Featured Breyerfest - 2006

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Breyerfest! We're covering 2006 this week, so let's start with some notable events of 2006:

• Twitter, now known as X (ugh) launches
• Pluto loses its status as a planet and is reclassified as a dwarf planet
• Steve Irwin is killed by a stingray 
• Google buys YouTube for $1.6 billion

And in Kentucky, Breyerfest 2006 happened! 

Dates: July 28-30, 2006
Theme: Summer Carnival
Celebration Horse: Joker
Number of Celebration Models produced: 5,018

Here's the first 2006 page from the commemorative program:

Joker is still alive at the age of 28 (Pokerjoe died this past May, sadly). And I have more guest horse photos! 

I believe these are Magic Man's Grand Slam (top) and Sonador (bottom). Thanks to Lea R. for the photo! 

Here's the second 2006 page from the commemorative program! 

Keychains have departed the special run lineup again. Instead we get the cute little Trixie as the single-day Stablemate, complete with cute little costume! The porcelain for this year is the cute little palomino Circus Ponies set. I still want to see the Circus Ponies (perhaps sans costumes) as Stablemates. Please? Someday? Pretty please? Other special runs include Highwire, the metallic dun Huck; Pierrot, the buckskin splash pinto MFT; Maximus, the wild bay Clydesdale Stallion; Appydaze, the black extended blanket Hackney Pony; Ringmaster, the chestnut pinto Spirit; Nimbo, the copenhagen Elephant; Carnivale, the green "carnival glass" Fighting Stallion; and the Three Ring Circus Set featuring mini Jade, mini Mauvelous and mini Tortuga. 

And here's page 3 from the commemorative program:

Tregoyd Journeyman is so beautiful! And Goffert as well. Wish I'd been there to see them in person, but in 2006 I was still in college, working at Walmart and definitely didn't have the money to attend (or anyone to go with, for that matter).  

Here's the first page from the JAH Breyerfest recap:

And here's page 2 of the recap:

Now, let's take a look at some of the auction models. 

This one is described as "prism paint on clear plastic" on IDYB. Looks holographic to me! Breyer must have been on a color-shift paint kick, because there were several color-shift auction models this year. 

This one is an alternate version of Cai Lun done in a "blue pottery" variation. 

I feel like this one came up for sale on eBay a few years back with some damage? Or maybe it was an extremely-similar custom? Can't remember for sure. 

I thought this one was super cool! There's something about the old-style blue+pinto combination that really fascinates me. I wish they'd do something like this on a mold I collect! 

That's it for this week. Check back next week for Breyerfest 2007!