Special Effects: Event Models, Part 1

Breyer has hosted thirteen collector’s events since 2002. Each event is open to 200 guests and all but the Premiere Event have included both a Traditional scale and Stablemates scale model in the ticket price (the Premiere Event only included a Traditional model, the ever famous Mauvelous). 

I’ve only ever been lucky enough to attend one event, the Big Easy Bash in 2014, which included a trip to Medieval Times and a tour of Breyer headquarters (including the Archive Room!) in New Jersey. At the factory, I took a picture of the Fortissimo on the shelves in the lobby (of course) and watched Tom Bainbridge paint a one-of-a-kind dapple gray Moody Andalusian during the painting demo. While he was talking to us, the airbrush suddenly blepped little specks all over the model’s shoulder and barrel. Everyone gasped out loud, thinking the beautiful paint job completely ruined. Tom just shrugged and said, “Guess I’m putting fleabites on him.”

I got drawn for the Seattle Soiree event in 2020 and was looking forward to getting back up to the Pacific Northwest, which I fell in love with during a trip there for BreyerWest in 2018. We all know what happened in 2020, though; fortunately, they still fulfilled all the ticket models and let us buy our boutique models as well.

Today’s post will feature the run-of-200 Traditional and Stablemates models that all attendees receive. Since these are more prolific and thus less budget-destroying to obtain, I have been able to add a few despite not being selected for those events. The next post will feature my boutique models - and my Centerpiece win! 

 

 

It is only through the generosity of my friend Beth that I own this model, #704108 Paparazzi from the 2008 Velvet Rope Event. She offered him up for sale in September 2022 at the same time as I was paying for one of my biggest Stone grails, and was kind enough to not only ask a "friend price" for him, but she also took short time pays. She even included his cloth bag and mug from the event!

 

 

This handsome Semi-Rearing Mustang is #712151 My Kind of Town, who was certainly named after the famous Frank Sinatra song. My Kind of Town was the Traditional model for the 2015 Sweet Home Chicago event. I bought him through a Facebook post in April 2021. He hasn’t made the show ring yet, through no fault of his own - I just have a goddanged gazillion stock horses.

 

 

#712195 Chesapeake has already been featured in the blog post about my Giselle conga, but she told me she didn’t want to be left out of the event post, so here she is again. She was the Traditional model for the 2016 Chasing the Chesapeake event.

 

 

#712357 Redmond, from the 2020 Seattle Soiree event, is one of my favorite models in my entire 1500+ piece collection. His color, shading, and gloss are an outstanding example of the workmanship Breyer can put into their models. This guy commands a hefty price tag on the secondary market, and rightly so - he’s gorgeous. I show mine as a Gelderlander and he does pretty well; his show name is Melrose.

 

In 2022, Breyer went to Florida for the Ponies & Palm Trees event. Attendees got to meet the famous Olympic silver medalist Salvino, who was also the 200-piece Traditional model for the event. As a dappled, shaded bay Salinero, I knew I had to have him as soon as we saw the preview of him at BreyerFest earlier in the year. Fortunately, I have great friends, and one decided to sell me her Salvino in December 2022 at a reasonable price.

 

And now for the Stablemates!

 

 

This is #712120 Moon Pie, the event Stablemate from the 2014 Big Easy Bash. The four event Stablemates prior to the Big Easy Bash were all decorators, so I might have jumped up and down a few times in excitement when we got to the event and saw a realistic paint job. Moon Pie is one of my most successful minis in the show ring. Her show name is Mallomar, a dessert which is only one graham cracker short of a moon pie. (That sounds like an insult, but I would never malign anything that resembles a s’more.)

 

 

#712193 Cecil was the event Stablemate for the 2016 Chasing the Chesapeake event. I got him in a trade - one of my friends was trying to hunt down the 2014 Vintage Club Stablemate Sonny, and I was thinking of parting with mine. We agreed to trade my Sonny for her Cecil, and both of us were happy! His show name is Fair Hill in tribute to the Fair Hill Training Center visited by event attendees.

 

 

#712358 Puget was the event Stablemate for the cancelled 2020 Seattle Soiree, so I am his original owner. I show him under the name Whidbey Island, which borders Puget sound.

Notably absent from this post is my Cafe Au Lait from the 2014 Big Easy Bash, whom I sold at BreyerFest in recent years (not exactly sure which). He’s one of my sales regrets. Maybe I’ll pick one up again someday.

Besides a potential replacement for Cafe Au Lait, the only Traditional run-of-200 event model on my wish list is Mauvelous, and I’ll never be willing to pay the price he commands. For Stablemates, I’d like to add Frankenstein from the 2008 Velvet Rope Event, the pale blue decorator G2 Rearing Arabian from the 2009 Lone Star Experience, and Ned, the M1 Clydesdale Stallion from the 2024 Spokes and Spurs event.

 

Next up, Event Models, Part 2!