Apparently other than Thorn being the 50/50 matte and glossy split, we had another surprise split. Epona, whom I received the loose mane/tail version of, also was a 50/50 split between braided and loose. This was an exciting find because it meant that this limited her to 800 of each version instead of 1,600 total. For some reason, it seems like 800 is my lucky number at Breyerfest... (I think back to my Hero's Welcome Surprise matte pinto and Quill, who were both limited to 800-some) The numbers for the Slainte Surprise has officially been released, and it's a whole surprise in itself, for the numbers were... drumroll please... an EVEN 800 of each with 325 glossies! I kind of assumed this since it seemed like there was a huge wave of palominos, followed by a wave of appaloosas, then the red roans seemed to be everywhere and finally the silver black (yes, it's also been confirmed by Breyer that it's a silver BLACK and not bay as previously thought) suddenly started being seen more frequently. Admittedly though I thought it was going to be more like 125 glossies to 1000 matte. I actually prefer this. Making the numbers even was a smart move on Breyer's part to keep second hand market prices from getting out of hand. Not only does it not make me feel as bad about giving up my glossy red roan now since the glossies aren't much more rare than their shelf buddy, Teton, it also gives some hope that when the hype dies down in a few months, anyone who wants one on the second hand market should be able to find one close to cost. Apparently the leopard appy, whom I thought was a black leopard, is actually bay (I'm assuming dark bay) which was a bit surprising. Finally, I would like to introduce Ben Nevis. Although Breyerfest went virtual, volunteers selected before the cancelling of the event were still given their volunteer models. I'm actually not too impressed with this one considering how much bare plastic he has, but the unique part is that he came in two different colors: flaxen liver chestnut and bright chestnut tobiano. The patterns were exactly the same, only the coloring was different. Here is a picture of them:
Apparently there is yet another series of Walmart blind bags on the horizon! Those single packs of stablemates that people are now just finding with the palomino Mirado, the liver chestnut Gypsy Vanner and the black/white pinto? Just as we start finding those, there's new single packs popping up at certain Walmarts, and mine happened to get them in. There's a buckskin Mustang, a dark bay Standing Stock Horse and a new chestnut appaloosa on the little-used Esperanza mold. Not only that, but on the back of the single packs, it hints at a Horse Crazy blind bag series 3. HORSE crazy series 3. Not Unicorn Crazy series 3 with the bubbly purple chase. As of yet, I don't believe anyone has discovered the series 3, at least to my knowledge. I'm sure it won't be long though before they start popping up in stores. Maybe they'll even use the new molds from the 70th collection? Personally I'm just so done with blind bags. Sometimes I'd just like to buy what I want for once, ya know? Sure, I could feel up all the bags but 1) do ya know the strange looks I get by passers by watching a grown woman fingering toy bags and 2) sometimes they make multiples on the same mold which makes it that much harder to find the one you want.
I'm happy to announce that my Breyerfest loot is finally here! A little late but I'm pretty sure Breyer was shipping out smaller orders first before the big orders, and my order was on the biggish side which was why it took so long. I ended up purchasing all the store specials except the plushy (most were pre-orders that will be shipping out tomorrow) so seeing them all in person is a real treat, especially since we couldn't see them in person at Breyerfest before we bought them this year. Here is a picture of everything all together: I will be keeping Benelli, Topgun, the stablemate set, Oak, Epona, Brighid and Beltane for my personal collection. I will do individual reviews of each horse for my Youtube channel, but in the meantime here are some actual pictures of each horse starting with one of the top favorites: Oak. In my opinion this color looks so much nicer on him than the original sealy bay he was released on. I also like that his white areas aren't bare plastic but have a creamy basecoat. Breyer needs to do more varnish roan appys in future! Epona didn't seem too popular, probably because of her tippy mold, but I absolutely love her! This color is so stunning. It has beautiful dark shading with bold dappling, but well blended and not fish scaley. Her white pinto markings are nice and crisp. Though she stands pretty good for this mold, she'll still be put on my "tipsy" shelf with her tippy sisters, Weather Girl and Celeste. Thankfully I have Nokotas on each side to prevent those ornery ladies from playing dominoes. Brighid and Beltane were another huge hit this year, and I'm surprised I got them at all. As with Oak, these colors look much better than the original PC coloring on this pair. I think I ended up with a variation on Brighid, as her mane is supposed to be as flaxen as her tail and mine is not. Her mane is as dark as her body. I wasn't sure if I'd like Benelli in gloss or matte. In fact, I'm still not sure. I thought since he was grey I'd like him better matte, but when he came today, I was a bit underwhelmed by his matte coloring. Maybe it's how light his coloring is. I still like him though, just still can't figure out which I like better. Unfortunately I didn't order the glossy one so I won't know, but here is his matte butt: After seeing Cheezy in matte and how much bare plastic he has on him, I'm glad I bought a glossy of him. Now Topgun I much prefer in matte for sure. He's got generous shading and kind of scaley dappling. I really don't mind scaley dappling as long as it blends with the horse's body color, it's when the dappling looks like chicken wire dappling that I don't like much. The brown eyes on this guy adds to his detail. Finally my surprise models... I ended up with two red roans and three leopard appys out of the five I was picked for. I did get one glossy in each of the two colors so that was a bonus since the glossies typically run in smaller numbers (and the child in me was screaming that I finally got something in glossy) although honestly I figured if I'd ever get a glossy surprise, it'd be on this mold, since the only horses I have on this mold - Teton and GG Valentine - are ironically both glossy. I'm going to keep one of the matte roans since I like the matte coloring more than the glossy. In honor of this event, I've already concluded that my five surprise models are going to be named Refresh, Out of Stock, Migraine, Login Loop and Snatched Away. I think all those are fitting LOL! The appy is honestly the kind of leopard appy I've always wanted Breyer to do. It looks very similar to the Roxy in the live auction, whom I adored, and the white actually isn't bare plastic... she's chalky white. I can tell because the glossy one has a flaw on her face where you can see the bare plastic underneath the white coat. For now I think I'm going to keep the glossy appy since the prices never go down on the glossies should I decide to sell later. Besides the unpainted area on the glossy leopard's cheek, I didn't see any major flaws on any of them, which was great. My "unboxing" video is up on Youtube and I will be posting my surprise model unboxing video later today, though it was filmed long before this post was even written. I'm happy with everything, and I'm hoping next year will be just as successful!
P.S. I wasn't willing to pre-order surprise models since I had no idea which one I'd end up with. The duplicate surprises will be available for sale on MH$P later today. This gal was the teaser picture in the June Collector Club newsletter. Although it's not uncommon for Breyer to change series up a bit, I was a bit surprised that they chose to do a decorator for their Berry Pony Series. I thought for sure it was going to be the sneak peek of the fall special run for flagship dealers since those are always decos. I don't know what it is about this pattern but I kind of like it. If she were pearly pink instead of clearware, I'd probably enter for her if my funds weren't drained from Breyerfest. Really, Breyer, give us a break! Her name, fittingly, is Strawberry. My Breyerfest loot is supposed to arrive tomorrow, and I can't tell you all how excited I am! I'm going to be like a child opening her presents on Christmas :)
My only swag purchase, my horn cups, arrived today. They are bigger than I thought they'd be. I was expecting shotglass size but they're a bit larger, though not quite 8 oz. They came in a cute little gift box. For a while I was thinking this was all I was going to get and thought "those are some expensive horn cups!" However, today I finally received some tracking information. I received it through UPS My Choice, not through Breyer directly, and apparently the package weighs 48 pounds. I'm assuming it's my entire order since I have about a dozen traditionals and they weigh approximately 2-3 pounds depending upon if they're drafters or not. Glossy Cheezy won't be coming home to me until December and matte Cheezy, Greenman, Eire and Kelpie will be going to their new homes upon arrival. I will probably do a couple videos for Youtube to show you all what they look like in person before I send them off.
Matte Benelli, matte Topgun, the stablemate set, Oak, Epona, Brighid and Beltane will be a part of my personal collection. The surprises will depend upon which ones I get. I already know what the colors are but I have not seen pictures of them yet. Thankfully they're all colors I collect except for the leopard appy. I'll have to see what that one looks like in-hand before I decide. As you all probably know from the release of Vermeer, I'm not big on leopards because of the amount of white. Oak is probably the most I'd ever pay for that much bare plastic, and only because I really love the mold. Tracking says my box should be here Wednesday so stay tuned for an unboxing video! So Giselle is the surprise horse after all. I wonder when Breyer will announce the numbers? Hopefully not until after everyone gets their hauls. I personally have only received tracking for one order so far, which actually came through UPS My Choice otherwise I wouldn't have known about it, and I'm assuming based on the weight it's the horn cups I ordered. That was my very first purchase so they must be going down the list.
I can't wait to see my Giselles! I have a soft spot for that mold, though I don't own many, since she wasn't made in too many colors to begin with. I only own glossy GG Valentine and Teton. I always thought she looked like my favorite breed, the Thoroughbred, even though she was used as a Warmblood. She has that TB broodmare look about her. I can't wait to see all the different colors... nobody tell me please! That I do want to stay surprised about, and in fact I'm staying off social media until my horses get here. Oh, and just for the record, I live in the Midwest so I'm always the last to get anything from Breyer, hence why most dealers received their mid years before I did. While packages are supposed to start shipping out this week, I would like to take some time to discuss last minute guesses for the surprise horse. The big question is, who is the surprise model going to be? Jaime said her lips are sealed and provided no hint whatsoever. Stephanie, on the other hand, may have thrown us a couple hints. In one video she said that "SHE is on a mold that is well loved" and "not many colors were produced on". The announcement of "she" threw popular guesses Idocus, True North, Salinero and Totilas out the window. An assumption on social media was Justadream. People saw this picture on Breyer's page today... ...and immediately began to wonder if Breyer was secretly revealing the mold. As Justadream hasn't been used in a long time, and as she was a very popular mold back in her day, she fits the criteria to be the surprise, however I don't think Breyer would be so bold as to throw the surprise mold out there as a wolf in sheep's clothing, just like I don't think any of the live auction molds are the surprise either.
I think that, in order for us to get a good idea, we need to look back at the previous years and try to find some kind of pattern. I'm going to toss out the first ever Breyerfest surprise from 2009 only because it was a vintage mold (that apparently Breyer wasn't even planning on continuing until fans demanded its return) so we'll start with 2011: 2011 Spun Gold: Ethereal (released as a regular run in 2009 - 2 years between) Sculpted by Kathleen Moody Colors: palomino extended blanket appy, buckskin blanket appy, champagne, chestnut pinto 2012 Stoneleigh Surprise: Flash (ongoing regular run in 2012) Sculpted by Susan Carlton Sifton Colors: Leopard appy, bay pinto, mouse dun, silver bay 2013 CC Shuffle: Roxy (released as a regular run in 2011 - 2 years in between) Sculpted by Susan Carlton Sifton Colors (first time in glossy): Dapple grey, blue roan pinto, grullo pinto, chestnut blanket appy 2014 Pop the Cork: Nokota (last released as a regular run in 2011 - 3 years in between) Sculpted by Kathleen Moody Colors: Bay, palomino pinto, varnish roan appy, chestnut pinto 2015 Quelle Surprise: Lonesome Glory (ongoing regular run in 2015) Sculpted by Kitty Cantrell Colors: chestnut overo, buckskin pinto, dark bay semi-leopard appy, perlilno 2016 Samba Surprise: Esprit (released as a regular run in 2013 - 3 years in between) Sculpted by Kathleen Moody Colors: black overo, dun pinto, palomino, deco 2017 Bollywood Surprise: Latigo (released as a regular run in 2014 - 3 years in between) Sculpted by Sommer Prosser Colors: chestnut overo, grullo pintaloosa, bay pinto, buckskin 2018 Dark Horse Surprise: Smarty Jones (released as a regular run in 2014 - 4 years between) Sculpted by Susan Carlton Sifton Colors: bay pinto, leopard appy, palomino pinto, deco, rare black 2019 Hero's Welcome: Andalusian Stallion (released as a regular run in 2016 - 3 years between) Sculpted by Kathleen Moody Colors: chestnut pinto, dapple grey, rose grey, champagne, deco, rare leopard appy So it looks like the majority were regular runs at least three years before they became a surprise. Let's look at who was a regular run 3 years ago who hasn't been used as a Breyerfest special run yet this year or who hasn't been a surprise model yet: -Brighty (we shall include him though they've never used a non-horse before but he was on a T-shirt and is the only model unaccounted for since Bristol showed up in the live auction) -Geronimo -Forever Saige -Bobby Jo -Andalusian Mare -Silver -Smart Chic Olena -Marabella -Spirit -Rain -Boomerang -Icelandic -Carrick -Wixom -Idocus -Cleveland Bay -Giselle If the horse really is indeed a mare and not just Stephanie saying "she" as a general term, I'm going to say the best guess is Forever Saige or Giselle since they were both in last year's live auction, with Giselle slightly more so since she's a breed that fits the theme. Secretly though, I'm hoping none of these theories hold true and we'll see little Emma :) What do y'all think? What's your guess and why? The first of my Breyerfest haul arrived, a small portion of what's still to come. I received my four Ballynoe Castles and my 4-pack of single day stablemates. No offense to the real horse or his connections but I'm just not big on plain ole bays, but thankfully I did find new homes for all my Reggies with collectors who will love and appreciate him more than I ever could. They will be on their way tomorrow, along with the single day stablemates. I decided to sell off Skye because I just wasn't big on the Charleston mold, nor the color, but the other three I've decided to keep. They came with adorable plaid drawstring baggies with their names printed on them. Breyer said they are going over orders to make sure nobody cheated the system, as there were apparently people on Friday buying more than 2 special runs at a time. They said it could take some time so just a heads up for those who are waiting on their pre-orders. Now the big question is, should I book a vacation rental for next year early or not? I'd hate to put down payment ahead of time, as Air B&B requires you to pay in advance and unfortunately due to our family size, we can't do a conventional hotel. If I wait, I'll surely miss out on the best ones, but what if Breyerfest isn't held at the KHP again next year? Ugh. Decisions, decisions. Speaking of which, if Breyerfest isn't at the KHP next year, I won't be doing pre-orders next year since getting them was just too hectic. Although I was able to fill all the small orders, I had to refund a couple people who bought several store specials from me because I only had time to add one thing to my cart and checkout or else it would be sold out. I apologize greatly for that. I know how disappointing it is, but I honestly didn't know how the store specials were going to be dispersed and how difficult it was to obtain them, so my bad. I'm hopeful if the event is virtual again next year, they'll figure out a way to limit people in the store somehow. The swag store (not the same as the limited editions store) was easy to buy from. There wasn't nearly as much competition, and I found these horn cups that apparently the Vikings would drink from. I thought they were rather cool so I bought them using my $10 voucher given to adult ticket holders. I'm glad I didn't wait around, as they sold out right after I bought them and were never restocked. In between all this hubub, I've been working on some Halloween and inspirational mini customs. They should be on eBay within the next few weeks. I'm currently in the process of painting four of them, with a fifth being planned but not started yet. I'm taking advantage of those new 70th anniversary shrinkies, because I just simply couldn't resist. Here is a sneak peek of the first one I have finished: Finally, to top off this post, the grail that I bought right before Breyerfest came today. While most people probably already have Carina and Selene in their collections, I was not a member of the PC that year, but these two have been on my grail list ever since I saw their prototype upon their release. I'm so happy to finally have them join my herd! I think I'm going to try to join the Premier Club every year so I don't have to track down the ones I want on the second hand market and pay double the original cost. If there are any I don't like, there is always someone who does. Obtaining Carina and Selene at least help me keep my mind off of all the Breyerfest goodies that should be on their way, hopefully any day now.
I'm really happy with my special runs. My last two ticket times resulted in Oak, Brighid and Beltane, Epona and another surprise so I'm officially done buying. With five surprises total, I really hope I end up with one of each color, though I can guarantee that I'm going to get duplicates. I will go over my "haul" as soon as all my stuff gets here, which Breyer said in their video that some packages will start shipping tomorrow. If you've pre-ordered something from me, it'll be in the mail the day after I get my package. Next year's theme has been announced, and it's called "Horse of a Different Color". Now when I first saw that, my mind immediately thought this was going to be a year of decorators, although Breyer spoke of spots, chrome and stripes... basically anything flashy. My husband thought maybe it'll consist of anything but plain horse colors, like roan, perlino/cremello, champagne, etc. I really hope he's right because those are up my alley as a collector and I'm already planning on attending next year. The second Premier Club horse was finally revealed today. Apparently Blaylock gave him a greying out ghost spotting appaloosa pattern, and from the video he looks like his mane/tail are pearly and his body possibly chalky? Although he's pretty unique in that this is the first time (I believe that was said in the video... correct me if I'm wrong) that Breyer has made a leopard appaloosa with the grey gene, I'm more than likely going to end up selling mine upon release in August. Folks on social media are saying he's a portrait model of Mystic Warrior, though his name by Breyer is Vermeer after the Dutch painter. Here is what he'll look like: I feel a bit empty - depressed? - now that Breyerfest is over. Although it wasn't the excitement of last year, it was still fun to be a part of history, the first virtual Breyerfest. The videos on the website were well done and the website itself was easy to use. Minus the store issue (frankly if I were Breyer I would have done lottery draws for the store specials then those who didn't get what they wanted could simply trade) I think it was a pleasant experience overall. I try to remember that Breyer didn't have to have Breyerfest at all, they could've simply cancelled the event, and they did their best to fix any mistakes. To those who couldn't wait around for the store specials I really hope y'all took advantage of the glossies to at least walk away with something. Yes, I know they probably won't be as limited as the matte versions, but again, Breyer didn't have to do that for us. After this ordeal I'll appreciate standing in the hot, humid Kentucky heat more from now on.
I gotta tell ya... I thought this whole doing Breyerfest online sitting in the air conditioning would be easy. It's not! I kind wish I would have paid someone the extra money to get what I wanted instead of the ordeal I've had to go through. Imagine if they let everyone at Breyerfest, everyone, in the store all at the same time. One word... chaos. That's exactly what virtual Breyerfest is like. Imagine, getting to the checkout counter with your goods and then someone runs up to rip them away from you while you're handing the cashier the money. Last night they made the bold decision to take away the number of trips through the store, which was a double edged sword, as it made the store a free-for-all making it even harder to check out. Yep. Good times. Now I see why Breyer never made Breyerfest an online event before. Breyer has been doing their absolute best to make this event possible. They are listening to us, the collectors, and making last minute tweaks to accommodate our needs. I've been saying all along to give Breyer a chance. For example today they are offering unlimited glossy models of the three traditional store specials: Benelli, Cheesecake and Topgun. Just like they did with the CC appreciation models last year the models won't be available until about six months out, December 2020, but hey it's a guaranteed model that you don't have to fight for and it's glossy. You can't go wrong there! I decided to cave and pre-order a Cheesecake since he's the only that I haven't been able to get yet so kudos to Breyer for doing this... they really do love their fans! With everything that I've bought, I have about a million separate transactions from trying to get through checkout as quickly as possible. It makes me wonder if they'll ship it all together or each order separately. I was going to buy more... then a grail happened. It was on sale at a price I couldn't refuse though it still wasn't exactly what you'd call "cheap" and remember when I said in a few posts ago that we had just hit a deer? Ugh. I ended up splurging a couple hundred on the grail and will probably regret it later but hey, it's Breyerfest. It's still not as bad as the people paying thousands for the live auction models, right? We've also been shown another sneak peek for the Premier Club. This is the Fraley sculpt who was supposed to have "majestic presence and expression" which I agree that it does, and I'm also happy that it's not a standing pose like I originally thought. I also wasn't expecting a draft breed after the release of Georg last year, but that complicated mane and tail are going to be interesting to see transferred from clay to plastic. As the welcome letter described the coloring of the Fraley sculpt as "loud and proud" I'm assuming it's going to be the leopard appaloosa pattern. I want to give people some tips on how to make it through to get the store specials so y'all don't go away empty handed tomorrow. Breyer has consistently been restocking store specials every two hours. In fact, today, they posted exactly when they were doing restocking. There was a time they missed from doing a live video, but then extended the special runs an extra 2 hours out to make up for it. So, once that time came around, and yes I understand sitting at a computer (though I found my phone a bit faster than my computer) refreshing the page every few seconds is a pain, but it's really the only way to get anything.
My suggestion is to choose ONE ITEM that you want to buy, keep refreshing the page around the restocking time - give or take 20 minutes - and then quickly add it to your cart, go to checkout, go to each "next" button as quickly as possible and let it ride. Don't get impatient or click happy, because you could lose them in that short amount of time. It happened to me a couple times and the item stayed in my cart, but then once it's in your cart, you only have to go to checkout, refresh your cart around the restocking time and it'll let you skip a few steps to cut some time off your checkout. This is honestly the only way I've managed to get anything. I say concentrate on one item at a time because if you go back, you most likely won't have time to add another to your cart before they sell out. It's all about timing. If you have slow internet access, I truly feel for you, as my computer is super slow, which is why I had to use my phone. Good luck! |
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