Featured Breyerfest - 1994

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Breyerfest! We're moving right along and covering 1994 this week, so let's get started! 

Breyerfest 1994
July 29-31, 1994
Celebration Horse: Bright Zip
Number of Celebration Models Produced: 2,244
Attendees: 15,000 (according to a later JAH) 
Here's the 1994 page from the commemorative program:

At this point the commemorative program expands each year to two pages, so here's the other page for 1994. 

The real Bright Zip was an Appaloosa stallion who belonged to clinician John Lyons. As the commemorative program states, John Lyons was highly-sought-after as a trainer/clinician and used Bright Zip in his demonstrations. Bright Zip died in 2003 at the age of 28. 

This year's raffle model is Winchester, the handsome glossy charcoal Buckshot. Meanwhile, this year's volunteer model is the old-style red roan Indian Pony, and there's an exciting new development! Special run models! Just some G1 foals turned into keychains, but still! As far as I know, there wasn't any special system for distributing these special run models - people who wanted to buy them had to stand in line in the hot sun for hours with no guarantee that they'd get a model, and this system continued for the next several years. 

Here's the first page of the 1994 recap from JAH: 

And here's the next two pages:

And here's the last page:

IDYB has (tiny) photos of lots of the auction models for this year, which is great! One of my favorites is this brindle bay PAS - I wish there were more photos of him! 

I'm also intrigued by this gray/chestnut Paso Fino:

I'm also wondering what the story was behind this strawberry roan Pluto:

But now that I think about it, I think the story was that the model turned out to be extremely similar to another strawberry roan Pluto that was sold at the live auction the year before, and while there's no photo, there is a strawberry roan Pluto listed as a test model in the 1993 live auction. Drama! Well, at least it was caught. Interestingly, the high seller at this auction was the raffle model, rather than any of the test models; that would definitely not be the case today, as they've started to gloss the raffle model in the auction to get those prices back up. Anyway, the second-highest-seller is this rosy rabicano Sham:

And with that, we've reached the end of today's post! Check back next week for 1995! 

More Breyerfest split runs and the Collector Club newsletter!

 Greetings, readers! Well, they had me fooled - I didn’t think there would be any other Breyerfest variations. But it did seem odd that there wasn’t a color split. Well, turns out there is one, because Breyer revealed more variations today! Check out this sooty palomino version of Thingvellir!

That color is amazing! Too bad I don’t collect the mold. 

And lastly for the variation reveals (for real this time, or so they claim), 1/3 of the Hygge models will be a beautiful pink!

I’m not really that into pink…but I’ll make an exception for this guy! I love him. Since there are 3,000 total, that means 1,000 of these will be pink. Those odds aren’t too terrible. I hope I get one!

And in other news, the May collector club newsletter was released today! The feature story is a retrospective on 3 decades of Breyerfest (that ties in well with my recent Featured Breyerfest series), there’s an Athenian Lady giveaway, and this sneak peek! 

It’s textured, but I have no idea what it is. Some kind of bull? Seems like an odd time of year to be getting the bulls out for a special run. Maybe it’s a mid-year release? 

Carmen is now available!

 Attention, Premier Club members! The first release of the year, Carmen, is now available to order! Huzzah! 

I ordered a matte one, and am getting a glossy one from a friend, so I guess I'll get to see them in July! Hmm...the order deadline is 6/11, so it may be worth waiting on completing your order, because the next Stablemates Club release might come out by then and we all love combining shipping on stuff, right? Food for thought. 

Featured Breyerfest - 1993

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Breyerfest! We're continuing with our retrospective by looking back at Breyerfest 1993 this week, so let's get going! 

Breyerfest 1993
July 30-Aug 1, 1993
Celebration Horse: Grayingham Lucky Lad
Number of Celebration Models produced: 1,500
Attendees: unknown

Here's the Breyerfest 1993 page in the commemorative program:

This Breyerfest holds the distinction of being the first one to feature a volunteer model - the legendary silver filigree PAM. It also may be the first Breyerfest that had a model horse show? This is the first time I've seen the model horse show mentioned in the program. Here's an old picture from how the live show used to take place, on the dirt floor of the covered arena: 

Glad I never had to deal with that - I bet the dust on the models was terrible. 

Anyways, here's (most of) the writeup from Breyerfest 1993 that appeared in the Winter 1993 issue of JAH:

The Old Kentucky Nights dinner was still going at this point, but I don't think it lasted too much longer. Here's one of the models from the live auction:

IDYB describes this as a test color golden dappled bay on the porcelain Shire Mare. I wonder where she is now? She sold for a whopping $100 at the auction, but I bet she'd be worth a lot more nowadays. Here's another auction model:

He looks a bit green in the photo, but I think it's an issue with the camera or something. There are a few other auction models listed on IDYB's page for Breyerfest 1993, but I'll stop with this one:

Look at the details on this one! Wow. The original Ichilay was issued with four different warpaint variations, but this one appears to have all of them at once, plus more! Odd that the mane/tail feathers aren't painted, though. She's the highest-selling model in the auction, at least for the ones that have prices listed, and no surprise! 

Well, that's about it for this week - check back next week for Breyerfest 1994! 

Breyerfest sale and special run splits!

 Exciting news today, readers! The Breyerfest warehouse sale is happening now! 

There's nothing terribly interesting in the sale, and some of it is sold out already, but if you happen to have some money burning a hole in your pocket, knock yourself out. 

In other exciting news, Breyer decided to announce the Breyerfest special run splits ahead of time! Ticket sales must be down. And I'm not sure it's the first time they've done it, because I remember them announcing the splits in 2020 when we were all filling out preference lists for the first time.  Anyways, as many people suspected due to the "glossy" wording (later removed) in his initial announcement, Oseburg will be a matte/glossy split! 

Mmm, he looks great in gloss. Hope I can get one! 

Next, there's a tail variation on Aquavit! This will also be a 50/50 split: 

Many people were expecting a bell tail to eventually show up, so it's not that much of a surprise! Cool-looking, but still nothing I need. 

And lastly, Litha has a rare variation! 

Oooooooh, I really want this one! I love the colors. 30% of the 2200-piece run will be in this color, so that works out to 660 models. Decent odds of getting one, I guess? Maybe I need to buy some more tickets...

Buenos Aires!

 Good news, readers! We have a reveal for the sneak peek from last month's newsletter! Behold, Buenos Aires! 

As many people thought, it's a manchado pattern on the polo pony version of Smarty Jones! From the email:

Polo pony mare Buenos Aires has a unique manchado pinto coat that was designed by equine color expert Lesli Kathman. This rare pattern is unique to Argentinian horses, and Lesli describes it as “primarily a top-down dorsal pattern” which features numerous spots.

The entry deadline is 5/21 at 11:59PM EST, so don't waste time getting your entries in! I don't need this one, but good luck to everyone entering!  

There's a Breyerfest sale coming up!

 Good news, everyone! Well, not-so-good news if you're trying to save for Breyerfest. But Breyer is having a sale of past Breyerfest products next week! From the blog: 

We’ve been poking around in our warehouse and have uncovered some BreyerFest items that date as far back as 2016, so if you missed a year in the last decade, only recently discovered BreyerFest, or you’re on the hunt for that one model or souvenir from a previous year, this is the sale for you!

 This could be interesting. I mean, I doubt there'll be anything particularly special, but if there's any models from 2016 and onward you never got ahold of, it could be worth it. I'll be watching to see what's in the sale! Probably nothing I want, but you never know. 

Featured Breyerfest - 1992

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Breyerfest! This week we're covering Breyerfest 1992, so get ready for another trip to the distant past (ha, ha...). 

Breyerfest 1992
After the four Breyerfests of 1991, just one event was held in 1992 and every year since. I can't imagine how much work and planning it took to put on four Breyerfests - no wonder they went back to just one. 
Date: July 31-Aug 1, 1992
Celebration Horse: Turbo the Wonder Horse
Number of Celebration Models produced: 1,000
Attendees: I haven't been able to find any information about attendance in 1992. But obviously it was enough to keep holding the event! Here's the 1992 page in the commemorative program: 

According to the Riders in the Sky wiki (who would have thought there would be one), Turbo the Wonder Horse was the mount of Ranger Doug on the Riders in the Sky TV show (and radio show). He was produced on the popular Semi-Rearing Mustang mold. 

Since Breyerfest was back to being just one event, there was only one raffle model - the buckskin Quarter Horse Yearling, which was suggested by Marney Walerius, one of the "founding mothers" of the model horse hobby. 

I also found it interesting that the trade show was held in the Big Barn in the KHP. It looks like some seminars/signings were held in the Covered Arena lounge, but was anything else in the Covered Arena? 

That's about it for this week - information about Breyerfest 1992 seems to be pretty sparse. Check back next week for Breyerfest 1993! 

Be still, my heart

 Greetings, readers! Well, it happened - the Best Customs Contest prizes were officially revealed today! Behold the grand prize, Lingonberry: 

Troubadour looks amazing in chestnut! Ugh, I want him so bad! 

And here's the runner-up prize, Gravlax:

He's also amazing in chestnut appaloosa! I don't even want to think about how high the silent auction lot for these is going to go. Anyways, that knocks Troubadour out of contention for the surprise model. I'm still thinking Vermeer, though I'm hoping for something I don't want so I don't have to figure out how to fit 10 surprise models into my luggage afterward! 

Another sneak peek!

 Well, no resolution to the previous sneak peek yet...but instead, we get another one! Behold: 

Eagle-eyed collectors have already pointed out this is probably a chestnut version of the appaloosa Valerio. Darn it! I was hoping it would be something I don't want. On the other hand, at least it isn't a mini Othello? I've been dreading that since they shrank him down. I wonder if the silent auction will set a record this year? 

Featured Breyerfest - 1991

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Breyerfest! We're covering 1991 this week, so buckle up and get ready! 

Breyerfest 1991
This Breyerfest holds the distinction of having been held in four locations over the summer of 1991. 
Dates: June 8-9 (Oregon)
July 13 (Pennsylvania)
Aug. 10-11 (Kentucky)
Aug. 17-18 (California)
Celebration Horse: Mustang Lady
Number of Celebration Models produced: 2,500
Attendees: I'm not sure how many attended the four events in total. However, further research about Breyerfest 1990 (last week's post has been updated to reflect this) revealed that there actually were 10,000 attendees in 1990. So it's probably safe to assume there were 10,000 or more attendees in 1991 as well. Here's the page for 1991 in the commemorative program: 

The real Mustang Lady was a mustang mare who excelled in endurance events. I'll let you read the information about her in the commemorative program page above rather than try to restate all of it. Mustang Lady (the horse) was present at the Oregon and California Breyerfests. The model was issued on the popular Indian Pony mold sculpted by Chris Hess. Mustang Lady was (again) the only special run produced for Breyerfest that year, other than the raffle models...but what a group of raffle models! Four different raffles were held in 1991, one for each of the locations; these raffles included the copenhagen San Domingo, florentine Legionario, gold charm Man o' War and wedgewood blue Sham. 

The above image is from this Breyer History Diva post about Breyerfest. I'm surprised that they managed to squeeze everything into one day (and also wondering why, considering all the other events were two days long). Maybe the KHP was booked that Sunday for something else? Who knows. But 1991 was the first year the diorama contest was held! 

There wasn't much else I could find about the 1991 Breyerfests, but here's an auction model from IDYB: 

Looks pretty similar to the Coal release from 2002, though Coal's socks are a bit smaller. This auction model was sold at the California Breyerfest. 

And this auction model was also sold at the CA Breyerfest. It looks like he's a test for Dream Weaver, though the face marking looks a little different. 

That's all I have for this week! Check back next week for Breyerfest 1992! 

Noooooooo!

 Well, there's a new sneak peek on the blog...

...and it looks suspiciously like a chestnut Troubadour. In the same shade of chestnut they've been doing for the Best Customs Contest prizes for the last few years. NOOOOOOOO! Another one I won't be able to get...sigh. At least he'll be pretty! Only 64 days until Breyerfest - woohoo! 

Yeah, nah

 Exciting news, readers! There's another test run model for Collector Club members to enter for! Let's check him out: 

He's pretty plain for something with a $1200 price tag. But every regular run release starts somewhere, I guess. From the email:

The Pacer (mold #46) was Breyer’s first representation of a racing Standardbred. As his name implies, he depicts the breed’s distinctive lateral “pace” gait that some, but not all, Standardbreds race at. He is decorated as a simple but elegant liver chestnut with three socks and a complimentary forest green halter. This test run piece likely dates to the 1990s or very early 2000s.

I don't need this one, but good luck to everyone entering!