Breyerfest Closeups: Mirado (And Bollywood Surprise Numbers)

One of the other items on display at the Collector Club tent was Mirado, the upcoming sixth release in the 2017 Stablemate Club. I definitely wanted to see him up close!

 

Mirado was sculpted and painted by Maggie Bennett. He'll be the final release in this year's Stablemate Club and I'm really looking forward to getting him!

 

I'm still a little hesitant about his face - I think it's his markings that are making his muzzle look really narrow. I can see a little chin in that picture, though, so clearly it's just an optical illusion.

 

Here's a different angle. Is he supposed to be grulla? Somebody at Breyer must really like grulla; it's everywhere these days. I wish I'd been brave enough to flip the model around and get a photo of his other side, but I tend to err on the side of "look, but don't touch" with this type of stuff (and I think that sign right in front of him said Do Not Touch). Oh well.

So that's Mirado. Unfortunately, he won't be available until December, so we'll all just have to wait.

In other news, Breyer released the Bollywood Surprise numbers yesterday:

A - Dark Bay Tobiano (1225 Matte, 175 Glossy)
B - Buttermilk Buckskin (800 Matte, 175 Glossy)
C - Chestnut Overo (650 Matte, 175 Glossy)
D - Grulla Pintaloosa (425 Matte, 175 Glossy)

I'm a little surprised that they made quite so many of the matte bay tobianos, though it seemed like they were everywhere. I thought their numbers and the buckskin's would be more in line with each other. Here are our personal statistics - from 7 surprise models, we pulled:

2 matte bay tobianos (one of which was immediately traded for an accidentally glossy pintaloosa)
2 matte buckskins
1 matte chestnut overo
1 glossy bay tobiano
1 glossy buckskin

So, we got incredibly lucky this year. That figures, since these aren't even on a mold I collect. The last time I got two glossies in one year was 2014 with the Pop the Corks - I've never gotten three before. But I'm not complaining! I traded the glossy pintaloosa for the volunteer model, and selling the other two glossies helped immensely with paying for my other expenditures.

On a closing note, I think this year's surprise models were excellent, other than being on a mold I don't collect. I liked the pintaloosa the best, followed by the buckskin, bay tobiano and chestnut overo. If only I collected Latigo! I'd love to see that buttermilk buckskin on Othello, Forever Saige and a host of others. Same with all the other colors! I hope next year's surprise models are just as exciting!

Meet Indu!

The special run Valegro has been revealed, and he's beautiful! Feast your eyes on Indu!



Totally droolworthy! I know what I'll be trying to get from the special run line first! I love the contrast of his lighter face vs. the rest of his body. This guy was designed by Tom Bainbridge, who always does the best dapple grays. He's awesome, though I wasn't expecting to see Valegro in the lineup (what does a canter-pirouette warmblood have to do with India?).

So now we can speculate a little more about what the surprise model will be. I'm a bit surprised that we didn't get any form of Polo Smarty Jones in the lineup. So he's definitely a strong contender for the surprise, but...

...I'm still going with my original prediction of the Moody Andalusian for now. It doesn't seem like the name, "Bollywood Surprise" fits with a polo pony. Bollywood films are known for being over-the-top, larger-than-life melodramas. That suggests something wildly hairy and floofy like a Moody mold to me, and the Andy hasn't been used yet.

Goffert might also be a possibility, except I don't think they'd use a horse with a stand. Possibly Brishen as well. Another possibility would be Croi, but I don't know if they'd use her as the surprise a bare two years after using her in the regular special run line. The Moody Andy was last used in 2014, so they'd be cutting it close with him as it is.

Whatever the surprise is, we'll be able to narrow it down further in the future as more prizes and the like are announced. Then, when they start showing us auction models, we'll be able to get it down to a really short list (barring the two or three auction models they've been keeping a secret all the way up to the event like in the past couple of years; I think they do that to make it harder for us to guess the surprise.)

Non-Reveals

This was posted on Breyer's Facebook page today:

 

So, what you're really saying is, we're kicking off the weekend with nothing. Because there's no way they're going to reveal what the surprise is in advance. You know, because then it wouldn't be a surprise? Bleh.

I'm still sticking with my probably-wrong prediction that it's the Moody Andalusian. But at this rate it's looking more like it'll be on a mold I don't collect, to go along with all the other special runs that are (so far) on molds I don't collect. This is looking more and more like Breyerfest 2012 all over again!

Maybe I'm just grumpy, or impatient, but I'd really like to see what the rest of the special runs are without having to wait until the absolute last minute until the Early Bird deadline (4/15). Oh well. Here's something that makes me happy - a picture of our pup!

 

His name is Max, and he knows exactly how cute he is.

But I digress. Hopefully we find out the other two Breyerfest special runs soon, because I'm dying over here!