Collectibility Spotlight: Web Specials, Part 1

I started talking about web specials back in May’s Full Spectrum post and covered my newest one, Belize, in last month’s New Additions post, so now seems as good a time as any to continue in that vein.

The vast majority of limited quantity web specials Breyer releases are lottery draws. If you want to enter (for yourself or someone else), you just sign up during the entry period, and then Breyer draws a random list of winners. I would estimate I got pulled from either the initial draw or the wait list about 25% of the time early on, even though the quantities were lower. These days, despite a marked increase in the quantity of each run and the fact that I enter for almost all of them, I’m lucky if I get picked once every couple years.

Most of my web specials have been acquired direct from Breyer, so with one exception, the order of acquisition matches the order of release.

 

 

In my opinion, this is one of the prettiest horses in my collection. I wish they would use this color more often because it is outstanding. #712005 Delia was the first ever Breyer Web special, a run of 500 pieces in fall 2008. I wasn’t involved in the hobby at that time; I had just graduated with my Masters degree in August that year and was still looking for my first post-Masters job, so money was tight. I started looking for one when I rejoined the hobby in 2010 and purchased my Delia a couple years later in November 2012 from a seller on MH$P. 

I showed her quite a lot after I got her - there’s not a flaw on her - but she only has two 4th place ribbons to her name. Her show name is Adelaide.

 

 

#712072 Arosa was a run of 255 pieces in December 2012. When I said my luck with drawings was better by then, this is a good example - Arosa was the third web special I’d been drawn for within a year’s span, after Mont Tremblant in December 2011 and I’m Yours in February 2012. (I have since parted with both of the latter.)

 

 Every time I make a list of potential models to sell, he ends up on it. And then I pull him off the shelf and say, "Nope, he's too pretty," and back on the shelf he goes.

 

 

 

In 2013, Breyer started releasing web specials associated with a theme. Greek Gods was the first series, and the first three releases in that series - Zeus, Poseidon, and Apollo, with 225-240 pieces apiece - are highly sought after and contain commas in their price tags on the secondary market. I didn’t particularly care for Poseidon, but I have always been sad to not have been drawn for Zeus and Apollo.

Anyway, I was lucky enough to get drawn for the fourth release in the series, #712098 Dionysus, a run of 250 pieces. Despite my overwhelming positive feelings towards Kathleen Moody sculpts, Ethereal has never done anything for me (it’s his mane). Throw Shiny Bay on him, though, and he quickly became a “Yes, please.”

 

 

#712134 Solar, the first release in the Celestial Series in January 2015 and a run of 350 pieces, has the distinct honor of being the first web special won by a friend and passed along to me. I love the color on him, but didn’t get drawn on my own account. Enter my friend Lori S., who got drawn but decided to pass him along, and my friend Penny L., who quickly secured him for me from Lori whilst I was away from my phone dealing with copious amounts of Angry Children and Drama at the residential facility where I worked at the time. Yay for enabling friends!

 

 

#712221 Wailua was the second release in the America the Beautiful series, a run of 350 pieces in March 2017. My friend Jackie H. is the responsible party this time, enabling me to buy him direct from Breyer when she got drawn on both of her accounts. Legionario, dapple gray, glossy - what’s not to love?

 

 

This gal, #712110 Athena, the third release in the Greek Goddesses series in May 2014 and a run of 250 pieces, was my #1 want on the Ruffian mold since the day I first heard about her release. That color is *chef’s kiss.* She immediately commanded a high price on the secondary market and remains up there today, often commanding $600-800. I snagged mine from MH$P in February 2018 for $220 shipped and considered myself lucky. She’s the only one of mine whose acquisition date isn’t anywhere near her release date.

Next month I’ll cover my other five (at least as of right now) web specials, and include my wish list of future ones to acquire, which I’m sure will be long, distinguished, and horrible for my bank account.