2020 has been a hard year, no doubt, but even if you haven't been directly affected by the virus, there is still the threat of it hanging over our heads, at least until we know how this vaccine will work out (and thank you to all healthcare providers on the front lines willing to be the guinea pigs for this new vaccine... y'all are always willing to put yourselves in harm's way for the sake of survival for others) so now that we're coming to the end of the year, let's hope 2021 will go a little smoother. A new year, a new vaccine, a new president and renewed hope. I'm hoping things will be looking up by July and we'll be at Breyerfest in person, as I'd love to be able to offer pickups. If not and it's virtual again next year, I can still offer pickups on special runs but there is no way I'd be able to do store specials if the setup is the same as last year. I can't believe it won't be long until the Breyerfest special runs are revealed, and tickets go on sale. By the way, are we ever going to know who the celebration horse is? It takes at least 6 months for Breyer to produce the models for Breyerfest, so it's gotta be soon. All things considered, the hobby has been good to me this year. I have cranked out more customs this past few days than I think I have over the past 3 months. I've already listed some and will be listing more tomorrow. I've finished several Stablemates, all Halloween. I've made a couple animal decos that are currently getting finishing touches, and am going to be starting on Christmas decos this next week. Here is a sneak peek: Breyer is having their end of the year sale now so be sure to head over to their website to check it out. From a collector's point (aka rare stuff) there isn't really much, mostly warehouse bargains and retiring regular runs. The Christmas blanket with Yuletide Greetings apparently was part of the deal but it is now sold out. A big question is: will there be another Ambrose this year? Ambrose was a connoisseur quality - and American made might I add - appaloosa that Breyer offered on December 27th last year. It was kind of out of the blue, as they'd never done it before, so I'm thinking it was it just a one time offer. They did reveal one of the last two Stablemates Club horses, unless they show the optional 7th purchase then it'll be three more reveals, but the optional horse for last year wasn't shown until the very last day of the year. This is the vintage model and his name is Raider. He's a glossy chestnut frame overo on the G1 Seabiscuit mold. In my opinion, he looks like a mini of the "Picture This" contest horse that we voted on at Breyerfest. So this leaves the Django model. I'm kind of hoping Breyer won't use a decorator this year, as I'd love to have other realistic colors on Django, but I don't think it's likely. I think deep down that Django will be our decorator. The optional 7th horse last year was revealed on the last day of the year last year, so my guess is if they do show it, that's when it'll be. They did say for sure that there will be a 7th horse though.
I wasn't sure if Breyer, like so many other companies this year (because 2020 has been completely unpredictable) would do their Black Friday sale early this year so I thought that last week's Black Friday preview for Collector Club members was the actual sale coming a week early. Well, that was sneaky of Breyer to do because I almost missed the sale thinking it was going to be all regular runs and they weren't going to offer anything good this year. I had an alarm set on my phone to go off on what I was predicting to be Breyer's Black Friday sale, as it's always a week early for Collector Club members. I thought "but they did their sale last week" however something deep inside of me decided to check anyways, and this is what I found: With how quickly Bristol sold out, this is why when people ask me if the Collector Club membership is worth the price, and I always tell them yes. Even if you don't join the specialty clubs, you still get access to these previously released club models for very close to the original price during their Black Friday sale, and sometimes their New Year sale (hint hint for those not familiar with the lay of the club) because, even if you joined the specialty clubs year after year, there are often lottery models available that you weren't drawn for. Acadia and Ruben are good examples of those. Yes, this was a good Black Friday lineup. Another lottery draw is in progress, a glossy grey vintage Belgian. He isn't my cup of tea but he is a one of a kind, so if you want him, be sure to put your name in for him (another perk of being in the Collector Club as he is only available to members) and one lucky person will win him for $1000 price tag. Finally, I'd like to introduce the new Breyer Farms stables to y'all. They're made of the same material as the unicorns but are painted pretty simply. They don't have much shading to their coats, which gives them kind of a vintage look, especially the palomino Saddlebred and alabaster Quarter Horse. The buckskin has kind of a metallic tinge to their coats. Until my web store is set up, I still have quite a few available for sale on eBay if you'd like to purchase one for yourself or to gift. They are durable enough that they won't break easily if they fall off your shelf, unlike regular stablemates, making them good for play. The stable could also be used as a storage shelf for your stablemates. This little set has lots of potential.
Yesterday on social media, Breyer dropped a bomb by announcing that Collector Club Appreciation Day was going to be today and it started at 2 PM. I'm sure this was probably a way to get people to purchase last minute 2019 memberships, and it was a bit sneaky on their part to only announce it on Facebook, not on their website or blog. This, amongst other things, enraged a lot of collectors. I honestly wouldn't have found out about it had I not have seen it posted on Facebook. I never received an email at all. In order to receive the glossy model, you had to have at least $125 in your cart worth of regular run merchandise. Anything that was labeled as "regular line" at the bottom of the page was part of the deal. Limited editions such as web exclusives (Mira and Antares for example) or any Collector Club models - Corbin is still available at this time - are not included, neither are club memberships. Once you added enough qualifying items, you had to add the free model to your cart (worth $150 according to Breyer) and use the code "CCTHANKS19" on the last page in checkout in order to receive the gift for free. This also made a lot of people mad when they bought $125 in items just to be denied the free model because they didn't do all required of them. The gambler's choice for this year was five glossy regular runs: Seamus, Enzo, Verdades, Thunder and Latigo Dun It. They made a total of 785 models (not sure where they pulled that number out of?) which brings it to approximately 157 models each. Y'all notice that they finally used a mold that they showed in the CC Appreciation picture? The deal sold out within 30 minutes, a record that made a lot of collectors furious and spewing hateful comments about Breyer as a company. Honestly though guys it's first come, first serve, and I'm kind of glad that they do limit the deal because that makes the models rarer. If they made enough glossies for everyone, their values would take a nose dive and they probably wouldn't even be worth the $125 you spend to get them in the first place.
I'm also glad that they announced the time this year, as I didn't get to participate since 2015 because I wasn't around to catch it in time. This year, however, I was one of the lucky ones to get in my order before everything sold out. I bought Buckeye and Latigo Dun It since he's retiring this year (I didn't want to take the chance of not getting him in glossy) along with the new Pony for Christmas to complete my order. I was surprised that the Pony for Christmas qualified since he's a web exclusive. However, he would make a good stallion for my Wish and Wonder set from last year so I was happy he did. I was rather pleased with the selection of the glossies. Honestly, there wasn't any I didn't really not like, but if I had to choose one, I hope to get Enzo because his color looks amazing in glossy without being overdone and it might not make me hate that mold so much. If I end up with Verdades, I'm probably going to put him on the second hand market just because y'all know how I feel about solid bay horses. I will be sure to update with what they send me as soon as my package comes, probably sometime next week. The Cyber Monday deals from yesterday were extended through today, although the most popular deal, Sonsela, is already sold out. She was a mid states release that has been long retired. She was available for $49.99 while she lasted. I admit that I really had to talk myself out of buying Mira and Antares, but I promised myself no traditional unicorns. I just don't want to open that can of worms, and then I'd be tempted to buy more unicorns. I loved that they used realistic horse coloring for once instead of fantasy coloring. Instead, I found a couple grails that I'd been looking for (I'll mention more about that later) and used the money I had saved for the holiday mare/foal to buy them instead. Also Corbin has been officially released today. He is the final SMCC horse for 2019. People have noted that he looks a lot like Limerick from BF. I don't know, but he is nice, especially since they don't produce that dark of a dapple grey very often, and to have him glossy is a bonus. I couldn't tell he was glossy by the pictures in JAH. He's definitely a keeper for me. As to my future grails, I've officially added By a Nose to my herd. The only BF year since I began collecting BF models that I didn't have a horse from was 2018 so now I have one from each year, and with all the plain colored horses from that year, By a Nose was the only horse I liked. The thing was that I couldn't find her for under $100... until I found the one I just bought. Listed on IDYB as a bay pinto, she actually has some roaning on her front making her appear more like a bay roan pinto. I also snagged a Markus that I found for only $40 just because he has a rub on his face. As with many on this mold, he doesn't stand well, and took a fall on the show table after ending up with second place. For some reason my local flagship dealer never got Markus in and, as with By a Nose, he is a model that I've had a hard time finding cheap. Since I don't show, the rub doesn't really bother me. Although described as a "flaxen chestnut" on IDYB though he actually looks more silver bay to me. His mane and tail have a pearly sheen to it. Finally I put a deposit down to purchase Hamilton. He was the first Premier Club model that I had my heart set on because of all his detail, so I guess you could call him a grail. His mapped pintaloosa markings, realistic pinking, pearly white body, ermine spots on his striped hoof and the mold itself with that twisty tail made me NEED him in my collection. When I saw him, I honestly thought he was a real horse! I finally found someone willing to do time payments so in a few weeks he'll be mine! I'm so excited to buy my first PC model :) Honestly I've probably overspent a little, but this time of the year is one of the best times to buy grails because people are clearing out their collections for holiday money. I just hope this overspending doesn't come back to haunt me when the CC Appreciation deal and Santa Surprise are released.
Collector Club members get early access to Black Friday deals on Breyer's website, in addition to exclusive club models that won't be available to the public! Darwin and Rosemary were sold out within 5 minutes of being put on the website ands that is the reason why my stablemate collection will never be complete. I just can't ever seem to snag those rare stablemates while they're decently priced. I went on there 7 minutes too late, or I would have loved to have the original Darwin. I'm kind of meh about the mold but I love that dun pinto color! Anyways here was what was offered today:
The rest of the deals included mostly sales on regular runs that are retiring this year. I'm assuming that the deals released for the actual Black Friday for non-Collector Club members will be the same, minus the horses pictured above. They usually do a Cyber Monday sale which has mostly the same thing.
These horses were offered the day after Christmas to Collector Club members only. The 3rd release in the exclusive 2016 Stablemates Collectors Club: Shiloh! This athletic sport horse packs a lot in a small package: a dynamic extended trot featuring a beautifully shaded and very subtly dappled chestnut and white pinto coat topped off with a high lacquer gloss finish. He shines in every way possible! He comes with his Club satin drawstring bag. Price: $29.99 Last summer we asked you to choose from three beautiful - yet very different - models who were all sporting the same deco: Strapless, the Connemara Mare, and the Fighting Stallion. We've tallied the votes and the people have spoken - the Connemara Mare Starlet is the winner! This Collector Club Special Run has a beautifully-shaded bay dun blanket appaloosa coat and striped hooves, and certainly "wore it best." A starlet through-and-through, this feisty Connemara mare can't help but be the center of attention! Price: $75 A beautifully shaded pinto half-Arabian mare originally designed by Tom Bainbridge. The Arabian, with its delicate dished face and high tail carriage, is considered one of the world's most beautiful breeds, and Cosette is no exception! Her splash of pinto color makes her even more exotic. This was the glossy colored model of Cosette that was originally available as the free gift for the Collector Club appreciation offer. Price: $45 Julien and Sophia are the perfect compliments to Cosette. Their rich bay coloring and pinto patterning were designed by Tom Bainbridge. These horses show their Arabian descent by their high head carriage and flowing manes and tails. Their glossy finish gives them another reason to shine! 1/12 scale and comes in a mail order box. This was the glossy colored model of Cosette that was originally available as the free gift for the Collector Club appreciation offer. Price: Unknown (this pair was already sold out when I went to the sale) Fletcher is a stunning wild bay Appaloosa gelding with three white socks and a blaze. He is available in a matte finish; perfect to display or to bring to your next performance set up. Price: $85 A warehouse find! We have just a small quantity of the 2009 Special Run Grazing Mare and Foal, Cream and Cocoa! This lovely gift set includes Cream, a glossy smoke Grazing Mare, and Cocoa the foal in glossy charcoal. There were only 1,200 sets made! Comes in a mail order box. Price: $65
Merry Christmas to all my readers! So lots of people were waiting for the second of the year's gambler's choice to be released. After Scotty and then Calvin were released last year, both Classics sized gambler's choices, followed up by Calahan this year, we all waited for another gambler's choice to be offered. Well on December 1st Breyer released the new Fruitcake Fillies! Surprised? I sure am. Not only are they stablemates rather than Classics, they are all holiday related decorators rather than just two regular horse colors and one decorator, like in the past. A new tradition maybe? I'd sure like to see more in the future for those who can't afford the traditional sized holiday horse released to Collector Club members on Christmas day. They were limited to 2000 total pieces, with only 500 of each color. Santa Surprise was the Christmas day special for 2018. It included a gambler's choice between one of three different colors of unicorns, with the possibility of being 1 in 12 people to receive a glossy coal black donkey, appropriately named Coal. Unicorn colors included green, blue and gold. They were limited to 350 of each color. Were you naughty or nice this year? The last of the raffle models in the Collector Club for the year, meet Hawthorne the pig. He was released as a raffle model for the Collector Club. He is painted in Breyer's popular vintage woodgrain color. He was $125 postage paid. Considering that Breyer only made a handful of pigs and only two were available as regular runs, this is actually a good price. The 2019 Holiday horse will be Minstrel who looks like he's going to be a silver bay! He is on the Loping Quarter Horse (aka Latigo) mold. This was a sneak peek photo of what he will look like.
Breyer released their Black Friday deals today on many of their regular runs, as well as web exclusives Crystal & Crispin, Fiona & Rory, and Triton. If you were a Collector Club member, you were in for some real treats! I will list below the special runs that were available to Collector Club members only:
Whatever kind of holiday you celebrate around the season of Christmas, you can be assured that there are many Breyer goodies coming up! The kickstart to the month - besides the 25 days of Christmas Breyer does every year - is the special runs Eldora and Sol, a cow and calf Holstein pair with gold spots. They would go great if you were one of the lucky ones to be able to get Olaf last year. Available first to Collector Club members and then to everyone else, they are now sold out (they were limited to only 350 sets) so start looking for them on the second hand market if you're interested! Although not a Christmas release, I did want to mention that Mirado (the last horse in the 2017 Stablemates Club) is currently available. I'm indifferent about this horse. I thought he was a Mustang but it turns out he is actually an Andalusian cross, according to Breyer, so depending upon what he looks like in real life, I may or may not keep him. If you're interested in good deals, keep checking Breyer's website for their countdown to Christmas daily specials. If you're a Collector Club member, we're still expecting a Collector Club Appreciate deal coming up sometime this month (most likely with a glossy goodie) and, of course, the Christmas day horse! If you're not a Collector Club member, be sure to keep an eye out for the upcoming 2018 regular runs.
I was asked to make a list of the deals Breyer offered on their website throughout the holidays to non Collector Club members. Nov. 28-29 (Cyber Monday & extended into Tuesday): Their deals for Cyber Monday included lots of Classics including Primrose's Pride, Magic Spirit, Cosette, Julien and Sophia, Crane and the Champ/Poncho set. They also had a really good offering on their British Breeds Connemara pony at $25 and Shetland pony at $15. Breyer also discounted their Zodiac models to the best that they have offered them at yet. I was a bit bummed out especially since I had already bought them last year at what I thought was a good price then. Many people weren't interested in them but I personally loved the Zodiacs. They are even prettier in real life. Amongst other things, they offered the cow and calf set with Don't Look Twice for a smashing good deal of around $50 but, as with most of the items on sale, I already have them. Breyer also generously offered FREE shipping for Cyber Monday with your purchase of $25 or more. Dec. 5: If you missed the huge Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals that Breyer was offering, never fret because you have a chance again for some awesome deals today only! Cyber Monday has been extended and now includes even more deals than last time. I personally like the new ponies sale where you get Smokin' Doubledutch, Best of British Highland Pony and the Best of British Shetland Pony for only $17 each. Combine that with the Connemara Pony that was on sale for only $25 and you have a heck of a pony collection lined up. I was a bit upset that they offered the mare and foal holiday horses with a FREE American Pharoah ornament but since I already have the ornament and since you have to pay shipping, unlike when I purchased the sets last week with FREE shipping, I guess it evens out. Dec. 7: This isn't really a "deal" but I wanted to note this mid-week limited release that Breyer offered to all. His name is Olaf and he is a glossy alabaster Longhorn bull that was limited to only 350 pieces. Needless to say he sold out quick and was already unavailable by the time I received the email for him. I thought he was available only to Collector Club members but apparently he was offered to anyone who received Breyer's email subscriptions. Anyways, since he was $145 for a plain white bull, it wasn't too much of a loss to me although I'm still on the lookout for a bull for my cow collection. Dec. 9-11: If you missed when Breyer offered FREE shipping, you still had a chance to get what you want for cheap expedited shipping. If you spent $50 worth of Breyer stuff, which believe me when I say that it adds up fast, you could choose to only pay $9.95 for shipping for the entire weekend. Dec. 12: Breyer announced that this will be their last day offering FREE shipping if you want to guarantee delivery by Christmas. Dec. 16-18: This was the last offering for discounted shipping to get your purchases in time for the holidays. The holiday shipping did not apply to mare and foal sets or limited editions. The offer was good the entire weekend. Dec. 25-27: Breyer is offering their final deal of the year today. Get FREE shipping PLUS 10% off most horses on their website if you purchase $50 or more of items. You must put in the promo code at checkout for the discounts to apply. Deals are eligible until December 27th. I wanted to note that they have released Mid States "Chance" as a possible buy, which was tempting, however I'm out of money for the holidays so I had to pass.
|
Archives
April 2024
Categories
All
|