Catching Up On BreyerFest, And A Lovely New Arrival!

 Hi everyone!

It's only been a week since my Surprise Speculation post, but I have already lost two of my Top 10 molds! 

"OVERALL Top 10!

1. Salinero

2. Cleveland Bay

3. Idocus

4. Othello

5. Arabian Mare

6. Bristol

7. Shannondell

8. Strapless

9. Wixom

10. Shagya Arab

It will be interesting to see how much this changes in the coming months, as more new releases are revealed! I will revisit periodically as options get knocked off the list and I need to add other guesses. Unless for some reason, none of these top 10 are used for anything else prior to BF, which I rather doubt, especially with the Warmbloods. "

Well, I was certainly correct in my predictions...I just didn't expect it to be cancelled out so soon! Also, I realized that Ashquar is likely also out as a guess (he made it almost to the final top 10 and I forgot about this) due to being used as Rheverance last year. 

So, what has happened in the last week? We've gotten a few more reveals for BreyerFest! The entire Special Run lineup has been revealed (of course for the Surprise, it's just the theme). 

Franz, a Special Run, is based off the art style of Franz Marc, a German artist. 

Brahms, also a Special Run, is inspired by the music of Johannes Brahms, a German composer.

Rapunzel, the final Special Run, is inspired by the fairytale character, and debuts a new long, flowing mane on the mold.

Chablis is a Limited Edition portrait of a Wurttemberger gelding. He is the third (and likely final?) Traditional LE portrait. 

Although I am posting on Friday again. Breyer has already done their posts for the day, and only left us with a Sneak Peek as far as BreyerFest goes. 

So, from the pictures above, you can see why I removed Idocus from my Top 10. But, what about Shannondell? Today, Breyer announced and opened entries for their first Web Special of the year, a chestnut sabino named Cardinal (he is part of the Birds of a Feather series). 

A run of 500, this guy will be $185 + shipping. 1 entry per account will be counted. You may enter for him until 11:59 PM EST on Tuesday, 1/25/22. Winners are to be notified by email 1/26/22, by 5:00 PM EST and must pay by 11:59 PM EST 1/30/22. 

I really would have preferred to wait until my first club purchase to buy anything else this year, but the Universe is telling me that might not happen! I've entered for him and we'll see, but he's likely to be quite expensive if I don't get picked, so he'll be relegated to the "someday" wish list. Oh ALSO, I just got a call from the place where I'd been on the list for an Equidae, and they finally got those in! (I might be able to have my BF buy him as my Valentine's present though, since that is coming up...I think he was originally meant to be a gift anyway? He's just been postponed a couple of holidays!) Hmmm, maybe I can see if they have any of the Stablemates I'm still missing as well (some of the blister card singles from last year and the unicorn mystery family sets that started out at TSC). 

Before I go too much further, here is my revised list of Surprise Guesses:

1. Salinero

2. Cleveland Bay

3. Othello

4. Arabian Mare

5. Bristol

6. Strapless

7. Wixom

8. Shagya Arab

9. Show Jumper

10. Weathergirl

11. Goffert

12. Fluffy Feet Brishen

This is all that's left out of my very narrowed down group, so if I go under 10 choices again I'll need to pull from those I eliminated for various reasons. 

THE ARRIVAL OF A PRINCESS!

Last month, I received one of my holiest grails! Upon posting her to a group for Breyer Flockie enthusiasts, I got a very unexpected offer to complete my trio of Special Run flocked rocking horses. After two time payments, this gal is finally home as well!

If you told me a year ago that I would have the opportunity to add THREE of my biggest grails in the coming year, I definitely would not have believed you!

All 3 of these gals are quite difficult to find, and I've been looking for them off and on for years!

Here is my current rocking horse conga! I also added the chestnut with the brown rocker last year through a trade. A year ago I only had TWO. 

So, what's next for my SBW herd? I'm now down to only missing the incredibly rare Journey, who is a run of 10, and I don't have a painted test yet (those are goals someday, like probably in a few years minimum someday). Variations are the name of the game now! As far as rocking horses, the Chestnut comes in two less common combinations (blue eyes/brown rocker and brown eyes/yellow rocker), and I may add a NIB example since the box is fairly unique (other than being repurposed briefly for Kipper, that box was not used for any other Breyer). For non-rockers, there are still a few I'd like to add. Original - Chalky, 2 socks, Opposite hind leg 3 sock, and any distinct color and blaze variations I don't own. Others - Burnt Sienna without bi eyes, Raven with no star, and a whiteware with a tail (the JAH release). 

Signing off for now!! :)