November 2024

Horse Shoe Menu

Published on 25 November 2024

Hello! I just made another change to the website! It's time to present you the Horse Shoe Menu!You can easily find it in the top menu under “HS Menu”. This new page is designed to gather key information and useful links all in one convenient place, so you no longer have to search for them across the site. Here’s what you can access right now through the HS Menu:

I hope you like it better! Byee :)

Earl(y) Black Friday

Published on 24 November 2024

Happy Sunday! As you might have heard or seen, Breyer held their early access Black Friday sale for Collector Club members. As always, there were some very exciting models that of course, sold out fast. I was really hoping there would be a Reykjavík, as he's one of my grails, but unfortunately, he wasn’t included. By the time I even got a chance to check out all the models, some had already sold out within two minutes! I was interested in Elsa, the cow, because she’s extremely pretty, but I ultimately decided not to try for her. Another model I could have gotten is Cooper but I can find him second hand in better price!

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Later in Friday CC members received an email saying that they could enter for the chance to buy this years animal web spceial: "Earl is an eye-catching spotted blue roan bull with a highly-detailed white pattern and a star on his forehead. His roan shading is dramatic and intricate!". He is limited to 1000 pieces and will cost $150.

I think this guy looks very cool! I don't know if I would like him in my collection but if I get chosen ,I might decide to buy him.

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Last week, I visited a hobby store near my house that I knew carried some Breyer Stablemates. (It’s the same store but different location, that I found my first stablemates). As soon as I walked in, I headed straight to the section where I had previously found the Stablemates. On my way there, I was thrilled to discover an entire area dedicated to Breyer horses! While there weren’t any Traditional Breyers, I was excited to find some Stablemates sets that I’ll be featuring in an upcoming collection showcase. The most exciting discovery, though, was the Breyer Animal Collector's Guide!!

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Ckeck out this amazing Peter Stone OOAK "Sleeper Agent" by Kylee Parks! He is currently available in best offers (auction).

Thank you for reading today's post! Byee :)

Share my website!

Published on 22 November 2024

Hello! I am very happy with how my website has turned out and I would love to share it with many collectors. It would be amazing if you could help me with that. If you can, please share the following text and image :)

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Billakos Model Horses (billakosmodelhorses.com) is an free website that host a model horse related blog! These are some things you can find/do there:

I have many plans for the feature including Giveaways, Online model horse shows. Email me at billakosmodelhorses@gmail.com if you want to subscribe to my mailing list (I will send an email 1-2 times a month with some updates! I hope to see you around at billakosmodelhorses.com :)

Catch the Horses mini game!

Published on 20 November 2024

Hi! I finally made a model horse related mini game. It is very simple: You have to move the shopping bags in order to catch the model horses. If you fail 5 times the game will stop. You will find more information there!

To enter it just go to the Home page or click here:

Catch the Horses mini game

I might add different models in the future or change the backround. It was very hard for me to create this game and it might not run perfectly. If you have any suggestions please let me know. Have fun catching horses :)

Paddock Chat Information

Published on 19 November 2024

Welcome to the Paddock Chat!! This is an open chat area where people can talk about model horses or anything they want! It won’t be open all the time and will close at certain periods. I’ll likely create a schedule, but for now, it will be random. It could be open for a weekend, a month, or who knows how long! (No one knows lol). Although this chat can be a lot of fun, it’s not the most advanced, and unfortunately, you can’t edit or delete posts. If you need to do so, please contact me via email at billakosmodelhorses@gmail.com. Be sure to use the same username when you leave a message so others can identify you! Please be kind and respectful to the other chatters. While it’s possible no one will join the conversation, I’m determined to create a fun community of model horse lovers. I will be announcing the dates in the Stable Stories and I will send an email to those who subscribed in the mailing list. Right now it is open until 30 November 2024

To enter it just go to the Home page or click here:

Paddock Chat

Have fun!

BreyerMidwest horse

Published on 18 November 2024

Breyer has unveiled next year's BreyerMidwest horse! The featured model is a glossy version of WGC Marc of Charm and it comes with a Certificate of Authenticity. He’s priced at $175 and can be purchased online, but you will need to attend the event to pick him up in person.

Interestingly, this model will be packaged in bubble wrap instead of the latest paper protection. Could this mean a shift in their packaging approach?

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The website link has changed! I have been wanting to make it .com since the beggining and finally I did it!! As always, Happy Collecting :)

VC & DONKEY!!

Published on 16 November 2024

Happy Saturday! This week has been a bit rainy here in Greece, making the weather feel so cozy and chill. Fortunately, thanks to a "holiday" (more like a protest holiday), I didn’t have to attend university, so I got to relax without worrying about classes.

Yesterday, Breyer opened the Vintage Club memberships, and I’m still surprised to see that, as of now (1 day and 6 hours later), they haven’t sold out yet. The likely reason is the increase in membership slots from 1,000 to 1,200. I was planning to join, but I ended up debating with myself whether it was worth it or not. In the end, I decided not to because the cost is quite high, and reselling the releases at cost or finding someone to take over my spot might be difficult. I really don’t want to take the risk since getting a release I don’t like could cost me over $250, which is a significant amount of money. Maybe I’ll consider joining the Stablemates Club instead, but I’ll wait to see the full lineup first (last year, they revealed all the models before the memberships closed).

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Peter Stone has started collaborating with various artists to create unique pieces for their best offers. This time, they invited Kylee Parks from Studio Thornrose to create a Poitou Donkey named Existential Dreads. She used the mule mold and transformed it into a detailed, adorable, hairy donkey with intricate coat details! If you’re interested in getting it, be prepared for the price! It’s already at $5,920 with 4 more days to go...

Enjoy your weekend!

Sculpting attempts

Published on 15 November 2024

Hello! As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm going to share all my attempts at creating a model horse. I'm not exactly an artist, so you can imagine how things turned out! First, I downloaded Blender, a computer program for 3D design and sculpting. My first attempt at a horse was more of a strange creature that reminded me of a hippo. Unfortunately, I don’t have that one anymore, so I can’t show it to you.

Lyon

Lyon was my second horse that was created in the free version of ZBrush, and he turned out a bit more successful than my previous attempt. Once I finished sculpting him, I tried animating him! Although he still looked a bit odd, I was thrilled to have created something on my own. Later, I decided to give him a pose. Since two of his legs were lifted, I had to make a stand for support, and here’s the final result:

"Summer horse"

I started making this horse way after finishing the best model horse in the world, Lyon. I think I made the head in ZBrush but because of the free version, I had to limit the details and I decided to make the body in blender. The reason why I call it summer horse is because I started it in July/August 2023 and I never gave it a proper name. Here are some pictures of the process:

Icelandic Horse

In January 2024, I had an idea to start a new 3D horse model, but this time I wanted to create it in a posed position from the beginning. I chose to make a tölting Icelandic horse since I love them so much. As usual, I didn’t quite get around to finishing it, but here’s what I’ve done so far:

It wasn’t the worst start, but by this point, I realized I couldn’t do much with my current laptop. It’s a bit old and struggles to keep up, making it almost impossible to work smoothly with such a demanding program.

Other sculpting tries

Over the years, I’ve also tried my hand at traditional sculpting, though I hadn’t researched the types of clay available. I experimented with regular clay, but I quickly learned that it’s tough to work with especially for a beginner like me. Here’s an attempt where I resculpted the tail and hooves for this horse:

Medallions

After feeling pretty disappointed with my model horse attempts, I decided to try something simpler like a medallion. Thinking it would be easier, I went for regular clay again, but I ran into the same problems. Then, I switched to polymer clay, and most of my issues vanished! Polymer clay was a game changer, it didn’t make a mess, it didn’t break or crack, and since it only hardens after baking, I could set it aside for days and still rework it. This made it much easier to add details, and that shows in the final product. It may not be the most beautiful horse, but I’m confident that with practice, I can keep improving and create even better ones (I have already started my second one).

On the right it's the normal clay attempt and on the left the polymer clay one!

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My current plan is to keep making more medallions until I feel ready to start a 3D horse model again (with clay). I’d also love to make a silicone mold so I can offer them to offer to collectors, but that’s something I’ll focus on in the future. I hope you enjoyed today’s post, and I look forward to seeing you in the next one! Byee :)

Freshly Baked Stablemates

Published on 12 November 2024

These are the Holiday stablemates for 2024!

To be honest I thought that they would be all gingerbread themed but they are not. My two favourites are the ones on the bottom. Unfortunately I will not be getting any of those because they will cost me a lot to get them here but I will be very interested to see videos or photos of them :)

Gingerbread horses!

Published on 11 November 2024

Breyer sent this email today:

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“On Tuesday, November 12th, on or around 1pm EST, Collector Club members get exclusive first access to our 2024 Holiday Blind Bags!

The "Freshly Baked" collection features four sweet Stablemates models that are sure to remind you of the holidays!

Limited to 2 per order/Collector Club account. Any models available after the early access window closes will be offered to everyone on Wednesday, November 13th.

Bags will ship randomly, so which one you receive will be a delicious surprise!”

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I’m very excited to see how they will look like! I will post them as soon as I see the pictures of them!

Small updates

Published on 10 November 2024

Happy Sunday! As I said in a previous blogpost, I was thinking of joining the Vintage club this year but at this point I don't know... The prices went up ($160-185) because Breyer included the shipping cost ,but to me that is not the case. Being international means that I will have to pay approximately $60-65 for shipping plus custom fees and the total to get all the 4 releases will be around $1000. Of course I can give my spot to someone else for the ones I don't want but I don't know if it is worth it. The same happened to the other 2 clubs but I was not interested in those.

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I finally joined the deluxe collector club for 2025 and I’m so happy about that!!

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Take a look at my first ever medallion! I know that it is not the most amazing one but I believe that with some practice I will become a lot better and create beautiful pieces :)

Before and after the oven

The reason behind why it is sparkly is because my dad bought me this clay that had sparkles in it and when I baked it, they grew ,lol

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This PeterStone was offered some weeks ago in best offers and I was so amazed by it that I have to show it to you!

Thank you for reading todays post! I made a script that allows me to turn text into html code to save time and this is the first post that I’m using it. See you soon :)

JAH reveals and Clubs

Published on 7 November 2024

Yesterday, some people received their JAH magazine, and it contained some really exciting information! The part that got me most excited and a bit stressed was the Vintage Club release! One of the 2025 releases will be a clock horse (Pioneer), which is something I really want for my collection. I’m determined not to miss out on joining this club this year and will do my best to secure a spot.

Additionally, there was information about five releases scheduled for next year and I have some thoughts about them. Read this and you will understand what I mean:

My theory is that the molds they’re talking about are the ones shown on the 75th anniversary blanket! These molds are supposed to have an anniversary in 2025. These are the molds that are shown in the blanket and their anniversary:

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The Premier Club and Stablemate Club are now open, but I don’t have a lot of details on them yet. The releases I’ve seen are still the same (The mule and the Stablemate Arabian that I posted on 19 October), but I’ve heard that prices have gone up (I think for the Premier Club each model be $195, and for the Stablemate Club $30, with free shipping for US members). International members, however, might have to pay extra, making it quite expensive, so joining these clubs might not be worth it. The Stablemate Club does have an international option, though I don’t have any details on it yet because Breyer doesn’t allow viewing more information about the clubs without a 2025 Collector Club membership. Another issue with the free shipping is that you can’t add a small Stablemate or other items to have the model shipped in a larger box for extra security. I didn’t want to sound negative, but I’m really concerned that these changes could make it hard for many international collectors to join the specialty clubs, and maybe I won’t be able to join the Vintage Club.

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The Premier Club 2024 extra Stablemate was revealed in the JAH magazine, and it’s the cutest thing ever! It’s a 50/50 matte-glossy split, and its name is Enya. I love this sculpture and hope I can get one soon!

Last weekend PeterStone offered some OOAKS as usual and one of them was probably one of the most beautiful horses I have ever seen! I will post about it soon. Have a great day :)

Collection Showcase #5

Published on 4 November 2024

Welcome back to another collection showcase! Today, I have two models to share that I got from Austria, the land with no kangaroos!! There's a funny story behind how I got them. During my last year of high school, instead of studying for exams, I found myself browsing eBay for plastic ponies. That’s when I came across a seller offering both Starlight and Glossy Benelli for not that much. I couldn't decide which one I wanted more (both had the same price), but in the end, I chose Starlight.

She arrived about a week after I placed the order, and the seller included a sweet little note saying thank you, which made me really happy. I showed it to my dad, and he got so excited that he asked if the seller had anything else I wanted. I showed him Benelli, and he told me to go ahead and get it! My mom helped me with the purchase since I was still a minor and didn’t have my own card at the time.

The following week, when Benelli was due to arrive, I skipped school so I could be home to open him. (My excuse for skipping? Studying!) When he finally came, I recorded a hilarious unboxing video to send to my friend who was stuck at school-lol.

Starlight was released in 2020 as part of the vintage club. She was limited to 500 pieces and mine has the number 278/500 making her one of my most limited Breyers I have.

Benelli was a limited edition horse in the 2020 Breyerfest Celtic Fling that was held online due to quarantine. To get him in glossy you had to preorder him and he was limited to 2675 pieces.

Día de los Muertos

Published on 2 November 2024

Today is Día de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, a beautiful Mexican holiday that honors and remembers loved ones who have passed away. Last year, I was incredibly privileged to visit Mexico and experience this profound tradition firsthand. Día de los Muertos is celebrated with vibrant colors, elaborate altars (known as ofrendas), and a joyful remembrance of those who have passed. Families come together to create these ofrendas, which are decorated with photos, marigold flowers, candles, and favorite foods of their loved ones, inviting the spirits to visit and celebrate together. It’s a time to remember with joy rather than mourn with sadness, believing that the spirits of those we’ve lost are closer to us than ever on this special day. If you’ve seen the movie Coco, you may already have a good sense of what Día de los Muertos is all about.

Here are some pictures I took while I was there!

Both Breyer and Peter Stone have made horses based on this tradition. For example, Breyer’s Halloween horse in 2017 Calavera and its mini version that came in 2019 are based on the colors and design that are used that day. Moreover, while I was there last year, Stone horses offered this OOAK in best offers!

Feliz día de los Muertos :)