The time for my Breyerfest sale is almost here! At midnight tonight, my Model Horse Store page will be live again to kickstart the sale. There is a little something for everyone. There will be plenty of retired stablemates in all budget ranges, some rare traditionals and a couple regular run Classics leftover from my spring order that I would like to find homes for. Be sure to check it out!
All people who purchase anything from the sale will be automatically entered in a drawing for a few giveaways! THREE lucky winners will either get a FREE 90s Throwback appaloosa, a Classics black and white American Dream pinto or the best prize of all... the celebration model from Breyerfest! Winners will be announced Monday on my blog and prizes will be shipped with your order. Each order made counts as an entry (sorry previous orders don't count) so the more purchases you make the more chances you'll have to win! Rules: *The sale will be starting on Thursday at midnight and go through Sunday. *Pre-orderable regular runs usually in my store will NOT be available for purchase for Breyerfest weekend. This is so pre-orderable items aren't purchased with my in-hand models, otherwise I would have to wait to ship my in-hand models until I got my pre-orders and nobody wants that. Never fear, the regular runs will be back in my Store on the Monday after Breyerfest. *The models listed for Breyerfest weekend will ONLY be available for this sale, meaning whatever doesn't sell out will be removed from my website on Sunday night. They are in-hand and ready to ship so I'll start packaging up everything the Monday after Breyerfest once my giveaway winners are announced. *Checkout will be a bit different. I have moved the checkout button from the top of my website to the page so that it is easier to find for mobile users, as I've had some people tell me they had a hard time finding it on their phones. I hope this helps the issue. I have tested it out and it is very easy to use now. *Both Paypal and major credit cards are accepted. I know a lot of people aren't liking the new changes coming to Paypal which is why I offer a credit card option. Please enjoy this little token of my gratitude :) Happy Breyerfest! If you've read all this before, skip down to the bold part below. I originally wrote this post way back in January (in which I guessed either Bluegrass Bandit or the Arabian Mare) before all the special runs and limited editions were shown so now that we've seen all the molds used this year, we can speculate a little more accurately as to who will be the surprise model. Typically my first of the year guess (last year it was Emma) changes from my later guess (in which I did end up guessing Giselle right before the event) so I'm going to try again, though my chances of being correct are pretty slim. There are a few variables I want to talk about. Here is the criteria I came up with at the beginning of the year: *It is never a new mold made within the past 3 years *It is never a vintage mold *It is always a horse, never an animal (no Brightys) *It is never a mold used as a surprise horse in past Breyerfests Let's look at the molds used in the live auction from Breyerfest 2020: *Forever Saige (a RR for this year in Encore) *Shetland Pony (vintage) *Proud Arabian Stallion (vintage) *Stock Horse Stallion (vintage) *Sherman Morgan (vintage) *Zippo Pine Bar *Bluegrass Bandit *Cleveland Bay (possibly although he was the celebration horse at Breyerfest 2019) *Salinero *Roxy (was already a surprise model) *Geronimo (is a regular run this year in the Orren Mixer) *Andalusian Mare (has been consistently produced recently) *Hamilton (too new) *Georg (too new) *Altynai (already a Breyerfest special run) *In Between Mare (vintage) From the criteria my top three (not in any specific order) are Salinero, the Arabian Mare and Zippo Pine Bar. Since the other two were breeds already used in the lineup, I think Zippo Pine Bar would have the best chance of the three simply due to the lack of stock horses. Everyone is concentrating on "pulling out the stops" because they believe was Breyer hinting at the surprise model. While it is possible that Breyer may not be hinting at anything at all and just using an old saying, rumor has it that people are thinking Bobby Jo for that reason. However would Breyer do the same with her as they did with the Moody Andalusian though about making her a rainbow deco before a surprise horse? Maybe, but I think it may be too obvious. I hope I'm wrong because I do love Bobby Jo, and she's so very little used that I could think of several colors I would like to see used on her. This year truly does have me stumped. What About the Colors?They won't be using different molds, although that would have been cool, because they wrote that "the Surprise model - which could be anything and include several colors on the same mold" so unfortunately I think we can toss that out. However, it could be seven different colors rather than four or five colors in matte or glossy, and possibly the logo could give a hint as to those colors. Blue roan, blue deco, red roan, grullo, palomino, grey and buckskin possibly? Again, this is all just speculation. We won't know for sure until Breyerfest. What are your guesses for the 7 Arts Surprise this year?
It's Breyerfest WEEK!!! Can you all believe it? Crazy how it's already here! I wanted to announce that I WILL be doing a Breyerfest sale this year after all. You guys asked for it... and it admittedly was a time consuming task but I decided to deliver! The sale has been taking up a good majority of my time this past week. I've had to track down the stock, take pictures of everything, make ads and put it all together but it was worth it! If the sale is successful and people seem interested, I'll definitely try to do this every year. Even when Breyerfest goes live, I can still offer the sale since I only live a few hours away from the KHP and can drive back within a day once the event is over. That saves me having to lug all my sales models to the Clarion each year, and also gives my fellow collectors who can't make it to Breyerfest live a chance to still have a way to get a small taste of the Clarion. Here are some pictures of the Bluegrass when I visited previously to get you in the mood: If you are a VIP ticket holder, Breyer should have sent you your $10 Breyerfest store coupon to your email. If not, be sure to put in the code when you go to checkout on the Breyer website over Breyerfest weekend: BF21VIPSAVE. This coupon is NOT for models but for the swag items. VIP members also get access to a Lane's End Farm virtual tour. You have to pre-register for it (it will NOT be recorded) and it will take place on Saturday, July 17th at 12:30 PM EST. All ticket holders can also register for a tour of either:
As a Thoroughbred owner and fan of the breed, I'm happy to see Breyer offering this again, as it was one of my favorite parts of last year's Breyerfest. Last year's tours will be available to rewatch as well, which is awesome. I'm going to try to watch all except the Stonestreet Farm tour which I greatly regret, as I do have somewhere to be at that time. Lane's End is home to the great Zenyatta, while Stonestreet has Rachel Alexandra, both of whom were made into Breyerfest models so there is a high possibility they may be shown on the tours, which is why I regret missing the Stonestreet tour. I took a couple Horse Country tours when I was in Lexington and highly recommend them. The Bluegrass is truly a magical place. Also VIP members keep track of your Breyer account because apparently Breyer is already starting to ship out VIP orders, which means we could possibly know what the surprise model is as soon as the Monday after Breyerfest. I wanted to share some hints released in the live auction model descriptions. First off Dani, Apollo and Josie are available as glossies for the live auction but in the description it says "Please note: glossy (model name) is not limited to the auction". While I'm pretty sure glossy Dani will most likely be an award for the photo show, for the others I'm wondering if they are going to make glossy models for backorder purchases once the mattes sell out like they did last year? I've already bought Apollo and Josie with my VIP ticket so I'd assume I'll get mattes, which I'm fine with, but I would like to get Rheverence in glossy. Although he isn't in the auction, if they make glossies of the other limited editions, I don't see why they wouldn't make a glossy of him too.
By the way apparently they later took off the glossy Josie model because of issues with the model so she is no longer part of the auction. Her auction was replaced instead by a full set of the Black Horse Surprise models from Breyerfest 2018. They are auctioning a vendor pack that shows what we've been waiting for: in-hand pictures of all the special run models. What a colorful group they are together! Just to think in about a week or so the first people will be getting their models. I'm expecting to be one of the last again to receive my order since it's going to be a big one and Breyer typically ships small orders first followed by big orders, so we'll see. I'm probably the last to post this but Forever Saige's boyfriend - erm, I mean Fireheart - is now part of the permanent herd! As I suspected his mane and tail are pearly, which I personally love but a lot of people complained about due to it not being "realistic" enough. However, looking at my own well groomed horses on any given day and the sheen in their coats would make you think they were Akhal Tekes. Just take a look at me riding my Standardbred ex-pacer, Zelda, and how she shines in the sun: In my opinion pearly very much can be real. When I first saw Fireheart my first thought was that he was a silver bay because he was so dark. Like with Dundee, his legs transferred to be a lot darker in person than in the stock photo. At least he didn't turn out as orange as his stock photo though. I was kind of holding my breath about that. I love how detailed his hooves are and the dapples are so subtle they actually look realistic for once, not the fish scales we're used to. Overall I think the paint job was awesome. Size wise, he isn't too huge, larger than some of the smaller Premier molds like the Marwari and his, uh, girlfriend, but not so huge that he looks a lot larger than his breed, like the complaints with Troubadour being a lot larger than a standard Morgan. The artist really did a good job with Fireheart. My favorite part of him is his expressive face. I love his slightly opened mouth with the well painted amber eyes and pinned back ears. The muscling and slight feathering on his fetlocks really takes the cake. As a Moody fan who adores her original Gypsy Vanner mold, Fireheart was a breath of fresh air with his over-the-top wavy mane and tail. I was excited that Breyer added mapping to Fireheart's white markings. They didn't with Latigo, Carina/Selene or Fireheart's *cough* girlfriend *cough* Forever Saige so I didn't know if they would with him or not. Thankfully they did but it is so light you can hardly notice it unless you're looking for it, which is probably why you couldn't see it in the stock photo. It was a bit blurred on his face: Oh and just an FYI Fireheart and Forever Saige look awesome together! This is why I keep referring to them as boyfriend and girlfriend. Between the two I'm having a hard time decide who is my favorite.
Though I'm not super surprised with how delayed the first year models were this year (we were told late January but they didn't come until mid February) the call I've been dreading came today. The mid years are being delayed. I asked Breyer if they knew until when and all they told me was that it should be by the end of July. I'm hoping it'll be next week because they'll probably want to get the mid years out to dealers before the Breyerfest rush, but don't quote me on that.
I PROMISE I will let you all know once I receive a shipping notice from Breyer. I will post about any news I hear right here on my blog so visit back as often as you can if you're waiting on an order. I unfortunately cannot tell you any more than Breyer has told me. If you contact me to ask me if I know when the horses will be arriving, I will have to tell you that they will arrive when Breyer ships them to me, which I know isn't the satisfactory answer you want to hear. Please understand though that all of us dealers are at the mercy of Breyer, and right now Breyer isn't giving us much information. Classics models (the Black Stallion book set and Red Velvet) are now delayed until September. As to the Halloween horse, I won't know if he'll be included in the shipment with my mid year order until Breyer charges my account. This usually happens about a few days to a week before shipping. They are usually part of the mid year shipment, though I've heard rumors that it may not be until September. I hope not, but again I'll keep you all informed if there are any changes be it good or bad. Just wanted to keep you all posted! Premier Club members... the wait is over! Fireheart is now available for shipping! He is in stock and the first round of payments are being taken. You have until July 14th to make your payment, and then again on August 2nd if you need to save for Breyerfest. I'm going to go ahead and buy him now with the first wave so I don't have to worry about paying for him after Breyerfest wipes out all my funds. I will post in hand pictures of him as soon as he arrives. I'm really excited to finally own this boy! I am jealous though of the final live auction models because they made a RED ROAN sabino Fireheart! Look at that, just barely hatched as a new mold and he's already in an unobtainable color. Some of us won't even have the original yet. This model literally is to die for. Old Timer was never really a favorite mold of mine (the broken down plow horse pose always made me kind of sad) however he looks pretty darn good in a modern color. Most vintage molds do but I have to say that a flashy leopard appaloosa with peacock spots, mottling on the muzzle and striped hooves really livens him up a little. Another vintage mold in a flashy new color, I only have one on this mold in my entire collection... Dillon the Tractor Supply exclusive. As with Old Timer, this color really brings him out. It looks sort of like the color of Hamish the bull from last year's Breyerfest. It says he's a brindle but it's kind of hard to see it with the gloss. I'm sure they'll show some better angles during Breyerfest. What in the world did they do to Georg? I know a girl that congas everything on this mold, even customs, and has to be completely out of her mind that this guy is in the live auction. I'm not fond of horses with a lot of bare plastic personally, and that is a lot of bare plastic. If I somehow or another won him (I won't but let's speculate) I'd probably name him Poison Apple because he reminds me of the dripping red apple from Sleeping Beauty. In real life, I own two "plain bay" horses, and yet I don't have any solid bays in my Breyer collection. I'm not really fond of solid bays, however I have to say that this guy is rather yummy. His rich color with the realistic dappling, not that chicken wire dappling Breyer is known for, kind of makes me wish I had a few thousand to spend.
Here is the online Breyerfest program for those who'd like to view it: Breyerfest program It is way too early to begin even thinking about Breyerfest 2022 (or is it?) but now that we've seen all the live auction models, could any of them be the surprise horse next year? Succession and Le Fire - Although I'd love this to happen I think it's highly unlikely due to never having a mare and foal set as a surprise before. Goffert - A very likely choice. In fact, I've been waiting for this mold to be used for a couple years now. Weather Girl - Also likely since she has made an appearance at Breyerfest several times already. If the 7 Arts Surprise is the Arabian Mare like I'm thinking, that'll change the chances quite a bit since Breyer doesn't usually have the same breed as the surprise in back-to-back years. Vermeer - Too new. Lady Phase - Vintage. Ruffian - Another mold I'd like to see as the surprise one day, and it's possible she could be next year. She was made this year for the True Blue event, Home and Away, after all. Troubadour - Too new. Akhal-Teke - Too new. American Saddlebred Stallion - Highly possible since he was just made as Livingston so he'd have been retired for a tad bit over a year if he were used next year. Othello - As much as I'd love for him to be the surprise, I don't know if his popularity would prevent Breyer from making him a surprise horse. The surprise mold is usually something that is popular enough that it'll appeal to a lot of collectors, but not so popular that collectors will fight over it, like if a recent Premier Club model was used. Latigo has so far been the only Premier Club model used, and I think it was because she wasn't a favorite of collectors like if Dundee or Bristol were used as the surprise. However, it has been years since Othello was released so maybe the hype has died down enough by now? Hamilton - Too new. Georg - Too new. Rearing Mustang - Vintage. Old Timer - Vintage. Fireheart - Too new. Hold your horses, Brittany! I may be getting a bit carried away here. Let's get through one Breyerfest at a time. Breyer has announced that the vintage warehouse finds that they previewed earlier will be available on Friday at 10 AM when Breyerfest officially "opens" and will be offered only until sold out. Which will probably be in minutes, y'all, as they have said that they will NOT be restocking the warehouse finds throughout the weekend. Likewise, the swag will be available on Friday at 10 AM until sold out as well, and will also NOT be restocked. The limited editions (Josie, Apollo, Rheverence, Favrile, etc.) WILL be restocked throughout the weekend, and all except the stablemate and crystal will be available for backorder in December if they sell out. The special runs will be automatically selected for you by the start of Breyerfest. You have all weekend to purchase them, just be sure you check out by Sunday at 9 PM. You do this by adding them to your cart and going to checkout, just as you would anything available on Breyer's website. Easy peasy. If you don't want a certain special run you were selected for, you do NOT have to purchase the model. Just don't add it to your cart. Only add to your cart what you want to receive. In fact, you don't have to purchase any models if you don't like them. Now, let's see some more awesome eye candy that will be part of the live auction: Guesses for Othello to be the surprise this year were just shattered with him being a live auction pony. However, that could possibly mean he'll be a surprise model next year, which excites me a bit. We need some more colors other than just 50 shades of grey on this guy. I'm drooling over this bay roan appaloosa coat, but what the heck did Breyer do to his face? At first glance I thought this was going to be a Halloween horse with the skull showing through. Yet another rainbow pony, this time on the American Saddlebred Stallion mold, the same that Livingston was on this year. I would be upset if rainbow decorators were my thing because this guy will be all but unobtainable. I think the gold mapping around his spots is pretty cool. Breyer describes this color as "black bay" although they've used it before on Ganache for Breyerfest. However, it isn't so much the color that is unique about this guy as the roached mane. I personally don't really like it, but to each their own. I do know that Akhal-Tekes sometimes do have roached manes, so it's very possible we'll see a roached mane regular run in future. Now this boy makes me wish I had $10,000 saved up to go at him. He is a beautiful sooty palomino on the new Troubadour mold, and look at those dapples! It looks like Breyer was really trying to test new dappling methods to make them more realistic and uneven than the circular, chicken wire dapples they usually do. Finally, check out this neon blue guy! I wonder if this was the test run for Coal from the Christmas Candy zebras? Boy, I wish they would have went through with it, if so! Not that my chances of actually getting one would be reasonable by any means.
If Breyer makes any more updates, I'll keep you all posted! Hello, everyone! I hope you all had a great Independence Day! After spending a bit over a week with my in-laws in Pennsylvania for the holidays and watching a brilliant firework display over Lake Erie, I'm happy to say that I'm back and am going to be focusing on upcoming orders. Again, I need to remind everyone that if you had a change of address and you purchased either a Breyerfest model back in January or pre-ordered a regular run, please let me know so that I can fix it before I send out your package. I had an order one time shipped to the wrong address when a buyer failed to let me know that she moved and I had a heck of a time getting it back, so I'd much rather avoid that at all costs in future. Can you believe that Breyerfest is little more than a week away now? How crazy is that??? I did want to discuss a big change I'll be making for next year if Breyerfest goes live again at the KHP, which I'm assuming it will since everything else is already going back to normal. Since I am a one-person run business who doesn't have multiple people to wait in the SR lines for me, I won't be doing Breyerfest pickups because, in order to get what my buyers want, I'd have to stand out in the sweltering Kentucky heat nearly the entire day. However, all is not lost. I will still be doing celebration model and event stablemate pre-orders as well as selling off extra SRs after Breyerfest here on my website. Now let's talk about the Saturday raffle model that Breyer revealed over the weekend while I was away, as I left the day of my last post so I didn't get to make a post about her. Her name is Bonheur, and honestly she looks too much like Diana from Breyerfest 2019 that I just can't seem to need her. If I won her, I'd probably sell her, unlike the Friday raffle model, who I'd definitely keep. Maybe she was a test run for Diana? Who knows? The live auction models are one-of-a-kind test runs that Breyer sells to the highest bidder at Breyerfest. These models go for thousands of dollars and the money is donated to various charities like Old Friends so these models are a BIG deal. I would love to own one but alas they get more and more expensive with each year to where I'd probably have to sell my real horses just to afford them. Here are this year's live auction horses: I would love to know if any of these colors are going to potentially be used for future models because I absolutely love the coloring on the Weather Girl. The dappling with the appaloosa markings would look great in my collection. I could do without her very yellow mane and tail however. I guess because Goffert is in the live auction means that the 7 Arts Surprise isn't those rainbow colored Gofferts that leaked out a few years ago. Also, with the return of Succession and Le Fire, does that mean we'll be seeing them pop up in either the regular line or Collector Club soon? Or possibly as the surprise model for next year? It's never been a mare and foal before, and collectors would go bonkers trying to get them all, but hey I can dream! They've been so infrequently used and only once a regular run so it'd be nice to see them obtainable for a change.
I have been watching Youtube videos of past Breyerfests to get me in the mood for the event. Maybe when the event goes live again I'll post my own Breyerfest video to show those of you who have never been able to attend some details the previous Youtubers left out. I would love for the event to be live again next year. Despite the heat, there is something almost magical about all these people that flock from all corners of the country... even the world... for their love of model horses. Everyone I ever met at Breyerfest was always helpful and caring. I just loved being a part of it, and I can't wait to go back! |
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