Do That Conga: Stone ISH, Part 4

It’s the Fourth of July, and while I wish this country were worth celebrating right now, at least it’s kinda cool that the fourth part of my ISH conga will be presented on the fourth? Today I’ll talk about the short-mane-long-tail version, which is arguably the most used of the non-custom bodies and also arguably my favorite.

 

 

I ordered this Design-A-Horse on January 3, 2020. Because of the pandemic, he took a full six months to get to me. [Ironic that that’s now become the minimum DAH wait time for Stone - and sometimes they take even longer. As of mid-June, there were still folks waiting on DAHs from last September!] 

Though I’m not usually a fan of loudly-patterned horses, I was perusing the albums one day on the Facebook DAH Colors & Patterns group and saw a mid-2010s extreme tobiano with a dark head and thought, wow, that looks really awesome. I am a person who prefers solid dark heads on both real and plastic horses - give me maybe a small star or a thin stripe and that’s about it. I especially like roans and duns, whose dark heads contrast with their lighter bodies.

Stone made a new extreme tobiano DAH pattern for 2019 and continued it into 2020, so I finally ordered one. In gloss, of course. Despite not being factory customized, he holds his own in the show ring against much fancier paint horses. His show name is Ibiza Bar.

 

 

This is #IS17022 Cutter, a regular run in 2002. I bought him in May 2023 from my friend Mandy and picked him up from her a couple months later at BreyerFest to save on shipping. He doesn’t show all that much, but when he does, I kept the name Mandy gave him - Cooper.

 

 

This lovely shaded flaxen thing is Bellame, the Quarter Horse Congress model in 2007. She came in both matte and glossy, and both have been on my want list for a long time. I purchased this matte gal from a seller in Australia in January 2024. Her show name is La Mia Bella, but she’s temporarily retired until I fix an eartip rub.

 

 

I never intended to buy this ISH, #9982 All I Can Bee, a dealer special run of 50 glossed models in 2002. Like, he wasn't on my radar at all. I was arranging to buy a few other ISHs from a seller in New York in early March 2024, and she tossed in a picture of All I Can Bee. He looked like a Shiny Bay Thing (though he’s actually dark chestnut) so I said sure, why not, and tossed him into my “cart” as well. He's rather pretty in gloss.

 

 

I talked about #9980 Lapis Lazuli back in my Winter Blues series - he was my last room sales purchase during BreyerFest 2025.

 

This ISH, #964 Bessie Girl Micia, a run of 200 from 2001, has a funny story.

Last July, not too long after we got back from BreyerFest, my friend Heather B. stumbled across a Facebook marketplace ad for a Breyer collection just a couple miles up the road from me. She messaged the seller and arranged to purchase all the Traditionals in the lot; there were a bunch of Classics as well, and I agreed to buy those. The seller sent grainy pictures of the horses as a large group, taken from mostly overhead. As such, it was not easy to tell what all of them were.

At the bottom of one of the pictures (so viewed almost completely from overhead) was a traditional-sized chestnut stock horse that Heather and I were stumped over. We were all over IDYB, trying to see what sculpt it could possibly be, and tossed around a whole bunch of ideas. An eternity (at least 10 minutes) later, finally, this happened:

Heather: I just can’t think of any trad that looks like that.
Me: Me neither. I’m totally stumped.
Heather: OH
Heather: IT’S AN ISH
Me: OMG
Me: REVOKE MY COLLECTOR’S LICENSE RIGHT NOW
Me: HOW COULD I NOT RECOGNIZE AN ISH

It was the only Stone in the entire collection, so I wasn't thinking about Stones, but with 29 ISHs in my collection, I definitely should have recognized it. Heather doesn't collect Stones, so I ended up with Bessie Girl Micia. She’s not in showable condition at the moment, but if I ever get her touched up, her show name will be Can't See for Lookin'.

There are 20 short-mane-long-tail ISHs on my wish list - with glossy Bellame at the top, of course.

Sentimental Journey: Man o' War

Eeeeeeeeeeeee it’s almost BreyerFest!

Back in 2020, the year where everything sucked and we couldn’t do much of anything, I spent all of July writing lengthy Facebook posts about how important BreyerFest is to me and how much I missed it that year. While a lot of those posts revolved around people and rituals and activities and memories, some were more model-related, and I’ll be borrowing heavily from those. Today is one of those days. My original post content will be in italics.

 

 

 

When I was a horse-crazy kid, my ever-enabling parents bought me some of Walter Farley’s books. While I loved the stories about the adventures of the Black Stallion and Flame [and credit them for my obsession with Arabians], my favorite Walter Farley book was about the legendary Man o’ War. I read that thing cover to cover more times than I can count. I was fascinated by the descriptions of his speed, his size, his spirit, his record stride length, and his absolute dominance on the track. If I had to pick a favorite racehorse of all time, it’s him. [Interrupting to add - American Pharaoh, as the first Triple Crown winner of my lifetime, is a perilously close second.] I have often wished I could have been alive during his time to see how spectacular he truly was.

 

 

Breyer has made several renditions of Man o’ War over the years, in several different scales.  One of my first Breyers as a kid was #47 Man o' War, who was produced from 1967-1995. I started collecting at Christmas in 1990, and according to my records, I had Man o’ War prior to September of 1992, when I photographed my collection for the first time. I don’t know exactly how I came by him, but back then, there were really only two ways I got Breyers - as birthday or Christmas gifts from my parents, or by picking them out at Kraynaks or Toys R Us. My gut tells me my parents are responsible for my ownership of him. 

 

 

I’ve got a few other versions of Man o’ War. My B-stamp (top photo) and chalky (bottom photo) versions of #47 have already been covered in previous blog posts, so I won’t say much about them here. The Classic-scale in the top photo is #9149, who was featured in my December Show Stoppers post. The smaller guy in the top photo is #711282 from the 2018 BreyerFest single-day Stablemates. There were 1750 made. I’m really glad I picked up the full set of single-day Stablemates that year at cost during BreyerFest - their secondary market prices are often $150 and up!

 

 

This lighter Classic-scale is the original release #602 Man o’ War, a regular run from 1975-1990. I got him from my friend Heather B.

 
Someday, I’d love to add a #47 with battleship gray hand-painted hooves, as well as the 48-piece WEG release.

 

I’m going to wrap up this post with the rest of my thoughts from 2020, because I really can’t say any better what Man o’ War means to me.

During my first BreyerFest in 2010, I discovered that Man o' War is buried at Kentucky Horse Park. Most famous horses are not buried whole when they die, but he was – every bone of him is right there at the front of the park, underneath a giant statue, surrounded by a fountain and flowers and plaques describing his life and racing career. I can't describe what it was like the first time I visited him there. I've seen other grave sites of some pretty amazing horses -- Cigar, Affirmed, even the mighty Secretariat -- but none of them have evoked the same feeling I get when I visit Man o' War.  It is always humbling and inspiring to stand just feet away from the final resting place of one of the greatest horses of all time. It’s serene and quiet there, and every year, that is how I purposely choose to end my BreyerFest trip. I love to spend those last few minutes of the best weekend of the year hanging out with him, thinking about how great he was, remembering what it felt like as a kid to read about his achievements, and thanking him for being what he was.

If you want to find me on Sunday at 4:00 after the raffle is done and BreyerFest is over, you know where I’ll be. 

Full Spectrum: Custom G2 Scrambling Foal

This time next week, I will be in Lexington!!!! I can't wait! 

 

I have arranged a couple purchases in advance: The newest edition of my friend Penny's Breyer Animal Quick Reference book, the newest edition of Lesli Kathman's Breeds & Colors book, a cull Grazing Mare purchased from a friend, and four Stones purchased from an estate a few friends of mine are helping to disperse - two Arabians, an ISH, and my first Stone Tennessee Walking Horse!

 

Before I immerse myself completely in the joys of BreyerFest, I've got one more rainbow pony for Pride month. 

 

 

This adorable little thing is the third custom from the group I won at Rainbow Rave Live last year, a rainbow striped G2 Scrambling Foal. She makes a complete family with the two adults.

 

Pride Month has been an interesting experience this year. I'm glad to see companies still promoting it despite the bigotry, discrimination, and threats by the current administration, but the hateful voices have gotten a lot louder, and it's scary to watch our society take giant steps backward in a way that puts folks who are non-white, non-cisgender, non-heterosexual, non-wealthy, and non-male more at risk than ever. We need to do better.

 

Be inclusive and kind, love your neighbor, treat others as you would want to be treated, and value the beautiful diversity of the human experience. 

Full Spectrum: CM G3 Cantering Warmblood #2

I'm on a mission to get all my posts done and scheduled through the Monday after BreyerFest, so today's post is going to be short.

 

 

This is another custom G3 Cantering Warmblood I won in the raffle at Rainbow Rave Live last year. His spots are haloed in the same rosy gold used on his hooves. I love that his base color and halo color are opposite of the other guy, and that he has a lot of red on him. Sometimes with the rainbow ones Breyer does, I feel like the red is kind of an afterthought, and most of them are distinctly reddish-orange or more toward magenta. I wonder if red is a hard OF color to paint? I know it's a difficult color to carry off in house paint - you've got to have the right shade of primer underneath, and it often takes a ton of coats to look uniform.

 

Must be kinda like silver paint for cars. My buddy who restores cars and has his own paint shop says it's a nightmare to work with.

 

I've got one more rainbow custom who will post tomorrow, and then we'll be eating, sleeping, and breathing BreyerFest for most if not all of July!

Full Spectrum: CM G3 Cantering Warmblood #1

Oliver would like you to know that he is donut-free, and that he greatly missed his toys, and that he does not apologize for making me late on this blog post because he suffered through eight days of restricted playtime and now requires me to play with him for hours every night as a catch-up, thank you very much.

 

In my last post about Equidae, I mentioned Rainbow Rave Live, an annual LGBTQ+ friendly show that benefits the Trevor Project. The next three posts will also feature models I got at RRL, so let me briefly talk about it.

 

My first time attending was in May 2023, less than a week after I mangled my right ankle tripping over air in my driveway. It was wonderfully swollen and appropriately fit into the rainbow theme of the show with all the bruising. I should have entered it in one of the fun classes. I'd have called it Three Severed Ligaments: A Color Study.

 

I wasn't sure I'd be able to handle the rigors of a show day, but the cause was really important to me and the hostess, Sarah, said she could put me at a table right next to the ring I was showing in the most, so I made the trek. I've been back every year since. It's a pretty awesome show, well-run with quality judges, rainbow tablecloths, callback tables for each division (best idea EVER), hilarious fun classes, and a huge raffle.

 

In 2025, I was lucky enough to win three rainbow custom Stablemates from the raffle, so that's who I'll be talking about over the next few posts. Here's the first one, a G3 Cantering Warmblood in rainbow leopard appaloosa. His spots are haloed in silver to match his hooves, which is a neat effect. The Cantering Warmblood is one of my favorite G3 molds; I have 21 original finish and four customs.

 

Funny story – Sarah (the hostess) was pulling tickets and announcing raffle item winners toward the end of the show. She announced that someone had dropped the “Keep This Ticket” halves into the cup instead of the half we were supposed to write our name on. I heard the announcement, but I was up to my eyeballs in judging a huge Breyer division and figured it wasn't me, so I ignored it.

 

I managed to make it back to my table a little while later and glanced at my raffle tickets – which didn’t say “Keep This Ticket” on them, and also had my name written on the back. I was like, oh no, did I forget to put them in?! But I couldn't find the "Keep This Ticket" sides, and I definitely remembered dropping my tickets into the cup with the rainbow Stablemates, because they were what I wanted the most. Then the light bulb went on - what if I was the ding-dong who dropped the wrong tickets in? I went over to the raffle table, where the three Stablemates were still sitting in front of their raffle cup. Sarah had taped the winning ticket to the cup, and sure enough, it was mine. Oops!

 

All's well that ends well, though, because I still got to bring home three cool handmade rainbow ponies.

Full Spectrum: Equidae

The model horse portion of today's blog entry is rather short - it was a straightforward acquisition - so to make it worth the visit, I'll share another picture of Oliver, who is, much to his dismay, still a Donut.

 

 

He has managed to extract himself from the donut twice - once on Thursday morning when I was in a work meeting, and once on Saturday morning when I was sitting right next to him on the couch. Both times, he immediately went for his surgery site and got himself all irritated, so back into the donut he went. I'm thinking it'll be another day or two until I'm fully comfortable letting him out of it.

 

He's handling it pretty well, though his digestive issues are ongoing. His poop still clears the room, it's not as firm as it should be, and he's gulping a lot before and after he eats. I'm sure the stress of the neuter and donut aren't helping, but his problems predate all that. We're going to try switching him to a Limited Ingredient, filler-free, salmon-based kibble, and see if he does better.

 

And now for the rainbow pony. 

 

 

I have loved the Wintersong mold since his original release in plastic in 2007. As a mostly Arab and Stock collector, chonky floofy drafty things really aren't my jam, but Wintersong is the exception. He will definitely be featured in an upcoming Do That Conga post; I have seventeen of them (and hopefully I will add both a matte and glossy Oseberg by the conclusion of this year's BreyerFest!) 

 

For now, here’s #1849, Equidae, a regular run from 2021-2022. The coolest thing about this guy is that I couldn't have gotten him in a more appropriate place - I won him in 2023 from the raffle at Rainbow Rave Live, an LGBTQ+ friendly show that benefits the Trevor Project.

Full Spectrum: Kaleidoscope

#711500 Kaleidoscope was a BreyerFest Limited Edition of 6500 pieces in 2021. He wasn’t a must-have at first - he looked a lot more purple in the promo photo than he ended up being. But he's blue, and you know me and blue things. The more I saw of him, the more I liked him, so I ordered one from the store.

 

The variation in paint jobs on this guy is pretty huge. Some are like mine and have more of the blue color; some are really, really rainbow. Some have large spots, some have tiny ones. I can see myself buying more over the years and ending up with a ... full spectrum.

 

See what I did there? 

Full Spectrum: Prism #2

Before we get to today's rainbow pony - as promised, here is Donut Oliver.

 

 

He's doing really well, healing up nicely, inhaling his food like always, stinking up the entire house anytime he poops (seriously, how can such a tiny thing produce that much stench!), and being affectionate. I'm hoping, and I'm sure he is too, that things look good enough tomorrow afternoon that we can remove the donut.

 

I'm going to go a little out of order with today's rainbow pony. Kaleidoscope was supposed to be next, but I don't have a pic of him, so I'm going to swap him out with my second copy of Prism.

 

 

With a few notable exceptions (cough cough Sham), I don't usually have duplicates in my collection, but this guy has a really awesome story and is one of my never-sells.

 

In early December 2023, I had a supervisor at work named Jade. She taught me how to get started in Power BI, a data analysis and visualization tool that is by far the best and most rewarding thing I do at my job. She and I were super close and still text to this day, even though she is now working elsewhere. She knew all about my Breyer collection. Before Christmas that year, she and I had this text exchange:

Jade: I FOUND A BREYER AT GOODWILL ON MONDAY!!! Coolest one ever!!!!

 

Me: Send me a pic!

Jade: No way, I bought it for you for Christmas. It was too perfect to leave behind, plus I googled it and was like, "Well that's a good deal, I'm taking you to a very good home little dude/ette."

 

Knowing that a Goodwill find can be anything from a super rare deco to a common regular run missing a limb or half its paint, I wasn't sure what to expect, but Jade was beside herself with excitement to give it to me, and she'd said it was in great condition, and she was able to find it using google, so I figured it was probably something at least moderately cool. We met up right after New Year's for our exchange.

 

I couldn't believe that Prism was the one she found! She got him for less than $20. His original cost was $60 and his secondary market sales were $150 and up at the time, so her excitement over the price was well justified. She even wrapped his mane and tail in bubble wrap before boxing him up to give to me. It was so professional that, had I not known that these guys came in the regular clear-front boxes with wire ties, I'd have thought it had been done at the factory.

 

He’s A LOT redder around his head than my original guy, one of the darkest I've seen, so that’s how I tell him apart from my original. I think of Jade and our friendship every time I see him.

Full Spectrum: Pollock

Gah, I missed a post deadline again! (And why is there not a facepalm emoji on this thing?)

 

In my defense, Oliver got neutered today, and I was picking him up, getting him home, witnessing his rather traumatizing epic freakout when I put the e-collar on him, running to Petco to purchase alternatives, and worrying about him (because even though I'm on anti-anxiety meds now, I'm still me) during the time I would normally be writing my Monday post.

 

For the record, he's fine. We put him back in the sunroom, since that's where he's most comfortable, and gave him lots of quiet space to decompress. We successfully swapped out the hard plastic e-collar for a soft donut one, and while he is Not A Fan of the donut, he's much less terrified of it than he was of the hard plastic cone. We lured him out from behind the sofa with a couple small plates of wet food and some of his dry food, and by the end of the evening, he was flopping on his side (as much as the donut would allow) and purring and making air biscuits and letting me rub his belly. After a rough day for us both, it was nice to see a glimpse of my normal cat, and to see that the trust between us hasn't completely imploded.

 

I'll post a picture of "Donut Oliver" as soon as he allows me to take one.

 

In the meantime, here's another rainbow thing. Excuse the presence of the Seven Arts Surprise in the photo below - this is the only pic I had on hand on short notice!

 

 

BreyerFest special run lineups tend to be all or nothing for me. I either need everything (this year, cough cough) or I need almost nothing. 2021 was one of the latter years. The only model I wanted from the special runs was the rainbow #711398 Pollock, a run of 1600 pieces. 

 

BreyerFest was online again that year and your selections were assigned to you based on your preference list and where you fell in the picking order. (That would become the norm for all BreyerFests going forward, even if you're there in person.) Pollock was insanely popular and I didn’t think I had much of a chance of getting drawn to buy one, especially since many people chose him with their VIP tickets. But I logged in the first morning of Virtual BreyerFest and there he was in my cart. While waiting for him to arrive, I prayed the entire time that he wouldn’t be the 200-piece gold variation, because that one had very little rainbow color compared to the original. I was probably one of the only people wishing for the more common, less valuable model, and happily that's what I got. 

 

I’ve only shown him once or twice; his show name is Magically Delicious, for obvious reasons.

Full Spectrum: Hope and Disappointment

Next up in the parade of rainbow ponies is #62121, Hope. Some of the proceeds from each model went to Covenant House, which helps young people who are survivors of human trafficking or facing homelessness. It’s a good cause, it’s a rainbow horse, and I like this mold, so I ordered one as a tagalong with one of my SM Club models in June 2021. 

 

Here's where the "disappointment" part of the post title comes in: 

 

 

I noticed earlier this year that the model has developed a pretty awful seam split on his face - it goes all the way back to his mane. A disturbing number of newer models have been developing seam splits in recent years. I'm not sure if the manufacturing process has changed or if they're just getting overambitious when they sand the seams. Either way, it sucks. This one is destined for the body box, and I'll try to pick up a not-split one some year at BreyerFest.

Full Spectrum: Spectrum

Okay, the double Spectrum in the title kinda made me twitch, but there's really no help for it.

 

#1834, Spectrum, was a Flagship store special run in 2020, again limited to 3500 pieces. I got her from Kraynaks, too, but in a more roundabout way. 

 

We missed our annual family Kraynaks trip that year due to the pandemic, which was super depressing. We’d gone to see the Christmas tree display at Kraynaks every year without fail since 1983, when I was four years old. Even if we had to move it to a different day because one or another family member was working or Mother Nature threw a temper tantrum and sent a blizzard, we always found a way to make it. It's one of the longest-standing family traditions we have, and it's one of the days I look forward to the most all year. 2020 was hard in a lot of ways, but not being able to go to Kraynaks with my family was one of the hardest things.

 

In early 2021, after we'd been vaccinated, a few friends and I went up to Kraynaks for a hobby shopping day. It was incredibly weird to be there without the throngs of people - even though it's fairly close by, I can count on one hand the number of times I've been there outside of the holiday season, and I'd still have fingers left - and the shelves were scarily empty. I feared Kraynaks was going to be another casualty of the pandemic, but my friends (who go there much more often than I do) said that's normal for them after the holidays. (They were right, of course. Kraynaks is still there and doing just fine.)

 

I wasn't with my family, and it was a strange time to be there, but it was still really nice to be with my friends having a hobby day and doing something normal after a year where nothing was normal.

 

Spectrum was one of the models I brought home that day.

Full Spectrum: Prism #1

Yikes, Monday totally snuck up on me! It was an uncharacteristically busy weekend, especially Sunday. I typically avoid scheduling anything (even errands) on Sundays - a longstanding habit from high school and grad school where Sunday was my solitary day off every week - but I was out of the house for a good bit yesterday. I'll blame that for missing today's scheduled post by a few hours.

 

I've got a four-day weekend coming up for my birthday, so hopefully I can play catch-up on the blog during that time and get a bunch of posts scheduled.

 

Today's Full Spectrum post was always going to be short, and I suppose that's for the best, given the lateness of the hour as I'm hammering this out!

 

 

This is #1801, Prism, a limited edition of 3500 pieces in 2018. Kraynaks still had some left during our annual Black Friday trip in 2019, so I picked one out for my parents to give me as a Christmas gift that year.

 

I have a second Prism in my collection and his story is much longer (and involves a non-hobbyist!); you'll see him later this month. 

Full Spectrum: Customs Part 1

Five of my thirteen rainbow models are customs. Sheer happenstance has them nicely grouped into two distinct sets, so I'll talk about the first group today.

 

 

These two customs were painted by my friend Heather Jackson-Lain of Soul Pony Studios. 

 

Before BreyerFest 2019, she posted a CHIN sales preview on her studio page on Facebook, and the pastel rainbow G5 Chrome immediately caught my eye. I wasn't sure if I'd get to her room in time to buy him, but happily, I did!

  
The Sherman Morgan Mini Whinnie was also obtained from Heather in an unofficial trade a couple months later. I had sent her some blank medallions that I was never going to get around to painting, without expecting anything in return; I just wanted someone to get some enjoyment out of them, and who better to send them to than a hobby artist who was up-and-coming at the time? But Heather had paid attention a few days prior when I’d gushed on her studio page about some rainbow Sherman Morgan Mini Whinnies she’d already painted, and sent me one as a surprise thank you for the medallions. He likes to hang out between his larger deco buddies Crescent City and Carpe Diem on the shelf.

 

Full Spectrum: Finn

I had a little trouble believing this guy was my first rainbow model, but I triple checked my purchase dates, and he's numero uno.

 

#712249 Finn was released in 2018 as a Gambler’s Choice for the Stablemate Club. Four colors were available to ship randomly – rainbow, grulla pinto, flaxen chestnut, and dun appaloosa. I ordered him on October 10, 2018, which means he would have been the first Breyer I received after we moved into our house.

 

Given my longstanding love affair with rainbows, I had my heart set on the rainbow guy right from the start, but my luck with Gambler’s Choices hasn’t historically been all that great, so I didn’t think I stood much of a chance.
 
Luck was with me this time, because he’s the one I received straight from Breyer. I might have squealed when I opened the box. His show name is Regenbogen, which is German for rainbow.

Full Spectrum: It's Pride Month!

If this blog were a TV show, now would be the time for the following announcement: “This concludes the temporary blog hiatus. We will now return to your regularly scheduled programming.”

I’m still not back to my normal self, but I have started an antidepressant, and my anxiety has decreased a little bit as Oliver continues to settle in. [For the record, he’s still the cutest little man that ever was, even if he’s starting to test the limits as he gets more comfortable. Knocking my office supplies around my desk and swiping his tail across my face during work meetings are some of his new favorite pastimes.

Still, he’s becoming a cat, not just a scared little thing hiding at every sound, so I can’t really complain.]

I’m going to take the blog in a different direction for June, because first and foremost, I need to keep realistic expectations for myself as I continue working on my mental health, and secondly - it’s Pride Month!

My mother can vouch for the fact that I’ve always loved rainbows. In our old house, where I spent the first 10 years of my life, she had a collection of prisms which she hung from the kitchen ceiling. The kitchen was on the west side of the house, so any afternoon when the sun was shining, the walls and floors were covered in dancing rainbows. I loved to be in there. 

I was also the kid in elementary school who got yelled at for taking too long to put the crayons away because I had to put them in rainbow order in the box.

As an adult, rainbows have another meaning to me - I am an outspoken, visible supporter of the LGBTQIA+ community. I started to write out the ways I’m involved, but that got to sounding like I’m tooting my own horn, and that’s really not who I am as a person. If you’re interested in the ways I show up for the community or the list of organizations I support, just ask.

In honor of Pride Month, my love for rainbows, and my firm belief that all individuals have the right to be treated with dignity and respect and to be loved and accepted for who they are, all my posts this month will be in the Full Spectrum series and will feature one or more of my rainbow-colored models. Here’s a preview!

 

 

Be inclusive and kind, love your neighbor, treat others as you would want to be treated, and value the beautiful diversity of the human experience.

A Brief Hiatus

If you're a regular visitor here, you may have noticed that I've fallen off my posting schedule this past week.

 

I need to take a brief hiatus. Every May since 2015, like clockwork, my brain hands me the unwanted gift of seasonal depression. I had hoped that my horrid bout of depression back in December and January meant that May would give me a miss this time ... but alas, here we are, in the thick of it.

 

I've got all the usual stuff - sadness, hopelessness, fatigue, brain fog, irritability, etc. but the most inconvenient part (and the most damaging to the blog) is the apathy. Every post requires planning, photography sessions, and not a small amount of time to write. I don't have much desire to do or care about anything right now - I could sit on the couch and stare into space for hours and not be bothered in the least - and the little I have gets divided between work and Oliver, which means everything else has gone by the wayside.

 

[Side note: If you're not offended by excessive, gratuitous, and hilarious use of the f-bomb, this song on YouTube is accurate to describe my mental state right now.]

 

I thought about pushing through, but I think that would lead to bad writing and boring posts, and my models deserve better than that. Instead, I'm gonna just accept where I'm at and take the rest of May off. 

 

I've already got the June 1 post written and ready to go, so that's when I'm planning to hop back in.

Full Spectrum: "Surprise" Web Specials

For today’s Full Spectrum post, I’ll be talking about my two decorator “Hey, here’s a surprise web special!” models.

 

 

For all that he’s not blue, this is one of my favorite decorator models in my collection. He's a lovely bay, nicely shaded, and fall is my favorite season of the year.

#712046 Fall in Love, a run of just 200 pieces on the ever-popular Nokota mold, was a surprise Cyber Monday special run in 2011. Like many web specials, he was offered by random drawing. I was not lucky enough to get selected.

On Saturday, April 28, 2012, I was attending the Southwest PA Classic show in southwest PA, hosted by my friends Bonnie and Leslie. I was just sitting there minding my own business when one of my friends (I think it was Kelly W) came over to me and said, “Fall in Love is available for straight purchase on Breyer’s site!” I didn’t have a smartphone until 2015, and I’m pretty sure I didn’t have my work laptop with me, so I have no idea how I ordered one. Maybe Kelly let me borrow her phone? Whatever the case, I was successful in snagging one. He gets to show in collectibility from time to time under the name Hojas, which is Spanish for leaves.

 

*****

Let’s talk about the Vault Sale.

In December 2012, five days before Christmas, Breyer announced that they would be releasing limited quantities of rare things through the Collector’s Club Vault sale. No one knew exactly what to expect. That round, they had Connoisseurs, including Silverado and Moon Warrior. Everyone promptly lost their shit. Breyer’s website malfunctioned quite a lot and most of the stock was grossly oversold (like … 30 people thought they got a Silverado, and less than a half dozen people actually ended up with one).

In May 2013, they announced another vault sale. This one invited us to “Strike the Mother Lode” with a limited run model. People were a little more wary given the issues from last time, but most of us dutifully logged in at 9:00 p.m. to take a chance.

The website crashed. As in HTTP error: 504 Gateway Timeout, “Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage” crashed. Amidst the flailing and constant refreshing, this wonderful LOTR meme was born:

 

After 13 minutes, the #760238 Mother Lode models appeared - a run of just 100 pieces, split into 80 of the solid gold charm, 10 appaloosa, and 10 pinto. They sold out within seconds. I am a huge Lady Phase fan and had one in my cart, but the checkout page took too long to load, and I got the sad notification that the stock was no longer available and my cart was empty. Blab and Facebook were full of many, many angry and disappointed people. I was among them.

Then, an hour after the models finally appeared on the website, someone posted in the Blab thread that more were back up. I ran straight to the site, did not pass Go, did not collect $200 … and I got one!

 

I didn’t quite believe it til I got the order confirmation and shipping notice. Obviously I got the solid gold charm, which was fine with me. I’m happy to have gotten one at all, and for cost. She gets to show occasionally; her show name is Vera Madre.

Collectibility Spotlight: Volunteer Models, Part 1

BreyerFest is my favorite week of the year - and I do mean week, since I am down there Monday through Sunday - and it’s less than 60 days away. I’m starting to get excited.

I wanted to go to BreyerFest ever since I saw the first advertisement for it in the 1991 box catalog. In May of 2010, I quit a terrible job and bought my first BreyerFest ticket all in the same day. The former was an act of self-preservation; the latter was me saying, by God, I need some joy in my life, so I’m going to go do this thing I’ve always wanted to do. Later that day, I chatted with my parents about it, and when I said that I’d wanted to go to BreyerFest since I was a kid, I distinctly remember my mom saying, “You should have asked us. We’d have taken you.”

I was torn between kicking pre-teen/teen me for the missed opportunity, and awe that they would have even considered taking on the expense and the 8-hour drive each way for pre-teen/teen me to gallivant amongst plastic ponies for an entire weekend. I don’t think I ever would have asked for that much, but I’m glad to know all the same that they would have said yes. They have always been my biggest hobby champions and enablers.

BreyerFest 2010 was a magical experience. I’ll cover it in one of my “bonus” blog posts - perhaps later this month. Whilst wandering around the events at KHP that year, I learned that you could apply to volunteer for various jobs throughout the weekend - seminar attendant, the kids’ craft and activity tent, the diorama contest, the swap meet, and more - and that you got an exclusive model for doing so. In 2011, I applied as a workshop/seminar attendant, and was chosen. I have volunteered eleven more times since then - in 2013 for the diorama contest, and every year since 2016 (except 2020) as the results manager for the Children & Youth Shows. In 2025, I also stewarded BOO, Breyer’s fall online show. I have 12 volunteer models in my collection thus far.

 

 

This guy, #711430 Nottingham, the 2011 volunteer model, got his own post back in March as a sentimental favorite. You can go read more about him there, if you like. I don’t think I can say any better how much he means to me.

 

 

This is also #711433 Opry’s second appearance on the blog; I talked about her in my January Singles Bar post as my only Clydesdale Mare. She was the 2013 volunteer model.

 

 

This dude exploded every algorithm I was using to try to predict the volunteer mold. Blew them all to smithereens. He was used here as #711468 Caipirinha, a run of 163 models for volunteering at BreyerFest 2016. He was also used that year as a glossy prize model AND an auction model, which was absolutely unheard of. I still grumble about him every time someone asks me if I’m doing predictions.

 

 

I still remember the collective hobby head explosion that happened when this gal, #711271 Assam, was revealed as the volunteer model at BreyerFest 2017. The Weather Girl mold has been tremendously popular in the hobby since her first release in 2011. She’s pretty and typey and conformationally solid, and this particular release commands quite a price on the secondary market. She shows fairly well for me; her show name is Almira. She was the overall breed reserve champ in the BreyerFest division at BVG Live last year and got me a gigantic rosette.

Next month, I’ll go over my volunteer models from 2018-2022, and in July, I’ll finish up with 2023 and on. The timing of the July post should coincide with my receipt of my volunteer model for the Children & Youth Show. Since they started splitting into three colors, I have always received the third colorway, so I anticipate that’s what I’ll get this year as well. We’ve seen sooty buckskin and palomino so far. They said it’ll be another dilute; I’m hoping for a nice dark dun or a silver bay/silver black. I’m terrified it’ll be a double cream dilute (cremello or perlino), because those are my least favorite.

Special Effects: Tour Models

Starting in 1994, Breyer hosted “Tour” events across the country, at which a special run model was available for purchase. These events continued through 2002, then reappeared again briefly for 2007 and 2008 before being discontinued. I didn’t attend any of these events myself, but have picked up three of the tour models on the secondary market in the years since.

 

Ironically, the order I purchased them in is also the order in which they were released. 

 

 

As a person who congas Big Ben, I had to have #700301 Stormchaser, the 2001 tour model. His official production quantity was never released. I looked for one for many years, but his asking price was always more than I wanted to spend. Then, at my first BreyerFest in 2010, I found one for sale for $40 at the CHIN. Score!

 

 

#703002 Banat er Rih was the tour model for 2002. Like Stormchaser, her production quantity is unknown. I purchased mine from a seller on Model Horse Sales Pages in December 2011. Her color is soft and lovely; she’s one of my favorite releases on the PAM.

 

 

#703018 Caliente was the 2008 tour model and was a run of 1,000 pieces. I’m picky with chestnuts, but this guy’s color is outstanding. The glossy one is even more delicious; a friend of mine has one and I drool over it whenever she brings him out to a show. I purchased my matte one from the Black Horse Ranch collection sale during BreyerFest 2015. He doesn’t get to show often - there are better Spanish sculpts out there these days - but occasionally a class list will be split out enough that I give him a go for collectibility reasons. His show name is El Volcan.

The only tour models remaining on my wish list are the unobtainium raffle models - Silver Twilight, Batal, and Amira.

On a Regular Basis: The Winx Trio

Well, I knew it would happen eventually - I’d get so busy that the regularly scheduled time for a post would come and go, and I wouldn’t have a post written. I like to be 3-4 posts ahead of schedule, but that hasn’t happened for at least the last month. I’m writing them the day before, the morning of, or right up to the posting deadline.

It happens to the best of us, I suppose.

And I have a good excuse. I've been quite occupied with our newest addition.

 

We named him Oliver. Chris wanted a name that reflected his origin story, and a friend of his suggested Oliver Twist - a little guy with a rough start who maintained his goodness and decency in spite of the injustice and corruption around him. Our little man continues to be a total sweetheart - last night, he put his paws on my chest and rubbed his face on my nose - so the name fits. 

 

I’ll probably still call him “Little Man” forever. It’s already morphed into “Mannarino” as a nickname, so I’m off and running with my usual shenanigans. By this time next year, he’ll have at least half a dozen nicknames that have nothing to do with his actual name. 

 

He went to the vet today and got a clean bill of health - no FIV and no FeLV! He's got to be the luckiest cat in the world, to have been outside for a year, scrapping with other cats, and not have picked up a single infectious disease. He's also flea-free and his skin has healed enough that we don't have to give him the 10 days of Clavamox, which will make everyone happy. We're going to leave the sunroom door open so he can come into the house on his own schedule.

Since I’m (a) already a day late on this post and (b) still horrifically short on time, I’m going to give you a brief but telling glimpse into just how obsessed I am with bay things.

 

Behold, my *cough cough* three *cough cough* regular run #1828 Winx models.

 

 

The first one is explainable - I bought her as part of the 2021 Collector Club Appreciation sale. I wanted a glossy Winx, so I ordered a matte one in the hope they’d get the hint - and, happily, they did!

 

 

Then in January of 2022, not two months after I had just bought my first regular run Winx, Heather B and I went to Sir Troy’s Toy Kingdom in search of a Harley for her. (We are all slightly obsessed with Harley, the famous Sugarbush Draft who escorts horses to the track, and the Friesian is one of Heather’s favorite molds, so of course she had to have a Harley.) I’d already heard about chalky Winxes in the mix, so I wanted to look at the ones at Sir Troy’s to see if I could find one.

 

I'm pretty sure this gal is one. Her paint is much thicker than my original.

 

 

And then this other one with red shading jumped out at me, and I was doomed.

 

I keep telling myself I should sell one, but I just can't do it.