I apologize for the late post. I've been working a lot this week with Ace, an OTTB that I rescued who is going to be a project horse for me during this cold, dreary winter. He is coming off of a career of 21 races at just 4 years old so he's a war horse. He has a lot of greats in his pedigree: Northern Dancer, Native Dancer, Damascus, Dr. Fager, the great Secretariat, Seattle Slew, War Admiral and Man o'War. Unfortunately his career was ended prematurely when he reared up in the starting gate and hit his poll, which swelled up to the size of a baseball. He still has a golf ball sized lump on his head from the calcified hematoma but his legs are still strong. He had month off and is a bit on the chunky side so it's time to get to work training him to be a riding companion instead of a racehorse. Thankfully he's got a good head on him and is a quick learner. I don't think it'll take this boy too long to train. He went from being afraid of an English saddle to accepting it within an hour, even the stirrups dangling against his sides. I can't wait for the day I get to ride him for the first time. I've been working with him on ground work and have neglected my blog a bit, so I'm going to try to catch up on this post. So I haven't heard from Breyer this week which will most likely mean that the regular runs will be shipped next week. Believe me, I'm just as impatient as you all are! They're coming though, I can promise you that, it's only a matter of WHEN. Please don't send me emails asking if they've been shipped yet... I PROMISE I will update my blog as soon as I hear from Breyer about shipping and you should receive your tracking within a few days after they arrive to me. Thank you for your understanding! The first Stablemates Club horse and Vintage Club horse are due in February. Speaking of the Vintage Club, for those of you with multiple memberships to the same address, Breyer is cracking down on that before they release Julius next month, so if you have more than one VC account, don't be surprised if you get your deposit refunded. On the contrary, those of you on the waiting list may be surprised to find out you're now a member. This is my first year in the VC only because I NEED Julius. I don't know if I will rejoin next year only because I don't care for many of the VC colors and of course it may be possible that some of the models from this year - or most - will be up for sale. Minus Julius, of course. While I think with the club being limited as it is people shouldn't have multiple accounts, I also think Breyer needs to take away the gambler's choice aspect of it. Some people have multiple accounts solely for that reason. I have two Stablemates Club accounts this year for the first time ever (usually I only have one) in hopes of getting my two favorite Croi models. Taking away the gambler's choices would eliminate a lot of the problem of multiple accounts. I also wouldn't feel bad at all if they started limiting the Premier Club, which I think should have been done a long time ago to make it more like the Connoisseurs of a by-gone day that were only limited to 350 each. Just my opinion. Breyerfest tickets go on sale February 1st. People who have already purchased a VIP ticket whether selected from the first set or the stand-by list, which were notified on January 26th, can NOT purchase another VIP ticket. Even if you have multiple collectors in your home, just like the Vintage Club issue, they are limited to ONE PER ADDRESS. This was confirmed on a video by Kat and Jamie earlier today. Breyer usually also releases a lottery model in February so plan on that too, especially after the sneak peek in the newsletter: A new web special theme, huh? Maybe the picture isn't Lafayette after all. Would they really use a sneak peek for a horse already shown to us? Honestly it looks a bit like Shannondell's muscling but looks very similar in color to Lafayette. Maybe it's a draft horse theme, opposite of the Berry Ponies?
Deluxe 2020 members should see Prince arriving soon, if you haven't already. No word on Lyric yet. Breyer originally told us Lyric would be shipped "mid January" but Prince was supposed to be shipped way back in the fall so I guess they decided to ship Prince first. Lyric will hopefully follow soon.
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I'm not only a dealer but a collector as well, and I actually became a dealer because I'm enthusiastic about the hobby. Today I felt honored to have been selected for a VIP ticket though admittedly it was hard to choose just two horses from each category, as there are a few I would like to have. Pollock seems to be everyone's favorite and they only made 1,600 of him, so he was a no-brainer. I was having a hard time between Uffington, the Friesian and Ansel. In the end I chose Uffington since I don't own a single cremello and because his numbers are lower. I'm hoping to snag the other two with an All-Access ticket. By the way, for anyone interested, the All-Access and General Admission tickets go on sale February 1st. The limited edition were just as difficult to choose between, as I loved all three. In the end I went with Josie and Apollo, mostly because of the same reason as Uffington: I don't have a brindle in my herd and only one pearl (the Hero's Welcome Surprise). Breyer announced that the limited editions, once sold out, will be available to be backordered for shipment in December, just like they did with the glossies last year, so kudos to them for giving us that option. Now I'll be able to pick up Rheverence+ and the Best of Breyerfest Stablemates without having to worry about them selling out. I can wait until December if I have to, provided I get them eventually. The only exception was the crystal (which I don't collect), the plush and limited edition Stablemate. Those will still be limited and not backordered. Yes, they've confirmed there will still be a plush and Stablemate, which will probably be revealed after the VIP tickets are sold out since they aren't an option on the ticket. Although you get a full set of Event Stablemates with your VIP ticket, I only want two so the others will be sold here on my website. I will also be keeping the Celebration Model I receive with the VIP ticket because I can't resistant that flashy pattern. I'm curious to see what special goodies they include in the VIP bag and all the special VIP content.
Breyer has finally put out the costs of all ticket types. Here is a basic breakdown of what each ticket will get you and how much they cost. Breyer is charging a flat rate of $25 for international shipping and $10 for shipping to Alaska, Hawaii and Canada residents. Like last year, the customers in the rest of the United States will get FREE shipping with their models. VIP TicketsBreyer is doing a lottery draw for 800 of the 1,000 VIP tickets with the remaining 200 tickets being a "free for all" for those who didn't get selected in the lottery draw but still want a ticket. I think the lottery draw is the only way Breyer could have made it fair for everyone, otherwise people with several accounts could buy out all the tickets, plus everyone would be scrambling to check out at the same time and the checkout issue of last year's Breyerfest would happen all over again. $230 is the price for a VIP ticket. With that cost you get:
Frequently Asked Questions for the VIP ticket: Does the $230 ticket price include the special runs? No. Breyer has confirmed that the models will be on top of the ticket price. If you want to enter the drawing for a VIP ticket, the entry period begins tomorrow and goes until January 18th. Not much time to get your name in, and if selected, you will have to pay for your models right away. Do you need a Collector Club account to purchase the VIP ticket? No. You just need an account on Breyer's website. It's free to sign up. As of right now, we don't even know if Collector Club members will get a discount on tickets this year. How long do I have to pay? The lottery draw for the 800 winners will take place on January 20th. You have until January 26th to pay for your purchases. The 200 extra tickets will be available around February 1st. All-Access Tickets$75 is the price for an All-Access ticket. With that cost you get:
General Admission Tickets$20 is the price for a General Admission ticket. With this cost you do NOT get the celebration horse or the special runs. You can however buy any of the limited edition models. You are allowed to purchase one of each of the limited editions per checkout, meaning you can't buy three Apollos at one time. You can only purchase one at a time, then if you want another one, you'll have to add it to your cart again and go through checkout for a second time. With the General Admission tickets you do get:
These are the horses available in the store to ALL ticket holders during Breyerfest, even General Admission. All-Access tickets are going to be $75 but we don't yet know how much the General Admission tickets are. I will update that information as soon as Breyer releases it. Update: After seeing the high run numbers, Breyer should have more than enough limited editions this year. Remember, all ticket holders have access to these horses and General Admission tickets are only $20 so pickups really aren't necessary on these horses. It would be much cheaper to sign up for an account on Breyer's website (accounts are free) and purchase a General Admission ticket yourself than to pay the upgraded cost for a pickup. Behold! A brindle horse! Breyer did it... and she's impressive! A portrait model of Queen of Hearts, aka Josie, this horse will be solid colored dark bay on one side and look like this on the other. I'm excited about her for sure, not only because of the color, but because of the return of the Bristol mold. I just really hope that brown paint on her stand is reflection and not overspray. They're making a total of 3,500 of her, which I'd say is pretty generous of them to do. The crystal for this year is on the Sherman Morgan mold. His name is Prisma. He is limited to 2,000 pieces, which is nearly three times more than the usual amount of crystals. Say hello to the second in the series of Best of Breyerfest sets. This time they're celebrating the 10th anniversary Breyerfest: Fairytales by making various raffle and prize models in mini. You will receive: Grimm inspired by Perrault (sooty palomino blanket appaloosa), Locksley inspired by Nottingham (bay roan), Thumbelina inspired by Tom Thumb (dappled buckskin), Pendragon inspired by Camelot (bay tobiano) and Into the Woods inspired by Happily Ever After (pearly dapple grey). They are making 3,500 of these sets. Thank you, Breyer, for allowing stablemate collectors the chance for some models. Meet Rheverence+ a beautiful buckskin overo Arabian made on my personal favorite Ashquar mold. Now this really is a horse of a different color! He'll look good next to my Abdul model. He's been my only one on this mold far too long and is in need of some company. Check out this rainbow dude, Favrille. He has a rainbow base coat with gold zebra stripes on the American Dream mold. He would make a good compliment to Pollock. He was made into 3,500 pieces. The latest release is Apollo a beautiful pearl Andalusian stallion. Finally, the pinnacle of this colorful year, I was very much looking forward to a champagne horse, so they saved the best for last! While This is the last of the traditional horses available for the event. The single day stablemates - more appropriately named "event" stablemates - have been revealed, and they are a very colorful bunch. To be honest, I was kind of hoping for a rainbow stablemate to go along with the rainbow Classic and traditional, though unfortunately that didn't happen. Breyer will be selling 3,000 General Admission tickets in which you will receive a gambler's choice of one of these four stablemates. They are also offering 2,500 complete four packs of these stablemates, which sounds like a lot but I bet they'll go quickly, especially since 1,000 of those sets will be going towards VIP tickets leaving only 1,500 sets left for the store. Dada is a flaxen blue (yes, his mane/tail are a slightly lighter shade of blue than his body) pinto on the Darley mold; Nouveau is as close to a rainbow as we'll get with his gold, orange and teal coloring on the Fighting Stallion mold; Rococo is a beautiful rose gold pinto with pearly whites on the SMO mold; and finally there's Avant Garde who is a purple dun on the new Lyric mold. A very colorful group are these!
Right on cue, Breyer has revealed their first special run as of January 8th. They said they will be revealing the entire lineup within the next 10 days so I'll add them to this post as they are shown. These horses are only available to either VIP or All-Access ticket holders. I will be offering a LIMITED number of Breyerfest pickups on my website :) Uffington was named after White Horse Hill in the UK. He is a beautiful pearly cremello with blue eyes on the Akhal-Teke mold. This was a color and mold combination that I have wanted personally since Breyer released Altynai last year. I'm so happy to see it being offered for Breyerfest! Rumor has it that this horse accidentally leaked out yesterday via social media so Breyer probably had no choice except to reveal him first, but nevertheless it's a good start to the 2021 lineup! He is limited to 1,800 pieces. In honor of the cave paintings in France, Pech Merle is your second special run reveal. They have given the beloved John Henry mold a snappy new bloody bay semi-leopard appaloosa coat color. He's our vintage mold for 2021. He is limited to 1,900 pieces. Named after Leonardo Da Vinci's Gran Cavallo. He is a flashy mahogany liver chestnut sabino on the Peruvian Paso mold. This is honestly a mold I haven't had much interest in previously, though I admit he looks yummy on this colorway! He is limited to 1,800 pieces. Why does this boy's coloring remind me so much of Fireheart? Minus the appaloosa spotting, the sooty palomino coloring looks very similar. Like Fireheart, his mane and tail are pearly and he has lovely dapples. Seurat is named in honor of Georges Seurat, who made art using tiny dots. Breyer always uses 2 of 3 Premier Club molds from the previous year for Breyerfest and the Vermeer mold makes number two. He is limited to 2,000 pieces. Many people were wondering if those who bought the VIP tickets would get their pre-paied horses earlier than everyone else, and this is the exact reason why Breyer is not going to do that. If they send the models early, then people would know what the surprise was before the other ticket holders got a chance to purchase them, which wouldn't make it a surprise. Anyways, this year they're going to have a grand total of 6,000 surprise models broken down into what is speculation of 7 different colors. We think that because Breyer said that the 7 Arts Surprise theme celebrates the subdivision of arts - Architecture, Sculpting, Painting, Literature, Music, Performing Arts and Film. Speculation is that they will possibly all be decorators, which really given the theme this year, wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility. They are the usual $85 each. Meet Knossos! Inspired by the bull leaping fresco in Crete, this beautiful brindle bull will be a delight to those who collect Breyer's non-equine molds. It almost makes me want to make an exception. I know Breyer promised us brindles, and they delivered, just not in the way I expected. I was hoping the brindle would be a horse. He is limited to only 1,000 pieces. This horse is Tassili and is the final realistic horse color being made for Breyerfest 2021. He is going to be glossy with a coppery chestnut pinto coloring. While I'm excited to see the return of the Marwari mold, I'm a bit disappointed that Breyer didn't release any roans for such a colorful year. He is limited to 2,000 pieces. Meet Pollock your Breyerfest 2021 decorator. This was something I was expecting for last year's theme but nonetheless I still got my rainbow decorator! He is a beautiful dappled rainbow with gold appaloosa spots. As a collector of rainbow horses, love this color and love this mold. Definitely a must-have for me. Only 1,600 pieces were made. Breyer surprised us with one last reveal. This one truly is surprising, though, because usually they don't produce a Breyerfest special run on all three of the Premier Club molds from the previous year. This year they did, and he's awesome! On the Troubadour mold, he is a blue roan pinto named Ansel. I'm just happy to see a roan in the lineup. With such a colorful year, you can't not include a roan. He is limited to 2,000 pieces.
They still have yet to release the store specials (now called limited editions) so hopefully they'll be onto those next and then we'll find out how much ticket prices officially are! Breyer has been shooting out Breyerfest information nearly every day, and though not too much has changed yet as far as tickets go, today they've revealed more information about their tickets.
Basically with the VIP ticket you'll get the celebration model, ALL FOUR of what used to be called the single day stablemates (yes, this has been confirmed that it will be the complete set!), a Breyerfest swag bag and a $10 coupon to use towards Breyerfest swag. You will also get to pre-select and pre-pay for your two special run models and any limited edition store specials with your VIP ticket. They didn't say whether or not the models were extra or included in the ticket price. I think this option is awesome for those who simply want the models and who don't want to deal with the checkout issues of virtual Breyerfest. I may try to get one for my own collection, depending upon how much they cost. With the regular 3-day ticket (now called All-Access tickets) you'll get the celebration horse, access to store specials and two special runs just like with the VIP ticket. The difference, however, besides not getting any stablemates, is that your special run selection will be similar to real Breyerfest of making a list and selecting from what's available rather than being able to choose exactly what you want. Of course, you may get lucky and they'll have what you want anyways... you never know. That's the fun of Breyerfest. You'll also get access to the limited edition store specials but it sounds like it'll be like last year where they put so many out at a time and you have to fight the mob to get them in your cart before they sell out. The clincher? They only restock the store once per day instead of once every few hours so once they sell out, you won't be able to buy the store specials again until the next day. With both the All-Access and VIP tickets, you have complete access to all three days of Breyerfest, are able to attend workshops and can enter the photo show (for an additional fee) as well as any contests Breyer offers during Breyerfest. Now with the General Admission ticket, which is going to be the cheapest, you'll get access to the Breyerfest content all three days but you can't enter any contests/shows/workshops, nor can you purchase any special runs. You can however purchase store specials as they become available and you will still get a gambler's choice stablemate. If you plan on attending virtual Breyerfest, you do NOT have to be a Collector Club member, but you do have to have an account on Breyer's website. Accounts are FREE to sign up for. Update 01/07/21: They are doing away with time slots for the All-Access tickets. The preference list of last year will still be sent to All-Access ticket holders later in the year and Breyer will automatically select from the list which models you will receive but this time you'll have all weekend to pay for your selected models. I'm assuming that if there is a model you don't want that was selected for you, you don't have to add it to your cart, but that hasn't been verified yet. Apparently they've also stated that both All-Access and General Admission ticket holders will have access to purchase a complete set of the single day stablemates (most likely available in the store) so to all my stablemate lovers that question has officially been answered :) SNEAK PEEK #1 WILL BE REVEALED TOMORROW with the rest of the lineup being revealed over the next 10 days so that VIP people will be able to see what they have to choose from. I'm assuming that the VIP tickets will be released shortly after that. Breyer has been shooting out Breyerfest 2021 information every day so far. In the meantime, lookie at who showed up in my mail today! Glossy Cheesecake! I think I ended up with a pretty good one. I couldn't find a single flaw on him and I love his blue eyes. I've heard of people getting orange-y colored glossies but I don't think mine looks orange at all. He's pale cremello, just like the real horse, except the gloss makes the yellow pop out more. When comparing him to the matte version I had that I bought for a customer as a pickup order, I definitely prefer the glossy. The yellow was so pale on the matte version that the horse looked almost white.
After seeing in-hand pictures of glossy Benelli, I kind of wish I would've gotten a glossy version of him too but unfortunately - or maybe fortunately since there were less mattes made? - I decided to go with matte since I personally prefer greys/roans in matte. Him... he was an exception I could've made though. Oh, well. Danash’s Northern Tempest, aka Dani! Just announced by Breyer! Simply stunning! Apparently Breyer has announced that Breyerfest is going to be virtual this year. This was posted on their blog page: "...we are making the commitment to host BreyerFest 2021: Horse of Different Color, as an incredible virtual experience. In light of the continuing virus concerns and the amount of time needed to bring this event to its fullest potential in an online format, we have opted to make this decision now. We are eager to engage with fans about what you want to see in the celebration that will be BreyerFest 2021: Horse of a Different Color."
They said in their video that they're working on making Breyerfest a "bigger, better virtual experience" so I'm hoping most of the glitches from last year will be resolved. While I'm happy that they are doing the right thing by putting everyone's health first and that they even attempted to try doing Breyerfest last year in a virtual way so we could all get our precious ponies, I'm a bit nervous how the checkout issue is going to be changed this year. Hopefully they'll figure something out since they'll have a full year to think about it. If you do not wish to pay full price for a ticket (they usually cost $87.50 for non-members and $85 for CC members) or fight the mob of Breyerfest-goers, I'm going to be offering a few of the celebration models for purchase right here on my website. They are currently available for pre-order right now. Last year the celebration models went out early and I'm hoping they'll do that again this year, although I'm still giving July 2021 as an estimated ship date just in case. Well ladies and gentlemen the signups for the 2021 Stablemates Club and Premier Club are now officially CLOSED. This means that nobody can join the clubs again until next year. In the meantime Breyer has released a silhouette of the new Stablemates Club mold, which looks an awful lot like a shrinky of Ashquar. I'm surprised at the release of yet another Arabian after we just had Darley not too long ago. We also got to see Breyer's translation of Fireheart from the artist prototype to plastic. The beautiful brownish-yellow palomino of the prototype looks like it has Breyer's infamous Cheetos coloring. They also seemingly took the light silvering out of the mane and tail to be replaced with pure white pearling (sorry guys but it looks like there won't be a break from the pearling this year). I love the mold with his lip hanging partly open and his fiery expression, but a color makes it or breaks it for me, no matter what the mold looks like. I guess I'll wait to see what he looks like in-hand first before I decide if Breyer overdid the orange or not. I'm glad they didn't reveal more of the Vintage Club releases. I'm one who likes some surprises and I won't be getting that with the Stablemates Club. At the same time, I do like seeing where my money is going though, ya know? At least I can rest easy knowing the Stablemates Club lineup turned out really good for next year. I admit that I've already bought my first horse of the new year: that darn elusive chase from the Unicorn Crazy Series 4 blind bags. It took me - and I kid you not - no less than SEVEN Walmarts to find him. One Walmart even had 4 boxes put out and all the chase pieces were gone. I only took the one so if there was another in the other boxes, someone else can have the opportunity to get one. He is a beautiful mold and a very long boi. He would make a good trotter mold, and I would love to see him used for racehorses like Foiled Again. I thought he'd be tippy, but actually his left legs are stuck together which gives him more surface area for support. An ingenious idea on Breyer's part, and a possibility if they ever (finally) make that Standardbred trotter I'm hoping they'll release through the Premier Club one of these years.
I finished my last customs for 2020 over the holiday break (they're now posted for sale) but I'm going back to work full time on Monday so I don't know when I'll get around to making my first customs of the new year. These might be the last I have for a while. |
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