I will be releasing several sneak peeks to those who couldn't go to Breyerfest 2019. I will add to this post as the weekend goes along. My first day I decided to go to the Kentucky Horse Park instead of the Clarion like everyone else. As I'm on a limited budget this year, I want to save as much for Breyerfest as possible, and going to the Clarion would drain my bank account faster than American Pharaoh ran. Day 1 - Thursday, the Day Before BreyerfestAt the Kentucky Horse ParkThe live auction models are here! I'm telling ya that these models are the elite of the elite, the most expensive models I'll probably ever lay my eyes on and they're all right here, in front of me, in the curio cabinet in the Visitor's Center at the Kentucky Horse Park! Wow! They also had in here the model of Oliver and the single day stablemates in their action figure type packaging. This is new for Breyerfest, but I was also a bit disappointed that they didn't come in collectible baggies like years previously. At least though you will know what you're getting. I will be getting six single day stablemates. I plan to keep a whole set and sell the other two. I have already sold Toe Tapper for presale and will also be posting an Oliver, as I will be getting two of those as well. He looks much better in person; his stock photos don't do him justice! Honestly I can't wait to open him! I will be avoiding the Clarion hotel for my first Breyerfest, also known in horsey circles as the "CHIN" because of a limited budget. If I go there believe me when I say I will have NO MONEY left for Breyerfest itself. We are staying at a non-Breyer hotel to keep me from spending us out of house and home... y'all know how that is. Day 2 - Friday, First Day of Breyerfest!The Models!The surprise models have been revealed! They are on the Andalusian mold! We have a dark dapple grey, champagne, rose grey, chestnut tobiano with medicine hat markings, a dapple green clearware and an extremely rare leopard appaloosa. All surprise models this year have a pearly sheen. There were a few glossies thrown in the mix as well. I figured for their 30th anniversary Breyer was going to do something special... and I was right. People were complaining about how all the models were kind of plain this year until this morning, when collectors realized that apparently Breyer made all the models into gambler's choices. That's right, every model had at least two different colors made. Rocket and Diana were made into a split between pinto and solid colored. Quill, Banner, Pepper and Bucky had different color variations. I will try to post as many variations as I can but I probably won't know all of them until Breyerfest is over. So far what we know is: *Pepper: sorrel and pearly silver *Natasha: normal bay and pearly liver chestnut *Quill: normal silver grullo with pearly mane & tail, glossy variation and pearly amber champagne *Rocket: normal buckskin and pearly buckskin pinto *Diana: normal loose mane & tail, braided mane & tail variation and pearly pinto with blue eyes *Banner: normal tortuga and gala variation *Bucky: normal brown and shimmering blue variation For me personally I think it's cool that it's my first year ever at Breyerfest and also had to be the first year Breyer made every mold into gambler's choices. I swear this year was made for me because y'all know how I love gambler's choices! Jk... anyways I unfortunately won't be able to get my special runs until Sunday so I have to wait :( but I will post my Breyerfest haul on Monday when I return home. Day 3 - SaturdaySearching for the store specials My first day of Breyerfest was spent mostly getting to know my way around. Now that I'm kind of familiar with the setup, and most of the crazies have already found their loot hehe, I'm going to start searching for the store specials. I was particularly looking for the stablemates, Zipped in Black Magic and Hal. Thankfully, I ended up getting all of them. In fact, after waiting an hour in line to go into the Breyer store while poor hubby watched the kids in celebration park, I was able to get everything I was looking for! This is my winning haul for the day... I noticed that the Zipped in Black Magic horse I bought didn't have the white marking on his shoulder or face. I'm not sure if this is another variation amongst Breyer's tons of variations made this year or if somehow it just never got done at the factory. To be honest, I didn't even notice until I got him home. I just randomly picked one with a nice box. I think he looks better without the extra white honestly, and he sure does stand out on my shelf. Hal, though less impressive of a color, looked like my first horse that I owned as a child. I ended up getting the complete set of single ticket stablemates, as well as Sarge and the 30th Anniversary collection. Everything looked to be in good condition, I didn't see many factory flaws on any of them. Even the two Olivers I got were pretty nice. We'll see how that special run line goes tomorrow, and if I manage to score any goodies, then we'll end Breyerfest with a sneak peek of next year's theme. Day 4 - SundayMy special run haul to finish out the weekendApparently people were complaining over the course of the weekend because most of the special runs were sold out before the end of the lines. Most likely because it's an anniversary year and those variations are sought after, people are scoping up special run tickets left and right. Most people are going in and coming out with sad faces because they either bought something they didn't want to use up the ticket or nothing at all. Yes, NOTHING! There were times that were selling completely out of models. Others only had one or two left by the time the last 60 people went through. Pepper and Bucky seemed to be the least popular, while Banner would sell out the quickest. It understandably was ticking off people BIG TIME! Then guess what??? It happened to me. The first time I went through the line, all they had left were Natasha, Pepper and Bucky. I did want Natasha, but I ended up having to get Pepper. Honestly? I didn't think she was too bad, not nearly as bad as she looked in the stock photos with that bright yellow mane/tail (I think that has a lot to do with why people weren't buying her) but she grew on me. I was going to resell her, but now I think I'm going to keep her, at least for a little while. The one I received was a nice model with hardly any factory flaws. I kind of felt bad that not many people were selecting her. Don't judge me but yes, I feel like she needs a home, so she came home with me. It was Natasha that nearly made me cry. I wanted that horse so bad. She was one of my top picks. Well, I got her, but she was so flawed up it wasn't even funny. I tried to exchange her but the volunteer told me that they weren't significant enough to exchange. She has plastic molded up around her knees, extra plastic hanging on her coronets where it's probably hard to sand, she has a couple scratch marks on her sides (probably from having to sand off some extra plastic) and an ear tip rub. While I'm not happy with this, she is still beautiful and I plan to keep her as a shelf model. The second time I went through the line, I ended up by sheer luck getting the other two I wanted most... the surprise and Quill! Unfortunately I didn't get anything rare. Pepper, Natasha and Quill were all originals, which I'm kind of glad about because minus Quill I didn't really like the other variations anyways. I won't know how rare my surprise model is until Breyer announces the final numbers, but I assume he's either a common one or one that people didn't really care for because I saw a lot of them being offered for sale or trade (yes, people at Breyerfest will either sit along the pathway to the SR line offering their scores for sale or will hold it in the air to show that it's for sale/trade) becauses I ended up with the medicine hat. I love him though, he was my favorite. Minus the nearly impossible leopard appaloosa and the horse they termed "Booger" the others were all solid colored. Pintos/paints are my favorite and I adore blue eyes on model horses as you all probably know by now, but to get the only pinto was pure luck. He has a pearlescent sheen and looks so much better in real life. Best of all, the horse I ended up with was pretty much LSQ. I will do Youtube video reviews of each of them to show you once my car lag (is that even a thing???) wears off. Until then, say hello to the theme for next year.... Doesn't this sound cool? I can envision ponies and draft horses galore! I'm planning on attending again, just because we had so much fun this year. Everyone was so friendly and helpful. It was really all about everyone getting together for something they all loved and making the most out of a hot, humid day in Kentucky. Although my first go through the special run line was disappointing, in the end I brought home a colorful new herd.
I have a Natasha in good condition. She is just a regular one. She has hoof rubs on the edges, ear tip rubs, and three small scratches on her sides. You may not want her, but I read about your past experience with Natasha, and thought maybe... So email me and I will send pictures and info. I will trade or the Gambler’s choice or Pepper. Comments are closed.
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