Special run numbers and Shindigs!

 The day is finally upon us, readers! Breyer finally gave us what we've been waiting for - this year's Breyerfest special run numbers! Well, minus the Seize the Day Surprises, which will be revealed tomorrow. But no one cares about those. Behold! 

To the Ties That Bind Us: 50/50 blue and gold, with 75 silver 
YOLO: 50/50 gray and sabino, with 75 holographic
Future is Bright: 75% loose mane (1,650), 25% roached mane (550)
Get This Party Started: 50/50 black and buckskin, with 75 blue/black
Let the Good Times Roll: 50% glossy with loose mane/tail (1,250), 50% matte with braided mane/tail (1,250)
Hoopla: 75% matte (2,250), 25% glossy (750)
Shindig: 2,925 gray sabino, 75 blue/orange decorator

No variations on the other special runs, but we already knew that. 

The Future is Bright variation is interesting - I speculated that they'd do a 75/25 split on Ties that Bind, but it makes sense that it was done on this one instead. Makes the roached mane a little more desirable, though most people still seem to prefer the loose mane. I'm also somewhat happy that I decided to sell off my Bristols, so I don't have to track down a glossy Hoopla after inevitably only getting matte ones. Still wishing I'd been able to get a holo YOLO, but maybe some of the VIP and All-Access ones weren't picked up that will be in the leftover sale. Same with Ties that Bind. 

Speaking of Shindigs, mine arrived today! Behold! 

No, not enough luck to get the decorator here. I was really hoping I'd get one, as it would have helped take the edge off the event (in some ways it was great, as Breyerfest always is, and in others it was probably my worst Breyerfest ever). Oh well. 

I don't remember ordering a third one, so...okay, I guess? Too bad it wasn't a decorator. 

Quality-wise they're all about the same, though one has a slightly bent ear tip. 

It's a pretty nice color, though - I'll have to think of a breed for him. 

These guys look like they're having a nice chat around the office watercooler. "Did you guys hear about Steve?" "Oh man, what did he do now?" If I was less tired, I'd keep going with it. Something for another day, I suppose. 

Well, that's it for today! We're supposed to see the Seize the Day Surprise numbers breakdown tomorrow, so let's hope they don't make us wait too long! 

Stagecoach Surprise run numbers!

 Good news, everyone! The Stagecoach Surprise run numbers have been announced, at last! 

Here are the numbers for each one: 

First up, the handsome pearly black and white tobiano pinto with a striking yellow and blue ribbon in his mane. 1,250 of this version were done in matte, and 375 pieces were glossed, for a total run of 1,625 pieces.

Next up, the dashing shaded light dapple chestnut with lime green mane ribbon.  1,125 of this model were in a matte finish, and 375 were glossy, for a total run of 1,500 pieces.

Our third variation was the beautiful, shaded buckskin tobiano pinto with teal ribbon in his mane. Just 1,025 of this colorway were done in matte, with 375 pieces glossed, making for a total run of 1,400 pieces.

Fourth in line is the eye-catching chestnut sabino roan frame pinto with purple and gold ribbon, making this 1,325-piece run look especially regal. 950 pieces were done in a matte finish and 375 pieces were glossed.

Next, the gorgeous shaded dapple grey with contrasting red mane ribbon. This run was a total of 1,225, with 850 pieces done in a matte finish and 375 in a glossy finish.

And finally, the smallest run of the bunch, the beautiful glossy blue and bronze decorator, with a coordinating blue mane ribbon. This piece was only released in gloss and just 625 pieces were produced.

So at least there weren't any crazy mane switches or some of the models only matte, only glossy, etc (except for the decorator). I'm feeling even more lucky now, since I managed to pull all of the mattes except the buckskin from the line myself - and it makes sense that I drew two matte black tobianos, since they were the most plentiful. As for getting three glossy buckskins, that must have been pure luck too, since all of the glossies were the same run number except the decorator (which I also feel super-lucky to have gotten). Sheesh, I hope my luck is this good next year, since we're presumably getting even more micro runs for Breyerfest's 35th anniversary. I'm still wondering why poor Nemea didn't get any variations, though - that whole design was stenciled on, not decals - so it shouldn't have been too hard to switch some of the paint out or something. Oh well. 

 

Special run numbers and some Breyerfest New Arrivals!

 Greetings, readers! I have some good news - the special run numbers for Breyerfest were finally released today! The final breakdown can be found here, but I've copy-pasted the verbiage below:

If you brought home that adorable mare and foal pair, Surrey & Axle, you might have noticed that we snuck in a variation for cute little Axle – this adorable blanket appaloosa foal was a 50/50 split between the Action Stock Horse Foal mold (#235) and the Standing Stock Horse Foal mold (#228)! 

Fan-favorite Wells, created on the loose mane version of Shannondell in a handsome silver dapple black, was this year’s 50/50 matte and glossy split. We think he looks dashing in either finish!

You might have guessed that the name for this year’s Fell Pony, Scurry, was a clue at a possible variation! Scurry driving is a fast-paced sport where a pair of ponies pulls a cart across a course, so we had to give fans a fun pair of this model in two colorways! Scurry was done as a 50/50 split in both red bay tobiano and perlino tobiano!

We were wowed when we learned about the Jump & Drive event hosted in Aachen, so to give our Jump & Drive model a bit more of a “wow factor” for fans, we did this already handsome glossy sooty buckskin splash pinto on the Bristol mold as a 50/50 mane and tail split. Half of this model had the loose mane and tail, and half had the braided mane and tail.

The handsome Speos really shook things up for fans when folks discovered this variation!  Only 10% of this handsome model was done in a stunning red and black colorshift decorator finish, for a total of 240 pieces!

The beautiful Araba was also done as a micro-run variation! 10% of this stunning model – 240 pieces – was done as a beautiful rose grey sabino pinto, which we fell in love with here at HQ.

And finally, for our last Special Run reveal, the adorable Peanutine!  This cute spotted donkey stole everyone’s hearts at this year’s BreyerFest, and we thought it would be fun to include a fun decorator variation! 10% of the run was done in a stunning rose/green/gold colorshift that really makes him shine – a total of 200 pieces!

For fans who purchased our online-only Limited Edition models Studebaker and Buggy, we revealed BreyerFest weekend that we created fun variations of these models, too!  Which one did you get? Only 10% of each run was done as the variation! A total of 250 pearly blue/purple colorshift tobiano pinto Studebakers were created and just 200 pearly gold glossy Buggy models were made!

I'm a little surprised by some of these - I thought the deco Speos was way more common, as well as the blue Studebaker judging by the number of them I've seen on Facebook. I guess I got luckier with the Speos than I thought I did! I'm glad we finally got these numbers, though - it seemed like it was taking forever for them to be released. We'll get the Stagecoach Surprise numbers tomorrow for some reason. 

But in the meantime, two of my three online Breyerfest orders arrived today! I made two orders of Studebaker and Buggy, and one order of just Studebaker. This morning I had still not received any shipping notices, nor did UPS My Choice show anything coming my way, so I called Breyer to ask when they would ship and was informed that all three orders would be delivered today! Huzzah! 

So, a couple of hours later, I was super excited when my doorbell rang! When I opened the door...there were only two boxes outside the door instead of three. Whatever! I guess the third one will show up tomorrow...I hope? Anyway, it was my first two orders, with Studebaker and Buggy. I opened the Buggys first, so take a look at what I got! 

 

Yes! I got both colors! 

I guess I should feel super-lucky, since we now know the alternate Buggy was a run of 200! 

Next I opened my two Studebakers:

Not so lucky there - two palominos. I'm not sure which one I want to keep - the one in front is way more metallic, but the seam on her mane wasn't smoothed very well and has some kind of black debris in it in a couple of places. The other one is less metallic, but less flawed. Not sure what I'm going to do just yet. I still have one more Studebaker coming, so with just a little more luck it'll be blue and I won't need to get anything from the leftovers sale for the first time in...probably ever. I do still need a glossy black pinto Stagecoach Surprise, but I'm not really interested in taking that gamble for one model - the less extra stuff I have to sell right now, the better.

Well, that's all for today - tune in again tomorrow for the Stagecoach Surprise numbers and hopefully a resolution to the mystery of the last Studebaker! 

Rotating Draft Surprise numbers and Collector Club July Newsletter!

 Greetings, readers! Well, first things first - we finally have our Rotating Draft Surprise numbers! Has it really been two weeks since Breyerfest already? Well, here's a look at all the glossies together:

Here are the numbers:

Dapple Gray Pinto with Braided Mane: 1,110 matte / 375 glossy

Chestnut Leopard Appaloosa with Braided Mane: 1,250 matte / 475 glossy

Buckskin Pinto with Loose Mane: 950 matte / 375 glossy

Glossy Silver Bay with Loose Mane: 1,250 glossy only

Wedgewood Blue Pinto with Loose Mane: 975 matte only

Varnish Blue Roan Appaloosa: 375 matte with braided mane / 375 glossy with loose mane

 

Interesting that they did a Glossy Only option and a Matte Only option - the only previous time I remember them doing that was in 2019, with the decorator Hero's Welcome - those were all glossy. I'm glad I don't collect the Cleveland Bay, though - I wouldn't want to have to squeeze 10 more of them onto my shelves. Someone pointed out the silver bay looks like Epona, though, which I can totally get behind. I do like the wedgewood blue pinto, as well - he has the same pattern as Josiah from the 2020 Vintage Club, which was a release I liked, but not enough to buy. Same with this one - well, maybe someday they'll use the color on something I want. Interestingly, the blanket Appy has the same pattern as Chickory, which makes me wonder if Sommer designed these colors as she usually does? That particular color has a kind-of-old-school look to it, which I liked. The glossy gray pinto was quite pretty, too. No surprise that the glossy quantities increased again this year - I pulled three of them this year, which is about as well as I usually do. 

Anyway, today's other news is the July Collector Club newsletter! If you're a Collector Club member, check your email for more. There's an informative article about showing, a pony pouch giveaway, and this reveal of the mysterious Classics gambler's choice sneak peek we first saw back in April - Johann!
 

Interestingly, it looks like all four of these are glossy - usually they leave at least one matte option, but not this time apparently. More on these guys whenever I get started with my Breyerfest Closeups series! In the meantime, I need to finish up with the New Arrivals first...

Peregrine and special run reveals!

 Exciting news today, everyone - there's a new Birds of a Feather web special to enter for! Check out Peregrine: 

What's this? A new Bristol? In a really nice color? With the loose mane and tail, which seem to have become a rarity lately? Sign me up! I definitely want this one. I hope I have better luck than I did with Kingfisher - though they're making 500 of this one, so hopefully I have better luck anyway. Good luck to everyone entering! He's a beauty - I love his dark-ish coat and his minimal blanket.

In other news, the special run split information from Breyerfest has been announced! I was a bit irked when I first saw the announcement because I thought it was the Rotating Draft information at first - the other special run breakdowns weren't that hard to figure out. Nobody cares about those! So Landler was a 50/50 split as usual, and Marzipan's bay variation was also a 50/50 split as expected. Yawn. We want to see the Rotating Draft run numbers! Anyway, here's a Breyer photo of the matte and glossy Landlers together.

The glossy Landler is extremely handsome, I'll admit. 

That's it for today - let's hope we get to see the Rotating Draft numbers tomorrow! 

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!

Dazzle (and "Razzle") are here, plus Hero's Welcome breakdown!

Exciting news, everyone! The first release of the Fairytale Friends Club (though I call it the Glitter Unicorn Club around here), Dazzle, arrived today! There's no official name listed for the Mini Whinny, but I've seen people on the Internets naming theirs Razzle. If I were planning on keeping mine, I'd probably name it that. As is, though, he'll be going to the sale pile.

Anyway, let's take a look at Dazzle!



I have to say, I like the lighter area on his back/hindquarters. I was expecting him to just be flat pink, so that was a nice surprise. Still not crazy about the glitter, though.



His quality is decent, but for this price point I'd have liked the front hoof paint to not be splattered halfway to the horse's ankles. Sheesh. The mane is really sloppy on the left side, too.



I'd have liked more detail to the eyes than "black dot" too, honestly.

I hope I'm not complaining too much, but this set cost $20, and the models are barely painted better than $4 blind bags at Walmart. Let's hope the next set is better.

Next, let's take a look at Razzle:

He's cute - I love his little horn! But I've never been a fan of Firebird, and since he's made of that rubbery plastic, his legs warped and he doesn't stand up. You know, in retrospect, I don't really know if including the Mini Whinnies was a good idea, especially if more of them have issues with standing. I've seen photos of warped horns on this guy, too - I think it's just too small.

Lastly, here's the satin pouch they came in!

I do like the pouch! It's a pretty color and I've always liked the pouches. Now if the Stablemate Club could go back to using them...

Well, enough of that. Let's talk about the numbers breakdown on the Hero's Welcome models! They finally released the numbers on the blog today.

Dark Dapple Grey: 1000 Matte, 200 Glossy

Chestnut Pinto: 850 Matte, 200 Glossy

Dappled Pearl: 650 Matte, 200 Glossy

Rose Grey: 520 Matte, 200 Glossy

Decorator: 400 Glossy

Pearly Black Leopard Appaloosa: 30 Matte

So all of the decorators were glossy? I could have sworn mine was matte. Oh well! He was the second rarest of the bunch, so I'm glad I got one. And I was surprised that there were more of the chestnut pinto than the pearl (previously referred to as the champagne); it seemed like the chestnut pinto was more desirable than any of the other colors other than the rose gray. I'm not surprised that the numbers on the dapple gray were so high, since it seems like everyone and their dog was trying to unload them at the Clarion and afterward. I'm just glad I was able to trade for the chestnut pinto and the rose gray, since I doubt I'd be able to make the same trades now that the numbers were out.

All in all, though, the surprise colors were really great this year, as usual. I can't wait to see what Sommer designs for us next year! 

Special run numbers revealed!

Exciting news today - Breyer finally released the run numbers of all the variations of the Breyerfest special runs! Well, except for the surprise models, because they couldn't just tell us everything and be done with it. That would be too easy!

Anyway, Breyer confirmed what we've all been wondering: the alternate, pearlized colors of the special runs are indeed all runs of 30. This means my liver chestnut Natasha is a run of 30 and my husband is really lucky! (He technically was the one who pulled it from the SR line.)

When I first opened her, I didn't think much of it and figured it was some kind of 50/50 split, because there was no way I could be lucky enough to get something super-rare! Clearly I was wrong. She'll be a treasured member of my collection for years to come!

In addition to the runs of 30, Quill was this year's glossy/matte split, and the Diana run was 50/50 braided and loose manes/tails. I kinda figured they'd make Natasha matte and glossy as well, since she's a popular mold, but I'm glad they didn't - less to buy!

And while I don't have any interest in buying it, I have to admit the blue Bucky looks pretty cool.



The pearly pinto Rocket is really nice, too:



If only...

But I can't really complain, since I did get the Natasha.

Hopefully Breyer releases the Hero's Welcome breakdown tomorrow! I know I'm tired of waiting.