Program and Clarion update!

 Greetings, readers! Well, I'll get the biggest news out of the way first. This message was posted to various Facebook groups today:

It appears that room sales at the Clarion will end after this year. I can't say I'm completely surprised by this news - the hotel has been dealing with people's trash, stolen items, damage to the building, etc. for years, and allowing that many people into the building at once has to be a fire code violation. It's a pretty huge change, though - many of us can't imagine Breyerfest without room sales. I don't know if I want to get my hopes up about room sales anywhere else, either - I doubt there are many hotels/convention centers in Lexington that would want the hassle of room sales. It looks like this may be the end, sadly. But let's hope Breyer can figure something out with another host hotel; many people depend on those sales to pay for the trip, myself included, so maybe someone will come up with an alternative.

Anyway, now that that unfortunate news is out of the way...the Breyerfest program was released today! Feast your eyes here. And with the program comes the reveal of the raffle models!

So that means Bobby Jo won't be the surprise. I still think it's going to be Vermeer unless he shows up as an auction model. The colors on these are pretty, but I don't need either of them, luckily. Maybe I'll win one and then be able to trade it for something? 

Also, the silent auction lots were revealed! Well, some of them, anyway:

Looks like our bird-loving friend at Breyer has struck again - that Fireheart is a cassowary-themed custom. Looks interesting, though the tail is a bit confusing. I'll have to take a close-up look at it. I screenshotted the whole list of models because one of the lots is a "Test Jumbo Horatio" - which mean it's this guy! The full-size version of Horatio that was used for the photo shoots. We knew it was him because he has the normal tail, not the altered tail that the actual mini has. And just below that is a test Springtime Filly! I've never been a fan of Camilla, but I'll be interested to see this one. 

And the last of the program reveals is the next Collector Club special run! Behold, Guillermo: 

Nothing I need, but the color is pretty! 

That's it for today! Hope we get some more auction reveals soon! There were a few pages missing from the program PDF...

More Breyerfest stuff and the next Stablemates Club model!

 We have another Breyerfest silent auction reveal! Take a look: 

The original Halla was given a modern update for this release. This is noteworthy because the original Halla mold was destroyed when it was altered to become Bolya back in the early '90s. So, they do still have some remaining whiteware from that mold! 

It was announced today that virtual Breyerfest attendees will be able to purchase special run models after all - they must really not have sold as many tickets as they thought. Virtual attendees will only be able to purchase one model rather than two (and I'm not sure if that's one model per virtual ticket or one model per account). I guess we'll find out more about that later...

And in other news, the third Stablemates Club release of the year, Shelburne, is now available for purchase! 

So far I'm 0/3 for SMC releases I actually want to keep this year. At least I managed to sell mine already, unlike poor Phineas. Hopefully I can unload that one at Breyerfest, which is (gulp) only a month away! When did that happen? I'm getting more excited by the day! Hey, they should start releasing auction models soon, right? Well, let's hope so, anyway. 

Oops, missed a few things

 Well, I didn't get a chance to blog about the end of the Collector Club Appreciation event, among other things - we were traveling back from New Zealand over the weekend, so I didn't have much spare time for blogging. But never fear! I'm here now. 

So anyway, these were the four Collector Club Appreciation glossies! 

I was immensely relieved to see Marc of Charm was not among them. Of course, that probably means he'll be a Breyerfest Live prize instead. Well, let's try to stay positive here. I'm hoping to get the Theo and Omega Fahim from my two orders, and will be looking to trade for them if I don't. Here's hoping! 

Next, there was a new hint on the Breyerfest Blog on Friday, and we got the reveal today! Behold:

It's the Breyerfest Live Reserve Champion prize! Her name is Hildegard. What a beauty, huh? Nothing I need, but she sure is pretty. I like the contrast of her white tail against the rest of her. 

And lastly, we have a silent auction lot reveal as well! 

This cute set is a reference to the Bremen Town Musicians story. They're adorable! I wonder if they're permanently attached to each other? This is the first time the Breyer donkey has seen the light of day in ages, and the color fits him pretty well. 

There was one other silent auction reveal last week, but it wasn't anything we haven't seen before - just a full set of the alternate-color models from Breyerfest 2021. Hmm, maybe those things weren't as randomly-shipped as we thought? Heh. 

That's all I have for today - hopefully we get some more fun reveals this week! 

Featured Model - 12/12/2020, Glossy Chalky White Marwari

 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...the glossy chalky white Marwari from the Breyerfest 2017 silent auction! 

This handsome model was a OOAK on the Marwari mold sculpted by Brigitte Eberl. As mentioned above, he was part of the Breyerfest 2017 silent auction and came with a costume made by Didi Hornberger (I think). 

Sigh...there's just something about a white horse, isn't there? Plus he's glossy to boot! Another model to die for. The Marwari just looks so good in white! He looks a tad bit pearly, too - that makes his paint job a little more interesting than just plain white. 

As for the Marwari, I feel like he's a slightly neglected mold - he's had a number of auction appearances, but only one regular run and a small handful of special runs. Give us a new Marwari! I suppose the slightly-older, slightly-less-popular molds like him tend to slip under the radar when the new hotness comes out. Maybe next year he'll get a web special or something - though I don't think the Khalid release was terribly popular, so that doesn't bode well for new releases in the future. I can still hope, though! 

Premier Club sneak peek and silent auction Valegro!

Finally, a clue as to the second Premier Club release of the year! Breyer posted a portion of a sketch on the Premier Club Blog (probably never to be updated again) today!



Ooh, it looks like a Saddlebred! Breyer is definitely overdue for a new Trad Saddlebred, although it might be a little bit weird to get one in pretty much the same pose as last year's Classic Mason. Maybe it's a TWH? I might be able to get behind that, or a Morgan. Saddlebred is definitely my first choice, though! Good thing we only have to wait a week or so to see it, eh?

In other news, photos of one of the Breyerfest silent auction lots went up on the Breyerfest Blog today!



Ooh, a glossy black Valegro! He'll go high, although I kinda wish they'd found a different stand to put him on. Black horse, black stand, not enough contrast. Speaking of contrast, I think he needs a little white - maybe a snip or a small star, Friesian-style.

His costume is amazing, though!

Created by the amazing Didi Hornberger, who made last year's racing tack set for the OOAK Carrick in the silent auction. So how much will this set sell for? I'm guessing at least $3,000 - possibly more, since Valegro is a popular mold. More importantly, this knocks Valegro out of the running for this year's surprise model. It's looking more and more like the Moody Andalusian is the way to go this year, and if that's the case I hope the volunteer model is something I don't want, so I don't have to try to get both!

Silent Auction lot revealed!

So this was an exciting addition to the Breyerfest Blog on Friday - one of the Breyerfest silent auction lots was revealed. Behold!



Okay, normally I'm not really into tack on models, but...I LOVE THIS. I love it! There's so much detail, and I love the little flowers! And that test Carrick is to die for. He looks very similar to the test that appeared on the cover of JAH a few years back, but he's definitely not the same model - the socks are different. I wouldn't say no to that as a regular run!

I can't wait to see this set up close at Breyerfest. Didi Hornberger really knocked it out of the park this time! I bet he'll go really, really high in the silent auction. I hope we get to see more lots soon! 

The Breyerfest 2017 App is now available!

...for iOS. Hopefully the Android one is available soon! There's lots of fun stuff to look at in the app, but my eye was immediately drawn toward the Silent Auction tab. Lots of things in there that we haven't seen before! Behold:

 

Sorry the images are so tiny. There's a lot to unpack there - namely, the Bird of Paradise test model (he's glossy!) and the glossy Rainier (grr...). But Lot 1 looks like it'll be interesting as well - presumably the test model will be on the Marwari. Can't wait to see that!

The Bird of Paradise is certainly interesting, Toucan Sam comparisons notwithstanding. I like that he's glossy. I wonder if he was a test for last year's Estrela do Carnaval? I'm kind of surprised they went with the design they did - usually they go for the least complicated paint job, and Bird of Paradise doesn't look anywhere near as complicated as Estrela, since he doesn't have all those decals. Not that I'm complaining - my only nitpick with Estrela was that the brown color could have been, like...metallic blue or purple or something and it would have looked a lot better.

As for the glossy Rainier...Grr, I say! That's the kind of thing I'd rather see randomly slipped out into the regular models being mailed - I'll never be able to afford that in the silent auction and I'm sure the mold's popularity will lead to a fistfight or two at closing time. Best to stay far away from that mess.

Here are some of the other silent auction lots:



I didn't look closely enough at first, but the Nugget and Lil' Ricky Rocker models in those gift baskets are glossy. Cool! And check out lot 10 - a glossy Nazruddin, fancy saddle blanket and....A SAFARI TRIP FOR TWO IN INDIA? Holy crap! Usually those gift baskets are just horse-related swag. I suppose you have to plan and pay for the actual trip to India yourself, though. Still, that's a pretty cool prize. There's also the usual things like the Design Your Own Breyer, the Breyerfest vendor pack, a full set of the Bollywood Surprise models, and Tikka and Masala (together!). Those will be spendy, I'm sure.

So it looks like there's going to be a ton of glossy stuff in the silent auction this year! I can't wait to see everything myself.