I've mostly gathered these on the second hand market - several years down the line you can often pick up a bargain Celebration model for only a few pounds more than a regular run costs these days. A few were trades or pickups by American collector friends who went in person, back in the days when international shipping, customs fees, and exchange rates were all much more favourable.
Let's take a look back; I've arranged them by year, so we'll start with the oldest in my herd...
Three keychain special runs - 2000 made, for the year 2000. I'm not normally a decorator fan, but these are sleek and pretty, and were perfect for keeping my conga lines complete back then (I had to give up on that once exclusive clubs and specials came along, and I couldn't afford to track down every release on a mould).
Harecroft Calimero, aka Nobel II, the Celebration model in 2004, 4500 made. The Andalusian Stallion mould looks wonderful in this faintly shaded pale grey, and I'm so glad I got him because the white-grey regular run release, Templado, was far too pearly for my taste! I can't actually remember how or where I bought this one, but can tell it was a few years after his release from the date I took his photograph.
Tommy Turvey's Joker, the 2006 Breyerfest Celebration Model, with a rather random number of 5018 made. He came all the way from the States via Ebay, with a very very long delay which had me worried he'd got lost en route, but he was worth the wait - I've named him Harecroft Solitaire.
I'm surprised we've never had a nice tobiano pinto regular run on this mould, it would be lovely for a paint horse - there was a Collectors' Choice limited edition once but I don't think he ever came into stock in the UK, so doesn't really count to me!
Harecroft Herald of Autumn, release name Rushmore, was a special run for 2007's Breyerfest, with 1250 made. He was my birthday present that same year, a horse I had no idea I was getting, but a wonderful choice because I love his colour and mould combination, I don't think we've ever had such a well-painted roan before or since!
In the summer of 2008, one of my American model-horsey friends was going to Breyerfest in Kentucky, and a couple of weeks later, I was going to the Julip open weekend down in Dorset. We arranged a trade - I'd pick up a live show special one-of-a-kind Julip for her, and she'd get that year's Celebration model for me.
Luckily, the horse I got in exchange for posting off one carefully wrapped Julip was one of the most sought-after Breyerfest runs ever...
Yes, I have an Alborozo!
A run of 6000 models might sound fairly big, but this was a one-off use of the mould, destroyed afterwards, so the Alborozo sculpt would never again be used for any regular or special run release. Needless to say, a lot of people wanted him (both for Original Finish collecting, and for custom potential), and we still see him reliably making £300+ on the second hand market. Mine, Harecroft Fitzcarraldo, will never be for sale - long before he was a Breyer model, a photograph of the real stallion Alborozo was my computer's desktop background, so I was delighted to add him to my herd, and still treasure him to this day.
As well as Alborozo, my friend asked if I liked any of the other special runs, and offered to brave the queues to pick them up for me. I told her my favourite, and my second favourite, and that I didn't mind which she managed to get, and would understand if it was too manic on the day, or they'd sold out - but I ended up with both!
Riesling, a chestnut hanoverian, 1250 made. Harecroft Admiral Of The Fleet is one of the most handsome warmbloods in my whole collection, a mould and colour combination which hasn't been bettered - this boy is still part of my show string a decade later, despite a lot of more recent releases. Breyer did another similar bright chestnut on the Salinero mould, a portrait of dressage star Mistral Hojris, but I didn't get him because they're too similar to need both.
My final 2008 model, a Tent Special clydesdale called Saltire (mine renamed Harecroft Dughall Mor), 1500 made. Over the years Breyer have tried several different ways of doing extensive sabino patterns, this one has a masked blaze on his face but his leg and belly markings are softly faded in with a speckly airbrushed effect - at first glance he could be mistaken for a grey, but I'm sure they intended him as a heavily roaned black sabino - look at the deliberately uneven shading on his barrel and neck.
2012's Breyerfest had a racing theme, so this special run of 1400 was named Aintree. Quite why they chose to pair a thoroughbred mould with a decidedly non-tb coat colour I don't know - to me it would've been more logical to have this paintjob on a QH mould and spotlight that other breeds are raced too! But he's a good-looking horse for my collection, now named Harecroft Shooting Star, with beautiful subtle dappling and shading which bring him to life, and I just have him down as a crossbred to explain the colour!
I didn't get the 2012 Breyerfest Celebration Model, Mariah's Boon (4400 made), for several years after his release - I'd coveted them on US ebay but couldn't afford the shipping and import fees, so when one came up on UK ebay, I jumped at the chance to own this great big gorgeous cob, with one blue eye and one brown. As with the other Celebration models, he's a portrait of a real horse, so I'm really happy that they chose one of my favourite breed types this time, and he really stands out on my shelf.
Harecroft King's Ransom is the first of these Breyerfest models to have arrived after I'd got my blog to post him on, read his post (with lots more pictures!) here.
Another chance find on UK ebay, for the same price as a regular run - Marsh Tacky Two Step was a special run of 1200, in 2013. Although I picked him just because of the dramatic mould and unusual colour, I enjoyed reading up on the Carolina Marsh Tacky while he was on his way to me, one of those moments when model horses proved their educational value as they introduced me to a breed I'd never even heard of til I looked up what his strange long name could mean. I gave him a name with meaning in return, mine's called Carolina Fox Trot, the fox trot being the gait unique to this breed.
He's one of very few models in my collection with primitive dun markings, with the wide band of pale frosting on his mane, and barring on his legs, shoulders, crest, and rump. Another who arrived after I'd started my blog, you can see more pictures and a review of him, here.
For quite some time I've been a big fan of the 1930s books written by Aimé Tschiffely, an excellent combination of travel guide, nature and social history, all with loyal horses as the main characters along with the author on his travels. His most famous is Tschiffely's Ride, the account of his journey from Buenos Ares to Washington DC with criollo horses Mancha and Gato (which he also told, from their point of view, in The Tale of Two Horses the following year).
I'd already got my much-loved Julip portraits of Mancha, the pinto who painted myself at a Julip open day, and Gato who was ordered from Julip's workshop as he needed a sprayed colour. But when Breyer announced they were making the pair for Breyerfest 2015, I knew I just HAD to get hold of them somehow! Again, UK ebay provided the chance, with a retailer listing some special runs they'd managed to get hold of.
My Julips will always be my favourite version of Mancha and Gato, but I'm proud to own this official set too.
Every now and then, a Breyerfest Celebration Model pops up second-hand on UK ebay for an astonishingly reasonable price, less in fact than a current regular run would set you back. I always feel lucky to be the first buyer to spot them before they're snapped up in a flash, and that's how I got Imperador das Aguas JM, from 2016 (8000 made). He's got a lovely warmth of his shading, and brilliantly done dapples of varying shapes and sizes, one of the best grey paintjobs there's been!
This beauty is Harecroft Suryajhuke - officially Nazruddin, 2017's Celebration Model, and one of the most tempting they've done. Much as I like models of stock breeds and quarter horses, I do love it when Breyer broaden their horizons a bit and focus on some of the brilliant and important breeds from the rest of the world. A big fan of the marwari horse, I was happy to see he was the Celebration release and not a more exclusive and limited run, as they're always much easier to find in the resale market in the weeks and months after Breyerfest. I spent a long while looking at photographs, sizing up the costs and risks of getting him shipped in, regretting the times I got outbid by a lot on UK listings, and then finally seeing that Buy-it-Now button and being able to grab one for my own! He's every bit as lovely as I'd hoped, and will remain a real favourite in my herd.
2020 brought the first online Breyerfest, and stunning bright bay event horse Ballynoe Castle RM as the Celebration Model. Perhaps because of the more international nature of selling online tickets, a lot more of him came up on UK ebay than previous years' horses, and I was able to buy mine (Harecroft American Dream) new in his box, for a reasonable price, without all the waiting and agonising over getting hold of a Nazruddin!
He's also the first Breyerfest horse that I've met in real life - more about him and my photos of the real one, here.
And finally, two Stablemate special runs from the same year, because a seller split a couple of 5-piece sets and listed them individually on Ebay, I treated myself to the ones I liked - Durham the warmblood (Harecroft Gauntlet), and Viaje the mustang (Harecroft Gleaming North). Again, a couple of extra photos in this post where I first introduced them.
This year's Breyerfest is going ahead, in it's virtual form, right now. I'm not sure what and when, but I hope everyone 'attending' in this high tech way is enjoying the experience - perhaps buying models online will be less stressful than the old infamous heat-and-queues of Kentucky Horse Park, and certainly more people outside the USA will be able to join in this way.
This year's Celebration horse is a flat-out stunner, a brilliant flashy and detailed paintjob on a very good and relatively new mould, so I can see her being one of the most popular ever.
And there's so many other runs, there's bound to be something for everyone, no matter what your taste in models.
Anyone got a wishlist drawn up?
Have you bagged what you wanted already, and just have to wait for the postman?
Or do you, like me, rely on the resale market and try to get hold of Breyerfest models without actually joining in?
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