This is just a fun post I decided to make while we (im)patiently wait for Breyerfest. In the earliest days of Breyerfest, store specials were limited to mostly resins. It wasn't until 2009 when the first store special based on a real horse was made as a store special. This model was based on a young lady and her Pony of the Americas named Toby. This year was the 20th anniversary of Breyerfest. The next year, in 2010 for the hollywood theme, the store special was based on the tallest horse in the world at the time, Priefert's Radar. This chestnut Belgian stood 19.3 HH and would have been an amazing sight to behold. I wasn't attending Breyerfest back then but I wish I would of, just to see this big boy. The biggest horse I'd ever seen was my neighbor's 19 HH Percheron and I thought he'd barely fit into the barn when I saw him, so Radar had to have been massive! I've seen this model pop up now and then but I never purchased him just because I'm not big on vintage molds. I had actually owned Dusty at one point, the store special from the Fairy Tails theme of 2011. However, when I was selling off my vintage molds, I ended up selling him off, but his dappled palomino coat was super lovely. The next year, in 2012 for the British theme, the store special was Taskin, a stallion that was used for breeding Gypsy Vanners. I've actually seen a baby from this guy show up at an auction I attended once. He wasn't a kill pen baby but was actually the highest sell, going for $10,000. Nevertheless, Taskin is a grail that has been on my wish list for years now. The tide turned a bit in 2013 when Breyer released not just one, but TWO traditional store specials for their Denim and Diamonds theme, both based on guest horses that were very American. Tennessee Titan was a miniature spotted donkey who Breyer made on Brighty. Anyone who has Tennessee Titan, Oliver and Peanutine from this year will have an adorable little spotted donkey herd that anyone would be envious to own. But really... we need a new donkey mold by now, Breyer! The other was Lady C, a very pretty black pinto Tennessee Walker/Spotted Saddle Horse on the Bluegrass Bandit mold. 2014 was an anniversary year, the 25th anniversary of Breyerfest to be exact, and this was a year when Breyer threw in a lot of silver colored micro runs into their special runs, as well as lots of pearly whites in the store specials. This was also the first year that they released THREE store specials that were based off of guest horses. Athos was a faded grey Percheron/Friesian cross gelding that was used for jousting demonstrations. Paddyngton's Mark of Distinction was a pinto Saddlebred gelding and Novelisto D, who was an actor horse used in "Winter's Tale" that was a purebred Andalusian. I guess Breyer wasn't anticipating the same amount of people showing up for Breyerfest for 2015 as they did for their anniversary year because the number of store specials went back to two models, but technically only one was a guest horse. Oration was the real horse, based off of a real life Arabian, and Caves of Lascaux was the store special that wasn't a real horse but was based off a real place in France (hence the theme) with cave man drawings. In 2016 for the Brazil theme, we also saw two traditional store specials. We saw another movie horse, Dag Dia, who was a purebred black Friesian that starred in Albion: The Enchanted Stallion. The other store special was of Diablo DC, a Lusitano stallion. We saw the return of Bluegrass Bandit as a store special with the year 2017 for the Indian theme with Repeat the Beat, a black roan Tennessee Walker. She was joined by Dally and Spanky, a miniature horse and dog duo that performed tricks together. The racehorse theme in 2018 brought about two interesting guest horses: Icabad Crane, who was an ex-racehorse that went on to a secondary career after he ran in the Preakness Stakes, and the return of the Strapless mold with Old Ironsides, owned by jockey Rosie Napravnik. Breyer has consistently been having three guest horses since 2019, when they had their heroes theme. This year they had Hal, a chestnut Quarter Horse owned by Jonathan Field, a Liberty trainer (remember the first BF store special, Toby, who did this before it became so popular?) that used Hal in bridleless demonstrations; Rico, one of Sylvia Zerbini's horses who is an Arabian/Andalusian cross that also performs bridleless for the Celebration of the Horses show; and Zipped in Black Magic, a show horse that went blind and is now used for therapy riding. Now, we're getting into more recent years. Breyerfest 2020 was the first online Breyerfest, decided last minute by the company. Again, three store specials were offered with each one given a matte or glossy option to choose from. Benelli was a blue roan sabino Clydesdale driving horse; Faugh-A-Ballagh (aka Cheesecake) was a cremello pinto Gypsy Vanner stallion; and W.H. Topgun, a sooty buckskin Connemara Pony jumper. All these were made in honor of the celtic theme. In 2021, we had another trio to add to our collections. It started with Queen of Hearts (aka Josie) who was a Dutch Warmblood with brindling; Apollo who was a PRE stallion of champagne coloring; and Rheverence+ an Arabian cross. This colorful trio were the perfect choices for this rainbow theme, and were all offered in your choice of either matte or glossy. They are still currently part of my personal collection to this day, a rarity for Breyerfest store specials, since usually I only want one or two. Last year, in 2022, we had the German theme that brought about a few different breeds that Breyer hasn't portrayed before. Montanara was a Black Forest horse; Chardonnay was a German Riding Pony; and Chablis was a German Warmblood. It also started a new trend: an online exclusive, so now there are FOUR store specials, the online exclusive being a Rhenish Draft. While the in-person models were not offered as matte/glossy splits, the online exclusive was. Now, we're on to this year, the driving theme. I'm probably going to buy HD Harkness even though he's a plain bay because I conga the mold. I'm teetering on Via Lattea. I love the real horse and her mold, but if she is just chalky, I feel like she is almost as plain as a bay. However, if she ends up being pearly, or if they offer her as a glossy or if she is pearly in person, I may change my mind. Grand Design (aka Tilly) will also be coming home with me, since I also conga Othello. It looks like the online exclusive will also be here to stay, and is a beautiful color, but again I'm going to pass this year because of the tendency for the Shagya Arabian mold to be tippy. Which store specials do you plan to get this year?
Y'all we finally got the news in the April Collector Club newsletter that Shelby will be available for sale a day too late. He was supposed to be here by the end of April but now won't be available until May 1st, and because we've all been waiting on him for so long that we'll forgive Breyer this time for being off with their dates. I've honestly never heard a boy named Shelby (I had a Belgian draft as a child named Shelby but she was a mare) but considering that this is on the Nokota mold, who happens to be one of my all time favorite molds, and that I like two of the three colors, I'm hoping to score him for my personal collection. I posted the information above so you can see his pricing. He is available as either a grullo appaloosa, glossy bay (similar to Bolero) or a chestnut tobiano pinto. I'm hoping for one of the two flashy colors myself because I passed on Bolero and I'll really feel bad if I end up with his twin. I will grumble yet again about Breyer not letting us choose the color we want and turning everything into a gambler's choice because if I end up with the glossy bay, I'll be looking to find someone willing to trade. In other news, we have a sneak peek for the next Bird of a Feather series in the Collector Club newsletter: Looks like a sooty buckskin, similar to Altynai's color. The question is of the mold. I have no idea, and every time I guess I'm always completely wrong, so I'll leave that guessing up to you!
Speaking of the Collector Club, if any of you didn't get a chance to join the Premier Club for 2023 or joined, I have decided to offer my glossy Cancion model for pre-order in my Model Horse Store, and for a limited time I will include the artwork and sticker from this model. Once you pay the deposit, I will send you the artwork and sticker, as I have them currently in hand. As a reminder, Breyerfest 3 day tickets are only going to be available until May 14th or until sell out. It is hard to believe that that's already only a couple weeks away, so if you're planning on attending the event live, be sure to get your orders in. I will be adding a couple Breyerfest event stablemates to the Model Horse store, as I will have a few extras available if anyone would like to add those to their collection. They will only be available until sell out. Wheeler is a new mold so if you plan to conga the Haflinger mold, you'll want to get him. Shipping for stablemates this year is FREE. I also have some celebration models still available if anyone wants him. Thank you to everyone who participated in my flash sale last week, it really means a lot to me. The last round of orders will be heading out in the mail tomorrow and everyone should've received their tracking information by now. On the Breyer end of things, it has been a while since we've seen a new release (where in the world is Shelby and the next SM Club model?) but today we got an inkling of some things to come. Plushy lovers... there is an adorable mare and foal plush set with too-adorable-for-words appaloosa pattern with heart shaped spots available as a Mother's Day exclusive for only $20 on Breyer's website. If y'all are into the stuffed animals, get on over there and put in your order! There are two new releases coming for spring 2023. One is a remake of Queen Elizabeth II's horse, Emma, this time with a purple sash with her name on it, in honor of the Queen's passing last year. The second model is named Washington and he is a metallic blue appaloosa on the Show Jumper mold that will be the spring decorator, part of the patriotic series. Since I'm no longer selling regular runs, I will not have this guy available, however he'll be available through other dealers and most likely on Breyer's website upon his release. I have to admit that I'm relieved to see a change from the typical red, white and blue coloring. Although I don't collect this mold, this guy is absolutely amazing for a regular (though limited) run and I'm a sucker for blue horses so he may have to come home with me. Finally, I did want to make the announcement that recently Breyer has posted on social media that they will be changing their packaging for Breyerfest. This is important for those of you who ordered pickups from me to know that there won't be any plastic bags sent this year. They are using 100% honeycomb paper and brown envelopes so it can be recycled, which means no bubblewrap, which means that all models will have to be opened in order for me to repackage them in bubblewrap to ship them to you. Although the honeycomb paper is meant for breakables such as candles and china, I don't want to risk sending them through the mail in honeycomb paper because I've never done so before and I don't like to change stuff up if it worked for me before. You can see more about this major change here:
https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=breyer%20model%20horses%20new%20packaging Just a quick reminder that tomorrow is the last day for my spring flash sale. Those of you who have participated so far, I greatly appreciate it, and if you're eyeing something that is still available, be sure to put in your order before midnight tomorrow. Orders will be shipped within 48 hours of purchase. Again, thank y'all who have already purchased models, and I hope you enjoy them! Also, Breyer is offering a special limited edition OOAK model to benefit saving the Beebe Ranch on Chincoteague Island in Virginia. If you have not heard the news by now or know the backstory, the Beebe Ranch was where Misty and Stormy were raised way back in the day. Much of the ranch was sold off over the years but the remaining 10 acres and house is being put on the market for $600,000 and the local museum is trying to purchase the property to save it from development. Breyer will be putting the funds from this special set towards saving the Beebe Ranch, so if you have the means, you can consider bidding here. Once again, the public outcried for Breyer to help save the Beebe Ranch, and Breyer answered. I would love to own these two for myself because I collect everything Misty, but unfortunately the current price is already too much for my wallet. Good luck to those who have the heart and funds to help. I was thinking of making a custom to help raise funds for the Beebe Ranch, which I plan to work on this week, inspired by this pair. If all goes well, I should have it on eBay next week. I always try to help any way I can, even if it's small, as I did with the Ukraine benefit of last year. I think this cause is appropriate for Breyer collectors considering we're all horse lovers, so let's hope that together, the Beebe Ranch can be saved!
I cannot believe that it has been 2 weeks since I've last posted. Apparently not much has been going on in the Breyer front lately. I have heard news that the new mare and foal set, Mariposa and Flor are out and about, although many of the flagship retailers have already pre-sold them, including the flagship store I found 2 hours away from me in Tennessee. I was put on the waiting list for them but I highly doubt anyone is going to pass on their pre-order, so I'm not too hopeful. As much as I love the Susecion and Le Fire molds, the originals were regular runs before I started collecting so I missed out on them, nor I was never able to track down the Treasure Hunt series, never owned a Connoisseur model ever and I didn't know about JCP selling Breyers until Smoke and Mirrors was released. In other words, I don't have any sets other than the Diadem and Alcor unicorns when Breyer offered them online. I think I can let Mariposa and Flor go since they are plain bays, which is my least favorite color in Breyer-dom, so I'm not too disappointed. Still... there are a lot more colors Breyer can make on these molds. Could you imagine the chaos if Breyer ever used them (or at least Susecion) as a Breyerfest surprise? While we await more Breyer news, I did have something I was going to share. This coming week, starting Monday April 17th at 4 PM EST, I was going to hold a spring flash sale on my website. I wasn't going to have any more sales this year before Breyerfest, but I was rummaging through my extra models doing some spring cleaning now that the weather is finally getting warmer, and I still have quite a few to find homes for. Just a side note there will NOT be any discounts for this sale although I will note that some of them that were previously available on eBay are going to be discounted from their eBay price. Why? I get to save on fees that would otherwise be going to eBay, so that 12% will be saved in your pocket instead! There will models in all budgets, and also some new models, never before posted. Stablemates and Classics will be making an appearance as well. Time pays will be available on Stones and Premier Club horses only. I thank everyone who participates in my sales and small business. I really hope that you'll find something you love! The sale will continue through Friday, April 21st at midnight, or until sell out.
For April Fool's Day, Breyer showed this to fellow collectors, saying that they were roaching the mane on Nokota like the Breyerfest auction model last year to represent the Criollo breed. I think everyone knew that this was a joke because almost nobody took them seriously after they do something like this every year for April 1st. However, while that was an April Fool's joke, Breyer revealed this to us today, stating that this was not a joke and that this gambler's choice was going to be available to Collector Club members some time this month. Me thinks that this is what the sneak peek for the March newsletter was, and possibly may be replacing the classics gambler's choice, which is why it didn't seem to line up with any of the classics molds. Several guessed Nokota, and apparently they were right! Shelby will be available either in grullo appaloosa, flaxen chestnut pinto and lush glossy bay that's very similar to Bolero. Those two would make the perfect twins. I'm so excited to see the return of Nokota, a mold I used to conga until I realized I'd never have a complete conga because I couldn't track down a Kanaretah or the Pop the Cork chestnut and palomino, as they were released before I started going to Breyerfest. Nokota is one mold that seems to hold its value, with most going for double or triple what the original price was, so I do plan to add this guy to my collection. Heck, I love this mold so much I may even be tempted to purchase a second Collector Club membership just to get two! Y'all know me... the flashy ones are my top priority, so if I get the bay, I'll probably trade for one of the others.
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