Breyerfest single-day tickets are now available!

Heads up, everyone! Single-day tickets for Breyerfest 2019 are available on the website now! This year's Stablemates are going to be popular, so I wouldn't be surprised to see tickets sell out. If you want any of the Stablemates, don't dawdle!

Featured Model - 4/27/2019, Gold Valegro

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. This week's model is...Gold Valegro!



This model was a Limited Edition for 2016, with a run of 3,000 pieces. As item #1783, he was produced on the Valegro mold sculpted by Brigitte Eberl.

This model was an unexpected fall release by Breyer after Valegro won the individual dressage gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. He's certainly shiny enough, and gold looks good on Valegro! Not sure how much else I can say about him.

As for Valegro himself, I'd say he's due to appear in another release. We haven't seen anything new on him since 2017, and he's a fairly popular mold. He was a web special in 2017, though, so where would he show up? Maybe at Breyerfest in some capacity, or as this year's second Collector Club release, or maybe a limited edition in the fall? Whatever it is, I hope I can get my hands on it. I'm generally not into dressage in real life, but I think Valegro is one of the best sculpts Breyer has introduced in the last few years. I can't believe he's been out for almost five years already!

The last Single-Day Stablemate - Andante!

The last Single-Day Stablemate for Breyerfest has been revealed, and he's definitely unexpected...for me, anyway! Say hello to Andante!

I foolishly thought he'd be a raffle model design from the past, like the others were, so I was pleasantly surprised to see a mini Allegro! To be fair, the blog did say the Stablemates were drawn from past prize models, not just raffle models. Anyway, I think he's gorgeous!



I hope Breyer makes plenty of these models, because they're going to sell like hot cakes. Now I'm impatient for the single-day tickets to go on sale so I can buy four of them! I gotta make sure I can get the ones I want. Word on the street is that the tickets will go on sale in May, which means we could get them next week! I hope so.

No One...and a new test model!

The third single-day Stablemate has been revealed, and it's a mini-Areia! Say hello to no one Arya!



I guess I'd been under the impression that this mold was a stallion, but I don't see a sheath under there. Fair enough.



At this point, I'm 99% sure I'm going to just get four single-day tickets so I can get the full set. I'll worry about whether I want to keep this one later...

In other news, there's a new test run available to enter for on the website!



From the blog:

In 2014, a few different colorways were created to find a deco for Hope, the 2015 Breyer model that benefited several Autism charities.  This lovely blanket Appaloosa version was a bit too complex for regular production and just this single pretty test piece was made!  She sports a pearl base and a metallic palomino coat with multi-colored puzzle pieces as her “spots.” 

Wow - usually these tests are fairly old, but this one is pretty recent! I like her, despite not being a fan of the Quarter Horse Yearling. She's cute, but I can see why the pattern didn't make it to production. She's a test for this autism benefit model. Honestly, I think they should have kept looking for a different colorway...the one they went with seems really garish and weird-looking. I like the test model better - maybe if they'd abandoned the "Appaloosa" part of it and used the puzzle piece pattern they eventually settled on for Hope?

Despite the fact that I like this model, I don't collect the Quarter Horse Yearling, and I don't see this model having the resale value the last one did, so I'm not going to enter for it. Good luck to everyone who does!

Too Obvious, and Beau

The second single-day Stablemate has been revealed, and it's Toe Tapper!



Now, don't get me wrong; Boot Scootin Boogie has a beautiful paint job. But I didn't want to speculate that they'd use his color on the Brishen mold's mini doppelganger, because it was just too obvious, and Breyer doesn't usually do obvious. They must not have been able to resist, and it's not like they've ever done this before - we haven't seen the Mini Alborozo or Mini Magnolia released in the same colors as their Trad counterparts yet.

That said, I'll definitely be trying to get my hands on this guy - and the way things are going, I might just break down and buy four single-day tickets so I can get the ones I want. It's not like it'll be hard to sell the Magnolia, anyway, and every time I look at that new warmblood mold I want it a little more.

In other news, we've finally found out the results of the My Strongest Suit vote from Breyerfest last year! Check out Beau!



So the dapple gray prevailed after all - and he's being released in the loose and braided versions! Ugh, that braided one looks really nice...but I can't start another conga! I just can't!

Like the rest of the world, I'm wondering why Breyer is releasing yet another product when it seems they have yet to straighten out the trainwreck that is their warehouse move, but I guess I'm not the one in charge of produced releases over there. Hopefully they get things fixed soon!

I wonder what'll happen to the other three tests of this guy? I bet at least one of them will be in this year's silent auction. I guess we'll find out soon!

Another Curveball

Dang it, Breyer! Just when I think I have things figured out, they go and change it up! Here's Chiffon, the Single-Day Stablemate on Mini-Magnolia:

Look familiar? That's because she's a mini-me of Red Velvet, the Moody Andalusian raffle model from 2009. I kind of thought Breyer would stick with the superheroes theme and give us all decorators for the single-day horses, but they must have decided they needed to do something for the 30th anniversary, so the single-day models will all be mini versions of previous prize models! It's a fun idea, though.



From the blog:

Let’s go back in time all the way to the 20th Anniversary of BreyerFest back in 2009. For those of who don’t remember, it was our 20th Birthday Bash!
Red Velvet was our Saturday Raffle Model and was exceptionally popular with Andy fans and BreyerFest attendees of all ages - and even Red Velvet cake fans!
To honor this amazing prize model, we’ve created a mini-me version – Chiffon!  (We kind of have a thing for cake here at HQ.)

I thought chiffon was a type of fabric - I didn't know it's also a type of cake! Interesting. I'm not a cake person, though (at least, not if I can have pie instead), nor am I a Magnolia person - so this one is going to be a pass. I'm excited to see the rest of the single-day Stablemates, though! Which mini-me versions of prize models would I like to see? Pretty much any raffle model from the last 20 years, I guess!

Let's hope these aren't the only models that pay homage to the 30th Anniversary theme - I'd kind of forgotten about it with all the superhero stuff!

Featured Model - 4/20/2019, Frankincense

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. This week's model is...Frankincense!



This model was one of the three possible colors one could receive when ordering Breyer's Christmas Day special model back in 2016. He was a run of 350 on the Sherman Morgan mold sculpted by Jeanne Mellin Herrick. He's item #712207.

While the intent on this model was good (red/green/gold Christmas decorators for the second year in a row), I feel like the execution was a little lacking - his shade of green tends to look more like Army green than anything festive. However, all of his white areas are pearly, so that helps make up for the failing in the green department. The green wasn't the only production failure - something apparently went wrong when many of the tails were glued on in this run, because I remember seeing a ton of complaints that models had arrived with their tails broken off. Let's hope that was a one-off thing that doesn't persist in the future.

Sherman Morgan is the only mold in my collection that I prefer to see in decorator colors rather than realistic ones, probably because he's not the most realistic mold ever sculpted. What's he doing, anyway? As such, the only Shermies in my collection are decorators - the three Christmas horses, Carpe Diem and Celebration. I wouldn't mind getting my hands on the Joker's Wild Connoisseur releases, or Crescent City, but that seems unlikely - they rarely pop up for sale, and they tend to be expensive when they do. Maybe someday, though!

The Sherman Morgan mold isn't currently in production, and it's hard to say when he'll be used again. He's not the most popular mold - the original, old-tail version of the mold only had four releases before it was retired, and it's only had 8 (or 9 if you count the Connoisseurs) attainable releases since its reintroduction in 2000. I wouldn't be surprised to see it pop up in a Let's Go Riding set somewhere down the line, though - a lot of older molds have been used for that line.

That being said, if he gets a decorator release, I'll probably want to buy it - so I hope he gets released in a spectacular decorator color soon!

Single-Day Stablemate molds are revealed!

A bit late to the party here, but our Single-Day Stablemate molds have been revealed on the blog. Of course, I just put out my single-day predictions not that long ago, so now I look like a chump for getting them all wrong! But, I digress. Here are the molds!










Those are Darwin, Mini Brishen, Magnolia and the new Warmblood Stallion mold, currently only appearing as a Unicorn Paint-Your-Own. You know, at first I wasn't really into him, but he's starting to grow on me for some reason.

So, yes, I got all four of the Single-Day molds wrong, but I figured Magnolia would show up somewhere, so at least I didn't completely strike out. So I'll need to get my hands on the Darwin, Brishen and possibly the Warmblood Stallion, if he keeps growing on me. According to the blog, we'll find out the colors next week. I still feel like they're going to be decorators, but I guess we'll have to wait and see!

Bandelier selections are out!

After a week's delay, the selections for Bandelier have finally been released! If you didn't get an email, be sure to check your Club Home page anyway just in case the email didn't go out. Congrats to all the winners!

Even More Bad Breyerfest Predictions

Hello, everyone! It's time for a woefully late post about Breyerfest predictions! I meant to get this done a long time ago, but I guess life got in the way again. So, without further ado...my predictions for this year!

This post will cover the rest of the special runs typically seen at Breyerfest, like the single-day Stablemates, prize models, pop-up-tent stuff, etc.

The raffle models have already been revealed, so I don't need to worry about guessing the wrong things and embarrassing myself yet again! Huzzah!

The diorama contest prize has also been revealed! He's Cavalcade on the Haflinger mold.

Live show glossy prizes: EZ to Spot, Enzo (lulz)

Live show reserve grand: Latigo
Live show grand: Nokota

Custom contest grand prize: Emerson in bay
Custom contest runners-up Stablemates: Darwin in bay, possibly glossy

Costume contest prize: glossy Oliver (as usual)

1-Day Stablemates: I'm thinking decorators this year, in bright colors. Think yellow Spandex and/or bright green. Molds: G3 Rearing Andalusian, G4 Arabian, Django and the G3 Jumper.

Volunteer Model: Croi

Crystal horse: Ashquar

Pop-up Tent Classic: Mason

Pop-up Tent Stablemate: Magnolia, because she's everywhere lately.

That's all I've got for now. I'm excited to see this year's single-day Stablemates- I think they're going to be really special! Hopefully we don't have to wait too much longer to see them.

Featured Model - 4/13/2019, Medicine Hat Nursing Foal

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. This week's model is...the Medicine Hat Nursing Foal!

It doesn't actually look like I've ever done a Featured Model on the Nursing Foal! I must have missed her. In any case, this model was a regular run from 1994-1997 and was part of a set with the identically-colored Thoroughbred Mare. She's item #3180 on the Nursing Foal sculpted by Chris Hess.

The Nursing Foal (and, by extension, the Thoroughbred Mare) are among the few vintage molds I collect. I'm not sure why; I guess the Nursing Foal looks less awkward than Hess's other foal sculpts (despite her outstretched neck), and she's pretty cute with the Thoroughbred Mare. They make a nice pair!

I don't have a complete conga of the two molds, although it wouldn't be hard to; the problem is finding them for a suitable (low) price, and the paint jobs on the older ones aren't exactly thrilling. I guess modern paintwork makes things more desirable to me. I did recently acquire the Pride and Joy set, which served to reignite my interest in the molds, so maybe I'll get my hands on the sets I still need over the course of the year.

On a related note, I can't wait to see the buckskin pinto set we're getting in the Vintage Club later this year! I bet they'd make an excellent family with Bristol.

Being a vintage mold, the Nursing Foal isn't terribly popular, but she at least has the distinction of having had a couple more releases than the Thoroughbred Mare. She appeared in a set with the Grazing Mare in 1989, and was used in a four-piece foal set in 1992.

Anyway, I won't speculate too much on where we see this set used next, since we already know they're part of this year's Vintage Club. I'm still a little sad that we aren't getting them in the glossy alabaster colorway, but maybe we'll still see that in the future. That, or some other modern paintjob! Perhaps they'll be a web special later? Alas, I can't see that being a big seller, but you never know!

An early morning reveal today!

Huzzah - the last special run was revealed today! We didn't have to wait until Monday - it's a miracle. Say hello to Banner!



From the blog:

For a fun twist this year, we decided to use Kathleen Moody’s stunning American Saddlebred Stallion (mold #571) for our 30th Anniversary Special Run decorator model, too! Done in an eye-catching glossy red and black Tortuga clearware, this guy is sure to get your heart racing!

Not that I don't like him, but...did they run out of ideas? What's he a reference to? His name is Banner, but red and black aren't generally associated with the Hulk. It kinda sounds like they tossed a bunch of ideas together to create him and then decided to just go ahead and use him in the special run lineup.

Also, it's a bit odd that they're using the Moody ASB when he's already being used elsewhere - but it's not like I'm terribly likely to get my hands on a Cap, so I won't complain too much. Sheesh, they've been using this mold a lot lately - two web specials, the early bird model and now this guy? Maybe somebody found a ton of bodies in the warehouse they're trying to use up.

So there you have it, folks - all eight (well, seven) special run line models are revealed! As usual, I didn't predict them very well, but that's nothing new. Looks like I'm going to be looking for three of them for my own collection - possibly four, depending on what the surprise is. And my guess for the surprise is still the Moody Andalusian! 

Gwenevere is now available!

More exciting news! Gwenevere, the second release in this year's Stablemates Club, is now available on the website!



Her purchase deadline is 4/24, so we have plenty of time to pay for her - provided Breyer's gotten their warehouse issues straightened out, of course.

Both of my Gweneveres will be for sale, sadly - I don't collect the G1 molds.

Alert alert alert!

There's another new hint on the blog - the hint for the last Breyerfest special run line model, this year's decorator!



Looks like a black widow to me, and something glossy. No clue on the mold - they're getting good at disguising these things. Natasha was already our Black Widow reference, but maybe we'll get another one? The early bird deadline is Monday, so hopefully we'll get the reveal on this one tomorrow? Crossing my fingers!

Heads up!

Per the Breyer website, the drawing for Bandelier has been delayed by one week, to April 15. Well..less than a week now, since the drawing was supposed to have happened on Monday, but whatever. So if you're wondering why no one's heard anything about Bandelier winners, that's why. I wonder what happened? There's been an alert on the website that they're having shipping delays due to a warehouse move, so it's probably related to that.

In other news, if you haven't been keeping track of which Breyerfest ticket times are sold out (now that we can choose our own times when ordering tickets), all Friday and Saturday times are currently sold out. Which is unfortunate if you're like me and wanted to spread out your ticket times across the whole weekend. The thought is that Breyer might release more tickets after the Early Bird deadline, but...prices go up after the deadline, so if you haven't bought yours yet, you might as well do it now before all the Sunday times sell out too. It seems early for them to sell out of tickets, so I'm sure more Friday/Saturday times will be added eventually, but I decided to just break down and buy my tickets today. Trading tickets isn't terribly difficult, anyway.

Ooooh!

Friday's teaser has been revealed...and it's Emerson after all! Check out Rocket!



Ooh, he's really nice - although I'm a little sad I struck out on the name. Buckskins can look a little greenish, after all - but I suppose Emerson isn't beefy enough to look like the Hulk. Better luck next time, I guess.

So now we're up to 2 of 8 special runs that I want. Theoretically the decorator will be unveiled this week - hopefully that's also something I want, or it's going to be a boring Breyerfest for me. Well, as boring as Breyerfest ever is.

Featured Model - 4/6/2019, Burnham

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. This week's model is...Burnham!



This model was produced for Breyer's Sweet Home Chicago collector event back in 2015. She's item #712157 and was a run of 50 on the Make a Wish/Arabian Mare mold sculpted by Kathleen Moody.

While this model is definitely pretty, or I wouldn't have bought her, she does have an unfortunate chicken wire effect going on with her dapples. You'd think Breyer could have done better with a run of 50 models, but I was at the Sweet Home Chicago event and I remember the models were rife with quality issues. Even the table centerpiece models didn't escape it!

I wasn't able to buy my Burnham at the event, sadly - it took me until 2017 to find one at Breyerfest for a price I liked. A bit of haggling and she joined my herd! I've always thought the long-tailed version of this mold was particularly lovely (though we all know most Arabians in real life don't have nearly that much hair), so I was really happy to add her to my collection. Despite the unfortunate dappling situation, she really is quite pretty - I love the various shades of gray on horses, but this iteration is amongst my favorites.

This mold tends to be pretty controversial, for a few reasons: her weird double shoulder (which only appears on the head-down version), her flat left front leg, and various other anatomical issues. But I like her anyway - she looks like a nice, mild-mannered Arabian mare who'd be fun to ride (if she were capable of existing in real life). She was last used at Breyerfest 2016, so where will she pop up next? I doubt she'll be at Breyerfest this year, but maybe she'll get a web special release? I could definitely get behind that - her only web special appearance was back in 2010, so she's definitely due for a repeat appearance. If so, I hope they use the flip tail, since it's gotten the least use of the three we've seen.

You won't like me when I'm angry

Breyer's just full of surprises this week - they posted another special run clue on the blog! Behold:



The general consensus on the Internets is that this is Emerson, and after taking a quick look at my own Emerson, I agree - the muscling definitely matches up. Interesting color - he looks like some kind of dun or cremello? I suppose we'll have to wait until Monday or later to get the full reveal.

You know, now that I look at it, his color maybe looks a little...greenish? Is this model's name going to turn out to be Bruce, or Banner? Time will tell...

Hero's Welcome Surprise!

The hint for this year's Breyerfest surprise model was posted on the blog yesterday - this year it's the "Hero's Welcome" Surprise!


From the blog:

You know we can’t show you this one – the infamous Surprise Model – you’ll just have to wait until you’re in Kentucky to see this handsome fellow!
We hope you’ll give him The Hero’s Welcome into your home that he deserves!

So far I haven't seen anything to change my guess for the surprise model - I'm going with the Moody Andalusian. Like I said before, he definitely has a heroic air about him, and rules (such as they are) were made to be broken, right? Only a little more than three months until we find out! 

Bisbee!

Breaking news, everyone - this year's spring limited edition has escaped into the wild!

Bisbee, eh? She's definitely interesting, and unexpected! This is the same color that was used on the Foalzilla from the Scottsdale Stampede event last fall, Peplum:



They don't look like they're quite an exact match, but they're close enough, though the lighting on Peplum isn't the best. Bisbee looks like she has some subtle dappling in her blue areas, but the bronze/metallic areas look darker and less metallic than the ones on Peplum. I suppose they had to make concessions so the paint job could be done on a run of 3,000 pieces.

She's definitely pretty, though! I'm hoping to order one as soon as my dealer gets them listed on their website. I'm definitely excited to see this one in person!

Ooh, the Sunday Raffle!

The mystery was finally revealed yesterday - the feet belonged to the Sunday raffle set!



Their names are Valour and Honour! Ooh, they're nice! I especially like the mare! But what would I do if I won this set? I'm not that into the foal, but splitting up a set this valuable wouldn't be a very good idea. First world problems, I guess - and I'd have to win the set first, which is a lot easier said than done. Maybe this year will be my year!

No tricks on April Fools' Day, eh?

So Breyer finally revealed the hint they posted last Thursday...well, part of it, anyway. Meet North Star, the Saturday raffle model!



He's gorgeous! From the blog:

Remember how we totally got you with the sneak peek of the Dead Heat split color run last year? Hilarious, right? Well, no tricks on this April Fool’s Day, we swear. 

I suppose I remember being annoyed about that, yeah. Well, whatever. I'm definitely going to have to buy a lot of raffle tickets for this guy! Breyer has really been knocking it out of the park with the glossy paintjobs on this guy - first Straight Bet, then Benasque, now North Star...it's like they're trying to make up for something. Nah, that can't be right.

But, uh...they didn't reveal the mysterious feet from Thursday's teaser. You know, from when they said they were giving us a two-fer? Why say that and then not reveal the second one? Was it part of the joke? Bleh. Maybe we'll get to see the second part tomorrow? One can only hope.