Breyerfest tickets going on sale tomorrow!

 Attention, readers! If you're planning on buying a Breyerfest 2026 ticket (or a few), the tickets are going on sale tomorrow, per today's email from Breyer! Huzzah! 

So it turns out that the VIP ticket is $1,000 after all, which is a big chunk of change up front - but could be worth it if you want a lot of the special runs. I'll probably get one, since I want four of them for sure and possibly five if the surprise is something I want. Shouldn't be too hard to unload the four I don't want. I probably won't need to buy as many tickets as I usually do, either - though I'll probably get at least five more so I have chances at more surprise models. I really hope there aren't micro-runs this year. They seem to be doing that every other year now, so let's hope that continues for this year.

It would be more cost-effective to buy two VIP tickets (since the price of an All-Access ticket went up to $115), but that only gives me two chances at surprise models, so I guess All-Access tickets are the way to go there. Plus they added a single-day Stablemate to the All-Access tickets, so that's cool, I guess. There also isn't going to be a Celebration of Horses show this year, according to a Facebook comment by Breyer. Hopefully they put out an announcement about that soon. I guess it's not a huge loss - I didn't even go last year and the show has been rather poorly received for the last few years. Maybe they'll bring it back next year? 

They also added a $35 ticket option for people that don't want any of the frills and just want to see the action and/or shop at the Horse Park, so that's good. I hope everyone is able to get the tickets they want tomorrow! 

Oh, I definitely need this one

 Greetings, readers! The last Breyerfest special run line model has been revealed - say hello to The Wanderer! Turns out it wasn't a previously-feathered mold after all! 

And it'll be easy to remember his name, because he has his own theme song! Huzzah! From the blog: 

As The Wanderer, he is depicted as a cloaked one-eyed old man, with a long grey beard, carrying his spear Gungnir, and accompanied by his two companion ravens, Hugin and Munin. A wizened old man who can see between the worlds and through time after having sacrificed one of his eyes to Mimir’s well to gain the wisdom of the runes.

...

This bold model, created on the popular Mustang Stallion mold, #801 sculpted by Rayvin Maddock, is decorated in a moody dapple purple/blue complete with a spear face marking, a magical right eye, and raven feathers in his mane and tail.  The Wanderer will be available to VIP, All-Access, and Online Traditional Access ticket holders.

I love him! He looks really good in that color, though I feel like the feathers could stand out more. And why isn't he glossy? None of the special runs are glossy - the last time that happened was 1997, and prior to that year the special runs were keychains. What's going on? 

In other news, it's time for the January Collector Club newsletter! Fashionably late, I guess. There's a cover story about bronze models, a glossy Bandera giveaway, and this sneak peek: 

Easter plushie, I'm guessing? Hope we find out soon! 

New 2026 arrivals!

 Greetings, readers! Exciting news today - my first Breyer purchase since moving to NZ has arrived! I got Pluto Gratia and Betsy and Ross in this shipment - they qualified for free shipping from the US somehow, so I jumped on the opportunity and ordered them! Plus, they only took a little more than a week to get here! I'll start with Pluto: 

He's the white-grey Lipizzaner we've all been waiting for. 

I love him, and yet I dread the day (probably next year) when they gloss him for a Breyerfest live show prize. 

It's probably a good thing that there isn't much of a live show scene in NZ (that I know of), because this guy was basically a body right out of the box. Black specks in the finish, shiny marks, black scribbly/scuff marks on his neck and more. His entire left shoulder is shiny for some reason, and I didn't want to investigate that too much for fear of the paint scraping off like it did on my Domingo. So it looks like this guy is just going to sit on the shelf...but that's what's going to happen to most of my models now, so I guess it is what it is. 

Now, let's take a look at Betsy and Ross! 

Fortunately, this pair aren't bodies right out of the box, but the foal is iffy about standing. The mare had a rub on her offside hip, but it mostly scraped off, so it might have just been part of the box that rubbed onto the mare. 

I wish they'd used Firestorm (her original foal) with this one - it would have been fun to see him in clearware. 

All in all, I'm glad these guys got here all right! Somehow they shipped all the way from Detroit for free, so I'm taking it! Yan Wu and Lisboa have both shipped, but the estimate for Yan Wu says he'll be here 2/12, and I have no idea when Lisboa will be here due to Breyer's site not supplying tracking numbers anymore. So it could be a while before I see them! I also have the new bay pinto Hamilton on order, but he hasn't even shipped yet. Hopefully Yan Wu is here soon, at least!  

Last special run sneak peek!

 Greetings, readers! We have a sneak peek for the last Breyerfest 2026 special run (not counting the Limited Editions) - check it out! 

There have been a number of models released with molded-on feathers in the past, including the Indian Pony, Appaloosa Performance Horse, Nokota and Ruffian (possibly others I'm forgetting). The online consensus seems to be that the peek is showing the tail feathers on the Nokota, but it could just as easily be a different mold with feathers added. Guess we'll find out on Monday! Since the feathers are black, I'm guessing some kind of (decorator) reference to Odin and his ravens, but we'll see. I hope it's the Nokota! 

It is Cosimo!

 Hurrah! Good news, readers! The sneak peek is indeed Cosimo! 

I love him! What a nice color on him. Too bad he isn't glossy though. Where's all the gloss?! Are they all going to be matte/glossy splits? I'm so confused! Anyway, something else is coming tomorrow - probably a sneak peek for the last special run and then they'll reveal it on Monday. Will it finally be something glossy? Time will tell...

In other news, the first Vintage Club release of the year is now available for purchase! It's Sentinel and Echo! 

Let's not forget the other foal:

I'm glad I don't want these, because I'd be annoyed at having to track down another set for the foal, unless I was lucky enough to find someone selling just the foal. But anyway. Nothing I need, but I hope the club members enjoy them! I'm kind of surprised it took this long to get a vintage-style "blue" roan - but in fairness, it never occurred to me as a thing that should exist before, so I don't blame Breyer for it. It'll be interesting to see what these look like in person! 

Another Breyerfest teaser!

 Good news, everyone! There’s a new sneak peek on the blog. Behold:

The sleuths out there on the Internet seem to think this is Cosimo, so I hope they’re correct! We’ve been waiting for him to show up. Do we think this one is an Appaloosa? I kinda hope so, but I’d be okay with a pinto too. The bigger question is: does the gloss drought continue, or is he shinier than he appears in the teaser? Guess we’ll find out tomorrow! 

The last Limited Edition portrait reveal!

 Greetings, readers! Well, the final Limited Edition portrait model for Breyerfest was revealed today - say hello to Ojvind! 

I'll admit wild bay isn't my favorite color, especially with so much pangare, but I gotta have this guy anyway! From the blog: 

Gotland Ponies were first imported to the United States in the 1950s. In 1989, Leslie Bebensee bought the last breeding herd and brought them to her Kokovoko Farm in Kentucky. These sweet and athletic ponies won her heart, and her focus turned to preserving the Gotland in the US. In 2020, Leslie received an email notifying her that the Kokovoko herd had bloodlines that were lost in Sweden, and an arrangement was made to trade a stallion from their old lines in exchange for four colts out of her mares. That little stallion from Sweden was Öjvind!

At least he's cute! But the blog notes that this is the last of the Limited Edition portrait models. That doesn't mean we've reached the end of the Limited Editions, though - there's still a Classics model, a Stablemate set, the crystal and the plushie - not to mention whatever the online-only models are this year. 

There are also still two special run models left to be revealed. Dare I hope one is glossy? Or maybe both? There's a distinct lack of gloss in the reveals so far, aside from the Stablemates.