Breyer 2023s - Mid-Year Mojave and my Mare & Foal set

I recently had another parcel from MPV in Germany - you might've guessed that from my WIA Mawari post! But that wasn't the only thing in the box, the UK import problem isn't resolved yet, so I'm still relying on them for my Breyer purchases at the moment.

Somewhat ironically, we never used to get mid-year releases sent over til the following spring anyway, so ordering this one from mainland Europe means it arrived actually in the same summer it was released, which never would've happened when Breyers were sold here, haha!

This handsome stallion is Mojave, the mid-year model on the fairly recent Fireheart mould. The first time this sculpt has been sold as a regular run, so I'm really happy that the first one I could actually buy is such a good colour!

Sometimes it happens that they go for such a bland or unappealing paintjob that I decide against my first chance to own a new mould, and have to wait years til it comes round again in the regular run line. And some moulds never do - it makes quite interesting reading to see just how many moulds, generally well-received sculpts of popular breeds, have been repeatedly overlooked...

We've still only had ONE regular run of Bluegrass Bandit way back in 2008.

The original Justadream arabian mare with her head up (2009) hasn't been used again - only the head-down version with that conversion error which gave her double shoulders.
Valentine hasn't been seen in the regular runs since 2010 even though her foal Heartbreaker has been used three more times.
We only ever had the one Marwari, in palomino back in 2012.
The Valegro mould has only been 2015's original portrait model, unless we include gold Valegro, and, well, he's still Valegro!

The Traditional cob Vanner has only come back as a Unicorn since his single regular run ten years ago. Although perhaps that last one shouldn't count in this list as he's STILL available after all this time, so rather than being a mould which showed up once then got forgotten, it's more like the release which just never went away and they haven't changed him yet, haha!

So as you can see, sometimes it's a reeaallly long wait for another chance to buy a regular run on any one mould, meaning I'm always extra-happy when they do bring out a GREAT coat colour the first time round!

And isn't it a brilliant colour! His masking is all very neatly done, with super-crisp edges and no blurry bits where the spray got under the edges or the colour smudged. I know a lot of people have found quality control mistakes in pinto and spotted colours, getting worse over the last few years, but this boy doesn't have a flaw anywhere on all that intricately shaped white patterning.

The colour seems to really suit the sculpt, too, he's a mustang but not a portrait of any one individual horse. So many Breyers are done as portraits now, it's quite a surprise when they issue one which is just a made-up example of a breed, but I don't think it detracts from him at all that he doesn't have a life-story to tell, and wasn't chosen for achievements or fame. Those details are nice to know, but not necessary to enjoy the model on the shelf, he succeeds in being impressive purely on the aesthetic appeal of a dramatic mould and colour combo!

With the sun at a different angle, you can see how his coat is very slightly metallic, not overly gold and plasticky looking, but just the sort of sheen a chestnut will often have on a summer coat.

Here's his markings on the other side, just as flashy in either direction! You can hardly tell in the photos, but he has a brown eye on this side, and a blue eye on the other, which was a nice choice for them to make when not having to copy a real face - the extra effort in each paintjob to carefully add in the brown and blue paint isn't something they normally do for the cheaper runs.

I haven't managed to think of a good name for him yet, his original name refers to the desert in California and Nevada so maybe a mountain/river or wild plant/bird from that area would be good, I need to go through some lists and see if anything jumps out as a name-like word!

I also have another Breyer 2023 release to share here, cos it's my birthday and my mum went halves to buy me a mare and foal set (she says she is paying specifically for the mare half, as she's the mum and I'm her 'foal', haha). They travelled over in the same MPV box to save on postage, and so they can share a blog post too.

A pair of portrait models, let's meet them one at a time...

This beautifully relaxed-looking mare is Ebony Shines, a former reining champion Quarter Horse who left the competition ring to become a broodmare. I like how soft she's been sculpted, a little muscle but not so deeply defined and crisp as they'd depict on a fit working horse, a nicely observed choice which tells us this mould was always intended to be released as part of a set - she's designed as a mum, rather than the usual way round where a foal is paired up with an existing mare of the same breed.
I also like the position of her head, low down in a chilled-out pose which almost looks like the beginning of an afternoon shade-nap when she's posed alone - give her a minute's quiet and she'll probably pop one foot up. And although I love a good dynamic action pose, I'm also really fond of models which are just horses being horses, not all models need to be captured in athletic motion or else posed square and alert like a stud advert, and it's really sweet to imagine this mare with a placid temperament and lazy life.

Much like with Mojave, I inspected the masking and found no problems on my model - sometimes a mane sculpted flat to the neck will end up awkwardly mis-aligned, so the masked outline doesn't follow the 3D edges of the hair, but hers seems just about right. If I was being super picky, there's perhaps a tiny line of gold along the edge of the forelock, but it's such a fine margin it barely shows, and doesn't detract from her pretty face in the slightest. Her paint has a similar level of metallic sheen to his, too, just enough that it's there but looks natural and not too golden.

Here's one of the nicest features on the entire model - her interesting nose! The stripe divides at the end and goes around her nostril, and the little bit of pinking they've given her is perfect.

The near side, which unusually feels like the non-display side with this sculpt! I think it's cos there's a very slight asymmetry in the pose of her head, even though she's facing more or less straight forward, she's got her attention a little to one side (note the turned ear in her headshot), so here she's looking away from us even though her neck isn't physically turned!

And now for the foal. The totally adorable, characterful little foal! 

Everything from the flicked-up tail to the twitched-back ear is beautifully done, a real moment of movement captured. I especially love that they didn't just paint her as an identical clone of her mother, with a coat of the same colour paint - the foal is totally matte with no metallic effect, and slightly paler in tone, just the way a real foal's first coat will have a different texture, and shed out to the adult colour and sheen a few months later.

The markings are copied from a real foal this mare had in 2021, and I think the amount of

white here makes her look even better than if they'd chosen one which had four dark feet like mum, a good contrast when they're stood together.

And the other side, her tail looks a bit funny from this angle but over all she's a very appealing little sculpt, and as a stock breed she's very versatile, this one could be re-used as a Paint or Appaloosa too.

Of course, the very best thing about a mare and foal set is posing them together, and I had a lot of fun arranging them for this little photoshoot, taking way more pictures than I needed, then being unable to decide which were the best! So I think the easiest thing to do here is just drop all the pictures in, and you can see the lot - just click any of them to view full size - enjoy!