Breyerfest 2023

 Breyerfest 2023 is in the books.  

Once again, I didn't go in person - I just can't manage the heat and humidity.  So I asked a friend, Margie, who was going, if she would pick up my SRs and Event Horse for me.  In return, I took her and her husband and daughter out for lunch at G & D Steakhouse on their way back home.  

I submitted my priority list to Breyer, and managed to get my top two picks again this year.  Nemea, because I'm a minor-league Classical Civilizations geek and Nemea is painted to look like a Greek or Roman vase with a chariot team on both sides.  Scurry, the non-variation version, because I thought she was cute. 

Along with the All-Access ticket, I got two of the Single Day SM tickets, so I could have access to the online-only horses and two of the single-day SMs.  I bought the second SM ticket when the set of single-day SMs sold out before I got one.  But, of course, I got two Whips, the mini-me Vanner mold, which is my least favorite.  So, off I'll go to the swap groups and see what I can do.  The first day, I ordered Buggy the SM, the plush, and the 5-piece Best of Breyerfest SM set.  Later, I ordered a Studebaker, and even later, I ordered a second Studebaker, hoping for the blue variation.  

Breyer switched to a more environmentally friendly packing this year - the SRs came in paper envelopes with waffle-paper packing instead of bubble wrap and plastic bags.  So far, it seemed to work okay for my horses.  And I do have a pretty good stash of bubble wrap already.

The big estate sale find

 This might be my biggest find ever at a sale, even bigger than my chalky Donkey. 

To set the stage - there was a massive estate sale in town this past month.  Seriously massive - the house was so full that they had to hold four separate sales, over about six weeks.  One sale was 3 days and just the books from the house.  They weren't hoarders, but they were massive accumulators of stuff.  The husband and wife were both artists and art teachers, and they liked everything.

I did go to the books-only sale, and found a few horse books.  The first version of Justin Morgan Had a Horse, a Jeanne Mellin book, C.W. Anderson's A Touch of Greatness, and the World Book of Dogs, plus two Rick Brant mysteries and an old issue of Asimov's magazine.  None in the greatest shape, but I thought they were worth the $6 each that this company wants for vintage books.

That was the appetizer.  This past week they had the final sale (I missed the first two), and there were a couple of Breyers in the preview pictures, plus a pair of ceramic Art Deco animals. The Breyers were an alabaster Semi-rearing Mustang, and the original USET trio. Luckily, the sale started on Wednesday, and I didn't have to work on Wednesday (although it was the last day of school for the year, so I had to do the school pick-up at 12:30 instead of 3:30).  I went over to the sale location early, to pick up a line number, and then went back and got there about half an hour after the sale opened, with the teenager in tow.  

 

First order of business was to find the Art Deco animals.  They were much larger than I expected, but that made the $40/each price easier to justify.  I carried one in each hand, and went looking for the Breyers.  The house was like a maze, most of the rooms connected so you could go in a big circle.  Found the Breyers, but the Mustang was missing his tail and part of both ears (priced at $8).  USET horses were in similar shape for $4 each, but I did find a ceramic Made in Japan horse for $4.  We looked around inside and found a few other things, then paid for the finds and went outside to look at the rest of the sale.  They had two tents/canopies, plus a garage and an overhang/porch area and other nooks and crannies.  

And there, in the last outdoor nook, I spotted a clear acrylic Don Manning "Artistic Doe"!!  For only $3!!!  Grabbed her PDQ and looked around hoping for the Buck as well, but no luck.  Oh well.  I've been looking for those for a long time, and wasn't really clear about whether I was looking for something Trad sized, SM sized, or what.  Now I know.  

A hunting scene, done in metallic something-or-other.

The large pink ram? Bighorn sheep?  

Small Made in Japan or China horse, about Classic scale.  One broken and repaired hind leg.

The scale of these three.  Blue deer is about 2 feet tall, pink sheep-critter is about 18 inches.

The Doe!!  She is stamped Don Manning on one hind leg.

Massive deer-critter, with photobombing by Modernistic Doe.

Good grief

 I can tell that I've got a part-time job and my free time has gone down a lot.  Sheesh. Will try to do better. 

Ooops, there was a quiet spell

 Apparently I've been busy and forgot to post here for a while. 

Brief update - I just ordered the first of the 2023 Club horses - the Vintage Club has a silver bay pinto Justin Morgan, and the SM Club has the G1 Arabian Mare and Laying Foal. A blind bag is riding along with each order, and fingers crossed maybe I'll get one of the chase horses. 

 

Tomorrow is the release of the first Collector's Club horse, a glossy bay on the new Fireheart mold.  We'll see if I can get one, and how expensive they are.

Great timing

 Breyer dropped the latest in the Classic-scale Gambler's Choice horses today:  Johann, the Lippzan Stallion in four glossy colors.  Luckily, today was my day off, so I could sit on the Collector's Club page for ten minutes, refreshing every minute or so, waiting for Johann to be available to order. 

 

 

Adding a copy of Breyer's promo shot was more difficult that I thought, thanks to the newish notion that everything should save as a webp file instead of JPG, and Blogger's non-support for webp format photos. But I persevered!!  I like all the colors, although of course I'm a long-time sucker for a nice palomino.

Halloween and TSC

 So, my acquisition of a TSC Jolene is getting complicated.  Some people say they aren't putting the horses out until the 19th of September, but other people have bought a Jolene already.  Local TSC claimed they were available for pickup, but my order was cancelled.  Then they were available for same-day delivery but not standard shipping.  And now if I want one, the closest one is 30 miles away.  My sister is driving in from Colorado next week, so I'm going to have her check a store along her route, and then I will just have to drive down to Jefferson City to get mine.  Assuming they still have one, that is. 

And then today was the day that Breyer's Halloween horses went on sale.  Of course I was at work at noon, and the only person at work.  Sigh.  Managed to get my orders in, although I didn't get my lunch finished.  Four of the blind-bag SMs, plus Maelstrom, Tabitha, and the plush, Skully.  Because I am a sucker for glow in the dark things.  Hopefully I will get all three of the SMs and won't have to swap a lot.

TSC, or not so much

 And five minutes after I ordered Jolene, I got a cancellation email about the order.  No explanation.  Ah well. Maybe next week.