Tomorrow, we will be making the 2 hour trek from our home in south central Kentucky to Lexington. I still remember the first time I ever went to Breyerfest. That memory of being so full of excitement that it brought tears to my eyes when entering the park and seeing the thousands of people from all over the country that flock to this event all in the name of our hobby is absolutely amazing to me. You can probably find a license plate from every state in the parking lot. I've even met some people from Europe, and made many lifelong friends along the way. Seeing the smiles on the faces of first timers, usually children but you'd be surprised to find out how many adults are there for the first time as well, is unmatched by anything. No matter how many times I go to Breyerfest, my inner child is always released when I go into the Breyer store for limited editions and other goodies I may find. While I do love doing pickups for y'all, if you ever get the chance to go in person, please do. There is absolutely nothing like it in the world. There is no way I can explain it to you in words. You must see it for yourself. I hope to share my experiences through my blog in pictures I take so all of you at home can watch from a distance. I know a favorite that people from afar like to see is the Collector Club tent, where Breyer often has several sneak peeks and reveals for upcoming models. Breyer has already shown a couple new reveals via email today: Adonis, the second release of the Premier Club, and Tuxedo, the optional 5th release for the Vintage Club. I'm curious to see how tall he's going to be (my shelves in my house aren't very tall and this is why I don't collect the Silver mold) but the fact that he's a buckskin is already making me lean more towards keeping him. The reason I love Heather Puleo art so much is because she does her research on bloodlines in a breed and isn't shy about flashy colors. This guy is a historical Lipizzan from the Conversano line performing the courbette. Heather even adds that he's in his prime, meaning a 15 year old stallion. Tuxedo will for sure be available for sale and will come with one of three sock variations. In addition to seeing all the Collector Club reveals, any variations amongst special runs will be shown as well if I end up with any, or a written description of any discovered variations if I don't. In addition, I have posted some models for sale in my store from Breyerfests of the past, so take a quick look if you're looking to add something to your herd :)
Let's drive forward to Breyerfest Driving Forward and the reveal of the 2024 theme on Sunday night! Happy New Year's Eve to everyone! I hope your new year's resolutions involve something horsey. I've seen a lot of people post that this is going to be their first year in all three specialty clubs, so that gives a lot to look forward to! Speaking of the specialty clubs, Breyer has been throwing some last minute releases at us left and right, including some sneak peeks that they've never shown before in other years. Yes, you read that right. But first, let's show a reveal that they typically do show every year, a January release that was viewable in the Collector Club newsletter. People have said this reveal could possibly be the new regular run Arabian since, technically, they haven't officially been announced yet. However, others are saying that they wouldn't show regular runs in the Collector Club newsletter (even though they have shown web exclusives that have been available to everyone, not just CC members, in the CC newsletter before) so they're guessing possibly the first lottery model of the year, which isn't a bad guess considering that they haven't done a bay in the Birds of a Feather series yet. Now to the awesome, brand new, never before seen stuff. They have shown a sneak peek of the unfinished Stablemate Club new mold! *gasp* This horse has future unicorn vibes written all over it! Typically we have to wait until Breyerfest for this reveal. Which leads me to the next reveal... the final stablemate mold used for the event stablemates... and it is Kit, the new Haflinger. Not really surprising, I kind of saw this coming based on the theme, but I'm still excited to see what new coat pattern they are going to use nonetheless. I love the mold, Kit had such a soft face and sweet eyes, just wasn't sold on the clipped coat. The final reveal is the third Premier Club release. Say what? I know, I was shocked too. Never before has Breyer shown a sneak peek of all three club models. Here is what they showed us today: It looks like my guess as to a draft mare and foal set, most likely by Kylee, was correct because that, my friends, is a draft foal butt if there ever was one. I must have! I may end up actually keeping all of the Premier Club models next year, and I finally decided to go with glossy for Cancion. I can't wait until that boy is a regular run so I can paint a portrait model of my little Paso Fino, Roberto, on the mold. I wish Breyer had waited to do Vivaldi on the new Paso, especially given how excited his contacts were to have their baby portrayed as a Breyer, but I'm hoping Breyer has something else up their sleeve to turn the Cancion mold into in the coming years.
So here's the one last day of the year and the start of a new year is upon us! Happy 2023 y'all! I saw a couple others selling customs to donate to aid the citizens of Ukraine impacted by the war, and I think this is a brilliant idea! During the Iraq war I donated a toy box full of classic, stablemate and mini whinnies sized Breyers overseas to the children impacted by the war back then, so I would like to do my share again. Although I currently don't have the time to make blue and yellow colored ponies that most are making for this cause, I do have some leftover Halloween customs that I can pitch in. Please see my eBay page (screen name is our official business name: gbmodelponies) if you'd like to purchase one of these ponies, as I will be donating between 20 to 30% of the sales towards Nova Ukraine. Breyer is apparently doing their own bit by offering this beauty of a OOAK for auction on eBay, putting 100% of the sales towards Ukraine relief, which is awesome. I love when larger companies do this. He looks similar to the Classics sized Man o'War gambler's choice, Lancelot, with his shimmery blue coat and black points. As a Thoroughbred lover, I'd cherish this guy if I won him, but I know he's going to go way past my price range. The winner of this horse will be incredibly lucky indeed, so good luck to all who bid! Mentioned on Breyer's blog today was the next release in the Vintage Club on the Smoky mold named Sandman. I can't wait to add another red dun to my collection, and on an overo at that, my favorite pinto pattern! He looks absolutely yummy in gloss and look at those detailed eyes! I'm always amazed how good the vintage molds look on modern colors, and Breyer sure has been pumping out a lot of them lately. Do we have a vintage themed Breyerfest coming up or something? Those of you in the Premier Club last year... the mini Fireheart stablemate will be shipping soon. Be on the lookout for it on your account and make sure he is going to the correct address! Breyer is aiming him towards the person who purchased the last PC release (the mare and foal set) so if you pre-sold your set, make sure you call Breyer before he ships out. If you entered for the beloved Robin and Nestling, check the Collector Club page to see if they're available to you. Some people received an email, some didn't, but if you won you should be able to purchase them. If you can't, then you're like me, who also entered but wasn't pulled. Of course it was probably for the better since I sold off a lot of my bay pintos when I downsized on my collection, including Vixen and Blitzen, who would be twinning with this set if I still had them and won. Anyways congratulations to those who will be adding this set to their collection!
Hello, everyone. I still haven't gotten a chance to message back anyone who has tried contacting me over the past couple weeks. We're still incredibly busy here. I've been pulling 10 hour days at work (I'm used to only 8 hours and it's leaving me pretty exhausted by the end of the week) so getting everything we need to done has been going a lot more slowly than we'd hoped. Our property is now partially fenced and the ground is being broken for our new barn but we still have a lot of fencing to do. We're aiming for everything to be completed the first week of April, pushed back just a bit from our original date of April 1st. Below are some updated photos: Sadly, I wasn't able to come up with enough money in time to bail the little Paso Fino mare I posted about from the auction fate. I was about $500 short, plus transportation costs (gas prices are $4.25 down here) but I'm happy to announce that a rescue group did end up getting the highest bid on her at the March 10th auction so she won't be ending up on the meat truck, thankfully. Thank you to everyone who tried to help her from purchasing my models, and the money I did make from my model sales will be put to good use. It will be going towards purchasing another auction rescue once we're finished setting up. I will update when we plan on heading to the auction. On the Breyer end, we've had a few releases that you've probably heard about by now, however for those of you who haven't, I'll quickly go over each of them. Anyone who collects plushies... P'eggy the Easter pony was released while we were moving but is now sold out. However, if you missed her like I did, she may be available second hand. A discovery has been had of the new Vintage Club release, Cooper. I wasn't able to sell mine (he isn't a very popular mold despite being on an outrageously beautiful color) so he had to be shipped to a relative until we get our mailbox up and all that new address paperwork completed. Until I see him, I've been told of an oopsie made by Breyer in which rather than Vintage Club 2022 stamped on his belly, I will see "Kingfisher 2022" instead. Here is Breyer's official announcement: This solved the mystery of the next Birds of a Feather series sneak peeked in the newsletter who apparently won't be the real Kingfisher, but instead was a mare and foal pair named Robin and Nestling. These two, topped in a high gloss finish, are too adorable for words. However, I'm betting that, like Cooper, they won't be too popular since they're on vintage molds despite having a jaw dropping color. It was, however, very gutsy of Breyer to offer these, being the first on the series on vintage molds Breyerfest VIP tickets are still available to the surprise of many. However, I think the fact that Breyer is making VIP ticket holders pick up their models at the event and not shipping them this year has a lot to do with this. I'm tempted to get one myself if they don't sell out within a few more weeks. Those of you that put down deposits on Breyerfest pickups... I announced July 1st for the remaining payment but remember this could change if Breyer needs payment by, say, the end of May. The only thing we know right now is that we'll be making our master lists in May, but when models will be chosen and payment due is anybody's guess. Just be prepared if it IS earlier than July 1st. Shipping will still be requested after the event when I weigh the packages (especially those that ordered multiple models) and can give an accurate shipping weight.
It's not even Friday yet and Breyer is still revealing new horses. Today it came in the form of the third Premier Club horse of 2021, the much anticipated mare and foal set. Based on social media accounts, she seems to be well received, and I hate to be the Debbie downer here but I was really hoping for a different breed. I know a lot of people were wishing for a drafter set, but with the release of two draft horses in the previous two years, I figured it probably wouldn't be, however I do want to express a bit of disappointment in yet another stock horse. On the other hand, I guess they do go well with Dundee (albeit him being a gelding but we'll pretend) and her color is exceptional. It's about time we see a roan in the Premier Club lineup, and although the foal is supposed to be a chestnut, there is a bit of roaning there too. Their names are Firefly and Hawkeye which I think is fitting for a watchful mare over her frolicking foal. This announcement of the third release also came with another apology letter from Breyer for Astrid, which I will post below if you want to read their exact words, but basically they said we should be expecting Astrid shortly, and they're aiming to have the mare/foal pair released in December so, all told, the clubs should be finished by the end of the year instead of overlapping into 2022 like we were all worried about. Finally, some communication! I'm hoping that they'll be announcing news of the Vintage Club horses soon as well. We still have Nugget, the gambler's choice to be released, and the charcoal mare/foal set (whose names I can't recall at the moment) that were the optional purchase for the Vintage Club this year. I'm also expecting the first releases of both the Premier Club and Stablemates Club for 2022 to be unveiled soon. Come back frequently for more updates! This is the busiest time of the year!
First things first, the July Collector Club newsletter was sent out today, and they had an in-hand photo of Astrid in both matte and glossy. Seeing them side-by-side, I still prefer the glossy, as the color really pops on her. According to the newsletter, she will be released next month (August) so hopefully there won't be a delay like there was with Fireheart. Although they showed them in the live feed at Breyerfest, it was just a quick preview, so it's nice to see a still photo. I can't wait to see the mare and foal set as the final Premier Club release this year! Speaking of Breyerfest, my 12 lb package ended up being Dani, as I was suspecting due to the low weight. It was only two Danis and I noticed that a transaction for two All Access tickets I bought in February is now marked fulfilled so I'm assuming they're sending the Danis based on each transaction, not necessarily how many tickets you purchased altogether. The only other thing that shows as fulfilled on my account so far is a Kaleidoscope and it's not supposed to arrive until Wednesday of next week. The models are coming y'all but it may take a while for them all to be sent out. Thank you to everyone who pre-ordered for having patience. I do have some extra Danis available for those interested, as I did have a couple people cancel last minute. They are posted in my Model Horse Store.
If you have not read my previous post about the 7 Arts Surprise mold, well, stop reading now because I'm going to reveal the mold and colors. So again, as with my previous post I'm going to give a break so you don't accidentally find out something you don't want to just yet. ...stop reading now if you don't want any spoilers... ...seriously stop reading... Ok, so those that know Dundee is for sure the surprise model (picture proof was posted today) I promised to announce the colors once I found out. So far there are five that we know about. Whether there is seven or not we should find out soon. There is at least a roan sabino, a palomino pintaloosa, a flaxen chestnut roan (looks like Peptoboonsmal with a lighter mane/tail), a classic champagne phantom face and surprisingly with Pollock in the lineup there was a rainbow decorator in the form of a rainbow leopard appaloosa. We thought that since Breyer made Pollock there was no way the surprise would also include a rainbow, but there it is. Breyer pulled out all the stops in more ways than one this year. I don't have any pictures I can use yet but I will definitely update once I receive my surprises with the colors I ended up with. I'm hoping to eventually collect the entire set once the Breyerfest hype has died down a bit. Well, the news we've all been dreading has come today. Not surprisingly (and probably to the suspicion of Premier Club members by now) the report came that Fireheart is, yet again, delayed. This time Breyer is offering us to either pay for him before Breyerfest or after, depending upon what works best. There is still no actual ship date stated, but I'm thinking some time in August once all the Breyerfest shipments have been sent out. Here is the email I received: "Dear Premier Club member, We’d like to provide you with an update on the status of the first model in the 2021 Premier Collection, Fireheart. We had previously emailed you to let you know that this model’s release had been pushed back to mid-June 2021 due to circumstances outside of our control. Global supply chain issues are producing heavy delays due to an overwhelming demand for products, a shortage of shipping containers, etc. – which has led to unprecedented wait times for finished goods to be loaded and shipped, for all industries. Unfortunately, our Fireheart models were caught in the extensive and unpredictable delays. Trust us, we’re just as anxious to get them off to their new homes as you are to receive them! In light of these events, we’d like to provide important details so all of our members can be best prepared for Fireheart’s release. Fireheart models will open for ordering on Wednesday, July 7th. The purchase window will last for one week and will close on Wednesday, July 14th. With BreyerFest on the horizon, we need to close ordering at that time so our staff and systems can focus on BreyerFest event execution. We understand that this shorter-than-usual ordering window will not be ideal for some of our club members. We apologize! To help make sure everyone can order their Fireheart model, we will open his purchase window again after BreyerFest to give you the additional time you need to complete your purchase. Using this later purchase window will not incur any penalties for your Premier Club membership. Use it if you need it! We appreciate your patience and understanding! Thank you, Breyer Web Team" Please no Breyer bashing comments. They will be deleted. We have to remember that Breyer is one of the many small businesses being affected greatly by the pandemic (I know first hand as I am one of those small businesses) but for a company that relies upon overseas shipments, it is almost catastrophic. I urge everyone in the PC to please remember this. He will come, as did the delayed regular runs back at the beginning of the year. In the meantime, I went ahead and ordered Tobias since I now won't be able to combine shipping. Oh, well. It only saved me a couple bucks anyways. At least we have an update on our beloved Fireheart.
The Stablemates Club is now open for membership for 2021! You will receive six models which includes a gambler's choice plus an optional seventh model available for purchase later in the year. To join, you will need to join the Collector Club and put down a $30 deposit. Each model costs $20 plus shipping ($5.95 to US residents) but $5 is deducted from each model, making the cost only $15 plus shipping when they're released. You have until December 31st to sign up. This is not a club that is limited and is the most affordable club Breyer offers. I signed up already especially after seeing the molds being used.
The silhouettes of five of the seven releases is shown above (the sixth one is always a new mold and is never shown until right before it's release) so you can see which molds they are going to use. The new Clydesdale will be the first release of the year. The G1 Seabiscuit mold is going to be the vintage mold this year, which I'm super happy about as I adore this mold, with the Appaloosa being the older mold, though not quite vintage. I'm assuming either Croi or Django will be the gambler's choice. Breyer usually shows us pictures of them right before the deadline to join, during the last couple weeks of the year. Now what of the other clubs? What will we see in the lineup? The Vintage Club usually has three vintage models: one with vintage coloring, one gambler's choice and the third with a modern paint job. They usually also include a modern mold with vintage coloring... this will be Julius for next year. Most likely we'll have a mare and foal since we didn't have one last year. The molds most likely to be used are the Family Arabian Mare/Foal or the Stock Horse Mare/Foal. For the gambler's choice, it is most likely going to be the decorator split (gold, gold filigree, Wedgewood blue and Wedgewood blue filigree) but the choice of molds are still pretty endless. For the Premier Club, we know who the artists of the other two horses will be, but that's about all we know so far. We may know a couple more hints when Breyer starts sending out the Premier Club welcome letter early in 2021. The other two artists are: Maggie Jenner-Bennett who I believe is sculpting for Breyer for the first time, though she does have a large following already with her Micro Minis Club and seems particularly fond of Arabians. Morgen Kilbourn loves performance friendly horses, which I'm so happy to see her in the lineup, as she was the artist of my favorites Wyatt, Bristol and Bobby Jo. Can we get a landing version of Bristol this time or a reiner like the Stablemates version? I apologize for this late review, but I ended up having a busier than usual weekend and so had to postpone my post about Troubadour that I promised to write for you guys. Anyways, I'm in love with him! I've honestly looked this guy over several times and can't find a single flaw on him. He's that amazing. Kylee Parks did a fantastic job on him. What I didn't know until I had him in hand is that he is chalky, so his white areas are painted white and not bare plastic. His mapping is crisp and his facial expression is soft. The dappling is very subtle to the point of being realistic and the pearling in the mane/tail. I freaked out a bit when I saw he was going to be on a trotting pose (bring back horrendous memories of tippy horses) but actually he stands pretty solidly. Honestly, I can't wait to see what they use on this guy in future. The Premier Club is now open for membership! You have until December 31st to sign up - this club is not limited unlike the Vintage Club. You do, however, have to be a Collector Club member, either regular or Deluxe in order to be able to get into the Premier Club. A $100 deposit is required to hold your spot in the club. Each horse costs $175 plus shipping but your deposit is deducted from the cost of each horse - $100 divided by three horses is $33.33 per horse which you minus from $175 so each horse is $141.67 plus shipping (shipping is $17.50 per horse for US residents) when released. I have decided to rejoin the Premier Club for next year, as Fireheart is definitely on my must-have list being a sooty palomino. Finally, word has been getting around about possible sneak peeks of future regular runs. In the new mini catalog that Breyer sends with just about everything, there are a couple horses that cropped up that nobody has seen before. The Arabian has the exact same pattern as Natasha from Breyerfest, the palomino Saddlebred was from the 70th anniversary set this year, then Ash from Breyerfest and Klaus from the Stablemates Club. However, the bat Morgan (Fairfax mold) and the chestnut Croi are new. Will they be 2021 RRs? It's not out of the realm of possibility with most RRs being common colors. It won't be too much longer before we find out!
So while everyone is getting their CCA models, apparently Breyer made quite a few different glossies including Buckeye, Truly Unsurpassed, the Sable Island Horse, EZ to Spot, the Orren Mixer QH, Dominante, Winx and Catch Me. If you received any other not listed, please feel free to chime in, but that's all the ones that I've heard of so far. Hopefully Breyer will announce later how many of each they made. I thought my favorite would be Winx but actually I kind of liked the Orren Mixer. He looks really good in glossy and Breyer apparently also added a gold interference to his paint that wasn't there in the regular runs I got earlier in the year. Surprisingly Troubadour is now available for purchase to Premier Club members, in case someone needed to remind Breyer that it's not November yet. I'm going to hold off a little longer before placing my order to make sure Breyer is done - I mean really done - with the new releases so Troubadour can have a buddy to ride with. He is beautiful. I'm really excited for this one! While at Walmart today, I decided to stop by the toy aisle since they just did their reset for the holidays. Lo and behold, they had a brand new box of Mini Whinnies series 3 and the chase model was the absolute first one in front on the right. I could tell it was him when I felt the bag by the bend in his tail. I've been looking for this booger for months and now I'm happy to say he's mine! I've started on my Christmas customs. In place of the glow in the dark finish that I used for my Halloween customs, I bought glossy finish this time, so all my holiday customs will have a nice high gloss shine to them. This seems to be very well liked based on how much the CCA models are selling for. My head is spinning at the sight of $500+ horses that were free all because of the gloss crave and people are actually paying that much for them! I understand second hand inflation... I'm guilty of it myself... but good grief! Anyways, I'm sold out of Halloween horses except for one stablemate and hope to have my holiday horses on eBay in November.
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