BreyerFest 2023 Models

Breyer has been revealing the BreyerFest models at a fast pace the past couple of weeks. There are some that have piqued my interest and others that are easy passes for me. I thought I'd share some of of my thoughts about them.

I really like Nemea and think he would be a great companion for the past BreyerFest model, Pharaoh, a 2008 tent special.

But Nemea is sooooo long he would have to be put at an angle on my shelves (that's why they call these models shelf eaters!) plus I do not really care for the mold. Having said that, I will probably get one - that paint job is really neat.

Vintage molds Lady Phase and the Standing Stock Horse Foal are probable purchases - Appaloosas are my favorite breed and vintage models are the heart of my collection. But, I never have liked that foal in any iteration he's been released in. I don't split up mare and foal sets, so I'll be clearing space on my shelves for him, too.

Except for the eyes, Via Lattea is an identical twin to my much loved gelding, St. Nicholas.

(That wheelbarrow I'm in was used only to haul hay; I'm not sitting in you-know-what!)

Nick's eyes were blue, not black. I am sure that Via Lattea will come home with me as a memento of Nick even though it is another shelf eating model.

I'm on the fence about HD Darkness. It is a mold I really like and doesn't eat space, but his color appears rather orangey. In hand he may look different, so I'm not writing him off yet. (Orange is my favorite color, but I don't like orange toned models.)

Peanutine is cute as is his name, and he is a vintage mold. He's a strong possibility.

Count me among those who were hoping that the Old Timer mold would be used. It's vintage and still popular among collectors, plus it has a molded on bridle and harness that goes along with the theme. Surely Breyer will use it somewhere in it's lineup of BreyerFest offerings. Could it be the Stagecoach surprise?

Celebration Horse Bravour 54

He's a vintage mold (the Trakhener with a new tail) and he is quite similar to last year's celebration model, Nikolas.

Nikolas

That really surprised me. I know both pieces are modeled after real horses, but having a vintage mold used and a paint job so close to last year's celebration model was unexpected.

Araba

I like her color, but I do not collect this mold.

Speos has a gorgeous paint job. The richness and depth of that color is top notch. It's a brand new mold and not one I was interested in collecting, but Speos may change my mind.

Delft

Pretty color and I like the decal, but I don't collect Classics/Freedom Series. (Ask me again when I've had a chance to see this piece in hand!)

Jump & Drive

Another shelf eater, so not even considering this one. (I wish those blue eyes had been put on Via Lattea!)

Scurry

Cute; may pick up as a Christmas gift for one of the Pony Pals.

Wells

Beautiful color, but a tippy, shelf eating mold. I could change my mind on this one, though.

Four-in-Hand Stablemates

No Donovan, no Indian Pony or Fighting Stallion, so not buying this set.

There are still things to be announced (like the Best of Breyer Stablemate set which may have one of those three I am hoping for) and tickets go on sale next month. It's time to begin making plans for the event.

And I have been. Stay 'tooned.

The Rest of the Minis Identified

Two of the remaining three mini horses were easy peasy to identify - they were what I'd been calling the entire batch that Catherine had given me - Breyer Mini Whinnies.

And nice little ones at that - the standing one had been displayed on a shelf in my sewing room because I liked it so much.

I knew these two were not Winner's Circle/Creatas - their body plastic was much harder and not nearly as rubbery as the others were. (Although the legs were more pliable and similar to the Winner's Circles'.) 

The two Mini Whinnies were not too difficult to identify - I simply went to Identify Your Breyer and began scrolling through the Mini Whinnies. I discovered that what I have is the Mini Whinny Cutting Stock Mare (the leopard Appaloosa) and the Standing QH Stallion in Appaloosa. 

Both pieces are from the Happy Appys set #7152 and were produced in 2012-2013. (Which means that Catherine could not have given these to me and that they snuck into my collection in a way that I do not remember.)

The final piece required some digging to figure it out. That and eyes that are FAR better than mine.

He was rubbery like the Winner's Circle pieces, but he was out of scale to them - and this was a foal; the adult horses would be even bigger.

There was some sort of name raised on its underside and that is where I struggled. I simply could not read it. I used a flashlight to improve the lighting, I did a pencil rubbing over it on a piece of paper, I used my glasses, I took my glasses off, and I even took photo after photo of it, trying to enlarge it so I could read that word.

Finally, I was able to catch the first letter, an E. Ertl! It had to be an Ertl! So I began Googling Ertl Foal.

One popped up on eBay that was identical to mine, but I still wanted more evidence that this was an Ertl as well as information on when it had been produced.

Another internet ad that I came across listed a date and number for it, if it could be believed. 

The foal and stallion (a Lady Phase look alike) were in their original box, so I felt confident that I had current information along with a correct identification. And, with the set dated at 1995, I am pretty sure this foal was also from Catherine.

Looking at those Mini Whinnies, both the ones in hand as well as those on IYB, has piqued my interest in them a bit. They are inexpensive and I'd just purchased some for the snow globes I made with the grands at Christmas. Plus, I do need some for a project I am working on (and will share at a later time) so there will be a few more coming here.

But, I do not collect Mini Whinnies.  (Famous last words, right?)

Some Old Minis Identified

Back in the 1990s, a student gifted me with a bag of little horses from her  collection. I hesitated to take them - I didn't collect tiny non-Breyer horses (Hagen Renaker miniatures excepted) and I certainly did not want to take so many pieces from her collection.

I can still see Catherine's face - she was so earnest in wanting me to accept her gift. And so I did. 

They've been kept tucked away every since with other minis that I have acquired over time. 

Once in a while I pull them out for props or something, but generally those minis have been put away for over twenty-five years. 

I assumed they were Creatas, Winner's Circle, or Breyer Mini Winnies, but it wasn't until Corky Visminas posted this sales notice on Facebook that I decided to pull them out and ID what they were. (Screenshots of Corky Visminas' sales notices from Facebook.)

I was pleasantly surprised. Corky had posted pictures of Winner's Circle sets she was selling that were new in box, and I was able to identify some of mine from that.

Winner's Circle, Series 1, 1996, Appaloosa set.

Winner's Circle, Series 1, 1996 American Saddlebred set.

Winner's Circle, Series 1, Thoroughbred set.

That took care of the bulk of the unknown minis, but three were still unknown.

Two mini Appaloosas whose plastic felt much harder than the Winner's Circle pieces,

and a larger, non 1:32 scale foal that felt rubbery and had an unreadable stamp under its belly.

It was time to pull out the reference books and Google and see what I had.

Stay 'tooned!

Model Horse University

Never underestimate Kerri Gehrmann Johnson. 

As a 6th grader back in 1984, she set up a model horse club, one that is still active today. Her Great Lakes Breyer Registry, run from her parents' basement in St. Charles, Illinois, is now known as Great Lakes Congress, LLC. (For a full look at the club's history, click on this link.) Great Lakes Congress is the longest continually running model horse club in the world.

Kerri is again using her organizational talents to benefit the model horse community, and this time she has combined those talents with her teaching chops.

Model Horse University. 

Earlier this month, I got a message from her explaining her vision for her new project. Here are some bits and pieces about it:

- Model Horse University is being created as a central site for education about all aspects of the model horse hobby and is intended to be a place where we can grow, connect to one another, and inspire others.

- Found at the Model Horse University site will be educational content, registeration for in person and live-feed classes, and downloads of videos, slideshows, and other items. Also found there will be Zoom painting classes and get togethers, video tours of collections, self guided instructional videos, and downloads and slideshows on various hobby topics.

Quite a vision, isn't it? And if there is anyone who can get this project off the ground, it's Kerri. 

Kerri and me chatting over the show table at a GLC show last year.

You can find Model Horse University on Facebook here. Not on Facebook? The website is not yet up and running, but the target date is sometime in February so check back then. 

Kerri displaying an early Great Lakes Breyer Registry show ribbon on her shoulder. 

If you'd like to participate in some way as a teacher or donor but don't know how to contact Kerri, email me at horsiemama8@gmail.com and I will pass your message on to her.

Best of luck, Kerri! I am thrilled that you are using your talents to once again benefit our hobby and I can't wait to start using Model Horse University.

Linda Walter: My Memories of Her

Apparently yesterday when I'd finished putting some notes down for today's blog entry, I accidentally posted it instead of saving it as a draft. I didn't come back to the blog until this morning and was dismayed to see it displayed in all its rough-draft glory.

So, what do I do now?

First of all, the teacher in me who used to tell her students to ALWAYS CHECK YOUR WORK is embarrassed because I didn't follow my own advice! But I can also laugh about it and will go ahead and finish that draft. So, here are a few of my personal recollections about Linda Walter.

For several decades, Linda Walter was the voice of the hobby. In the 1960s and 1970s, early hobbyists connected largely by snail mail. There was no internet, and to phone someone outside of your own town was costly; "long distance" fees were charged for every minute you were speaking with them. So, snail mail it was.

Linda was a prodigious writer, and she and I corresponded so much that I still have her address memorized. But it was her publication, The Model Horse Shower's Journal, that united hobbyists and allowed us to share our voices, knowledge, and friendship through that avenue. Getting your MHSJ in the mail was a very big deal - it was your opportunity to catch up with what was going on in the hobby, shop for new models, and get ideas for your own stable.

Linda not only wrote THE hobby publication; she also participated in showing, both live and photo. Show results were sometimes handwritten and below is an example of a key to the owners' initials that would be included with your results.

Linda's name is just below mine. (Other hobbyists' names on there who you may recognize are D'arry Frank and Cynthia Gardner. They are still active in the hobby.)

But Linda was famous for something else besides MHSJ. She owned the most notable model horse of the time, one that is still remembered today.

*Alconbury Hill.

I first saw him in this article from the October, 1970 Horse and Rider magazine. (Bottom left model.) And I fell in love with him then and there and started looking for one of my own.

It took decades, but finally a few years ago, Simone Smiljanic, another early hobby influencer, sold me hers.

With his connection to Linda and Simone, Worth the Wait is one of my never-sells.

In 2012 I had the chance to visit with Linda at BreyerFest. We'd not corresponded in years, but she remembered me and I think she was surprised that I could still recite her address from memory. She was as kind, unassuming, and gracious as always. Looking back, I wish I had thanked her then for the huge role she'd played in connecting the hobby and in being such an instrumental part of its development.

Here is a link to a 2012 article about Linda and her collection from her hometown newspaper, the Troy Messenger:

https://www.troymessenger.com/2012/09/14/hobby-horses/?mibextid=Zxz2cZ&fbclid=IwAR1HDZR8av_8xJV2-q_uWHcFkX0IcZFBooJc2WNFyCVnrf77ZbhwBxS0XqA

And here is a link to a blog entry I wrote about her in 2019:

https://horsiemama.blogspot.com/2019/02/four-pillars-and-pair-of-wings-linda.html

Thanks, Linda. Your kindness, patience, and generosity will long be remembered. And your influence in the hobby that we love so much is still felt today, more than fifty years after you first started helping us connect.

You will be missed.

Linda Walter - Liz Cory Shares

In addition to Nancy Kelly who guest blogged yesterday about the passing of Linda Walter, I also invited Liz Cory to share her thoughts. Liz is a hobbyist from our earliest days whose friendship with Linda stretched back to the 1960s.

Here is what Liz remembers about Linda.

Every loss of a fellow model horse collector is hard to fathom, but the loss of Linda Walter is one that has struck me harder than most. Perhaps it is because her Model Horse Shower’s Journal, typed over and over again on a manual typewriter, using carbon paper (to meet the demands of 50+ subscribers), each page lovingly hand illustrated by Linda herself, was the glue that held us early hobbyists together. 

It was the late 1960’s, and I remember coming home from school to find that thick, folded packet sitting on the front hall table. Excitedly, I would drop my books, grab this prize, run to my room, and proceed to read every word on its 60+ pages, over and over again. 

Today, news is instant, and the US Mail is almost a relic. But, in those days, we waited days for letters, newsletters like Linda’s were lifelines of information, and, after we had consumed every single word, we all wrote letters late into the night, following up on ads or news with model friends nationwide, all of whom we met through the Model Horse Shower’s Journal. 

The Journal featured photo show listings (that’s all we had), sales lists, sire/dam lists, news about new Breyer and Hagen-Renaker models, and all sorts of wonderful tidbits. Plus, the drawings! Linda was a very talented artist, and her artwork made each issue a treasure to save. The MHSJ, as we affectionately called it, was the catalyst for numerous letters and phone calls to fellow hobbyists, “Did you get your MHSJ yet? Did you see that Hagen-Renaker Sherif for sale?”

Of course, it was bliss ten times over when Linda would choose a member of your stable for the MHSJ cover. In the early 1970’s, I turned a remaking (we now call them “customs”) mistake into a bloated bright green and yellow appaloosa that I was inspired to name The Blimp. The horse soon became a novelty in the hobby, and Linda soon featured him on the cover, in a drawing that showed my Blimpie drifting up into space, like a drifting balloon. I was so much more excited about The Blimp’s cover status than I was about his other claim to fame, which was a line in the real horse magazine, Classic, which ran a mid-70’s story about the model horse hobby. 

What was Linda like as a friend? I met her in person at one of the first Model Horse Congress shows in the early 1970’s. It was wonderful to meet so many of my pen pals in person. In many ways she was an enigma, hesitant to talk about herself, quiet, humble. She never flaunted her status in the hobby, or her magnificent collection of Hagen-Renakers. She never gossiped, spoke ill of anyone that I knew of, never complained, even though I knew that constant typing took its toll. She was a servant leader, someone who did what she did out of pure love for the hobby, and quietly shared her values through example. She was patient with new hobbyists – never tiring of answering questions, encouraging. She was inspiring through her work, in fact, inspiring me – through her example -- to take up the Editor’s reins of Just About Horses several years later. 

Linda never took a salary, paid for that newsletter with her own sweat and a subscription base, and was always in good humor. In many ways she clung to the past. She lived quietly in the same house in Alabama most of her life. She always had that long mane of dark hair. She would come to BreyerFest every year on the Greyhound bus, all the way to Lexington, spending hours and hours with her small bag and a few models, looking forward to greeting friends. I loved seeing her, talking to her, hearing her self-deprecating description of herself as “the old Fossil.” No, Linda, I wouldn’t describe you that way. To me, you were a treasured friend. 

We would catch up throughout the week, snippets here and there before something (or someone) else called us from the conversation. Before we went home again, I would ask her to please be careful, and I told her how much I looked forward to seeing her again. Her response was the same. “Lord willing, I’ll be back.” I wish I had told her how much I appreciated her bringing magic to this (former) little girl, opening my eyes to a hobby I continue to enjoy today. 

She’s now with her contemporaries, people like Marney Walerius, Simone (Simmie) Smiljanic, Arlene Bentley, Susan Renaker Nikas, Janet Walter, Marlene Kosanke, Liz Bouras (who was quite a bit younger), and others. Thank you, Linda, for being a leader. Thank you for your vision, southern grace and manners. Thank you for your inspiration and your friendship. Most of all, thank you for being you. 

Thanks, Liz, for sharing your memories about Linda. 

Tomorrow I will share my own memories about Linda, so stay 'tooned!

Linda Walter - Hobby Legend

On January 9, the hobby received notice that Linda Walter, one of the earliest hobby members and influencers, had passed away. I contacted Nancy Kelly, who knew Linda well, and invited her to write a blog post about Linda and her involvement in the hobby. 

“Not everyone knows everything, so collectors need to learn from each other.” Linda Walter

This month the model horse hobby lost another founder who leaves behind a very rich legacy. Linda Walter was one of the original pillars of the hobby. Along with Ellen Hitchens, Simone Smiljanic, and Marney Walerius these four women helped collectors around the country connect with each other in the pre-internet era. 

Linda was born on November 5, 1947, four days after the death of the famous racehorse Man O’War, which she said may have something to do with her passion for horses. At age 18 months she ran away from home and was found 6 blocks away, following the milkman and his horse. She got her first model horse at age 6, and thus her extensive collection began.

She was friends with Simone, who published the first hobby newsletter, Pony Express, in 1966. When ill health caused Simone to step back in 1969, Linda filled the void with her newsletter, which grew exponentially as word of mouth spread its fame around the country. Her Model Horse Journal, later Model Horse Shower’s Journal, was a paper newsletter that she typed in her home using carbon paper to make multiple copies before graduating to a mimeograph machine. It was published until January 1980. The final issue was 700 copies, although Linda was sure that more than 700 people were reading and sharing it. When the time came to end MHSJ, Linda was warned that if she stopped printing the newsletter “the hobby will die!” She said it wouldn’t, and she was right!

Besides providing this publication which listed models for sale, model horse shows, and other information, many still recall Linda’s patient and helpful explanations. She became the person that Breyer referred new collectors to. People have shared fond memories of the assistance that Linda provided them as they learned about the hobby and the community at large. 

When the hobby moved to the internet Linda stayed behind, true to her own lifestyle. She remained available via phone and snail mail and enjoyed the contacts with friends and other collectors. Of course, she attended BreyerFest, the model horse convention in Lexington, KY every July. There folks sought her out to reminisce about old times, share new information, or just enjoy the excitement she generated about her favorite topic, model horses.

Linda’s kindness, deep knowledge base, and modesty all made her a special woman who will be greatly missed. She was one of the visionaries who helped to launch the model horse hobby that has grown beyond all expectations. Thank you, Linda!

Linda’s other passion was WWII aircraft. Her model horse stable was named “12 O’clock High”. She is shown here at a model horse show with a stack of newsletters on her table.

Diligently typing the next issue of Model Horse Shower’s Journal in the 1970s with her collection surrounding her.

Her newsletter contained information on upcoming shows, models for sale, informative articles, and several illustrations drawn by her.

Another example of a MHSJ cover.

Breyer referred new model horse collectors to Linda for information and advice. She was featured in their Just About Horses newsletter in 1978.

Each year at BreyerFest one could find Linda’s room by looking for this sign on her door.

For her 70^th birthday Linda was given a tee shirt with her door poster printed on it.

The most famous horse in her vast collection was the Beswick Appaloosa “Alconbury Hill.”

This is the most recent photo of Linda, taken at BreyerFest. She is on the left. Next to her (L to R) are model horse hobby folks Teresa Rogers, Nancy Falzone, and Jo Ellen Arnold.

Thanks, Nancy, for sharing about Linda. I will share a few things about Linda in an upcoming post, so stay 'tooned!