I swear Breyer is getting later and later with the newsletter. This month's newsletter had a story about the inspiration behind Altynai (and yes, he is the giveaway this month) and Breyer is still swearing up and down that this year's Premier Club models will be the best yet! Of course, the "best" is a matter of opinion, but we'll see. I'm hoping I'll like all the Premier Club horses since this is my first time in the club. There really weren't too many I didn't like, but there were only a handful that would fit in my collection. Also in the newsletter was an exciting sneak peek of an upcoming regular run release. Take a look: It looks roan-y whoever it is. I can't tell you how excited I am to see a roan in the regular run lineup! They've also shown us their new 70th anniversary mystery Stablemates. Is this the series with the palomino Smart Chic Olena shown earlier in the year? Will he be the only shrinky or will there be others? Also, did I mention how tired I was of blind bags? I know many others are as well and I will do my best to offer these individually rather than blind so you know exactly what you're getting. You guys were amazing about helping me achieve sales for my first Breyer dealer order. I'm already sold out of traditionals and the majority of the Stablemates. I do have an order scheduled to be shipped later this week with 70th anniversary horses. I will start taking pre-orders on mid years as soon as the dealer catalog is released, which should be soon, and get an estimated delivery date. Stay tuned!
I was correct in my assumption of the sneak peek being the Irish Draught. As I said, I would have been greatly surprised if he wasn't used. His name is Eire and it turns out that he's a clearware. Not my cup of tea. I bought Born to Run recently, who is my first clearware, and I just can't seem to like her so I think I'm going to pass on Eire. I'm still wondering where House Brighty and House Bristol are fitting into the theme. I actually was hoping Bristol would be used as a special run and she was actually on my list of expected molds used for this theme earlier this year. However, now that we've seen all the special runs except the surprise, and since she's on a T-shirt, me thinks maybe that's Breyer's way of telling us without actually telling us the surprise mold. Of course it could be possible that the T-shirts are just that... T-shirts... but it's still fun to speculate.
Bristol hasn't had too many colors made on her to date, mostly bays, but there are two issues holding me back: 1) she's fairly new and 2) she was just used for the Seattle Soiree event. Would they really use her for two events in the same year? On the other hand, I'm surprised they used her as the celebration horse for the Seattle Soiree event with her popularity, so I guess it's not out of the realm of possibility to make her the surprise horse too. I mean they've got to have some blanks after making only 200 for Seattle Soiree. Now let me tell ya, with the Clarion being virtual this year, I have found more grails than I could ever get on eBay or MH$P. My wanted list has been cut in half. I understand now why the Clarion is a big deal. It's an experience I didn't get to attend last year at my first Breyerfest because of having to take all the kiddos with me last year, and kiddos plus breakables doesn't sound like a good idea, so this whole virtual thing has been working out pretty well. I'm still on the lookout for a few: the 2007 Akhal Teke limited edition, Chubasco, Mark of Distinction, Sierra Blanco, Four Seasons Summer (matte), Kuchi gelding version, Constellation, Red Rock, Rushmore and Windtalker. I've seen them available but not in my price range. I did score quite a few that I was able to tick off my grail list, which I will share with you. Julep and Pim: $75 plus shipping
Summer Solstice: $50 PPD Lillian and Molly: $100 PPD Repeat the Beat: $75 plus shipping (NIB) Palomino Dark Horse Surprise: $95 PPD Argyle: $65 plus shipping Chantal: $60 plus shipping Gold zebra: $75 PPD Born to Run: $22 PPD These don't include the stuff I bought from Breyer. All these are just from Clarion sales only. Yeah, I get why it's a big deal now. Unfortunately I have had to turn off notifications for sales because I'm trying to save for Breyerfest. Had I went to the Clarion, I could have easily spent $1000+ on horses I wanted. I still don't know for sure if I want to attempt the master list or the family list. I want most of the special runs, but I also want multiple surprise models, especially if it's the mold I think it's going to be, and I only have four tickets. Hopefully Breyer reveals everything before we have to make that decision. Can you believe that Breyerfest is only 7 weeks away now and they STILL haven't posted everything? I mean these sneak peeks were fun for a time but lately they've just been way over used, not to mention dragging the reveals on forever! Another cropped up today: As with Greenman, the green color isn't my cup of tea, so whatever it is, I'm going to pass. I'm fairly certain this is the Stablemate, and if I were to guess a mold (I've been pretty good at guessing this year) I'm going to say this is the elusive Corbin that I thought would be used for the single day Stablemates but surprisingly wasn't. I mean, come on. He's got IRISH in his breed name. If they do a theme without the Irish Draught Stablemate, which I'm fairly certain was made for the Stablemate Club with this year's theme in mind, then I'll be greatly surprised. Word around the internet is that the design is too intricate for a Stablemate but let me refer back to Navya, who had an intricate flower design on his hip, which looks like the same location that the shamrock is on in the sneak peek. Also as a Stablemate customizer myself of deco colors, some being miniatures of past traditionals, I know that intricate designs can be put on Stablemates. More than likely it will be a decal, not actually painted on, like with the mini Halloween series. So I'm sticking with my original guess of it being the Stablemate, and must I say that I can't believe it took them this long to put a shamrock in the theme. It's not Ireland without them. Now where's my rainbow, Breyer?
It turns out that Bouncer will be at Breyerfest 2020, but not in the way that was expected. He will be the crystal this year named Kelpie. This means that Bouncer most likely won't be the surprise, which I was kind of expecting since not many people would be happy paying $85+ for that small of a mold (who honestly isn't much larger than a Classics) except maybe people who conga the mold. So what are some other molds that could be used? Well, the usual theories about it being a mold that was used as a raffle model from the year before, a mold never used as the surprise before, being a mold not already used in this year's BF lineup and not a vintage mold seemed more coincidental after the release of the Moody Andalusian last year, though it could have just been Breyer throwing us a curve ball to keep us on our toes when they realized we were getting wise to their choices.
If, and that's a really big "IF", they go back to their old ways this year, one of my top three choices, the Connemara Mare, would be out with the release of the shrinky. Bouncer is now out but Goffert is still a possibility, and maybe the Crystallines were made with leftover Gofferts. Could it be Silver or Forever Saige? They look like they could be "cheering" as well and they were raffle models last year. So was Totilas, who has been expected to be a surprise mold for a while now. Since Bouncer was used as a lottery model this year and so was Emma, I'm still not completely ruling her out as the surprise. If she is, my wallet will cry, because I'll want every single one. Rumor has it that the "house" shirts Breyer made are a clue to the surprise horse. Since the Gypsy Vanner and now Bouncer are on the shirts, the most logical would be Bristol since Brighty is a donkey (probably an upcoming pop-up store special... maybe even a shrinkie?) but who knows? All we know is as of yet neither mold has been used. So Breyer has recently added a Celebration ticket option. These ticket holders will receive a Ballynoe Castle model and access to the store specials but no special runs. These tickets were taken with mixed feelings. There were people who thought this was taking away from the store specials since it would be more people who could buy them, however Breyer later made a video to rest assure that they ended up removing the rest of the 3 day tickets so that way they made sure to have enough special runs for everyone.
For adult 3 day ticket holders, they have mentioned some of the things added will be a $10 coupon on swag and coupons for horse farm tours, among other things. They also said warehouse finds will be available ONLY to adult ticket holders and will be available in the form of grab bags of various prices. Take that as you want, but frankly I'm not planning on taking the plunge and getting something I don't want. However, I'm a picky collector but it'll still be fun to see what everyone gets. Finally, they are limiting purchases from the store to one purchase per day per ticket. If you have a single day ticket, you'll only be allowed through the store on the day your ticket is for. Once you make a purchase, you are no longer allowed into the store again that day. Items will be restocked throughout the day so if what you want isn't available, try again later. Again, once you make a purchase, you will no longer have access to the store that day. For 3 day ticket holders, the store access resets the next day. You are only allowed to purchase one of each of the store specials per day. Both store specials and pop-up specials will be available in the store. Apparently there's going to be quite a few more pop-up store specials to be released (really Breyer... get on to it already!) so we still have more to look forward to. In the meantime, the final Fairytale Friends Club set is now available for purchase. Meet Sage and her mini me: Altynai arrived today. I was incredibly happy to see him. I love his gorgeous blue eyes! I'm not sure if the blue eyed thing is a true trait in Akhal Takes or not but anything with blue eyes is a keeper in my herd. I don't ever plan to sell him. He's one of my "only sell if emergency funds are needed" kind of horse. I only have about four in my entire collection that I wouldn't sell unless those circumstances arose. So here he is, the man of the hour: The pros are that he has superb dappling (very blended and realistic, not fish scaley) and he has that Akhal Teke shine to him. He's got the high withers and loooong body that the breed is known for. Take a gander at this reference pic for those who aren't familiar with the breed: So the artists did a great job capturing this exotic breed in both body and color. He is the pinnacle of my collection. I love how dark his withers and shoulders are. Mine even had some darker shading on the haunches. The biggest con is how long he is. He is no doubt a shelf hog. He is even longer than Carter on the Dundee mold, who I thought was incredibly long when I bought Hal at Breyerfest last year. The only other issue was that he did have some flaws. He had a thumb print on his hind leg, a couple hairs under his paint (first time I've ever had this happen) and ear tip rubs. I guess that's to be expected the more intricate the model is. Even with his flaws, he's still a beauty! I can't wait to see what the other horses of the Premier Club will look like. Breyer has released grab bags for the Premier Club and the Vintage Club. I'm unsure how much the Vintage Club is but the Premier Club is $175 plus shipping, and that's for one horse of random choice. They are doing it as a lottery instead of being able to buy it outright like with the Stablemates Club blind bags. I decided to forego it for two reasons: one is that I'm trying to save up for Breyerfest, and two is that most of the PC horses from years past go for cheaper than that. The only ones that really hold their value are Dundee, Bristol, Shannondell and Georg. If I ended up with Emerson I'd be majorly disappointed.
Everyone asked and Breyer listened! Here is the Bouncer that everyone has been wishing for: Not sure what's with all the appaloosas this year (Goji, Lionel, the second PC release, Klaus, Thorn, Oak, the 70th anniversary Indian Pony and now this guy) but it must be the year of the spotted horses for sure! While he's cute, I'm not too big on leopard appys. Now before y'all start hating on me I do love them in real life, yes, but I don't always like them on Breyers because of all the blank color. Now, depending upon if the white is chalky (basecoated) or if it's simply bare plastic is a huge factor in whether I'll buy them or not. This guy I admit I think is one of the better leopards that Breyer has done. If he were glossy, I'd probably take the gamble of seeing if his coat is chalky or not, but I don't really have the $160 to throw on him right now to find out. The bare plastic is the reason I traded my appy Nayati for a pinto. The Nayati I traded for came with an unusually pink face. The gal I traded with said she got three of the same, and I'm pretty sure the pinto she sent me pictures of wasn't the same one she sent me because that one had a lot less white. Still, I rather like the pink face, and he fits in a lot better with my flashy pinto herd than the appy. I'm actually rather fond of the pinking. There is apparently a world wide paint crisis I don't know about, or a lot of really bored people hoarding art supplies. Whatever the case, all the local Walmart stores in my area are out of paint. If they don't stock up soon, I'm also going to be out of paint and thus the horses I'm currently working on now will have to be my last customs for a while. I finally finished my Classic giraffe, my tiger Misty and Stormy and an American Dream inspired by Mischief Night. I have a few stablemates left that are almost done but, again, these will probably be my last customs for a while. Apparently Breyer is also dealing with their own set of quarantined problems because I have three orders that have not been shipped yet, including Altynai, and I ordered him the day he was released. Very unusual for Breyer to be so backed up... not sure what's going on. Usually they have my shipments out with a couple of days.
Ask almost all serious collectors and they'll believed to have found at least one "variation" at least once in their lives. Some range from slight differences in body color to the addition of markings that aren't supposed to be there, or even lack of markings where there are supposed to be markings. So when I received my shipment of Lionels today, immediately I could see the variations in color amongst them. People on social media were claiming that there were both light and dark versions of him, and I could see it for myself. There were some that looked like the palomino in the stock photo (though I will note that he is less orange in real life) where you can see the darker shading on the legs and others that had more of a darker overall almost chestnut look to them. I think what most variations people refer to are in actuality just the difference in an artist's skill. A good example of paint variations are these two bay Mirados from the Deluxe Stablemates Collections I received. The usual ones look like the dark red one on the bottom. The other has a weird yellow tinge to its body color. A repaint, possibly? These body color "variations" are common with stablemates. Another example are these Latigo Dun It models, one with a far lighter coat, the other with a coat almost as dark as Quill's grullo color. Again, I'm sure it's simply a variation amongst the artist's work in these cases. Breyer had true oops variations, like when they added boy bits to Kuchi (I mean with that name, isn't it obvious?) or making early releases a bit more detailed than later releases... a reason why some people go after RRs when they're first released, like how the first Zenyattas had prominent dappling and came in a white box. Later releases came in yellow boxes, were more red in color and had less dapples. I've also just realized that my Crystalline is a variation. She lacks the purple knee patch. She was from one of the first batches available before they temporarily sold out. Perhaps that's why? Maybe they realized they forgot the patch and corrected their mistake. Chances are it was probably just the artist forgetting to add it. I've seen it happen quite a few times where the artist forgets to add detailed markings. While no two Breyers are ever alike, extreme variations do exist. Being a collector myself, not just a seller, I know some people specifically look for those variations in regular runs, which is why I try to hand pick them whenever possible.
First things first, Breyer has come up with a new "master list" plan. In June, when they were going to have us make a list of special runs, you can either choose a family list where each of your tickets has different list of horses, or a master list, where you put all the SRs in order of preference and Breyer will try to give you as many off your list as possible. This makes it easier to not get all duplicates though there's still a chance duplicates could happen. The single day tickets that we've long awaited for are now available. You have your choice of either a 4 pack guaranteeing you one of each horse plus a bonus collectible magnet or a single ticket with gambler's choice of the stablemates. You were allowed up to two 4-packs per order so I went ahead and purchased two. I will be keeping two for myself but the six others will be available for pre-order the beginning of July. The reveal to the sneak peeks were shown and they were, in fact, prize models. These two were the for the customs contest: Breton (Darwin mold) and Cornwall (Latigo mold). They look like black variations of the originals on the molds. Breyerfest this year is going to be expensive for me. Not only do I like all but 2 of the 9 special runs, I also want to get all three of the store specials. Any duplicates I end up with or the 2 I don't care for will be offered on eBay after the event. I also plan on selling the Celebration model, as I'll have four of them, so if you're looking for models but don't want to take the gamble on a three day ticket, be sure to come back in July!
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