July Collector Club Newsletter and Surprise reveal!

More good news, everyone - the July Collector Club newsletter is out! Collector Club members, check your email to read it. There's a fun Feature Story, another attempt to get Breyer into the Toy Hall of Fame, a new giveaway (Pech Merle from last year's Breyerfest), and a photo of the plastic versions of glossy and matte Astrid! 

They sure are pretty. Can't wait to order mine...in a few weeks, after my bank account has recovered. 

In other news, we definitely know what the 7 Arts Surprise is! I'll leave a space here so people that don't want to be spoiled won't see it: 

It's....DUNDEE! So yesterday's announcement was accurate after all (my apologies for doubting, but as the old saying goes..."pics or it didn't happen"). I don't have photos I can use yet, but the five (known) colors are palomino roan pintaloosa, classic champagne splash white, flaxen liver roan, max bay sabino and a rainbowy-looking decorator that we haven't seen a full-body photo of yet. Exciting! I'm really surprised that they used a mold as new and popular as Dundee for the surprise, but I suppose rules were made to be broken, huh? Can't wait to see which ones I get...but nothing of mine has shipped yet, so it's going to be a while. 

Breyerfest models are shipping, certificates and more!

 Good news, everyone - according to Breyer, our Breyerfest models are finally shipping! They had previously said shipping was supposed to start this week, but it must have taken until today to get everyone's orders consolidated. Unfortunately, it may take a few weeks for everyone to get everything they ordered, so don't be surprised if you get multiple boxes (and be sure to keep track of everything you ordered in case something gets left out). But at least things are shipping! 

In other news, Breyer also posted today that they've made commemorative certificates for each Breyerfest model that can be downloaded on the Exclusive Models page of the Breyerfest section of the website. I've got some cardstock here at home, so I'll have to print some of those out later! One wonders if they're planning on adding one for the 7 Arts Surprise later...

Speaking of the 7 Arts Surprise, today's excitement was two separate people posting on Facebook that they might be able to make surprise model reveals today. Unfortunately, one of them turned out to be a Stablemates 4-pack, while the other...has yet to be resolved, as apparently the person that bought the 7 Arts full set in the live auction would allow the mold to be revealed, but is choosing to keep any photos or descriptions of said models to themselves until other people start getting them, which puts the whole thing in doubt. Hopefully other people will get their surprise models tomorrow so we can finally put the suspense to rest! 

Featured Model - 7/25/2021, Deluxe Kid's Club Liam

 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 Deluxe Kid's Club Liam! 

Not quite as rare as the past selections I've made, but still one I'm looking for nonetheless. I had thought this was the Deluxe Kid's Club model for this year, but recently I've seen posts about a new Kid's Club model on the Classic Morgan Mare mold, which made me realize that this Liam was the Deluxe Kid's Club model from last year and I never got around to buying it. D'oh! 

So, I don't know how many of these were made, but he's item #712347 on the Liam/Sir Buckingham mold sculpted by Sommer Prosser. 

I'm not sure how this model slipped under my radar so completely - I was aware of his existence, but I guess buying a Deluxe Kid's Club membership for him must have been such a low priority I kept putting it off for a whole year. Needless to say, I'm definitely looking to purchase one, since there don't seem to be any on eBay. Hook me up if you know of any for sale! I'm definitely kicking myself over this one. He's such a nice color, too! 

As for Liam himself, he's in the current line as the Le Mer unicorn, so it's hard to say where we'll see him next. Maybe this year's Halloween Classic, if we get one of those? 

Breyerfest 2021 VIP models are here!

 Greetings, everyone! I had a pleasant surprise today -  my VIP swag and some of the models showed up on my doorstep today! I hadn't gotten a shipping notice yet, so this was a welcome addition only a day after Breyerfest ended. Behold! 

I love the VIP swag, especially the...coin purse? Clutch? Used ticket holder? Well, whatever it is, it's iridescent pink/green and I love it. The pins and stickers are fun too, though I'm not really a pin person. My kids had to fight over who got to wear the visor and the sunglasses, and rainbow is TOTALLY my thing, so I'll definitely be wearing those sunglasses. And rumor has it the cup changes color with the temperature of the liquid inside, so I'll have to test that out later. I like the presentation of it too, with the fun box and all the little goodies packed inside. Great idea! 

The models are very nice as well - I love the color on Rococo, which makes me all the more sad that I'm not a fan of SCO in either size. I hope they use the color again soon. I like the color on Noveau as well, so selling him makes me a little sad as well. The blue on Dada seems a bit flat, though; I like it, but I guess I was hoping for a little more shimmer. No complaints about Avant Garde; he seems just as advertised. Dani is quite nice as well, though she'll be for sale as well; I didn't see any flaws on her in a quick once-over, which seems like quite an accomplishment given how complicated that pattern is. 

I love the satin bags as well! They complement the models' colors really nicely. Certainly a big improvement over the McDonald's boxes and blister packaging of past years. 

That's all I've got for now! The rest of the Breyerfest stuff isn't supposed to start shipping until next week, but I'm going to cross my fingers and hope they get an early start on it this week. Here's hoping! 

Breyerfest Day 3: Prost!

 Well, it's all over for another year. Breyerfest 2021 is in the history book and I'm sure everyone at Reeves is heaving a huge sigh of relief. And we have our theme next year: Prost! Breyerfest is taking a trip to Germany, so I'm sure we'll see plenty of draft horses and beer-themed items. 

All in all, I think this was a great Breyerfest - a huge improvement from last year! Oddly, it doesn't look like any of the store models sold out or went into backorder - maybe the fact that we could buy whatever we wanted from the start kept the gotta-buy-something-before-they-all-disappear mania from happening. Either way, I'm glad (most) people were able to get the items they wanted with a minimum of fuss. 

There weren't any more big reveals of upcoming stuff, at least that I saw - and we didn't get a Who Wore It Best vote either. I hope they're still planning on doing one this year, but I guess that remains to be seen.

Congratulations to all the contest winners, by the way - there's some amazing talent out there, especially in the Best Customs Contest. 

As for me, I think I need to step back a bit and slow down the purchasing - my bank account is still smoldering after Friday's antics. Hopefully Breyer doesn't decide to come out with another web special or gotta-have-it item for at least another month, eh? I think we all need a break. 

Oh, and VIP ticket holders - the VIP raffle winners are supposed to be drawn on/around 7/20, so we still have a few more days to wait on that one. Good luck, everyone! 

Breyerfest Recap Day 2: Keep 'em Coming, People

 Well, day 2 of Breyerfest is now over! Since I didn't have any buying to do, I spent the day watching the live feed and one of the seminars, though I may watch the Celebration of Horses later. And we got some exciting reveals in the live feed today! Check out some bad screenshots of this year's Halloween collection:

Say hello to Hermie, an adorable Frankenstein's-monster-horse plush! What a cutie.

And...more blind bag Stablemates. Bleh. Fortunately I only need one of them, and that one should be pretty easy to get my hands on, since I doubt many others will want it (the G2 Clydesdale). He did look pretty nice on the live feed, though; he looks like a pumpkin patch under a night sky. The other two are mini versions of Spirit of Hallow's Eve and Bogeyman...though you'd think the G2 Thoroughbred would have been the obvious choice for the Bogeyman. Oh well. No mention on whether there's going to be a Classics/Freedom Series release this year, but considering how well the last few have sold, I'd be surprised if there isn't one. 

Another exciting reveal was this year's Vintage Club bonus Stablemate! 

While flipping him on the box helps hide that too-short front leg, his show side really doesn't do him any favors, and I'm again left wondering how that managed to make the cut. Though I suppose my opinion doesn't matter that much, since I don't collect the full-size SCO either. This release is a mini Yellow Mount, a takeoff on the original Yellow Mount on Adios, and will feature forearm-spot and no-forearm-spot versions (they should really slip some chalky ones in there too, to match up with the original release better). 

We also got a look at the whiteware mini-Sharif in the Stablemates Club, and I have to say I like it better here than in yesterday's reveal. Might have to chalk it up to a bad Photoshop job again, I suppose. Now to see what color they paint him! 

Lastly, here's a view of the Nuggets, this year's Vintage Club gambler's choice release. Though I'm not a Brighty fan, they do look impressive! And at 125 each, they should hold their value fairly well on the secondary market. I'm most partial to the Copenhagen, myself, but to each their own. 

I wasn't one of the lucky raffle winners today, unfortunately. Maybe I'll get something in the VIP raffle? But congrats to everyone who did win! 

There's still plenty of time to buy stuff from the store; it still doesn't look like any of the models have sold out, and not a lot of the merch has either, but maybe tomorrow. I haven't heard if there's going to be a leftovers sale this year, but it would probably happen later this year if so. I guess we'll find out soon enough! 

Breyerfest Recap Day 1: Pleasantly Surprised

 Well, people, the first day of Breyerfest 2021 is over...and I'm actually pretty happy! It wasn't nearly the disaster of last year (though I did hear of some people having difficulties with buying things) but fortunately, other than some slowness while adding things to my cart, things worked pretty much perfectly for me! I was able to order at least one of everything I wanted, and as of this writing, it doesn't look like any of the Breyerfest models have gone into backorder or sold out yet. Woohoo! Looks like Refreshfest is a thing of the past...hopefully. 

In the meantime, we had some not-so-surprising reveals when we logged onto the store today - they're doing preorders of the glossy Apollo, Queen of Hearts and of course Rheverence! And they all look amazing in gloss! 

There's the glossy Rheverence. What a beauty! The only downer is that they won't ship until December, but I guess I'm used to that after having the same deal happen last year with the store specials. 

I spent most of the day watching the live broadcast, hoping someone would slip up and accidentally give us a clue about the Seven Arts Surprise, but nothing has happened so far. Congratulations to all the raffle winners! If your name wasn't called, make sure to check your email, because you have to respond to that to get the model if your name was drawn. I wasn't, unforunately, but there's always tomorrow's raffle and the VIP raffle! Speaking of the VIP raffle, it turns out the prizes are the glossy versions of the Celebration Models from 2016-2020. Five lucky winners will receive one of them! Crossing my fingers that I get drawn and they send me the glossy Brass Hat! 

Also, the extra VIP swag was revealed - here's a tiny picture! 

In case you can't see it, that's a visor, a pair of rainbow sunglasses (YES!!!), lip balm, stickers, pins, a cup and a coin purse (I think?). Pretty nice - I'll definitely wear those sunglasses with pride. Yay! 

I sort of wanted to get a warehouse grab bag, but they sold out too quickly for me to get one - and my bank account was on fire anyway, so I'm not too bothered that I didn't get one. Here's a link to Breyer's eBay page, though - they're selling off some slightly more desirable things there, though some of the prices are already too high ($850 for a Benasque? No thanks). The other items are the Zion and Moab web special set, the clearware Rainbow Weather Girl, the Acadia web special and the Solar web special. 

That's all I can think of to write about for now - see you all tomorrow!