Hello, Croi! I figured they'd save the best for last, and they have! Check out this gal, her name is Arran: Although she looks like a bay roan to me, she is said to be a roan buckskin. Either way I love her color. Roans are a favorite of mine and Breyer doesn't make enough of them. I personally would have loved to have this color on a traditional sized Croi as well.
This completes the single day stablemates. Breyer said single day tickets on sale sometime next week, which I'm expecting to sell out quick. We won't know the cost until that happens but expect between $15-18 per ticket. Breyer did say that this year, unlike previous years, you must have a three day ticket for access to the virtual Breyerfest Store. Single day ticket holders do NOT get to purchase any store specials, though you may participate in that day's virtual activities. Breyer has been rolling out the releases lately, as their May Collector Club newsletter pretty much said. In the newsletter was this sneak peek: Speculation is this is the second Premier Club sneak peek. Since the Fraley sculpt says "magestic presence and expression" which to me sounds like a standing portrait model and since the tail on this horse appears to be flat against the rear. I'm thinking however it's another Berry Pony because in past years there was always a raffle model in May, and I don't see them giving a teaser to all CC members for a model they can't obtain. The spots also look different from the sneak peek shown to us back in December. We have also been shown our third single day Stablemate named Skye (of course they had to leave mini Croi for last) and, as per what I expected, I'm not fond of it. Granted I didn't care much for the Charleston mold to begin with - I think he looks more like a Paso Fino or Morgan instead of a Saddlebred - so I figured I wouldn't like this one anyways... and I don't. The coloring reminds me of a Rocky Mountain Horse. This one will also be available for sale. Since tomorrow is the last day for early bird tickets, we will probably see the fourth and final horse, and I'm really excited. Hopefully Breyer will also tell us how this whole virtual Breyerfest is going to work, as they said they'd do by the end of April. I'm curious to know if the single day Stablemates will be gambler's choice or able to be chosen.
And so we wait... My favorite Classics mold is, undoubtedly, American Dream. He is also one that hasn't been made in new colors since he was first released last year. Now, here he is as the Collector Club annual Classics gambler's choice named Nayati, in THREE beautiful colors: dark bay pinto, glossy dunalino and glossy leopard appaloosa. ...and he's already (not surprisingly) sold out! Honestly, I love them all! This is the first time that I didn't have a favorite, and it was on my favorite Classics mold to date. I'm glad I was able to snag one before they were gone. Another release today was the Clydesdale, Orkney! Now I know this mold gets a lot of bad rep because it's older or too unrealistic in pose or made too often... what have you and everyone is perfectly entitled to their opinion. Personally I like the mold and have a small conga of it, but this color is stunning on it! Definitely a must have for me! Now I know by now a lot of people are screaming: "Why all the yellow horses this year?" I think the pot o'gold traced to Irish lore is a big part of it. The grey horses remind me of fog on the Moors, a common sight in Ireland. Maybe not, but that's what I'd guess. Still hoping we get a rainbow somewhere.
If you're a regular reader of my blog, you will know how much I loved the Christmas Candy zebras. Well I managed to snag another one, this time a gold one, for the amazing price of $75. That's two down... I still eventually need to track down blue and red which I'm sure, if I'm patient enough, I'll probably find cheaper than the original cost. Although I love them, not many people did, and they weren't very popular. Those that got doubles practically gave them away. Anyways, here is my latest pandemic purchase: Quarantine isn't healthy for me. I've spent far too much on grails lately. I put the rest of my customs on eBay last night and I said I would NOT make any more for a while. COVID-19 proved that was a LIE. I'm in the process of customizing some hard-to-sell horses right now because I desperately need the shelf room. Two traditionals, one Classic and three Stablemates later... well, needless to say I'm going to be busy for a while. These are my current half finished projects: In the meantime, Breyer has released the first single day Stablemate, and for crying out loud I just want to scream at the top of my lungs how annoyed I am with them taking forever to release everything this year. Gah! I just want to see them already, especially the Croi! Nope, they only released one, and it was the Greyson. I do plan on buying four single day tickets in hopes of getting a full set, though I probably won't keep this particular horse. I'm not keen on the color. Breyer has posted that single day tickets will be sold either singly or in a four pack, guaranteeing you one of each color. If I manage to get a 4-pack (as they said they are very limited) I will have this guy for sale immediately after Breyerfest.
My first shipment of horses have arrived from Breyer. Winx and Crystalline are now in hand. I still can't believe it's real but here it is, the pile of horses waiting for their new homes: My new web store is officially up and running. Here is the link if you want to shop till you drop (since we won't be able to do that at Breyerfest this year): g-b-model-ponies.myshopify.com Here are your yearly regular runs in the flesh: Although not a mold I personally collect, I have to say that this horse's color looks a lot better in real life than in the stock photos, and his collectible box is gorgeous! One set I was teetering on for my personal collection was the Favory Airiella gift set. I received one where the mare was darker and had really nice shading. She also had quite bold freckles. If I were to hand pick a nice set, that's what I'd be looking for. She'd make a lovely addition to someone's collection! The Sable Island Horse was another who, like the Orren Mixer horse, looked better in real life than the stock photos. She has a rich seal bay color with kind of a metallic sheen to it. If I end up partaking in the Collector Club Appreciation deal this year, I'm planning on adding these two to my wish list. I love the shaded hooves on Tony. Both horses are very cute and quite large for pony molds. Their pricing of $49.99 makes them a good deal for two horses unlike... The $49.99 for Stingray. Honestly I don't know what Breyer was thinking. The horse they made does NOT look like the gold palomino in the top left corner. No dapples, reddish-orange color and too much grey in the mane/tail. At least they got her birthmark right but otherwise I was disappointed in how little it resembled Stingray. On the other hand, if you don't care so much about the portrait and more about the color, she is rather unique but frankly to me looks more like a silver chestnut than a palomino. Since I already shared out of box pictures of Crystalline in a previous post, I decided to show one of Winx as well since I plan on keeping one of her. I still think this color looks a lot better on the Emerson mold than the original color, and they really did a good job matching up her color (unlike with Stingray) even putting her freeze brands on each side. Her bi-colored eyes are something not commonly seen on regular runs. The Stable Surprise Stablemates were something I really looked forward to. I plan on keeping a dun, palomino and red roan for myself, though I still have plenty to sell. I've actually already sold one complete set so I'm expecting these guys to go quick. Any time Breyer makes surprise horses you can expect them to sell out. These guys were really nicely done too. Finally, I bought a few of the Deluxe Stablemates sets, which I plan to sell individually since most people only want a couple from the set. Flaws were minimal so I can't complain there, but the colors were lacking. Only one pinto in the whole set. The Darwin looked like a mini Black Beauty.
I didn't buy Classics since the most popular two, Fairfax and High Tide, were sold out, as were the Unicorn Foal Surprise Stablemates. However, I'm hoping to sell out of this order by Breyerfest that way I can put in another order for the mid year releases in July, along with some Breyerfest goodies to add to my store, and then maybe I can get the other regular runs I missed with this lot. I do have an order for 70th Anniversary models due to arrive sometime in June. Keep visiting back if you're curious to know who the mid years will be! A few topics for today, all Breyerfest related. The molds of the single day stablemates have been released and I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to see a shrunken Connemara Mare! How in the world they're going to replicate her tail though is something I can't see. Two of the molds, Charleston and the Clydesdale mold everyone hates, were what I was expecting. I also figured they'd do a pony but the Thoroughbred mold was a bit unexpected. I thought for sure we'd see Corbin because it just made sense. Irish Draught... Ireland? Oh well. I can't wait to see the colors! Next, the Slainte Surprise staying a true surprise was confirmed... Now the biggest question... to buy or not? I had planned on trying to snag at least two surprises from my potential eight SRs since there isn't really a surprise that I haven't disliked yet, and I actually have a dark horse surprise on the way as I type this. If the Slainte Surprise ends up being something I dislike, I can always sell, and because I like surprises, I still think I'm going to get two if I can. It all depends how the SR line is going to work which Breyer has stated is still being worked out. Another sneak peek was revealed. I'm betting this is the Classics horse, in what looks like vintage dappled green? I might buy one of these for my daughter, whose big on fairies and the like, but I'm not sure if it's going to be something I want in my own collection. We shall see.
First things first, Fabio arrived today. I will be doing a review on him later for my YouTube channel. He is unfortunately still very orange in real life, however he had nice pearling on his tail, which I liked, and more pinking than I thought he would. Overall, his condition was very nice, not too many flaws. I got lucky apparently because several others noted some rather major flaws. Breyer released their final store special today, and once again they did another yellow color that looked nothing like the actual horse, just as they did with Stingray. I love the coloring of this model though with those nice dapples, even though the real horse isn't as dappled. The mold isn't my favorite ( I hate stands!) but I've overlooked that several times provided the horse was nice looking. Sooty palominos and buckskins are a weakness of mine, like Chanel and Latigo Dun It. I'm not big on bright yellow horses. Finally I have one last announcement. I have created a Facebook page for our little business: https://m.facebook.com/GB-Model-Ponies-111441787203432/?ref=bookmarks so if you're into social media, feel free to check us out!
I received my order confirmation from Breyer today. The horses (including Winx and Crystalline) are on their way! Gah, I'm excited! To add to the excitement, Breyer has released a new sneak peek on their blog today, and it's a tricky one with no discernable features whatsoever, so I'm not even going to guess. Looks to be another yellow horse. Grey and yellow seem to be big this year. Now while Breyer doesn't give any sort of hint as to who this is, obviously it's not a special run since they said the deco was the last one. I'm thinking it's either the elusive third store special or they're already on the pop-up store items. I guess we'll find out within a few days. Which molds are we likely to see as single day stablemates this year? It's not like Breyer to really match molds to the theme, but we can pretend. It would surprise me greatly if they don't use the Irish Draught mold from the SMCC last year. I'm also expecting Django to be used because of all the drafts, and we *might* see either the return of the Cob or the Clydesdale mold that everyone hates. I'm fairly sure Charleston will be part of the quad if he's not used for the pop-up store. Finally I'm going to guess the Highland Pony. There's gotta be a pony, right?
Some more news about virtual Breyerfest was released today. We're still waiting on some details but many common questions were answered for the most part.
Tickets will NOT be transferrable this year, unless you give someone your account information, which is HIGHLY unrecommended. As per usual, special runs will ONLY be available to 3 day ticket holders. You get up to 2 special runs per ticket, plus the celebration model, Ballynoe Castle. When it comes to purchasing special runs, there is no difference between a child and adult 3 day ticket other than price, so yes you can use a child ticket to purchase models. However, Breyer has hinted that there will be additional online content available ONLY to adult ticket holders, though they haven't said exactly what yet, so if you're in it for the experience, the adult ticket might be the better option. Yes, they will still have single day tickets available for those that want the stablemates. If you want the store specials but NOT the special runs, you only need to purchase a single day ticket. Store specials, swag, pop-up specials will be available to ALL ticket holders including single day ticket holders. Shipping will be FREE to all US residents, which was what I figured they'd do rather than partially refunding tickets. Canada and international have to pay a small fee ($10 for Canada, $25 for international). The Celebration of Horses show will be online so technically you're still getting the horse show. Apparently there will be an online photo show after all. Makes me kind of tempted to try it. So, in a nutshell, this is what we know so far. I'll keep everyone updated as more information is released. I'm excited to see the single day stablemates and the pop-up specials, although I admit I wish they'd just reveal them outright. The sneak peeks are getting kind of old, and makes it take so much longer to reveal everything. I'm just ready to see what will be offered and how much so I can estimate how much I need to save. This year seems to be flying by. I didn't realize it was already time for the "Makin' A Splash" horse to be released. Not surprising it ended up being on the Duende mold, which is the newest of the molds used. My personal preference was Desatado but I decided to add Fabio (really Breyer... what's with the names this year?) to my herd anyways, as I had a bit of extra money thanks to BF going virtual. Admittedly I have more than enough red duns in my collection, and I was iffy with how orange they looked at BF last year when they were displayed in the Collector Club tent. Fabio looks more brown in the stock photo though so we'll see. Honestly Breyer has been getting all my money lately. I ordered a Crystalline for my own collection last week when she was first released. She arrived today, and is too stunning for words, so I just posted pictures instead. Honestly I didn't even realize Crystalline was a gemstone until I looked it up, so I guess Breyer is adding on to the gemstone series they did last year with Lightning Ridge and Bisbee. Flagship special run, Lionel, has also been released with Crystalline and Winx. Only brick-and-mortar stores are getting him in, and since I sell internet only right now, I won't be getting him. I'm probably going to pass on adding him to my personal collection simply because, as with Makin' A Splash, I don't like how orange he is. In addition to Crystalline, I will have a few Winx as well, and Ballynoe Castle will be up for pre-order in May. It will probably take about a week for Breyer to ship him to me after Breyerfest, and then he'll be shipped out to those who pre-ordered.
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