Best Customs Contest prizes revealed!

 Good news, readers! Those sneak peeks were indeed the Best Customs Contest prize models! First up, here's Szurkol, the grand prize model! 

She's so pretty! Almost makes me sad to have decided to sell off my Yasmin conga.

And here's the runners-up prize, Skal! 

Ooh, I want this guy! He looks nice in chestnut. And he even has a blue eye! He has the same pattern as the bay splash pinto Fylkir. 

That's it for now, but hopefully we get to see some more prize models soon. We're still waiting on the live show grand and reserve prizes, as well as the sectional glossies and the raffle models. Bring on the prize reveals! 

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! 

Breyerfest reveal and January Collector Club Newsletter!

 Greetings, readers! We have our latest Breyerfest reveal today - a beautiful Yasmin named Studebaker! Behold: 

What a pretty girl! Here's her other side:

I really like her - she's this year's online Limited Edition - only available to order online, not at the event. I hope I can get my hands on one! And I hope they don't do the matte/glossy split again this year...

The blog says the final Limited Edition model will be revealed tomorrow, which leaves me a bit confused - they haven't shown a singleton Stablemate yet (i.e. Wittelsbach last year), but they haven't shown an online Stablemate yet either (like last year's Torlinie). Maybe they aren't doing an online Stablemate? Seems weird that they'd discontinue the single Stablemate Limited Edition, but I guess stranger things have happened. I can't imagine Torlinie sold that well (probably would have sold better if they hadn't used such an overused mold), so it could go either way, I guess. We'll find out tomorrow! 

In other news, the January Collector Club newsletter is out in the wild - Collector Club members, check your email for more. Among other things, there's a fun Breyer Rewind article, a giveaway of the new Orren Mixer Appaloosa, and ...this sneak peek: 

...Boo, I say! Boo! Give us a real sneak peek! 

Looks like it ties in with St. Patrick's Day pretty well, though. 

Anyway, I'm excited to see tomorrow's Breyerfest reveal! And for that matter, a reveal of whatever that was in the December newsletter, because Flamingo doesn't match it. 

Collector Club Appreciation, Auction Models and more!

 Exciting news, everyone! My Collector Club Appreciation orders are here! Behold! 

Though I didn't get a photo of it, in my first order I bought four styling heads for gifts, the pin board and the new Unicorn Crazy (or whatever it's called) stable. And when I opened the (huge) box, the second thing I saw was a really skinny Breyer box, upside down. I could see the label read "KB Omega Fahim" and got really excited and pulled him out glossy! 

I love this shade of blue-black and wish Breyer would use it more often. He's stunning! I'll have to compare him to my matte Omega Fahim and see if there's any difference between them. 

I guess there is a risk of them looking more like decorators if there's too much blue...but then, blue is my favorite color, so I'm not going to nitpick that too much. Haha! 

For my second order, I went ahead and just bought the glossy model outright, as I don't have any more space for extra stuff I don't want or need. And look who I got! 

I had been hoping to get the glossy Theo, though, so it looks like I'll be looking for a trade. Ideally with someone at the Clarion when we're there in 3 weeks. Speaking of the Clarion, we got some more Breyerfest auction models today! Check them out: 

As someone on Blab noted, this Fighter would make a perfect dad for Robin and Nestling. Aww, a family! 

An amazing star-dappled gray on my least-favorite Latigo mane/tail combination. He's pretty, though!

And lastly:

A really, really nice Valegro, but I can't help but think he would have been completely amazing in gloss! 

And lastly, Breyer introduced Sparkler, a 4th of July plush, today! 

He's already sold out, so if you wanted one, I hope you were able to get one. I'm not a plush collector, so I didn't partake, but he's a cute design! 

That's all I have for today - I hope we get more auction models tomorrow! And, uh, a Breyerfest program, since it's now the 20th? Is that too much to ask for? You know, because people want to plan out their activities and it's kind of hard to do that without the program. 

Featured Model - 10/16/2021, Live Auction Yasmin

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Model, the weekly blog event where I pick a model I don't own but would like to, give some stats on it and provide commentary about it. This week's model is...the 2017 Breyerfest Live Auction Yasmin! 

This model, as stated above, was one of the live auction models for Breyerfest 2017. She was a OOAK on the Yasmin/Shagya Arab mold sculpted by Brigitte Eberl. 

This model is amazing, but the star-dappled models always are. This is what the Premier Club Duende was supposed to look like - unfortunately, this style of paint job is difficult to mass-produce - due to the nature of manufacturing, it's never going to come out as nicely as a model like this, where I imagine whoever painted it was given all the time they needed to finish her. She's stunning! One wonders what she'd look like glossed...but I digress. I like her one white sock and the contrast of her light-colored tail against the mostly-dark rest of her body. She sold for $3,800 - too expensive then, but practically a bargain now. Although I didn't attend the auction that year anyway due to being pregnant at the time. But I digress again.

Yasmin is another one of those molds that could use a little more love. Her non-decorator RR appearance only lasted a couple of years, and her unicorn iteration only lasted one year. She was a Breyerfest special run in 2017, a Breyerfest prize model in 2019, and a Vintage Club special run last year, so she's had at least one release every year since her debut, but it still feels like we're a little light on releases for her. Maybe she'll get a web special? I imagine she'll be a TSC special run at some point, since she isn't terribly Araby and might be able to pass for something Western-ish. I'm going to hope for a web special - as long as I can get drawn for it, anyway. 

Edit: Derp, I forgot about this year’s Omega Fahim release. I have him in my collection, so there’s really no excuse...but anyways. Let’s see a web special release anyhow!

I guess I spoke too soon...

 Well, looks like I should have kept my mouth shut one more day, because the 2021 Mid-Year releases are here! Let's start with the one we've all been waiting for: 

WGH CH Marc of Charm!! That's right, the model rumored to be one of the Breyerfest store specials in 2019 (or was it 2020?) is finally here! He's definitely going on my want list, though I hope the mane and tail are less yellow in person. 

Next, we have Tiz the Law! 

Seems like kind of a random choice for a Thoroughbred portrait, but that Lonesome Glory is beautiful! Must add him to the collection!

This lovely black Arabian is KB Omega Fahim, a Shagya Arabian stallion who specializes in dressage. I love the blue sheen to the color! Another one I'll have to add to the collection! 

Ooh, a black Malik! I love it. Though I really think the Shagya Arabian, or another (not-yet-existing) mold would be the best fit for the Black, as he's frequently described as being too big to be pure Arabian and Malik looks Arabian to the core. But I digress...

The horses-as-food series appears to be continuing, with Red Velvet! Ooh, I love red velvet cake...but I don't collect this mold. Looks like an interesting color, though! 

And lastly...Thriller, this year's Halloween model! Apparently dealers are being limited to 12 of these, so be sure to reserve yours fast. I just preordered mine, so hopefully it goes through and I'm the proud owner of a Thriller! 

Glossy CC Appreciation model and PC/VC blind bags!

Good news, everyone - my glossy CC Appreciation model from the second round is here! It seems like I've been waiting for an eternity, so I was super excited to open the box. I was making an effort to open the box without looking at the contents, so I ripped through the tape, got the box open, pulled out the packing paper and started feeling at the model box to pull it out, desperately hoping to get a glossy LV Integrity but fully expecting to find a glossy King instead. This box feels really skinny, I thought. Could it be? So I pulled it out and...glossy LV Integrity!



Just what I wanted! I was also hoping for a glossy Khalid, and by the look of things I probably should have been hoping for him instead - it looks like they might be more rare (thus, more difficult to buy) than the Integritys. Oh well - it could have been a King instead!

She's definitely beautiful with a coat of gloss, though! And yes - mine is also a she. My matte Integrity is a gelding, so I guess I get to have both of them! Maybe someday I'll track down a matte mare.

And yes, my entertainment center is getting crowded. I tend to let new models build up there so I can photograph them all as a group before I put them away on the shelves. There are more above these, plus I have to put last year's Premier Club models on the shelves when Altynai gets here. But I digress...

The glossy Integrity seems to be much more metallic than my matte one, not that I'm complaining. With the coat of gloss, she seems like she glows! Just beautiful.



The gloss seems much less haphazardly done than it was on the 2018 glossy CC appreciation models, so that's a bonus, too. And I didn't see any other quality issues, either, aside from typical factory flaws. I can't wait to put her on my shelf!

In other news, Breyer apparently STILL has leftover Premier club models from 2013 and onward, so if you're a current PC member and interested in entering a lottery for those, check your Club account! They've got Vintage Club models too, for current VC members. Not a risk I'd be willing to take, personally (they're all blind bags, and there are probably a ton of Clara and Mae sets in there).

Sunchaser and Starlight are here!

Hark, a ray of sunshine in these dark times! My Sunchaser and Starlight models are here. Okay, Sunchaser has been here for a few days, but I wanted to wait until Starlight got here so I could put them both into one post. So, let's start with Sunchaser!

Not a whole lot to say about Sunchaser that hasn't already been said - I like his color a lot better than some of the previous releases in the club, but I hope they do some different, more-complicated paint jobs in the future.

At least he's relatively flaw-free! The glitter encrustation on his mane and tail don't seem to be as bad as previous releases, though I'd prefer to see the glitter go away completely. I forgot to take a picture of his matching Saddlebred counterpart, but it won't stand up anyway, so you're not really missing much.

So, let's take a look at Starlight!

I was excited to see this girl after all the photos I've seen online, and she doesn't disappoint!

As usual, she's huge - I like her flying tail and everything, but part of me wishes it wasn't quite so long. I'm pretty sure she's the longest Breyer model I've ever had - maybe that's why Zena was discontinued so soon, because she's just so LONG! 

I didn't see any flaws on her either, other than the usual mane/tail overspray. I wonder if that was done on purpose, to emulate the flaws of yesteryear? Heh heh.  If I were inclined to nitpick, I'd want her muzzle to be a little darker, but it's not a dealbreaker. She can join her sisters on the shelf (and already has). I hope everyone else likes their Starlights just as much! 

Starlight, and Breyer Easter plush!

Attention to all Vintage Club members: Starlight is now available for purchase!

She comes a bit soon after the previous release - I wonder if Breyer is getting jittery with all the COVID-19 hubbub. Well, either way, she's definitely pretty! While I'm not a Vintage Club member this year, I've tentatively managed to secure one from someone else, so I'm excited to see what she looks like in person!

In other news, Breyer has a new Easter plush available!



She's free with a $75 purchase, or it looks like you can just buy her for $14.99. Use the code LILAC20 at checkout to get her! I don't collect the plushes, but she sure is cute!

Stop the world, I want to get off

The reveals are coming fast and furious - almost too many reveals for me to handle! Where do I start? The full Vintage Club lineup for 2020, minus the bonus model, has been revealed:



So we've got the Western Horse, the In-Between Mare (!), the Bubble-Butt Belgian (making his second appearance in the club), and Yasmin. Wait - taking a closer look at the photo, the two mares next to the IBM look like FAMS, not IBMs...I wonder if the gambler's choice will mostly be between the two FAMs, with the IBM an extremely rare variant? One of 70, perhaps? That would help keep the original handful of IBMs' value from plummeting.

Anyway, there's nothing here I need to buy other than the Yasmin, unless the optional model is something I need. Here's hoping!

Next on the reveals list, the 2020 calendar has been posted on the Breyer website, and the cover photo is A DAPPLE PALOMINO HAMILTON AAAAAHHHHHH!!!



He is a must-have! Dare I hope he's a regular run for next year? Or, failing that, something obtainable in the 70th Anniversary Collection? I'll be sorely disappointed if this is a test or limited run I'll never be able to get my hands on! I'm going to continue to hope he's a RR, since this year's Dominante made his debut in the calendar about this time last year.

Speaking of the calendar, we also had this reveal inside it - a side angle of the new Premier Club Altynai:



Well, that does it - I'm going to have to add him to my collection too. Drat it all! I'd been hoping to cut back a little bit next year, but if these reveals are any indication, I don't think that's going to happen. But hey, I love all the new things being unveiled right now - it's definitely better than the news wasteland we had going at this time last year. Bring on the reveals - I'm ready to see the 2020 regular run line!

Another release in the 2020 Vintage Club!

Sheesh, looks like I've been totally off the mark with my Vintage Club predictions...again. But the second release in this year's Club has been revealed - say hello to Starlight!



It's a glossy gray appaloosa on the Shagya Arabian (aka Yasmin) mold! Ooh, she's pretty. I think this girl fits right into the Vintage Club, even if she is a new mold. Nice as she is, though, I'm not going to join the club unless the next couple of releases turn out to be super-desirable. Speaking of which, we only have two more reveals left - well, three if you count the Stablemate. We haven't seen the gambler's choice or the optional model. I still think the gambler will be the FAM/FAF - hopefully they'll show them to us before the deadline to join. I'm still wondering what they're going to use for the optional model, too - no doubt this year's Claude really helped with keeping people in the club through the end of the year, so I wonder if they'll try to pull another Claude situation next year (wouldn't surprise me). Hope we find out soon!

More auction models!

Greetings, readers! Exciting news - more auction models were posted on the Breyerfest Blog today! I was hoping we'd get some more this week. So, without further ado - here they are!

Lot 5 is the palomino Live Show prize Yasmin:

Not much to say about her that I haven't already said, except I'm still not really into the mane and tail. Next, let's take a look at Lot 6!

Wow, a stallion and foal set! You don't really see that very often. And they're so different from each other! I like the blue bobs on the stallion - they go with his color pretty well. And I like the white tail on the foal! Not enough to want to bid on them, but they're definitely unique!

Next, Lot 8 (they won't show us Lot 7, grr):

That's an amazing paintjob for the Five Gaiter, though the nitpicky part of me is wondering why Flaxen Liver Chestnut is in the auction twice. The crazy extended blanket and peacock spots make up for it, though - he's excellent!

And lastly, Lot 9:



Ruffian! I'm surprisingly meh about her, though...I'm not sure I like that shade of palomino. The blog says her mane and tail are pearly, but you can barely tell. Maybe it'll be more visible in person? I hope so.

That's all for now - I hope we get to see more auction models soon!

Live Show prizes and Teton!

Hello everyone! First things first - the Breyerfest live show prizes were revealed on the blog today! Check them out!

First, meet Victory, the Overall Grand prize!



Ooh, a Yasmin! Too bad she'll be pricey on the aftermarket, if any even go up for sale afterward. But I'm not sure I like that color on her...she just looks a little weird. I don't think that shade of her coat color goes very well with her mane and tail - shouldn't the mane/tail be lighter?

As for the Overall Reserve prize, say hello to Triumph!

I don't know how I didn't suspect the Indian Pony with that obvious war paint in the teaser photo, but I didn't. She's described as a, "few-spot varnish bay chalky Appaloosa." Sheesh, that's a mouthful. She's pretty enough, but the Indian Pony just isn't my thing. Good luck to the live show entrants - I have a feeling the competition is going to be extra-cutthroat this year!

In other news, the drawing for Teton was held today, and Breyer didn't drag it out or make us wait an extra day for once - and I got drawn! Huzzah!



I already completed my order. I hope the warehouse snafu gets worked out soon - I can't wait to see what this girl looks like in person! Congrats to the other winners! And I'm excited to see what the next release in the series will be - I'm sure it'll be revealed at Breyerfest. Less than two months to go now!

Featured Model - 1/5/2019, LV Integrity

Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Model, the weekly blog event where I pick a model from my collection, give some stats on it and provide commentary about it. It's a new year, so I decided to feature a new (for me) model - LV Integrity!



LV Integrity is still in the regular run line as item #1797, issued on the Yasmin mold sculpted by Brigitte Eberl. He (more on that shortly) was one of the new for 2018 releases, though I just bought him a few weeks ago as part of my Collector Club Appreciation order.

And yes, this model is male - the real LV Integrity is a gelding, so a sheath was added to this run to make them anatomically correct. I see a lot of posts on Facebook about Breyer not bothering to add/remove parts to portrait models as necessary, which usually happens with Breyerfest releases and smaller runs. I work in manufacturing, and it makes sense to me that Breyer doesn't add gelding parts to smaller runs - like 2017's Repeat the Beat special run. I'll admit I don't know the exact process for adding a sheath to a normally female model, but it wouldn't be economical to do it for a run of 1,000 - factories run on deadlines and need to be able to finish orders in a timely fashion so they can move on to the next order. Interestingly, the regular run Bear and later reissue also don't have gelding parts, though a quick Internet search was inconclusive as to the real Bear's gender.

However, there are several other regular run models over the years that have had male parts added - Kong would be one,  as well as BHR Bryants Jake, Puuku, American Pharoah, Scallywag (the bodies for this run were probably manufactured at the same time as Puuku), All Glory and probably others I'm forgetting. With the exception of Scallywag, these were all larger runs that would have made it worth the extra expense. So I don't generally get too upset if Breyer doesn't add the proper set of parts to a model - it all comes down to manufacturing.

As for LV Integrity himself, Yasmin looks great in bay! I wonder if this guy will be a glossy prize at this year's Breyerfest? I'm not sure how popular this mold is, and last year Breyer went with less popular molds as the prizes, probably to try to deter cheating - so it's entirely possible we could see a glossy LV Integrity at Breyerfest. I hope so! And since this model is already in the regular run line, it seems likely we could see her (or him) pop up somewhere else - maybe as a web special, since it would be easy to divert 350 bodies from the regular run production line for a web special. I think Yasmin would make a great web special, so I'm crossing my fingers!

You're killing me, Breyer!

This year's mid-year releases escaped into the wild today, and all I can say is...you guys are killing me over here! Look at this model! LOOK AT IT!



Excuse me while I hyperventilate for a second. This design made its debut years ago as an auction model, and now we're getting it as a special run? Holy crap!

Clearly I'm not the only one having that reaction, because I'm pretty sure Prism (the model) is sold out pretty much everywhere. Needless to say, I ordered one as fast as my fingers could hit the keys on my phone, so I'm definitely excited for his arrival (not until August, sadly).

In other mid-year releases, here's another fun one! Meet Nevermore!

She's limited to 3000, so I ordered one. I can't remember if previous Halloween releases have been this limited? Oh well. I'm definitely an Edgar Allan Poe fan, so this girl definitely needs to come to my house.

Here are some other releases!

I love Harley's pattern and color, but not the mold. He's nice, though!

I'm not a fan of the Stock Horse Stallion at all, and what's with the weird brand? Have they put that on the horse in real life? Next.

Ooh, I definitely need this one! More Yasmin goodness! Although it's been difficult to get her to fit on my shelves...

...Is that a Stablemate Alborozo? What happened to the whole show of good faith to Brigitte in destroying the mold? Is nothing sacred anymore? Bleh, I'll probably have to buy one anyway. But why are there so many mold repeats? That's the old resin Magnolia shrunk down to Stablemate size, too, but I've never been a fan of hers. And I'm irritated that the chase piece (probably another Stablemate Alborozo for some reason) is only in 1/4 boxes again.

Edit: It's good that they're doing some colors other than white, though.



I'm not surprised to see this one, because there have been grainy photos floating around on the Interwebs depicting this mold appearing as a unicorn named Sarafina at someone's Walmart. I haven't seen one in person yet, but I'm sure I will eventually. Regardless, I'm not a fan of this mold, so I don't need to buy it, luckily.

There's also a Sgt. Reckless reissue, but I don't think it's any different from the previous one.

All in all, definitely a lot of exciting (and frustrating) releases! I can't wait to see Prism and Nevermore! I'll probably wait on buying LV Integrity until I can get some nice discounts at the end of the year, but he's definitely on my list. I'm still grumbly about the Stablemate Alborozo, though, but that might just be me being crotchety. Bring on the new releases!