Featured Model - 11/6/2021, Order of the Thistle

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Model, the weekly blog event where I pick a model I don't own but would like to, give some stats on it and provide commentary about it. This week's model is...Order of the Thistle! 

This handsome boy was a raffle model from Breyerfest 2020. He was item #711385 and was a run of 26 produced on the Hamilton mold sculpted by Jennifer Scott. 

Whew! What a pretty model. He definitely looks good in champagne! I was super sad when I wasn't one of the names drawn for one of these guys last year - and more sad when I saw the prices they were selling for on the secondary market. Maybe they'll come down someday - I hope so, because it hurts not having this guy in my collection. But his other releases are pretty spectacular too, so I'm glad I have those. 

Hamilton is in the regular line now as Marc of Charm, which has been a pretty popular release as far as I know, so he'll probably stay in production for quite a while. I wonder what the likelihood is that he gets a few other releases while the mold is in production? He hasn't had a Breyerfest special run yet (other than this raffle), and Premier molds tend to get those fairly early on, so I'd say he's due. Never mind that he doesn't fit the theme - they'd probably just name him something German and call it a day. Hey, I wouldn't complain...too much. More Hamilton is always a good thing! 

I wouldn't put it past them to give him a web special, also, but I guess that remains to be seen. Or maybe he'll be the 2022 Holiday Horse! Ooh, there's an idea! 

Featured Model - 5/15/2021, Breton

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

This little heartbreaker was the runner-up prize for last year's Breyerfest Best Customs Contest. Only 11 of them were made! He's item #711393 and was produced on the Darwin/Lipizzaner mold sculpted by Kelly Sealey. He's an alternate version of the original Darwin, but black instead of dunalino. 

What a heartbreaker, indeed! 10 of these were awarded in the contest last year, with an 11th auctioned off with a Cornwall, the grand prize model, in last year's online Breyerfest auction. He looks good in black - fortunately I have the much-easier-to-obtain black one from the Deluxe Horse Collection. Maybe someday we'll get an actual greyed-out Lipizzaner on this mold! We can only dream - after all, we still haven't gotten a black Django, either. Excuse me while I suppress rolling my eyes...but anyway. 

Where will we see Darwin next? He's a pretty hot commodity at the moment - he was used in four different releases last year and is getting at least two this year, so I'd guess they'll let the mold cool down for a little while after that - but anything is possible, right? Probably another regular run release if anything, since he's been used for just about everything possible in the last few years. I guess we'll see eventually! 

New arrivals!

Well, this post is a little bit late, but...my Jol models are here! I was able to buy three of them, and these were the colors I got! Sorry for the lack of fanfare. 

Well, two out of three ain't bad. These arrived quite a while ago, though, so in the meantime...

I was able to trade one of the clears for a red! Huzzah! 

I wasn't terribly disappointed to not get a Coal, since I don't collect the Galiceno mold, so it all worked out in the end. Woo! 

My glossy Cheesecake and WH Topgun models also arrived. Check out Cheesecake! 

Isn't he pretty? I still need to set him up next to my matte one and see how they look together.

I love that kind of "milky" look his paint gets with the gloss added to it. Pamplemousse has the same type of effect and it's great.

Lastly, here's WH Topgun! 

I'm not as happy with him as some of the ones I've seen on the Internets - I feel like his dapples could be blended a little better. I like how he looks like a nicely weathered deerskin glove or something (sorry if that's a weird comparison), but the comparison works better if the dapples are more subtle. 

He certainly is handsome though! And he looks good on the shelf next to his matte counterpart. Unfortunately, unlike the rest of the new arrivals, which didn't have many flaws to speak of, he's not the greatest in the quality department. More specifically, he looks like something snagged the edge of his ear before he was glossed, and both of his ears have rubs. He's got a few other minor flaws too, which all add up to something less than ideal...but I'd rather not deal with the hassle of trying to exchange him, if they even have any to exchange.

So, I'm glad Breyerfest 2020 is finally over for me! Haha! 

Anyway, the draw for the Breyerfest 2021 VIP tickets happens tomorrow! Good luck to everyone who entered. I'm seriously afraid I won't be able to get a Pollock if I'm not drawn, so I'm hoping against hope that I get one! 

Last of the New Arrivals: WH Topgun and Reggie!

 Greetings, readers! Time to wrap up the New Arrivals! Here's my Reggie out of his box! 

He doesn't fit into his stand quite right - the metal post in his leg must be misaligned. But I didn't want to take another one out of his box, so I guess this is the one I get. Anyway, he's a nice semi-gloss and has great shading. I'm a little surprised that this is the first time the Show Jumping Warmblood has been done in solid bay, apparently? Well, he's a welcome addition to the collection! 

Well, that's it for New Arrivals this year. I know we're all sad that so many aspects of Breyerfest were truncated this year, but hopefully we can all get back to normal next year. If not - well, at least we have the plastic ponies to comfort us? 

New Arrivals: Cheesecake, Stablemate Set and WH Topgun!

Hello, readers! Featured Model was on hiatus again last week due to real-life events - sorry about that. Well, let's get back to the new arrivals - I'll start with Cheesecake! 

Cheesecake is definitely one of my favorite models from the event. He's just so pretty! It would have been even more cool if he had some pearly attributes, but I know that's a turnoff for some people. If the model is at all similar to the real horse, I can see why they call him Cheesecake. 

Next, here's the Best of Breyerfest Stablemate set! 

This set is just darling! Too bad I don't have any of the full-size models to pose with them. Maybe someday...In the meantime, the mini North Star seems to be especially popular on the secondary market. The mini Viajero and Que Sera Sera will be going down the road, but the other three are great additions to my collection. 

Lastly, let's look at WH Topgun! 

While I do like this guy, I wish the original buckskin/bay Connemara (the regular run) had had some white or something, so it would be easier to tell them apart. There's a reasonable amount of difference between their color...but not enough for my tastes. That said, he's a pretty shade of buckskin if you can forget about the RR version! 

Well, that's all I have for today - hopefully some new releases will come out soon. I'm looking forward to the new Premier Club horse and the next Stablemates Club release! 

New Arrivals: Glossy and Matte Palomino Slainte Surprises, Matte Red Roan Pinto Slainte Surprise

More new arrivals today - let's get right back into it with the matte palomino Slainte Surprise! 

Palomino isn't always one of my favorite colors, but I really like this shade of palomino on her! The little belly spots jazz things up a little bit, too. Plus she's chalky! That's a win in my book. These colors are all so nice that it's hard to decide which one I like the best. Let's take a look at the glossy! 

The gloss makes her color pop so much more! I love it. Sommer Prosser outdid herself yet again with these designs! 

Lastly, here's the matte red roan Slainte: 

Look at the roaning on her shoulders and the rest of her body. Doesn't she look like she's made of candy? I love it. Hmm, I think Breyer needs to do a line of candy-themed models. Quick, somebody call Katy Perry! Or...not, I guess. 

That's all I have for today - check back tomorrow for more new arrivals! 

New Arrivals: Boudicca, Matte and Glossy Silver Black Slainte Surprises

Greetings, readers! Let's get back to the new arrivals from Breyerfest! I'll start with Boudicca:



Her design is a little bit odd to be sure, but like I said in my previous post about her, I like how her blue isn't all one shade - it's darker on her back, neck and legs and lighter on the belly, hip and face. If it weren't for the woad, she'd make a nice mate for Alejandro! Maybe someday we'll see a foal that matches. Hey, why doesn't Breyer do family sets anymore? The last one I remember off the top of my head was the Quarter Horse Family in the Vintage Club a few years ago.

Getting back to Boudicca, she was definitely more popular than I thought she would be - or maybe people were so desperate to be able to buy anything at all that they snapped her up? In any case, I'm glad I was able to get one.

Next, let's look at the matte silver black Slainte Surprise!

I've seen a lot of complaining online about her pearly mane and tail, but honestly, I love it! The more pearly the better! There was also a bit of confusion about what her color actually was, until the designer (Sommer Prosser) confirmed on Facebook that it's intended to be silver dapple black. Which is a color we don't see from Breyer very often, so maybe we'll get it again in the future? I hope so. Anyway, it's been hard for me to figure out which Slainte Surprise color I like the best, but this one is definitely up there - but I don't know if I like it better in matte or glossy. Speaking of glossy...



Her color really pops with the gloss, doesn't it? I feel like the silver black is going to be the most popular color going forward, despite the run numbers being the same. She's stunning! I haven't gotten these put onto the shelves with my other Giselle models yet, but I'm looking forward to it! I'm looking forward to seeing them all together!

That's all for today - check back later for more New Arrivals!

New Arrivals: Oak, Ash and Glossy Red Roan Pinto Slainte Surprise

Well, it's been almost a month since Virtual Breyerfest ended, and since we haven't had any exciting new things to talk about in the last few days, I figured it was time to start talking about my Breyerfest purchases. Since we weren't there in person, I don't have as many extras to sell as I normally would have, but that's okay - less work is always a good thing. Anyway, let's get things started with Ash!



He is handsome, as all the Othellos are! He's chalky, and glossy, and a really nice dapple gray - so why doesn't he excite me as much as he should? Probably because Othello has been done in gray so many times before? Maybe if they'd given him black points and darker dapples, to portray a younger gray horse? I don't think he's been used in that shade of dapple gray before. Or a different color completely, because gray has kind of been his signature color? I don't know, maybe I'm asking for too much here. I guess he's only been done in glossy gray once before, and that one is hard to come by. This was also the only Ash I was able to get, and he has some kind of fingerprint or mark on his right flank that I'm a little irked by. Oh well.

Next, here's Oak!

Oak is also quite the looker! I was very pleased with this one, and I'm excited to see what colors they put on the mold in the future. Can you believe the price on that auction model? Oof. This guy didn't have any major flaws that I could see, so he's definitely a keeper in my book. I'm looking forward to putting him on the shelf next to Georg! (And yes, I did finally get my hands on a blue Christmas zebra! Huzzah!)

Lastly, here's the glossy red roan pinto Slainte Surprise!



Red roan is one of my favorite horse colors, so I was excited to see it used on the surprise models. And I love it when they paint roans so they look like they're made out of candy! Mmm, candy. I really should have guessed the surprise was Giselle from the beginning, especially when we got the clues on the live broadcast ("She," a popular mold, not used in a lot of colors previously), but I really wanted the surprise to be on a mold I didn't collect, for financial reasons. Well, hopefully I manage to guess it correctly next year!

That's all I have for today - check back later for more new arrivals! Also, I won't be doing my usual Breyerfest Closeups series this year, since everything was virtual and we didn't really get a lot of sneak peeks in the Collector Club "tent" this year anyway. Maybe next year!

Slainte Surprise Numbers and July Collector Club newsletter!

Exciting news today - we got the reveal of the Slainte Surprise numbers! They are as follows:

Golden palomino - 800 Matte, 325 Glossy
Bay leopard appaloosa - 800 Matte, 325 Glossy
Silver dapple black - 800 Matte, 325 Glossy
Red roan pinto - 800 Matte, 325 Glossy

Interesting that all the numbers are even this year, and the glossy numbers were upped substantially from last year (200). This should at least even the playing field for finding them on the secondary market later, although I imagine some colors may still be more desirable than others. Well, maybe I won't have to spend an arm and a leg to get that glossy appy after all! Speaking of the appy, it looks like she was intended to be a bay after all, rather than black. And the palomino is not just palomino, but GOLDEN palomino! That ought to make her more desirable, right?

In other news, the July collector club newsletter is out (waiting until the last minute again, I see). Check your email to read it (if you're a CC member!). Exciting stuff! There aren't any sneak peeks this time, but Breyer is giving away 5 celebration models from this past Breyerfest, rather than the usual one giveaway.

Also, look at this cool test Stablemate!



It's an alternate colorway of Tiki, the event Stablemate from the 2011 Sunshine Celebration collector event. Also known as the event I'll forever kick myself for not attending (I was drawn from the waitlist for tickets, but didn't have anyone to go with, or money to go, and didn't want to go alone...sigh.) Oh well - there'll be more collector events, I'm sure.

Well, it's almost August - hopefully we get to see this year's Tractor Supply models soon!

Volunteer reveal!

Sheesh, clearly I should have waited another day to post about the 2020 Breyerfest volunteer model. Here they are, straight from the blog!



His/their name is Ben Nevis, named for a peak in the Scottish Highlands.

I'm still a little bewildered that they did two colors this year, but I don't need to get my hands on either of them, so at least there's that. I can't help but notice that the bright chestnut has the same hind leg markings as the liver, so now I'm wondering if the chestnut we saw yesterday still has some masking stuck to that part of his hind leg. Time will tell, I guess.

I still haven't gotten all my Breyerfest loot together for a group photo - I'm still working on a trade for the matte palomino and my matte appy hasn't gotten here yet, so I want to wait until those are all squared away. Let's hope we get some exciting news in the meantime!

My last Slainte Surprise, and the 2020 Breyerfest Volunteer Model!

Exciting news, everyone - I can reveal my last surprise model for this year! Behold:



Glossy palomino! As I was unwrapping her, I made sure to stare somewhere else while I felt my way through the wrappings, and once I got the bubblewrap off I remember thinking, "This feels like a glossy." Then I looked at her and saw it was a palomino and my mind blanked out for a second - no way it was the last color I needed AND glossy, right? Then I got her out of the bag and saw she was definitely a glossy. So that's 3 out of 4! I haven't had glossy luck like this since 2017 with the Bollywood Surprises, and those all went out the door since I don't collect Latigo. So I'm super-happy to be able to add all of these to my collection without having to pay an arm and a leg for them. Hopefully I can find a glossy Appaloosa to complete the set in the near future!

In other news, this year's Breyerfest volunteer model has finally been revealed! I don't have photos I can use yet, but the ones I've seen look stunning - it's Flash! And there seem to be variations within the run, oddly enough! Makes me glad I don't collect Flash, honestly. The two I've seen have been a light (flaxen?) chestnut pinto, and a darker, more liver-chestnut (or silver black?) pinto with slightly different markings on the hind legs. Exciting, if a bit mystifying! Hopefully we get more information on those soon, along with the numbers breakdown for the Slainte Surprise!

Breyerfest loot, Strawberry drawing and Christmas in July sale!

Hello, readers! Well, first things first - my Breyerfest goodies are here and I'm thrilled that they finally came! Here are the boxes they came in:

While I was really hoping for more boxes than that, just to confuse the UPS driver more, it was still pretty satisfying to get home and see those boxes waiting for me.



That's a big pile of surprise models!

I forgot to take a photo of them outside of the orange bags, though, so we'll skip to the part where I got them all unwrapped...

TA-DAH!

That's three matte red roans, one glossy red roan, two matte silver blacks and a glossy silver black. Not bad at all! Truth be told, I was hoping to get at least three different colors, but with two glossies in this mix I really can't complain. This is about on par with what I usually get at Breyerfest in person, honestly. I have one more surprise model coming on Monday, and I'm working on lining up a trade for a matte Appaloosa, so I'm hoping it's some variant of palomino. I guess I'll find out on Monday!

I'll cover the Breyerfest models more in a future post, but here's my Boudicca:



I was pleasantly surprised to see her "woad" isn't the same shade all over - it's darker on her neck/back areas, then lighter across the barrel and hips, and darker on the legs again. It's a nice touch!

Next on today's list of news...selections for Strawberry are out! I didn't enter, but if you did, make sure to check your email and/or the website and see if you're eligible to buy!

Lastly, Breyer is having a "Christmas in July" sale on the website! There's nothing terribly exciting there other than last year's Christmas Zebras and LaFitte (already sold out). The Zebras are $10 more than they were originally, so...not really much of a "sale," is it? Like, at all? There's probably a few Licorice zebras in the leftover bunch, but I don't think I want to spend $10 extra for a super-small chance at one. Anyways, this sale is currently limited to Collector Club members but opens to the public on Monday. If you didn't already blow your monthly model budget on Breyerfest stuff, check it out and see if anything catches your eye! I'll be over in the corner waiting for my last Breyerfest shipment to get here.

Breyerfest loot is arriving!

Good news, everyone! The first of what will probably be many boxes from Breyer arrived at my house today - behold!



Unfortunately, I should have gotten eight Reggies, not six, so I already sent off an email to Customer Service. With this, all the other issues that have been happening lately with the shipping company, plus the magnets not being shipped with the Stablemate 4-pack, I wish Breyer would fire this shipping company and find another one. They're really, really leaving a lot to be desired here. But anyway...

I've seen a lot of reports online that the quality on the Reggies hasn't been the greatest, but my six don't appear to have any major issues - little things here and there, but that's about it. Who knows what the box sides look like, though.

So, here's a look at the Stablemates!

I was super-happy Breyer went back to using the little bags for the Stablemates, and the tartan is really visually appealing. The packaging they've been using for the last few years has mostly just been more trash for the landfill, so I'm glad to have something a little more substantial.

I think I liked Orkney's bag the most!

I think this is the first Tiny Croi I've seen in person. So tiny and cute! Not cute enough to stay here, though. And her name is spelled wrong on the bag - oops!



Quality-wise, they're all pretty good - I didn't see anything wrong with any of them, other than the crazy eyewhites on Jersey! He looks like he's...seen some things, man.

So exciting to get my first shipment of models - hopefully it doesn't take too long for the rest of my stuff to get here! I'm just itching to open my surprise models. Speaking of surprise models, it looks like the silver bay variant is actually more like a chocolate palomino or silver dapple, and the glossy version is to die for. I hope I get one!

Also, it appears that the emails for the glossy Reggies have gone out - check your email and see if you're a winner! Nothing here, sadly...Maybe next year. I hope everyone else is having just as much fun opening their Breyerfest goodies!

The surprise model is revealed!

Miracle of miracles - people's Breyerfest orders are already arriving! And here I was thinking we'd be lucky if anything even shipped out by the end of the week. Clearly I'm not giving Breyer enough credit!

Anyway, the surprise model and its color variants have been revealed, so stop reading if you don't want to be spoiled:






























IT'S GISELLE!

I don't have photos I can use yet, but the colors appear to be palomino, red roan pinto, black leopard Appaloosa and silver bay. And gloss versions of all those colors, naturally.

So it was Giselle after all! I guess I figured she was a bit too old, and not really popular enough to be used for this, but those colors all look great on her, so I'm not upset to be wrong. I think I like the palomino the best, followed by the red roan. I can't help but note she was in the live auction last year....so perhaps Breyer is going back to the formula after breaking it last year with the Andy? In that case, after a quick glance at this year's auction models, I'm predicting Bluegrass Bandit! Or possibly Forever Saige, but she's rather widely disliked, so Bluegrass Bandit seems like a better bet. I guess we'll find out in a year!

Of course, now that the surprise has been revealed, I'm itching to open mine and they aren't even here yet! I have 8 of them coming, so I'm already envisioning piling them all up on my dining room table before I open them. Ahhhhh! But I haven't gotten a shipping notice yet, so I'm guessing it'll still be a while until they show up.

Fortunately, my celebration models and Stablemates are due to arrive tomorrow! So I should be able to get a blog post up about those.

Also, it appears that the Epona (gray pinto on Strapless) is a split run with the braided version and the loose mane and tail. Huzzah! One wonders why Breyer told us about the matte and glossy Thorn but not a split run on Epona as well...

Virtual Breyerfest Day 3: Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!

Greetings, readers! I hope you got through the final day of Virtual Breyerfest with your sanity intact. I'm not sure I did...but then, that happens every year, so at least this Breyerfest was true to life in that respect. The same website issues people had been having all weekend continued to persist today, which is disappointing, but I think people managed to be a little more successful in getting the store specials ordered - or maybe they just gave up and preordered the glossy versions. In any case, the ordering is over, the special runs are all allocated (or...should be), the raffles are over (except maybe the one for the glossy Celebration Models; no one has heard anything about those), and all that's left to find out now is the identities of the surprise model and the volunteer model. Which...could take a while before we find out!

In today's exciting reveals, we got to see Vermeer, the next Premier Club model:

I'm a little bit on the fence about this one - I like him from some angles, but not others. His paint job is really nice, though. I'll have to wait until he gets here to make my final decision. He looks like his mane and tail are pearly, though, so that helps.

In other exciting reveals, we have the theme for next year's Breyerfest!



Horse of a different color, eh? That gives a lot of possibilities for next year, though I heard it mentioned on the live stream that they'll have lots of chrome, stripes and spots! Does this mean there'll be a lot of decorators? Who knows! And who will be the Celebration Horse? So many questions, that we have to wait months to get answers to! Well, I'm excited either way.

Once again, I didn't get drawn for either of the raffle models this year - but be watching your emails, people! If you did get drawn, you only have 3 days to confirm your mailing address. Hopefully they come out with those glossy Celebration Model winners soon!

I'm also seeing that people are already getting some of their special runs clawed back by Breyer - they must really be gung-ho about it if they're already going through people's orders so soon. The thought is that people that took advantage of ordering 3 or more models per ticket on Friday hosed everything up for the rest of the weekend, and some innocent people are getting caught in the crossfire? I'm not really sure what exactly is going on, because we haven't gotten any statements from Breyer about it yet. Hopefully that gets cleared up tomorrow.

Well, that's about all I have for Virtual Breyerfest news. I'm sure tomorrow the Breyerfest Blues will set in like they do every year...

Virtual Breyerfest Day 2: Not Much Better

Well, day 2 of Virtual Breyerfest is over....and while I wish I could say things went better today, there's wasn't a whole lot of difference from yesterday. I guess the live feeds mostly worked, from what little I managed to see of them? I did watch the prerecorded evening show, and that was pretty cool.

Unfortunately, people still had a lot of issues with getting the store to work - this time, the website kept freezing up at the checkout, along with yesterday's problems of models getting yanked out of carts before people could finish paying for them. The special run times went mostly smoothly until the end of the day, when another issue cropped up that was so bad Breyer had to stop those sales completely to fix it. Hopefully they'll have that under control by tomorrow morning...

I had other plans today, and since I'd already gotten the store stuff I wanted, I hopped on this morning to preorder the glossy Cheesecake and Topgun, and...wow! All three of them look amazing in gloss:

Too bad we have to wait until December to get them. But doesn't Cheesecake look scrumptious in gloss? I'll tell you one thing - all this talk about Cheesecake is making me hungry for cheesecake. Mmm.

Anyway, we got a couple of other fun reveals today too - check out this year's second Premier Club model!

He'll be some type of Appaloosa (according to the sneak peek photo we got ages ago), so I'm excited to see what that looks like...but honestly, I'm not really all that enamored with him. I hope he doesn't end up squashed through the chest like so many new sculpts have lately. I guess I'll wait until I see him with clothes before I make my final judgement, but...ehh, I don't know.

On other exciting news, we have three possible paint jobs for the new Stablemates Club mold!



These are all just possibilities - I'm guessing we'll find out which one they went with tomorrow.

Still no sign of the next web special for this year, or the next Collector Club special run, which they usually reveal at Breyerfest. I hope we get more exciting things tomorrow!

Virtual Breyerfest Day 1 Addendum: Okay, That Helps A Lot

Per my previous post about today's epic disaster, see this blog post! Among other things, the store "trips" are being done away with! And they're adding preorders for glossy versions of the three store specials (Benelli, Cheesecake and Topgun)! Darn it Breyer, stop finding ways to steal more of my money! But...take ALL my money! This will soothe a lot of ruffled feathers for sure. It looks like anyone can preorder these glossies, even people that already bought the three store specials, and they'll be shipped in December.

Also, tomorrow's special run lines will start on time again tomorrow, so they must have been able to figure out whatever was wrong with the website. Huzzah! I can't wait for tomorrow!

Virtual Breyerfest Day 1: A Disaster of Epic Proportions

Well, Virtual Breyerfest Day 1 is over, and...well, let's just say there are a lot of frustrated people out there. I knew it was a bad sign when the Artisan's Gallery portion of the website didn't go up as scheduled, but...I didn't think it would be this bad, for this long. The website has been glitchy all day, and all of the special run ticket times ended up being delayed by two hours. That, along with store specials being yanked out of people's carts within seconds of being added, all day long, makes for a long day of attempted pony-buying.

I had two tickets for today, and was able to get a Slainte Surprise and Brighid/Beltane on my first ticket. The wait for those wasn't too bad...but then I had to wait more than 3 hours after my second ticket time of the day before those models became available. I got another Slainte Surprise and an Ash! I hope I have good luck the rest of the weekend.

But at least there are some fun new reveals I can show you - like the latest Collector Club vote option!

One of the above four models will be a Collector Club special run next year...and everyone that votes will be entered into a drawing to win one of the test models! Presumably one of the three that don't win. They're all pretty nice, but for me the Carrick wins out over the Adios. It would be super-cool to win a test, too!

In other reveals, we have our Premier Club Stablemate for this year:



A new Haflinger by Brigitte Eberl! Yay! I love him already. But what color will he be? Here are the possibilities:

So these are the three colors for this year's Premier Club models. Yay, we're getting another splash pinto! I can't wait to find out what's next. I suppose the buckskin would be the closest-ish to a real Haflinger color, and it looks really nice in the mockup, but I like the splash pinto option too. We won't find out what option they picked until, uh...sometime in the future. Hopefully before the end of Breyerfest, but who knows for sure.

And, we got a reveal of this year's new Stablemates Club mold!



Holy crap - my eyes! The beefcake! Ahhh!

Well, anyway, he (she?) looks insanely detailed, but that's way too much beefcake for me. Mine will be for sale!

Let's hope they get all these issues figured out by tomorrow - I did manage to snag all of the store items I wanted (Cheesecake, Topgun and the Stablemate set)- but I'll be attempting to get a SM set for a Blabber tomorrow, so hopefully they get things straightened out by then. Not a good start, Breyer...

Live auction venue change!

Exciting news for potential auction bidders...the live auction is no longer taking place on eBay! Saturday's auction items can be found here, and Sunday's are here. I hope things work out smoothly, though I'm wondering why they changed the venue this late in the game. Maybe eBay would have made them reveal what the Surprise model is? And why are they so dead-set on not revealing it? I know it's a closely guarded secret, on par with sneaking into Fort Knox or Area 51, but...I don't see the issue with revealing it a few hours earlier than it's normally revealed every year, and people want to know what they're buying. I guess I'm just not getting it.

In other news, I just wanted to remind everyone that all of the weekend's festivities are happening in the Eastern time zone, so if you're not in that time zone, don't forget to convert the times to whatever zone you're in, especially for the special run tickets!

Also, it appears that the Celebration Horses and Single-Day Stablemates are already shipping out, as people have been posting photos of them in hand! Huzzah! I'm not sure if mine have been shipped yet, but I hope they get here soon!

Apparition is available now, and Breyerfest program and coupon code!

Hello, readers! We're only three days away from the start of Breyerfest (no program, schedule, or other important information you'd think we would have by now)...but at least we got this coupon code! Three-day ticket holders should check their email for a code to save $10 on a Breyerfest merch purchase of $10 or more! Here's the code: 3DAYSWAG10! The email is unclear on whether this can be used on actual models or just on the swag itself (T-shirts, etc). I guess we'll find out on Friday!

In other news, this year's Halloween model, Apparition, is now available through the Breyer website! Here he is, in case you forgot what he looks like:



Be sure to snag him before he's gone!

EDIT: I stand corrected! The program has been posted! See it here! A glossy Carter is one of the auction lots! There's an auction lot of glossy celebration models from 2016-2019! And check out those auction models! Ugh, the Cleveland Bay is one of them...there goes my surprise guess. But if those are all the auction models (there don't seem to be enough of them...), who could it be? A lot of people think it's Bobby Jo - could it be her? I really don't think it's Croi, since she's a single-day Stablemate. I think at this point I'm changing my guess to Bobby Jo and calling it a day. Also, there's an In-Between Mare auction model! I suppose that shouldn't be a surprise either.