Originally published July 3, 2015
Singles Assortment: The Second Generation - What Pony is This?
When subscribers to the Breyer magazine, Just About Horses began to pour over the New For 1998 list in the 1998 Jan/Feb issue, they noticed the list was unusually long for the Stablemate scale. At first the offerings seemed fairly standard: Thoroughbred - Blood Bay, Arabian - Shaded Steel Grey, Shire - Black (well, okay it's possible Breyer's stretching a point with the G1 Draft Horse...), Pinto Saddlebred - Chestnut and White, Shetland Pony - Red Ro...wait a minute, Shetland Pony? Breyer doesn't have anything that could pass for a Shetland Pony! NEW MOLDS!!
The 1998 July/Aug issue featured images of the full 1998 Singles Assortment, as well as announcing an exciting special run. The full-colour picture showed not just a handful of new molds but twelve dynamic molds (including the three additional ones from the special run set) in a variety of breeds by the talented and popular Kathleen Moody!
While the G1 molds had names which were uniformly used, the G2 names could vary a bit, especially in the early days of the mold when there was a certain amount of anarchy when it came to the mold names. Eventually the hobby came to an informal majority agreement, though a few name variations are still in use. The most commonly used mold names are as follows:
- American Saddlebred - also Saddlebred or Saddlebred Mare
- Andalusian
- Clydesdale
- Mule
- Paso Fino
- Prancing Morgan - also Morgan (Prancing) or Park Morgan
- Rearing Arabian - also Arabian (Rearing)
- Standardbred - also Pacer
- Stock Horse - also Appaloosa
- Shetland Pony - also Pony
- Thoroughbred
- Warmblood
It took quite a while for the new assortment to hit the stores - I stalked my local shop without any luck until December 17, 1998; my JAH special run set appeared on my doorstep less than a week later.
The #5901 Assortment released in 1998 only featured nine of the new molds, plus three G1 molds - these were marked * A Hagen-Renaker design. In addition to the Assortment number, each individual model in the collection had its own unique number - this was not carried on with later collections.
- #5601 Appaloosa - buckskin blanket appaloosa (G2 Stock Horse)
- #5602 Thoroughbred - chestnut (G2 Thoroughbred)
- #5603 Arabian - white grey (G2 Rearing Arabian)
- #5604 Clydesdale - bay (G2 Clydesdale)
- #5605Pinto Pony - black tobiano (G2 Shetland)
- #5606 Andalusian - dapple grey (G2 Andalusian)
- #5607 Warmblood - bay (G2 Warmblood)
- #5608 Saddlebred - palomino with painted braids(G2 American Saddlebred)
- #5609 Mule - varnish leopard appaloosa (G2 Mule)
In 1999 the G1 models were replaced with the three previously unreleased G2 molds:
- #5002 Pinto Saddlebred - chestnut tobiano (G1 Saddlebred)
- #5901 Paint - Grey Frame (G1 Quarter Horse Stallion)
- #5011 Arabian - Chestnut roan (G1 Arabian Mare)
- #5610 Paso Fino - Bay (G2 Paso Fino)
- #5611 Standardbred - Chestnut roan (G2 Standardbred)
- #5612 Morgan - Flaxen liver chestnut (G2 Prancing Morgan)
This 100% G2 assortment was available through 2002 when it was replaced the next year by a new assortment.
The #5904 Assortment consisted mainly of G2 molds with one lonely G1 Saddlebred in black tobiano. The rest of the assortment contained:
- Liver Chestnut Saddlebred - G2 American Saddlebred
- Dun Appaloosa Warmblood - G2 Warmblood
- Dapple Grey Standardbred - G2 Standardbred
- Black Arabian - G2 Rearing Arabian
- Dapple Grey Paso Fino - G2 Paso Fino
- Light Grey Shire - G2 Clydesdale
- Dark Chestnut Quarter Horse - G2 Stock Horse
- Dark Bay Andalusian - G2 Andalusian
- Palomino Morgan - G2 Prancing Morgan
- Chestnut Paint - G2 Thoroughbred
- Palomino Pony - G2 Shetland Pony
Around the end of 2005 the G1 Black & White Pinto Saddlebred was replaced by the G2 American Saddlebred in the same colour.
The #5904 Assortment was available until the end of 2006.
Originally published July 1, 2016
Singles Assortment: The Third Generation - It's Sneaky!
By 2006 collectors were beginning to get a bit bored, the last assortment had been released in 2003 and were getting rather stale. At the time, the main sources for hobby information was Blab and a few email lists, so not everyone was expecting the new collection, especially a collection of new molds, which was released in the middle of 2006.
The new collection of twelve molds were sculpted by Jane Lunger.
- Belgian
- Cantering Warmblood
- Friesian
- Highland Pony
- Mustang
- Peruvian Paso
- Rearing Andalusian (Andalusian)
- Standing Stock Horse (Stock Horse)
- Standing Thoroughbred (Thoroughbred)
- Tennessee Walking Horse
- Walking Arabian (also Arabian - Walking, Arabian)
- Warmblood Jumper (also Jumper, Jumping Horse)
#5906 was the first official release of the G3 molds, though a special run would follow soon after. The following assortment was available from the summer of 2006 through 2008.
- Warmblood Jumper: Appaloosa Jumper on Base - Black and White Leopard
- Tennessee Walking Horse: Tennessee Walking Horse - Grey and White Sabino Pinto
- Belgian: Belgian - Sorrel
- Rearing Andalusian: Andalusian - Rose Grey
- Friesian: Friesian - Black
- Walking Arabian: Arabian - Bay
- Peruvian Paso: Peruvian Paso - Red Roan
- Standing Thoroughbred: Thoroughbred - Mahogany Bay
- Mustang: Mustang - Chestnut Overo Pinto
- Highland Pony: Highland Pony - Dun
- Standing Stock Horse: Paint Horse - Bay Pinto
- Cantering Warmblood: Warmblood - Flea-bitten Grey
After the #5906 assortment was discontinued, the #5907 assortment replaced it in early 2009. This collection had a rather dark colour palette and came with small, double-sided trading cards. The assortment consisted of the following:
- Rearing Andalusian: Mustang - Olive grulla
- Tennessee Walking Horse: Tennessee Walker - Dapple grey
- Belgian: American Spotted Draft - Bay Pinto
- Warmblood Jumper: Dutch Warmblood - Chestnut (called "palomino" in 2009 catalogue)
- Standing Stock Horse: American Quarter Horse - Red roan
- Friesian: Friesian - Black
- Standing Thoroughbred: Hanoverian - Sorrel
- Walking Arabian: Arabian - Liver chestnut
- Cantering Warmblood: Sport Horse - Bay blanket appaloosa
- Peruvian Paso: Peruvian Paso - Light grey
- Highland Pony: Highland Pony - Blue roan
- Mustang: Appaloosa - Black
This assortment was produced until the end of 2011.