New Arrivals: Glossy Decorator Seven Arts, Landler and Glossy Landler

 Greetings, readers! Let's continue our series of New Arrivals posts, shall we? Okay, I'll admit I have several other new arrivals I purchased at the Clarion that I'm not featuring here due to space constraints, but I did want to feature the glossy decorator Seven Arts Surprise that I was able to partially trade for, because his awesomeness needs to be admired.

Now that I have one of these guys in person, I can finally appreciate all his wild colors and how well some of them fade into each other, and overall just celebrate my weakness for rainbow anything (even if he does still look a little clownish for some reason). What a beauty! Now if I could find a matte one for under $300, I'd be set! 

Next, here's Landler! 

He's exactly what I expected from the promo photos - no more, no less. Not that that's a bad thing. He's a handsome color on a handsome mold - what more can I say? 

And last, glossy Landler: 

I distinctly remember thinking to myself several times in the months leading up to Breyerfest that Landler would be really pretty in gloss....and I was right! What a beauty, and I only had to trade a decorator pinto Rotating Draft to get one. He's so much more eye-catching in gloss! The only snag was clearing enough space for two new Totilases, not just one,  but I still have some open space from the 20% purge earlier this year, so it wasn't too hard. 

That's it for today - check back soon for one more installment of New Arrivals! 

Featured Model - 7/30/2022, Flower Girl Test Wixom

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Model, the weekly blog event where I pick a model I don't own but may have an interesting story behind it, give some stats on it and provide commentary about it. This week's model is...the Flower Girl Test Wixom! 

This model comes from the 2003 Breyerfest "Blast from the Past" which was, "a celebration of Breyer past and present." She was a OOAK produced on the Wixom mold sculpted by Donna Chaney. 

This particular model was famous (well, to us collectors, anyway) because she appeared on the cover of that year's Breyerfest program, though the more famous model was probably the tie-dye Rejoice on the old Breyerfest mailer that used to go out to JAH subscribers. I can't speak for other people, but my reaction upon seeing both of these models was, "WHOA!" I may have been the tender age of 17 at the time, but I, for one, definitely wasn't used to seeing such colorful models from Breyer. Maybe I'm remembering things wrong, but that's how it was for me, anyway. 

There are a lot of auction models out there that haven't really seen the light of day since they were sold all those years ago, and Flower Girl (and the tie-dye Rejoice) are two of them - does anyone know where they are? Sometimes these legendary models pop up at shows, but I don't show, so I don't really get much opportunity to see them. Maybe someday we'll see them again, I suppose. 

As for Wixom, she appeared as the web special Puffin last year, and I think it's entirely possible we see her show up at Breyerfest 2023, given the Driving Forward theme. Maybe she'll be the Celebration Model? A lot of people think Constantia will be the Celebration Model, but I don't think they'll use another brand-new model right after introducing the German Riding Pony mold this year, and I think Wixom would be a good candidate. I guess we'll find out soon enough! 

Rotating Draft Surprise numbers and Collector Club July Newsletter!

 Greetings, readers! Well, first things first - we finally have our Rotating Draft Surprise numbers! Has it really been two weeks since Breyerfest already? Well, here's a look at all the glossies together:

Here are the numbers:

Dapple Gray Pinto with Braided Mane: 1,110 matte / 375 glossy

Chestnut Leopard Appaloosa with Braided Mane: 1,250 matte / 475 glossy

Buckskin Pinto with Loose Mane: 950 matte / 375 glossy

Glossy Silver Bay with Loose Mane: 1,250 glossy only

Wedgewood Blue Pinto with Loose Mane: 975 matte only

Varnish Blue Roan Appaloosa: 375 matte with braided mane / 375 glossy with loose mane

 

Interesting that they did a Glossy Only option and a Matte Only option - the only previous time I remember them doing that was in 2019, with the decorator Hero's Welcome - those were all glossy. I'm glad I don't collect the Cleveland Bay, though - I wouldn't want to have to squeeze 10 more of them onto my shelves. Someone pointed out the silver bay looks like Epona, though, which I can totally get behind. I do like the wedgewood blue pinto, as well - he has the same pattern as Josiah from the 2020 Vintage Club, which was a release I liked, but not enough to buy. Same with this one - well, maybe someday they'll use the color on something I want. Interestingly, the blanket Appy has the same pattern as Chickory, which makes me wonder if Sommer designed these colors as she usually does? That particular color has a kind-of-old-school look to it, which I liked. The glossy gray pinto was quite pretty, too. No surprise that the glossy quantities increased again this year - I pulled three of them this year, which is about as well as I usually do. 

Anyway, today's other news is the July Collector Club newsletter! If you're a Collector Club member, check your email for more. There's an informative article about showing, a pony pouch giveaway, and this reveal of the mysterious Classics gambler's choice sneak peek we first saw back in April - Johann!
 

Interestingly, it looks like all four of these are glossy - usually they leave at least one matte option, but not this time apparently. More on these guys whenever I get started with my Breyerfest Closeups series! In the meantime, I need to finish up with the New Arrivals first...

New Arrivals: Black Forest, Stein and Rapunzel

 Good news - it's time for another New Arrivals post! I'll start with Black Forest:

I think Black Forest is one of my favorite of this year's models - I love his mane and tail, despite the unpainted ribbons. I also love the crispness of his white lower body against the darker upper body. Love him! I wonder if Breyer would let someone do a Design Your Own Breyer of this pattern on a Shire B for a matched pair. Ha! 

Next, here's Stein: 

After the variations on Marzipan and Landler started showing up on Friday, Stein was the subject of some intense strategizing - if a variation showed up on him, buy as many as possible (I had tickets for six), with the possibility of trading Rotating Draft tickets for more Stein tickets, if necessary. Fortunately, no Stein variations showed up, so I wound up with a lot of Rotating Draft models (most of which I sold during the event). Anyway, Stein is a handsome guy, but I can't help but wonder what a variation on him would have looked like - even if only a matte/gloss split. Ah, well. 

Lastly, here's Rapunzel! 

Speaking of variations, I'm still a bit bewildered that they didn't do an alternate mane on Rapunzel. It seemed like the obvious choice, so it's still a little confusing. Probably for the best, though, because I only had two Rapunzel tickets and probably wouldn't have had the luck to get them both. Anyway, I love the flowing tail on this girl, and was pleased to notice this girl even has a little braid in her mane. I like how there's a little bit of pearly in her hair too; it helps keep her from looking like a regular run. Apparently there is an unofficial lighter roan variation of her out there, which I wouldn't have minded getting, but it's not a deal-breaker. Maybe I'll find one down the road. 

That brings me to the end for today - check back soon for more New Arrivals!  

Peregrine and special run reveals!

 Exciting news today, everyone - there's a new Birds of a Feather web special to enter for! Check out Peregrine: 

What's this? A new Bristol? In a really nice color? With the loose mane and tail, which seem to have become a rarity lately? Sign me up! I definitely want this one. I hope I have better luck than I did with Kingfisher - though they're making 500 of this one, so hopefully I have better luck anyway. Good luck to everyone entering! He's a beauty - I love his dark-ish coat and his minimal blanket.

In other news, the special run split information from Breyerfest has been announced! I was a bit irked when I first saw the announcement because I thought it was the Rotating Draft information at first - the other special run breakdowns weren't that hard to figure out. Nobody cares about those! So Landler was a 50/50 split as usual, and Marzipan's bay variation was also a 50/50 split as expected. Yawn. We want to see the Rotating Draft run numbers! Anyway, here's a Breyer photo of the matte and glossy Landlers together.

The glossy Landler is extremely handsome, I'll admit. 

That's it for today - let's hope we get to see the Rotating Draft numbers tomorrow! 

New Arrivals: Get Rowdy, Snowbird and Chablis

 Greetings, loyal readers! Over the last few days, I haven't been able to shake the feeling that I was missing something during these post-Breyerfest doldrums. It seemed like there was something I was supposed to be doing...so I took a look back at old blog posts to see if I could figure out what it was. 

And then I promptly felt like an idiot, because I had totally forgotten I used to do New Arrivals and Breyerfest Closeups posts after Breyerfest every year! The last year I did New Arrivals was in 2020, apparently, and I haven't done Breyerfest Closeups since 2019 for obvious reasons. On a related note, it turns out you forget a lot of stuff you used to do/plan/pack for Breyerfest when you end up not going to Kentucky for 3 years, as our multiple trips to a Lexington Walmart showed us. It doesn't help that my memory has become atrocious since my kids were born. 

Anyway, let's get started with a brand-new New Arrivals post! I'll start with Get Rowdy: 

I normally don't buy RR stuff at Breyerfest, but the prospect of saving on shipping plus instant gratification won out. So I have a Get Rowdy in my collection! His dapples are nicely understated, and there aren't as many of them, so less chance of getting one with chicken-wire dapples. Need I say more? 

Next, here's Snowbird, sans tack:

His color is interesting - he almost looks like a chestnut-going-gray. There are also new promo photos from Breyer depicting a much-lighter Snowbird than the original promo photo showed - I'm not sure which end of the spectrum my guy is from, since he still looks fairly dark to me. Oh well. His costume is pretty, though it did make me wonder if it was in fact removable, because I could not find a way to get it off the horse. Fortunately I did figure out how to get it off eventually, but it was a bit of a tense moment! 

I did snag a Battlefield Angel from the store as well, but ended up selling it to a tired dad who was trying to find one for his daughters to get autographed by the real horse's owners. I'll have to snag another one at some point. 

Lastly, let's take a look at Chablis! 

As usual, I vastly prefer the braided Idocus to his original loose mane (still don't have a braided Brunello, or Nirvana, though). His paint job is nice, too! Kinda interesting that this mold has now been used for portraits of three similarly-marked bay horses. He's just infinitely more attractive to me with the braids than with his original bad toupee-looking hair. Who knows, maybe this mold would have been a better seller from the start if he'd started out with the braids instead of the loose mane/tail. I know it makes me like him a lot more! 

That's it for today - check back soon for more New Arrivals! 

Featured Model - 7/23/2022, Trigger

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Model, the weekly blog event where I pick a model I don't own but has an interesting story behind it, give some stats on it and provide commentary about it. This week's model is...Trigger! 

This model was item #758, a regular run produced on the Western Horse sculpted by Chris Hess. He was produced from 2000-2006 and came with a VHS tape of a Roy Rogers movie. 

Hearing "Happy Trails to You" played at Breyerfest on Sunday afternoon inspired me to do a little light reading about Roy Rogers and Trigger, which led me to decide to feature the Trigger Breyer model for today. I do technically own one of these guys, but his saddle is missing and he stays at my parents' house. I don't remember how I came to own him - he may have been in a body lot I purchased for resale a number of years ago and I held onto him because, well, he was Trigger. I should probably reclaim him from my parents at some point. I may be a bit too young to remember Roy Rogers in his heyday, but I do remember watching Under California Stars a lot when I was a kid. I don't remember watching anything else Roy Rogers-related, though - as far as I know, Under California Stars was the only Roy Rogers videotape we had. I remember being sad when he died in 1998, though. 

Anyway, the Western Horse is pretty much the perfect model for Breyer to use as Trigger (the black tack with silver accents is almost as recognizable as he is) - the only question is why it took as long as it did. Maybe they couldn't get permission until after Rogers' death, though that seems unlikely, considering the amount of other Roy Rogers merchandise out there. In any case, he makes a great Breyer model. 

The Western Horse has had his share of releases over the years - as Breyer's first model horse, it's only fitting that he get a new release every once in a while. While I'm most partial to this auction model from 2010, I was also intrigued by this one - he has the same pattern as the SJW Connoisseur Inconspicuous. When it comes to more attainable models, I did like the Gossamer release from 2014, though I never did obtain one. Maybe someday I'll have enough room in my collection to pick up a couple of these guys to keep Trigger company. It's hard to say where he'll pop up next - he appeared with a grooming kit in 2020 for the Vintage Club, but I almost expect him to show up there again as a nightlight or something! 

Volunteer model revealed!

 Greetings, readers! Well, as you may have guessed, we made it back home from Breyerfest and are now settling back into our boring post-Breyerfest lives. As always, it was a great trip, though one of the things I was most happy about this year was getting to visit not one, but two Big Boy steam locomotives on the way to and from Kentucky. Anyway, Breyer revealed a photo of this year's volunteer model on the blog yesterday! Check out Zeitgeist: 

I have not seen the manager's model version of the volunteer model, but I've heard that it has four white socks that go higher on the legs than the ones on the model above. I would have expected them to be matte instead, as has been done in the past, but I guess Breyer decided not to do that this year. In any case, she's beautiful! And she makes a nice girlfriend for Lafayette. I'm happy to announce that I did find a Zeitgeist to add to my collection despite not being a volunteer this year. Huzzah! 

I'll admit the Breyerfest blues have set in a bit, so I'm still working on gaining enough ambition to download photos to my computer...but once that happens, I'll have plenty of things to post about! In the meantime, I've been busy working (bleh) and trying some dill pickle-flavored fudge I bought during Breyerfest (double bleh). But I'll get those photos processed eventually, never fear! 

Breyerfest Day 3: Back to Confusingly Pleasant

 Well, Breyerfest is officially over for another year. I knew this moment had to come, but it always happens too fast - I wish Breyerfest could last for a week. Of course, it's easy to say that now, but if Breyerfest actually was a week long I'm sure I'd be tired of it by day 5, if not sooner. The insanity can be overwhelming! I do really like room sales, though - maybe if we'd been able to get to Lexington and start selling earlier, I'd be more prepared for the whole thing to be over.

Anyways, Breyerfest is over. We had a leisurely day strolling through the Horse Park in the reasonably pleasant weather - it was cloudy and threatening to rain all day, though the rain didn't really start until shortly before the Sunday raffle. No luck there, either - I was really hoping that this would be my year, but it wasn't to be. Maybe next year.

I did make a few more sales from our room after we got back from the Horse Park, but as always, I was wishing we had sold more, if only because I didn't want to take any of it back home. I suppose I should be happy we sold as much as we did, considering the inflation and gas price woes that have been plaguing us lately. 

Excitingly, the theme for next year's Breyerfest was announced - Driving Forward! Presumably this means a carriage/driving horse theme, which I am all for. I'm wondering what the Celebration Horse will be - will they go all in on the driving theme and have the Celebration Horse be a Standardbred on the new Standardbred mold? Or will they pick a draft horse and save the Standardbred for a special run? Hmm, maybe the Celebration Horse will be on Vermeer and we'll finally get a black Friesian release on him. Depends on whether 9 years is enough separation from the last (purebred) Friesian Celebration Horse, I guess. 

At any rate, the theme is promising - hopefully we won't have too many people complaining when the releases inevitably don't really fit the theme. I hope they announce more about it soon! 

That's all I have for today - it's about time to head to bed so we can finish packing and head for home tomorrow. Happy Breyerfest, everyone! It was great to be back in Lexington in person, and I hope to return again next year.

Breyerfest Day 2: Okay, That’s More Like It

 Well, Breyerfest Day 2 is over, and we managed to survive! It was way hotter today than it was yesterday (or at least it seemed that way), despite a cloudy start to the morning. It’s amazing how hot you get when you’re trudging back to the car in the hot sun for the nth time. 

It’s been a pretty expensive day, but fortunately I don’t have any more model tickets to use. I ended up getting all 9 of the Rotating Draft Surprise models I had tickets for, with the following results:

2 matte leopard Appaloosas

1 glossy leopard Appaloosa

2 matte buckskin pintos

1 glossy buckskin pinto

1 glossy gray pinto

1 matte blanket Appaloosa

1 blue pinto decorator

All but one of those have since been sold or traded, which I found pretty impressive. I had them priced fairly low, since I didn’t want to take them home, so hopefully I can unload the last one tomorrow. 

In other news, I attended the live auction for the first time since 2016, I think, and witnessed history being made - the Silver with wings sold for an eye-popping $65,000! The previous record was $22,000 back in 2019, so it was amazing to see the record get broken in such amazing fashion. Aside from that super-high price, I was surprised that most of the models didn’t sell for as much as I thought they would. Inflation and gas prices must have taken their toll, I guess.

I did get a chance to visit the Collector Club tent today and see the new releases there. We’re getting a glossy palomino Emerson as the second CC web special later this year!

Nothing I need, but he sure is pretty!

There’s also a galaxy unicorn coming on the Classic Shire B mold. That one will definitely be a must-have! Not sure when he’s being released. And we finally got to see the Classic gambler’s choice for this year - the Lipizzaner in four colors - dark bay, bay semi- leopard Appaloosa, palomino and chestnut pinto, all glossy. Nothing I need there either, fortunately. Guess I picked a good year to scale back on my purchases! 

That’s all I have for today’s recap - check back tomorrow for Day 3!

Breyerfest Day 1: Confusingly, Still Pleasant

 Greetings, readers! As the title says, I'm still a bit confused about how relatively nice the weather has been in KY this year. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like it isn't nearly as oppressively hot and humid outside as it normally is. Maybe I forgot what KY is like, since I've been gone for 3 years? Who knows. In any case, it made for a much-less-tiring first day of Breyerfest. But I digress. Here's my report on Breyerfest Day 1:

Firstly, and most importantly, I can confirm that the surprise model is the Cleveland Bay! Here's the set being sold in the silent auction:

I know at one point I had changed my prediction to the Cleveland Bay, but I can't remember if I changed it to something else after that, so I'm going to just say I was right for once! Huzzah!

Unfortunately (or fortunately for my wallet), the Cleveland Bay is not a mold I collect, so now I'm going to have to figure out what to do with 9 Rotating Draft Surprise tickets. On a similar note, the only special run variations we've seen so far is what appears to be a matte/glossy split on Landler and an alternate bay color for Marzipan. So, I may end up trying to trade Rotating Draft tickets for more Landler tickets if I can't get a glossy one with my one remaining Landler ticket. Otherwise I'll probably just redeem all the Rotating Draft tickets and sell the models, but part of me just doesn't want to be bothered with that many models. Guess I'll figure all that out tomorrow.

Anyway, here's the test Halla from the silent auction!

And here's the Musicians of Bremen test set!

And a glossy Nikolas from the silent auction gift basket!

And the Best Customs Contest grand prize and runners-up prize, Brandenburg and Westphalia:

And here's the full set of alternate deco models from Breyerfest 2021!

And a glossy Ben Nevis volunteer manager's model from Breyerfest 2020!

That's about it for the silent auction - there's also a Design Your Own Breyer lot as usual, though that didn't have any bids when I went by.

Let's see, what else do I have to talk about? There are some fun reveals in the Collector Club tent, but I don't want this post to get too long, so I'll cover that tomorrow or Sunday. I redeemed a few of my model tickets today, but not all of them - I want to spread things out to potentially increase my odds of getting any variations, if there are any others. I'm completely befuddled that they would do an alternate color variation on Marzipan when a mane switch for Rapunzel is RIGHT THERE. Oh well.

Sales-wise, things are going quite well, except in the Stablemates and Classics department - I've sold very few of those so far. I also haven't had anyone come by and mention the blog yet, which is a little concerning for me as I usually get at least a few people. 

Ooh, and it's been revealed that the bonus Stablemate for the Vintage Club this year is a mini-me of the woodgrain Indian Pony from yesterday, so that's exciting.

It's getting pretty late and I'm too tired to think of other things to talk about, so I'll wrap this post up for now. Check back tomorrow for my recap of Breyerfest Day 2!

Breyerfest Day 0: Actually Quite Pleasant

 Greetings, readers! I'm happy to report that we made it to the Clarion and have been doing pretty good sales from Room 409. Feel free to stop in and mention the blog for a free Stablemate! The weather has been pretty good so far - usually July in Kentucky is enough to make you wince every time you step outside, but that doesn't seem to be the case here just yet - as long as you stay in the shade.

I can announce that the Breyerfest Live glossies have been revealed - Adamek (NOOOOOO) and the palomino Orren Mixer. I don't have photos I can use yet, however.

Breyer also broke all our hearts today by revealing that the Rhenish Draft will be available in both matte and glossy finishes, randomly shipped:

That means I’ll have to order two of them, dangit.

I also just returned from a trip to the Artisan's Gallery - chaos as always, but I'm happy to finally be back in Kentucky after three years! Here's some of what I saw, starting with Snowbird, this year's Holiday Horse:

I'm definitely going to try to snag one of these at the Breyer Store tomorrow, he's too pretty to leave behind. Guess my husband will have to find something else to buy me for Christmas this year.

Next, here's a not-so-great in-hand (literally!) Zafirah photo:

Next, a shot of various 2022 releases, including the new mid-year release Battlefield Angel. There's also a glimpse at this year's Halloween Horse:

And this year's Stablemates Club gambler's choice: 

I'm still liking the decorator best (is that really a surprise at this point?).

Next, a shot of Constantia:

I definitely like her, but I'm not sure I like how sharp the edges of her markings are with that "roaning" on top of them. Seems like they should be less defined.

Here are some Breyerfest special runs:

Didn't get a great picture of Stein, I guess. I'll make up for that later. Here are some more! 

While I was taking these photos, the volunteers behind the booth were having a debate about smelling the bears and whether they would smell like anything - apparently they've been getting a lot of questions about that (it was announced that they would be scented, presumably like gummy bears). One of the volunteers did eventually pick one of them up and take a sniff. Hah! 

Here's a previously-unseen woodgrain (?) Indian Pony for the Vintage Club. Aren't we missing one more VC release? The optional model maybe? 

Unfortunately, that was all there was to see for the VC. Notice the Kingfisher in the background, taunting me. Someday I'll find one.

Looks like the single-day Stablemates are in boxes this year - I was hoping for bags again, but I guess not. 

I had to backtrack a little to get this photo, as I'd failed to notice the Stablemates Club stuff, including the optional mini Fireheart for later this year. He's darker than I expected, though it could have just been the lighting - the Clarion isn't exactly known for its great lighting.

That's all I have for today - check back tomorrow night sometime for a full report on the Breyerfest Day 1 happenings! Uh, it may be kinda late, as we're probably going to attend the show at the Alltech Arena and get that out of the way. But it'll come at some point, never fear! Hopefully before midnight. Ciao for now - I can't wait until tomorrow! 

Constantia and Breyerfest prep!

 Exciting news today, just two days before the start of Breyerfest 2022 - the second Premier Club model of  the year has been revealed! Behold:

I’m amazed - it’s an updated Standardbred! Now I don’t have to wait around in vain for Hambletonian to be released in plastic. And I really like her! I had the opportunity to watch some harness races while we were on vacation last month and she looks just like some of the trotters I saw! She’s definitely going to have to join the collection.

In other news, Breyerfest is nearly here! I’m writing this post from the road, but we should be arriving at the Clarion in half an hour or so. I hope to be open for business sometime tomorrow, so if you see our door open, don’t hesitate to come in! We’re in room 409 as usual, so stop in and mention the blog to me (or my husband) and you’ll be able to pick out a free (RR) Stablemate, while supplies last. See you all soon!

Featured Model - 7/9/2022, Running with Scissors Farm Tour pt.3

  Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Model, the weekly blog event where I pick a model that has an interesting history behind it, give some stats on it and provide commentary about it. A few weeks ago I received a request to do a collection tour, so I thought it might be fun to do a few Featured Model posts featuring my collection. Last week was part 2 of the tour; now for part 3, the thrilling conclusion! 

Continuing downward from the top of Shelf 4, this shelf got some rearranging recently due to space being freed up. I had been keeping Classics models separated from everything else, but decided to move the Harpers over here since there was plenty of space. On the very bottom you can see the FAF "Ara-Appaloosa Foal," which was my very first Breyer (with the very imaginative name "Spot") back in the '90s. That shelf is a bit crowded, unfortunately, but I like to keep foals on the same shelves due to the narrow shelving arrangement. 

I'm including this one so you can see the poor Georgs on the floor underneath. I could probably find space for them somewhere else if I tried hard enough. I guess there's a better view of the Ara-Appaloosa Foal in this photo too. Huh - I just realized there's at least one Thoroughbred Mare/Nursing Foal set I don't have listed on my trades list. I should probably add them! 

Moving right along, this is the closet on the west wall of the room. By some trick of fate, those shelves were already in the closet when we moved in. So all we had to do was take the closet doors off and presto! More space for the ponies. I know the dark space on top isn't ideal for displaying models, and it was empty at one point, but lack of space eventually demanded some ponies move up there. And yes, that is part of my childhood collection of the Thoroughbred Series books! Those and the Black Stallion were probably my favorite books as a kid. As you can see, the Le Fires are an exception to my policy of keeping all foals on the same shelves, because they just look goofy by themselves and well...lack of space demanded it. 

Here's the rest of the closet shelves. Sadly that is a double row of Silvers next to the Ruffians, which also isn't ideal. On the very bottom is where I store various things such as flattened Premier Club boxes, various other boxes I don't want to get rid of (the occasional Vintage Club box, the original Ethereal series boxes, velvet bags, Premier Club suede bags, a large variety of Stablemates bags and boxes, unsold Clarion sales items, sales supplies, pony pouches and other random stuff like that. The rest of the Thoroughbred Series books are in there too. Well, most of the rest of them - I stopped buying them at book 50. 

And lastly, here's a view of part of our (very '90s) entertainment center in the living room, the only place where model horse stuff is displayed outside of the horse room. The focal point is my silver filigree collection (my favorite paint job). Above them, current-year Premier Club models are displayed. If this were a normal year, those models from last year would already be gone and...hmm, actually, they would probably still be there since I'm selling my Zafirah anyway. Never mind then! Sorry about the dust. That can of canned air really needs to be used! 

It's not visible in the photo, but any newly-arrived models go on the entertainment center to the left of the photo, and they accumulate there until I get around to photographing them for the collection and then putting them away on the shelves. And that's about it! That brings us to the end of the collection tour. I hope you enjoyed it! It'll be Breyerfest time in less than a week - I'm so excited to get back to Kentucky and see everyone! I hope everyone has a safe trip getting to Kentucky and a good time at Breyerfest! 

The last few auction models have been revealed!

 Happy Friday, everyone! In just one week, it'll be Breyerfest time in Kentucky for the first time in three years! I'm so excited to leave on Tuesday night - just four more days, and only two more work days! Breyer unveiled the online auction platform today, along with the last few auction lots we hadn't seen yet! I thought we'd have to wait until next Friday to see them, but looks like Breyer decided to be merciful for once. Anyway, here they are! You can view them by clicking on the link to BidSpirit's website in the Breyerfest Blog post and then viewing the auction catalog. 

First off, it's a glossy color-shift-paint version of Dani! Very nice. 

Next, a glossy smutty buckskin Hamilton! Oh, he'll go high. Personally, I'd prefer if this one had a little white, but to each their own. 

Next, a beautiful Astrid in red roan pintaloosa, and with a new mane option we haven't seen yet! I wonder if we'll see this mane in the special run line as well? I hope so! 

Next, an amazing pegasus on Silver that's very reminiscent of this auction Esprit from 2014. Is he a test of a test? It's turtles tests all the way down! Ahhhhh! 

And lastly, an In-Between Mare (!) and PAF who clearly takes after her sire! I kid, I kid...but these two would make a great family for that Ukraine benefit piece that was auctioned off a few months ago. 

These reveals also remove True North, Hamilton and Silver from contention as the surprise model. I think I had been saying the Cleveland Bay, since my original guess of Brishen is out, but I think I'm going to go with Goffert. Othello would be the other obvious choice, but he's already been done in just about every color and was a treasure hunt model, so I don't think it'll be him. There's a suspicious lack of draft models in this year's lineup, and Goffert is close enough to make me think it's probably him. 

This year's raffle models are also in the auction, as per usual, so there are photos of them as well. Check out the Zafirah/Dirndl model: 

I just...I want to like her, but I can't get over her front end. It's like her entire shoulder area should be twice as wide (long?), and her front legs are super-skinny. It's too bad, because I like her head and neck, and the hind end isn't so bad (though I'd rather she be standing squarely). It's just the front legs and shoulder area that bother me so much. Oh well. Her color is nice, at least.

I don't think this color is doing Troubadour any favors, honestly. But if I won him, I wouldn't turn him down, I guess. I may be toying with the idea of selling off my Troubadours, though, so we'll see what happens with that.

I'm also wondering why there are only 21 lots, when there were 28 lots in the before times. I thought reducing the number of lots in the live auction was a Covid thing - I guess Covid isn't strictly over just yet, but it still seems odd to have so (comparatively) few auction lots. Spread the money around, as it were. 

Anyway, that's all I have for today. Not sure how much more posting I'll be doing until we arrive in Kentucky, but never fear - if all goes well, I'll be reporting from each day of Breyerfest as it happens, like I usually do! Safe travels, everyone! 

Gawain is now available, and some other stuff

 Attention, Vintage Club members: Gawain is finally available for purchase! 

If it seems like this release is really close to Breyerfest, it is - but fear not! Members have until 11:59pm July 28 to purchase him, so you'll have...well, a little time to recover. Hopefully. 

In other news, there was an exciting post on the Breyerfest Blog today about the beer garden at Breyerfest! Okay, I'm not a beer drinker at all, so I'm not sure why I'm so excited about this, but I'm definitely going to have to check it out while we're there. I'm curious to try some of that cider! 

Also, we got a sneak peek of the virtual Breyerfest dashboard that'll go live next week! 

The excitement is growing - a week from today, we'll be in Kentucky waiting for Breyerfest to get started! It's almost here!