Felicia Browell

In childhood, my Barbie dolls tended to have a leg missing. They were never intended to be equestrians, and one leg would snap off when I tried to mount them on my beloved Breyer horses. Stupid dolls! What was the point of their existence, if they couldn't ride?

I received my first Breyer at the age of 4, in 1969 and immediately fell in love. The only 'toys' I wanted were Breyer models and I collected them passionately until real horses stole my time and attention away. I kept the Breyers, though, and moved them across the USA a couple of times during my adult years. When my daughter began to show an interest, I turned my collection over to her. Now we have a common interest that gives us a new bond.

After being out of the hobby for so many years, I have a lot of catching up to do and lots of models to collect. This guide has been so helpful in identifying the various models produced on Breyer molds over the years. The guide only goes to 2007, so it's not complete, but there's enough information online to fill in the gaps over the past thirteen years. An updated version of this book would be wonderful and I hope to purchase one in the future.

The only problem I could find with this book are the values of models, which have changed since this book was published. One thing still remains true, that this is a buyers market and second-hand dealers such as antique stores and online sellers will tend to over-value the models they are selling, so you need to research a particular model (for current prices, the Model Horse Sales Pages website is the best reference). I've seen the same model for sale on Amazon priced at $185 and MHSP for $40, so prices can vary widely. In general, special runs, like Breyerfest exclusive models (only available for three days out of the year, and you have to be in Lexington KY to purchase them), will be very high priced at first, and then drop in value over the years. Quite often you can buy a special run that is four or five years old for less than half the price it was when it was new.

Overall, I would agree with expert collectors that this book is the Breyer bible and every collector needs this book.… (mer)