Hi everyone!
I hope those attending BreyerWest this weekend have a lot of fun! I'd love to go someday, but I'd want to also pair it with maybe a week long trip to the area, as my mom has cousins out in Colorado that I've never visited and I'd like to also take time to see them (I'm not sure how close any of them are to the Denver area, either). I probably would have had enough vacation time for it, but I'm also curious to see if Breyer does an Exclusive Event this fall, and if it's close enough for me to attend, I'd rather try my luck at that. (Fingers crossed for some place like Saratoga NY, VT, or back at the NJ headquarters!)
In the next few months, I'll be deciding how much I want to schedule ahead of time for BreyerFest! So far, there are a few things set up:
- I'll be selling Stable Snaps at the CHIN, whether I end up sleeping there or not
- I have one VIP ticket now, and a friend and I will be splitting another one that I'll grab early next week.
- I'm arriving in KY on Thursday sometime, thanks to a friend and her husband who can give me a ride from a couple hours south. I'm not dragging my BF with me, it would be far too many people for him so he'll stay with his parents a couple extra days
- Heading home sometime Sunday afternoon, timing which will depend on if I like the raffle horse or if I end up with other commitments. BF will pick me up and we'll start heading north. Not all in one day though!
- Getting an additional AA ticket, which will depend on how much I think I want Speos and how much I care about the Surprise. I'm probably going to hold off a bit longer on that one, for other reasons below.
- Confirming where I'm sleeping
- If I want to do things like volunteering or the live show
- If I'm interested in any seminars (none of the workshops are calling out to me)
- What else I want to see while I'm there
- If it's one of the molds I conga (Hamilton/Bobby Jo/Croi), I can cross that off my list as possibilities for the Surprise. If it's not, I may or may not find it interesting depending on mold & colors. Volunteering is a large time commitment, so I have to carefully consider this option. It is something I still want to do in person at least once (I was a virtual volunteer in 2021), but I'm not sure yet if this is a good year to try.
- Unfortunately, I don't have the time to wait too long on deciding about it. I could potentially take a show string of just minis and not be too much of a burden to my generous folks letting me ride along to KY, if I did decide to participate. The thing is, I'm probably most inclined to give it a go because of the possibility that Marc of Charm is one of the prize glossies. He could also be a CCA glossy this year, BUT even if they do a spring sale, I doubt it'll be before the live show is available to sign up for. And that goes FAST! I guess the one thing that would make me feel better is if he's a prize glossy, I'm fairly sure? he would not also be the Surprise so getting one secondhand would not have to compete with that. (This statement led me to making an entire spreadsheet just so I could fact check, but it should have other uses too so yay 😂 And yes, the Surprise has never had overlap with any of the Prize Glossies, even in the 4 years of overlap between the Surprise existing in its current form and the years where unique glossies were awarded to the Y/C show. The Prize Glossies, however, sometimes have overlap with other types of BreyerFest runs!)
- I also have a lot of other commitments this year, including hosting my live show for the first time since 2019 (the largest amount of prep time is trophy crafting), attending at least one spring live show, Favorites Survey yearly rotation and results, building my collection inventory to the point that I can use it more easily to make live show choices and to look into collection insurance. And work! Oh and keeping up with ongoing stuff like Stable Snap sales, this blog, my cousin's horse sale (which I mainly bring to swap meets but still), various smaller surveys, BF trip prep, etc. Of course non hobby stuff too, I'll be a bridesmaid in my college best friend's wedding next year, and I'm close enough to help out with various planning and all that, keeping up with mental health, Pokemon Go happenings, along with the day to day stuff. So uh, yeah, I am not super sure that I want to throw prepping for the biggest live show in the country on top of that 😅
- Fun fact, I have never NOT attended a BF Live show when I've gone in person, but I've also only been in person twice before anyway so 😆
I'm trying to find a balance of not overscheduling myself, but also making sure I don't miss out on anything I know I'd really enjoy! This will be my first time attending without family in tow, so I'll have lots more flexibility to spend time with friends.
BreyerFest Unknowns
Other than the Volunteer model, which we should know next weekend, the following typically seen runs are yet to be revealed:
- Raffle Models - if this goes by some of the previous patterns, probably one will be Cancion, especially with the return to the pattern (Dirndl) last year. Excluding 2021, since 2016 the other raffle is a different PC mold from an older (but recent) year.
- Contest Prize(s)? [This one's kind of a wild card, because it seems to be in flux currently. Last year the Diorama and Costume Contests both got Glossy Nikolas, and previously there was the Glossy Celebration Horse for the Costume contest (with the exception of 2014) and a unique Prize for the Diorama contest, typically an older mold or one with niche level popularity. This year there's no Costume Contest and two Diorama Contests - online and in person - so I'm curious how they will handle this. Will unique models be phased out in favor of glossy celeb models only?]
- BCC prizes - This should still be an alternate colorway PC design with a recognizable pattern. Solid models won't be used for this. I suspect the base color will change this year, after 4 years of bay, then 4 years of black.
- Live Show Overall Grands - There's really no pattern to this, it's probably just whatever they have enough bodies of on hand that they can tie into the theme, usually just by name though.
- Live Show Glossies - IF there is a Spring CCA event that features new glossies, that means we can rule out a few options and make better guesses about what they might be. I do also entertain the theory that there may be some slightly older ones thrown in...whichever ones they planned to do in 2020, if they didn't just expand those runs to one of the CCA at some point. Last year's were clearly not leftover choices!
- Breyer has seemingly permanently retired the Early Bird role. The unique prize glossies for the Y/C haven't been done since 2014, and I don't expect that to come back.
- That's probably it unless they introduce a new previously unseen role.
Hamilton - This is the big one, I'm sure I've mentioned before but this one would hurt the most if there are rarities. He's already been a raffle model, so that's out. As a pinto for the PC release, he's in the running for the BCC prize. If he's that or the Overall Grand LS I'm not even going to bother, I can't even touch Order of the Thistle, which is a larger run than both of those. Basically, I think he'd be attainable for me if he's the Volunteer, one of the Glossy Show Prizes as Marc of Charm, or the Surprise (but realistically, probably not all of them at once, which is why I'd prefer him as the Surprise next year). There are very few examples of a model being used for BreyerFest outside of the SR lineup one year, then being the Surprise the next year, but it has happened. Roxy was Keighley (Volunteer) in 2012 and then the Surprise in 2013, and Nokota was the Early Bird in 2013 and 2014's Surprise. I would say the most likely use is as the BCC or Glossy Marc of Charm, but if he's not included at all, that bodes well for 2024. Hammy hasn't had any new introductions in 2023, and is currently in production as Marc of Charm, which is viable for the Surprise production patterns.
Bobby Jo - So far, out of these categories, she's only been the BCC. Personally, I think she's a better candidate for the Surprise, if Breyer leans into the "wild west" angle. It's been quite a while since the Volunteer has been a stock horse, and the volunteer seems to be even more loosely tied to the theme than some of the other runs. She has no new introductions so far in 2023 and most recent production was last year's Kendall. With no current RR, she wouldn't be a glossy prize. I'm going with Surprise or Volunteer for most likely use, but leaning towards Surprise. She could show up in the raffle, but considering the recent pattern, I don't see her as being a new enough member of the PC.
Croi - I see her as matching the overall theme the least out of these 3, and the Surprise theme specifically. She's feisty, but she's a bit too refined to give the "scrappy wild west stagecoach pony" vibe. She won't be the BCC because her PC was a solid color. Croi is the only one of the 3 that has previously been a glossy prize, but given a lack of a current RR that's *not* a unicorn, I don't think she'll be used for that again soon. Like Bobby Jo, I think she might not quite fit in with the current raffle selection, despite also being a PC mold. The only real shot I think she might have to be included is the Volunteer or *maybe* the overall show prizes, but it's a low chance.
I'm looking foward to more of BreyerFest Prep Season! In the meantime, the Favorites Surveys are coming soon! Gahh! I'm doing my best to keep the opening date in February, I promise!
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