Featured Breyerfest - 2001

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Breyerfest! Now that Breyerfest is over, we're returning to our regularly scheduled programming. This week we're covering Breyerfest 2001, so let's get going! Notable events from the year 2001:

• Nintendo releases its much-maligned GameCube game console (I still have mine!)
• The September 11 attacks happen, kickstarting the global war on terror
• Tiznow wins the Breeder's Cup Classic for the second time in the first major post-9/11 sporting event. He remains the only horse to win the Breeder's Cup Classic twice
• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is released in theaters, a major event for yours truly

And, of course, Breyerfest 2001 took place! 
Dates: July 27-29, 2001
Celebration Horse: Atlantis Bey V
Number of Celebration Models produced: 3,700
Attendance: unknown

Here's the first 2001 page from the commemorative program:

The real Atlantis Bey V was a son of Huckleberry Bey, whose famous portrait mold launched a generation of Kathleen Moody fans and still commands a hefty following to this day. On this page we can also see the aptly-named Siren raffle model, as well as Silver Fox, the other raffle model. The volunteer model was the droolworthy and rarely-seen-for-sale The Poet, the only porcelain volunteer model (so far). 

As for the special runs: the keychains finally went away, to be replaced by flocky Stablemates. There were also those bronze Hucks for sale, but since paying more than about $75 for a Breyer (other than an auction model) was a pretty laughable proposition in those days, they didn't sell too well. Some of those bronze models can still be found in the Collector Club tent at Breyerfest! Although I didn't see any this year. The "Classic Racehorse Set" kinda kills me, considering all three of those colors are either nonexistent in the TB breed or very rare. Why didn't they just call it a stock horse set instead? All three of those molds could be passed off as Quarter Horses. But I digress. I love the color on the Mesquite model, even though the bulls aren't really my thing. He's beautiful! We also had Shadow of Blue, the foal of regular run model Silky Keno, as well as the collie Jester and of course the beautiful glossy bay Silver. This was the beginning of the "use Silver as a special run or prize model every year for the better part of a decade" era. 

JAH didn't have a traditional Breyerfest recap this year - just photos instead. Here's the first page:

I feel you, Tanya. I really do. 

That's it for the JAH wrapup. Let's take a look at some auction models! 

I had to talk about this one because he's so reminiscent of High Wire that I wondered if he was a test, but High Wire has four stockings, so probably not. Similar color, though. 

This buckskin pinto Sham is absolutely beautiful. Give me this color on every mold! He's a lot like Rheverence, come to think of it. Anyway, give me that color on every mold!

There's no way I couldn't talk about the legendary Over the Rainbow! The Connoisseur line had made its debut earlier in 2001, including the new paint techniques that introduced mapping, so of course Breyer had to show off and make a rainbow version of Mosaic. I imagine he's the holy grail of many a collector, and it's no surprise why - lots of people (myself included) love rainbow models. I wonder where this guy is now? 

And lastly, I had to cover this one because (without doing any research to back it up) I think this may be the first, or one of the first, silver bays Breyer ever did? He looks a bit different than the silver bay models we see now, but I still wouldn't mind having him in my herd. What a beauty! 

That's it for this week. Check back next week for Breyerfest 2002! 

Featured Model - 10/8/2022, Jangles

 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...Jangles! 

This model was an auction model at Breyerfest 2001. She's a OOAK on the Misty mold sculpted by Chris Hess. 

This model is unique because she's intended as an alternate version of the Jingles holiday pony from 2001. Normally I'm not really a fan of Misty, and I don't have any Mistys in my collection, but I have to admit that shaded palomino looks nice on her. I wish we had some more photos so we could see her other side. Hey, if someone out there owns this lady (and also owns the original Jingles set), could we get a photo of her dressed up in the Jingles harness with the sleigh? That would be awesome. 

I think it's safe to say Misty is one of Breyer's most popular molds, as she's been in (as far as I can tell) continuous production as Misty since her introduction in 1972. 50 years of production is pretty impressive, I have to say. And now she's in production as the Phantom as well! For all the time spent in production, she hasn't had that many special runs, though. Maybe she'll get a new one soon? She's never been a web special, either - I wonder why she was never used for the Berries Ponies series? Kind of a missed opportunity there. It's hard to say where we'll see Misty next. 

Featured Model - 3/31/2018, Shadow of Blue

Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Model, the weekly blog event where I pick a model from my collection, give some stats on it and provide commentary about it. This week's model is... Shadow of Blue!



This model was a special run at Breyerfest 2001. In those days, Breyerfests didn't have themes (although Spirit of the West would debut the next year), so Breyer could produce whatever special runs they wanted. Maybe they should go back to that? In any case, Shadow of Blue was a portrait of the latest (male) offspring of one of the guest horses that year, Silky Keno. As item #710301, 1500 of these models were produced on the Amber mold sculpted by Kathleen Moody. And for all anyone knew, they sold out at that event...until Breyerfest 2013 came along.

That year, intrepid collectors in the NPOD found old leftovers of Shadow of Blue, priced at $15 each. Jackpot! I wasn't in the Breyer Store line quite early enough to find anything truly spectacular, but I remember seeing a lady and (presumably) her daughter looking at one. The daughter didn't seem especially interested in buying it, so I was planning on grabbing it as soon as she put it down. The mother saw me eagle-eyeing the model and told her to hold on to it (at least that's probably what she said, as I was too far away to hear what they were saying). Sadly, I meandered off, thinking the model was lost to me...until I found a whole box of more of them. Success!

So, Shadow of Blue joined my herd. I always liked the blue-black color of this model, probably because blue is my favorite color. So Shadow of Blue is a treasured part of my herd! I have most of the other Amber models, but someday I'd like to get my hands on the raffle set from 1999. I love decorators, and I always thought those two looked so nice in gold charm and wedgewood blue! Maybe someday. In the meantime, I'll have to be happy with my Shadow of Blue!

Amber was last seen in the regular run line as Sweet Pea, so she probably won't pop up there for a while. I wish Breyer would use the foal molds for special runs and/or web specials more often, but I suppose they have so many molds now that something has to fall by the wayside. I hope we see her (and her sister!) again soon!