The 2023 regular runs are officially revealed!
The photos actually surfaced on some model horsey blogs (and probably Facebook, but I don't look there) a few days ago, but that was just screenshots from an online dealer catalogue which was swiftly password protected once they realised normal collectors were viewing it too!
So I've waited a couple of days til Breyer put the releases up on their own site, now you can click through the linked names to see the full size pictures from several angles, the real horses behind the models, and text descriptions too.
Traditional
The Orren Mixer 'Ideal' series, using the same mould in a series of different colours, carries on from the Quarter Horse and Paint Horse to feature the Appaloosa. The colour's nice enough, and I think people who've been collecting all of these will be really happy with this new one being so flashy and detailed, but I'm still not a fan of the mould so I'll be giving it a miss.
A fjord! A FJORD.
I'm so glad they're letting this mould through to the regular run range so quickly, and that they've done it in a really nice typical shade of dun for the breed. I'd hoped they were saving yellow dun for the first regular run when the first ever release for the Premier Club members was a blue dun instead, but it's just really nice to see they're letting us have such a nice model as a regular run.
I suspect this one will be incredibly popular with collectors, and with the supply issues we've had in the UK for the last few years, it might end up rather hard to get hold of just by hoping to catch one in stock before they've all gone, so I'll definitely be putting her on pre-order as soon as any of my usual stockists have them available to reserve in advance like that. I neeeed this fjord.
This one's a portrait model of a horse whose rider starred in a Netflix documentary film. I don't do Netflix so I've never heard of them, but it's interesting to see them picking a horse who's famous for a reason other than being a show/competition champion, famous stud sire, or racing star. It's a nice action mould, and the horse has got enough white markings to not have the plain-semigloss-black-all-over effect of Breyer's usual jet black paintjobs.
A mare and foal set, and another first-time appearance for new moulds as a regular run release. I especially like how the mare looks very calm and placid, just standing there, while her foal is more lively - they'd make lots of sweet photo poses together. The colour is nicely done, too, it looks like there's a hint of metallic shine but nothing over the top toward being too golden, this is more subtle and realistic. The mare's also got a great quirky nose marking, and if you scroll to the last photo you can see the real one has that too. This set's going on my wishlist as well.
Yet again, the first time this sculpt has been a regular run. Not my preferred kind of Arabian, with the long snakey outline, even longer legs, and showring stance, definitely one mould I'll be avoiding no matter what colour they ever do it in, but equally I can see it being pretty popular with people who do enjoy this type. The Peter Stone Arabian has been much-loved and very successful showing, even though I hate it and will never buy one, this new mould is like Breyer's version of the Stone Arabian and likely to divide opinion in a similar way!
Classic
I rather like this one! It's still oddly lacking in muscle for a draft breed, but looks much better in this colour than the bland bay we had last time round.
Not so keen on the marking design here - the appaloosa blanket pattern is fine but the pinto flash on the shoulder is a bit blobby and blunt, and the blurred markings on the legs don't match with it, which gives the paintjob a disjointed and amateurish look - not a fan.
Quite pretty, one of the more elegant moulds and the colouring's done well with just enough face shading and speckles to be interesting.
The first time this mould has been back in a real horse colour (rather than bright fantasy/decorator patterns) since it was first sold as the yearly limited edition. And the colour does really suit it, helped along by the fact it has no white socks, so there's none of that unsightly/lazy blurring to spoil the paintjob - I'll be getting this one.
Another one for my wishlist, I have this mould in chestnut (after being dubious about the mane and tail for years, I gave in when I saw a bargain one, hah) and will enjoy having it in bay as well. Plenty of shading, and a nice shade of brown paint too - not too wishy-washy like some, nice and rich. There are blurred socks, but not too bad - they go fairly briskly from black to white, rather than fading out down the leg.
I can't quite tell whether this is a black pinto with some light reflecting weirdly from whatever surface they photographed it on, or whether it really is a dark brown colour. The mould is a Morgan, which don't come in tobiano pinto anyway, so that doesn't help! But you can see here how they've included the leg markings as part of the crisp masking process, so the colour pattern looks united as a whole, rather than having the body markings crisp and the legs blurred, like the pintaloosa I was complaining about before.
A pretty colour horse, the pale shade of buckskin known as buttermilk, but the set will be expensive cos of the rider and tack, so not one I'd consider getting. Notice also how Breyer riders' heads are a different scale to their bodies or their horses!
Effortless Grace horse and foal set
I like the foal sculpt more than the adult horse in this set, but luckily I don't like this colour design on either of them, so I won't be torn about wanting one and not the other!
Wild and Free horse and foal set
The rearing mustang is one of the nicest new sculpts for the Classics scale, in a good colour here, and the foal is sweet in that playful pose too. This one's a maybe for me but I haven't got round to buying the roan or pinto mustangs either yet, I'm still not really convinced whether I collect this scale or would rather save up and have more Traditionals and Stablemates instead!
Talking of Stablemates, here's the next scale...
A set of four, and as usual there's some colours I'm keener on than others! The roan is gorgeous, the dunskin is usual and nicely done, the grey is ok if you take the blotches as heavy Tetrarch/Chubari spotting rather than the dapples they're supposed to be, and the black one is boring with no shading and very blurred legs. I'll get the set, but mainly for the first two.
We also have a new batch of individual Stablemates, packaged on cards with different item numbers, so you can just pick up or order the one you want rather than taking pot luck with blind bags - hurrah!
Hopefully these will be easier to buy in the UK than the last lot, which proved very elusive - they sold out quickly, and rarely got restocked, so you were very lucky to catch them anywhere, especially the rarer moulds.
Now for some reason the single Stablemates aren't on the Breyer site yet, even though the photos have been released to retailers, so we'll swap to a random shop links for these (other stockists are equally good, I'm not advertising, just picked one which has them up already)
This one's quite similar to a chestnut roan they did on the mould once before, but with spots rather than speckles! The spotting is done pretty well, if the production models are all copied accurately from a master pattern then they'll be nice, not too regular in size and spacing
The 'Darley' mould as a single model for the first time, so a good way to buy them for customising rather than only being able to get one as part of larger set.
Nice to see the MFT for the first time outside a blind bag, the colour suits it and it's a mould I like much more at this tiny scale than the original big one.
The Rearing Andalusian but not in a colour any pure Iberian breed can be, so he'd make a good Spanish Mustang instead.
This one's lovely, chestnut might be a very ordinary colour but the shading here is very effective and suits the mould very well. This mould hasn't been sold outside those 70th Anniversary blind bags before, either.
And finally, a new addition to the regular run range - we had the braided, docked-tail version of this mould in the 70th Anniversary blind bags, but we've never had the loose-maned, full-tailed version. The colour's great, with a lot of shading done by varying the thickness of application for the brown paint.
There are a few other things : colourful decorators at all three scales, ornaments, and some more kiddie-orientated cartoony horses with brushable manes. They're not the kind of model I collect so I've not bothered to include them, but they're all here if you'd like a look.
I always appreciate your detailed reviews
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