Live Show Secrets: The Art of Breyer Collectability

Today on the blog, I'd like to continue de-mystifying things about live showing model horses. You may recall my first post in this series, about what makes a model "LSQ." I was pleased with the reception to that post, as I had always planned on making this a series. There's so much that goes into live showing, and sometimes the information seems overwhelming and hard to find. There's so much that experienced showers take for granted and expect everyone to know. With this series, I hope to make live showing more accessible to new showers, and help experienced showers level up their game. 

Today I'm tackling what we all know is one of my favorite aspects of showing - collectability classes. What makes a winning collectability entry? How do you select an entry? What does your documentation need to have? 

I'm in a uniquely situated position to talk at length about this topic. In addition to my hobby credentials found on my About Me page, my favorite hobby niche is OF Breyer Stablemates collectability. There have been multiple shows where I have received public callouts and documentation awards for the quality of my collectability entries. I don't mean this to sound like a brag - it's a skill I've worked hard to hone, one that I'm proud of, and one that I'd like to share with everyone. 

So, let's dive into it! Like the with the LSQ post, we'll first examine what collectability is - what do judges look for? After that, we'll go through the process of putting together a collectability entry from beginning to end. 

Stablemate Sunday: #5183 Variations

For the first Stablemate Sunday of the year, we're back to looking at variations in a single run. If you read my G1 Thoroughbred Mare conga time, you'd know I collect multiples on that mold. It wasn't intentional, as most of them came in various G1 lots, and I love the mold. 

The run with the most variations by far is #5183 Thoroughbred Mare. She was produced from 1995-1997 as a part of the Stablemates single assortment. The run is entirely produced in the new plastic. It's a little surprising how much variation I've found in this run - you can see in the photo above the difference in shade range. I wish I knew more about when in the production each would have been made, but alas I was an infant when they were produced. 

We'll start with the NIP variation. Unlike most of them, I actually know when and where I received her! In 2024 I was traveling to the Happy Kamper Classic in Indiana with a couple of my hobby friends. Along the way, we stopped at four antique stores to look for Breyers. We struck gold, and I picked up her and a few other models. They told me I should unbox her, and I said I knew for a fact I had at least four more of her at home! So she gets to represent as the NIP girlie. She's on the lighter end of the shading spectrum. 

The first three out of package variations I affectionately refer to as "the triplets." They're near-identical and can be kind of hard to distinguish. Triplet number one is in pretty nice condition - she's on the lighter end, and her color is close to triplet number two. What distinguishes her from her sisters is the extra plastic around all of her hooves. 

The middle triplet is the easiest one for me to identify in my collection, as she's the only one with some slight rubs on her show side. Her hooves are also darker than the other triplets, and her body shading is a little more dramatic. Overall, out of the three identical triplets, she's the one who is the most beat up - and honestly, she's not even that bad! Her legs are also a semi-gloss compared to the very matte other variations. 

The last triplet is very close to the first triplet. She's a shade darker than her sisters, but it's not a significant amount. Like triplet number one, she's got some small rubs on her offside, but she's missing the extra plastic on her legs that triplet one has. 

Next, we have the one with the most dramatic shading. She's not only darker compared to most of my other copies, but her shading has more dimension. Unfortunately, she was well-loved before she made it to me, and her muzzle is severely rubbed. If her condition was better, she's the one I'd put on a show table in a heartbeat. 

We're capping off this spotlight with the darkest variation I have of this girl. While my three lightest copies look nearly identical, this girl is far darker than the rest. She's so dark compared to the rest that sometimes I question if she actually belongs to this run, but there's no other run on this mold she could possibly belong to. She also has one very white back sock, and her plastic is far whiter than the rest of the other variations. She's in perfect condition, and I think I might try showing her next year. 

It's Friday, I'm a Judge! Traditional Collectability #3

Welcome back to the Friday judging clinic! We're back in collectability land today, one of my favorite places to be. 

My judging credentials, as per usual, can be found on my About Me page. 

This week, we're looking at a class of Web Special Traditional Breyers. The models entered are all Collector Club Web Specials, available for purchase to everyone in the club. 

Horse A: Heath - 2024 Collector Club Web Special - Unknown amount made

Horse B: Griffin - 2017 Collector Club Web Special - Unknown amount made

Horse C: Moondance - 2017 Collector Club Web Special - Unknown amount made

Look at these three models - who do you think is the most collectible? Why do you feel that way? When you have your placings in mind, you can find mine under the jump! ↓

Conga Time! Sham

For this Conga Time, we're looking at one of my underrated favorite molds - Sham!

Sham captured my love at a young age, when I was transitioning from a horse-crazy child to a model horse collecting teenager. There's just something about the mold that has the spirit, even if as an adult I recognize he's a bit of a conformational wreck. But not every model needs to be a top live show quality model in my collection! I collect what I like. 😊

My Sham conga is smaller than some of my other congas - I try to add at least one a year, but that doesn't always pan out. I believe Lavinia is the most recent addition, and I picked him up at BreyerFest 2024. 

My first horse on the mold was the original Sham! It's not a surprise - I was obsessed with Marguerite Henry's books, so naturally I wanted to collect as many of the models as I could. 

My Sham is signed by Peter Stone! Twelve year old me thought this was one of the coolest things. Thirty year old me is less excited, but it's still a neat fact. 

Pharaoh is one of my favorite models in my collection. He was one of the Special Runs I bought at my first BreyerFest in 2008, along with Limerick. Even though my dad and I both had three day tickets, my budget meant I came home with just two special runs. I did get my top choices at least! 

Lugh is one of my favorites on the mold - the glossy bay with gulastra plume is just done to perfection! I'd love my next Sham addition to be his glossy brother - Quinn, from the 2017 Vintage Club. 

The Regular Runs (L-R): Sshameless++, The Black Stallion, Sham

BreyerFest realistic Special Runs (L-R): Tseminole Wind, Lugh

The decorator Special Runs (L-R): Lavinia, Pharaoh

It's Friday, I'm a Guest Judge! Mini Breyer Collectability by Kelly Marlett

Happy Friday, and welcome to the first ever guest judge on the Friday judging clinics. I asked my wonderful friend Kelly if she'd be willing to be the inaugural post, and she graciously agreed. 

Mini Breyer Collectability 

by Kelly Marlett

Hi everyone! I’ve been a hobbyist since 1985 and have been showing for the last 32 years. My collection contains around 5,000 pieces, mostly Stablemates, but there are a few draft mold congas as well. I’ve spent the last handful of years judging in regions 6, 7, and 8, and have been extremely blessed to have been part of the BreyerFest Open Show staff the last couple of years. My favorite thing to judge is OF Breyer Mini Breed and my favorite Stablemate molds as a collector are the G1 Draft, the M1 Giorgio, and the G5 Charleston. My favorite thing as a Breed judge? When people think outside the box with an uncommon breed that fits their model perfectly!

As much as I prefer to show Breed, I have a huge passion for Regular Run Collectibility classes. When people think about Collectibility they think multiple dollar signs and rare pieces. And normally these pieces are the ones bringing home the rosettes and yellow NAN cards.

However, there are circumstances where things that were available in the Regular Run catalog are not only harder to find, but there are less available on the market.

When it comes to Regular Run Stablemate Scale sets with their wagons, riders, fantasy props, and haunted sounds, these sets still overwhelmingly end up in the hands of children (which is exactly who they are being marketed towards.) This is the exact opposite of most Special Runs; while kids do attend BreyerFest and purchase them, the higher end pieces usually end up in adult hands and collections. With pieces primarily bought for play, fewer and fewer of these horses make it into the hands of collectors. Even harder to find are the complete sets that were released with the horse. The little plastic harnesses and colorful carriages are often lost or broken, just like the horses from the set.

What I wanted to concentrate on are three particular horses that are part of Stablemate sets from the same catalog year. To complicate my placings even further, these pieces were also only available for a single year or less. All three of my selections are from the 2005 catalog. I have decided to judge these as if the horse has been presented with their complete set.

Photo courtesy Kelly M

Photo courtesy Identify Your Breyer

Horse A: #5916 G2 Arabian from the 2005 Halloween Haunted Hay Ride set. The set included G2 Arabian in grey w/ diamond star and four faded stockings, harness, wagon, driver, pumpkins, a bucket of apples, and a wolf.

Photo courtesy Heather B

Photo courtesy Identify Your Breyer

Horse B: #5311 G1 Native Dancer from the 2005 Spirit: Stallion of the Cimmaron Play Set. Set included G1 Native Dancer in steel grey w/ US brand, G2 Arabian in buckskin, tree, blacksmith, forge fire, and hitching post. While this particular set was available through 2007, the Native Dancer mold was only available in 2005. It was replaced by the G2 Appaloosa in grey for 2006- 2007.

Photo courtesy Kelly M

Photo courtesy Identify Your Breyer

Horse C: #5990 G2 American Saddlebred from the 2005 Cottontail Express set. Set included G2 American Saddlebred in pale palomino with multi colored ribbon, wagon, carrots, sitting rabbit, and basket.

Find Kelly's placings under the jump!

Collection Spotlight: G1 Quarter Horse Stallion Cull

 Happy nearly six month blogaversary! I restarted this blog on July 15, 2025, and I'm proud of how it has grown since. For my collection spotlights, one of my favorite things to do is ask my friends what they think I should showcase. I collect what I like, so I think all of my models are special and interesting. This month, I asked my friend and fellow blogger Mel (check their blog out here!) to pick the collection spotlight model. She has a love for the G1 Quarter Horse Stallion, and she picked my vintage cull. 

I think this guy is one of the more interesting fellows in my collection truth be told. I bought him in October 2024 from a friend along with a few other Stablemates. He's unique as he's the only Stablemates cull in my collection.  

I think he's likely to be cull of #5045, the palomino Quarter Horse Stallion based on his body color. It's not unlikely he's #5046 or #5047, but since IDYB specifically mentions #5045 can vary to orange and yellow shades, I figured he was most likely to be a cull of that run.  

He's not perfect of course - he's a cull, so he never made it through the entire production process. He has rough seams, and no details past his initial base color. He also has a fairly significant rub on his show side, as seen in the photo above. 

He didn't make it onto the show table for a while. I contemplated bringing him to the BreyerFest Open Show last year, but with the entry limit he ended up not making the cut. However, the decision process did get him a name. 

I sent the photo above in a group chat with two of my friends who would also be showing as a possibility to bring. One friend simply replied "ARNGE." And so he was named. He does look very orange in this photo! 

He finally made his show debut at Off to the Races Live last November and ended up collectability champion of the stock section. I plan on taking him to a couple of other shows in the spring, so we'll see how he does! 

It's Friday, I'm a Judge! Breed: Arabian

It's the first judging clinic of the new year! We're starting off with a traditional breed class. 

As per usual, my judging credentials can be found on my About Me page. 

This week, we're back to focusing on a single class - an Arabian class. Let's start off by examining what it is we should be looking for. According to the Arabian Horse Association, the breed standard is as follows: 

• Comparatively small head with a straight or preferably concave profile, small muzzle, large nostrils, round expressive dark eyes set well apart, small thin and well-shaped ears
• Long arched neck set high, moderately high withers, short straight back, deep chest, comparatively horizontal croup, natural high tail carriage

Arabian stallion

Horse A: Classic Arabian Stallion

Arabian mare

Horse B: Weather Girl

Arabian mare

Horse C: Proud Arabian Mare

Evaluate these three against the breed standard. When you're ready, my placings are underneath the jump. ↓

Monthly Round Up! December Additions

With Club renewals and my continuing time pay, it was a light buying month this month! I mostly had my obligated Club purchases and a few things I bought as a treat for my birthday/Christmas. 

Well, this was an unexpected surprise! I definitely did not expect to pull a micro run for myself this year. I did pull one for a friend I was doing pickups for at BreyerFest, and I thought my luck had been used up. The gray variation of Winnifred has such soft shading around her face. I always preferred her to the chestnut variation, but I wouldn't have sought her out if I didn't receive her straight from Breyer. It looks like I might need to track down a nice chestnut version next year though! I like Isla much more in hand than I did from her preview at BreyerFest - I can't wait for her to have more colors on the mold. Overall, I think this has been my favorite year for the Premier Club - I've been a member since 2023 (it was my reward for getting a full time position), but this is the first year where I've truly LOVED all three sculpts. We've only seen Georgina for next year, but I'm certain already I'll be renewing for another year. 

Winnifred and the Stablemates Club models didn't overlap this year, so I ordered the Brilliance set as a ride along so she'd be double boxed. I put off ordering this set all year, but it had a nice sale discount, so in the cart it went! 

I mentioned in last month's Monthly Round Up that I had already found trades for my duplicate Short and Sweet zebras. One of those trades happened this month! My friend was looking for a gold and I was looking for a green. He bounced in the mail for a little longer than I'd like considering he shipped from about an hour away, but I'm glad to have him. 

Apparently adding a Chip is a monthly thing now! The November Literature series was Macbeth, which is my absolute favorite Shakespeare tragedy. I didn't have a Chip pony in my collection, and as I'm building the Stone Mini show string one would definitely be needed. Clotho is a lovely little bay, and she fit the bill of what I was looking for. 

With December comes the final releases of the Stablemates Club - the new mold and the bonus model! This year, those models were Madonna, a shrunken version of the Hagen-Renaker Large Zara, and Harbinger, a pegasus on the Darwin mold. Harbinger is a landmark in the Stablemates lineup - the first horse to have molded on wings in the style of the traditional and classic sized pegasi. 

For my birthday, my mom and I went to one of the local Breyer dealers, Kraynaks, which also does a fabulous Christmas tree display every year. While there, I picked up a pair of birthday/Christmas gifts for myself. I've been meaning to grab the new Classic Arabian Mare since she was announced midyear, and I handpicked for one with really nice mane masking and shading. She has some small offside rubs, but all four of the models at the store were partially loose in the box, so it was going to be unavoidable. I actually already had a Zorah Belle that I picked up from the Kentucky Horse Park store during BreyerFest 2024, but this one was so chalky she just had to come home with me!