He's Gotta Wear Shades

 Good news, everyone! The next Breyerfest reveal was today after all! Say hello to Future is Bright! 

So Bandalero has a loose mane after all! That's not really a surprise. He's definitely prettier with a mane, but still nothing I need. His color reminds me of Chanel, though I guess it's not quite the same. Oh well. 

Happily, tomorrow we get the final special run reveal! It should be the animal, so now I guess we get to speculate on what it could be? A bull? A dog? Something else? Guess we'll find out tomorrow! 

Blue, my favorite color!

Good news, everyone! We got another Breyerfest special run reveal today - behold! 

His name is "To the Ties That Bind Us" which is kind of clunky, considering most people will probably just call him Ties that Bind. Oh well. I shouldn't be surprised that they're using the tiny-horse-silhouettes for a Breyerfest model, but I was. I like him! It's a pretty shade of blue. I saw some speculation that maybe they'll reverse his colors for the inevitable variation, which would be pretty cool. 

The next reveal is on Thursday, and since they've been following the same pattern for all the releases so far, I'm going to guess it's the Limited Edition Stablemate set! Let's hope so! 

Another special run reveal! Huzzah!

 Good news, readers - we got another special run reveal today! Behold: 

It's a family for Bolero! That glossy bay is just such a great color. I did question the likelihood of two bay horses having a chestnut foal, but I guess it is possible depending on the colors of the foal's grandparents. I'm less enthused about the name choices ("Good Times" again, and "Great Friends"? Uh, okay...) but I guess the names aren't really that important in the grand scheme of things. I was also entertained by the photo of the Breyerfest Open Show taking place in the dirt of the Covered Arena. Glad that's not a thing anymore! 

So, dare I hope we get another special run or Limited Edition tomorrow? Ooh, maybe it'll be the next Best of Breyerfest Stablemate set. I hope so! 

Getting the Party Started!

Well, the first Breyerfest special run of 2025 has been revealed! Behold: 

Her name is Get This Party Started. I'm not terribly enthusiastic about the name, but at least it's not a song lyric. It's dangerously close to one, though. 

...All right, I'll admit it. "Getting the Party Started" has too many syllables. "Get the Party Started" rolls off the tongue a bit better. It's a song title/lyric, but I'll allow it in this case. 

Anyway, the model is a Croi, so nothing I need, but the color is nice. An astute Blabber pointed out that her pattern is the same as this test model in the archive room: 

Or at least, if it's not the same, it's extremely similar (the test's right front foot is white, but the SR's right front foot is black). Maybe that color will be the inevitable 75-piece micro run? I'd expect more glitter and holographic paint, though. Which reminds me - apparently Radiance and the Clarity model in this set are holographic. Woohoo! I hope that means we'll get more in the future! 

Breyerfest preference forms!

 Good news, everyone! The preference forms for Breyerfest 2024 are finally available! That means we can finally enter our choices of special run models for our tickets (online and in-person). Get your choices in now so you can have a modicum of control over the special run models you’re assigned. 

I went back and forth on how I wanted to do my tickets - my gut instinct is to get wild cards for everything, and I may still do that - I haven’t quite decided. I definitely want to get a surprise model with every ticket (this year I have 11), and a healthy selection of tickets for all the other models I want (last year I got stuck with a ton of Jump & Drive tickets I didn’t need), but I’m afraid if I go with the wild card option, things will start selling out before I can get all the models I want. I could probably avoid this if I redeemed all my tickets at once, but I’d rather spread it out over all three days (especially if there are variations and micro runs). If I have all wild cards, though, I can adjust my choices on the fly if I get all the variations I want on any particular release. So I’ll have to think about it some more…but not for too long, because we only have until Wednesday to get our preferences in. If you don’t submit a list, you’ll be randomly assigned two models per ticket. Guess I’ll have to do some more thinking! 

In the meantime, here’s hoping we start seeing some auction models this week! The countdown is on - a month from now, we’ll all be gathering for Breyerfest yet again!

It's a quagga!

 Well, I'm pleasantly surprised today - I thought we'd get another sneak peek on the Breyerfest blog, but we got a full-on reveal instead! Behold:

Ooh, a new release on the Zebra! My conga is pleased. I wasn't expecting to get a new release on the Zebra for this Breyerfest, so I'm happy about that. I guess this won't be as cheap of a Breyerfest for me as I was hoping, because this makes four special run models I have to have (possibly five if the surprise is something I want), and I also need three of the Limited Editions so far. Maybe I'll have to buy a VIP ticket after all. Food for thought, I guess. 

As for the name (I Will Survive), clearly the Gloria Gaynor song is what they were going for, but this is the song I thought of instead. And it still kinda fits! 

On a small side note, waitlist emails went out for Spokes and Spurs yesterday. Nothing on my accounts, but be sure to check your accounts and spam folders just in case. 

Scurry scurry

 Well, we have our ninth Breyerfest special run (clearly I forgot how to count yesterday)! Here she is - say hello to Scurry! 

From the blog:

For our final BreyerFest: Driving Forward Special Run model reveal, we wanted to make sure we included an adorable pony in the mix! Scurry driving is where a pair of ponies competes for the best time pulling a carriage through a course of cones. It was developed in the 1960s and stems from chuck wagon racing, another exciting equestrian sport!

It's good to see the Fell Pony get used again, even if she is similar to the mini Fell Pony that was just in the Tractor Supply blind bags last year. Oh well - I still want one! She's definitely going on my list. 

The blog says there'll be another reveal on Monday - my guess is the crystal or another Limited Edition. I'm sure we'll see the rest of the Limited Edition stuff next week, and if we're really lucky we'll get to see the raffle models! So I'm excited for Monday! Also thankful that they actually revealed this one today rather than giving us a sneak peek and leaving us hanging all weekend. 

In other news, the drawing for the six glossy Zafirah models from amongst the 2022 Premier Club members has evidently finally taken place, so be sure to check your email and/or your spam folder to see if you were drawn. I wasn't one of the lucky winners, but the odds of being drawn were pretty dang low, so I'm not that upset about it. Better luck next time, I guess!  

I stand corrected

 Greetings, readers! Another day, another Breyerfest reveal - and this one is a doozy! I guess I spoke too soon when I said we'd found our Pollock/Stein equivalent for this year - behold! 

His name is Jump & Drive (incidentally, I'm not a fan of this new ampersand trend). What a hunk - but somehow, I'm kind of underwhelmed by him. Not sure why. Maybe it's his blue eyes? Not that I don't want to buy him, and I'm not sure what could be done to make him even better. I guess he looks a lot like the sable champagne Seven Arts Surprise from 2021. But that isn't a bad thing - I just feel like I should like him more than I do. Maybe if his mane was inexplicably white too? I don't know. Either way, I'll probably put him on my VIP selections to be sure I can get one. Happily, the blog says the last special run for Breyerfest will be revealed tomorrow! I guess they're going back to 8 special runs after having 9 for the last three years.

Today's other exciting reveal was the first web special of the year! Good news - the Birds of a Feather series continues with Flamingo! 

I have to be honest here...I'm underwhelmed by this one, too. She's supposed to be a rose grey, but she looks more like the perlino Poppy & Ollie or Apollo, to name a few. I think she'd have matched her name better if she were red roan, or looked more like this Thoroughbred colt I saw at Taylor Made back in 2019:

His name is Ghostliner, if you'd like to do some career research on him. Anyways, that's a lot closer to pink than what we have in the photo above. 

Edit: I was going to mention that Breyer may have wanted to keep her an Arabian color and red roan doesn't occur in the Arabian breed, hence the rose grey instead. But rabicano is a thing in Arabians...so, that would have been an option. Oh well. Bonus: here's a photo of Ghostliner as of July 2022 when he was sold at a Fasig-Tipton sale.

But, Flamingo still pretty and I hope I get drawn for her! Let's hope I have better luck with web specials than I did last year. The run number on her is back down to 500 though, so the odds seem slim. Anyway, good luck to everyone entering for her! 

Holy smokes!

 Well, readers, we have our next Breyerfest special run reveal - say hello to Wells! 

Well, that knocks Shannondell out of contention for the surprise. Oh well. I like his smoky color, though I'm not a fan of the mold. I wonder if he'll be the matte/glossy split? He would look amazing in gloss. And I just saw a post by Sommer Prosser on Facebook that she designed his color - looks like she knocked it out of the park again. 

There's supposed to be another reveal tomorrow, so I'll be anxiously awaiting tomorrow!

I think we have our Pollock/Stein

 Wow, pretty exciting reveal on the Breyerfest Blog today! A lot of people thought yesterday's sneak peek was a Stablemate, but that is...not the case! Say hello to Nemea! 

Wow, this guy is amazing. 

From the blog: 

For our BreyerFest celebration of Driving Forward this summer, we were inspired by this beautiful 4th century BCE Amphora to create Nemea on the Akhal Teke mold (#805) sculpted by Heather Puleo, who has been shaded in a gorgeous orangey brown with a fiery mane and black decorative details, featuring a beautifully painted quadriga and driver on his barrel.

I feel like this one is going to be this year's Pollock or Stein equivalent, unless they reveal something more amazing in the remainder of this month. I'm a little surprised they'd use him again for a special run so soon(ish) after using him back in 2021 for Uffington, but I'm not going to complain too much. I need him! I hope he isn't the matte/glossy split, though - that would really make the collectors crazy. 

There's supposed to be another reveal tomorrow, so I hope it's something great!  

It Begins

Greetings, readers! So it turns out today's Breyerfest reveal is a mare and foal set after all - check out Surrey and Axle! 

I wasn't really expecting another mare and foal set this year since we just had one last year, but I guess I don't make the rules. I really hope Axle's right front hoof is suffering from a bad Photoshop job, though (and they could have put a little more thought into the name - Fringe, maybe?) This set sure is pretty, if you can look past Lady Phase's nonexistent forelock and slowly-disappearing ears. Her mold is sorely in need of retooling, or doing something to fix it...but I digress. Fortunately, this set is nothing I need, and presumably is also our vintage mold for the special run releases. Nice to see the swish tail on Lady Phase, too. 

Predictably, this reveal also brought out complaints about the models not fitting the theme. Look, I've done plenty of complaining about models not matching the theme myself, but considering we've only seen about 1/4 of the releases for this year, it seems a little premature to be complaining about it now - especially since, you know, pretty much any type of horse can pull a cart. So let's maybe wait a little bit before we start nitpicking everything? I'm reasonably sure we'll see Georg as a raffle model this year, and probably a few other draft molds besides. Speaking of which, the blog says to check back again tomorrow! I hope it's another reveal and not a sneak peek, because it seems like my patience wears just a tiny bit thinner every time they release another sneak peek instead of just showing us the model. So I guess we'll see! 

Nope

 Good news, everyone! Today's special run reveal is: Araba! 

From the blog: 

Araba is the Turkish word for a type of carriage or cart used in Turkey and neighboring Middle Eastern countries. These are usually heavy carts, without springs, that are often covered. They can vary in size and decoration and are used for all types of functions, from carrying goods to transporting people.

 

She's pretty and all, but nothing can hide or fix those front legs. Oh well - more for somebody else! There's supposed to be one more reveal tomorrow, so I wonder if it'll be another special run, or another Limited Edition? Time will tell. 

Also, I forgot to mention yesterday that the Grab Bag #1 bundle appeared and then sold out on the website. I didn't partake this time, which is probably a good thing, based on the photos of grab bag contents I've been seeing on Facebook. (Hint: Not worth it, like at all. Like, really?). But that shouldn't be surprising. Guess I'll see if mine is the same as everyone else's when it gets here! 

2023 Models are officially released!

 Good news, everyone -we finally have confirmation of the whole 2023 product line, including the 2023 Holiday Collection, Flagship model and more! Check it all out here. But here's the 2023 Holiday Horse! 

Highlander, eh? But there can't be only one - this is a regular run item. Uh, anyway...it's a nice color on the True North - looks a lot like the amber champagne models they've been doing lately, although the description calls him a buckskin. 

Next, here's the 2023 Flagship model(s), Mariposa and Flor! 

Ooh, a new release on the coveted Susecion and Le Fire molds. And what a rich shade of bay! I wouldn't have minded a white sock here or there, but they're still really nice. Triple Mountain is all sold out of these (I managed to snag a set from them), but there are probably still quite a few other retailers that can get them. Chelsea's Model Horses will have them at 6pm EST on 1/5, and Golden Oaks will probably have them at some point also. 

Next, let's take a look at the 2023 Halloween Horse, Spectre! 

He's an Ashquar, so I have to have him in any case, but I sorta wish he had a little more black in his design. Purple seems like a relatively recent addition to "Halloween colors," and I figure it would tie in a little bit more if there was some black. Oh well. 

The rest of the releases can be viewed on Triple Mountain's webpage. Now let's hope Amazon gets the new regular runs in stock soon, because I have some gift cards burning a hole in my pocket and I want to see that new Astrid in hand! 

Lastly for today, we got a reveal of a Breyerfest 2023 special run! Woohoo! I definitely wasn't expecting that today, so I was pleasantly surprised to see this guy! Say hello to Speos! 

What a beauty! I've seen some speculation on the Internets that this guy may be the matte/glossy split, and all I have to say about that is...I really hope not. But he would be stunning in gloss! 

What a beautiful prancy boy! 

Tomorrow we get another special run reveal, so I'm super excited to see what that will be. See you tomorrow! 

Warehouse finds and another reveal!

 Well, first things first...we have some mysterious new web exclusives this morning! 

These models appeared on Breyer's website this morning. Originally the price for each was $34.99, but that must have been a mistake as they are now $44.99. Models like this have shown up on the website before, and the thinking then was that they were made from leftover whiteware in the warehouse - hence the term "warehouse finds." It's probably safe to assume these have the same or similar backstory. Those models all were like plainer reissues of previous releases, though, and most of these colors seem to be new for these (all vintage) molds. So who knows exactly what their story is, but my guess is on leftover whiteware they decided to paint up and sell. Nothing I need, since I don't collect most vintage molds, but that QHG is pretty, as is the Roemer and Man o' War. It doesn't look like any of them have sold out yet - but they do qualify for the Collector Club 10% discount and free shipping over $49, so there is that. 

In other news, yesterday's sneak peek has been revealed - say hello to Rapunzel! 

Ah, so there is an alternate mane option for Astrid after all! Makes sense. The roan color is pretty, though it seems a bit...blah. Maybe she'll be a matte/glossy split? I hope so - she would look amazing in gloss. Finally, something I want! 

From the blog:

Our Rapunzel, a tribute to this timeless fairy tale character, has been done as a stunning strawberry roan, with two white socks, and a braid in her long, flowing mane. Done as a Sport Pony on the Norwegian Fjord Mare, mold #808 sculpted by Maggie Jenner-Bennett, this long mane version of the mold will be released for the first time exclusively at BreyerFest: Prost! 

Uh...I hate to be pedantic about this, but isn't Rapunzel usually portrayed as a blonde? Maybe I just have that Disney movie in my head, I don't know. Well, anyway, it's not really that important, but it's still going to bother me a little bit. Maybe I'll have to rename mine Poison, or Steel Dragon or Def Leppard or something - she'd definitely fit in on stage with an '80s hair band. 

That aside, I'm excited to see what else is revealed! Presumably we get something else good tomorrow! 

Blue Moon...

 Well, the blue Breyerfest special run has been revealed- it's on Spirit and his name is Franz! 

(I wanted to title this post Blue Monday, but Breyer beat me to the punch, so...) Anyway, here's a tidbit from the blog post:

Painted by German artist Franz Marc in 1911, the Blue Horse is one of Marc’s most iconic works both for its simplicity and composition, as well as its unique use of colors. Inspired by this work of art, our Franz model has been done in a stunning shade of light blue on the Spirit mold, #577, with a navy mane, tail, and four navy socks.  We love the way this model has brought Marc’s work to life! 

There have been some comparisons to the Corpse Bride online, but I like this guy. Too bad I sold off my Spirits ages ago, though. Sheesh, only two SR reveals left to go and I still only want two of them. But here's the next hint...

Someone on Facebook guessed Big Ben, and his right shoulder and muscling around that area do seem to match up pretty well. I doubt this is a store special, since it's glossy (lately the store specials debut in matte and the glossy comes later), so it's probably another special run line item - perhaps our vintage mold? Big Ben isn't really "vintage" in the true sense of the word, but he does turn 25 years old this year, so that's probably close enough. But I sold off all my Big Bens a few years ago as well, so that only leaves one more special run line item for me to like! This is so bizarre - I think the last time I liked so few SR items was 2012, for pete's sake. I suppose it had to happen eventually, but it's still odd. 

Mmm, gummy bears

 The reveal is out: it's gummy bears! I was sufficiently surprised at that, because I didn't put much thought into it yesterday after the Misty conclusion on the Internets yesterday. So, behold: gummy bear cubs! 

From the blog:

Done on the Bear Cub, mold #308 sculpted by Chris Hess, our Breyer Bears are deliciously-colored clearware bears. They are being sold as a set of three and will come in red, yellow, and green – and be sweetly-scented, to boot!  As an added bonus, unlike the other Special Run models, this set will come in stunning custom packaging that is themed to this summer’s celebration of Prost! 

Despite the fact that I'm not an animal collector, I'm curious to see what these will look (and smell) like in person. Custom packaging? Interesting. I'm waffling on whether I want to get a set of these, because I do love me some Haribo gummy bears...but I don't collect the animals, so...bleh! Don't know what to do. But  I'm also happy that it's not another gambler's choice! Yay! Hmm...I'm not actually sure what the name of this set is, though. Maybe they'll add that later.

Yes Please

 Hark, readers - there's another reveal on the Breyerfest blog! Meet Stein! 

I'm not sure why this mold didn't appeal to me when I first saw it, because once I saw this picture I'm pretty sure I want it just as much as anything else I've ever wanted in my life. WAAAAANT! Even though they keep using that unflattering camera angle! MUST HAVE!! I love his stripey tail! 

From the blog:

“Stein” is the German word for stone, and in Germany, these earthenware mugs are commonplace! As a part of our tribute to Germany this summer, our Stein for BreyerFest: Prost! has been done on the Mustang Stallion, mold #801 sculpted by Rayvin Maddock, as an eye-catching grullo.  This mold, with his wildly flowing mane and tail, was most recently released as the handsome Fireheart model as a part of the Premier Club in 2021.

Another special run I'll be dying to get my hands on! That's two so far...what's coming up next? I'll definitely be tuning in tomorrow!  

It's a twofer!

Good news, readers! As I'd hoped, we got another Breyerfest 2022 special run reveal today! Behold:

Aren't they cute? Their names are Elbe and Spree. From the blog:

The Elbe River, which actually begins in the Czech Republic, ends its journey in the North Sea on the northwestern coast of Germany, near Hamburg. It is the 12th largest river basin in Europe and is 680 miles long. The Spree River, while significantly shorter at only 250 miles long, is the main river flowing through some larger German cities, including Berlin and Brandenburg.   

While they still aren't anything I'm interested in, I think they look a bit better in bay pinto than they did strawberry roan pinto. That's just my opinion, though. They're making 2,200 of these, so there should (theoretically) be enough to go around! 

Well, now I'm excited to see what gets revealed on Monday! 

 

New Arrivals: Boudicca, Matte and Glossy Silver Black Slainte Surprises

Greetings, readers! Let's get back to the new arrivals from Breyerfest! I'll start with Boudicca:



Her design is a little bit odd to be sure, but like I said in my previous post about her, I like how her blue isn't all one shade - it's darker on her back, neck and legs and lighter on the belly, hip and face. If it weren't for the woad, she'd make a nice mate for Alejandro! Maybe someday we'll see a foal that matches. Hey, why doesn't Breyer do family sets anymore? The last one I remember off the top of my head was the Quarter Horse Family in the Vintage Club a few years ago.

Getting back to Boudicca, she was definitely more popular than I thought she would be - or maybe people were so desperate to be able to buy anything at all that they snapped her up? In any case, I'm glad I was able to get one.

Next, let's look at the matte silver black Slainte Surprise!

I've seen a lot of complaining online about her pearly mane and tail, but honestly, I love it! The more pearly the better! There was also a bit of confusion about what her color actually was, until the designer (Sommer Prosser) confirmed on Facebook that it's intended to be silver dapple black. Which is a color we don't see from Breyer very often, so maybe we'll get it again in the future? I hope so. Anyway, it's been hard for me to figure out which Slainte Surprise color I like the best, but this one is definitely up there - but I don't know if I like it better in matte or glossy. Speaking of glossy...



Her color really pops with the gloss, doesn't it? I feel like the silver black is going to be the most popular color going forward, despite the run numbers being the same. She's stunning! I haven't gotten these put onto the shelves with my other Giselle models yet, but I'm looking forward to it! I'm looking forward to seeing them all together!

That's all for today - check back later for more New Arrivals!

New Arrivals: Oak, Ash and Glossy Red Roan Pinto Slainte Surprise

Well, it's been almost a month since Virtual Breyerfest ended, and since we haven't had any exciting new things to talk about in the last few days, I figured it was time to start talking about my Breyerfest purchases. Since we weren't there in person, I don't have as many extras to sell as I normally would have, but that's okay - less work is always a good thing. Anyway, let's get things started with Ash!



He is handsome, as all the Othellos are! He's chalky, and glossy, and a really nice dapple gray - so why doesn't he excite me as much as he should? Probably because Othello has been done in gray so many times before? Maybe if they'd given him black points and darker dapples, to portray a younger gray horse? I don't think he's been used in that shade of dapple gray before. Or a different color completely, because gray has kind of been his signature color? I don't know, maybe I'm asking for too much here. I guess he's only been done in glossy gray once before, and that one is hard to come by. This was also the only Ash I was able to get, and he has some kind of fingerprint or mark on his right flank that I'm a little irked by. Oh well.

Next, here's Oak!

Oak is also quite the looker! I was very pleased with this one, and I'm excited to see what colors they put on the mold in the future. Can you believe the price on that auction model? Oof. This guy didn't have any major flaws that I could see, so he's definitely a keeper in my book. I'm looking forward to putting him on the shelf next to Georg! (And yes, I did finally get my hands on a blue Christmas zebra! Huzzah!)

Lastly, here's the glossy red roan pinto Slainte Surprise!



Red roan is one of my favorite horse colors, so I was excited to see it used on the surprise models. And I love it when they paint roans so they look like they're made out of candy! Mmm, candy. I really should have guessed the surprise was Giselle from the beginning, especially when we got the clues on the live broadcast ("She," a popular mold, not used in a lot of colors previously), but I really wanted the surprise to be on a mold I didn't collect, for financial reasons. Well, hopefully I manage to guess it correctly next year!

That's all I have for today - check back later for more new arrivals! Also, I won't be doing my usual Breyerfest Closeups series this year, since everything was virtual and we didn't really get a lot of sneak peeks in the Collector Club "tent" this year anyway. Maybe next year!