Featured Breyerfest - 2009

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Breyerfest! We're covering 2009 this week, so let's get going! 

Notable events of 2009:

• Miracle on the Hudson: US Airways Flight 1549 glides to a successful emergency landing in the Hudson River after hitting a flock of geese on takeoff
• Michael Jackson dies of propofol intoxication two weeks before his "This is It" series of concerts was supposed to begin
• Jenson Button wins the Formula 1 World Championship for the first time
• The Boeing 787 Dreamliner takes its first flight

And in Kentucky, the 20th Breyerfest took place! 

Dates: July 17-19, 2009
Theme: Birthday Bash (celebrating 20 years)
Celebration Horse: Whizard's Baby Doll aka Roxy
Number of Celebration Models produced: 5,000

Here's the first 2009 page from the commemorative program:

Roxy, of course, was the mount of Stacy Westfall for this legendary performance at All-American Quarter Horse Congress, after Stacy was the first woman to compete in and win the Road to the Horse competition. Roxy got her own portrait mold for Breyerfest and sadly died in 2012 after becoming cast in her stall. Another guest horse was Bold Heart, a nephew of previous Celebration Horse Bold, along with owner Darlene Geiser. The cast of the Saddle Club TV show was also in attendance, along with Templeton Thompson, "Blue Jeans" from Hannah Montana and Lizzy Traband and her horse Toby. 

Raffle models were this year were the beautiful Red Velvet and Tiramisu, while the special runs were Buttercream, Cotton Candy, Cupcake (I'm sensing a theme here), Gala, Make a Wish (on the new Arabian Mare mold), Party Time, Sprinkles and the brand-new surprise model. Many of these special runs, including the surprise, were suggested to Breyer via a thread on Model Horse Blab soliciting suggestions for special runs. I'll note that this was only an early iteration of the surprise model; the mold and colors were known ahead of time. The "surprise" was the gambler's choice-style distribution and the rare variation colors (silver filigree, smoke and charcoal). Sprinkles, Gala and Make a Wish are all still pretty highly-sought-after, as is the 20th Anniversary Commemorative Set, a set of 20 mini version of the first 20 Celebration Horses. Single-day Stablemates this year were the Funfetti G3 TWH models - the only time (that I remember) that they've done five colors for the single-day models. 

Prize models this year were Devil's Food and German Chocolate for live show grand and reserve prizes, as well as Carrot Cake, glossy Roxy and an assortment of glossed regular runs for the sectional prizes as usual. 

And now for the super-long JAH recap! 

The recap continues...

And continues...

And continues...

And continues...

And finally ends! 

Now, here are more on-the-ground photos from Lea R.! 

Roxy in her stall

Bold Heart. 

Now, let's take a look at some auction models! 

This SJW is so beautiful! Look at all those dapples. I wonder if he's a Bainbridge piece. 

This Lady Phase is a very pretty lavender version of Jade. So pretty! 

I like this Semi-Rearing Mustang because he's so whimsical and fun! He looks like a stormy sky and then the little umbrellas floating away, it's perfect. 

And lastly, this Nokota has the same pattern as Viajero! Well, at least they got their money's worth out of it. He's pretty in this color! 

And that's all I've got for this week. Check back next week for Breyerfest 2010! 

Dryandra selections are out!

 Just a short update today - the selections for Dryandra are out! I didn't enter for this one, but congrats to all the winners! 

Dryandra!

 Attention, Collector Club members! If you're wanting a Dryandra, the entry period for him has opened! 

Enter for him here. The entry period closes on 9/16 at 11:59pm, so don't miss out! He's nothing I need, but good luck to everyone entering! 

Breyer pop-up event?

 So, if you're paying attention to the Breyerfest Blog, there's a pop-up event coming to California in November:

More information can be found here, but most importantly, there's going to be an exclusive model for this event! Also a model horse show, and volunteers will get volunteer models. I wonder if they'll be this year's volunteer models, or the one for next year? Is BreyerMidwest still a thing? What's the exclusive model? I assume a glossed leftover store special from Breyerfest, but who knows. Hopefully we get more information soon! 

Featured Breyerfest - 2008

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Breyerfest! We're covering 2008 this week, so let's get going! 

Notable events of 2008:

• Following in the footsteps of the iPhone, Apple launches the App Store
• The 2008 Summer Olympics take place in China
• Barack Obama is the first African-American to be elected President of the USA
• Bernie Madoff is arrested for running the largest Ponzi scheme in history

And, Breyerfest 2008 took place! 

Dates: July 18-20, 2008
Theme: Global Gallop (taking inspiration from the 2008 Olympics)
Celebration Horse: Alborozo
Number of Celebration Models produced: 6,000

Here's the first 2008 page from the commemorative program:

While this wasn't the first time an entire new mold debuted as the Celebration Model (that was Rejoice back in 1998), it was the first (and so far, only) time Breyer destroyed the mold after using it. Rather than rehash things I've already written about, I'll direct you back to a previous time I wrote about Alborozo (the mold)'s destruction. Other guest horses at the event were Bluegrass Bandit, DZ Weedo, Fox Valley Oliver (who came to a very sad end a few years later) and Pimlico RCA, son of Thee Desperado. 

Here's the second page from the commemorative program:

Special runs for 2008 were Limerick, Melbourne, Heidi and Edelweiss, Saltire, Patagonia, Mirage (the porcelain for that year), Riesling and Pharaoh. Of those, the only one I have in my collection is Saltire, though most of those molds aren't ones I've ever collected - if I'd been there in person in 2008 I'd have only wanted Saltire and Pharoah. 

Prize models were quite plentiful this year - Cheveyo, Fox Valley Oliver, Thee Desperado, DZ Weedo, Bluegrass Bandit and Earth were all glossy prize models; plus this was the first year that glossy Celebration Horses were awarded to the costume contest winners. This may have been the first year there even was a costume contest, come to think of it. Another historical event that happened was the smutty palomino Alborozo auction model selling for a record $13,500. This record stood until 2019 when this Alborozo auction model broke it, and since then, any Alborozo auction model tends to be the top seller of the auction (though the current auction record holder is this Silver). 

Here's the third page from the commemorative program:

And here's the first page of the JAH recap for 2008:

Page 2:

As a bonus, here are some on-location photos courtesy of Lea R.: 

I believe that's Bluegrass Bandit. 

And this is DZ Weedo! So beautiful. The SHS doesn't really do him justice. 

Here's Fox Valley Oliver (RIP). 

And the beautiful Alborozo! I wish I'd been there just to see him. He's stunning! 

And speaking of Alborozo, here's the last page from the JAH recap, showing the destroyed mold:

Now, let's take a look at some auction models! 

This Strapless's paint job looks suspiciously familiar. Like this Lady Phase. Or this Esprit. Or this mini Prince Charming...hmm. Could this be the first time Breyer has used this paint job?  I thought the Lady Phase was the first time. Are there any others I've missed? 

Now, this model is stunning. It's an alternate color for Pharaoh. Why didn't they use this color for the actual production run? It's so much cooler than the one they went with. But blue is my favorite color, so I may be biased. I remember seeing this model for sale on eBay several years ago (like, at least 10 years ago and probably more) and at that time some of the gold markings were smeared, but I don't know if that was damage that happened afterward or issues present when the model was originally auctioned off. I can't remember how much it sold for, though. 

I need more information about this model! It's described as a "Tortuga-esque Gold Leaf Dragon" on IDYB. Is that real gold leaf, or just gold paint? How was it applied? Why haven't we seen any other gold leaf models? (Maybe it's a huge pain to apply?) I need more information! Where is this model now? 

This Bluegrass Bandit is so pretty. Her color is so soft and I really like her mane. Another model I'd love to own. I wouldn't mind seeing this color on another model, either. 

And that's all I have for today! Check back next week for Breyerfest 2009! 

CCA returns, and the last of my Breyerfest models!

 Good news, everyone! I had a feeling something was going to happen today, and something did - the Collector Club Appreciation event returns! 

I actually ordered some merchandise this time since I haven't bought any pins lately. Hopefully I get a glossy Riptide this time! 

And in other news, my last Breyerfest models for this year finally arrived! (I waited a while to have them shipped here so I could combine them with other stuff) Behold, it's the matte Oseberg I got from the second chance sale: 

And my Uff Da:

And I was lucky enough to get both colors of Hygge:

I like how the pink one still has a dorsal stripe! 

And let's not forget the Mr. Shining Gun I ordered on Breyerfest morning:

Side note: I like his color, but the speckles in his paint job are so tiny they legit look like dust stuck in his finish, and I spent longer than I probably should have trying to rub them off. 

Lastly, here's the mini Spectre I got from a friend!  

Another view:

I love his little ghosts! So cute. 

So now I get to wait and see if I get a glossy Riptide with the CCA sale. Good luck to everyone ordering! I hope everyone gets what they're looking for! 

Brick and mortar SR and a new barn!

 Greetings, readers! Well, it's been a little bit of a dry spell lately, huh? Well, never fear - I'm sure more releases are coming soon. But check it out - the brick-and-mortar special run for this year has been revealed! 

He's pretty, but I don't want him! Yay! This is a brick-and-mortar model, meaning you'll have to physically go to a store near you to buy one (or have someone else do it for you). I hope everyone that wants one can find one! 

But that's not all - there's also a new barn/arena set! 

It comes with two horses - looks like a flaxen chestnut Charleston and a black appaloosa Corbin, neither of which I need, luckily. The playset looks fun, though! Let's hope there are some other fall releases coming, eh? Seems like there should be more...