Well...that happened.

 I know, I swore I wouldn't do it. I fought and fought and finally just...clicked the enter button for Puffin. I'm not really sure what came over me...but I entered...and then to my great surprise, I got the email that I'd been selected, so...here she is! 

She really is a beauty! Sorry for the terrible photos. 

She's basecoated white, which isn't my favorite thing in the world, but I can live with that...once I decide where I'm going to put her. Like all Wixoms, she's huge! She has a lot of the white showing through her black areas, too, which makes it nicer from a detail standpoint, but I'd have liked her better if her black was solid black all over. I do like the contrast of her tail ribbons, though. 

I wish she had eyewhites, too - those brown irises make her look like she's just coming home from the bar after partying all night or something. 

Quality-wise, she's...not great. I keep spotting more little issues every time I look at her (gloss flaws, eartip rubs, scuffs all over her hooves), but I don't think any of them are bad enough to try to get a replacement, if there even are any. I can see her from my desk right now and she looks pretty good from a distance! Honestly, they could have used this exact same design on the same mold as a Breyerfest raffle model and she'd sell for big bucks. I love her cute little puffin stamp, too. All in all, I'm glad to have her...if I can find a place to put her. Does this mean I'm getting back into collecting Wixoms? I don't know...but I'm going to have to find more shelving somewhere! 

Also, we now have the deets for this year's Breyerfest contests! Check them out here. The Diorama contest model's name is Stubbs! I wonder if it'll be something rearing, like Whistlejacket? Or a set with the Bucking Bronco and a mountain lion? Hah...just joking. Anyway, the costume contest is making a return as well! And they finally released the judging criteria! Will this carry over to future Breyerfests? Time will tell. Let's hope they show us Stubbs soon!