A new test model!

 Greetings, readers! Well, there's a new test model for Collector Club members to enter to purchase - check her out! 

This model is absolutely beautiful! I'm almost sad I sold my Giselles. She has so much detail in her paint job! Good luck to everyone entering! The entry deadline is 10/8, and she costs $1500 if you're drawn. Better get those entries in before the deadline! 

In other news, it looks like the 2027 Breyerfest Celebration Horse may be announced soon- Kimber Goodwin recently posted about flying to Italy for something Breyerfest-related, as did another Breyer employee shortly afterward. Exciting! 

And lastly, the Deluxe Collector Club Stablemate was briefly revealed yesterday - it's apparently a dapple gray mini Brishen, with an option to add purple-tipped wings. Must have been an accidental release, as it disappeared shortly afterward (according to the Blabber who posted about it). His name is Petrichor. Can't wait to see him! 

Yeah, nah

 Exciting news, readers! There's another test run model for Collector Club members to enter for! Let's check him out: 

He's pretty plain for something with a $1200 price tag. But every regular run release starts somewhere, I guess. From the email:

The Pacer (mold #46) was Breyer’s first representation of a racing Standardbred. As his name implies, he depicts the breed’s distinctive lateral “pace” gait that some, but not all, Standardbreds race at. He is decorated as a simple but elegant liver chestnut with three socks and a complimentary forest green halter. This test run piece likely dates to the 1990s or very early 2000s.

I don't need this one, but good luck to everyone entering! 

New test model!

 Exciting news, readers! There’s a new test run model for Collector Club members to enter for!

Forever Saige? One of my favorite new molds from the last 11 years? Don’t mind if I do! The color is a little strange, but cool-looking nonetheless. Good luck to everyone entering…though I’m crossing my fingers that I win! 

New test model and 2026 Stablemates Club reveal!

 Greetings, readers! We’re sitting in the airport with a little more than an hour until our flight leaves, so it seemed like a good time to write a quick blog post. I’ll start with today’s reveal of the new mold for the 2026 Stablemates Club!

Looks promising, but I’ll withhold judgement until I see the plant job. 

Today’s other reveal is that there’s a new test run to enter for!

It’s a beautiful bay Lady Roxana! Nothing I need, but her color is pretty! Good luck to everyone entering. 

That’s it for now. Not sure when I’ll have time to post again - probably sometime after we land in New Zealand. It’s going to be a long next few days!

Collector Club test model and Breyerfest ticket selections!

 Exciting news today, readers! Firstly, the ticket selection emails went out from ShowClix today, so (hopefully) everyone got to see which specials runs they were selected to be able to buy at this year's Breyerfest! Sheesh, that was kind of a wordy sentence. Oh well. I hope everyone gets the models they wanted! 

In other news, there's also a new test model to enter for on the Breyer website! 

He's a pretty fleabitten gray! Nothing I need now that I've sold off most of my show jumpers - if I get drawn, I'll be trying to sell or trade him. Good luck to everyone entering! 

There's also another auction model listed on Bidspirit! It's a Western Horse! 

I should have known there would be a Western Horse, since it's the 75th Anniversary after all. There are also photos of the raffle models - they're both glossy! Huzzah! 

Finally, something to post about!

 Wow, I finally have something new to post about on the Breyer front! Collector Club members can enter for a chance to purchase a new (old) test run model! 

If you're a Collector Club member, check your email for more information. It's a palomino Classic Andalusian Stallion! From the webpage:

 The Andalusian Stallion (mold #3060ST), sculpted by Chris Hess, captures this romantic Spanish breed with a billowing mane and tail and timeless elegance. The actual production tool is in delicate condition and used sparingly if at all today.  One colorway that he was never released in is this golden palomino with one hind sock and a wide blaze – this piece likely dates to the late 1990s or early 2000s and was ultimately never used.

Huh. They don't usually give us updates on the condition of their molds, but come to think of it, we haven't seen a new release on this mold for a while. Going by IDYB, it hasn't been used since 2014. I guess this explains it! The model itself is kinda blah to me, but would make a nice addition to any vintage collector's...collection. He's $800, which is a bit steep for a Classic, but probably in line with other Classic tests (which we almost never see for some reason). Members have until 9/15 to enter for him, so don't miss out!  

Breyerfest tickets and new Test runs!

 Amazing news today, readers - Breyerfest tickets are finally available for purchase! Find them here. But be sure you buy the exact tickets you want, because there aren't any refunds. If you're a parent who isn't interested in special run models, buy General Admission tickets for yourself and VIP/All Access for your horse-crazy kids. If you can't come in person, buy an online ticket, not an All-Access or VIP ticket, because the tickets are digital this year and anyone you transfer them to is taking the risk that you won't use the QR codes yourself before they can (not saying anyone would, but that's the risk with transferring tickets to other people this year). 

I did grab a VIP ticket on the off chance that they sell out (not likely, but you never know), and secured Fight Song and Fighter and Survivor for myself, along with Just Like Fire and Gascon the Great. I hadn't realized it before, but since I don't need any of the other Limited Editions, this means I won't even need to visit the Breyer Store unless I want to. I probably will anyway to pick up whatever inevitable mid-year (or 2024 releases) I still need, but it's nice to have the option. 

While I'm glad we can finally buy the tickets, I was a little irked to see the $8 processing fee for the online tickets included in the ticket prices. Why are they making us pay the processing fee for something we didn't ask for? I don't mind that the tickets went digital (though I will miss the short-lived ticket books), but don't change this all up on us and then make US pay for your decision. 

Okay, rant over. Next on the news list: new Test Run models to enter for! This time there are two of them! 

There doesn't seem to be any backstory for why these have the same paint job. They're pretty, though! Nothing I need. They're priced at $1200, which is actually fairly reasonable - $600 each, which is probably roughly what they're worth. Merrylegs and Midnight Tango aren't the most popular models. The pattern does roughly resemble that of the original Midnight Tango, but with a bit more white on the back. Anyway, enter for them here. Good luck to everyone entering! I'm not interested in them myself, so at least you won't have me for competition! 

Another test run to enter for!

 Exciting news, readers - the last test model of 2023 is available to enter for! 

It's a very pretty chestnut on the Classic Black Beauty mold. What a looker! 

The price is still too high, considering Classics molds don't tend to sell for that much, especially older ones, but he'd still make a nice addition to someone's collection. Nothing I need, but good luck to everyone entering! 

Beebe Ranch Benefit Auction and a huge step forward for Breyer...

 Hmm, more news to report! How odd. It's almost like...things are happening? Weird, I know. Anyway, Breyer announced this eBay auction yesterday to raise funds for saving the Beebe Ranch:

A OOAK gold charm Misty and Stormy set? They'll go high. As of this writing the bidding is up to $7300. It ends tomorrow at noon, so if you want to bid (and have suitably deep pockets), don't miss out on this. It's good that they're doing a fundraiser like this, because while it would be nice for them to produce something 99% of the populace could afford to buy, production runs like that have to be planned many months in advance, and the Beebe Ranch only has until the end of this month to raise the funds. I do wish Breyer would match whatever price this set ends up going for so the ranch can get more funds, though. 

In other news, we got a pretty amazing announcement from Breyer today - they're phasing out the use of so much plastic in the Breyerfest special runs! They'll come wrapped in honeycomb packing paper, with more paper cushioning for ears and tails, with an outer paper wrapper, and only one plastic bag inside. This is great news! I always feel bad about the amount of plastic packing material that come with each model, even though I do reuse my bubble wrap wherever possible. I've seen some grumbling about increased risk of broken models, but Breyer's Facebook post specifically said multiple types of packaging were tested to make sure it could stand up to being shipped, so I'm not worried about shipping damage. Some people are taking this to mean the models won't be shipped in boxes at all, which...doesn't seem to be the case, and I'm not sure why they'd suddenly not be shipped in boxes anymore when that means you could end up with 10 packages going to somebody's house, rather than just one. As for broken models, I've seen several reports on Facebook and Blab that they've had multiple far more breakable things shipped in the honeycomb packaging with no ill effects, so I'm not going to worry about it. Yay for Breyer! 

Ooh, stunning!

 Good news, readers! There's a new test run available for Collector Club members to enter for! Well, I guess it is tax season, huh? Check this guy out! 

This may be the nicest one they've done yet - I don't remember one of these causing as much of a stir since the glossy black Semi-Rearing Mustang from a few years back. I don't collect Big Ben (anymore), but I'm entering for this one - I'd be interested in seeing what I could trade him for if I won. Side note - I don't think I'd really describe that color as rose gray due to his unfortunate tinge of yellow...but then, I'm not sure what I would call it instead. Oh well.  Good luck to everyone entering! 

Breyerfest crystal and a new test run!

 Well, readers, we have our Breyerfest crystal model! 

Well, that's something of a surprise - I don't think anyone was expecting Calliope to be converted to crystal. From the blog:

For this year’s celebration of BreyerFest: Driving Forward, we’ve created Phaeton, a stunning crystal version of Kathleen Moody’s American Saddlebred porcelain model Calliope, who will be a part of this year's Limited Edition model lineup. Though the original porcelain release was about the size of a Traditional model, this scaled-down version is about 5” tall and a perfect fit for your curio cabinet.

Nothing I need, thankfully. There's supposed to be another reveal tomorrow - maybe it'll be the plush? Or the single Stablemate? Or something else? Let's hope it's something exciting! 

We also have our first test model of the year! Collector Club members can enter for a chance to purchase this test run, on the Misty mold:

It's rare to see Misty in any color other than the Misty colorway, and I think this one looks pretty nice on her. Not nice enough to enter for her, though - I'm not a Misty fan, nor do I feel like spending $1,000 right now. The entry deadline is 1/26 at midnight, so don't waste any time entering if you want her. Good luck to everyone entering! 

A bear! A bear, all covered in hair! And other news.

 Finally, some news in this long drought of no-news-ness! Sorry, I'm too chronically-sleep-deprived to come up with a better term than that. But anyway - NEWS! First, Breyer has a new test run model for Collector Club members to enter for - and it's a BEAR! 

The paintjob is pretty detailed, really, but I guess it is a test model, after all. From the website:

For the first time ever, we’re offering up a non-equine test run model for one lucky Collector Club member to purchase! First introduced in 1967, the Bear was sculpted by Breyer’s in-house sculptor and tooling engineer, Chris Hess. The Bear is sometimes found with a Bear Cub, and other times released solo. This particular Bear is the latter, and is painted as a lovely, shaded brown with handpainted claws, likely dating to the early 2000s.

Handpainted claws! Nice. It's a little too expensive for me though, and I don't collect the animal molds anyway. Good luck to everyone entering! 

Our other exciting piece of news today is: the Classics gambler's choice model is finally in stock! Say hello (again) to Johann! 

 

They'll go up for sale tomorrow around 2pm EST. I'm not buying any of these either - so that's a few more for the other Collector Club members to buy! I'm sure they'll sell out fast, so don't dawdle about purchasing them. Good luck tomorrow, everyone! And let's hope we get some more exciting announcements soon! 

Featured Model - 7/30/2022, Flower Girl Test Wixom

 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...the Flower Girl Test Wixom! 

This model comes from the 2003 Breyerfest "Blast from the Past" which was, "a celebration of Breyer past and present." She was a OOAK produced on the Wixom mold sculpted by Donna Chaney. 

This particular model was famous (well, to us collectors, anyway) because she appeared on the cover of that year's Breyerfest program, though the more famous model was probably the tie-dye Rejoice on the old Breyerfest mailer that used to go out to JAH subscribers. I can't speak for other people, but my reaction upon seeing both of these models was, "WHOA!" I may have been the tender age of 17 at the time, but I, for one, definitely wasn't used to seeing such colorful models from Breyer. Maybe I'm remembering things wrong, but that's how it was for me, anyway. 

There are a lot of auction models out there that haven't really seen the light of day since they were sold all those years ago, and Flower Girl (and the tie-dye Rejoice) are two of them - does anyone know where they are? Sometimes these legendary models pop up at shows, but I don't show, so I don't really get much opportunity to see them. Maybe someday we'll see them again, I suppose. 

As for Wixom, she appeared as the web special Puffin last year, and I think it's entirely possible we see her show up at Breyerfest 2023, given the Driving Forward theme. Maybe she'll be the Celebration Model? A lot of people think Constantia will be the Celebration Model, but I don't think they'll use another brand-new model right after introducing the German Riding Pony mold this year, and I think Wixom would be a good candidate. I guess we'll find out soon enough! 

Featured Model - 4/17/2022, Black Pinto Test Adios

 Hello and welcome to another edition of Featured Model, the weekly blog event where I pick a model I don't own but  has an interesting history behind it, give some stats on it and provide commentary on it. This week's model is...the black pinto Mego Adios! 

This model was a OOAK produced on the Adios mold sculpted by Chris Hess. He was sold at the 1996 Breyerfest Live Auction. 

While he doesn't have that interesting of a history behind him, he's still an example of an alternate color scheme using an existing mask - the one that was used to produce Mego, the 1995 Breyerfest Celebration Horse. At that time Breyer was still using masks that clamped onto the models to paint their pinto patterns, and a lot of those masks got reused for other releases (see also Tseminole Wind and the bay pinto JCP Sham, amongst many others). I can see why they wanted to use the mask again - Mego looks especially striking in black! 

Adios has always been a popular mold, and he's one of the very few vintage molds that has a lot of representation in my herd (though I'm preparing to sell all of them this year, sadly). However, he's only had one appearance as a web special, back in 2009, so I'm wondering if he may get another web special release soon. I'd also expect to see him pop up in the Vintage Club again at some point, since molds have been used multiple times there and several vintage colors were never used on him - I'm still waiting for that glossy bay Yellow Mount to show up. Maybe someday? In the meantime, I'm prepping all 23 of my Adios models to go up for sale later this month, and contemplating keeping just one of them for nostalgia's sake - I don't really want to sell them, but shelf space and life changes demand a reduction in the collection - around 150 other models are slated to be culled as well. That's how it goes sometimes, I guess. Anyway, I hope Adios gets a new release soon - hmm, he's never been a TSC special run either, despite all of the "stock horse" releases he's gotten over the years, so we may see him there as well. Or perhaps as the Holiday Horse - the possibilites are endless! 

New test run and February Collector Club Newsletter!

 Well, first things first - there's a new test run up for entry on the Breyer website! Check him out: 

If you're lucky enough to get drawn for him, he can be yours for the low, low price of $1200! I suppose a price increase was inevitable, considering the sale prices some of the prior test runs they've offered. As for me...nah. I used to have some Cigars in my collection, but they got sold off for shelf space a long time ago, like so many others. I'm a bit curious why they aren't showing more angles of the model, though. Good luck to everyone entering! 

In other news, they've managed to put out the February collector club newsletter, and a few days early for once! Maybe this will be a new pattern. If you're a CC member, check your email to read it. There's a lot of fun info there, but most relevant to my interests is this sneak peek:

According to the hint, this is most probably another Birds of a Feather release - so they are continuing it after all! No idea what mold it is - it kinda looks like a Fell Pony butt, but she was a Berries Ponies web special in 2020, so it's probably not her. Hopefully we get to find out soon...

Also: Breyerwest is happening in Colorado this weekend, so if you're on Facebook, keep an eye out there for photos! There are photos of some of the Breyerfest special runs as well as a rainbow leopard Appaloosa Slainte Surprise test being sold off in the silent auction. Fun stuff! 

New test run and Black Friday sale!

I guess it's that time again, people - time for another test run to pop up for sale on the website! Check him out: 

He's a fleabitten gray test run on the Traditional Black Stallion Mold. Well, uh...he's cool and all, but I don't think he's $950 cool. Seems a bit steep for a mold that isn't terribly popular...but with the sky-high prices for auction and test models lately, who knows anymore. Maybe the resellers won't bother to enter for this one so the people who actually want him can have a chance at him. We can always hope, right? 

In other news, the Black Friday sale has apparently already started, and Collector Club members have early access. Check out the sale items here - many of them sold out pretty quickly, including Nayati, Ashquar, Tamu and Chai and a few others. Other things have decidedly not sold out, including the candy cane zebras that are being sold at a price that's actually higher than their original sale price. If they were lower, maybe I'd order one and hope to get a black one, but at $150 a pop, that's not happening. You'd think more of their regular run stuff would be on sale, also (aside from Collecta models) but there isn't much of that, really. Oh well. 

In other other news, the new pin board is finally available for purchase, at $35 (ouch!), but it does come with a special Secretariat pin, so there's that. It qualifies for the collector club discount, and it's not hard to add on a few pins to get to the free shipping, so...I may have ordered a pin or five. My VIP pins needed some company, okay? And speaking of pins, when are Breyerfest VIP ticket holders going to get their special "We're sorry" pins we were supposed to get? Let's hope we get an update on that soon, along with a reveal of that blue sneak peek from the October CC newsletter! 

Let me PENCIL you in to this April Fool's joke!

 As most of you probably know, today is April Fool's Day...and Breyer has once again delivered! I legitimately laughed when I saw this on their Facebook page earlier.

From the post: 

We’re so excited about our next Test Run offering, we just couldn’t wait to show you all! 😱 Here’s a sneak peek at what’s coming soon:

The Running Stallion was sculpted by Chris Hess and was first released in the year 1968. A little while later in 1982, he also became Breyer’s first-ever unicorn! This Running Stallion unicorn is molded in unique white pearl plastic, which was never actually used on a production run. Alas, he *is* missing his horn – but don’t fret! With this incredible Test Model in your collection, not only will you own a unique piece of Breyer history, but also the world’s coolest pencil holder that will be the envy of Breyer fans everywhere.

This model is priced at $850, and Collector Club members can enter our drawing for their chance to purchase this amazing piece next week!

I love the "world's coolest pencil holder" verbiage. And he does look pretty cool! This is obviously an April Fool's joke, but part of me wonders if he really will be for sale next week? If so, he'd have some pretty cool provenance for the future buyer. The price is back down to $850, though, so maybe it's just a tongue-in-cheek copy-paste job. Anyway, this was a pretty good joke - but I'm not sure if it tops the decorator Khemosabi set from a few years back!  

More Black Friday stuff and another test run!

 So, first off, more stuff has been added to Breyer's Black Friday sale! Most of the really juicy stuff sold out pretty much immediately, but you can still get Griffin, Reuben or a candy cane zebra. None of their prices are actual sale prices, for some reason, but I guess that's just the way it is. Make sure you're logged into your Collector Club account when you try to view these. I missed out on the good stuff, but I only would have gotten a Fylkir anyway, in hopes of getting the silver black. Not sure how they still have more Fylkirs kicking around the warehouse after the amount of times he's shown up in blind bags, but whatevs.

In more exciting news, there's another test run on Breyer's website! Looks like they're not done milking us (or a lucky one of us) for all we're worth. Check him out:

Nothing I need for my own collection, but it might be worth entering for resale purposes. They jacked the price up to $1,000, though, so it depends on if someone thinks he's worth that much or more. With the prices the auction models have been bringing lately, who can say? Anyway, good luck if you're entering for him! 

Just when you thought Breyer had run out of ways to drain our wallets...

...they came out with THIS!

That's right - it's another test run on the website! GASP!


And with a little bit of luck and a lot of money, she can be yours!

Okay, actually it takes a lot of luck - she's a test, so you have to have your name drawn from the thousands of entries. I'm a bit surprised that they picked this particular mold to sell a test run on, since Ruffian is fairly popular - and Reeves knows it, since her price is $1,000. She'll be worth more than that on the secondary market - a LOT more. But I'm entering anyway - if I'm lucky enough to win, she'll make an excellent addition to my Ruffian conga, and she'll be a lot cheaper than most Breyerfest auction models these days.

Speaking of auction models, where are they? I thought the live auction was still going ahead this year, but the countdown should have started today if so. It's not like it would be hard to do the auction online...let's hope they still show up eventually.

Anyways, don't forget to enter for the Ruffian - her entry period ends at midnight on the 18th, so we don't have to remember for very long. Good luck, everyone!

Another test model!

Just in case Breyer hasn't already taken everyone's money, there's another test model to enter for on the website!



Ooh, she's pretty! If I were still a Wixom collector, I'd be all over her (le sigh). The entry deadline is 11/17, so don't waste any time entering for her!