New Arrivals: Pinto Maya, Black Overo Harper and Sapphira

 Greetings, readers! Well, I would have written this post earlier, but I had some technical difficulties, so it had to wait until later. Anyways, it's time for more New Arrivals! Technically none of these are Breyerfest models, but I picked them up and/or bought them while I was in KY, so close enough. I'll start with the pinto Maya:

She's pretty! Does her head marking count as a medicine hat? Either way I like her. 

Next is the black overo Harper, which I thought I bought earlier in the year, but apparently I just hallucinated that! Anyway, she's here now. Black and white is always a flashy combination, and this Harper is no exception. 

Last for today is Sapphira the unicorn! I definitely bought this one earlier this year, but she arrived with the horn broken off, so I had to return her. So I tried again at the KHP. I ended up shipping her home in the second box of models I bought, and kicked myself for a few days for not putting her in the suitcase and shipping a different Classic home instead, because I would have been majorly annoyed if she'd arrived with the horn snapped off again. Fortunately, she was intact when I unwrapped her! Fun stuff. Anyway, she's a nice teal/aqua shade, which I like, and I even like the pink areas even though I'm normally not a pink fan. They go well together! 

That's it for today - check back soon for more New Arrivals! 

Featured Breyerfest - 2001

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Breyerfest! Now that Breyerfest is over, we're returning to our regularly scheduled programming. This week we're covering Breyerfest 2001, so let's get going! Notable events from the year 2001:

• Nintendo releases its much-maligned GameCube game console (I still have mine!)
• The September 11 attacks happen, kickstarting the global war on terror
• Tiznow wins the Breeder's Cup Classic for the second time in the first major post-9/11 sporting event. He remains the only horse to win the Breeder's Cup Classic twice
• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is released in theaters, a major event for yours truly

And, of course, Breyerfest 2001 took place! 
Dates: July 27-29, 2001
Celebration Horse: Atlantis Bey V
Number of Celebration Models produced: 3,700
Attendance: unknown

Here's the first 2001 page from the commemorative program:

The real Atlantis Bey V was a son of Huckleberry Bey, whose famous portrait mold launched a generation of Kathleen Moody fans and still commands a hefty following to this day. On this page we can also see the aptly-named Siren raffle model, as well as Silver Fox, the other raffle model. The volunteer model was the droolworthy and rarely-seen-for-sale The Poet, the only porcelain volunteer model (so far). 

As for the special runs: the keychains finally went away, to be replaced by flocky Stablemates. There were also those bronze Hucks for sale, but since paying more than about $75 for a Breyer (other than an auction model) was a pretty laughable proposition in those days, they didn't sell too well. Some of those bronze models can still be found in the Collector Club tent at Breyerfest! Although I didn't see any this year. The "Classic Racehorse Set" kinda kills me, considering all three of those colors are either nonexistent in the TB breed or very rare. Why didn't they just call it a stock horse set instead? All three of those molds could be passed off as Quarter Horses. But I digress. I love the color on the Mesquite model, even though the bulls aren't really my thing. He's beautiful! We also had Shadow of Blue, the foal of regular run model Silky Keno, as well as the collie Jester and of course the beautiful glossy bay Silver. This was the beginning of the "use Silver as a special run or prize model every year for the better part of a decade" era. 

JAH didn't have a traditional Breyerfest recap this year - just photos instead. Here's the first page:

I feel you, Tanya. I really do. 

That's it for the JAH wrapup. Let's take a look at some auction models! 

I had to talk about this one because he's so reminiscent of High Wire that I wondered if he was a test, but High Wire has four stockings, so probably not. Similar color, though. 

This buckskin pinto Sham is absolutely beautiful. Give me this color on every mold! He's a lot like Rheverence, come to think of it. Anyway, give me that color on every mold!

There's no way I couldn't talk about the legendary Over the Rainbow! The Connoisseur line had made its debut earlier in 2001, including the new paint techniques that introduced mapping, so of course Breyer had to show off and make a rainbow version of Mosaic. I imagine he's the holy grail of many a collector, and it's no surprise why - lots of people (myself included) love rainbow models. I wonder where this guy is now? 

And lastly, I had to cover this one because (without doing any research to back it up) I think this may be the first, or one of the first, silver bays Breyer ever did? He looks a bit different than the silver bay models we see now, but I still wouldn't mind having him in my herd. What a beauty! 

That's it for this week. Check back next week for Breyerfest 2002! 

Christmas in July "Sale" and more New Arrivals!

 Attention, Collector Club members! I'm a bit late with this and most of the good stuff is sold out, but Breyer is having a Christmas in July sale now (or "sale," since none of the prices are lower than they were originally)! They're not giving the warehouse any sort of a break, huh? Check out the sale here. The sale went live while I was sleeping, so I didn't get anything (not that I would have, except maybe a Tannenbaum). Maybe next time! 

In the meantime, it's time to continue with the New Arrivals! First up: 

That's right, it's the man of the hour, BF's hottest item (other than Oseburg and The Wanderer), the bestseller in every time zone - Helsinki! Seems like everybody wanted this guy - they were flying off the tables faster than the workers could unpack them at the handout tent. But can you blame him? He looks great in that shade of blue, with the dapples and shading, and a layer of gloss over the top? Beautiful. Another reason I was glad I got the VIP ticket, so I'd get the Stablemate 4-pack and be guaranteed to get him. 

Next we have Stjarna, one of the models from the Best of Breyerfest Series 7 set. He's a mini version of Seren, the 2008 contest prize on Bouncer. Kit looks good in bay overo, though I don't know what breed to assign to him. Some kind of American sport pony? More thought is required. 

Lastly for today, we have Faroe, also from the Best of Breyerfest Series 7 set. Stjarna and Faroe were the only models from the set I wanted - the rest went on sale in my room at the Clarion. Anyway, Faroe is a mini version of Capri, the early bird raffle model from 2008. I don't think he matches the Capri all that well, though - Capri has more shading on his legs and muzzle and the body color doesn't quite match. Still looks nice, though. 

And that's it for New Arrivals for today! More New Arrivals are coming soon, as well as Breyerfest Closeups! 

New Arrivals: Carmen, Glossy Carmen, and Roan Maya!

 Greetings, readers! I've got more New Arrivals for today, so let's get started! 

This girl was purchased a while ago and had been waiting for me in KY, so I was happy to finally be able to pick her up! I do like her, but I'm not crazy about the lack of detail on the left side of her face. I hope they're able to fix that for future releases. Her color is beautiful, though! I hope they put that on a few other releases, because it's too pretty to only use once. 

Next is Glossy Carmen! Also purchased prior to Breyerfest and dropped off in KY. She's even more beautiful than the matte version! What a beauty. Can't wait to see what Breyer does with her next! Probably a Breyerfest special run. 

Lastly, here's the roan version of Maya from a few months back! Like the Carmens, she was purchased prior to BF. I think she's my favorite of the three colors - there's just something about a good roan that I like. And I love her flaxen mane and tail! So pretty. 

That's it for today - check back soon for more New Arrivals! 

Drifter is now available for purchase, and more New Arrivals!

 Exciting news, Vintage Club members! The latest release, Drifter, is now available for purchase! 

He's nothing I need, but those colors are pretty. I hope everyone gets the color(s) they want! 

And in other news, we have more New Arrivals! Behold: 

The beautiful glossy Oseberg! I'm so happy I was able to get this one with my VIP ticket. The matte one should be much easier to acquire for a decent price on the secondary market later. He looks so great in gloss! A beautiful color for my favorite Traditional mold. And I was even able to squeeze him onto the shelves with my other Othello models! Not sure what I'm going to do if/when I find a matte one, but I'll worry about that later. 

Next is the underrated Midnattssol, who got kinda overlooked in the Oseberg/Wanderer/Litha craze. Another one that would have looked great in gloss! I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record here, but it's true. We needed one of the special runs to be glossy-only! I guess I'm Team Glossy after all. Anyway, Cosimo looks great in this color! I love his blue eye. Do we think Cosimo will be next year's Celebration Model? It would be great to see Carletto as the Celebration Horse, though unlikely since he's based in Europe. There is a blue roan Murgese stallion in Montana, though. Guess we'll find out in a few months! 

This isn't a Breyerfest model, but they had plenty of them in the Breyer store when I went through, so I snagged one. It's Fuego, this year's Halloween model! Dragons aren't really the first thing I think of when I think about Halloween, but I suppose bats and ghosts are pretty played out at this point. And since longboi is long, you can fit some pretty big dragons on him! Very nice. Ooh, and when they do a blind bag Stablemate version of this guy in a few years, they can use Darley, since he's basically the Stablemate longboi! Winners all around. 

That's it for today! Check back later for more New Arrivals! And hopefully they'll get around to announcing the Scandi Surprise run numbers one of these days...

Kiana models are shipping and more New Arrivals!

 Good news, Deluxe Collector Club members! In a shocking turn of events, this year's DCC model, Kiana, is already in stock and shipping! I hope you had the correct address when you joined the club, because they're shipping to that address automatically rather than having us confirm which address we want to use. Which could be problematic, so maybe give Breyer a call if you're concerned about that. 

It's a gambler's choice of which Kiana you'll get - matte or glossy. I hope I get both! I accidentally used my NZ address for my first club membership, so it might take a while for that one to get here. Oh well. 

In other news, it's time for more New Arrivals! 

That's right, it's The Wanderer - a hot item for many Breyerfest attendees, as they sold out pretty quickly. Luckily, I got one with my VIP ticket. He's so pretty! I really like the blue/black of his feathers, along with his mismatched eyes and the slight blue tint to his mane/tail. But I can't help but wonder what he would have looked like in gloss...

Next we have the original Litha, who seemed like the black sheep of the event, because no one seemed to want this one - but he did sell out eventually, so who knows. I suspect there will be a lot of them for sale at the Clarion next year (if room sales continue). But he's a really nice color! Which also could have been really great in gloss...

Lastly for today, we have the decorator Litha! He was certainly a hot item, and probably the reason the entire run of Litha sold out. But his color is really great! I love the shade of blue they used - more like turquoise, really. And you can't see it in this photo, but I love the blue spot on his right front knee, as well. Add that to the gloss and you pretty much have the perfect model! I love him. 

That's it for today, but we'll have more New Arrivals soon! 

New Arrivals: Flinka, Vindur and Ojvind

 Greetings, readers! Well, Breyerfest is over for another year, and you know what that means - time for some New Arrivals! Today we'll be looking at Flinka, the Celebration Model, and her friends Vindur from Dalalif and Ojvind. Flinka, Vindur and Ojvind. Doesn't that kinda sound like Breyer's version of the Three Stooges? Or Winken, Blinken and Nod? Huh. Well, anyway...

I love the soft color on this one! She's so pretty. I didn't notice any terribly major quality issues with the Celebration Models this year - it helped that I had nine to choose from. The planted back foot/leg did seem to be warped on some of them, but I don't know if it affected their stability any - I picked one that wasn't as warped and she seems to stand okay. I'll definitely be adding the glossy one to my want list for the future. 

Next up is Vindur from Dalalif and his delightful floofy feets. Unfortunately, I'm realizing now that I didn't get to see Vindur and his floofy feets in person! He wasn't in his stall when I walked by the guest horse barn. Well, maybe he'll be a guest horse next year and I can see him then. Anyway, the model is very pretty! I really hope he sold well enough that they won't use him for the Breyermidwest glossy, because he'd be beautiful in gloss. He's one of my favorite models from the event. 

And lastly for today, it's Nod Ojvind! His mealy parts aren't as yellow in real life. I feel like the color makes him look a bit tubby? Or maybe he's just tubby anyway. Mealy bay isn't my favorite horse color, but it looks nice on him. Maybe this one will be the glossy Breyermidwest model? Guess we'll find out in a few months! 

TSC special runs!

 Good news, everyone! The TSC special runs have been revealed! Two of them were previewed in the Collector Club tent, but now they're all available for viewing on the TSC website. Behold: 

This is the black Shannondell that was previewed in the Collector Club tent. I don't need him, but he sure looks good in black! 

This is the other one that was previewed - a pretty FFA blue appaloosa Latigo. I don't need him either, but I love that color! Maybe someday they'll put it on something I want. 

Ooh, a liver chestnut True North! He's handsome. Nothing I need, though. 

A pretty palomino pinto Zafirah! She reminds me of Studebaker. Still nothing I need, though. 

And lastly, the Classic family! Nothing I need there, either. Wow! It's a Christmas miracle! The models can't be ordered yet, but hopefully they'll be in stock soon. Good luck to everyone wanting to purchase! 

Featured Breyerfest - 2000

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Breyerfest! I made it back home to NZ, so that means it's time to...keep talking about other Breyerfests! This week we're covering Breyerfest 2000. Here are some notable events from the year 2000:

• The Y2K bug was mostly a non-issue
• Peanuts publishes its last comic, and creator Charles Schultz dies the next day
• Lucien Laurin, trainer of Secretariat, dies at 88
• The 2000 Olympics take place in Sydney, Australia

And Breyerfest 2000 was the first Breyerfest of the new millennium! Depending on how you define the beginning of the millennium, of course (some people count it as 2001). 
Dates: July 28-30, 2000
Celebration Horse: Leahs Fancy Chick
Number of Celebration Models produced: 4,400
Attendance: "almost 4,000"
Here's the first 2000 page from the commemorative program:

The real Leahs Fancy Chick was a successful roping horse, and her new filly accompanied her to the event (Breyer held a naming contest for the filly and the winning name was Leahs Fancy Breyer). I wasn't able to find much updated information on her. If allbreedpedigree is to believed, she had three offspring (Leahs Fancy Breyer, Like a Fancy Diamond and Gucci Gunner). Like a Fancy Diamond has several offspring listed on allbreedpedigree, as does Gucci Gunner. 
Special runs in 2000 were plentiful, including Buford, the Walking Hereford Bull; Mardi Gras, the Lonesome Glory; Patches, the Kitten; Sarsaparilla, the Semi-Rearing Mustang; and the ever-present keychains, this time in a set featuring the G2 Cantering Warmblood, G2 Rearing Arabian, G2 Appaloosa and the G2 Saddlebred. Prize models were introduced to Breyerfest Live, with glossy Zippo Pine Bar models along with the palomino Saddlebreds on the clock and the glossy dapple gray Saddlebreds, also on the clock. This was the first year that the show wasn't held on the floor of the Covered Arena! Huzzah. The year 2000 also ushered in the Sunday Raffle and the Silent Auction. Here's the first page of the Breyerfest 2000 recap from JAH:

Sounds like the weather in 2000 was similar to the weather we had this year! 

It appears that 2000 was also the first year that Pal o' Mine made his debut. I try to keep my distance from him (he creeps me out a little bit). I did see him this year and well...I feel like that costume needs a refresh, or replacement.

That's it for the JAH recap. Let's take a look at some of these auction models! More can be found here.

This one is a little understated, but still pretty cool - he's the Friesian in glossy metallic cobalt blue with black shading. Very pretty color! 

I wish we had some better photos of this Sham, because his color is beautiful as well. I wonder where he is now? 

Here's the crazy Fruit Stripe zebra, who has been a subject of this blog before, back when I was doing the Featured Model posts. Be still my heart! I would love to own this one and add it to my zebra collection. Maybe someday? 

Lastly for this blog, we have this "wild lacy dapple charcoal" by Tom Bainbridge. What a crazy color! I know I say this a lot, but I wonder where this one is now? Anyone have some better photos? 

And that's it for this week! Check back next week for Breyerfest 2001! 

Breyerfest Day 3: It’s All Over…Again

Greetings, readers! Well, another Breyerfest is in the books. I hope everyone had a great time. My quest to collect all the surprise models was a success again - behold!

So in my last trip through the special run line, I pulled three more Scandi Surprises and got the matte Appaloosa, glossy Appaloosa and the glossy chestnut pinto. Which meant I only needed the matte roan and glossy amber champagne to complete the set. Fortunately, one of the Lithas I got turned out to be the decorator, so I traded that for the glossy amber champagne and then bought a roan from someone…but I wouldn’t have needed to do that if I’d waited a little bit, because when I went through the leftover line I got a roan and another glossy Appaloosa! So now I have 11 new Vermeers to fit into my luggage along with everyone else! Hint: it’s not going to happen. Oh well.

I did swing by the silent auction at closing time, but the BCC set went way out of my price range, as expected. Oh well.

I also made it over to the Collector Club tent to photograph the new releases, but had to evacuate to the covered arena partway through when the thunderstorm rolled in. So there was an impromptu dance party while we waited for the storm to clear up. Eventually it went away and I finished taking my photos - so my Breyerfest Closeups series will be able to continue! Huzzah! 

That’s about it for today - tomorrow will be a busy day of packing and taking things back to the storage unit, and then I fly back to NZ on Tuesday. But I’m already looking forward to the next Breyerfest, which was announced today: Italy!

I wasn’t expecting another European country theme, but I wonder if this means we’ll get a blue roan Cosimo as the Celebration Model? That would be amazing! I was less thrilled to see they pushed the dates back, which will make our plans for next year more complicated, but we’ll deal with that later. 

And lastly, we finally got to see the third volunteer model! I don’t have a photo I can use,  but the color is cream! I’d like to get my hands on one, but I don’t think it’s going to happen at this point, so he’ll have to go on my wish list for later along with matte Oseburg. 

Whew! That was a lot of stuff to talk about. I’ll get started on the Breyerfest Closeups posts when I get home. In the meantime, I hope everyone has a safe trip home! 

Breyerfest Day 2: Actually Day 2 This Time

 Greetings, readers! Day 2 of Breyerfest is over - and yes, today was day 2. Not sure how I got the numbers confused yesterday, but it’s been corrected. How embarrassing! I guess I’ll blame it on typing these posts on my phone when I usually use a computer. Well, anyways…it was a pretty good day for me! I didn’t actually make it to the KHP until later in the afternoon, but I was able to pick up the models for 3 more of my tickets! I got three normal Litha models, and as for the Scandi Surprises: I got the matte chestnut pinto, matte bay (again)…and a glossy bay roan! Woohoo! I was able to trade the matte bay for the matte amber champagne, so that means I only need three more to have the full set! Let’s hope I can get at least one leopard one tomorrow, eh? 

In other news, I forgot to write about the silent auction stuff in yesterday’s post, so you get to see it today instead. Behold!

For some reason I thought this was going to be the gray one, so I was surprised to see the black one instead. I want him so bad! But he’s going to be too expensive for me.

Here’s the cassowary Fireheart. I need to swing by the silent auction and see what the bids are; there weren’t any when I was there.

My soul craves that Lingonberry! Such a handsome model. 

Giant Horatio is also very pretty! I almost don’t want to know how much he sells for. He’d make a good Collector Class entry with the mini Horatio.

Hmm, they put a new tail on Camilla. I wonder if she’s going to get a new release soon? Nice color, but I’m still not a fan of the mold. 

That’s it for (OF) silent auction lots, other than the glossy Flinka gift basket. I wonder how much the Design Your Own Breyer will go for? 

And speaking of auctions, it sounds like the live auction is over - I didn’t go, but I guess only three of the lots went over $10,000? I’m not really surprised, with the state of economy and all. The Silver Pegasus was the highest-priced lot at $21,000; now that wasn’t a surprise. He certainly is pretty!

Well, that’s all I’ve got for today. Back to selling models! I hope everyone is having a great Breyerfest!

Breyerfest Day 1: Here We Go Again

 Well, readers, day 1 of Breyerfest is over and I have so much to write about! Firstly, I was right about the surprise model this year (along with a bunch of other people): it’s Vermeer! The colors are beautiful, but I was really hoping it would be a mold I don’t collect. Oh well. Here’s the full set of glossies in the silent auction!

So the colors are bay roan, gold charm sabino rabicano (or something along those lines), dark bay, black leopard Appaloosa, some kind of pearl buckskin and chestnut pinto. The gold ones are all glossy, so that’s 9 new Vermeers I have to find! I’m a little confused why they did another black leopard Vermeer, but whatevs. I really like the gold one; I don’t think we’ve seen a paint job quite like that before. 

And speaking of getting models, I picked up my VIP box today and was pleased to find I got a glossy Oseburg! Also a matte bay Scandi Surprise. Now I just have to find a matte one. I got models from two of my special run tickets as well, and ended up getting a decorator Litha and the glossy bay and gold (!) Scandi Surprises! 

Let’s see, what else happened today? A bunch of new releases were revealed in the Collector Club tent, but I’ll cover those later. I also discovered the joys of taking the purple route shuttle from the special run line to the parking lot, and vice versa. Much easier than walking! 

That’s it for now, but I hope people are having a good Breyerfest. I did get rained on while I was sitting in line this morning, but my umbrella kept me from getting soaked, so that was good. I also bought, labeled and then deposited my raffle tickets in the bin, so that little chore is taken care of. 

That’s all I can think of for now. But I’ll be back with more reporting tomorow,  so check back for more recap!

Breyerfest Day 0: Off to a Good Start

 Greetings, readers! Well, I made it back to Kentucky, albeit a day late after I managed to miss my last flight of the day. Good thing I didn’t have anything important planned yesterday! I finally got to the Clarion in the early afternoon and now I’m settled in and selling as usual. Today I showed Stablemates at Day 1 of the Breyerfest Live show. No prizes again, but maybe next year. Anyway, I just got back from a trip to the Artisan’s Gallery, where lots of exciting things were on display. Behold!

It’s the Bijous! Should be released in October.

They also had both versions of Derecho along with Astoria, the reworked G2 Belgian. 

Next were both versions of Kiana, along with (presumably) the next Stablemates Club release.

And here we have Waffles and Flapjack! Still nothing I need, but they sure are cute (and bigger than I expected!)

And finally, on to the special runs! First we have The Wanderer and Hirtir.

Next were Midnattsol and both versions of Aquavit.

And then there’s the main attraction: both versions of Oseburg!

Followed by Birka and Ribe and both versions of Thingvellir.

And then there were both versions of Litha, plus Dalarna. 

And now we’ve reached the Limited Editions, including Ojvind, Valdur from Dalalif and both versions of Hygge, the online Stablemate.

Here we have the Best of Breyerfest set and the crystal. I guess the plush kinda got divided between these two photos. Oh well.

And lastly, we have Uff Da and…bleh, I’m just going to refer to him as Pyxis. 

That’s it for the artisan’s gallery - but wait, there’s more! I got a Breyerfest program at the show today and the auction pages showed the two hidden auction lots! Here’s the first one:

A very pretty black leopard Tigerlily! Ooh, I want her. And here’s the other one:

A very handsome Cleveland Bay! 

Where, this has been a long post. Now it’s time to get back to room sales. Happy Breyerfest Eve, everyone!