What an exciting week - We look forward all year to the day new releases are announced! (Happily, we now get that "day" several times during the year.) Breyer's 2019 new releases show a wide variety, and it's going to be a great year! Here are some of our favorites, some things that surprised us... and, well, Cupcake.
(Bear with the photos - Breyer hasn't sent us "clean" images yet.)
Our favorites among the new models are:
The new PRE Stallion mold, originally released as Duende, and then at Breyerfest as Straight Bet, gets his first public release as Dominante. He is the real-life sire of Breyer portrait model Gozosa (sold with his dam Fantasia), so you can now collect the complete family! We love this mold because while it's designed to be a Spanish horse, it also doubles as a Lippitt (or old style) Morgan. Eleda has a soft spot for old-style Morgans, like "Hippie" below, who was one of the horses she rode as a teenager giving trail rides for a campground. Both rugged and elegant, they can do an honest day's work and look good doing it.
We bet we'll be seeing the PRE Stallion in a variety of colors, representing breeds that will include old-style Morgans and Mustangs, as well as PRE. This rich chocolate bay is a great initial public release and sets the stage for a fun new conga.
We also love Truly Unsurpassed both because of her stunning markings and because she's on the crowd-favorite Lady Phase mold. These intricate markings show how far Breyer has come with masking, and it's great to see real horses so accurately portrayed.
Another initial public release, the Cantering Warmblood originally released to the Premiere Club as True North, is a handsome portrait of jumping horse Catch Me. He's going to be super popular with those who show, and customizers are going to buy him up in droves, too!
Surprises:
Not long after her releases in a decorator Woodgrain and silver filigree, we have the Connemara Mare in another decorator color. That was a definite surprise - We expected a few more realistic releases before she went decorator again. We do like her as a unicorn (and Sea Star is ADORABLE as a unicorn foal), but we're still on the fence about the color - Sometimes we love it; sometimes we cringe... What are your thoughts?
Another surprise is that the Classic Trotting Morgan Mare is suddenly a Saddlebred. We get it - She's a shaded grey to match Mason from last year, but it was definitely not something we saw coming. She looks pretty, so we're happy to have a Saddlebred who isn't racking added to the lineup.
Another surprise is that we get not one, but two Classic Rearing Stallions this year! He is being released both singly as a silver bay and as the shimmery light palomino Cloud in the new Cloud's Legacy set, proudly showing off three of his last foals out of Feldspar.
One model that surprised us by NOT being included in this year's new releases was Silver. We didn't see him at all last year, and 2017 had him only as limited runs: a Tractor Supply SR and the spring Limited Edition Liberty. We thought for sure he'd make an appearance in the regular run lineup this year. ...Could this mean something special at Breyerfest instead?
...and then there's Cupcake
Yep, we have no idea why either.
Feel-Good Models:
Every year, Breyer designates one or models to be sold with part of the proceeds going to good causes. This year we have a few, so if you like to collect models while helping out beneficial organizations, here are this year's benefit models so far:
As with each of the Cloud sets before it, this set's purchase will benefit the Cloud Foundation which helps protect America's Mustangs by advocating on their behalf in Congress.
Some of the proceeds from the purchase of the Protocol Gift Set go to Danny and Ron's Rescue, started by equestrian Danny Robertshaw and his partner, which has placed over 10,000 homeless dogs into good homes so far.
Purchase of the 2019 Holiday Horse or other items from the 2019 holiday line supports Breyer toy donation efforts to families in need.
It was hard to narrow down our list to name our top picks in each category... Who are your 2019 favorites, your surprises, and your... well, Cupcakes?
You can find all of the 2019s here and get yours pre-ordered to ship to you as soon as they land here.
2 comments
As someone who hasn’t purchased a Breyer in over 20 years, I absolutely lost my mind at seeing Sarafina and Skyler at Walmart and purchased them immediately. I have a large collection of realistic ones from the 90s so Cupcake was made for people like me who don’t really have the budget as an adult for collecting, but NEED the shiny glittery horses 😂 I love it so much. More glitter, more unicorns!!
Thunder is a real surprise for me. As a Bronco football fan living in a sea of hometown Texans fans, it’s great to see this living mascot finally get his own model. What will his box look like? Will it be a journey from his first Super Bowl appearance to his most recent in Super Bowl 50 with Peyton Manning? Does this mean Warpaint from the Chiefs could be next? (He’s the other “horsey” mascot in the football.) And just what I needed Breyer, another model to Conga (witty sarcasm there) with Catch Me. I have Ichabod from BreyerFest. Does this mean I have to find a True North now, too? Probably! I also love that Protocol has two “mutts.” I’m loving that new color on the Foxhound mold.