Well, in the span of 24 hours, I've had a migraine, lost a washing machine, and lost a water heater. We have a home warranty, so the washer is at least covered, but the way the water heater died means it wasn't covered, so that's a gigantic unanticipated out-of-pocket expense. Thankfully they offer financing, because whew. This one hurts.
On to happier things.
On to happier things.
Social media has been flooded the past few days with pictures of the new 2026 regular runs. As usual, most of them aren't ones I need, though I'll definitely be picking up most if not all of the new single Stablemates (Wintersong! Mustang!), and if that glossy gray unicorn Shannondell is as pretty in person as he is in the stock photo, one of those will end up on my shelves eventually, too.
Given the buzz, it's appropriate that today's post is from my Regular Run series. I’m not much of a pony mold collector, but I love this little gal - Breyer’s Shetland Pony.
I’ve had and sold a number of them over the years (a palomino pinto, an alabaster, the Denim & Diamonds Vintage Club set) and only have three in my collection at the moment - all of which, happily, are regular runs, making them an easy choice for this series. All three were issued with the unimaginative name of Shetland Pony, the same as the mold name. In fact, of the 14 regular run releases on this mold, all but four were issued with just Shetland Pony as the name. With so many cute pony names out there, talk about a missed opportunity!
I’ve had and sold a number of them over the years (a palomino pinto, an alabaster, the Denim & Diamonds Vintage Club set) and only have three in my collection at the moment - all of which, happily, are regular runs, making them an easy choice for this series. All three were issued with the unimaginative name of Shetland Pony, the same as the mold name. In fact, of the 14 regular run releases on this mold, all but four were issued with just Shetland Pony as the name. With so many cute pony names out there, talk about a missed opportunity!
This #801 Shetland Pony, made from 1989-1991, is one of the earliest models in my collection. My parents gave her to me for Christmas in 1991. I’ve never shown her and I don’t ever remember giving her a barn name as a kid. In the spirit of making up for Breyer's lack of naming, I think I’ll call her Greta.
I picked up this #1486 Shetland Pony, a regular run from 2012-2013, from Tuesday Morning in April 2014. I loved the days when Breyer sent their extra stock there, because it meant picking up regular runs at a pretty steep discount.
This gal has the USA stamp, which I find totally weird, as the USAs were mostly taken off the molds when production moved from New Jersey to China during the late 1990s and early 2000s. She also has a VIN of A0713GCDG on the bottom of one hoof, so she was definitely made overseas. Perhaps they just never took the USA stamp off the mold? Anyone else have one of these (or any of the later releases, like the Best of British, Dally, Mittens, etc.) and do any of them have the USA stamp? Inquiring minds want to know.
This gal has the USA stamp, which I find totally weird, as the USAs were mostly taken off the molds when production moved from New Jersey to China during the late 1990s and early 2000s. She also has a VIN of A0713GCDG on the bottom of one hoof, so she was definitely made overseas. Perhaps they just never took the USA stamp off the mold? Anyone else have one of these (or any of the later releases, like the Best of British, Dally, Mittens, etc.) and do any of them have the USA stamp? Inquiring minds want to know.
I've named her Blanche.
I grabbed this #23 Shetland Pony, a regular run from 1973-1988, off eBay in January 2015. I’d just won a solid-faced variation of the JCPenney buckskin Lady Phase and Stock Horse Foal set from the same seller, so I took a look through their other listings to see if there was anything else I wanted. This Shetland Pony has the B stamp and was a Buy-It-Now price of $9.99, so that didn’t take much thought. The seller was nice enough to send an invoice with combined shipping, so that helped, too.
Her name is now Petunia.
I’ve got three more Shetland Ponies on my wish list: the 2017 BreyerFest Dally & Spanky set, the glossy #1486 BreyerFest Live Show prize model, and the black pinto from the #3066 Our First Pony Gift Set to match the two foals my Dad liberated for me from his friend's antique store.
I have a small conga of Shetlands (8) that run from very early to very recent (Mittens.) Only one has the USA stamp, my dark bay Shetland Pony, #23, produced 1973 - 1988.
ReplyDeleteThanks for looking at all your Shetlands and doing some recon! I'm pretty sure I posted mine somewhere on Facebook shortly after I got him to see if the USA stamp was weird, and the conclusion was yes, but I can't find that post anymore.
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