Showing posts with label slainte surprise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label slainte surprise. Show all posts

Thursday, August 6, 2020

New Arrivals: Glossy and Matte Palomino Slainte Surprises, Matte Red Roan Pinto Slainte Surprise

More new arrivals today - let's get right back into it with the matte palomino Slainte Surprise! 


Palomino isn't always one of my favorite colors, but I really like this shade of palomino on her! The little belly spots jazz things up a little bit, too. Plus she's chalky! That's a win in my book. These colors are all so nice that it's hard to decide which one I like the best. Let's take a look at the glossy! 
The gloss makes her color pop so much more! I love it. Sommer Prosser outdid herself yet again with these designs! 

Lastly, here's the matte red roan Slainte: 


Look at the roaning on her shoulders and the rest of her body. Doesn't she look like she's made of candy? I love it. Hmm, I think Breyer needs to do a line of candy-themed models. Quick, somebody call Katy Perry! Or...not, I guess. 

That's all I have for today - check back tomorrow for more new arrivals! 

Wednesday, August 5, 2020

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!


Tuesday, August 4, 2020

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!

Friday, July 31, 2020

Slainte Surprise Numbers and July Collector Club newsletter!

Exciting news today - we got the reveal of the Slainte Surprise numbers! They are as follows:

Golden palomino - 800 Matte, 325 Glossy
Bay leopard appaloosa - 800 Matte, 325 Glossy
Silver dapple black - 800 Matte, 325 Glossy
Red roan pinto - 800 Matte, 325 Glossy

Interesting that all the numbers are even this year, and the glossy numbers were upped substantially from last year (200). This should at least even the playing field for finding them on the secondary market later, although I imagine some colors may still be more desirable than others. Well, maybe I won't have to spend an arm and a leg to get that glossy appy after all! Speaking of the appy, it looks like she was intended to be a bay after all, rather than black. And the palomino is not just palomino, but GOLDEN palomino! That ought to make her more desirable, right?

In other news, the July collector club newsletter is out (waiting until the last minute again, I see). Check your email to read it (if you're a CC member!). Exciting stuff! There aren't any sneak peeks this time, but Breyer is giving away 5 celebration models from this past Breyerfest, rather than the usual one giveaway.

Also, look at this cool test Stablemate!



It's an alternate colorway of Tiki, the event Stablemate from the 2011 Sunshine Celebration collector event. Also known as the event I'll forever kick myself for not attending (I was drawn from the waitlist for tickets, but didn't have anyone to go with, or money to go, and didn't want to go alone...sigh.) Oh well - there'll be more collector events, I'm sure.

Well, it's almost August - hopefully we get to see this year's Tractor Supply models soon!

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

My last Slainte Surprise, and the 2020 Breyerfest Volunteer Model!

Exciting news, everyone - I can reveal my last surprise model for this year! Behold:



Glossy palomino! As I was unwrapping her, I made sure to stare somewhere else while I felt my way through the wrappings, and once I got the bubblewrap off I remember thinking, "This feels like a glossy." Then I looked at her and saw it was a palomino and my mind blanked out for a second - no way it was the last color I needed AND glossy, right? Then I got her out of the bag and saw she was definitely a glossy. So that's 3 out of 4! I haven't had glossy luck like this since 2017 with the Bollywood Surprises, and those all went out the door since I don't collect Latigo. So I'm super-happy to be able to add all of these to my collection without having to pay an arm and a leg for them. Hopefully I can find a glossy Appaloosa to complete the set in the near future!

In other news, this year's Breyerfest volunteer model has finally been revealed! I don't have photos I can use yet, but the ones I've seen look stunning - it's Flash! And there seem to be variations within the run, oddly enough! Makes me glad I don't collect Flash, honestly. The two I've seen have been a light (flaxen?) chestnut pinto, and a darker, more liver-chestnut (or silver black?) pinto with slightly different markings on the hind legs. Exciting, if a bit mystifying! Hopefully we get more information on those soon, along with the numbers breakdown for the Slainte Surprise!

Friday, July 24, 2020

Breyerfest loot, Strawberry drawing and Christmas in July sale!

Hello, readers! Well, first things first - my Breyerfest goodies are here and I'm thrilled that they finally came! Here are the boxes they came in:



While I was really hoping for more boxes than that, just to confuse the UPS driver more, it was still pretty satisfying to get home and see those boxes waiting for me.



That's a big pile of surprise models!

I forgot to take a photo of them outside of the orange bags, though, so we'll skip to the part where I got them all unwrapped...



TA-DAH!



That's three matte red roans, one glossy red roan, two matte silver blacks and a glossy silver black. Not bad at all! Truth be told, I was hoping to get at least three different colors, but with two glossies in this mix I really can't complain. This is about on par with what I usually get at Breyerfest in person, honestly. I have one more surprise model coming on Monday, and I'm working on lining up a trade for a matte Appaloosa, so I'm hoping it's some variant of palomino. I guess I'll find out on Monday!

I'll cover the Breyerfest models more in a future post, but here's my Boudicca:



I was pleasantly surprised to see her "woad" isn't the same shade all over - it's darker on her neck/back areas, then lighter across the barrel and hips, and darker on the legs again. It's a nice touch!

Next on today's list of news...selections for Strawberry are out! I didn't enter, but if you did, make sure to check your email and/or the website and see if you're eligible to buy!

Lastly, Breyer is having a "Christmas in July" sale on the website! There's nothing terribly exciting there other than last year's Christmas Zebras and LaFitte (already sold out). The Zebras are $10 more than they were originally, so...not really much of a "sale," is it? Like, at all? There's probably a few Licorice zebras in the leftover bunch, but I don't think I want to spend $10 extra for a super-small chance at one. Anyways, this sale is currently limited to Collector Club members but opens to the public on Monday. If you didn't already blow your monthly model budget on Breyerfest stuff, check it out and see if anything catches your eye! I'll be over in the corner waiting for my last Breyerfest shipment to get here.

Wednesday, July 15, 2020

The surprise model is revealed!

Miracle of miracles - people's Breyerfest orders are already arriving! And here I was thinking we'd be lucky if anything even shipped out by the end of the week. Clearly I'm not giving Breyer enough credit!

Anyway, the surprise model and its color variants have been revealed, so stop reading if you don't want to be spoiled:






























IT'S GISELLE!

I don't have photos I can use yet, but the colors appear to be palomino, red roan pinto, black leopard Appaloosa and silver bay. And gloss versions of all those colors, naturally.

So it was Giselle after all! I guess I figured she was a bit too old, and not really popular enough to be used for this, but those colors all look great on her, so I'm not upset to be wrong. I think I like the palomino the best, followed by the red roan. I can't help but note she was in the live auction last year....so perhaps Breyer is going back to the formula after breaking it last year with the Andy? In that case, after a quick glance at this year's auction models, I'm predicting Bluegrass Bandit! Or possibly Forever Saige, but she's rather widely disliked, so Bluegrass Bandit seems like a better bet. I guess we'll find out in a year!

Of course, now that the surprise has been revealed, I'm itching to open mine and they aren't even here yet! I have 8 of them coming, so I'm already envisioning piling them all up on my dining room table before I open them. Ahhhhh! But I haven't gotten a shipping notice yet, so I'm guessing it'll still be a while until they show up.

Fortunately, my celebration models and Stablemates are due to arrive tomorrow! So I should be able to get a blog post up about those.

Also, it appears that the Epona (gray pinto on Strapless) is a split run with the braided version and the loose mane and tail. Huzzah! One wonders why Breyer told us about the matte and glossy Thorn but not a split run on Epona as well...

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Goji selections are out, two St. Patty's sneak peeks, and a note about COVID-19

Greetings, readers! As of yesterday afternoon, the selections for Goji have been made, so check your email and/or the website! Congratulations to all the winners - I didn't enter for him, so there won't be one heading in this direction!

In other news, Breyer posted the Breyerfest surprise model "reveal" on the blog today for St. Patrick's Day! Behold!



From the blog:

You know we can’t reveal this one – we can’t even give you a hint!  All we can say is that Sláinte is how the Irish say “cheers” and we know you’ll be cheering when you unwrap this beauty at BreyerFest.

Cheers, eh? Well, the Croi mold looks like she could be cheering, so I'm staying with that guess for now.

Edited to add: there's another sneak peek in the March collector club newsletter! Observe:



Ooh, maybe something with the Prism color scheme, like I just talked about on Saturday? I hope so!

Also, unless you've been living under a rock for the past few months, you've probably heard about the COVID-19 virus that's been circulating the globe. There's been a lot of online speculation about whether Breyerfest and the Seattle Soiree will be postponed or cancelled, and I wanted to give my two cents on the issue. Personally...with the news that the Land Rover Kentucky three-day event has been cancelled, and the delay of the Kentucky Derby to September....I don't think it's looking good for the Seattle Soiree being able to go on as scheduled. Best case scenario, it's postponed - but that means everyone who attends would have to reschedule their flights, hotels, work schedules, etc. Unfortunately, I think that's the best we can hope for. The federal government now recommends that gatherings be limited to no more than 10 people; while Washington has been limiting events to 250 people, I think it's entirely possible that they shut down large gatherings altogether.

So, the Seattle Soiree probably won't happen as scheduled. How will people get their plastic ponies? The Redmond and Stablemate models could be mailed to the people that were supposed to attend, but Breyer would have to figure out how to sell the rest of the event models in a way that's more-or-less fair to everyone. How that ends up working is anyone's guess, but it'll probably give Breyer some practice for how to distribute the Breyerfest special runs, should that event end up being cancelled or posponed as well.

And postponing or cancelling Breyerfest opens its own can of worms. Again, the celebration models could probably be mailed. Tickets for the raffle models could be sold through the website and names drawn from those entries as well, with those models also being mailed to the winners. The live show could either be converted to a photo show, or the live show prizes could just be raffled off amongst everyone who paid to enter the show (I expect the distribution would probably be about the same). Then those models could be mailed to the winners (UPS is going to be the real winner here!). Same thing with the volunteer models - just have Robin make her selections like normal and then, well, just mail them all out (along with a celebration model and two randomly-selected special runs, since being a volunteer gets you all of that). The live auction could also be done online. The diorama contest and best customs contest stuff could probably be judged through photos at a distance and the prizes mailed.

From there, though, things get a little more iffy. How do you distribute the special run models in a way that's fair to everyone? It would be easy to limit purchases to people who bought three-day tickets, but where do you go from there? Limit them to 2 different models per transaction, obviously, but how do you keep people from placing a billion orders? How do you keep track of how many tickets everyone bought? They don't make enough models to cover all of the tickets, and if it's all done online, there will be more people trying to order than are normally there at the event trying to buy.

I think the simplest solution (if time-consuming) would be to go through each account that's purchased three-day tickets, count how many they bought, then contact each account owner and tell them "this is the number of randomly-selected packs of 2 special run models you can buy, take it or leave it." That doesn't solve the problem of not enough special run models for tickets produced, though. And I have no idea how to handle the single-day Stablemates, since they don't make enough of those to cover all of the tickets sold. There's also the problem of the Store Specials and the pop-up store - those aren't limited to two, so how do you sell those fairly? What a headache.

At this point, I think it's more likely that Breyerfest is postponed, not cancelled, if only because of the aforementioned issues with selling the products. Let's hope it all works out, I guess? The problem is, Breyer can say all they want right now about Breyerfest still being on schedule, but if the state of Kentucky bans all gatherings of more than 250 people (or all gatherings, period), well, that's the ballgame. Let's hope it doesn't come to that, eh?