Acquisition Stats.
Total models acquired: 81
• Breyer - 72 (89%)
• Stone - 9 (11%)
At the end of every year, I like to do a breakdown of my purchases according to various categories. This year I was smart enough to track everything in real time, so I didn’t have much data crunching to do to write this post. (Which is great, because I am SUPER behind with posts at the moment!)
Without further ado, I present Mel’s 2025 Acquisition Stats.
Total models acquired: 81
• Breyer - 72 (89%)
• Stone - 9 (11%)
Most expensive acquisition: technically, the paint job on my Denderah resin, but if we're talking a model, my Stone ISH "Ruffalo"
Least expensive acquisition: I was blessed to be gifted 8 models this year!
Scale
• Breyer Traditional - 33 (41%)
• Breyer Classic - 23 (28%)
• Breyer Stablemate - 16 (20%)
• Stone Traditional - 9 (11%)
Color
• Solid - 52 (64%)
• Pinto - 15 (19%)
• Appy - 14 (17%)
Finish
• Glossy - 19 (23%)
• Matte - 62 (77%)
Decade
• 1950s - 2 (2%)
• 1970s - 2 (2%)
• 1980s - 4 (5%)
• 1990s - 3 (4%)
• 2000s - 20 (25%)
• 2010s - 8 (10%)
• 2020s - 42 (52%)
Month with the most acquisitions: July (23) - no surprise here, since that was BreyerFest
Month with the least acquisitions: May (0) - this was when Felice really started to have issues
Models purchased direct from the source: 33 (41%) (all were Breyers)
Models purchased on the secondary market: 48 (59%) (39 Breyers and all 9 Stones
Show Statistics
Shows hosted: 1
Shows attended as a shower: 5
Shows judged: 2
Breed NAN cards: 53
Collectibility/workmanship NAN cards: 41
Best moment: Uhhhh can I do a top 5 in no particular order?
(1) Raising $12,500 for Wayward Whiskers at our Are You Kitten Me Live benefit show
(2) Being gifted two sample models from the BreyerFest store from my friends when I was having a Really Bad Day
(2) Being gifted two sample models from the BreyerFest store from my friends when I was having a Really Bad Day
(3) Seeing American Pharoah again
(4) Winning my first ribbons and NAN cards with my Denderah resin (whose full story I'll get to in February!)
(5) Receiving a miniature cat painted like Felice, complete with a miniature of her favorite toy, her Dude
And now for my Top 5 of 2025, in the order which I acquired them.
This is #B-CS-10280 Prague, a January web special from Breyer’s Exotic Destinations series. There were 600 made. Salinero is one of my favorite molds and I love glossy dapple grays, so I immediately wanted him, but my lottery luck is historically pretty terrible so I was trying to resign myself to pay secondary market prices for him. Fate was on my side this time, though, and I got picked in the first draw!
I only own five Artist Resins, and this guy is one of them - Denderah, by Karen Gerhardt. The blank resin was an “I spent way too much money whilst isolated during the pandemic” purchase in August 2020. As a collector and admirer of typey Arabs, I knew I had to have him as soon as I saw Karen’s pictures of a painted one.
He hung around nekkid for quite awhile as I figured out what color I wanted and who I wanted to paint him. The color was the most agonizing decision - I went back and forth many times between bay, dapple gray, mulberry, and flaxen chestnut. Bay was the eventual winner (shocking). Once I landed on that, picking the artist was simple - I’d seen Jennifer Danza’s bays both on her studio page and in person, and I knew right away that she was the right artist for him. She opened up commissions in December 2024; I submitted him for consideration; she chose him; I sent him off to her in January; and on April 3, this gorgeous thing showed up at my doorstep. I consider him a 2025 acquisition because that’s when he got his paint job and became a complete model. He is absolutely outstanding and one of the prettiest models in my entire collection, and his show success thus far reflects that.
I’ll talk more about him in February when I cover my Artist Resins in my Show Stoppers post.
He hung around nekkid for quite awhile as I figured out what color I wanted and who I wanted to paint him. The color was the most agonizing decision - I went back and forth many times between bay, dapple gray, mulberry, and flaxen chestnut. Bay was the eventual winner (shocking). Once I landed on that, picking the artist was simple - I’d seen Jennifer Danza’s bays both on her studio page and in person, and I knew right away that she was the right artist for him. She opened up commissions in December 2024; I submitted him for consideration; she chose him; I sent him off to her in January; and on April 3, this gorgeous thing showed up at my doorstep. I consider him a 2025 acquisition because that’s when he got his paint job and became a complete model. He is absolutely outstanding and one of the prettiest models in my entire collection, and his show success thus far reflects that.
I’ll talk more about him in February when I cover my Artist Resins in my Show Stoppers post.
This is a Stone ISH, Gleema My Star, a run of 30 models from 2010. They came in both matte and gloss. He was pretty high on my want list for awhile. My friend Ellen offered to sell hers to me in 2024, but I knew what this custom version was worth (versus the non-customized version, who was less limited in quantity) and I wasn’t in the position to pay for him at the time.
Fast forward to the first weekend in June, when I went up to Hammondsport, NY, to visit family and attend the Finger Lakes Live and NY Breeders shows. I knew Ellen would be at the show (she’s my cousin’s neighbor!) so I’d messaged her a few days prior, letting her know I was still interested in Gleema if she hadn’t sold him. She still had him and put him aside for me. I picked him up the night before the first show and got to see her absolutely amazing collection for the first time when she hosted a small event for show attendees at her house. That weekend was one of the best of the entire year for me, capped off by bringing this lovely shiny bay thing home.
Fast forward to the first weekend in June, when I went up to Hammondsport, NY, to visit family and attend the Finger Lakes Live and NY Breeders shows. I knew Ellen would be at the show (she’s my cousin’s neighbor!) so I’d messaged her a few days prior, letting her know I was still interested in Gleema if she hadn’t sold him. She still had him and put him aside for me. I picked him up the night before the first show and got to see her absolutely amazing collection for the first time when she hosted a small event for show attendees at her house. That weekend was one of the best of the entire year for me, capped off by bringing this lovely shiny bay thing home.
This is #B-CS-10492
Cosimo, a Murgese stallion, released through this year's Premier Club in late June.
Members could choose a matte or glossy finish on him. I went with matte
for mine, and my friend Donna wasn't interested in keeping hers, so she
ordered gloss and I bought him from her. I like the matte slightly
better (gloss is hit or miss on black models for me), so the matte guy made my Top 5, with the glossy guy as an Honorable Mention.
I haven’t been this excited about a Breyer sculpt since Weather Girl was released in 2011. I also don’t think I’ve been this excited about a Spanish sculpt, ever - I’m an Arab and Stock collector, through and through - and I definitely haven’t ever liked a Sarah Minkiewicz sculpt this much. She tends toward the more dynamic, funky ways horses can move their bodies, and most just don't appeal to me. This guy, though?
Yeah. Another of those instant conga, "I need him in every color" sculpts.
This is another Stone, an Andalusian named Woodson. He’s a one-of-a-kind created for the Stone Super Bowl Event in 2021. I bought him in September from a seller who lives the next town over from my cousins in New York; a town where my Aunt Marge lived until her passing in 2019.
I never would have picked this model out for my collection based on his stock photos from Stone. They were using a
bright white lightbox at the time with all the light coming from the top, which darkened the color of all the
models and flattened them out so they looked almost monochrome.
Here's what he looked like in the stock photo vs. my photo above. I couldn’t believe the difference when I saw the seller’s photos! His color is so much richer in person. I show him under the name Cabernet Franc because he instantly reminded me of a ruby red wine.
In 2026, I hope to acquire a bit less, both from a quantity and spending standpoint. I've got a long way to go to financially recover from losing Felice, and even though I have an entire room in my house for my collection, I've got a rapidly worsening case of Floorses (Floor Horses), so my space for more is pretty nonexistent.
As far as the more solid goals, I would like to get my Veronka resin painted. That's been a goal for the past four years, but the poor thing is still stuck in the "Oh my God she looks good in literally every color and I can't pick what to do with her" phase. (Who am I kidding, she'll probably end up bay.) I'd also like to knock off another grail from my Stone wish list, probably an ISH or Arab, and pick up a Niagara, the Sham from this year's Hoofbeats & Maple Treats event.
Thanks for tuning in so far, and best wishes for a happy, healthy, and successful 2026!
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