Can you believe it's already almost May? It seems like this last month zipped by. With keeping track of all the new releases that just came out, I didn't even realize it was time for the Collector Club newsletter was due until I found it in my mailbox today. The giveaway for this month is Bisbee. If you don't remember who she is, here is her picture: If you don't want to try your luck at winning a Bisbee but still would like to purchase her, the Kentucky Horse Park would greatly appreciate your business. Without many of the big events they host (like Breyerfest) they are losing out on a lot of income so any little bit helps when feeding the many horses they have at the park year round. Buying Bisbee is just one way to support our beloved horse park when we can't physically go there. Finally, we had our monthly sneak peek. The newsletter said "If it's not too much of a birden (spelled that way) we have a little sneak peek of an upcoming model for you!" so I guess we're in for another Birds of a Feather lottery model. When I first saw it, I thought that it sure looked like an Emerson rear, but whatever it is it's going to be a light dapple grey, so most likely something I won't be interested in, as I prefer the darker greys. The big question is... what bird is it? This has been a big question lately so I'll clear it up for the new people in the Collector Club. The $25 membership is best purchased if you want to sign up for the specialty clubs at the end of the year (enrollment starts in November and runs until December 29th for the Stablemates and Premier Club - Vintage Club is limited so it usually sells out in a day) otherwise you may not find your $25 to be worth it if you rely solely upon the special run models released through the Collector Club. Why? Mostly because the number of Collector Club members in the club has skyrocketed in the last couple years and special runs have been selling out within an hour, so if you're in the Collector Club in hopes of getting the special run models at cost, I recommend following Breyer's Facebook page for release notifications. Don't rely upon their emails, as I've often received emails after the product has already sold out.
Unless Breyer changes it up, in the past couple years, the special runs have been released as follows: -TWO Collector Club special runs (the January/February model was Lafayette and the fall model is yet to be determined) -ONE special run that we voted on last year at Breyerfest (this year was Notoriously Framed) in spring -ONE Classics gambler's choice model (this year was Slyder) in spring -FOUR lottery models for a special theme are released through July/August (this year was the Birds of a Feather series) -ONE special series model will be released in the fall via lottery draw (last year was the Wild Animal series) -ONE holiday horse and ONE holiday animal for lottery draws in November/December -ONE Santa Surprise horse is released on Christmas morning Hope this helps! Breyer barely eeked in their Classics gambler's choice right at the end of the month. Coming right off of just releasing Notoriously Framed probably wasn't their best decision but they still went quickly nonetheless, and I actually almost missed being able to purchase. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Breyer doesn't cancel my order from them being oversold because they were literally listed as "sold out" right after I placed my order. I like that the last couple years, Breyer has removed the decorator from the Classics gambler's choices. I hope they keep it that way, because with Calvin and Lancelot, it seemed like everyone just wanted the blues. With the others you'd be lucky to even get your money back. The gambler choice for this year is named Slyder and comes in three different colors: sooty buckskin appaloosa, flaxen liver chestnut splash pinto and dark dapple grey. For the first time ever, they are all glossy, which is great, as I always seemed to end up with the matte ones. With Scotty I got the matte bay roan appy, Calvin was the matte chestnut and the matte silver bay with Callahan. With Lancelot I bought two which I got the matte appy and blue (finally!) and then with Nayati I also bought two. Although with Nayati I ended up with a glossy for the first time, I received duplicates of - yet again - the appy. I ended up selling one but traded the other for the blue eyed pinto, who is ironically matte and the one I wanted most. With how luck would have it, I will probably end up with the appy in this year's gambler's choice, who is my least favorite. I'm actually torn this year between the grey and the pinto, though I'm leaning more towards the pinto because of his blue eyes. Who is your favorite? Let me know in the comments! A second reveal was shown today from the Breyerfest blog on Breyer's website. Meet Blanca, who is a black and white version of Charleston (why are black and white horses always so elusive in Breyers?) and is the runner up prize model for the Best Customs Contest. He and Noir will make a good matching pair if anyone is lucky enough to win them. Old Glory has been shown in hand arriving to those who were lucky enough to snag him from Breyer before he sold out so us dealers should be getting him soon! He is actually really nice and my favorite of the patriotic models so far. Those stripes make a big difference. He'll definitely be worth the wait! Tick tock, tick tock. Come on, Breyer. Let's get this ball rolling!
I was skeptical about this guy. Breyer has been releasing a lot of horses with a good amount of bare plastic lately and Notoriously Framed was one of them. While I do like his silver bay over coloring, I was disappointed in the amount of bare plastic. The shading and slight metallic sheen in the mane/tail were pretty and I love his brown eyes, but it still doesn't offset the large amount of unpainted plastic, in my opinion. I ended up with the long tail and short mane version. Although people were comparing Notoriously Framed to the chestnut overo Bollywood Surprise on the same mold (a horse on my personal collection wish list), I think he looks more like Roman from the Vintage Club. They are currently side by side on my shelf right now. Unlike Roman though, I wish Breyer would have added some kissy spots or even a tad bit more pink to the nose. It's quite sparse. There are some models in which I'm like "I have to have them in my collection!" and then there are models that I can point blank refuse, but then there are models that I'm on the fence about. An example is Rheverence+ from Breyerfest because of the same reason as Notoriously Framed... beautiful color but too much unpainted plastic. I think adding a bit more details like that and maybe adding gloss too would have made this horse a definite keeper. He is flashy though, I'll give him that, and at least this time - unlike Hendrik - he came without flaws. I've decided to keep him for now, though I may sell him down the road.
I pity the Emerson congas. The best customs contest prize was shown today named Noir. A mold that I didn't really care for when he first came out (though I think it was more the original Emerson's coloring rather than the mold itself because I fell in love with Winx and now have a small conga) I think black on him is much more appealing than his original liver chestnut coloring. Good luck to all who enter! While we're still touching on the subject of Breyerfest, I also wanted to share the sad news that Ballynoe Castle has passed away. He was only 21 but his owners said he died peacefully. It makes me sad that we couldn't see him last year at BF and now he's gone. The sad thing about horses is that you know you'll have to let go of them eventually and it's just enjoying each day that you get with them. I had a good reminder of that today me my neighbor informed me today that her new horse was colicking and she had to call the vet out. I think he'll pull through but boy oh boy it seems like the world, especially the horse world, just can't catch a break.
I spoke too soon with my last post. We were hit with the winner of the "Picture This" contest that 2020 Breyerfest attendees who were also part of the Collector Club was able to vote on last year. I personally voted for Adios because I thought his long mane looked amazing on this color with Zippo Pine Bar second since I conga that mold, however Latigo won the vote. He's my LEAST favorite so I am offering up mine on my website in my Model Horse Store (update: sold) although I will note that Breyer has been gambler's choice happy lately, and this horse is no exception. There are two different mold styles you can get: long tail/short mane or short tail/long mane, which caused the price to increase a bit from previous years. Breyer describes the color as shaded silver bay overo however to me it looks more like a flaxen liver chestnut, but to each their own. Still a pretty model that I would definitely keep if it were on any of the other molds, however this mold is difficult to conga due to the rarity of a lot of the "obtainables" mostly due to being a BF surprise model. I thought the name for this horse was a cute twist though. I saw people posting that this was possibly the sneak peek in the CC newsletter, however I don't believe so. While the positioning of the legs is similar, there is too much white on this horse that wasn't shown in the same areas on the sneak peek, also the sneak peek was glossy.
My conclusion... we still got another horse on the way, folks :) ...Since my last post. Breyer has been pretty quiet the past week or so. No new reveals, no new releases, and all of us are impatiently waiting for the sneak peek from last month's newsletter, am I right? Well, there were a few sneak peeks shown for Breyerfest that I somehow missed, so I'll get you all caught up on that in case you also missed it. One is those mugs that they released for Celtic Fling must have been a big hit (I actually got a lot of requests for those last year for pickups) because they're doing it again. Although they've only showed us the outline of the mug, we'll just have to speculate on the color until Breyer decides to either reveal it early or wait until the event. Also, the plush has been revealed. His name is Pal's Palette and he looks like an appaloosa version of Pal o'Mine (the mascot of Breyerfest) with rainbow colored paint splatter spots and is holding a little palette which is absolutely adorable. Whoever designed him did a cute job. I will be adding some plushies to my pickup page but please remember that they are NOT going to be available for backorders therefore these will be limited. We are also waiting for the reveal of the stablemate (which I have a funny feeling is going to be a rainbow deco of some sort) so hopefully we'll get to see that within the next upcoming weeks.
If you're interested in the photo show for Breyerfest, here is all the information available: www.breyerhorses.com/collections/model-horse-shows-breyerfest-2021 Now I don't show so I can't really write much in regards to how it goes but there are lots of groups on Facebook out there to help those new to showing. Also, here is the link for the 5K if you wish to sign up for that: www.breyerhorses.com/pages/breyerfest-2021-5k Again, something else I have never attended but the web page is pretty self explanatory. I decided I would post the links for those who have difficulty navigating Breyer's website. I know when Breyer first changed over to the new Shopify platform I got lost the first year or so until I figured it out. Good luck to those who enter! Finally, I heard from Breyer today that Old Glory will be shipping out to dealers in 10 days so as soon as I get shipping confirmation from Breyer, I'll start purchasing shipping labels. Please give me up to 3 days from the time I receive them to get your order out. Thank you everyone for your continued support! Welp, first things first, my luck ran out and I wasn't chosen for the True Blue event, which is fine. I have never attended any previous event, mostly because of taking time off work to travel, so I consider all special event models eye candy that I'll never own. If I was chosen, it would make me regret selling my Indu model since he'd make a good twin to Bondi. So I'll be content with winning a BF VIP and Goldfinch.
My original spring order of Old Glory is sold out, however I will still be taking pre-orders for this guy until the second release, which Breyer has informed me should be about September/October. If you want to keep in the know of any future releases (including when Old Glory is available again) please subscribe to my website. Any time I have a new release available, I post it on there. I decided to go with glossy for Astrid after all and hope for the best. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that glossy Astrid looks better in real life than Breyer's digital example. My biggest reason is because since Breyer is giving us the choice, I'd rather go glossy, as the people that forget or don't choose will be getting matte so me thinks there will probably be more matte of this run. I just really hope that I don't fall in love with the matte version upon her release and instantly regret my decision, just like I did with Fletcher. Decisions, decisions. I knew I should've just bit the bullet and bought two memberships... EDITED TO ADD: I've been getting a lot of messages recently about customs. I do still have a few stablemates to sell, however I'm sure several of you will be happy for me to announce that I will be working on several new horses in the coming weeks and will be starting on a few Halloween horses as well. Attention Premier Club members: Breyer is now taking selections for glossy or matte finish on Astrid! Which will you choose? For me personally I tend to like grey horses better on matte because it brings out their shading and gives them a softer look. However her coloring is actually more similar to grullo, and all my grullos are either pearly or glossy. Teton, for example, looks good in gloss, so I'm having a hard time choosing. I was hoping that Breyer would give us a hint at what glossy would look like on this horse but all they gave us was a rather awkward digital translation. I really hope those eyes aren't really cloudy. Here is the "glossy" version: I also wanted to announce that I received Hendrik today as well. When I first saw each of his sides, I thought I dodged a big bullet after so many were reporting major flaws. His coloring was beautiful and I could live with the minimal overspray. He didn't have a thumb print in the gloss like so many others reported, no bad masking, no broken ears and uniform dappling. At first I thought I had actually received one from a good batch... Then I stood him on a shelf and that's when I noticed it... Those warped front legs are awful! The left one was worse, but the right was also slightly inward more so than it should have been, and is that a hair on the left leg by the knee? I tried to straighten them, but they are still slightly warped at the top and he still leans more to his right side, making him extremely tippy. Unfortunately that's a mold flaw which would be incredibly difficult to correct unless I re-sculpted the entire leg. Not really worth the trouble on a stablemate. There's no point really in contacting Breyer since so many of these guys were reported to be flawed, and I could end up with a replacement far worse. Besides, other than the bent legs, he does have a stunning paint job. It's a true shame though that he ended up this way when this was a mold that I conga. I got lucky in that I received a nearly flawless Atticus on one of my accounts and a horrible flawed Atticus on the other, which I am currently working on customizing because he's just a body in his original condition. I'm going to keep a positive light, and hope this quality check issue is only temporary. After all, ever since the pandemic started, Breyer has been having difficulties meeting deadlines for collectors who are still expecting the models to be released at the same time as they were in previous years. Getting the models out on time while being short staffed is going to cause some delays and/or loss in quality. It shows in the regular runs as well, which I've been notified by Breyer that some aren't going to be in stock until August. While Hendrik may be the turning point in that good Breyer luck that I've been having that I figured would eventually run out, I did end up finding another chase model. Ironically it was during the Easter rush and the entire box was nearly sold out, but I figured I'd try since I needed stablemate bodies and most of the people who bought half the box were - hopefully - buying them as Easter basket fillers. Lo and behold there was a chase model left, and he was so beautifully different from my original chaser that I can't decide which one I want to keep. The new boy has a lot more gold while my first boy is nearly half and half. Gah! Variations!
Don't forget Collector Club members that the drawing for the True Blue event is tomorrow by 4 PM ET so if you entered, be sure to check your emails! Good luck to all who entered! I expected the spring decorator to come out sometime this month, and here he is! True to the theme of the previous spring decorators, he is very patriotic, dressed as the American flag on the ever popular Esprit mold. This guy really has me going "wow" and I'm sure he'll look even more amazing in real life. I do have him available for pre-order if you want to be one of the first to receive him. Dealers are being limited to only 12 for the initial shipment and most of the other bigger dealers are already sold out. However Breyer has announced that we should be able to purchase more later (our typical quantity limit is usually 18) though they haven't said when. He is still considered a limited edition in that he'll only be produced for a short amount of time, but he won't have an exact release number put on him. Another announcement made today was for the second Premier Club horse. Her name is Astrid and not surprisingly she's a Fjord (should have took the hint when the Premier Club stablemate from last year was a Fjord as well) in a rare color... grey dun! In the fine print Breyer did say that "this mare is getting an extra early reveal for an exciting decision that our members will get to make later this week" which is most likely the choice of glossy or matte, as they said that we'll get to choose with one of the models in the PC this year. I guess that explains why she was shown so early. For those that choose glossy Breyer will need some time to make them. While I'm excited to see a gra Fjord, I think she looks strikingly similar to Fireheart in sculpture. The legs are positioned almost the same way, the feathered fetlocks are similar, the wavy tail and I'm sure that the mane would be up in the air as well if it wasn't cropped. Not that I'm complaining, it's just ironic. I actually like the muscling detail and the color is true to breed for those who show. I'm not 100% sure whether I'll gloss her or not. Frankly greys are a color I like more in matte. Hopefully they'll show a glossy promo when we choose, which Breyer said will be by the end of the week. This means that Morgen's sculpture will be the third release. Will her sculpture be the mare and foal set? If so, I'm really hoping they'll be a colorful pair after two solid horses so far this year. Or will a foal magically appear at Astrid's side before her official release given the fact that mares are a rarity in the PC line? After all, we don't have a Fjord foal yet... Finally, there is a new test run being offered in the form of this Saddlebred foal. I'm not big on the vintage appaloosa pattern with the polka dot spots so I won't be entering for her, however if you're a Collector Club member, be sure to put your name in if she's your cup of tea! For $850 from the winner, she's one of the cheaper one of a kinds Breyer has offered.
Attention Collector Club members... you are now able to put in your name to try to get a spot at the True Blue event! Ticket prices are announced... $275 this year and with that cost you will not only get to attend this very limited event (only 200 people will be picked) but you also get the event models: traditional Bondi, a light dapple grey on the Valegro mold, and Roo, a dapple rose grey on the Mirado mold. If you're picked, you will get a tour of Spendthrift farm Australia, a tour of Guy Mclean's ranch in Australia and three workshops will be available to attend. More information about what you will get to see is available on Breyer's website. The event will take place the weekend of May 21-22 and no doubt will be interesting!
I decided to put my name in, however with all the luck I've had this year with winning a Breyerfest VIP ticket and then Goldfinch, my luck has to run out soon, so I probably won't get in. Still... I'm excited to see the models that they'll have available just for attendees (I loved several of the Seattle Soiree models last year but unfortunately I didn't put in my name because Seattle is all the way on the other side of the country for me) and share the excitement of those who get a chance to participate. |
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