Carola's Additions :-) (Last update April 11th 2016 - DAH, OOAK, CollectA & Breyer)

He is a very charming heavy horse, lucky you for having him in your herd
Love his outdoor photos, friends with Snowman it looks :3

wow congrats Carola!   

Thank you very much Karin & Sauroid   

Hi all   

New additions-time   

Safari Ltd. Good Luck Minis, I bought them as a souvenir in the Zoo on my birthday. They had several to chose from. They are really tiny and cute   The material is soft and bendy, but I think that is not a problem with these though.
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Penguin chick, Black bear and Hippo.
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Really tiny   
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And I also got the (I suppose African) Penguin by Schleich. The Zoo had a specie that looked very similar to this model, so I got it for me to remember the day. (Made in China version)
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- Then I also got a birthday gift for myself   - My very first - Peter Stone Traditional - Arabian  

I bought him from MPV, and he is a model made exclusively for MPV back in 2005. There were 50 matte and 50 glossy. So he is a limited edition. He came with a certificate and his number is 45 of 50 glossy, which is also written on his belly.

His name is Shadow and the certificate tells he is depicting a German trick horse. The colouring looks correct, but the mold choise is maybe a bit too much 'arabian'-looking for the real horse. Anyway - I think he is really gorgeous!   

(The glossy version is still available on MPV by the way. But VERY pricy - but that is to be expected for limited edition Stones... or just Stones in general   ).
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And indoor   I think he is really REALLY pretty, and thinking about it - he is almost ten years old   - But first got an owner now! I think he deserved that! He is too beautiful to be kept in the  - Shadows  
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The mold itself is the original Arabian mold. According to ModelEquus he is sculpted by Kitty Cantrell and first seen in 1999.
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I love his striped hoofs and small details here and there   
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The mold itself is the Manifestation of Pure Grace, I think    Simply stunning - I think not that Breyer has even such an amazing Arab in their mold collection!
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I understand why Stone horses are SO sought after. The eyes and expression are outstanding. Much more detail, than I see on my Breyers, although I would not say, that Stones are 'better' than Breyers. they are just different. Like with Schleich and CollectA for example. They have both good and bad traits.
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You know I love grey horses   
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And compared to Breyer SBH Phoenix   
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I do not mind the gloss - as I think it is not overwhelming. I feared that, but in person it works quite fine to me  
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And compared to the CollectA Arabian Mare - I think she is quite happy to see a gentleman of her own breed in the herd   
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I hope one day to make my own Design a Horse, when the company opens the opportunity again. I NEED one of those Stone Drafters   

Thank you for viewing  

Congratulations!

I personally don't like any of Breyer's Arabians, but Stone really takes the cake with theirs. The Arab is my favorite Stone mold by far, and I also like the Pebbles Arab.

The one thing that got people hooked on Stones is the detail in the eyes. However, now people are buying less and less stones, are the eyes are very sloppily painted and the pupils are so huge, the eyes look cartoonish. It's very rare to find a Stone with half-decent eyes anymore, you got a nice one, since he is older.   

Congratulations Carola!!

Lovely Good luck minis and penguin

And ohhhh, that horse    
Such elegance ! Such beauty !  

He is gorgeous!
That glossy give him that little bit extra!

Thank you very much for your comments LeeAnn, Andreas, Susanne, Dum_my   

Animal_Figures_4U wrote:

The one thing that got people hooked on Stones is the detail in the eyes. However, now people are buying less and less stones, are the eyes are very sloppily painted and the pupils are so huge, the eyes look cartoonish. It's very rare to find a Stone with half-decent eyes anymore, you got a nice one, since he is older.   

I actually registered on Model Horse Blab yesterday, just because I wanted to read what people said about their experiences with DAH and the Stone Company in general. Mainly because you hinted about the Stone company to be a mixed affair, and I see that now - it's not just a mixed affair - it sounds like a disaster   I have now very mixed feelings on ever to try and order a DAH, and even the Drafter from the 2014 line - if the quality has decreased so much lately.. as it seems obviously. And also the examples of their eyes being worse than ever, as you mention(and I also noticed on the Blab on photos etc.), I really feel like to stick to second hand models, and older ones.

I was first a bit concerned when ordering this old Arabian Shadow, but I see now, that was possibly a very good decision, than if I'd spend loads on something directly from the Stone Company...

It was good that you were happy with the DAH that you got   So all is not lost after all..?!

Yes unfortunately it is a disaster I think they are trying to just rid themselves of the huge backlog, to do away with their angry customers, and are rushing way too fast, making people even more mad.
I got lucky with my Arab, when I received him DAHs were hit and miss. I got a hit. When Stone does it right, they do it right. Now it seems all are misses.

I do believe you need not be worried ordering any Stone horse. Just don't order directly from Stone.

What you could do is look on the Stone Horse Reference site and find horses similar to or better than what you wanted to do for a DAH. Then you can look for that horse on MH$P or eBay. As long as it's not a OOAK or something

This one is a male, but it is similar to Princess in a way: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
And here is one for sale on MH$P: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Or maybe even buy a DAH second-hand. Just be aware that newer ones (2013-2014) will likely have poor eyes.


It's upsetting to think about but right now Stone is bleeding money and they could easily crash and burn anytime.

Thank you very much LeeAnn for the tips   It seems there are plenty of great opportunities. That Drafter model looks great, unfortunately she does not ship internationally, but well, if I decide it to be that model, I can possibly convince her  Otherwise indeed, Ebay looks also to be the place. I bought the Priefert's Radar on Ebay, and it was my first time using the site, and I was very happy with all.

Anyway, let's hope something will happen to the Stone company. Maybe a new boss with vision and a true passion for the model horse hobby!   To read all the posts on Blab is indeed depressing...

No need to convince her, I'm a PM away
(I feel like an enabler now )

Well, Peter is gone now, and Randy is helping out the company. I say "helping out" and not "running" because it seems there is no organization whatsoever. Peggy left, and it all went downhill from there. I think half of the reason she left was because of how bad the company was becoming. It seemed better when Randy jumped in, but now it's much worse than it was before.

Animal_Figures_4U wrote:

No need to convince her, I'm a PM away
(I feel like an enabler now )

Thank you, great to have a friend in USA    , I'll let you know - Been browsing MH$P and there are LOTS of great Drafters to chose from and in any prize scale     

Animal_Figures_4U wrote:

Well, Peter is gone now, and Randy is helping out the company. I say "helping out" and not "running" because it seems there is no organization whatsoever. Peggy left, and it all went downhill from there. I think half of the reason she left was because of how bad the company was becoming. It seemed better when Randy jumped in, but now it's much worse than it was before.

All we can do is hope the best   The DAH concept is great, it would be a shame if that dissapears into the ashes.

Congratulations Carola, Arabian horses deserve replicas like these, it gets all their spirit and has an excelent shape regarding the breed. Really beautiful figure!
I like also your penguins but tell Princess that the chick is an Emperor! Cute...

Carola, you would love my wife's large collection of Royal Doulton, Beswick and North Light horses. I will have to post some photos sometime   I dare not show her the figures you have as her collection would soon get out of control! 

Roger wrote:

......tell Princess that the chick is an Emperor! Cute...

      

Carola wrote:

Animal_Figures_4U wrote:

No need to convince her, I'm a PM away
(I feel like an enabler now )

Thank you, great to have a friend in USA    , I'll let you know - Been browsing MH$P and there are LOTS of great Drafters to chose from and in any prize scale     

Roger wrote:

...but tell Princess that the chick is an Emperor! Cute...

 

blackdanter wrote:

Carola, you would love my wife's large collection of Royal Doulton, Beswick and North Light horses. I will have to post some photos sometime   I dare not show her the figures you have as her collection would soon get out of control! 

Ohhhh! Yes! Please show us photos!

The good luck mini's are so cute, but that arabian is stunning!    huge congrats!  

Roger wrote:

Congratulations Carola, Arabian horses deserve replicas like these, it gets all their spirit and has an excelent shape regarding the breed. Really beautiful figure!
I like also your penguins but tell Princess that the chick is an Emperor! Cute...

Thank you very much   Oh, so is a little Emperor     

blackdanter wrote:

Carola, you would love my wife's large collection of Royal Doulton, Beswick and North Light horses. I will have to post some photos sometime   I dare not show her the figures you have as her collection would soon get out of control! 

Agree with LeeAnn -Please let us see some photos     

TheLastStardust wrote:

The good luck mini's are so cute, but that arabian is stunning!    huge congrats!  

Thank you very much   Also the minis are good for shelfspace   

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And I got a package from Susanne today, with the 2014 CollectA Lusitano Mare, which she got for me - and in the package was also a lovely surprise     
I already made a walkaround and review of the Lusitano [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]   
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SO adorable   
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And the wonderful gift from Susanne   One of the utterly charming retired Papo Andalusians - although I believe this one is supposed to be a western themed version   (But the original was an Andalusian I think!) He is so wonderful - thank you so much Susanne   
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What a charmer   
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  ... seems Lusitano girl got charmed too ! 
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Two wonderful newcomers! Congratulations Carola!

Congratulations and thanks for your walk around.

Congratulations! The Papo is wearing English tack, and I must say, a very unusual bridle too, that wouldn't be functional in real life. But a very charming little critter he is

Thank you very much Anna, Roger, LeeAnn   

Animal_Figures_4U wrote:

Congratulations!  The Papo is wearing English tack, and I must say, a very unusual bridle too, that wouldn't be functional in real life. But a very charming little critter he is

Ah, so it is English   Then he is definitily not that Western   And indeed he's got a very interesting bridle. What Papo had in mind with that, I'm not sure , maybe they also wanted to make versions with just a halter  
He looks pretty unaffected though  

Oh - I just noted the heart on his right shoulder   

How great that you like the pinto-Andalusian too   
I seem to remember, that the noble, Iberian breeds used to have many different colours, among them also pinto, - even brindle !
These days, Andalusian pintos are cross-bred, mainly in USA, AFAIK   

Carola wrote:

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Animal_Figures_4U wrote:

Congratulations!  The Papo is wearing English tack, and I must say, a very unusual bridle too, that wouldn't be functional in real life. But a very charming little critter he is

Haha, indeed it looks like he's wearing a halter and a bridleless bit, isn't it?