Saturday, January 16, 2021

Decisions, Drawings and Snap Judgments

Money is definitely not the issue: it’s my luck in Breyer drawings – especially the ones involving “exclusive” events – that’s pretty bad, so I’m not getting my hopes up for this BreyerFest VIP Ticket raffle/drawing thing. 

All the VIP package does is guarantee your selections, throws in the Stablemate 4-pack, and adds a swag bag which I am assuming is stuff like a coffee mug and a backpack, anyway. 

And some exclusive online content too, I guess? That part is not a big draw for me, to be honest, because of my experience last year. 

But the “All Access” Ticket that goes on sale after this drawing is basically just the standard BreyerFest ticket with Celebration Horse, the option to buy two Special Runs, and access to all areas/opportunities/sales, save for whatever the “VIP exclusive” content is. 

And you have to buy the Stablemates separately, if you’re lucky enough to snag a set.

Other than the Uffington, (An iridescent Cremello? You know the way to my heart, Reeves!), I’m not going to be upset over not getting anything in particular.

Well, okay, the Best of BreyerFest Stablemates Set, too: my Nottingham needs his Mini Me. But they’ve significantly boosted the piece counts on just about everything, and some smaller piece count items other hobbyists are swooning over (Knossos, the Crystal) aren’t doing diddly for me, I should be good, regardless of my ticket status.

Quick takes on some of the other SR announcements: 

Although I am not likely to buy him, I’m glad the John Henry is getting some BreyerFest love this year. He looks good in Bay Appaloosa!

The new Morgan mold in Blue Roan Frame Overo is intriguing in both concept and execution; I definitely like the mold in that color as opposed to its original Splash Pinto paintjob, which did him no favors.

The artistic inspiration for the Rainbow Pintaloosa Valegro is definitely more Lisa Frank than Jackson Pollock. The Rose Gold Filigree paint job on the 2019 Winter Web Special Avoriaz reminds me more of Pollock’s style: all you would have to do is overlay some black and/or metallic silver splatters on that, and call it a day.

I like to imagine that they totally did do the Valegro as an homage to Lisa Frank, freaking nailed it, and then… doing their due diligence realized it was in their best interest to preemptively change the name. (It’s a long story. Google it yourself if you’ve got a couple hours to spare.)

As far as the Surprise goes, the first thought that popped into my head is that it might be Bobby Jo? Or maybe it’s just me looking at the Spectrum that’s sitting in my office and wondering if that’s too obvious a choice. I’ll consider it when the time comes, whether it’s sooner… or later. 

I’m just not a big fan of Buckskin Pintos, so the Store Special Ashquar Rheverence+ is out, as is the Crystal Sherman Morgan Prisma, because I break nonsense like that. I’m on the fence about the Queen of Hearts/Josie: her base color looks amazing, but I’m a little concerned about what her markings will look like in person.  

And that’s… it, except for the rest of the Stablemates (want anyway), the various bits of swag and plushes (depends, probably not), and the various prize and raffle models (which are not up to me to decide). 

5 comments:

Vanilje Kitten said...

I love both Uffington and Ansel! I really want them both, might skip the surprise in favor of them.

As for the surprise, I'm thinking it might be Wyatt. The logo shape and the "we have pulled out all the stops" just screams it's him to me. Besides, he's currently a regular run as Stingray.

Boulder Sheep said...

As a new and hopeful participant to Breyerfest, I am fascinated by the reveal, and how the various options flip up and down in my mind. None of them have yet been "my" models, although I have dibs DIBS I SAY on Uffington, for both history, model, and color (the Akhal Teke I met in person was that same iridescent cremello.) I like the John Henry mold, but I wish a recreation of an ancient horse had been made on something resembling an ancient horse: a leopard-app Georg (too close to Oak?) or Buckshot or the Welsh Mare or the Fjord (a much more obvious choice to me.)

(And I went and read up on Lisa Frank, and while I still think the Pollock is beautiful, yeah, huh.)

I've seen speculation the Surprise is either Wyatt or Totilas, both acceptable molds for me. But who knows? Part of me thinks if I went for Surprise it would be nearly purely speculation, and I don't like speculation: I got back into collection because I love the models, I grew up playing with Breyers, and having them priced out of reach of little girls (and me!) is painful.

Yvonne said...

There really are no "Gotta' Have It!" models for me this year, so I guess that's a good thing. The only reason I toy with the idea of the VIP is the full set of single day SMs - and that's a rather steep price to pay for them! I thought I read somewhere (LOTS of things to read this year...) that there would be a limited option to buy the full set without the VIP, but that may have been wishful thinking? And luck is NOT on my side for anything Breyer, so probably no VIP option and no SMs...just another year!

Unknown said...

"Rainbow Gulag" on Jezebel is by far my favorite article about Lisa Frank

NJHeart2Heart said...

Haha!! I'm also a sucker for anything cremello, and I've always enjoyed the lovely iridescent imparted on some models over the years! C'mon Uffington, come to momma! :)