My Breyer collection

Interesting to read what your favourites are. I love the Andalusian and Arabian mare too. Great to see that you have so many Arabian G1s. I like the "Appaloosas" too.

What a flasback... the G1s were the Stablemates of my childhood, I had a whole herd of them. Most were lost/broken/sold over the years, but I still have a few favorites. I enjoyed the Arab mare, I always saw her as nursing a foal who butted her a bit too hard, or pregnant and the foal was kicking. Guess you can see the state my mom's mares lived in.

Thank you guys!

pipsxlch wrote:

What a flasback... the G1s were the Stablemates of my childhood, I had a whole herd of them. Most were lost/broken/sold over the years, but I still have a few favorites. I enjoyed the Arab mare, I always saw her as nursing a foal who butted her a bit too hard, or pregnant and the foal was kicking. Guess you can see the state my mom's mares lived in.

Those are good interpretations of that expression. A little nursing stablemate foal would be adorable.

Stablemate molds B and C!

"Belgian" - sorrel and bay pinto
While I don't love how the G3 and G4 light breeds are often handled, I do think the style lends itself well to the draft breeds. This is a nice mold, if only it stood well. Ironically, my sorrel came out of storage with a warped leg and now it stands better than the pinto. I am thinking I won't fix it just because he's so much safer on the shelf. I do hope to have more of this mold someday, though, especially now that George has told me the secret to keeping them from tipping over! These are both regular run horses. The pinto is from a surprise foal gift set.
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"Cantering Warmblood" - dark bay and chestnut
This is one of the G3s that isn't my favorite. I love the coloring on the chestnut, though, which saves it. The dark bay is alright, she came in a set with a horse I really wanted and so here she is. Not a mold I will seek out intentionally, but which I don't mind now that they are in the collection. The chestnut was a blind bag and also my very first look into the new stablemate molds at the time. I hadn't been collecting much at all or keeping up with anything, but my parents got me a few blind bands as stocking stuffers for Christmas that year. Those four were my first since the G2s and I was so surprised since I had no idea they'd been released.
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"Citation" - steel gray, chestnut, dapple gray, palomino, bay appaloosa
Another lovely G1. Many of the G1 are originally portraits of famous racehorses, including this one. While not my favorite G1, there isn't a mold among them I don't like. I think he's got a very sweet expression to him. All but the chestnut are JC Penny special runs. I love the 12 piece sets JC Penny and Sears released over the years and hope to someday have them all, though that is rather a tall order. The chestnut is a regular run, one of the few colors on this mold to be sold individually.
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"Clydesdale" - roan sabino, black, woodgrain, gray, and palomino
Love this lively mold! The newer stablemates have done a great job of giving action to draft molds (same for traditionals like the vanner). I feel it is more typical to see less dramatic sculpts for the larger breeds historically, but this mold shows them being just as playful and energetic as a lighter breeds. The roan is from the JAH special set, the woodgrain is another Breyerfest keychain, and the rest are regular runs. I don't have any woodgrain traditionals but do have a few stablemates, none of which are true vintage woodgrains but all of which are quite neat all the same. The actual keyring is stressful on these horses because I am always worried it will scratch the paint as it hangs against them.
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"Clydesdale Stallion" - woodgrain
Another example of a traditional mold shrunk down into the stablemate size, something I really hope they do a lot more of with vintage models. Just like the big one, this mold is appealing to me for its iconic charm but it's not my favorite in general. I do love how precise these miniatures are to the big molds. I wish I had his big woodgrain counterpart to match! They have released a version with a mane and tail not braided up which is interesting, but I haven't seen it in person yet. So far only this woodgrain and the 2023 release are regular runs on this mold.
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"Cob" - chestnut and blue roan overo
The G5 stablemates are real hit or miss for me. A few I really like, and some I really do not. This one is a really nice little guy, one of my favorites of that generation, just the sort of horse I always liked as a kid with the long hair and feathers. He's cute, is really the best way I have to describe him. Both of these are regular runs. The chestnut is a blind bag, one of the stocking stuffers!
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"Connemara Mare" - buckskin
A really nice miniature of a traditional, this one has convinced me I need a traditional version as well. Originally I thought the sculpt was a little too much, a little too theatrical, but having the little version, it has grown on me. This one was a blind bag, and like many people, I am disappointed in how they printed the serial(?) number on her stomach so it is visible on the display side. She's still really nice though!
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The Connemara mare is great as a buckskin. I wish I had bought it in the US when I had a chance, but I thought these Mystery surprises would come to Europe too. They might still do, I don't know. The running Clydesdale is one of my favourites; nice to see that you have quite a few, all in quite contrasting colours. And lots of Citations. G1s aren't so easy to find these days or quite expensive.

Thank you both! Roger, I hope you can find her someday. There are some nice ones in that series. The G1s are often quite pricey. I was lucky they were still being sold when I was collecting as a child, and I've also gotten some good large lot deals on them, but I have had to slow down a little on buying them.

Stablemates D - F!

"Draft Horse" - black overo, buckskin, "grullo", and two chestnuts
Definitely one of my favorite G1s, but also one of a lot of people's favorites, so expensive when you can find him. He's such a delightful little chunk of a horse. The overo, buckskin, and weird grullo are all JC Penny special runs, and the two chestnuts are variations of the same regular run. Unforuntately, both have their seams sanded because someone was going to customize them but gave them to me instead. I still display them because my "shelf quality" is pretty tolerant, but it is a little distracting when you look at them. The grullo is a weird color because the body color is maybe more of a roan? But especially strange are the white markings on its belly, maybe meant to be roaning. Weird as he is, I really like him.
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"Drafter" - Wedgewood blue pinto, bay roan, red leopard appaloosa, bay, and dapple gray
One of my favorite G4s. As I said earlier, the style works best on drafts. He is not a particular breed, but it sometimes called the "vaulting mold" referencing the sport of vaulting where people do various acrobatic riding tricks on the back of a moving horse. These horses are typically large, strong, and calm, so drafter types. This mold was specifically released for the World Equestrian Games, presumably representing the vaulting. The blue pinto was the chase piece for the most recent blind bags, the bay roan was the World Equestrian Games limited edition, the red leopard was a blind bag, and the bay and dapple gray were parts of surprise foal gift sets. The red leopard is the only one I have beef with, and it's because they gave him a very nice fleabitten effect on his coat and, in my opinion, ruined it with weird large perfect circle spots. I wish they'd just left him as a fleabitten gray rather than try to make him a leopard appaloosa with tiny speckles as well as giant circles? Weird.
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"Fell Pony" - bay pinto and chestnut
A delightful choice to miniaturize. I love it and I hope they make many more regular runs. There are only three colors on this mold so far, and one is a Breyerfest special run, so these are the two easiest to get. They are both blind bags, and the chestnut is from the 70th anniversary series.
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"Fighting Stallion" - charcoal
I feel they would have been remise not to make the fighting stallion as a mini for the 70th anniversary, so I'm glad they felt the same way. I love that they chose his charcoal coloration because I love the vintage charcoals but I have only one because I can't afford them usually, so it's nice to have it here. He's a beautiful version of it, with brown undertones. Charcoal does not represent a real horse color but is one of Breyers original colors produced on most of its models in the early sales catalogues. Colors like charcoal, alabaster, and the "old style" red roan are Breyer specific (though alabaster can represent a gray, it's not called alabaster in the real horse world).
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"Friesian" - black, bay, Wolfgang, liver chestnut, decorator green
I got most of these all at once from the same lot. They were so reasonably priced, especially Wolfgang, I couldn't leave them behind. I wasn't sure I liked this mold, but for some reason, in that moment I decided I really did and needed a bunch of them, haha. The leopard appaloosa is Wolfgang, the collector's club special run, and the rest are regular runs, mostly blind bag. The green is a chase piece. Unfortunately, this is a mold that does not stand well, but I'll have to try the blue tack trick and see if I can get them a little more secure.
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From G-L I have only two models, so here they are!

"Gypsy Vanner" - silver bay
I feel the same way about this mini as I do the large version--I like it a lot, like many other collectors. Hopefully I will have more than one someday, but it has been a very popular mold for special runs. There are a few regular runs out there I'll hopefully come across someday! This one is from the 70th anniversary set.
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"Indian Pony" - chestnut pinto
This is the only 70th anniversary miniature that I also have the matching traditional, so that's very cool. I really like them together. Just like the big one, I think this one is iconic and lovely and I hope it get used more.
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The G1 draft horses are fantastic. I wish I had one. I especially like the buckskin, it's magnificent! The fell ponies are lovely. The pinto colours work well even though it rules it out as a fell pony. The Gypsy Vanner is the perfect example of what I used to think of as exaggerated Breyer poses. I have got used to it now though this one is still a bit of a shock to me. I think I'd like it better if it was a bit smaller, then at least it would fit into my 1/32 collection. I can see why people like it though; I like the colours too and on some of my wild days, I even like the pose.

I know exactly what you mean about the exaggeration, and it was actually the traditional version of this mold that started to sway me. Breyer has gotten much more dynamic with its sculpts as time goes on, and I had mixed feelings about it, as sometimes I thought it wasn't done well enough to really sell it and felt more like drama for drama's sake. This one really won me over, though, I thought it felt balanced and it also still fit on a shelf well, and gradually I see myself being drawn to more and more of the newer action poses.

M Stablemates!

"Magnolia" - peach unicorn
I got this one because of the color, like a lot of my unicorns. Absolutely love the decorator color, but I don't think I'll have many Magnolia's in my collection. Just not my style.
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"Morgan" - bay pinto, red bay, liver chestnut, and red dun
I like this mold, I think it does a good job with the use of the tail as a third leg which doesn't always make for a very stable figure, but worked well on this one. I think he sits just under the line of too much flare, like a better version of Magnolia to me. I am not wild about the sculpting of the hair, but that happens with a whole lot of G2 and onward stablemates. The red bay is part of the JAH set, and the others are all regular runs.
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"Morgan Mare" - chestnut, palomino, gray, red dun, chocolate brown, chocolate sorrel
One of my favorite G1 molds. She has a lot of energy without being dramatic and she came in a lot of really nice colors. Most of mine are JC Penny or Sears special runs except the chestnut and palomino, which are early regular runs, and the gray, which is from a much later Hidalgo gift set.
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"Morgan Stallion" - black appaloosa, alabaster, buckskin, red bay, olive chestnut, seal brown, light bay, chestnut
This is just an exquisite little sculpt. It's not my most favorite, but I really appreciate the subtlety to it. The mane is especially lovely. Hair is one of the things that turns me off a lot of Breyer molds, especially within the newer ones. It's really difficult, I assume, to capture motion and weight of hair in a solid sculpture. I think Love handled it really excellently on these stablemates, and this guy especially. It feel light and fluid. The appaloosa, alabaster, olive chestnut, and seal brown are JC Penny/Sears special runs, and the rest are regular runs. The red bay is from the Saddle Club gift set which I had when I was little. I "customized" two of them after they broke when I young, including this guy, so he is a replacement for the only one I had when I was a kid.
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"Mule" - gold, black appaloosa, and red dun
This is a very fun sculpt! I am impressed with how detailed his mouth is at such a small scale, and I wish they had painted the teeth on the dun like they did the regular run appaloosa. Not sure why they didn't, since special runs often get more detailed attention than regular runs. Either way, he's really cute and I think it's neat that they did something a little different with it, though I appreciate that they do not make all of them so unusual. The dun is from the JAH special run set, and the gold keychain is from the same Breyerfest as the other keychains.
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Neither unicorns or decorators are my thing, but that Magnolia has something! Good to see that you have the dun mule, it's hard to find. I really enjoy seeing all your photos and reading about your favourites. It's wonderful that you collected so many G1s when they were more available.

Great selection again,especially the mules,they are amongst my favourite models!

Thank you both! For a while there, when I was in high school, the vintage molds were still used regularly alongside the G2 in playsets, but I think they have thinned that down quite a bit. I remember when I first started getting back into collecting Breyer, I thought the old stablemates would be cheap and easy to collect. Haha!

N-Q stablemates!

"Native Dancer" - Bay appaloosa, red dun, and black
A very handsome G1. Love his detailed face, regal posture, and big ears. He is the G1 I have the second-least of, sadly, so hopefully that will eventually change. The appaloosa is a regular run and the dun and black are from JC Penny and Sears.
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"Paso Fino" - bay, buckskin, and dapple rose gray
Very pretty, elegant G2. I can't say it stands out to me as a favorite, but I enjoy it. It's a beautiful breed and not really well represented. I like how they have represented the gait in a not too exaggerated way. The bay and the rose gray are from regular run playsets and the buckskin is from the JAH special run set.
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"Peruvian Paso" - buckskin
Unfortunately, this one ranks low on my list. Not low enough for me not to enjoy it in my collection (there are a few that I simply don't care to own at all), but still, the thick legs and large hooves and overall roundness of the style I can't seem to get past. But, because of the breed, just like the traditional, I still find it appealing. It is almost a mini of that traditional in some ways (reversed legs, but same iconic moment in the gait and even, for my two, in the same color). I don't know if he will always be the sole representative in my herd or not. This one is from a foal surprise gift set, where they cross and peruvian paso and a stock horse. Not your standard choice for a cross, I think.
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"Quarter Horse Mare" - bay
Another G1 favorite--not my absolute favorite, but tied in second with the draft and the thoroughbred mare. (And morgan mare . . .). This is another very popular mold, but also one that was rarely released in any regular run colors. Bay, chestnut, buckskin, and palomino are the only regular run colors and all were discontinued by 1988, making her very expensive when you can find her. This one has terrible seams, lots of scratches and scuffs, and a kind of sloppy paint job meaning she was only $20. But she is so lovely, it is hard to resist. To me, she would have worked as the stallion of the quarter horse set (they don't have any distinguishing bits anyway) with her thick neck and shoulders and stance almost like she is trying to intimidate someone. Beautiful even in her very worn and weathered condition!
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"Quarter Horse Stallion" - gray appaloosa, black leopard appaloosa, red leopard appaloosa, grulla paint, gray, bay, and buckskin
This one on the other hand does not scream "stallion" to me--maybe gelding, very sweet and easy going seeming, and also not very muscled or anything. Not to say he couldn't be a stallion, but I actually always saw him as a mare because my first one was a mare and foal set. I think he's lovely, a sculpt that conveys reliability and curiosity. A horse I would like to interact with. The gray appaloosa, red leopard appaloosa, and buckskin are JC Penny and Sears special runs, though the buckskin is a great example of problems I have identifying G1s. There is also a buckskin regular run that looks to me almost exactly the same, with variable stockings, so it is hard to tell. Luckily my special run sets have come together so far, so I know what they are based on context. But so many G1s are similar colors with variable markings and colorations, it can become very tricky. The rest are regular run playset and single pieces.
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First for this post I want to squeak in the Q I missed last time . . .

"Quarter Horse" - black
Another example of one I got because it was in a playset with another one I really wanted, and wouldn't have gotten one otherwise, but has grown on me. Again, probably not a mold I will represent widely in my collection, but this one in particular with her unique blaze is really appealing. Breyer also did not go wholly flat black like they sometimes do, she does have a little browning around her flank, and that help as well. The face is good, and up close she is better. But the overall balance of the figure doesn't 100% appeal to me.
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And now the R stablemates!

"Rearing Andalusian" - dapple rose gray
This one is fun. I like him, I like his really flung out leg and I really like his face. There is something a little more authentic feeling to the movement and gesture of this one than the other rearing horses (not including the ones like the lippizaner who are performing a specific trained movement). In this close up, I also got a better appreciation for the realism of his eye paint work. I feel like even though he is marketed as an andalusian he is often painted as more of a "wild horse" with a lot of apploosas and paints. This one is a regular run sold individually.
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"Rearing Arabian" - chestnut, white, Hidalgo, grey
This one, on the other hand, feels more like the idea of a rearing horse. The ideal of a rearing horse, like a sculpture for a fountain. I still like it, no harm no foul, it just feels more illustrative or idealized. The chestnut is from the JAH special run set, and the rest are regular run playset or single pieces.
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"Rivet" - roan
Another G4 that grew on me, to the point that I hope to get more of him. At first the shape of his mane and tail and his smooth/shiny body, much like many of the others, just didn't appeal. But his shape and his personality are really appealing, plus he comes in some really nice colors. This one is from a surprise foal gift set. I liked the other adult horse enough to buy the set, and then I realized I also liked the rivet mold.
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The rose gray Andalusian is great. It's one that I also have and it is one of my favourites. Breyer has painted it really nicely and I agree that it feels wilder, more natural than other rearing horses such as the rearing Arabian (which is still good). The Quarter Horse is great in its weathered state, it gives it real character. Looks like an old horse that has seen it all. I have to say I quite like the Peruvian Paso too. Perhaps because it isn't too large, I have this strange thing that I appreciate models more when they have the right scale for me. I like the way it walks and you've got it in a lovely colour.

When you introduced your larger Breyers, you often mentioned how you played with them. Did you play less with your Stablemates or did you collect them later?

Gorgeous gorgeous! Lovely stablemates. I have Hidalgo in the Traditional size, but your stablemates are really calling to me... they are bit pricey on ebay though.

Thank you both!

rogerpgvg wrote:

I have to say I quite like the Peruvian Paso too. Perhaps because it isn't too large, I have this strange thing that I appreciate models more when they have the right scale for me. I like the way it walks and you've got it in a lovely colour.

That makes sense, she is a very petitie figure.

Quote :

When you introduced your larger Breyers, you often mentioned how you played with them. Did you play less with your Stablemates or did you collect them later?

I did get many of them in high school or later, so there are fewer memories attached to playing with them. Even the ones I did have when I was younger, like the arabian stallion and mare from the Biltmore house or the keychains from Breyerfest, I didn't play with as regularly as I did the traditionals. I'm not sure why, if the size of them lended more to me treating them as shelf-sitters (because they were easy to break), or simply because I had more of the traditionals. Or perhaps my memory of them is just not as good!

Saarlooswolfhound wrote:

Gorgeous gorgeous! Lovely stablemates. I have Hidalgo in the Traditional size, but your stablemates are really calling to me... they are bit pricey on ebay though.

The traditional Hidalgo is very impressive! I always admired him, but he was pricey even when he was in stores, so I went for the stablemate versions instead.

I was lucky and got mine as a gift when I was young. I am still obsessed with the movie/fictional story.

Okay, finally on to "S"--April was insane!

"Saddlebred" - Dapple gray, dark liver chestnut, and bay
I didn't have any of these until very recently. I've said before that the gaited show stances aren't my favorite, but of them, I think this one is the nicest. It's another Maureen Love G1 sculpt, of course, very delicate and full of movement. The dapple gray and bay are regular runs from the 70's and 80's, and the liver chestnut is from the 1997 JC Penny set.
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"Seabiscuit" - Sandy bay, alabaster, black, chestnut pinto, dark bay, and chestnut
Always liked this little guy. He doesn't have the flare of later Breyer race horses, doesn't seem to be at that height of speed and drama, but he's clearly moving quick and has a plucky, stalwart sort of feel to him. The chestnut is the one I have had the longest, and I played with him a lot as a kid, running up and down the coffee table, often to dramatic music I'd put on. I had a story about talking racehorses in my imagination, and this guy featured prominently. The sandy bay and alabaster are JD Penny special runs and the rest are regular runs. The black is a "shrinkie" but a well preserved one, so he is not misshapen, only small!
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"Shetland Pony" - Silver bay, palomino, and clearware with glitter
I think this guy is cute, if a little overdone with the mane, haha. Unfortunately, my silver bay suffered from leg warpage while in storage, and he's my favorite of the ones I have. He's from the JAH special run set, and I think he was particularly interesting because there were no stablemate ponies until this one. The glitter pony is keychain from Breyerfest, and the palomino is a regular run.
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"Silky Sullivan" - black pinto, black, black leopard appaloosa, and rose gray
Another Maureen Love race horse sculpt, not my favorite but still a really nice sculpt. I think he has a very sweet and earnest expression, if a sort of long neck! The black pinto, black leopard, and rose gray are all JC Penny/Sears special runs, and the black is a regular run. The weirdest thing about these guys is the pinto's bright red nose--not sure why they didn't use light pink like usual! I thought it was a mistake when I first opened him.
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"Standardbred" - dapple gray and liver chestnut
A fun sculpt, Breyer only has three pacers and this is the only stablemate. I actually worked with a pacer while teaching therapeutic riding, I don't know if he was a standardbred or not but his gait worked well for the riders and he looked a  little bit like the chestnut here--just old and kind of scruffy, haha. I've always thought this model had a very worried kind of expression, like he was trying very hard but was concerned he wasn't going fast enough. The dapple gray is a regular run, the chestnut is from the JAH set.
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"Standing Friesian" - bay
Better known as Django, this is a really nice sculpt and certainly a fan favorite (hard to get him affordably second hand). This one is from Kelly! I love his almost metallic bay, but not so metallic that it looks weird. It's an elegant and handsome sculpt. The G5s really have some nice changes to the general style of the stablemates.
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"Swaps" - buckskin, alabaster, liver chestnut, light buckskin, rose dun, red chestnut, chestnut leopard appaloosa, and black appaloosa
My favorite stablemate! And one of my favorite Breyer molds (also love his slightly larger counterpart). His stance, expression, and balance are all very appealing to me. He looks alert and poised, with very fine and lovely details. I do want to conga this mold, though there are still quite a few I don't have (including the original Swaps). It's pretty achievable, I think, as he doesn't seem to have been released in any super rare colors yet . . . Most of these are JC Penny/Sears, except the rose dun which came with a CD rom game I got when I was younger (the "game" wasn't much to speak of, the horse was definitely the highlight of that package, haha), the black appaloosa, the chestnut appaloosa, and the red chestnut.
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I rode a pacer once, the gait does feel very peculiar if you're not used to it - they told me to 'just ask again' when I wanted to trot cos he'd probably pace instead, so there were a few very rough transitions where it took way too long for the horse to realise I was trying to tell him 'no, trot' rather than 'pace faster!', hahaha. I suspect if we'd got to know each other I'd have figured out his signals better, but it was a bit like a conversation where one of you doesn't know the language - he thought he was doing what I wanted and I didn't know how to say run-at-38mph-up-the-road was not what I wanted

The Seabiscuit's pose reminds me of a horse just going steadily down to the start before his race, the relaxed easy-going stride and cheerful face - like he's loosening up and enjoying the open-space run, but not being asked to exert himself yet.

I haven't seen that glitter shetland before, he reminds me of fizzy clear lemonade!

More wonderful G1s. I already said in my own Breyer topic that I love Swaps. I hope you'll find them all. Seabiscuit and Silky Sullivan are great too. Good to see that you have quite a few of them too. The Saddlebred is less special to me too, but still very nice to have a few!