Breyer Mid-Year Releases - Our Likes, Dislikes, and Surprises

Breyer Mid-Years are here!   So, what do we think of them?  Well, we’ve got some likes, some dislikes, and even a couple of surprises.

Voyeur ~ The Bristol sculpt sees its first public release in Voyeur, and Breyer did well at matching Voyeur’s coat color, while including subtle highlights and shading.  Very nice!  He is solid bay with no white, but he does have shaded hooves and shining silver shoes.  Our only dislikes here are that his eyes are rather bright tan, a little too bright too look completely natural with this coat color, in our opinion.  We’re also not thrilled with Breyer’s positioning of him in his box – Instead of keeping the model in its horizontal position as designed, they’ve placed him diagonally, so he looks awkward in the box.  Once released, though, he’s stunning.   His clear plastic stand is stylish and doesn’t distract from the model.  Another win here.

Buckeye ~ We’re delighted to have a spotted Mule in the lineup, and the fact that he’s a portrait of a mule who’s getting people’s attention around the world... Even better!   The real Buckeye has a coat pattern that is just impossible to replicate in mass production, so the model doesn’t look a great deal like him, but we appreciate the effort.  He’s got big, interlocking spots that make him a real standout, a white tail that shades to grey, and a lovely, soft-looking tan and grey muzzle. 

Vicki Wilson's Kentucky ~ One of our big surprises for this season is Kentucky.  From his promo photos, we guessed him to be “another bay” on the San Domingo mold.  Instead, he’s a lovely young bay roan!  He sports a warm bay coat with just a bit of white speckling sprayed over it, but his tail features a white dock, showing he’ll roan out more as he ages.  We were quite excited to see this neat coloring on a mold that has been used in so many colors.  Now I wish we’d ordered more - I think he’ll be quite popular!

GTR Patrick’s Vindicator ~ What an adorable set!  Patrick has a blue eye, which surprised us and made us smile.  He is a golden sorrel with all the feisty energy of the real Patrick, and we love that his jump, which comes with him, even has his name on it!  We’re currently sold out but have more coming soon.

Classic Brabant “Mighty Muscle” ~ This is the first of the two new sculpts to arrive.  We were a little nervous that his promo photos looked very “smooth” rather than detailed, and unfortunately, that’s what we got.  For a model called Mighty Muscle, we find him lacking exactly that.  His muscling is rather smooth and undefined, and his chest is narrow for a draft horse.  He’ll probably find success as a draft cross, but we’re not buying the Brabant labeling.  Otherwise, they’ve given him a nice, rich bay color with a little snip, and as the initial release on a new mold, he’ll probably hold or increase in value over time, so he’s still a good bet to add to your herd.  I bet we’ll see a lot of customs on him… I even have a couple of ideas I may try myself!

Classic Rearing Mustang "American Dream" ~ The second new sculpt of 2019 has created a huge amount of excitement... and he lives up to it!  This is a gorgeous new mold with lots of detail, a well-balanced pose, expression... everything we hoped, and they wrapped him up in a really handsome blue roan coat with a darker head and lots of tiny roan speckles!  He's sure to be the top seller of the group.

SM Glitter Unicorns ~ The four new SM molds shrunk from larger sculpts have seen a lot of success as unicorns, and this set is no exception.  They live up to expectations, with vibrant colors and lots of sparkle!  We know they’ll be enjoyed in may collections around the world.

CollectA

American Cream Draft Horse ~ This is our other surprise from this round of releases.  His promo picture didn’t do him justice.  He is a mostly cream with grey and tan shading that came out quite pretty, and we love the cantering position.  Deborah McDermott has done it again, impressing us with another lovely sculpt.  And unlike the new Breyer Brabant, this guy sports a broad draft chest, heavy neck and body, as a draft horse should.  Our only qualm is that we’ve seen more tiny marks and rubs than we used to on CollectAs pre-2017, but that’s across the line, not specific to this handsome guy.

Rainbow Unicorn Mare ~ This is the only one of the new unicorns we brought in, and we really like her.  I don’t know what they used for a paint on her body, but she has almost a silky feel.  She stands well and is sculpted with great realism.  We’d love her as a horse, so we love her as a unicorn. (Hint to CollectA – Give us a horse version later on.)  Her mane and tail are rose shading into purple and sprinkled with glitter.  They’ve tried to protect the horns by wrapping their heads in foam sheathing and then in cardboard, but the one we opened to display still has a bend in her horn.  With vinyl, that’s par for the course, and she’s so nicely done overall that we can overlook that.

Zebra Foal ~ Cuteness with stripes!  It still amazes us the level of paint detail CollectA is able to get on their smallest sculpts.  This guy has perfect stripes and a line of hair along his spine, just like real zebras.  His expression is adorable, and he goes with his mother perfectly. 

Timber Wolf ~ We couldn’t resist bringing in this guy, even though he’s not equine.   We hope to bring in more other animals starting real soon, so he leads the pack, so to speak.  And we’re not disappointed!  He’s gorgeously done, from his sculpt to his paint job, which takes advantage of the texturing in his coat to add lots of grey, tan, and white shading.  His eyes are closed and mouth is open in a howl, and even his teeth are well-sculpted and painted.  Another winner!

Corral Fence with Gates ~ CollectA hasn’t historically offered a lot of accessories for their horses, so we’re glad to see this fence set.  Although it appears grey in the promo photo, it is white, which we are quite happy about.  We measured it against both their Icelandic and Morgan, and found it comes up their chests, so it is scaled well for their molds (and would work with Schleich well, also).  It includes a generous eleven fence panels plus two gate panels. Panels can be easily attached and detached through a pin-and-cup system, so it can be used in lots of configurations.  Besides being great for kids play herds, we expect to see it used in dioramas, show displays, and as backdrops to shelves in adults’ collections.

I hope you’ve enjoyed our rundown of the new releases!  Of course, these are just our opinions, and in the wonderful world of collecting, you don’t have to take our word for any of it – You can own your own!  I’m sure we’ll run out of some of these before Breyer can get us more, so if we’re out of the one you’re in love with right now, please check back frequently… We have more on order!