CCA returns, and the last of my Breyerfest models!

 Good news, everyone! I had a feeling something was going to happen today, and something did - the Collector Club Appreciation event returns! 

I actually ordered some merchandise this time since I haven't bought any pins lately. Hopefully I get a glossy Riptide this time! 

And in other news, my last Breyerfest models for this year finally arrived! (I waited a while to have them shipped here so I could combine them with other stuff) Behold, it's the matte Oseberg I got from the second chance sale: 

And my Uff Da:

And I was lucky enough to get both colors of Hygge:

I like how the pink one still has a dorsal stripe! 

And let's not forget the Mr. Shining Gun I ordered on Breyerfest morning:

Side note: I like his color, but the speckles in his paint job are so tiny they legit look like dust stuck in his finish, and I spent longer than I probably should have trying to rub them off. 

Lastly, here's the mini Spectre I got from a friend!  

Another view:

I love his little ghosts! So cute. 

So now I get to wait and see if I get a glossy Riptide with the CCA sale. Good luck to everyone ordering! I hope everyone gets what they're looking for! 

New Arrivals: Flinka, Vindur and Ojvind

 Greetings, readers! Well, Breyerfest is over for another year, and you know what that means - time for some New Arrivals! Today we'll be looking at Flinka, the Celebration Model, and her friends Vindur from Dalalif and Ojvind. Flinka, Vindur and Ojvind. Doesn't that kinda sound like Breyer's version of the Three Stooges? Or Winken, Blinken and Nod? Huh. Well, anyway...

I love the soft color on this one! She's so pretty. I didn't notice any terribly major quality issues with the Celebration Models this year - it helped that I had nine to choose from. The planted back foot/leg did seem to be warped on some of them, but I don't know if it affected their stability any - I picked one that wasn't as warped and she seems to stand okay. I'll definitely be adding the glossy one to my want list for the future. 

Next up is Vindur from Dalalif and his delightful floofy feets. Unfortunately, I'm realizing now that I didn't get to see Vindur and his floofy feets in person! He wasn't in his stall when I walked by the guest horse barn. Well, maybe he'll be a guest horse next year and I can see him then. Anyway, the model is very pretty! I really hope he sold well enough that they won't use him for the Breyermidwest glossy, because he'd be beautiful in gloss. He's one of my favorite models from the event. 

And lastly for today, it's Nod Ojvind! His mealy parts aren't as yellow in real life. I feel like the color makes him look a bit tubby? Or maybe he's just tubby anyway. Mealy bay isn't my favorite horse color, but it looks nice on him. Maybe this one will be the glossy Breyermidwest model? Guess we'll find out in a few months! 

Sneak peeks and Reykjavic!

 Well, there's another sneak peek on the blog today - check it out! 

The prevailing thought on the Interwebs is that this is some kind of Goffert, but I have no idea either way. Let's hope we don't have to wait too long to find out! 

There's also an announcement for this year's Best Customs Contest, with some much-needed updates to the rules (yay!). Unfortunately, there are also more dumb song titles as names for the prize models, so the less said about that, the better. 

In other exciting news, my Reykjavic model came today! Huzzah! 

What a beauty! He's not as yellow as he looks in the photos. 

He's basically flaw-free, too, which is great. A couple of minor issues, but nothing really bad.

I love his blue eyes, too! He's beautiful. 

On a small side note, it was announced today that all the tickets for Spokes and Spurs have been sold, so we can all stop obsessively checking our emails. Better luck next time, I guess.

Another SR reveal, and the first web special of the year!

 Well, we have our reveal of yesterday's mysterious eye - say hello to Survivor and Fighter! 

Ooh, what a pretty pair! And technically they still have pop songs for names, but at least they're shorter and not pulled directly from song lyrics. 

More importantly, I love the rich bay color on the mare! The foal actually looks like she started out darker and will gray out over time, which isn't always the case with Breyer's foal colors. They're great! Hope I can get my hands on them. 

In other exciting news, we have a new theme for web specials! Our new theme is Exotic Destinations, and here's the first entry in the series! 

Hubba hubba! What a handsome boy. I gotta have him! They made 600 of these guys, so let's hope my luck is in and I get drawn, since I lost out on Spokes and Spurs. Good luck to everyone entering! 

New Arrivals: Zeitgeist, Rhenish Draft and....

 Greetings everyone! Welcome to my last New Arrivals post for this year's Breyerfest. Tomorrow (if nothing else exciting happens) I'll get started on Breyerfest Closeups! Can't wait. Anyway, I'll start this off with Zeitgeist, this year's volunteer model:

Photos definitely don't do this beautiful girl justice, and I'm really happy I was able to find one for a good price. She's one of my favorites from the whole trip. One of these days I should get a photo of her with Lafayette, because they'd make a great pair. 

Next, here's my matte Rhenish Draft: 

Both of the Rhenish Drafts I ordered turned out to be matte -sigh. Another glossy to put on my list to track down later. I do really like this color on him, though, despite the fact that blond sorrel is really not one of my favorite colors, at all. It suits him really well, though. 

Now it's time for the last New Arrival. I debated about posting about this guy because, well, he cost a lot of money and I don't like to brag. But this may have been my last chance to bring home a model like this, because I may not return to in-person Breyerfest, or any Breyer collector events, for the foreseeable future, for reasons I'm not ready to discuss yet (nothing bad, just planning for the future). So I decided to splurge a bit, pay the most I've ever paid for a model, and bring home...this guy. 

It has been one of my goals to acquire at least one OOAK model for my collection for a few years now, and I finally managed it - this is the Sun-faded Bay Icelandic Horse from this year's Live Auction. Of course, I would have preferred to do it back in 2019 before the prices went insane, but that's just how it goes, I guess. The auction itself was pretty surreal - I was considering bidding on the Andalusian, but just couldn't justify paying that amount of money for a model with a relatively plain paint job. Then, the next few models after that one started selling for far higher amounts, and I started to freak out, thinking they all were going to go that high and I'd missed my chance to even get one. But, I had suspected the Icelandic's price would stay lower, since the mold is slightly less popular and he wasn't glossy, and I was right - so I jumped in, bid on him and won. And now I can stay far, far away from any future Breyerfest Live auctions! Or least from the bidder number registration table. After getting him in hand, one of the things I found interesting about him is that he has some texture to his paint job - my other Icelandics are pretty smooth, but not this guy. I also really like how stripey his mane and tail are. 

Anyway, that brings me to the end of New Arrivals for this year. I'll add that I thought the quality control was pretty good this year - all of the models I looked at up close had few to no flaws, except for my Rhenish Drafts, who both had some minor factory flaws and very mild shipping damage. However, I haven't looked very closely at my Nikolas models yet (the Celebration Horses are often rather...lacking in the quality department). So it's entirely possible that those got the short end of the stick again. 

In other news, emails for Peregrine have gone out! If you haven't received anything, don't give up quite yet - check and see if he's listed on your Collector Club homepage, as sometimes the emails never arrive but you were still drawn to buy him. Looks like I wasn't drawn this time, again (grumble grumble), but I guess there's always hope for the wait list. Congrats to all the lucky winners! 

Breyerfest Program, Auction Lots and Raffle Models, Oh My!

 I've used that joke for a headline before, but I don't care. It was definitely an "Oh, my!" type of day, Breyer-wise. I'll start with the biggest news: the program is finally available! Sadly, we didn't get an epic every-auction-lot-ever accidental reveal like we did that one year (2014, I think), but it did have all that important information about Breyerfest we've been waiting for, plus...the reveal of this year's raffle models! Check them out: 

Lederhosen, on Troubadour, and Dirndl on the new Zafirah mold! I'll hold back any gripes about them using Premier Club models as raffle models the same year they debut (grumble) since it doesn't seem to change much. Though it was refreshing to have that not happen for at least the last two years. They're both beautiful! It does look like they've raised prices on the raffle tickets for some reason - maybe they're hoping slightly fewer will sell, since those raffle drums get pretty full. But it's exciting to finally see the raffle models! Good that they've been revealed earlier than last year's - that wait felt like it took wayyyyy too long. But anyway. We got three more auction models today as well! 

Be still, my heart. This is a "sun-faded bay pinto with somatic mutation" Icelandic. What a stunner! I bet he'll go pretty high. 

Ooh, a Missouri Fox Trotter as a "chalky shaded dun with two-tone green ribbons." You know, if you squint a little, he kinda-sorta looks like a big version of the Stablemate MFT that was in the 70th Anniversary blind bags (yes, I know that one was gray). 

And lastly, a "sunbleached bay frame overo mare and baby buckskin foal." Sheesh, these models must be spending a lot of time in the sun! Har har har, I'm so funny. Interestingly, while I'm still not a fan of the mare...if they came out with a release of that foal just by himself, or with another foal? I might actually buy it. I didn't want the Firefly and Hawkeye set purely because the mare just doesn't do anything for me, but the foal is another story. Kinda the opposite of Rhian and Cadell for me, really. Well, maybe at Breyerfest I'll find someone selling a Hawkeye I can inspect up close, eh? 

That's all I have for today - but maybe my Breyerfest tickets will come tomorrow! I hope so! Hurry up, mail! 

The plot thickens (again!)

 We have...a Friday raffle model! Say hello to Muybridge! 

From the blog: 

Our Muybridge for this year’s BreyerFest Friday raffle pays homage to Muybridge’s Horse in Motion. Done on the Icelandic (mold # 729), sculpted by Kathleen Moody, this handsome boy has been done as a beautiful silver black splash with blue eyes. We know this guy will add some dynamic movement to your herd!

All I can say is...wow! 

 

This guy is stunning! Crossing all my fingers that I win one! 

So I guess we're getting three raffle models this year? Friday, Saturday and Sunday? That would be fun. I wonder if they're going to continue this for future Breyerfests, or if it's a temporary change to make up for not having an Early Bird raffle? Either way, exciting! 

There's also a reveal of some of the live auction lots on the blog: 

These are all items that would usually show up in the silent auction. Hngh...that Best Customs set is stunning too. 

Interesting that it says a full set of Seven Arts Surprise. Are they really doing seven colors? I really hope not...but a full set implies matte and glossy...for a total of 14 models? What a crazy year. Well, now I'm really excited to see the program on Thursday! 

New sneak peek? Finally, a raffle model?

 Good news, everyone - it looks like maybe we are getting raffle models this year! Check out this sneak peek on the blog:

My immediate assumption was that it's a Fireheart, since they like to do raffle models on these brand-new molds, but more astute people on the Internets have concluded that it's the Icelandic/Falhofnir. To which I say: sure! Looks like some type of silver black, like one of last year's Slainte Surprise models. And we get to see what it is tomorrow! 

The post also says this year's Breyerfest program will go live on July 1. Huzzah! I can't wait to see it! They're also doing a printed version this year, which is nice, but we have to buy it, which isn't so nice...bleh. Let's hope they don't cost much. Makes me wish they could do a limited number of 2020 programs as well, so the collectors could keep their collections complete. I mean, I could print my own at home (still trying to find paper that would work for that), but it would be a lot easier if we could buy those from Breyer as well...oh well. 

New year, new announcements!

 Hello, readers! There have been a lot of new reveals and announcements today - I'll start with the new Breyerfest Celebration Horse/ Model! Say hello to Danash's Northern Tempest, or Dani! 

And here's her model!

My reaction: WOW. This is a much more appropriate choice for Celebration Horse, and the model is amazing! Look at all those details! This may be the best Celebration Model Breyer has ever done! Too bad I don't collect True North...and can you imagine how much the glossy ones will be worth? Holy crap! I hope they give away a few more of them this year...well, anyway. 

On to the sadder announcement...Breyerfest 2021 is officially virtual again this year. While I'm not surprised the decision was made, it's still sad to know we won't be gathering in Kentucky this year. Let's hope Breyer can iron out some of the wrinkles from last year, eh? 

I do want to talk about the Kentucky Horse Park, though. The past year has been hard on all of us, and the KHP is no exception. Since we won't be traveling to Kentucky this year, I think it would be a very good thing if collectors would take some of the money they would have spent on this year's trip and donate it to the KHP. Here's their donations page - you can pick from a number of different areas your donation goes toward. I'm not sure how much, or any, funding the KHP gets from the Kentucky government, or whether they're eligible for any of the business loans from the federal government - and we all know the KHP needs all the help it can get anyway. I've asked Breyer to make the KHP one of the Breyerfest beneficiaries in the past, but it never seems to happen. I hope collectors can help the KHP survive! 

And lastly, the Coal model for this year's Christmas event has been revealed! I don't have a photo I can use yet, but as I suspected, it's not a black Icelandic - they used the Galiceno. It makes sense that they would use a different mold since we've already had a glossy black Icelandic (two, if you count the auction model from 2014), and they were probably angling for a mold that would have the same or similar size and weight to the Icelandic, so I can see why they picked it. My Jol models aren't scheduled to arrive until Wednesday/Thursday, so I'll be waiting until then to see what I got! 

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night...

 Greetings, readers! I hope everyone had a good Christmas - I certainly did. Check out this year's Christmas morning surprise! 

That's right - snowy clearware Icelandic Horses! Fun stuff! At first I wasn't that impressed with them, but on looking at the photos a little closer, they do have a little more detail than I thought - I like the blue snowflakes on the otherwise clear one, plus they look like they're covered in tiny snowflakes or water droplets. 

As per usual for the last few years, there's also a chance you'll receive a glossy black "Coal" variant, though I wish they'd given it a different name like they did with Licorice last year. Onyx probably would have worked, or Obsidian or something. Anyhoo, I did manage to order three of these since I collect the Icelandic, so I'm excited to see what they look like in person! (I wish they'd included a photo of the black one...also, is the black one even the same mold as the rest of them? The wording makes it seem like it may be a totally different mold). Hopefully I get lucky and don't get any duplicate colors - I hope they get here soon! Merry Christmas, everyone! 

Featured Model - 4/14/2018, Elska

Hello and welcome to yet 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...Elska!



We're currently dealing with a snowpocalypse while I pack models for our upcoming move, so I thought I'd pick a wintry model. So, Elska it is!

This pretty girl was the Brick and Mortar special run from 2015, only available to dealers with an actual physical storefront, and prohibited from being sold online. She's item #1731 and also holds the distinction of being the (so-far) only female release on the Falhofnir/Icelandic mold sculpted by Kathleen Moody. At the time of her release, I still had a brick-and-mortar dealer within driving distance, but that's no longer the case - so I just have to hope future brick-and-mortar special runs are all on molds I don't like. 

This model has the advantage of not only being a Moody mold, which I have a crippling weakness for, but she's also a dapple gray, which I also have a crippling weakness for. So, she had to join my collection! I love her soft dappling and the contrast between her light-colored body and darker legs.

The Icelandic mold has been rather lightly used since its first release in the Premier Club - he was a regular run briefly as Svali fra Tjorn and was the web special Honeysuckle in 2016. Other than last year's Early Bird heartbreak (still sad about that one), he just hasn't been used much. The Icelandic is doing the tolt gait, which is unique to the Icelandic breed, so he can't really be portrayed as anything else. That's the problem with molds that are too recognizable as one particular breed, like this one - lack of mold utility means it just doesn't get used as much.

I doubt he'll show up at Breyerfest this year, although they did somehow get away with using him as the Early Bird at a Breyerfest that otherwise had absolutely nothing to do with Icelandic horses, so they could always surprise us with him again. Maybe he'll be a web special again? Or another regular run? I'm sure he'll pop up somewhere eventually.

Featured Model - 3/4/2017, Falhofnir

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 victim is...Falhofnir!



This hairy, handsome fellow was the first release on the Icelandic Horse mold sculpted by Kathleen Moody. He was the second release in the 2014 Premier Club, and holds the distinction of being one of only two releases (so far) that could be ordered with a matte or glossy finish (the other being Carrick). About 750 were made of these, although I don't think Breyer has ever given an exact number, nor did they give us a breakdown of mattes vs. glossies.
I ordered the glossy one because it seemed like a no-brainer, but I still wonder if the glossies outnumber the mattes. Either way, I had to buy the matte version secondhand later on so the collection would be complete. Which was fine, because I sold Croi Damhsa sight unseen after her photos didn't wow me, so I still ended up with three 2014 Premier Club models.

Moody molds usually get a lot of flak for their general hairiness and poor biomechanics, but I actually don't see a lot of criticism of the Icelandic, other than his wasp waist. This may be because real Icelandics have ridiculous amounts of hair, so it's not like the model is exaggerating things at all; Moody probably could have gotten away with sculpting even more hair on him if she'd wanted to.

So far, the poor Icelandic hasn't had a lot of releases; after his original release, we've only seen three: Elska, the Honeysuckle web special and the regular run Svali fra Tjorn that joined the line last year. But now that he's in the regular lineup, it seems likely that we might see him used for other things; every year I'm perpetually surprised that he hasn't been used at Breyerfest yet. Maybe this year will be the year!

Edit: D'oh, I forgot about Sokkar. Well, maybe next year we'll get a more attainable Breyerfest Icelandic.

Christmas Sale items are here!

Greetings, readers! The models I ordered from Breyer's end-of-year sale are here. I ordered Sweet Pea, Bryants Jake and Svali Fra Tjorn. So, without further ado, here they are!

First, Sweet Pea:



That looks like a rub on her right shoulder, but it's just glare from the overhead lights. I don't believe Amber has been done in this shade of gray before - I really like her. She's cute! I don't really go for accessories, though, so those stayed in the box. Maybe I'll try to unload them at Breyerfest or something.

Next, Bryants Jake:



This model was supposed to have been released earlier in 2016 (beginning of the year?) but was delayed due to unspecified quality issues. This is a mold that started out as a mare, so my guess would be they had issues with adding the proper "parts" to the mold. That or a paint issue, as that would be a fairly intricate stencil. (I'm somewhat amused that they added a sheath to the mold, but didn't go all the way and give it testicles as well. That worked for Kong the gelding; not so much for Jake the stallion.) My only nitpick with this one was the color of the tail ribbons - they couldn't pick a color that didn't clash with the tail color? Oh man, this just came to me - how awesome would it have been if they'd put Wintersong's tail on this release, since the real horse's tail is so long? That would have been the best! Oh, well.  I don't have very many Wixoms due to how big they are, but I do happen to have room for this one on my shelf. Looking forward to seeing him at Breyerfest this year!

And lastly, Svali fra Tjorn:



I was excited when we first heard about this guy - finally, a regular run Icelandic! He hasn't been used a whole lot since his debut in 2014 (although I'll admit I thought we'd see him as a Breyerfest store special first). His color is nice, although confusing - is he buckskin or bay? Either way, he's pretty. I'd prefer that he had some white on his feet, but since this is a portrait model, I'll just have to live with it.

Happily, none of these models had box issues! Huzzah! There's hope for Breyer's QC yet.

Breyerfest Tickets Available Now!

Greetings, all! I hope everyone had a good New Year's. Mine just got a whole lot better - Breyerfest 2017 tickets are now available! You know what that means - the unveiling of special runs! First off, the Celebration Horse, Nazruddin:

So it looks like he's keeping his original mane and tail. Exciting! I like what I can see of him - can't wait to add him to the collection!

Unfortunately, the only other model that's been revealed thus far was the Early Bird raffle model - a luscious glossy black Icelandic named Sokkar:



My initial reaction to this was, "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Because I want him, badly. Oh, so badly. I haven't wanted an early bird raffle this much since Alegria in 2014. I need him. Ugh. I'll be crossing all of my fingers and toes at the Saturday raffle, I can tell you that right now.

So, that's all we've been shown thus far - am I off base in thinking they usually show us one of the regular raffle models at this time, too? Bleh. Darn Breyer and keeping their secrets so secret. I hope they reveal it soon.

Other tidbits on the website are the "Bollywood Bash" costume contest and the "Gateway to India" diorama contest. I have to admit I have some reservations about this whole theme. I can see a whole host of ways the costume contest - and this Breyerfest theme, in general - could go wrong, with regards to cultural appropriation and stereotypes and...I kind of don't want to go anywhere near that. Which is bad, because I actually thought about trying the costume contest again to try to win a glossy Nazruddin. Let's hope Breyer puts a little more thought into the special run names - Mamacita and Chico and Sheila were particularly cringeworthy choices last year.

(I tried to look up Sokkar on Google, but couldn't find much. Anyone know what it refers to? Is it a common surname in India?)

We'll have to wait and see what Breyer has planned this year. Let's hope they can pull it off!