We all have our preferences for what we like to collect. Some of us are just “collect what we like.” Some are very systematic, all of a particular make, or all of a particular mold.

When I was young in the hobby, it was still possible, if overkill, to own an example of nearly EVERY model Breyer had produced, and local-to-me hobbyist Karen Grimm of Black Horse Ranch had such a collection, and hosted many tours of it. She was also a Breyer dealer, which certainly helped!

I tend to collect just individual models that I like, which tends to be models that are performance oriented, models in action, and models that are ponies. But I appreciate any model with a nice face. Since my collection is large, I try to be discerning about new arrivals, but there are so many good new ones out there! I will often excuse myself with “well, I don’t have any examples of this mold yet.”

There are molds where I have several examples, but I’m not completionist, and I’m definitely not the person who would sell models I have just because a new unobtainable model came out on that mold. I tend to like and keep the ones that I find especially flattering on the mold, and I don’t worry about the ones I can’t or don’t have.

Breyerfest special run Bristol “Jump and Drive,” loose mane variation

I think if I were starting a collection from scratch today, I might have a very strong collection of jumping horses. When I was a kid, there was just the one, the chunky jumper in Overspray Bay with his belly touching the wall, and while I loved him, I wanted so much more for him. Today we have so many really excellent jumpers, OF from multiple manufacturers plus many fabulous resins. The technical options to display them only get better too.

They’re jumping AND they’re ponies! (WH Topgun, and Always Chipper, two Breyerfest portrait limited edition models.)