CollectA in 2017 - Who's being Discontinued?

Well, we knew it was coming.  With Reeves (owner of Breyer) taking over US Distribution of the CollectA line, we expected them to make changes and discontinue certain items.  Some, however, have come as a surprise.  Here's what's staying and what's going in 2017:

We had a good idea that they'd discontinue the 1:12 scale models, and they have.  Those would compete directly with their Classics line, so this was expected.  The stock that dealers have is all they'll be able to get of this size, so if you want them for your collection, grab them before they sell out.  This includes:

1:12 Arabian Stallion in all three colors:  Bay, Chestnut, and Charcoal Grey Pintabian

1:12 Andalusian Stallion in Bay and Dapple Grey

1:12 Mustang Stallion in Light Palomino and Sorrel Pinto

All of the 1:12 models were sold two ways - Loose (sent to us wrapped in foam sheeting) and Boxed in Window-Front Boxes.  We will miss these guys for the depth of their detailing, including their manes and tails, which have a lot more "air" than most of Breyer's sculpts.

Also, all of the "older" CollectA sculpts are gone this year, as expected.  Breyer is only going to carry those sculpted by Deb McDermott - a move we approve of.  The older sculpts had the larger heads and feet that made them similar to older Schleich molds, great as toys, but having no value at model horse shows.

The only one of these we carry is the adorable little lying Lipizzaner Foal:

They've also apparently decided that the CollectA Stable Playset might compete with their current stables, so this has been disco'd.  We have just one left:

Several foals were also discontinued, as expected, since not as many people buy foals as buy adult horses.  Those leaving us include the "Looking Back" Haflinger Foal, the Trotting Haflinger Foal, the Mustang Foal in bay roan, and the sorrel Quarter Horse Foal:

Now for the surprises.  Top on our list of items we didn't expect to be discontinued is the Akhal Teke model in both metallic buckskin and metallic perlino!  This is a great sculpt, with stand-out coat colors that mimic the unique, truly metallic-looking coats this breed is famous for.  We don't know why Breyer passed on this one, and we'll really miss them!  We have only a few left of each.  Photos don't do them justice - When you see the way the light plays on their coats and brings them to life, you'll wonder what Breyer was thinking, too!

We lost some ponies this year, too.  The Dartmoor Pony Stallions have been discontinued in both bay and black --

and the galloping Shetland in Sorrel

Other surprise discontinues include the Grulla Fjord Stallion (One of my favorites!  Sadly, we're sold out and I didn't even get one into my personal collection!), the Sorrel Arabian Mare, the Lusitano Stallion in Grey, and the Morgan Stallion in Bay, all of which are beautiful.  My only guess as to why these aren't being carried this year is that Breyer folks had to narrow several molds down to a single color, and perhaps they only had these photos to go on, rather than the actual models in front of them.  Had they been looking at actual models, I think all four of these would have stayed, and perhaps some different ones would have been culled instead.  Get 'em before we sell out - I bet they'll sell quickly.

Fjord is sold out

What we have in stock is all we can get, and many of these have already started selling out.  We'll be sad to see them go, because each of these sculpts has delighted our customers.  We hope that Breyer may reconsider and bring some back in the future.  Meanwhile, they DID bring us a few sculpts that CollectA had advertised in 2016 but hadn't delivered to the US, including an Australian Stock Horse, Camargue Horse, Gypsy Foal, and our two favorites - The Black Forest Horse and British Spotted Pony.

We fell in love with them in 2014 and are thrilled that Breyer is giving their seal of approval to them starting in 2017!  These great sculpts only lacked good marketing to reach their potential, and with Reeves distributing them, we think many collectors will finally discover these gorgeous horses.  Sized so they can fit into the smallest collecting spaces and priced so most everyone can afford them, their quality will surprise you! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 To answer Christi's comment below - Breyer appears to be carrying only the horse and "Farm Life" lines from CollectA.  The catalog we received did not include the Prehistoric, Sea Life, or Wildlife lines... but we're hopeful they may market them, just not under the Breyer name.  We'll keep you posted!