Breckenridge!

 Attention again, Collector Club members! This year's holiday decorator, Breckenridge, has been officially revealed and entries are open! 

From the website:

Breyer’s Breckenridge is a beautiful homage to this stunning winter destination. With a holographic metallic purple coat that is reminiscent of the purple mountains at night, he’s stunning to view in any light. His unique filigree markings and high-gloss finish make this athletic stallion appear as if he’s racing through the snow down the slopes! He comes on a glittering snowy base, and features “Breckenridge 2026” on his belly in silver.

What a beauty! I hadn't realized he's holographic. The color is great! Too bad I sold off all my Smarty Jones models. There are 1200 of these guys, so I'd say people's odds of getting one are probably pretty decent. Good luck to everyone entering!  

2027 Stablemates Club is open!

 Attention, Collector Club members! The 2027 Stablemates Club is now open for enrollment! You have to join the 2027 Collector Club first...but here's the new mold for next year! 

I honestly thought this model was a shrunken-down Bristol, but fortunately I wasn't the only one. I thought he was a mini version of this auction model! I guess Breyer wasn't being as clever with the releases as I thought they were. Anyway, he's a new sculpt by Maggie Jenner-Bennett. 

His front half really looks like Newsworthy, while the back half looks like Bristol. I'm undecided about this one, but he's definitely a cutie! But I'm not going to join this club until I see the rest of the releases. Must...wait...until...all...is...revealed! 

Featured Breyerfest - 2014

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured JAH! We're covering 2014 this week, so let's get started! 

Notable events of 2014:

• Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappears over the Indian Ocean, launching a thousand conspiracy theories
• Microsoft buys Mojang Studios (creators of Minecraft) for $2.5 billion
• Ebola breaks out in West Africa, eventually infecting more than 28,000 people and killing more than 11,000
• The McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 flies its last passenger flight, but commercial flights continue

And in Kentucky, Breyerfest 2014 happened! 

Dates: July 11-13, 2014
Theme: Silver Jubilee
Celebration Horse: Gooitzen fan Teakesyl
Number of Celebration Models produced: 7,000

Here's the first 2014 page from the commemorative program:

Breyerfest 2014 feels like the definitive Breyerfest for me. There were a lot of milestones happening; it was the 25th anniversary of the event, and the first time Breyer included micro-runs in every special run; it was also the only time the Alborozo mold has been used for a run of more than just one (aside from the original release), and the first (and so far only) time the Celebration Model was issued in a glossy finish (although it doesn't appear to have been the plan from the start, as the model used when "Gootz" was first announced was matte black). It was also the inaugural year of the Celebration of Horses evening show and the Collector Club tent! It was a great Breyerfest and remains one of my favorites to this day. 

The real Gooitzen fan Teakesyl was a world champion Friesian show horse, presented at Breyerfest by Carson Kressley. He died in 2015. Other guests were Knights of Valour, Knights of Iceland, Behind the Mask Friesians, Tommie Turvey and equine guests Novelisto D, RJ (one of the horses that played Hidalgo), Magic and Hamlet, Lil Ricky Rocker, GVF Sjokolade and Cedarlane Gretchen. 

Breyer had done micro runs at Breyerfest before, but like I said earlier, this was the first time they'd done it for every special run. Each special run had 25 silver charm models on the same mold randomly distributed through each special run (the commemorative program doesn't mention this because it's from 2014 and they didn't want this little surprise to be known in advance). So there was a lot of excitement when unwrapping models to see what treasures you might have gotten! I wasn't lucky enough to get any of the silver charms, but I've had a lot of luck with other models, so I'm not complaining. As for other models, I think Champagne Wishes was the first release in what was apparently intended to be a Connoisseur replacement series - she had a Connoisseur-level paint job, was a run of 350 and was priced a bit higher, but didn't sell very well. She was followed up by another run of 350 on Salinero the following year, which also didn't sell well, and then that little experiment ended. Come to think of it, that experiment was kinda revived years later with Midas and Ambrose, but it seems to have been abandoned again. 

Special runs for 2014 were Celebration, Kodiak and Denali, Pop the Cork!, which turned out to be on the Nokota, Gossamer, Bonne Fete, Platinum Star (the most sought-after special run that year), Jubilee and Champagne Toast. I bought a lot of Champagne Toasts while trying to get that darn silver Adios, with no luck. Oh, and since the Celebration Models were glossy, the costume contest prizes for this year were a run of 25 glossy Harley D Zip models. 

Here's the first page of the JAH recap:

Page 2:

Page 3:

Page 4:

Page 5:

And page 6:

And here are some photos by yours truly! 

Above: some of the auction models

Test Smarty Jones in the silent auction

A cool display in the Visitor Center of all the previous Celebration Models

Carson Kressley with Gootz 

And now let's take a look at some auction models! 

I think this model is one a lot of people regret letting slip through their fingers - he's so beautiful, and sold for a comparatively low price ($1,000), when he would almost certainly sell for much more than that now. I think he's changed hands a couple of times since the auction, actually, but I don't remember how much he sold for. Probably a lot more than $1,000. 

This Silver is noteworthy because a lot of people (myself included) thought Pop the Cork would be on the Silver mold, only to have our predictions dashed when this one was revealed ahead of time. Also, markings are in the shape of a "25" on his side. Super cool! 

This Moody ASB is cool because he has custom hair! He looks like his mane and tail are blowing in the breeze. He's a beautiful color, too. I love him! 

Lastly, though I'm not the biggest fan of the PAM, I always thought this color looks amazing on her. It's so pretty! I hope they bring it back for another release sometime. Maybe on the mini PAM? I hope so; that color is too pretty not to ever use again. 

Well, that's it for today! Check back next week for Breyerfest 2015! 

JAH reveals and the 2027 Celebration Horse!

 Good news, everyone! This year's JAH is out in the wild, which means we're getting new more new reveals! First off, there's a PAM in next year's Vintage Club! 

That paint job looks familiar, but I can't quite put my finger on where I've seen it before. The halter is cute! It's a nice callback to the PAMs of yore that came with halters. 

Next, this year's winter decorator is a purple filigree Smarty Jones! 

Score! Nothing I need. Also, the paint job for this year's Premier Club Stablemate has been revealed! 

I'm still feeling pretty "meh" about it, but I'll wait until we have in-hand photos before I decide if I want to sell it or not. 

And the yearly Collector Club Animal is a longhorn bull! 

Also nothing I need, but the color is nice. 

And perhaps most importantly, we now have our 2027 Celebration Horse! Say hello to Soldano V.DM! 

What a pretty boy! I love him, though I'm not looking forward to trying to get a glossy one next year. Guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Cosimo looks good in blue roan (and he should; the breed only comes in black and blue roan). Can't wait to see him next year! 

2027 Premier Club and Mabel!

 Well, the reveals are coming fast and furious now - the 2027 Premier Club is open for signups, and the optional Vintage Club release is available for purchase! Behold, the full reveal of Fresco:

Very pretty! I like his tail much better from the side. He's sculpted by Rayvin Maddock and his paint job was designed by Darynn Bednarczyk (of DeeJayBe Studio). Here's his other side:

His paint job is really nice too! Can't wait to see this one in person. 

And lastly for today, here's the optional Vintage Club model! Say hello to Mabel:

Ooh, a glossy Winnifred! But wait - that's not all! There's another surprise here! 100 of the Mabels (randomly shipped, of course) will have a matte finish instead! 

I think I prefer the glossy one, but I'm not buying this one anyway, so my opinion probably doesn't matter. Good luck to everyone wanting the matte! 

Holiday catalog reveals!

 Look out, readers: the Breyer shrink ray has struck again! From the holiday catalog that was released today:

That's right, it's a tiny Bristol! The color is nice, but I ended up selling off my Bristols last year, so I won't need this one. At least it'll be easy to resell! 

And on the other side of that photo is the full reveal of Fresco! I like him/her, but I'm not crazy about that tail. Maybe it'll look better in other photos? And down at the bottom is a Vintage Club blurb with a little illustration of the Quarter Horse Yearling, so presumably she's in next year's club. Hope we get to see more soon! 

Featured Breyerfest - 2013

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Breyerfest! We're going back in time to 2013 this year, so let's get started! 

Notable events of 2013:

• The "zombie apocalypse hoax" involving emergency broadcast systems across five different states takes place
• Pope Benedict becomes the first pope to resign his office voluntarily, leading to the election of Pope Francis
• El Reno, OK is hit by the largest tornado ever recorded, resulting in 8 deaths
• Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi is deposed in a military coup d'etat

And in Kentucky, Breyerfest 2013 took place! This was the first year we drove (16 hours) to Kentucky, rather than fly there. Our Breyerfest road trip became an annual tradition! 

Dates: July 19-21
Theme: Denim and Diamonds
Celebration Horse: Smart and Shiney
Number of Celebration Models produced: 5,000

Here's the first 2013 page from the commemorative program:

The real Smart and Shiney is still alive at 23 (at least, he's still listed as available for breeding on Tom McCutcheon Reining). As you might have guessed, he's a reining horse who was owned by Lyle Lovett in 2013, though I'm not sure if that's still the case. Smart and Shiney is also a grandson of superstar stallion Shining Spark, great-grandson of Breyer portrait model Diamonds Sparkle, and great-great-grandson of legendary stallion and Breyer portrait model Doc Bar. 

Other equine guests in 2013 included Lady C (formerly owned by Sheryl Crow), Tennessee Titan, Brookside Pink Magnum, Lil Ricky Rocker and Topsails Rien Maker. Other guests were Dan James of Double Dan Horsemanship and Mary Miller-Jordan. Splash Dogs was added to the event list this year, and after the costume contest was a performance by Alabama tribute band Tennessee River. 

As pictured, the raffle models were Bluebird and Boot Scootin' Boogie, while the Single Day Stablemates were all brand-new molds! 

The list of Breyerfest models seems to be ever-growing, huh? Special runs included Twill, Short Ribs the pig, Two Step, Ryman (whose run seemed to suffer many bent front legs from the July heat), Buckaroo, Laredo (a "Spanish" version of the Vanner which was much-derided due to his noodly legs - I love him anyway!), Naomi and Wynonna, and the CC Shuffle on Roxy. Live show prize models were the beautiful Minnie Pearl and Music Row, while the diorama contest prize was Walk of Fame and the early bird model was Honky Tonk. I remember hearing a secondhand story about one of the Honky Tonk winners having no idea what they'd just won or how much it was worth. I hope they figured it out! 

Store specials included Lady C (formerly owned by Sheryl Crow), Tennessee Titan, Somerset (a resin to replace the poorly-selling porcelains), Belle Meade the crystal, Stitch the plush and four western-themed models on the Rearing Stallion and Bucking Bronco. 

Here's the recap from the 2013 annual JAH:

Page 2:

Page 3:

Page 4:

Page 5:

And page 6:

Now, here are some on-the-ground photos by yours truly! 

Tennessee Titan outside the Covered Arena

A smattering of auction models in the visitor center

An extremely rare and valuable In-Between Mare at the Open Show (I didn't show at the time, but we went there to check things out)

Smart and Shiney showing off his luscious locks (and reining talent)

I just realized I didn't cover any of the 2012 auction models last week! Oops. Oh well. Here's some auction models from 2013:

I love this one! Breyer does a great bay roan, and this Carrick is no exception. So pretty! 

This Moody Andalusian is beautiful too! I can't tell if he has any peacock spots, but presumably he does? More photos are needed (my others from the visitor center don't show anything either). 

I like the blingy crystals on this QHY. I wish Breyer would do stuff like this more often! 

I've never been a big fan of the Appaloosa Performance Horse, but with this paint job (and custom tail) he looks so much better. All he needs is a better head and he'd be great! 

That's it for the auction models, but here's a bonus photo:

This trio was for sale at one of the booths in the Covered Arena. That's the silver filigree PAM volunteer model, raffle model Born to Run and raffle model Saturday Night Fever. It was amazing to see them all together! 

And that's it for this week. Check back next week for Breyerfest 2014!