Show Us Yours December: CONGAS!

SUSANNE wrote:

The last one is a good example of one of Kosta's wise words : Animal fur is never completly white !!!
It really looks amateurish compared to the oldest one  

Oh , you remember ..
And also for the last one , works the example for the ``completly black``.
It has both

costicuba wrote:

SUSANNE wrote:

The last one is a good example of one of Kosta's wise words : Animal fur is never completly white !!!
It really looks amateurish compared to the oldest one  

Oh , you remember ..
And also for the last one , works the example for the ``completly black``.
It has both

So that is why I always thought this model was looking like it is painted by a 5-year old

I love this topic, I'm a big fan of collecting the conga line!

I had a quick count up, and photographed my top three longest congas...

At number three, it's 39 G2 Warmbloods :

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The top three rows are all original finish releases, the bottom row my own custom repaints, plus one repaint by someone else (far right)

Coming in second place, 43 G2 Appaloosas :

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Again, three rows of original finish models, with my custom repaints on the bottom row. I did, for a while, have every release ever made of this mould, but then Breyer used them for some Breyerfest special runs and exclusive collector club runs, which my budget just doesn't allow for, so I had to give up the idea of keeping a complete conga, and only buy the ones which get released in this country.

And the winner, longest conga line of all, 53 G2 American Saddlebreds :

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This time, the top two rows are original finish, and the bottom two are custom repaints. The five on the right-hand end of the lowest shelf are by other people, the rest are mine. As with the previous mould, I used to try keeping a complete conga of every one Breyer made, but with the turn toward exclusive runs (i.e. you can't have it unless you pay us loads each year to be in a club just to be allowed the chance to buy it for a lot of money, plus international shipping costs, plus customs fees, plus handling fees ), I had to drop that part of the hobby and just paint more of them myself instead )

Of course, this photoshoot wasn't without errors, and not long after putting all these back on the shelves, I realised I'd missed one out. So really, I have 54 Saddlebreds

Wow!
These have to be the most amazing conga lines I have ever seen, there is something so stunning about seeing so many glossy Breyers, all with the same pose- showing off all their glorious colours in one photo!

I think that's why horses collecting can be so addictive - they make so many colours over the years, and it's really satisfying to find a new one and tick it off the list. Most animal models only get released in one or two colours (or updated paintjobs, like Mojo do), but with horses, the possibilities are endless.
Like the mould which is called the Appaloosa - you can see from my picture that they've released it in lots of spotted Appaloosa models, but it also works for solid coloured Quarter horses, and pinto patterned Paint horses.

You are right, - even dogs don't have that many colours at all

There is something extremely satisfying about an orderly shelf of matching molds.

George, those stablemate herds are impressive!

George wrote:

As with the previous mould, I used to try keeping a complete conga of every one Breyer made, but with the turn toward exclusive runs (i.e. you can't have it unless you pay us loads each year to be in a club just to be allowed the chance to buy it for a lot of money, plus international shipping costs, plus customs fees, plus handling fees ), I had to drop that part of the hobby and just paint more of them myself instead )

The new ratio of regular run to special run has been such a culture shock coming back into collecting Breyer from the 90's and early 2000's. The regular run line feels so dwarfed by the limited (and extremely expensive) releases with all the clubs and web specials . . . Daunting to say the least, especially the prices they go for on the second hand market before they are even in hand.

I just think of it like a catalogue where a couple of pages are things I can buy, and all the rest are for Other People. Occasionally things do come up on UK ebay, I've managed to get a few Breyerfest runs that way, but all the collector clubs, nah. They'd cost more than my actual horses
I try not to be sad about all the unobtainable horses, cos there's still plenty I am able to get. Well, when the UK importers decide to let us have it here. And it's so slow, we're still waiting for some of LAST year's anniversary and mid-year releases to go on sale this country

George wrote:

I just think of it like a catalogue where a couple of pages are things I can buy, and all the rest are for Other People. Occasionally things do come up on UK ebay, I've managed to get a few Breyerfest runs that way, but all the collector clubs, nah. They'd cost more than my actual horses
I try not to be sad about all the unobtainable horses, cos there's still plenty I am able to get. Well, when the UK importers decide to let us have it here. And it's so slow, we're still waiting for some of LAST year's anniversary and mid-year releases to go on sale this country

One thing the rising cost and availability of Breyers has done is encouraged me to find a new collecting hobby, so definitely a silver lining! It was also convenient that for many years, there weren't many new molds I enjoyed. Now they've started what I feel is yet another "generation" and unfortunately I like this one more, ha! But at least they seem to get the "limited run" out of their system with each new mold and then release at least one on the regular market, like Theo. I can't wait to see Astrid and ESPECIALLY the stablemate fjord in whatever their regular run colors will be.

I don't quite know how Breyer works outside the US, what a long wait!! I can see that getting frustrating. I see people on my Breyer group willing to pay exorbitant prices just to get horses to places like Poland and Russia, much less the actual cost of the horse. I shouldn't complain, really.  [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I have several congas, because Breyers do lend themselves to forming them, but I wanted to share my newest very not-Breyer ones that I just completed this week! I am very excited about them, because I far as I know, these are all the horses made in these molds. (It would be exciting to find out there are more, but so far, they haven't shown up). There are four sets total: Papo Mini, Club Earth To Go, Playvisions Mini, and an unknown maker. Each set has 12, one of each mold, but I do have an extra fjord that's probably just a color variant but which I think is different enough to join the conga! This is technically a collection started as a child and finished thanks to information here. :)

Lipizzaner
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Appaloosa
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Arab
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Haflinger
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Shetland Pony
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Standardbred
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Thoroughbred
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Welsh Section B
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Shire
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Exmoor
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Fjord
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Coloured Horse
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Ooh, complete congas! Really satisfying feeling, with the potential for future excitement if any more come to light.
My favourites are the rose-grey(?) arabian, the palest fjord, the haflinger with the black nose, the palomino shetland (looks like my real one!), and that nice blanket appaloosa on the coloured horse mould.

George wrote:

Ooh, complete congas! Really satisfying feeling, with the potential for future excitement if any more come to light.
My favourites are the rose-grey(?) arabian, the palest fjord, the haflinger with the black nose, the palomino shetland (looks like my real one!), and that nice blanket appaloosa on the coloured horse mould.

Good choices, several of my favorites as well - most of those are from the Papo sets.

So many beautiful congas of so many different breeds! I love how you have chosen less common conga brands for these photos, it's really interesting to see- and I love the Fjords!

Thank you, Bonnie, the fjords are my personal favorite as well! Even though the are real weird colors!

My first Conkie line

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Lovely donkeys! Jill, 12 fantastic congas, especially as they are across brands.

WOW, Jill ! Good that Roger mentioned your mini-horses !!!

They are AWESOME !!! What a fantastic and unique collection

Donkey conga is adorable, I have the two real-colour babies but not the gold one (decorator paintwork isn't my cup of tea, but he's a pretty little thing in his own right, so I don't hate him even though I feel no urge to own one )