Q: How long have you been doing pickups and what is your success rate?
A: 2019 was my first year doing a very minimal amount of pickups, and I've been slowly increasing the number each year. My success rate has also been increasing thanks to the wild card offerings by Breyer, and last year I was able to fulfill 100% of my pickup orders with no substitutions. I pride myself on being a credible and reliable pickup person helping fellow hobbyists obtain their collection goals.
Q: How do pickups with you work?
A: I make it very easy for you in that the deposit you pay to hold your spot includes your ticket costs, so once you put the deposit down on your model, I will purchase the ticket from Breyer on your behalf to get your model(s) and then ship them to you after Breyerfest in July. I do all the legwork. All you have to do is just pick which model(s) you want :)
Q: What is the benefit of using your pickup service versus purchasing models second hand after Breyerfest?
A: With my pickup service, I do charge more than what you'd get them for if you went to Breyerfest yourself, however what I charge is still much lower than second hand prices after Breyerfest. It is not uncommon for some models to be $300+ after Breyerfest. While models range in price from $60 to $85 themselves, you have to include the ticket cost as well. I don't include the celebration model in this cost because people either get it by purchasing an online ticket for the limited edition models, or just don't want it since it is usually a plain color being based on a real horse, so I include the celebration horse FREE if shipping is paid for those who pre-order at least 2 special runs from me. Tickets being $90 now, divide that cost by two (for two special runs per ticket) is $45 and now add that to the model cost: up to $130 per model. This is what it would be if I just charged for the models themselves. The rest is a "pickup fee" because I still have to travel to Lexington to get the models.
Q: Do you take payments on Breyerfest models?
A: Yes! While I give the option to pay in full so you don't have to worry about any additional payments (this is useful if you're only set on buying one or two models) I also offer a payment plan in which the models are broken up into three payments: the original deposit to help cover the cost of your ticket plus applicable taxes, the actual cost of the model for the second payment and finally shipping due the week after Breyerfest. The celebration horse and event stablemates are the only ones that I don't do payments on... what you pay for these models is the total price, no additional invoices for the models will be sent. Shipping will still be invoiced in July whether you pay in full or use my payment plan.
Q: What payment methods do you accept?
A: Paypal and credit card can be used to pay on my website. There is now an option to pay with Paypal Credit, if you're approved for it, which has helped my buyers a ton with upfront costs. Whichever method you choose, if you decide to do my payment plan, you will be invoiced to that original payment method in June/July when the second payment and shipping are due. Paypal payments - including if you used Paypal Credit - will have invoices sent to your Paypal account. Credit card payments will have invoices sent to your email. If either your payment method or email changes by June, please let me know so I can update it.
Q: What shipping method do you use?
A: Smaller packages, such as single models or stablemates, will be shipped ground advantage. Larger packages usually ship either priority mail or UPS ground depending upon which is more cost efficient based on the weight.
Q: Do you include extras?
A: I always try to include some kind of memorabilia with orders depending upon what I can get my hands on, like wrist bands or unused show tickets. Ticket stubs for the special runs are retained by Breyer in the handout tent (so that people don't try to re-use them) so unfortunately I cannot include those.
Q: Lately, Breyer has been throwing out variations left and right. If I do a pickup with you, will I get anything rare?
A: The answer is, since I have no idea how much variations are worth during Breyerfest (because Breyer always announces numbers weeks later) that there is always a possibility. While I always try to get for you what you ordered in the stock photo, there are times when I get more variations than I do the originals. If I get mane/tail splits or matte/glossy splits, I will send those automatically, but if I get color splits I will ask if you want the alternative color if I'm unable to pull the original color. If you'd like to see the kind of models I've pulled in the past, I will show them below.
A: 2019 was my first year doing a very minimal amount of pickups, and I've been slowly increasing the number each year. My success rate has also been increasing thanks to the wild card offerings by Breyer, and last year I was able to fulfill 100% of my pickup orders with no substitutions. I pride myself on being a credible and reliable pickup person helping fellow hobbyists obtain their collection goals.
Q: How do pickups with you work?
A: I make it very easy for you in that the deposit you pay to hold your spot includes your ticket costs, so once you put the deposit down on your model, I will purchase the ticket from Breyer on your behalf to get your model(s) and then ship them to you after Breyerfest in July. I do all the legwork. All you have to do is just pick which model(s) you want :)
Q: What is the benefit of using your pickup service versus purchasing models second hand after Breyerfest?
A: With my pickup service, I do charge more than what you'd get them for if you went to Breyerfest yourself, however what I charge is still much lower than second hand prices after Breyerfest. It is not uncommon for some models to be $300+ after Breyerfest. While models range in price from $60 to $85 themselves, you have to include the ticket cost as well. I don't include the celebration model in this cost because people either get it by purchasing an online ticket for the limited edition models, or just don't want it since it is usually a plain color being based on a real horse, so I include the celebration horse FREE if shipping is paid for those who pre-order at least 2 special runs from me. Tickets being $90 now, divide that cost by two (for two special runs per ticket) is $45 and now add that to the model cost: up to $130 per model. This is what it would be if I just charged for the models themselves. The rest is a "pickup fee" because I still have to travel to Lexington to get the models.
Q: Do you take payments on Breyerfest models?
A: Yes! While I give the option to pay in full so you don't have to worry about any additional payments (this is useful if you're only set on buying one or two models) I also offer a payment plan in which the models are broken up into three payments: the original deposit to help cover the cost of your ticket plus applicable taxes, the actual cost of the model for the second payment and finally shipping due the week after Breyerfest. The celebration horse and event stablemates are the only ones that I don't do payments on... what you pay for these models is the total price, no additional invoices for the models will be sent. Shipping will still be invoiced in July whether you pay in full or use my payment plan.
Q: What payment methods do you accept?
A: Paypal and credit card can be used to pay on my website. There is now an option to pay with Paypal Credit, if you're approved for it, which has helped my buyers a ton with upfront costs. Whichever method you choose, if you decide to do my payment plan, you will be invoiced to that original payment method in June/July when the second payment and shipping are due. Paypal payments - including if you used Paypal Credit - will have invoices sent to your Paypal account. Credit card payments will have invoices sent to your email. If either your payment method or email changes by June, please let me know so I can update it.
Q: What shipping method do you use?
A: Smaller packages, such as single models or stablemates, will be shipped ground advantage. Larger packages usually ship either priority mail or UPS ground depending upon which is more cost efficient based on the weight.
Q: Do you include extras?
A: I always try to include some kind of memorabilia with orders depending upon what I can get my hands on, like wrist bands or unused show tickets. Ticket stubs for the special runs are retained by Breyer in the handout tent (so that people don't try to re-use them) so unfortunately I cannot include those.
Q: Lately, Breyer has been throwing out variations left and right. If I do a pickup with you, will I get anything rare?
A: The answer is, since I have no idea how much variations are worth during Breyerfest (because Breyer always announces numbers weeks later) that there is always a possibility. While I always try to get for you what you ordered in the stock photo, there are times when I get more variations than I do the originals. If I get mane/tail splits or matte/glossy splits, I will send those automatically, but if I get color splits I will ask if you want the alternative color if I'm unable to pull the original color. If you'd like to see the kind of models I've pulled in the past, I will show them below.
2019 - Horse Heroes
2020 - Celtic Fling
2021 - Horse of a Different Color
This was a crazy variation year. One of my customers received a buckskin Pech Merle, another received the Barb version of the Marwari and a very lucky pickup customer received a gold Pollock. This was before I found out how valuable he really was, as I assumed they were all 50/50 splits with how many were popping up on social media, so someone got a real treasure! I still feel blessed to have seen him in person, as he was stunning.
At one time I was the proud owner of the dark holographic Uffington that was limited to 200 pieces from Breyerfest 2021, whom I received in my VIP box from Breyer that year. Although he is now being enjoyed by someone else (he was unfortunately the variation I wanted least that year) I still have the memories of how excited I was to open him. I tried to trade him off for the blue Ansel at first, who was my favorite, but I didn't have any hits so in the end I just sold him outright. His sold price will be disclosed between myself and the buyer only.
2022 - Prost!
While there weren't many variations this year, I did pull a couple of the bay Marzipan variations and sent them to my customers.
2023 - Driving Forward
In 2023 I ended up with so many cremello/perlino Scurrys that I eventually started offering them as extras during Breyerfest weekend. It was the bay that was actually harder to find for me despite them being a 50/50 split. I thought I was going to have to ask if anyone would accept a cremello instead of a bay but thankfully I was able to pull enough bays after several trips through the line. The only micro run model I received was the rose grey Arabian, whom I sold highly underpriced before I realized how much she was really worth, so her new owner got a good bargain on this rare girl!