In the July newsletter, we are officially introduced to Chadwick the gorgeous palomino Emerson that I photographed at Breyerfest. I can't wait for his release, which Breyer just said will be in the fall, because this is a pony that I need. I'm hoping they are all glossy and that he's not a split like Breyer has been throwing at us a lot lately. While I'm not typically a glossy person (especially when it comes to greys) I do like palominos in gloss. My glossy Seurat and Georg will tell you that. Also in the newsletter was the giveaway, pony pouches this month. I'm not planning on entering since I don't really have a need for them, however good luck to those that do enter! One final introduction is Johann, another other reveal in the Collector Club tent at Breyerfest. This gambler's choice will include four different colors: bay, palomino (they always seem to have to include a palomino in the gambler's choice), bay appaloosa and liver chestnut pinto. I have one from each of the past Classics gambler's choices so I'm going to need one of these too. I'm especially smitten with the pinto, and if not, I'll be looking to trade. The pinto is who I received with both Nayati and Slyder so I'm hoping to continue the trend. Although not in the Collector Club newsletter, entries are being taken on the Collector Club page on Breyer's website right now for this beautiful gal. I never thought there was a more fitting mold for the Birds of a Feather series than Bristol. While I did downsize on my Bristol conga a while ago due to a lack of flashy colors on this mold, I still have my glossy Josie from Breyerfest, and I submitted my name for Peregrine, the next in the series, because she would fit right into my flashy herd. The color is spot on for a dun, which is one of my favorite colors too, and being an appaloosa helps. I especially love the mottling around eyes and muzzle. So far I haven't been pulled for a lottery model this year, so fingers crossed it'll happen this time. She's a nice Appendix type horse, or Sport Horse. I hope to see Bristol as the surprise horse one year because there are so many colors that she hasn't been made into yet, however I don't see it happening for next year's theme. Once some new colors are made on her mold then I'll be more likely to add her mold back to my collection, just as I did with Hamilton, because I love this mold. While originally made as a Warmblood, she reminds me so much of a Thoroughbred steeplechaser because of her light boned body that I can't help but to hope Breyer will make her the surprise at Breyerfest one of these years.
My German Rhendish Draft finally showed up today (I feel like I'm the last to get mine... anybody out there still waiting?) and I'm ecstatic to end up with the glossy! After seeing the glossy in person at Breyerfest, I knew I had to have him! I'm so glad I didn't have to find a person to trade with, as I would of if I ended up with matte. Yes, he has his share of flaws, but his shading just pops on the glossy version so I can forgive them. He goes good with my glossy Seurat from last year, and he completes my Georg conga. The only other Georgs I'm missing is the winter decorator (which is ok since I'm not a big deco collector) and the original Premier Club release, which I'm also not stressing about since he's plain bay and I prefer flashier colors. The only reason I wanted the flaxen chestnut from Breyerfest is because he looks a lot like a Belgian drafter I used to ride when I was a child. She was a mare though and her name was Shelby. A ride-along with my German Rhendish Draft, who I named Wunderlust, was the 4 pack of stablemates. I was only really interested in the new Emma, and had I known that at Breyerfest they would let you choose which you wanted, I would have rather just bought a single day ticket instead. I'll probably rehome Spaetzle and Doppelbock so I'll be adding them to my Model Horse Store shortly. Lakritz is already spoken for. Last but not least I would like to share my Equilocity find. I really wanted to purchase this gal when I saw her in person at Equilocity, but I have to use Pay in 4 to buy Stones (it's the only way I, like many others, can afford them) and so I had to leave her. I was hoping that she'd show up in the second chance sale, and lo and behold she did! Her name is Atrau and she is a beautiful champagne pinto Saddlebred. She is flawless... I can't find a single blemish on her and was painted by the talented Jess. My Breyerfest is now officially over until next year. While it was nice to be back in person and while the new way of doing the lines makes it 1000x easier, there is still much to improve upon, mostly with the quality of the models. I understand that we're still not 100% back to normal, and it really seems like Breyer has been pushing back a lot of releases to make sure they got the Breyerfest models here on time, but in getting them out as quickly as possible made the flaws numerous this year. While flaws on some models are pretty commonplace for Breyerfest, there were hardly any models this year that I'd consider LSQ. If there is one thing that Breyer could improve upon, their quality control is a must, and if you fill out Breyer's Breyerfest survey, be sure you mention this so they can work on it for next year.
As if recovering financially from Breyerfest isn't enough, Breyer is now offering their Christmas in July event, full of a bunch of clearanced warehouse finds, most of them holiday related. Unfortunately there are no Collector Club specials with this sale. This sale is leaving many collectors wondering... where is our online Breyerfest orders? Why are they having a sale when they are already swamped with orders from Breyerfest? I too am looking forward to my Rhendish Draft and 4 pack of stablemates, my only online purchases this year. Breyer had announced they're shipping celebration horses and event stablemates only right now, just like they did the last couple years, with the store specials following after that. A couple of you will be getting a couple event stablemates from my 4 pack when it gets here.
While I'm sold out of Rotating Draft Surprises, I did find some older surprise models that I've added to my Model Horse Store for those who missed out. Sometimes I get surprises in collections I buy and then forget about them. I'm not taking payments at this time unfortunately. So I'm trying to figure out how to do Breyerfest pickups next year. While many were happy with the way it was done this year, broken up into payments, and honestly knowing ahead of time what I was receiving instead of worrying about my spot in line helped greatly for myself as well, I still had issues. Some people pre-ordered in January and then moved by July. The wait list was really kind of pointless since the models I ended up with as extras were ones most people on the wait list didn't want, so I'm definitely scrapping that next year. Maybe doing them a bit later in the year would help, possibly once I know which models I'm getting. This will be a bit expensive since I would have to pay for all tickets out of pocket when I typically charge model price + half cost of the ticket ($42.50 this year) and pickup fee to help with travel expenses to the event. However this would eliminate the need for a wait list since I know exactly how many models I'll have and the address issue. I really try hard for y'all. Nothing breaks me worse than opening an angry message from a buyer so I'm coming to the community for guidance if I'm going to continue doing pickups. What do y'all think? Do pre-sales in January and break it into payments or closer to Breyerfest and pay full amount? Let me know in the comments! This was our first year leaving from Breyerfest to our Kentucky home rather than Ohio and amazingly I didn't feel the post Breyerfest depression I usually felt when we'd leave to Ohio. I guess it's because we're so close now it doesn't really feel like we've left. About half of my pickups are now already in the mail while most people are still driving home. The rest will be shipped either tomorrow or Wednesday for those of you who have paid for shipping. If you haven't yet paid for shipping, you have until the end of the week, so no hurry. While the Cleveland Bay was in my top three surprise guesses, my number one guess of Carina did end up in this year's Breyerfest as the volunteer model. I figured with this theme they couldn't leave her out. She is a beautiful glossy dappled black similar to the coloring of Lafayette. Some had two white socks, others only had one. So what are my early predictions for next year? It seems like it's going to be yet another pony and draft heavy theme, as was Celtic Fling and this year's theme. However, I'm hoping we'll see the return of a few of the lesser known breeds like Hackneys, Morgans, Standardbreds (I'm 99% sure the new PC trotter will be part of the theme) and Friesians. My top three early surprise guesses - because I do this every year - are Emma, Troubadour and Hamilton. Emma makes a fitting Gypsy Vanner. While they could use the original Gypsy Vanner mold, I don't know if they'd use two draft breeds back to back as surprises, and for this reason I'm throwing Othello and Vermeer out. We may still see them as run models though. My top guesses of course may change depending upon what releases Breyer makes until Breyerfest 2023.
...Driving Forward! This explains the need for a Standardbred for the Premier Club. Please oh please let beloved Emma be the surprise! But I'm getting too far ahead of myself... I finished the weekend at the CHIN (Clarion). I know, I know, that's the worst place to go if you're running out of shelf space. However, I was out for one specific model (sadly didn't find it) so I thought I'd try. I went right before Equilocity while we were in the area. Equilocity is at the Fairfield right across from the CHIN. It was fun, I enjoyed seeing all the models and picked up my Ice Cream Social model, who turned out fabulous. I love the shading details in his pink and brown, it's not just flat color. Some of the artists were there and it was nice seeing everyone in person rather than behind a screen. A few of the models available for purchase were backlight reactive, which was the first time I seen this in real life and it was super cool. Stone definitely has some unique ideas with their models. I will attend again next year for sure. I was a good girl this year and only purchased the models I was set out to get: Stein, Marzipan and the Rhendish Draft for my congas. My only impulse purchase was the Best of Breyerfest set. I will be selling the appaloosa from the set though, as I don't collect the Cantering Warmblood. He will be available in my store. I was unsure about the glossy bay Croi until I saw her in person. I like her a lot better than I thought I would! I want to publicly thank my husband who, if it weren't for him, pickups wouldn't be possible. I come from a family who thinks of model horses as "toys" and as such don't really support my hobby. They aren't willing to travel the distance to Breyerfest to help out, so it's just my husband and me doing all the work. He actually was in a light mood the whole time and really enjoyed pointing out the new models in the Collector Club tent. He was the first to spot the PC Standardbred for me. He also ran all the packages I packed up in our hotel room to the PO or UPS store for me. Although not a Breyer collector himself, he does his share of running my business, which is why when I officially registered our business name I added him as the "G" in G&B Model Ponies and I can't thank him enough.
I'm going to try to get all orders shipped out by the end of the week. Tracking for multi orders will be sent by the end of the day tomorrow so keep an eye on your email. Keep in mind that shipping is going to be pricier for multi orders because shipping services are now going by box size too (aka dimensions) and not just weight, so the more models in a box, the more costly shipping will be. I'll try to keep it as low as possible but I think next year I'm going to limit the number of pickups to 3 per person to avoid this. I'm calling this Breyerfest a wrap and we are on our way back home now to western Kentucky! Breyerfest day 1 was a success! I ended up obtaining all the special run and limited edition models needed for my single orders. If your shipping label was paid by Thursday when we left, it is now in the mail. If you paid after we left, your model won't be shipped until I get home on Monday, as I have a desktop and couldn't bring my computer with me to print labels. Today I purchased the rest of the models to fulfill the multi orders. Shipping invoices for these will be sent once I get back home and weigh the packages. I will be finishing the last day of Breyerfest tomorrow by picking up all my Nikolas models. Unfortunately Breyer is taking the whole ticket when picking up the special runs, not just punching them, so unfortunately I won't be able to include the tickets as originally announced. I greatly apologize for that. If you'd like to add any of the collectible pins to your special run, limited edition or Nikolas order please message me for a code to get free shipping. My thoughts about the new line are very positive. The biggest issue is that the most of people at Breyerfest on Friday were waiting in line for their special runs so there were hundreds in line and not in a very shaded area (no misting fans this year) however I was in line no less than an hour each time I went through. Today the lines were dead. I was able to get right in and right out. I do like knowing what you're getting ahead of time instead of wondering if you'll get a good spot in line so I'd take this way over the old any day. I was actually able to spend most of today enjoying the other activities. The live auction was today at 5 pm. The models were absolutely stunning in person. I took some pictures of them on display inside the main entrance of the Kentucky Horse Park. In case you don't know where they hide them, they're in a display case behind the front desk next to the gift shop. This is about the only time you can see a model horse worth $10,000 or more, or $65,000 as in the case of the Silver pegasus. Y'all... y'all... I can't even... I don't know what to say about that. I'm not price shaming at all but wow! I'm actually envious of anyone who can afford to spend on a model horse as much as a fixer upper home in a shady neighborhood. Congrats to the winner! As you probably know (if you've been to Breyerfest) or have heard, there are lots of equine demonstrations taking place throughout the day. They bring out the horses to ride or drive them in the covered arena, for autographs and pictures. When they're not out and about, they're in their temporary stalls where visitors can go up to see them up close and - with permission from the owner - sometimes even pet them. Here are a few of the real equines I saw today: I'm wiped out, y'all. There is so much to do that it's hard to put it all in one post without you seeing it for yourself. I still have to go to Equilocity tonight, which I'll probably post about on tomorrow's blog. For now, we're getting out of the heat and going to our hotel to rest until we return to the Fairfield later tonight. One more day and then Breyerfest is already over. Can you believe it??
Some upcoming model reveals from the Collector Club tent. This dude is the reason I can't give up Stablemates completely. This is the Deluxe stablemate for this year's Collector Club, Ellington. His drawstring bag is shown behind him and will be what he comes in. The glossy German Rhendish Draft in the plastic. He is yummy! I'm crossing my fingers I end up with a glossy. He is available online to all ticket holders while supplies last. The complete Stablemates Club for 2022 is shown beneath him. Someone took a tumble (we all felt like it in this heat!) but here is the complete gambler's choice for the Stablemates Club up close, along with the optional 7th purchase, the dark unicorn Helios. Mini Georg, the freebie for the Premier Club this year. We won't know which color they choose to put on him until closer to his release, but he'll look like one of the three releases for this year. Here is my personal favorite, the upcoming second Premier Club release Standardbred that Breyer just revealed. She is a bit smaller than I thought but still really nice, and the stand makes up for what she lacks in height. This gal is the optional 5th release for the 2022 Vintage Club and her mini me is the freebie gift. Breyer said the optional release was going to be on a popular vintage mold, and I think it's safe to say the Indian Pony has her share of collectors. I admit that in hand this pair looks amazing. I love the addition of the feathers. If you're a Collector Club member, you should have been introduced to this guy today. Here he is in person. Another that looks much nicer in person, as he's not as yellow as he looks in Breyer's stock photo. Hopefully they're all glossy and not a split. This guy is the fall Collector Club special run on the Emerson mold named Chadwick. Finally some Classics. I'm not sure who the unicorn will be (a Christmas release most likely?) but he is pretty cool. The Lipizzans are the Classics gambler's choice - so there will be one after all - and these are the potential colors. My favorite is the pinto.
What release are you most looking forward to? ...the Cleveland Bay! One of my top 3 guesses and a draft to boot. So far there is a leopard appaloosa, buckskin pinto, grey appaloosa, silver bay, dapple grey pinto and Wedgewood blue pinto decorator. Out of my four I pulled two silver bays, a glossy dapple grey pinto and a Wedgewood blue in matte. Landler is the matte/glossy split. Marzipan has a bay variation. I'm thinking it's a 50/50 split similar to Dead Heat from Breyerfest 2018 because there seems to be a lot of them. Some of you will be getting this variation from me. I'm sure he'll be easy to trade off if you prefer the palomino because, like I said, this doesn't appear to be a micro run. So far no variations have been found with Brahms or Franz. The packaging of the Bears is adorable! They come in a sealed bag so those of you who ordered Bears from me, unfortunately I can't check them for flaws due to this so they will be coming to you as is. This is very unique packaging for Breyer though, and supposedly the Bears are scented, so I'm sure you'll be happy with them! Here is what they look like: Below are what the boxes of the store specials look like. These also will not be opened. So far no mane/tail variations have shown up on Rapunzel, although there have been mane/tail variations on the surprise. She does have slight pearling in her mane and tail though. I had a wait list buyer pull out the last minute on a Rapunzel so I still have one available. I'm hoping to find her a home before Sunday. Unfortunately this year there are a lot of minor factory flaws showing up, and Franz has been the worst for it. I had to exchange one at the tent but unfortunately the second was just as bad and they wouldn't let me trade a third time. He is still nice but quality control this year is definitely not what it was before COVID.
...and all through the grounds, model horse people flocked to the Clarion Hotel! We are leaving for Lexington soon. I've just done a video for my YouTube channel before we leave, which I'll be posting soon, and I've finished packing the last of my sale models that I'm going to be toting with me in hopes of clearing out some shelf space from my personal collection. Right now the majority of the action in Lexington is at the Clarion Hotel where people are shopping until they're dropping with model horse loot. I won't be participating at the Clarion myself this year (I can't be tempted to fill more shelf space I don't have) but feel free to share your Clarion finds if you are there yourself! I'm being ultra selective about my models this year so I'm only after Stein, Marzipan and the online Rhendish Draft for myself. I'm praying the surprise is something I don't collect because, well, space. I'm only looking to add to my congas right now. I thought I'd have a good chance of getting a Rhendish Draft until Breyer had the audacity to throw in 2,000 of 5,000 glossy versions of him in a gambler's choice, meaning you can't select if you want glossy or matte, so this will probably end up with people buying two in hopes of getting one of each. Thank you, Breyer. Usually I don't have a preference for matte or glossy but I must say that the gloss really makes this color pop. I'm therefore hoping for glossy, if I can get one at all. The people who aren't at the Clarion are already starting to line up at the KHP. This used to be called the NPOD or "Ninja Pit of Death/Doom" because Breyer used to put out special models (like test pieces, club models including rare lotteries, old Breyerfest models, etc) on Friday morning that people would stand hours, sometimes up to a whole day, in line for just to get at these models. Honestly once you were actually in the store you couldn't be real selective of your purchases or they'd get bought out from underneath you - think of virtual Breyerfest with cart thieving but in real life - and so it was a bit crazy. Thankfully Breyer has announced that they will be putting out special models throughout the weekend and not all on Friday morning to try to eliminate the NPOD... but the people are still going to sit out there anyways, if anything just to be the first people into the event.
Lots of reveals await tomorrow morning and I promise to update as I can... get some sleep everyone! Good night! Tomorrow is the day we leave for Breyerfest. If you've been to my Model Horse Store lately, you'll notice that the only products left in my store are this year's mid year regular runs. The hype for the early 2022 regular runs is over so I've decided that once a new set of regular runs come out, I'm no longer going to carry the old ones even though they're not officially "retired" just because I'm ending up with a lot of models that aren't selling. The others are piling up at my house so these, along with all of the retired models I had listed in my store a few weeks ago, are coming along with me to Breyerfest in hopes of finding new homes. Although I won't be staying at the Clarion due to booking a hotel last minute (I didn't know for sure if we were going to drive in each day or stay at a hotel in the city but I decided to just stay for the full Breyerfest experience) however I will be selling some models from the parking lot if anyone is interested and doesn't want to pay shipping costs. While I always say that Kentucky weather varies from day to day and to not trust the weather app, it does look like it's going to be glorious weather for our first return to Breyerfest in 3 years! Let's hope this doesn't change. To those who can't attend in person, I will keep updated as much as I can about upcoming release sneak peeks and especially about the surprise model. In the meantime to hold y'all over, check out the reveal of the second Premier Club model for this year, the Maggie Jenner sculpt, who will be displayed in person at Breyerfest in the Collector Club tent and who I hope to get an in-hand picture of. As someone who has been wishing for a Standardbred for years now, I'm happy to say my dreams have now become a reality! Her name is Constantia and she is gorgeous in her bay roan sabino coat. I know the first thing people are going to complain about is the stand but to be honest, I don't know how you'd make a Standardbred mid trot without the stand, as they're typically only on one leg, and trying to make them on two makes them very unstable as we've seen on the vintage pacer. Other features make her much more realistic than the vintage pacer like her pulled back mane - Standardbred manes fall short of their ears a bit thanks to their Morgan breeding - along with the flowing tail and mule-like head with the glaring side eye. This gal will be the start of a new conga for my personal collection!
What other breeds are we in need of? I may be biased since I currently own one but another breed in need of an upgrade is the Paso Fino. The Peruvian Paso, although vintage now, is still a good representation of the breed even to this day, but his cousin El Pastor is in major need of a modern sculpt, especially after the release of Vivaldi this year. Why, oh why, didn't Breyer wait until they made an improved sculpt on the mold? The fan favorite is a draft foal since the only draft foal we currently have is the vintage Clydesdale Foal. I have to agree, there is much need in that department as well. What do you think? What breeds would you like to see added through the Premier Club? |
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