Wolfgang and True North are here!

My Wolfgang and True North models arrived last week/the week before, but got lost in the shuffle of Breyerfest news and the auction model countdown. Since there isn't an auction model reveal today (gotta do whatever they can to keep us from guessing the surprise), it seemed like a good time to share some photos of these guys. First, Wolfgang!

 

I don't have much to complain about with this guy. I like his color, he stands reasonably well, I didn't see anything particularly bad about his paint job...he's just nice all-around.

 

His gloss is nice and smooth, too. I guess if I did have any nitpicks, it would be that some of the peacock spots don't quite line up with their mapping. Not a big deal.

In short, I'm pretty happy with this release - he has a lot of detail for such a tiny model, and (this one, at least) was pulled off quite well. I hope the quality of the rest of the year's releases is up to the same standard!

Next, we have True North!

 

I was hoping to get this guy sold directly from Breyer so I wouldn't have to deal with him further, but fickle eBay buyers being fickle led me to having him shipped here. He'll be for sale at Breyerfest. The sculpt just doesn't appeal to me - I'm not sure why.



 

Quality-wise, he's okay - he doesn't have anything too majorly wrong with him, but he does have some booboos. Like silver horseshoe paint on his leg...

 

...whatever's going on with the inside of his left ear...

 

...questionable mapping on the edge of his mane....

 

...and this last thing, which I'm not sure is a flaw. Why does his body color go onto the bottom of his tail? I've never seen that before.

 

But, none of these would really be enough to make me want to exchange him, especially this close to Breyerfest. And they're all pretty minor, in the grand scheme of things.

Tune in tomorrow for another auction model reveal! I mean, presumably there will be one. They wouldn't skip two days in a row....or would they?

Live Auction Lot 5: Whoa!

So the fifth live auction lot was released today and...oh man.

 

She is to die for! Look at that luscious gloss. Look at her shading. Look at her PEARLY MANE AND TAIL OMG! I'm seriously considering trying to get my credit card paid off before we leave, I want her that much. Holy crap. 

The only disappointing thing about this model is that we'll never see it in this color for a web special or other special run. Boo! But she really is beautiful. Ugh, I want her so badly!

Live Auction Lot 4 - Totilas!

Mmm. Check this guy out:


 

He's gorgeous. Like Enchante's flashier brother!  I wasn't so much of a fan of last year's auction Totilas; not sure why. Something about that shade of chestnut. This guy, though...whoa.

This also removes Totilas from the list of possible surprise models, though it remains to be seen if a model on a stand will ever be used. Either way, if I had the money, I'd definitely be trying for this model. I bet he'll go high!

Live Auction Model #3 - Adios!

Check out this gorgeous hunk!

 

He's lot 3 in the Breyerfest auction! If he was mine, I'd probably name him some variation of Potato Chip or French Fry (because of his mane). That probably sounds weird. Oh well! Sundown was one of my favorite models as a child because I thought his tail looked like a French fry. Well, that and his stereotypical Arabian look. I bet this guy will go high, too, due to Adios's popularity.

This also eliminates Adios from contention for the surprise model, not that anyone was guessing it would be him. The list slowly grows shorter! I can't wait to see tomorrow's model!

Featured Model - 6/17/2017, Alborozo

Greetings, readers! Welcome to the latest edition of Featured Model, the weekly blog event where I pick a model from my collection, give some stats on it and provide commentary about it. This week's model is the model, the myth, the legend...Alborozo!

 

Alborozo was, of course, the Breyerfest Celebration Model from 2008, and is most famous (or infamous) for his mold being destroyed after that appearance. He's item #711108, and was one of the first models Brigitte Eberl sculpted for Breyer. Approximately 6,000 Alborozo models were produced before the mold was destroyed.

Questions still swirl around Alborozo's unfortunate-but-planned demise. Why did they do it? Some sources say it was because of an  agreement between Breyer and the real horse's owner. Others say it was a gesture of good faith from Breyer toward Brigitte Eberl, because she had been burned by Stone in the past. Still others say it was just a publicity stunt. Word from Breyer itself seems to have been scarce, and I wasn't participating in the hobby at the time, so I can't provide any word-of-mouth knowledge of my own. The page on the mold's destruction from the Sept/Oct 2008 issue of JAH says only that, "Because BreyerFest is an event we work all year long to share with you, and because it is the greatest expression of our brand ... we really wanted to do something exciting and collectible - something we've never done before!"

So that wording tends to support the publicity stunt angle. I tend to think the reasoning may be a combination of all three of those possibilities, and maybe others as well. It probably seemed like a good way to drum up interest in Breyerfest at the time, though it is a disappointment that the mold they chose to destroy for Breyerfest was such a nice one. Unfortunately, we'll never get a regular run Alborozo, or a web special, or anything else other than a few auction models, perhaps another early bird special, or maybe a raffle model. Breyer did say they'd held back a few blanks to use as auction pieces (and the 2014 Early Bird Alegria), though we've only seen one since 2008 (in 2012). Maybe this year we'll get another auction Alborozo! It won't be long now until we find out.

As for me, I'm happy to have my Alborozo - he's an important piece of hobby history, and perhaps a good example of what not to do to sell Breyerfest tickets. It's unlikely I'll ever be able to get my hands on a glossy Alborozo or Alegria, so I'll cherish this guy forever.

Breyerfest Auction Lot 2 - It's the Show Jumper!

Lot 2 of the Breyerfest auction has been revealed, and as the post title suggested yesterday, it is in fact the Show Jumping Warmblood!

 

I was disappointed to see no one had fixed the extra apostrophe in the post title, "Saturday's are for Show Jumpers!" Better luck next time, I guess.

Interestingly, while the model is described as "a rich, dark Bay Roan" in the post, I originally took him for a grulla - and I wasn't the only one, because the actual photo link calls it a Grulla Warmblood.

Either way, the model looks really nice - though I prefer the loose mane and tail on this mold, I still really like the color. I wonder if he has any metallic in his paint job? Doesn't look like it in the photo, but we all know Breyer's photos can be misleading. I bet this guy will be a high seller all the same, though.

The 2017 Breyerfest Auction Countdown Has Begun!

Greetings, readers! Excellent news - the Breyerfest auction model countdown is now underway! Every day between now and the day before the first day of Breyerfest, Breyer will (if all goes well) post photos of auction models we'll see that Friday night (with the exception of one or two to keep us from guessing the surprise in suspense. Oddly enough, they're being posted in the Breyer News section of the website this year rather than the blog.

But, on with the show. The first auction model of the year is...on the Imperador mold!

 

He is described as a glossy dark dapple bay tobiano pinto on the website. Wow! He certainly looks luscious in all that gloss. He's so dark he almost looks black! His stripey mane is nice, too. I wanted to like the Imperador mold, but in the end I needed space and I couldn't get over his tiny size, squished look and toothpick front legs. Not sure what happened to this guy in the molding process, but it didn't do him any favors.

I'm guessing tomorrow's model is on the Show Jumping Warmblood - if you look at the sidebar on the Breyer News page, it has entries for future news posts that don't go anywhere. Tomorrow's reads, "Saturday's (sic) are for show jumpers!" So, if it is the SJW, that knocks him out of the running for the surprise model. Hope they don't waste too much time getting it posted tomorrow!

Also, if you're a Collector Club member attending Breyerfest this year, make sure you log into the website and register for a badge at the Collector Club tent (should be on your CC homepage). I can't imagine they'd keep you from going into the tent without registering ahead of time, but who knows.