First things first, I have to clarify my previous post alerting everyone to the shipping of the mid years because I published it on a Sunday and everyone was thinking they were coming this week when, in fact, it is actually next week I was meaning. I apologize for that, it was my bad. This is technically considered the last week of June and Breyer told me the first week of July so they will be coming the week of July 5th. I'd assume they'd want to get them shipped out before the Breyerfest rush when they're going to be swamped with orders. According to rumors, a couple dealers already received their orders, and I just want to remind everyone that Breyer ships them first come, first serve. I don't know how far down the list I am from the thousands of other dealers, but Breyer has been good about keeping in contact with me which is the best I can ask for. I will update here on my blog if that estimate changes or if I get a shipping notice sooner than expected. If you had a change in address since your purchase, please let me know so I send it to the correct place. This goes for Breyerfest pre-orders as well which will be the next to ship. Thank you! While we wait for more updates, Breyer released a sneak peek on the Breyerfest blog yesterday, with the full reveal shown today. Everybody meet Muybridge, a silver black splash pinto on the Icelandic mold, complete with mapping. This guy would have made a good bald eagle addition to the Birds of a Feather series in my opinion, but instead VIP and All Access ticket holders will be able to enter for a chance to win this beauty in their Friday raffle. Only 25 were made. Tomorrow is the drawing day for Meadowlark. I'm keeping everything crossed to be chosen because I need her for my small but growing Bluegrass Bandit conga. I will get hate mail for this but I love her more than Goldfinch because of her flashy overo pattern and blue eyes. This is coming from a person who has only owned plain colored ex racehorses by the way. As to the eyes, baby blues are my weakness. I'm a blonde who had the audacity to be born with hazel eyes instead of the more common blue eyes associated with blondes, so I love everything blue eyed, especially horses. My chances of actually winning her after being pulled for Goldfinch and a VIP ticket? Probably nil. But I like to hope :)
These next few weeks winding down to Breyerfest are going to be rough. I'm trying hard to avoid MH$P, Mercari, eBay, Facebook marketplace and anywhere else that sells model horses so I can save for Breyerfest, mostly room sales because I only want a couple of the Breyerfest special runs for my own collection. For what was supposed to be a colorful year, I was expecting more... roans? Rabicanos? Peacock spotting? Maybe even mapping like Sprinkles? Then I realized something... they all have doppelgangers and I already own most of their past look-alikes. If this is your first Breyerfest, or if you've only been going for a few years, you may have never even known about these doppelgangers. We'll start with my favorite for this year, Uffington, who looks a lot like the Quelle Surprise cremello on the Lonesome Glory mold. The reason he appealed to me most is because I wasn't lucky enough to pull the rare cremello. I ended up with the chestnut pinto instead, my second favorite because of his metallic sheen and blue eyes, but it would have been nice to have pulled that beautiful cremello. Since I don't have the cremello in real life, I had to use the Quelle Surprise picture from the Identify Your Breyer website as a reference, and I feel I still need to give credit to Janice Cox even though she is sadly no longer with us for the use of the photo. If you don't know her, she was the face behind IDYB, which most of us, if not all of us in the hobby have used at one time or another. Her website the best encyclopedia on Breyers out there. I only hope someone is able to save the website that Janice Cox put years into to honor this amazing collector. Next... Pech Merle. Recognize him from Breyerfest 2014? I didn't at first, but it has come to my attention that he is very similar to Bonne Fete. The bay extended blanket appaloosa with realistically shaded hooves is the same, though I think Bonne Fete has a bit more detail. He has ghost spotting, lightning stripes on the legs, mottling on the nose and a silver tail. I currently own Bonne Fete and I think that's why I don't really care to own Pech Merle. Gran Cavallo is the less roan-y version of By A Nose. The sabino pattern is very similar. As with By A Nose, there may be some models with more roaning than others, which is why I'm on the fence about this guy. If I can get hold of one with quite a bit of roaning (I think I see some around his haunches) then I may add him. I'm imagining that Seurat was meant to look like Chanel. Unfortunately her sooty dappled palomino color ended up being a lot more orange than brown in real life. At least mine did though I've seen lots of variation in coloring with her. I'm praying the same thing doesn't happen with Seurat. Anyone remember the store special Mark of Distinction the chestnut pinto Saddlebred? Well, Tassili looks very similar, but instead of pearling Tassili will be glossy. Still, the horses look pretty similar. I think because I own Mark of Distinction already, this is why I don't want Tassili. Also, more recently, he kind of looked like the Hero's Welcome Surprise chestnut pinto from 2019 minus the blue eyes. If we're on the subject of the Hero's Welcome Surprise, Apollo looks almost identical to the champagne, and though Ansel doesn't look like a Breyerfest horse of the past, he does look like a Collector Club special run that I own... Out of the Blue. The blue roan pinto is almost exactly the same. I do plan to try for him, as I do like blue roans, however I think I would've liked him more if they'd left the white out. To top it off, we all know that Pollock is a cross between rainbow horses Prism, Spectrum and Giverny.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the brindle Josie and Rheverence are really the only colors not previously used for Breyerfest before, so they are the ones I'm mostly hoping to obtain for my own collection. Hard to believe that we now have only 2 weeks until the big event! The next release in the Birds of a Feather series is here, and they saved the best for last, as this will most likely be the last lottery model offered this year until the Wild Animal Series in the fall. Her name is Meadowlark, a beautiful palomino pinto with blue eyes, and the mold of choice was Bluegrass Bandit. I think I might try to track down someone who wins but doesn't want this gal if I don't win her myself. For $185 she's steep for being right before Breyerfest so I'm hoping I have a good chance to be pulled for her despite winning Goldfinch earlier in the year. We'll see.
So, I may have to update my surprise guess for Breyerfest yet again since I'm pretty sure this eliminates Bluegrass Bandit as the surprise. You guys gave me lots of ideas, and though there is a lack of a stock horse in this year's lineup, we have to remember that there wasn't one in last year's either. Last year we saw lots of drafts, this year it's Warmbloods, so there is a good possibility we may see the return of my second guess, Salinero. He has been, after all, lightly used since his release. I had chosen BGB over him simply because I didn't see Breyer using a Warmblood as a surprise two years in a row but he does fit all the other criteria. Well, the news we've all been dreading has come today. Not surprisingly (and probably to the suspicion of Premier Club members by now) the report came that Fireheart is, yet again, delayed. This time Breyer is offering us to either pay for him before Breyerfest or after, depending upon what works best. There is still no actual ship date stated, but I'm thinking some time in August once all the Breyerfest shipments have been sent out. Here is the email I received: "Dear Premier Club member, We’d like to provide you with an update on the status of the first model in the 2021 Premier Collection, Fireheart. We had previously emailed you to let you know that this model’s release had been pushed back to mid-June 2021 due to circumstances outside of our control. Global supply chain issues are producing heavy delays due to an overwhelming demand for products, a shortage of shipping containers, etc. – which has led to unprecedented wait times for finished goods to be loaded and shipped, for all industries. Unfortunately, our Fireheart models were caught in the extensive and unpredictable delays. Trust us, we’re just as anxious to get them off to their new homes as you are to receive them! In light of these events, we’d like to provide important details so all of our members can be best prepared for Fireheart’s release. Fireheart models will open for ordering on Wednesday, July 7th. The purchase window will last for one week and will close on Wednesday, July 14th. With BreyerFest on the horizon, we need to close ordering at that time so our staff and systems can focus on BreyerFest event execution. We understand that this shorter-than-usual ordering window will not be ideal for some of our club members. We apologize! To help make sure everyone can order their Fireheart model, we will open his purchase window again after BreyerFest to give you the additional time you need to complete your purchase. Using this later purchase window will not incur any penalties for your Premier Club membership. Use it if you need it! We appreciate your patience and understanding! Thank you, Breyer Web Team" Please no Breyer bashing comments. They will be deleted. We have to remember that Breyer is one of the many small businesses being affected greatly by the pandemic (I know first hand as I am one of those small businesses) but for a company that relies upon overseas shipments, it is almost catastrophic. I urge everyone in the PC to please remember this. He will come, as did the delayed regular runs back at the beginning of the year. In the meantime, I went ahead and ordered Tobias since I now won't be able to combine shipping. Oh, well. It only saved me a couple bucks anyways. At least we have an update on our beloved Fireheart.
This weekend, we decided to take a trip to the Kentucky Horse Park. Since we're only a month away from what would have been the event had it have taken place, I wanted to see the park for myself without the crowds and (as much) heat. It was still pretty humid, but we went in the morning before it got too bad. I hadn't been on a horseback ride in the park since 2011 when we stopped by while we were on our way back from our honeymoon. I remember I was on a fleabitten grey that was a nurse mare foal. This time my partner was a beautiful palomino Quarter Horse named Charlie, who kept his head down the entire time and walked with a side-to-side rock typical of a Western pleasure horse. Really reminded me of Zippo Pine Bar. As an English rider and Thoroughbred owner, I'm not used to how smooth Quarter Horses are. The Kentucky Horse Park is a wonderful place. To a horse lover, it's as close to Heaven as you can get. However, it was bittersweet how empty it was. Not only because of the lack of any events, but COVID made it even more empty than it was when we came on our honeymoon years ago. There were only six other people on our trail ride with us. As a racing fan, one of my favorite areas of the park is the Calumet collection of racing trophies. There is nothing in the world like it, and if you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it, as it's free with your admission when you go to Breyerfest. It's in the History of the Horse museum. Also in there are the silks and memorabilia of Seattle Slew and Secretariat, both horses in my OTTBs pedigree and whom were made into Breyers. Their triple crown trophies are on display at the KHP. They even have a lock of Secretariat's hair and his extracted wolf tooth. I have yet to visit Claiborne Farm to see his grave but I plan to one day. I always stop in the KHP gift shop whenever we're there (they donate monies from gift shop purchases to the horses so even during Breyerfest I would go in there to buy any regular runs rather than buying them from the Breyerfest store for this reason) and ended up finding a Bisbee. I wasn't a dealer yet when Bisbee came out and my local dealer never got her in, so I missed out on her. Since Forever Siege is one of my favorite molds, I had to have her. I'm also big on blue horses and love her golden overo pattern. The Kentucky Horse Park is a very magical place, for horse lovers it's as close to Heaven as you can get. I highly recommend visiting outside of the craziness of Breyerfest if you haven't.
With the release of the next Stablemate Club horse today, Tobias, I'm sure everyone in the Premier Club is screaming "Where is Fireheart?" I'm going to hold off on ordering Tobias as long as I can in hopes that the answer to that question will be soon since we have until the final day of June to pay for him. By that time Fireheart should either be released or we'll be notified by Breyer that he'll yet again be delayed (hopefully not) but anyways back to Tobias... I can't believe the number of people that don't like this guy! I guess it's more the older mold that people don't like but I'm not really "moldist" when it comes to stablemates. Granted there are a few that I like more above others, but for me it's more color than mold, and this boy is very loud. Not just his flashy semi leopard appaloosa coat, but the striped hooves and leg barring too. Breyer is making these stablemates more and more detailed with each passing year. I think he is one of my favorite stablemates from the club this year. I said in a post before that he reminds me of a mini Heartland. My arm is now fully healed from my horse riding accident and I'm happy to announce that I'm back to painting again. The customs I tried finishing while I was injured ended up being kind of... meh... so I decided to wait until I could paint again, and paint I shall! I ended up cranking out several customs over the week, mostly stablemates, that are currently for sale on eBay. Here is a little preview of what's currently available: As always, if you'd rather purchase them directly from me, I would be more than happy to *cough* save on eBay fees *cough* send you a Paypal invoice. I can also send an invoice through Square to pay via a credit card if you'd rather do that instead. I know with Paypal breaking up from eBay that a lot of people are migrating away from it so that's always an option. All customs come signed or initialed and now include hand signed COAs.
Before I close out this post, I just wanted to give a big thanks to Stephanie, who made my grail dreams come true when she sold me Summer from the Four Seasons Treasure Hunt. A couple of you reached out to me with offers after my last post, and of that I am incredibly grateful. I wish I could have taken all of you up but I could only choose one. There isn't a regular run I've wanted more than Summer. I really love how this community comes together to help each other achieve the collection of our dreams! The time is here! Those with All Access Breyerfest tickets... it's now time to make your preference list! I figured it would soon be time for this big moment. Breyer is offering two different lists, just as they did last year, which can be kind of overwhelming for newcomers but Breyer does a good job of explaining on their website. I did the master list last year and was very happy with the selections I was offered so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the same will happen this year. Remember these are for the special runs only, not for the limited editions. They will be available first come, first serve in the store on Breyerfest weekend. For the VIP ticket I purchased back in January I will be getting Pollock for a customer and Uffington for my personal collection. I'm hoping to also obtain Ansel, Seurat and possibly Gran Cavallo as well. How exciting that we only have barely over a month left now until the big day! Is it not flying by??? Speaking of surprises, I had another show up to my door today. That's right, the mid year stablemates are here, and they're stunning in person! They came in blister packs, just like the unicorn series from earlier this year. The Alborozo has a bit of a pearly sheen, though not too bad to be overwhelming. He looks a lot like Alejandro in miniature. The mane and tail shading were very layered, though he did have a bit of overspray, but this is typical for almost all regular run Breyers. Django has a dorsal stripe so he's officially dun, not buckskin. Not surprisingly these two were my most popular sales. The Charleston was rather plain for my liking, those I know lots of dark horse collectors or mold collectors who'd love to add him just to have a complete conga. He is actually one of the ones I have the most left of, along with the palomino Paint Horse. I think the older mold of the Paint Horse is a big reason why he hasn't sold out yet. I'm excited to see the return of the Corbin mold. Only made once since his original release and that was last year for Breyerfest as Eire, he hasn't been made as a regular run yet. The vintage leopard appaloosa coloring adds to his charm. Finally, my personal favorite of all the molds is the Cob. He is made as a Mustang this time (?) and his blue roan color has no speckles whatsoever, which is a change up from most stablemate roans. He is solid grey with a darker head and legs. He is actually much darker than in the stock photos, or at least mine were all dark. I only have one complete set of these guys remaining before I'm completely sold out of Alborozo and Django (or unless someone buys the Alborozo or Django first then I won't have another complete set left) but I do plan to order more with the rest of my mid year order. If you've already ordered these little guys, I will be getting your order packaged up over the weekend so expect them to be shipped by Monday at the latest. Speaking of the mid years, Marc of Charm is selling like hot cakes - and looking at this in hand photo Breyer showed today there is no wonder why - with Tiz the Law shortly behind. It makes me kind of regret selling my little Hamilton conga. That color is rich and if the shading looks that good in real life, I might have to reconsider adding Hamilton back to my collection. Tiz the Law is beautiful in himself though, and it's nice to see another regular bay added to the Lonesome Glory lineup which, after all, is the most common color Thoroughbreds are, my own OTTB included.
Was Sassy from last year a hint that this boy was coming? The next Vintage Club horse, simply called "Thoroughbred Champion" as is written on his name plate, is now available to Vintage Club members. I wanted to like this guy since I own an OTTB myself, but I'm not much of a Classics collector so I held him for someone who wasn't in the club that wanted him. Here is his picture: We're still eagerly awaiting the delayed release of Fireheart and whichever Stablemate Club horse they release this month. I'm hoping for the gambler's choice but it'll most likely be either Tobias or Raider. I'm offering Raider for pre-order if anyone's interested. He would make a good mini me for Notoriously Framed :)
Tick tock, Breyer... let's get these club releases out of the way so we can concentrate on Breyerfest! I spoke too soon. Breyer revealed the mid year releases through email to dealers today. They are expected to arrive to us dealers around the last week of June. Unfortunately we were also informed that the pandemic has increased prices of supplies and shipments so current prices are what they are up until July 1st. After that, pricing will be going up, so I encourage anyone interested in purchasing models to get their order put in early to beat the price increase. Breyer confirmed that Old Glory will be made in unlimited quantities and is estimated to be re-released in September. He is still available on my website for those of you who'd like to pre-order one from that shipment. Now to introduce the new guys... That rumor about Marc of Charm being a future Breyerfest horse? Well, he's actually going to be a regular run, and he is part of the mid year lineup. Not surprisingly since we just had Livingston released on the older Saddlebred mold that Marc of Charm is on the Hamilton mold. Next up is Tiz the Law. Everybody loved him for his unique facial markings, and he was a pretty good horse on the track as well. Breyer made a model of him already despite being recently retired. He is on the Lonesome Glory mold. Omega Fahim is a black beauty in his own right. He is a champion Arabian stallion and has a shimmery solid black body with an iridescent blue sheen. He is on the popular Shagya Arabian mold and would be the perfect addition to your conga! To round out the traditionals there is the annual Halloween horse, Thriller, who is on the Gypsy Vanner mold and glows in the dark. He is Breyer's intake on a zombie horse. Finally we have two new Classics, a Black Stallion model and book set on the Malik mold, and a new addition to the Cupcake horse series: Red Velvet. He looks similar to the original Cupcake except he has a chestnut base coat instead of bay. All these new models are available on my website for pre-ordering. All are in unlimited quantities (meaning you can order as many as you want) except for Thriller. Dealers are limited to only 12 models of him so he will sell out quick. I appreciate all pre-orders and your support of my small business :)
Well, he is here! I did manage to track one down from a fellow flagship dealer who owns a retail store here in Ohio and was able to take the 2 hour drive today to pick him up. There were a few that had small rubs and flaws but she let me handpick which one I wanted so I was able to pick a nice one. He is flawless on both sides. He goes really well with the flashy colors in my collection. Although I ended up selling off my Hamilton conga, I do like the older American Saddlebred Stallion mold. While Hamilton can't really be anything other than a Saddlebred due to the racking gait he's performing, the American Saddlebred Stallion could be a few different breeds since he's not doing any special pose. I think I'll make this guy a Tennessee Walker. I love the mahogany bay shading and the bi-colored mane/tail. He's a beauty and I'm definitely happy I got my hands on one. Speaking of new releases... The mid year stablemates are on their way now! I was just informed by Breyer that they will be shipped out this week so I'll post in hand pictures once they're here. I still have quite a few to find homes for, so if you were waiting for their release to purchase, know that they should be here by the end of the week. If you've already ordered, keep your eyes on your email for tracking information that will be uploaded sometime this week! This is going to be a busy month. Not just these stablemates but all the other mid years should hopefully be revealed soon (and pre-orders will start as soon as they are) as well as all three club models: Stablemate, Premier and Vintage. Today was the last day to purchase Breyerfest tickets so I'm expecting they'll be doing the All Access preference lists soon.
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