Show Stoppers: BFL 2026 Mini Winners, Part 2

Continuing on with my recap of successful models at this year’s BreyerFest Live mini show.

 

 

I have a thing for G2 SMs in general, and the foals are no exception. This little bay dude is from the #5980 Stablemates Show Stoppers set (ha - an appropriate name given the title of this series for my blog!), produced from 2012-2014. I bought the set from my friend Bonnie’s dealership in early 2012 when I found myself with some spending money from Christmas. This little guy is one of my most successful minis, with 13 ribbons to his credit. The RR stock foal class at BFL was 54 models deep, so it was extra cool that he did so well. I credit myself a little bit - I picked a table spot on the end facing the windows, so the light would highlight how nicely shaded he is. His name is Jaywalker.

 

This G2 Scrambling Foal is from the #5972 Stablemates Fun Foal 5-Piece Gift Pack, a regular run from 2007-2008. I hand-picked the set myself in August 2011 from a local Breyer dealer in the area, Shady Acres Saddlery. She also does pretty well in the show ring, with 9 ribbons. Her name is Earthshine.

 

*****

I showed 19 SR minis at BFL. Only three brought home ribbons, but again, I wasn’t surprised. The classes were massive. I didn’t get to count every one, but I tallied 105 models in the Arabian/Part-Arabian class (I dearly hope they split those out next year!), 71 in the ASB/TWH class, and 85 in the Mustangs class. Stiff competition for sure. 

 

 

I picked a number of models that I wouldn’t typically show at anywhere that isn’t BFL - and haven’t ever shown anywhere else - and gave them names reflective of their randomness. Those names included Beau Rando, On a Whim, What the Hay, Arbitrary Mary, On the Off Chance, What’s the Worst That Could Happen?, and Slapdash Kash.

This is the one I named Slapdash Kash. He’s from the #410185 Parade of Breeds II set, a JCPenney SR in 2005. I got the set as a Christmas gift from my parents that year.

 

 

I love the G3 Standing TB, even though he’s got ears as long as a mule’s and a rather cartoony face, like many of the other G3s. I have a modest conga of 17 of the guys; my Cecil is the only one who regular shows, and that’s because he can be competitive in collectibility. BFL is where you chuck spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks, though, so this guy made the trip. He’s from the #410176 Parade of Breeds III set, a JCPenney SR in 2006. I picked him up from a seller on MH$P in February 2012. His show name is Visionary.

 

 

I only own this guy because my friend Beth E. is awesome. He’s from the #90178 Mini Hermosa and Corazon set, the Premier Club bonus SMs from 2015. There were about 750 sets made. Beth had a set and only wanted the mini Hermosa, and knew that I conga the G3 Standing Foal, so in May of 2016, she asked if I wanted to split the set. I normally cringe at splitting up sets, but it wasn’t my set to begin with, and I really wanted the little dude, so I said yes. His show name is Kelvin and he’s been a great show horse for me. When I add in his BFL result, he now has 7 breed ribbons, 4 breed NAN cards, 8 collectibility ribbons, and 4 collectibility NAN cards out of 11 total shows.

I also think it’s neat that my very first horse on the table for the day and my very last horse on the table for the day ended up with the two first place ribbons and NAN cards from the show. That was representative of the day in general - it was amazing from start to finish, and not just from a ribbons standpoint. I had such a great time the entire day. I am already looking forward to next year.

Show Stoppers: BFL 2026 Mini Winners, Part 1

This month’s Show Stoppers series will be split into two posts as I cover the nine other minis that got ribbons at my first ever BreyerFest Live show. My most successful model that day, Clarissa, a bay G1 Morgan Mare, already got her own post last month, so you can head over there if you haven’t already read about her.

My regular runs did much better than my Special Runs, but that’s not altogether a surprise to me. The SR classes were significantly bigger. I knew they would be, so I focused my show string on the RR classes. That turned out to be a great strategy.

 

 

This G4 Loping QH is #6040 Appaloosa, a Breyer regular run from 2018-2021. I bought her in late 2018, along with the rest of the Stablemates Assortment she was part of, as part of the Collector Club Appreciation Sale. I showed her a couple times prior to BreyerFest, but this is her first ribbon. Her show name is Aurora.

 

 

The G2 Appaloosa is one of my favorite SM molds. My conga is 32 members strong at the moment. This one is #5410 from the Tractor Play Set, a regular run from 2009-2013. I bought him way back in 2012 from a seller on MH$P. There are better stock molds out there (IMO) but he actually does okay for himself in the show ring. His show name is Can’t Catch Me.

 

 

This G4 Hanoverian is from the #5908 Stablemates Assortment, produced from 2011-2015. I bought him from my friend Bonnie’s dealership in November 2011. I showed him 8 times prior to BreyerFest Live; this was his first ribbon. His show name is Unprecedented.

 

 

This is #6037 Icelandic Pony from the same Stablemates Assortment as Aurora above, and was purchased in December 2018 during the CCA sale. This is his third ribbon out of five times on the table so far. His show name is Honnef.

On Wednesday, I’ll finish up the RRs with my two foals who ribboned, and then share my three SRs who held their own against some really tough competition.

Don't Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth: Heather B Strikes Again

I feel like every post in this series has Heather B in it somewhere. Today’s is no exception.

The Breyer Classic Arabian Stallion was my first model horse love - even before Sham. I fell in love with him as soon as I saw the black one in the 1990 JCPenney Christmas Catalog. Even before I knew what a conga was, I wanted him in every color. I do have a complete conga at the moment; I’ve even got one that’s factory unpainted. (You’ll see him, my Lady Phase, my Trakehner, and my *cough cough* four naked Shams in a future post.)

At this point, I’m only after culls or variations, and I’m always on the hunt for them. Heather knows this.

 

So in October 2019, at a show we were attending together, she hands me this CAS and says, "He's a variation, so you have to have him."

 

He’s from the Sears #21058 Classic Arabian Family, produced in 1984 and 1985. Most have a star and snip, but this guy has a completely solid face. Nancy Young’s book mentioned that there seemed to be a lot of variation in this run - small vs. large stars, some with a dark nose instead of a snip, some with four stockings instead of three. She didn’t mention any with a solid face, but since his face markings seemed to vary the most, it’s not a stretch to think some might have missed their masking. This guy been on a few adventures and has some scuffs, but he’s still super cool.

Heather, being Heather, wouldn’t take payment for him. 

Full Spectrum: Woodgrains

I’d like to preface this entire post by saying, unequivocally, that I have no super cool rare woodgrains in my collection, so don’t get too excited. They’re really not my thing, and the few I might be interested in are always well outside of my budget.

That being said, I was happy to find this guy on eBay in 2017. He’s #951 Commander, produced in the woodgrain colorway from 1961-1965. For being as old as he is, he’s in great shape. He has some minor edge rubs (hooves, ears) and a little bit of paint loss on his upper left neck, but he still has his tassel tip intact, which is pretty cool. His show name is Royal Oak, a reference to his woodgrain color and a street I lived on when I bought him.

I love the Quarter Horse Gelding, and when my friend Kelly W asked me in November 2023 if I wanted this poor dude on the cheap, of course I said yes. He’s #999 Two Bits, produced from 1960-1964, and he’s a bit of a disaster - both ears are chipped, he’s got bubbling in his paint which means someone carelessly washed him under running water at some point in his life, and has miscellaneous rubs. Still, he’s a neat old guy. Maybe someday I’ll cough up the dough to get him restored to his former glory.

This little M1 Stablemate (I’m assuming the “M” stands for “mini” since all M1 molds are shrunken down counterparts of their traditional-sized brethren) is from the #6051 70th Anniversary Mystery Horse Surprise series, produced in 2020 only.

Edited to add - I totally forgot to talk about how I got the little woodgrain Clyde, which is literally the entire point of this blog. 😑 I acquired him in 2020 from a friend who'd bought a bunch of the blind bags and had duplicates. He was part of my virtual BreyerFest 2020 haul.

I don’t have any woodgrains, vintage or otherwise, on my wish list at the moment, but I wouldn’t turn one of the vintage rarities down if it came to me at the right price.

Collectibility Spotlight: Volunteer Models, Part 3

Finishing up my three-part series on volunteer models I’ve earned over the years.

 

 

I loathe the Croi mold with every fiber of my being, so when she was announced as the 2023 volunteer model, I thought maybe she would be the first one I’d ever part with. #711635 Chevalier came in three colors of 125 pieces each - sunburnt black, bay, and red roan, all with a snowcap appaloosa pattern. The sunburnt black and bay were given to volunteers at BreyerWest; the red roan wasn’t revealed until BreyerFest. If I had to pick, bay would have been my choice (shocking), but I wasn’t surprised when I received the red roan after volunteering at the C&Y show. Mathematically, it just made sense. All 125 red roans were given out at BreyerFest, while a good portion of the 125 unburnt blacks and 125 bays were given out at BreyerWest.

I put her up for trade in my CHIN room that night. I was specifically looking for a glossy Bravour 54, who was given out as a diorama contest prize. The relative rarity was pretty lopsided - there were 125 of Chevalier and only 41 of the glossy Bravour - but Bravour wasn’t all that popular, so I thought it a fairly even trade. I have a sizable Trakehner conga and glossy Bravour would have fit in nicely.

I spent the entire night looking at Chevalier from across the room and going, “Wow, she’s actually kind of pretty.”

She’s still here.

Her show name is Earthquake Curtains; for the story on that, check out my November Show Stopper’s post.

 

 

I was secretly pleased when Bluegrass Bandit was the volunteer mold for 2024, though she wasn’t received with as much enthusiasm in the rest of the hobby. I only had one BGB in my collection to that point, the original Bluegrass Bandit herself, but I’ve always had a soft spot for the mold. Like Chevalier, #10130 Worth It was issued in three colors - flaxen liver chestnut, flaxen medium chestnut, and flaxen light chestnut, all with a sabino pattern. There were 133 of each color made. I loved all three, but the lightest one was my favorite, and that’s who I was lucky enough to get at BreyerFest. She is unshown so far.

 

 

#B-EV-10472 Salud was the 2025 volunteer model on the Duende (Spanish Stallion) mold. His patterns were designed by equine genetics and color expert Lesli Kathman and were intended to showcase some of the unique colors and patterns present in the Mangalarga Paulista breed from Brazil. The three colors were black with Belton spotting, fleabit gray with reverse markings (a dark leg where there would normally be a white one), and salpicada, which produces a really interesting distribution of white hairs throughout the horse’s coat, similar to roan but not identical. There were 126 pieces of each color produced.

For me, these three models represented a really nifty idea with not-so-nifty execution by Breyer. Breyer isn’t known for keeping to realistic colors or patterns on the pieces they produce, so trying to find a good breed assignment for many models can be a challenge. That’s not what happened here - they consulted Lesli, who put three colors that occur in Spanish breeds onto a Spanish mold and gave detailed explanations of why and how each color and pattern occurs in nature. Any of the three Salud models could represent a live horse and should thus theoretically do well in the show ring. Lesli is extremely good at what she does, and I would encourage anyone to follow her blog and read her books (especially if you show or judge), because you’ll learn a ton.

However, I don’t think the patterns translated well to Breyer’s production techniques. I just don’t think Breyer could replicate what Lesli asked for. Belton spots look extremely cool on real horses (seriously, give it a quick Google search, they’re neat) but the ones on Salud ended up looking like an Oreo blizzard. The salpicada also didn’t translate as Lesli had intended (by her own words) - the division between the white-ticked areas and the dark areas wasn’t supposed to be quite so stark. The gray is my favorite of the three; the dark lower leg looks a little weird, but it’s easy to find examples of that in Spanish breeds (and some others as well).

I received the salpicada for volunteering at the C&Y show. I also stewarded for BOO that year and was hoping for a gray, but received a second salpicada. I had my extra salpicada up for trades for a gray at BreyerFest this year, but was only offered a black one, not a gray, and I just couldn’t love the black one with those Oreo legs when I saw him in hand. I’ll hang onto Salpicada #2 and hope to trade him for a gray in a future year.

 

 

I just talked about my eyeless #B-EV-10781 Vegvísir in July, so you can go read more about him there, if you’re so inclined.

 

There are so many volunteer models on my wish list, but I only foresee being able to afford a handful (like both of the other colors of Worth It). Someday I'd love to add a Poet, Sonnet, Blue Grass, the unnamed silver bay sabino Wixom, and the unnamed chestnut Legionario.

 

I swore I've given up on trying to predict the volunteer mold, but I may or may not have already started a prediction spreadsheet for next year ...

Special Effects: Breyer Fun Day Models

From 2005-2010, Breyer issued a special release Classic-scale model in conjunction with retailers hosting “Fun Day” events. Two models were released in 2007 and 2008, and one each in 2005, 2006, 2009, and 2010, for a total of eight releases. I’ve never owned an Elsinore or a Mandrake, but I have had the other six in my collection at one time or another. Only two have remained on my shelf after various efforts over the years to prune my collection down to a manageable level.

 

[It's not there yet. It will probably never be there. I can't stop buying stuff.]

 

 

I purchased #703105 Tristan from a seller on MH$P in September 2011. He’s my favorite of all the Shire A releases. He doesn’t get to show much because he really can’t compete against Traditional chonky things (or even the G1 Draft), but he has hit the table a couple times here and there when a show has a Classics-only division. His show name is Son of Meliodas.

 

#703107 Marigold was one of the 2007 releases on the new Morgan Mare mold, which was released that year. I got her for only $10 during room sales at BreyerFest 2013. She also doesn’t show much, for the same reasons as Tristan, but when she does, her show name is Calendula.

 

I do still have Mandrake and Elsinore on my wish list, so they might join the herd someday. I find it interesting that the two I kept and the two still on my wish list are warm-colored models, while the ones I've sold have all been black or gray. That tracks; a friend pointed out several years ago, after observing my show table, that the color distribution of my collection leans heavily toward warm-toned models.

On a Regular Basis: 1992 Traditional Models

As I mentioned back in my November post about my Morgans, 1992 was one of my favorite years for regular run models. I’ve talked about a few of my 1992 models already, so they’ll only get a brief mention here, but today I thought I’d cover the rest of the Traditionals, and next month I’ll do the Classics.

I wasn’t keeping detailed records of my collection back then - I didn’t even know what a spreadsheet was (gasp!) - so I don’t know the exact dates or methods by which I acquired the vast majority of these models. All but one were definitely acquired prior to September 1992, when I photographed my collection for the first time. In absence of a timeline, I’ll go in numerical order by their issue number.

 

 

This is #854 Memphis Storm, the 1992 Commemorative Edition of 7500 pieces. 

You could also call him, “Why Mel Initially Fell in Love With Shiny Things, Exhibit A.”

I have in my records that he’s #5143/7500, but I’ll be damned if I can find where that’s written on him. I thought perhaps his belly, but I can’t see it. I wonder if the ink has faded over the years?

The Midnight Sun mold has fallen out of favor over the years due to its “big lick” stance, which has historically been trained into the horses using a painful, abusive, horrible practice called soring. I won’t go into it here; it’s awful. Many collectors have gotten rid of their Midnight Sun molds for that reason. The few I have are from my childhood collection, and I can’t bring myself to part with them yet.

 

 

This is #855 Chaparral, the 1992 Limited Edition, and he has the honor of being the first Fighting Stallion in my collection. I was in love with the mold as soon as I saw #709 (the black leopard appy guy) in the 1990 catalog. Breyer produced a TON of regular run Fighting Stallions in the 90s and early 2000s (and a few Special Runs as well), so he was not by himself for long.

 

 

#858 Vermont Morgan got his turn in the spotlight in my November On a Regular Basis post, so you can go check out his deets there.

 

 

This model, #859 Family Appaloosa Stallion, was produced from 1992-1994. He initially belonged to my sister, who collected for a couple years in the early 90s. She gave me all her models when we reached adulthood, which was awesome of her.

 

 

Ever want to know if a Breyer has started to yellow? Bring it over to my house and we’ll stand it next to this gal, #860 Family Appaloosa Mare, who is so white she’s almost blue. If I’m ever questioning if something of mine is yellowed, out it comes and out she comes, and I stand them next to each other, and it’s immediately clear.

Like the stallion above, she was also produced from 1992-1994. She gets to go to all-collectibility shows when there’s a division for 90s RR models. Her show name is Proof Positive.

 

 

This model, #861 Family Appaloosa Foal, also produced from 1992-1994, is the only one for whom I know the details of his acquisition. After realizing upon my re-emergence into the hobby in 2010 that I had only 2/3 of the family, I started low-key looking for him. It didn’t take me long. A seller posted one for sale on MH$P in April 2011, and the family became complete.

 

 

Oh look, a Sham!

This is #863 Rana, who I think was supposed to be a blue taffy, maybe? That’s the only color interpretation that remotely makes sense, but even that’s a stretch. I’ve seen it called a lot of things; my official description for it is Weird. He’s still one of my faves, though, and one of my first handful of Shams. He was a regular run from 1992-1993.

 

 

I’ve always loved the cheeky little Running Foal. This is #865 Bluegrass Foal, a regular run from 1992-1994. His color was described as blue roan, and that’s mostly true, I suppose, though he’s lacking the characteristic dark head that most roans have.

 

 

#867 Tesoro got his few minutes of fame back in February’s On a Regular Basis post when I talked about my El Pastors. You can revisit his details there.

 

 

I loved this guy, #868 Highland Clydesdale, as soon as I saw his picture in the catalog. He’s still my favorite Clydesdale Stallion in my collection - yes, even above the shiny bay thing from 2002. 

I was looking him over the other day when I went to take his photo, and he could be the poster child for, “When he was NIB, the side you could see looks great, but the box side is atrocious.” He has so many boogers in his molding, it’s insane. It’s like they gobbed a bunch of plastic and hairballs on him and then painted over it all. Poor guy.

Next month I’ll go over my 1992 Classics!

Do That Conga: Stone ISH, Part 5

We’re up to the last ISH body style - Long Mane Short Tail - and while I only have one, and he's amazing, the story is a little embarrassing.

 

 

In March 2023, a seller posted this ISH for sale on the Peter Stone Sales Page Facebook group. The only accompanying info was that he was a test painted by Tom Bainbridge. I have been a fan of everything Tom Bainbridge since the late 90s, and the price was too good to pass up, so I bought it. The seller didn’t know anything about the model; he’d purchased it in a lot from California with a dozen other Stones. The model wasn’t in Stone’s website archives, nor was it on Stone Horse Reference. It was also confusingly signed “Custom Painted” on its belly, so I wasn’t sure if it was a factory horse or one that Tom might have done himself in his own studio. It looked OF to me, but I didn’t want to assume and show him in the wrong division.

 

I have a couple friends who are friends with Tom, and they suggested I message him to see if he had any memory of the model or at least if he could tell if it was OF or not. I wasn’t optimistic that I’d get a response - after all, I was just some rando sending him a PM on Facebook Messenger - let alone that he’d remember what the model was, out of the hundreds (thousands?) he’s painted over the years, let alone that he’d remember one from 20 years ago, since the model was signed 2003.

Well, Tom being the outstanding, kind human that he is, he did answer - and he did remember the horse. He said he’s 100% certain he painted it at the factory and that it’s OF, and said he “always thought he was quite striking.” Tom was almost positive the model was to be auctioned at Anti-NAN 2003. I reached out to a few people to see if I could find records of the auction items that year, but no dice. I’m perfectly happy to take Tom at his word; his reputation in the hobby is impeccable.

The embarrassing part is that as someone who has admired Tom’s work for almost thirty years and has had a Tom custom or test piece on my grail list forever, I was pretty much fangirling the entire conversation, and then messaged my friends that OH MY GOD TOM BAINBRIDGE TALKED TO ME.

Not one of my most dignified moments, for sure.
 

I’ve plunked the mystery ISH on the table a time or two; his show name is Tommaso.

Stone hasn’t used the LMST body style all that often, so the only one on my wish list is Make My Lapis, a blue pinto. As far as Tom Bainbridge ISHs, I’d love to give OOAKs Firestarter or Absinthe a forever home someday, but I doubt I'll ever find them.

That’s it for the ISHs … now to decide what conga I want to do next!

Sentimental Journey: Two Special Mid-States Distributing Models

Breyer issued a special run Traditional model through Mid-States Distributing from 1996-2016. Mid-States Distributing isn’t a store in and of itself; they supply probably thirty-ish farm store chains. None were ever local to me, and I wasn’t active in the hobby between high school graduation in 1997 and my return after grad school in 2010, so it didn’t really bother me that I couldn’t get the models.

Then I restarted with the hobby in 2010, and finding every possible store where I could get Breyers became a thing. The 2009 Mid-States model was also a Lady Phase, who I was actively conga-ing at the time, so it became even more important to find one. Unfortunately, there still weren’t any Mid-States Distributing retailers close to me, so I had to resort to getting the models I wanted on the secondary market instead of being able to hand-pick them myself.

Enter my awesome, ever-enabling sister.

She moved out to Lafayette, IN, around 2008-2009 to complete her doctorate at Purdue. There were Rural King stores all over the place out there, which often carried the Mid-States models. The first time I visited, she drove me to a Rural King store to see if we’d have any luck.

 

 

Not only did we find the 2009 Mid-States model, #710716 Red Rock, but there were probably at least 20 for me to choose from! I picked the one with the most even roaning and nicest shading. She’s #1634 of 3000. She’s shown for me a few times under the name Mercury’s Redstone Rocket. As with most of my models, I wanted a throwback to her original name, and I’m pretty fascinated by the history of space flight, so it fit.

 

 

The 2010 Mid-States model was #701718 Thunderbolt, a gray appaloosa on the Foundation Stallion mold. Unlike Red Rock, I knew I wasn’t ever going to show Thunderbolt and thus didn’t need to hand-pick one, so I asked my sister if she could swing by and grab him for me at some point during her travels. And being as awesome and ever-enabling as I mentioned above, she did. He’s #1804 of 2900.

I have a few other Mid-States SRs, but these two are the most sentimental because of the connection to my sister. I’ll get to the rest of them in a future Special Effects post.

Off-Script: BreyerFest Recap, Part 7

Ah, the magic and wonderfulness that is the BreyerFest Children & Youth Show.

 

I waxed poetic about it on Facebook in 2020 when we didn't have an in-person BreyerFest, and I really can't say it any better now, so some of what I've written below comes from that post.

 

I’ve been lucky enough to be asked to be the Results Guru for the BreyerFest Children & Youth Show since 2016, and let me tell you. I love everything about this show. It is one of my favorite parts of the whole weekend.  

Every year on Saturday morning, we volunteers get up before dawn and trek over to the Alltech Arena at KHP. It’s the only time I make my favorite drive between the CHIN and KHP in the semi-dark; the sun is beginning to come up, but it’s not there yet. Once I arrive, my job is pretty easy to set up – plug in laptop, turn on, queue up the spreadsheet, run some last minute tests to make sure it’s working the way I need it to, and done. I then go help with the setup wherever I’m needed. This year, I taped the section champ/reserve sheets to the callback tables. 

 

Once the doors open, I'm at a table, waiting to grab any last-minute entrants and get them a shower number for their tags. There are almost always some kiddos and guardians who don't realize they have to sign up for the show in advance, but there's always plenty of space and they are never turned away. The whole point of the show is to have fun and learn, and the kids took all that time to plan their show strings and do their research, so no one wants to send them home on a technicality. So they go see a show manager to get the Code of Conduct signed and pay their entry fee, then come to me to get a shower number, and they're on their way.

 

This year, we didn't have any last-minute entrants, so I got to wander around talking to the kids about their models, admiring some of the "custom by entrant" models that the kids had made, and handing out little lucky charm tokens that another thoughtful volunteer brought along. 

The kids are so great to watch throughout the day. They're learning, they’re gabbing together, they're jumping up and down with excitement over any color ribbon, they're living in the moment as only kids truly can and having a great time. Section callbacks used to happen as the show went along, but now they're saved for the end so we can all watch and clap for the kiddos. They're just like the adults when they win a prize model - lots of shrieking and flailing.

In addition to having fun watching the kids, I get to nerd out with my awesome Excel spreadsheet all day. Most shows only place to 6th and record only 1sts and 2nds, but the Children & Youth show places every class to 10th plus two Honorable Mentions, and every ribbon is recorded! That means there are over a thousand individual placings between the Children’s show and the Youth show, not to mention some extra Honorable Mention ribbons that the judges can hand out at their discretion if they encounter a really competitive class. That’s over a thousand entrant numbers, entrant names, and horse names to put in, plus the section and overall champs/reserve. It's a ton of data. But it’s Excel, and I love it. I’ve programmed my spreadsheet over the years to work for me, and barring any stupidity my part (like deleting rows and subsequently blowing up my VLOOKUPs), I’m generally able to get everything entered by the time we’re all packed up.

 

I've gotten my spreadsheet so honed over the years that I actually have time to leave the podium once in awhile to check out the classes. The Scene classes are some of my favorites. This year, one of the kids had a model horse running a bakery, overwhelmed by orders and covered in flour (literally), with kitchen utensils strewn everywhere, and the write-up mentioned a three-tier cake in the oven (which was lit up!) that had been forgotten about in the chaos and was "burnt to a crisp." I laughed out loud when I read it. Another great scene this year was model horses having a "Model Human Show." There were little people figures on one table (complete with documentation!), human performance classes on another table (one was kayaking), boxes of prize models (also humans), and ribbons. These kids are so danged clever and I love seeing what they come up with every year.

 

Another favorite of mine is the "My Favorite Model" class. The judge always jokes that it's the only time she ever cries when judging a class, and I'm right there with her. Every year, at least one entry write-up has my eyes stinging. This year it was a kid talking about their anxiety and how their model's ears were missing paint because they rub the model's ears to soothe their anxiety. As a person who has been plagued with anxiety since childhood and a former therapist who has worked with a lot of anxious kids on coping skills, that one hit me right in the feels.

 

There are fun stories in the "My Favorite Model" class, too; one memorable one that tends to get mentioned every year was the kid who put a model on the table and just wrote, "I love this horse because it's black, like my sister's soul." 

Because I’m the results person, I also get to see all of the awesome, creative, hilarious names these kids give their models. Every single year there are names that make me say “Oh that’s awesome!” or laugh out loud. Food-related names like Cheese Puff, Sweet Potato, Fish Stick, and Holy Fruit Salad. Straight up funny names like Achoo, Big Fat Honkin Brownie, I’m Especially Teed, Lil Ugly Fella, Mooey Booey (it was a cow), and The Floor Is Lava. My top ones from this year were For Cryin' Out Loud, Elvis Prance-ley, I Did Something Bad, and Sidewalks Saved My Life.

 

My personal all-time favorite name (which I doubt will ever be topped) was a Prince of Chintz model (the blue Esprit with the flowers on it) with the most appropriate name I've ever seen: Grandma's Wallpaper.

 

 

The volunteer model this year was #B-EV-10781 Vegvisir. Georg is a hugely popular sculpt, so there was a collective hobby head explosion when he was revealed as this year's volunteer model back in March at BreyerWest. Two colors were issued there, the sooty buckskin like this guy, and a palomino. The third color was, as I predicted, an even lighter cream, and as I predicted, that's what I received. Another volunteer didn't want the buckskin (especially with his factory flaw, which I'll get to in a minute) and was willing to trade her buckskin, which is the color I liked best, for my light guy.

 

His factory flaw is ... he has no eyes.

 

 

He's supposed to have painted tri-eyes, but most if not all of the ones given out at the Children & Youth show only made it as far as the dark airbrushed shading around the eyes. We had seven or eight of them all lined up on the table and none had painted eyes. The shading is dark enough that it's not all that creepy of a look on him, especially on the left side; it almost looks normal. Breyer immediately offered to take them back to the factory and have the eyes painted, but I didn't want to bother. I'm never going to sell him; I never sell any of my volunteer models. He can just be his cute little weird self on my shelves for the rest of his life. His barn name is Manfred Mann.

 

That's it for my BreyerFest 2026 adventures and acquisitions! I don't have August planned out yet (which is kind of scary, since August starts on Saturday) but I'm planning to get back to my regular monthly schedule. Thanks for tuning in.

Off-Script: BreyerFest Recap, Part 6

I'm going to tell the story of my raffle win this past BreyerFest, and I can't do that without talking about my first raffle win, so the other guy will get his turn in the spotlight today, too. 

 

The setting: It's Saturday, July 11, day 6 of what has already been an absolutely amazing BreyerFest week. I've spent time with so many friends, checked Kentucky Derby winners Mage and Mystik Dan off my "must see" list (I'm now up to 20!), got a glimpse of Silver Charm, won a glossy prize model at my first BreyerFest Live Show, picked up my special runs, made a wonderful trade to get a matte Oseberg, volunteered at the kids' show, and purchased a whole bunch of models that make me happy. It's now time for the Saturday raffle.

 

I always spend $50 on the raffles. I've done an even split of $25 per day every year except for 2017, when I liked one model (Rangoli) significantly more than the other (Rana) and did $40 for one day and $10 for the other. Tickets used to be $1 each or 6 for $5, so $25 got me 30 tickets. They're now $2 each or 8 for $10, so $25 gets me 20 tickets. Despite the increase of cost per ticket and getting fewer tickets for my allotted money, I've never felt the need to spend more. I'd rather turn my BreyerFest model cash into something guaranteed at the CHIN.

 

It's always been my custom to drop my tickets in the bin on Saturday after the kids' show. The kids' show ran a little longer than usual this year, though - no one's fault, it just happens sometimes - and me and my fellow kids' show volunteers were worried about being able to get our tickets turned in before the cutoff time. A friend of a friend came to our rescue, trekked up to the Alltech to grab our tickets, took them to the Covered Arena, and got them into the bin for us. I'm glad she did - we would have made it in time, but barely, and none of us needed the stress.

 

For years now, we've stood down at the far corner of the Covered Arena to the left of the stage, where the live horse entertainment comes and goes, to watch the raffle. It means a quick exit once the raffle is over so we can get to our cars and get back to the CHIN as fast as possible in the hope of nabbing the ever-elusive parking space.

 

So there we are, assembled as usual, sweating as usual, extra worried about parking because of all the construction at the CHIN, listening to them read off the names of the diorama contest winners. And then it's go time.

 

My friend Kelly M's husband gets drawn, which is cool, and then my friend Jackie, who is standing with us so we get to cheer really loud for her. Midway through the pack, the announcer says, “Is there anyone here named Melissa?”

All of my friends: turn to stare at me

Me: “Yeah, it’s not me.”

I mean, it couldn't possibly be me, right? I did write Melissa instead of Mel on my tickets, but there are a zillion Melissas in the hobby - there are two besides me who show in my region on the regular. There are also many Melissas like me who go by Mel but might have written Melissa on their tickets, or used stamps or return address labels with their full names. 

 

I'd also never won an in-person raffle, and I only had 20 tickets, so there was no way it could have been me.

 

Raffle guy: “How about Melissa Grant?”
 

Me: loud shriek

 

All of my friends: even louder shrieks

 

I remember every step of the walk over to the stage - and yes, I did walk; I was carrying my volunteer model and with my luck, I'd have tripped over a horse chestnut in my excitement and gone ass over tin cups into the dirt and ended up at the ER with Georg legs embedded in my spleen. The whole time, my anxiety-prone brain was going, "Is this really happening? Is everyone watching me? What if it's not me and their ticket doesn't match my stubs and it ends up being a mistake? What if they start to ask me questions? What if I can't talk because I'm too excited and I end up sounding like a total idiot? What if they want to interview me for footage for the online coverage? Did I really just win a raffle model? Is this really happening?"

I got up to the stage and a really nice employee came over holding the raffle bag. She smiled at me and said, "Are you so excited right now?" I babbled something like, "Oh my God, I've never won in person, I can't believe it." My hands were shaking. 

 

She held up the ticket and it was number 481532. I stopped worrying about it being a mistake then - I knew that was within the range of tickets I'd bought, because I'm a nerd who remembers numbers really well.

 

The *only* thing I dislike about the whole process is that they make you give them your stub. I have neither the 481532 ticket that was drawn from the bin, nor the stub that matched. I would have liked to keep that with my model as a souvenir, but oh well. 

 

Here's the crappy CHIN pic I took to send to my parents and sister, alongside a text that said, "HOLY SHIT I WON A RAFFLE MODEL." I've got my tickets next to her, with 481532 missing, and her COA is thoroughly crumpled because of this:

 

I miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight have hugged the living daylights out of the bag. More than once. (Thanks to my friend Heather M for snapping this pic!)

 

Here's a better picture of her in the lobby by the 500s:

 

Her name is Pining for the Fjords and her number is #B-EV-10777. There were 26 of her made, 25 for the raffle and one for the live auction.

 

She was the icing on the cake for the best BreyerFest I've ever had. 

 

At the beginning of this post, I said that I can't really talk about this raffle win without also bringing up my only other one, and here's why: Order of the Thistle was the Saturday raffle on July 11, 2020 - six years ago to the exact day as I won Pining for the Fjords. Here's his story.

 

We all know how bad 2020 sucked, and that BreyerFest was a virtual event only. In a normal year, they only have to follow Kentucky (and maybe New Jersey?) laws when doing the raffles, but since this one was virtual and eligible entrants were all over the country and in Canada, they couldn’t sell tickets like they normally would.  Instead, they gave each 3-day ticket buyer one free entry (though you did still have to fill out an entry form if you wanted a chance to win) and did a random computer draw, just like they do for web specials and such.

During the Saturday broadcast, they showed the first names, last initials, and state for the winners during the live feed. I got super excited when I saw “Melissa G,” but then it said “UN” for the state. I was like, where the hell is that? I knew we didn't have any states starting with UN, so I started looking at Canadian provinces and then countries. I couldn't find anything that matched. When Jaime got to my name, she announced it as, “Melissa G of . . . Unknown?” So that didn't tell me anything.

 

The winners were supposed to get emails, so I checked my inbox, but I had nothing, so I assumed it wasn’t me. I initially shrugged it off, but I kept thinking about all the crazy glitches Breyer was having that weekend, and the fact that I don't often get all the emails from Breyer that I should, and coming back to that “of Unknown.” I decided to email customer service to inquire. 

 

Within 15 minutes, I had an email from Kat McDermott asking me to confirm my address and phone number, and then a second email stating, "Congrats on your win! It is you!"

Yinz, when I say I lost my shit - I yelled a lot of swear words and started squealing and jumping up and down. I was in my sun room, and my neighbors were having a party on their back deck, and I'm sure I looked absolutely hilarious (and possibly a tad psychotic) with all my flailing around and screaming.

 

Here is #711385 Order of the Thistle, the BreyerFest 2020 Saturday raffle model, one of 26 made.

 

I had to incorporate "Melissa G of Unknown" into his name somehow, and 2020 was the first virtual BreyerFest, so I dubbed him Virtually Unknown. He's been to 17 shows and has earned 4 breed NAN cards, 8 collectibility NAN cards, three section champs for collectibility, and one section reserve champ for collectibility.

 

I feel incredibly lucky to own both of these models.

 

If any of you reading this have won a raffle model, I'd love to hear about it in a comment!

Off-Script: BreyerFest Recap, Part 5

Today's post is about the tent line Special Runs, and my Classic that just didn't fit anywhere else. I'll start with the latter.

 

This is #B-EV-10764 Dalarna, who is Not My Usual Thing At All. But as I mentioned in yesterday's post, my boyfriend is of Swedish origin, and we have several Dala horses on our built-ins in the living room. I showed Dalarna to Chris before BreyerFest and he said, "Wow, that's really cool!" So of course I had to buy one. All of my Breyers except one (Torlinie, the soccer ball Clydesdale SM, who lives on the built-ins next to Chris's soccer bobbleheads) are up in the horse room, but I'm going to try to sneak Dalarna onto the built-ins with the other Dala horses and see how long it takes him to notice. Should be a fun little game.

 

Now onto the tent models. 

 

For the first time since 2020, the Master List failed me.

 

My track record through 2025 using the Master List was as follows:

• 2020 - 3 tickets - Slainte Surprise x3, Lugh, Thorn, Ash
• 2021 - 1 ticket - Seven Arts Surprise, Pollock
• 2022 - 4 tickets - Rotating Draft Surprise x4, Franz, Landler, Brahms, Stein
• 2023 - 1 ticket - Stagecoach Surprise, Wells
• 2024 - 1 ticket - Girls Run the World Surprise, Edge of Glory
• 2025 - 1 ticket - Seize the Day Surprise, To the Ties that Bind Us 

I got everything I wanted, six years in a row, even in 2021 when it seemed like pretty much every single VIP ticket holder bought Pollock and there wouldn't be any left for regular ticket holders, and in 2022 when everyone and their mom was frothing at the mouth over Stein.

 

My Preference List this year for my three tickets went like this: Oseberg, Oseberg, Surprise, Surprise, Surprise, Wanderer, Aquavit, Thingvellir. Oseberg got both the top spots because (A) I conga the living daylights out of Wintersong and (B) they had already revealed him as a 50/50 matte glossy split after accidentally (?) leaking a photo of the glossy, and (C) I wanted both finishes, obviously. I didn't go any further than those eight slots on my Master List because those five models were the only ones I was interested in. I was slightly concerned about getting both Osebergs because he was by far the most popular on all the polls people did ranking their favorite SRs, but I thought, hey, the Master List hasn't failed me yet, and even though he's popular, I should at least get one.

 

I got zero.

 

The rest of my Master List went according to plan, but Oseberg was not anywhere to be found. I suppose my luck had to run out sooner or later, but why on a Wintersong year? I was majorly disappointed.

 

Vermeer was amongst my top four guesses for the Scandi Surprise, so I felt pleased with my data analysis when he was revealed to be this year's Surprise mold. I was not so pleased that I had three of them on my tickets, as I am not a Vermeer fan, but by the time I went to pick mine up on Friday, I knew the run had gone over super well and selling them likely wouldn't be a problem. My friend Nina also messaged me that she loves Vermeer and said she might have an extra Oseberg to trade with me, depending on which colors and finishes of the Surprise I received. I started to feel a sliver of hope that I might secure one of the two Osebergs at a reasonable cost before I left Kentucky.

 

There's more to the story, of course.

 

A dear friend and fellow hobbyist had an absolutely terrible couple weeks leading up to BreyerFest, including a death in the family, and also experienced a significant loss during BreyerFest, which resulted in her having to make a trip home mid-Fest to handle family business. I picked up her SRs - an Oseberg and a Surprise - along with my six allotted models. All four of the Surprises (her one and my three) ended up in the same bag. When we got back to the hotel, I asked my roomie Heather to reach into the bag and randomly pick one of the four Surprises to give to our friend, and set it to the side with the Oseberg for her to open when she got back to Kentucky. I then started opening my SRs.

 

 

I started with #B-EV-10768 Wanderer because he was the most straightforward - they didn't do any variations on him. The Fireheart mold is "just okay" in my book, but they had me at that lovely purply-blue color. He's super neat, even though my dining room light doesn't do him any favors.

 

Next up was #B-EV-10773 Aquavit, who had an announced 50/50 split - half the models had the regular swishy tail, and half had a custom belled tail. I knew as soon as I grabbed the bag that I had a swishy tail - it noticeably sticks out. I'm perfectly happy with that, though, as I like the swishy tail better. 

 

She's basecoated, too. I assumed they all were, but it seems not - I've seen pictures of non-basecoated ones on Facebook, and there are a bunch of sold ones on eBay that weren't basecoated. Once I'm done with the fervor of tracking and predicting Surprise quantities, I'll probably take a look at Aquavit to see how common the basecoated version is. It already seems much more prevalent than the basecoated Hero's Welcome Surprises from 2019, which I estimated to be only about 10% of the run.

 

 

#B-EV-10775 Thingvellir was announced as one of this year's color splits, a 50/50 mix between grulla pinto and sooty palomino pinto. I liked the sooty palomino color better than the grulla, but I got the grulla, and that's okay. I have a soft spot for the Man O' War mold and this guy isn't going anywhere. I'll be on the hunt for a sooty palomino next year at BreyerFest. He shouldn't be too hard or expensive to find.

 

Then it came time to unwrap my Surprise models. There were six colors - bay roan, amber champagne, solid bay, black appaloosa, flaxen chestnut pinto, and glossy gold sabino decorator. The glossy bay was obviously my #1 hope, followed by matte bay; I knew I would sell any other color (no matter the finish) or offer them to Nina in the hope of pulling off the Oseberg trade.

 

The first one I opened was a matte champagne. The second was a matte black leopard appaloosa. The third was a matte bay roan with an unfortunate giant scratch on his on-side barrel. [I put him up for sale at $80 in my room that night, and someone did buy him. I'm not happy to have lost the extra $50 in value had he not been damaged, but whatever.]

 

So because bay was the only one I was really interested in, I didn't pull one, and my abysmal luck with pulling shiny Surprises from the line remained untarnished. I felt the Oseberg trade slipping away - I was sure that Nina would be able to easily acquire the matte colors, and would only be interested in glossies or the deco.

 

I texted Nina to let her know what matte models I had, and to my surprise, she said she wanted to come down to the room see the appaloosa, and would bring her extra matte Oseberg with her. After approximately 30 seconds of ogling the appaloosa and telling me how much she loved him, she asked if I would straight trade him for Oseberg. I asked if she was sure - even the matte Oseberg was selling for MUCH higher than any of the matte surprises at the time - but she insisted she was happy with the trade. I'm pretty sure I even saw her hugging the appaloosa as she walked out of the room.

 

 

So here he is, B-EV-10772 Oseberg in matte seal bay. Again, my dining room light is giving him no credit. He is magnificent. He might be my favorite release ever on Wintersong, and I didn't think I'd ever like anyone better than Silverado. A million thanks to Nina for the trade!

 

And it turns out said trade might not have been lopsided at all. The appaloosa is definitely the Surprise color I'm seeing the least of so far in my data tracking, both in person at BreyerFest and the CHIN and in my stalking of all hobby-related groups. He and the deco were the most popular colors, and there are quite a few up for sale because people are paying bank for them - but when I add all the eBay listed plus sold together, he's still the rarest color, and I'm not seeing them all that often in non-sales posts like haul threads and "Which color did you get?" polls. The matte appaloosa is also selling higher on eBay than the matte Oseberg, perhaps due to his popularity, perhaps due to people picking up on the fact that he seems to be the lowest quantity color. Who knew? But it's actually pretty cool. I didn't need the appaloosa at all, rarity or no, and now I feel like we both really lucked out and got what we each wanted the most for almost an even amount of money spent.

 

It gets even better.

 

On Saturday evening, our friend who had had to miss part of BreyerFest made it back to Kentucky. She came down to our room to open her Oseberg and Surprise. A glossy Oseberg was the thing she wanted the most out of anything at BreyerFest this year. I was in despair, though - I never, ever pull shiny things from the line (as evidenced by my lower-than-statistically-probable rate of pulling glossy surprises, and pulling exactly zero again this year), and I said right before the packaging came off that I should have had my roomie Heather pick it up instead of me, because I was certain my "lack of glossies" curse had transferred itself to my friend's Oseberg.

 

Her Oseberg was glossy!

 

Then she opened her Surprise model, which I had picked up from the line but Heather had chosen at random from the bag. It was a glossy roan!

 

In a truly magnificent alignment of the universe, I not only managed to pull two glossies from the line this year, but both were for a friend having a really, really shitty week who needed a bit of good model mojo. It doesn't get any better than that.