They're here! THEY'RE HERE!

 Excellent news, everyone! My last Breyerfest items have finally arrived, including my surprise models! Never fear - I made a checklist of everything I was supposed to receive, and it all arrived as ordered! When it comes to the special run models, I bought everything I was selected for. In what we'll call the "good old days," we didn't know which, if any, special runs would have variations, so I couldn't risk missing out on anything. I never suspected that every special run would have a variation, though, so I didn't bother to put Ansel and Pollock on my selections list since I'd already gotten them with my VIP order. If I had, I might have been able to buy another model, as there was one "Sorry, your selection wasn't available" showing on the webpage when I went to buy models. But it's just one model...with any luck I might be able to get a few more Ansels when the VIP sale happens next month! 

Anyway, amongst my special run models, I received three Uffingtons. No holographic "Uffs" here, sadly (Uff-dah!), but there was a surprising amount of variation between the three I did get.

It's easier to see in person, but the guy on top is much lighter than the other two and way less pearly. They're in order from least-to-most pearly. I'm actually tempted to keep the light one and one of the dark ones just because they're so different, but I'm not really a variation collector, so hopefully that urge passes.

They're all pretty nice in the quality department, too. And so big! Definitely a trio of longbois. 

They look disappointingly samey in the photos, but I can assure you they're very different in person! 

As for the other special runs, I also got three Tassilis and two Seurats. I was lucky enough to get one Marwari Tassili and two toupee-Tassilis, which made me pretty happy since I do actually like the alternate hairdo on the Toupee-Tassili, especially his swishy tail. Unfortunately, I did get two matte Seurats rather than the matte-and-glossy duo I was hoping for, so I'll be looking for a glossy one at some point. 

But, I digress. Let's get on with the show! I received nine Seven Arts Surprise models, and I had to wait all day today to open them! First, I piled everything on the couch:

The couch, full of plastic pony bounty! Oh, the suspense! 


Next, I very carefully opened each pink bag, pulled out the model inside, and put it on the floor next to me without looking at it. Then I took a picture of the pile, also (mostly) without looking at it: 

Then I started unwrapping them one at a time, not looking at them until I had them mostly out of the bubble wrap. I was hoping to get a nice selection of colors and at least one glossy...and here's the results! 

So, from left to right, that's two glossy sable champagnes (!), one matte sable champagne, one glossy maximum sabino, two matte maximum sabinos, a glossy palomino pintaloosa, a matte flaxen liver chestnut roan and a glossy flaxen liver chestnut roan. 

WHOA! I usually have decent luck getting glossies every year, but this is the best it's ever been. 5 out of 9 were glossy - that's more than half! Unfortunately, one of the glossy sable champagnes has some major issues - one of his hindquarters has a huge area of roughness in the gloss, he has a badly bent right eartip and the other eartip is just barely broken off. I had hoped to be able to trade it for a glossy decorator (pipe dream or not) but nobody's going to want him with ears like that. And Breyer isn't doing exchanges, so I guess I'll have to see if I can sell him, or just get a refund for him. Kinda disappointing, but I guess that's how it goes sometimes. It does seem odd not to have gotten a decorator though - in all the previous times there was a decorator in the surprise lineup, I always managed to get one - but I can live with it. Just another one to add to the purchase list. 

I didn't take photos of any of my other purchases, but there will be more photos later. In the meantime, I guess Breyerfest 2021 is finally over for me. I hope next year goes better (and is in person...!). 

7 Arts Surprise number breakdown and another shipping update!

 Good news, everyone! The numbers for the 7 Arts Surprise models have been released! Firstly, here's a photo of them together (I hope this isn't a spoiler for anyone...)

And here's the numbers: 

Rainbow Leopard Appaloosa with Blue Interference - 700 Matte, 325 Glossy

Flaxen Liver Chestnut Roan - 900 Matte, 325 Glossy

Palomino Pintaloosa - 975 Matte, 325 Glossy

Sable Champagne Minimal Splash Pinto - 800 Matte, 325 Glossy

Bay Maximum Sabino - 1000 Matte, 325 Glossy

 

I'm still hoping I get the decorator - I'm not picky about the finish (though I wouldn't say no to both, natch).  But those colors are all really nice (the liver chestnut roan's similarity to Peptoboonsmal aside). I have nine of them coming, so I'm still holding out hope that I'll get a nice selection of colors, but I guess that still remains to be seen. I do have 3 boxes from CCG arriving tomorrow, so I'm hoping all of my purchases (or at least some of them) will be included with that - but I suspect it's just my Dani models. Guess I'll find out tomorrow! 

In other news, Breyer has addressed the shipping debacle with an email to VIP ticket holders:

VIP Ticket Holder,

We appreciate your ongoing patience as our fulfillment team continues to process the BreyerFest orders. Many of you have received your models at this point, and we hope you love them as much as we do!  We understand and recognize that your Special Run and Limited Edition orders did not arrive in the time frame originally set forth when tickets went on sale in January.  As most of you know, shipping has been disrupted and delayed on a global level. Several of our BreyerFest Special Run models did not arrive to our warehouse in time to make those shipping dates, thereby disrupting the shipping plan for VIP orders. We apologize for the delay and lack of communication prior to now. We had planned that orders would have been received at your homes earlier than what has occurred.   

 As a special Thank You to each of you for your support and patience, we are creating a custom VIP pin featuring our gorgeous rainbow 7 Arts Surprise model. The pin is already in development and will be shipped later this year to the shipping address listed on your account. We can’t wait to see it as part of your Breyer pin collection! 

But there’s more! VIP ticket holders will also be given exclusive early access to purchase available BreyerFest 2021 Special Runs included in our 2nd Chance Sale!  The sale is tentatively planned for early September; we will keep you posted on the exact date and time the sale will open. More details to come! 

Again, we appreciate your understanding and support of BreyerFest and the joy this event creates for so many fans. 

See you in ’22 – Prost!

See, this is good. All we wanted was some communication about what was going on, and now we have it. Thanks to Breyer for setting the record straight. As for the mea culpa gifts, I'm not really a big pin collector, but more chances to buy special runs are always appreciated (maybe for a small discount, huh? Huh? Too much?). Now I'm even more excited to see if I got any of the variant colors! Off to check my UPS tracking again...

Edit: I forgot to mention that the Fireheart ordering window is finally open, so if you're a Premier Club member who hasn't ordered him yet, get your order in now! 

July Collector Club Newsletter and Surprise reveal!

More good news, everyone - the July Collector Club newsletter is out! Collector Club members, check your email to read it. There's a fun Feature Story, another attempt to get Breyer into the Toy Hall of Fame, a new giveaway (Pech Merle from last year's Breyerfest), and a photo of the plastic versions of glossy and matte Astrid! 

They sure are pretty. Can't wait to order mine...in a few weeks, after my bank account has recovered. 

In other news, we definitely know what the 7 Arts Surprise is! I'll leave a space here so people that don't want to be spoiled won't see it: 

It's....DUNDEE! So yesterday's announcement was accurate after all (my apologies for doubting, but as the old saying goes..."pics or it didn't happen"). I don't have photos I can use yet, but the five (known) colors are palomino roan pintaloosa, classic champagne splash white, flaxen liver roan, max bay sabino and a rainbowy-looking decorator that we haven't seen a full-body photo of yet. Exciting! I'm really surprised that they used a mold as new and popular as Dundee for the surprise, but I suppose rules were made to be broken, huh? Can't wait to see which ones I get...but nothing of mine has shipped yet, so it's going to be a while. 

More new reveals!

 Hello, readers! We have two new reveals on the blog today - first, our "hint" for the Breyerfest surprise models! 

So it's called 7 Arts Surprise, eh? I wonder if that means there'll be seven different color/finish combinations? It's a quantity of 6,000, which doesn't divide evenly into seven, so the individual quantities must be more like previous years than last year. I'm not sure I want to see seven different colors here though, especially if there's a matte/glossy variant...that would be 14 models to track down! Gulp. If that's the case, I hope they pick a mold I don't collect. On that note, I don't have any guesses right now - I'll have to put some more thought into it before I make any predictions. 

Our other reveal is this year's animal release! 

Interesting that they did a brindle colorway. Does this mean they've finally worked out how to pull off a mass-produced brindle without it looking weird? He does look good from a distance, but we'll have to see what they look like up close. 

I like that it actually resembles the inspiration for it, unlike the Peruvian Paso from yesterday. 

I wonder if this means we'll see that amazing Valegro tomorrow? I hope so!