After getting an email asking to extend my Cyber Monday Sale through the weekend due to people being wiped out from Black Friday, people who aren't getting paid until the end of the week and saving for Breyer's upcoming Winterfest, I will be extending my sale through Sunday. It will now be a Cyber Week Sale. If any of you would like to do time pays on any of the more expensive models, a payment plan option will be added to the ad tomorrow. Again, I appreciate the support and look forward to helping out my fellow hobbyists as much as possible!
EDITED TO ADD: My annual T-shirt sale has started on bonfire.com and includes some new designs with you model horse enthusiasts in mind! Would make great gifts and supports a good cause! Also, those of you who have asked about donations, I am now on Patreon and have a $1 tier, as every little bit helps support our real horse rescue. You can see my new Membership page for more about this. Happy Thanksgiving to all! I just wanted to say how grateful I am of all you all, my repeat customers especially and everyone helping to support my small business. You all are the best and I am eternally thankful to this wonderful hobby! Last week we had pre-black Friday deals with some rarities offered to Collector Club members. This week, we had yet another round of Black Friday deals, and these ones IMO were a lot better than the original selection. Breyer has taken them off as they sold out, but if you missed it, I took screenshots of what was available to Collector Club members before Breyer removed them: I ended up missing out on a lot of these myself. I would have liked to had the chance to purchase Baruti if he were still available. Still a nice selection of special runs if you missed them or didn't get picked for them via lottery. At least there is still Winterfest around the corner, which gives us something to look forward to. If you head out for Black Friday deals in the morning, please be careful and have a safe holiday.
We have something new coming that - hopefully - will be a new "thing" from now on in the world of Breyers! Breyer will be hosting a Winterfest event on December 1st, which basically sounds like a mini Breyerfest for Christmas time. You can read more about it here but to sum it up in a nutshell there will be holiday themed workshops, holiday greetings from Breyer portrait models, visits to everybody's favorite Archive Room and special shopping opportunities (whatever that means but it sounds amazing) up through December 10th. Best of all, they will have TWO limited edition models available for sale during the event: Trueno a beautiful pearly white Andalusian stallion on the Duende mold and Mouse a holiday decked out Christmas pony. If you haven't seen them yet, here are the pictures: The white Andy is one of Sylvia's horses. They are each limited to 3,000 pieces and will be $60 each. This event will be open to everybody, not just Collector Club members, and no ticket is required to attend, unlike Breyerfest. This has to be the best thing Breyer has done for us collectors yet and I hope they continue it each year. Before, the only holiday horses we could look forward to outside of the annual regular run were lottery draws and the Santa Surprise if you were in the Collector Club, so I cannot express how grateful I am that Breyer has created an event all can attend and have the opportunity to get a special run. I'm not sure how quickly they'll sell out but I'm hoping to snag Trueno for myself.
I've never made a post about the stablemates that you get for completing your membership (meaning buy all the models released) for the Vintage Club and Premier Club. Most of these molds end up being super popular amongst collectors, even years down the road, because let's face it... they're like potato chips and completing congas of stablemates are a lot easier than traditionals. So since we're expecting Akilah soon with the Premier Club membership, as the final mare and foal set have just been released, let's go over the history of these adorable minis. 2012This year was big. It was the first year ever for either the Vintage or Premier Club and a free stablemate was included with the Vintage Club only at this time. Eagle was from the Vintage Club and, because of his rarity, I couldn't find a picture of him except from IDYB so all credit goes to them for this photo. He was a vintage dapple filigree style chestnut appaloosa on the Rearing Arabian mold. New mold, old style. 2013This year was yet another year of solely a Vintage Club stablemate. It wouldn't be until next year that Breyer offered a stablemate free at the end of the year with the obligated purchases of the Premier Club. Yet another I could only find on IDYB so I'm assuming since these were limited to only 500 each at the time, they are incredibly hard to find today. The name of this model was Jackson and he was a vintage style grey blanket appaloosa on the modern Warmblood Jumper mold. 2014This was the year when Breyer offered stablemates with both the Vintage and Premier Clubs. The Vintage Club stablemate from this year was one of my favorites. His name was Sonny and he was a gold filigree on the vintage Draft Horse mold. The Premier Club model didn't have a name, per se, but was just simply called the mini me of the traditional it was portrayed after: Falhofnir the Icelandic, and an almost perfect replica of him in miniature. 2015This year brought a rather plain pony for the Vintage Club: Bravo, who was a glossy alabaster white horse on the Rearing Andalusian Stallion mold. On the other hand, it brought a first for the Premier Club: a mare and foal set portrayed after Hermosa and Corozan. Ironically, Breyer reused molds for these two... they weren't new molds but had the same black and white pattern as the pair, minus the mapping. 2016Riptide was released through the Vintage Club. We've seen this same vintage style Indian Pony pattern many times before, including this year's gambler's choice. At least they included the war paint on the stablemate. The Premier Club model was a mini of Geronimo on the lightly used Espersnza mold. 2017A first for the Vintage Club this year... twin foals! Licorice and Jellybean made an appearance. They were glossy charcoal decorator in color. There was also a first for the Premier Club... a brand new mold! The Gypsy Vanner in the coloring of True North - again minus the mapping - was offered if you completed all purchases for the year. 2018The Vintage Club stablemate for this year came in old style blister packaging, whereas before they always came in miniature velvet bags. This year was the year Breyer decided to become more green and did away with the bags. Rosemary was the name of the stablemate and she was a vintage style red roan Saddlebred. For the Premier Club, another new and highly popular mold was Darwin, a rearing Lipizzan with the coloring of Dundee. 2019My favorite Vintage Club stablemate of all time so far was released this year, a miniature of Misty and Stormy. I didn't join this year and was kicking myself for it. I collect everything Misty and wanted this set badly. Alas, I still do not own it. For the Premier Club, we got Charleston on beloved Hamilton's color. Although he's got his followers, he was not nearly as well received as Darwin. 2020Gold charm Secretariat graced our shelves this year, a precursor of things to come later when they offered him in Classics scale with the opportunity to potentially get a gold charm. Lyric was released through the Premier Club as a Fjord with the coloring of Troubadour, an odd combination according to most collectors. 2021Now we're getting into more modern times and many of you probably remember these next few years. This was the first year I joined the Vintage Club and the stablemate ended up being Yellow Mount in two variations on the new Smart Chic Olena stablemate, the first time a gambler's choice has been offered. The Premier Club offered something new as well... a shrinkie! Fireheart was shrunken and painted exactly as his larger counterpart. 2022For the Vintage Club, we had another shrinky. This one was made to look like the very first Vintage Club horse ever, Dandy, on exactly the same mold as Dandy. It was easy to confuse the two without a scale picture. The Premier Club consisted of another shrinky, a miniature version of Georg in the coloring of Amazigh, who I think looks amazing. He is the only Premier Club pony in my collection still to this day. 2023We now get to this year, with the Lipizzan Stallion of the Vintage Club on Darwin, and upcoming Akilah, who is going to be another shrinkie, this time of Eberl's Arabian. She is a matte/glossy gambler's choice on Cancion's color. Wonder what we'll have in store for next year? I'm excited to see mini Othello from the Deluxe Club (yes, I decided to become a member this year!) which was like a dream of mine for them to shrink him. I'm expecting him to be one of next year's Stablemate Club models, which should be revealed sometime soon. Another I'd like to see shrunken is the new Standardbred trotter, Constantia. I understand it would be a bit challenging because they'd probably have to make a tiny stand, but they did so with the Show Jumper, so I don't see why they couldn't with her too.
Who will be naughty and who will be nice this year? In my experience, the Santa Surprise model that Breyer offers on Christmas day to Collector Club members only is always an exciting time. Breyer tends to use the ponies for gambler's choices, and I'll tell you why I think that is. Breyerfest surprise models are always traditional, large horse molds. They've never used a pony sized mold for the surprise. Breyerfest surprises have also never been used in previous gambler's choices either, like the Treasure Hunt models for example, and is also why we'll probably never get Croi as a Breyerfest surprise since she was used for the Santa Surprise. These surprises are always decorator colors. Breyer started the Santa Surprise back in 2015 with just two colors: red and green filigree. Let's go over this history: 2015 - Holly and IvyThese models sold out crazily quick. Breyer only made 350 pieces of each, making them incredibly sought after. I think these models are the hardest to find today. They were made on the Flash mold, who is technically a pony sized horse, though one of the bigger pony molds. Flash was also used in the Berry Ponies series. 2016 - Gold, Frankincense, and MyrrhThis would be the last year that Breyer made filigree models. This time they used Sherman Morgan, who is also a smallish mold and is vintage so he'll never be used as a Breyerfest surprise. Again, Breyer only made 350 pieces each, but this time they made three colors: red and green filigree just like last year but with the addition of gold. 2017 - Emerald, Sapphire, and AmethystBouncer made an appearance this year, in three colors all limited to 350 pieces. Breyer threw in a twist this year though: they were made from clearware. Their simple pattern made me decide against them but now I'm kicking myself due to their rarity. 2018 - Unicorn SurpriseThis one I bypassed due to the fact that I don't collect unicorns, but I admit that I was surprised that Breyer used Othello after he was used in the Treasure Hunt gambler's choice. However, since he was turned into a unicorn, I guess they consider that a bit different. Their pricing went up to $150 for this year, probably because of the size of Othello compared to the molds used in the past, but also probably because we were introduced to a new craze: Coal! They made 12 coal models that they randomly sent to customers. These are always glossy solid black models, hence their name. This year was a black Brighty donkey. 2019 - Christmas CandyI honestly thought this year was the most creative of the Santa Surprises that Breyer had done yet, as they looked like candy cane zebras, but sadly didn't seem to popular. Possibly due to her size versus her price ($135) or the fact that the numbers increased to 500 pieces each with now four different colors and still 12 coal models. Unlike last year, this year the coal was a glossy black zebra. 2020 - JolYet another pony sized mold, Jol was on the Icelandic mold and was reduced back down to three colors, probably because of last year's not selling out. You could receive either red, green and silver with a snowflake pattern on a glittery "snowy" clearware background. As the year before, they included 12 glossy black coal models on the same mold. 2021 - Spice DropI caved with this one. I loved the filigrees from back in the first days of the Santa Surprise, and while I'm not big on clearware, I could deal with it because it looked super cool with the filigree pattern. It also helped that the surprise this year was on Croi, who I had a conga of back then. They made 2,025 total models in four colors: red, green, blue and purple. They also made 12 glossy black Croi models. 2022 - GabrielI'm surprised that Breyer decided to use Nikolas considering that he just was released this year for Breyerfest as the celebration model, but nonetheless, they used it and made a braided mane version as well. They came in four colors: red, green, gold and purple. They had no special designs on them so I didn't purchase this one. What will 2023 bring? While we won't know for sure until Christmas morning, and the fact that there really isn't a rhyme or reason to this gambler's choice, unlike the Breyerfest surprise, we can only guess. I'm going to assume it'll be either a pony or another smaller mold. I wouldn't be surprised if Breyer eventually uses the mule mold after using Brighty and the zebra, although I personally would like to see the new Fjord Mare mold if we're sticking with ponies.
Breyer has announced that the holiday blind bags have been delayed until Monday, November 13th, around 1 PM EST due to technical difficulties. If you're a Collector Club member, Breyer has posted their annual early Black Friday sale. The special club models are thankfully nothing I need, as I have most of them anyways, but I admit Zugs was hard to pass. I wasn't pulled for him from lottery and during the sale today he sold out quickly, not surprisingly. If Washington or gold Secretariat were on your list, they are on sale as well. They both will be retiring at the end of this year. The sale pieces could always change once Breyer opens it up to the public on actual Black Friday, but usually it doesn't change too much. They sometimes just add more regular run pieces. Club models such as Raider and Astrid will not be available to the public, so if you're interested in either of those, you'll need to get them during the Collector Club early access. Not a current Collector Club member? You can always join for the 23/24 club and get access to the sale.
Attention current Vintage Club members! Renewal time is here! You have until Sunday, November 12th to sign up for next year's Vintage Club. If you don't, your spot will be given to someone else when memberships open to the public on November . I will be renewing this year, as that appaloosa lamp got me, so make sure you don't miss the deadline! Also, tomorrow around 1 PM EST Breyer is releasing holiday stablemate blind bags to Collector Club members only. They are called Swirls and Snowflakes and have fanciful glittery patterns. I'm curious to know if the glitter has a rough texture of if it is in the paint, however I won't be purchasing any myself, as none of the molds are ones I collect, and two of them are known to be tippy. If any of you do decide to purchase, please let me know in the comments of this post if the glitter is smooth into the paint or if you can feel it. Not a Collector Club member? If the blind bags don't sell out to Collector Club members by Thursday, November 9th, Breyer will be making them available to everyone!
Before I go into the title of this post, I just wanted to share the sad news that Cody Dorman, namesake of beloved Cody's Wish, whom Breyer has made a model of, has passed away. Cody's Wish just won the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile on Saturday and Cody the boy passed on Sunday. You can read the post I made in his honor on my rescue blog here. May he rest in peace. Cody's Wish in now on sale for backorder on Breyer's website. I will be purchasing a model of this guy, despite not really caring for the Carrick mold, solely because of his heart breaking story. Breyer has also revealed the winter decorator, Vail, who is available for entering for if you're a Collector Club member. The popular guess of Latigo was incorrect, he is actually on Totilas. Breyer used the blue filigree this time over the silver filigree, and he looks amazing! They really need to use this color more often. He is limited to 1,000 pieces and, if you're chosen to purchase him, his price is $185. I won't be entering for this guy, as I no longer collect this mold, but good luck to those who enter! We still have the holiday animal mold, also a lottery draw, and the Santa Surprise on Christmas day to see before the end of the year.
Athenian Lady! A rags to riches story about a once in a lifetime rescue horse going from neglected in a field to a western dressage superstar. I'm assuming this gal is a stock horse type, although her owner did say she didn't come with papers when she was rescued, but Amanda (her owner/rider) did get her registered with the pinto association so she could be shown at the higher levels. Good for her! While this isn't typical to take a rescued horse and turn it into something great, it is amazing when they do, truly overcoming the odds. I think of Snowman every time I hear a story like this. Breyer decided to use her on Dundee with a modified mare version. I'm happy to have yet another brown color on Dundee, as I recently downsized my Dundee conga to only have shades of brown, so she'll fit right in. I also love the irregular blaze on her, as Breyer doesn't do that often enough on models. I will have extra Athena models available shortly after the new year, if you just want the celebration horse. Anyone who also buys any limited editions or special runs from me will be able to get him at a discounted price. A discount will be sent to your email shortly after ordering for you to use if you would like him.
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