Some Interesting (modern) NIB Models

As a follow on to my last post I wanted to share a few of the things I have kept new in their original boxes. These are all from the Reeves/yellow box or newer era circa 1985+/-. I've also tried to collect at least one example of the older and rare boxes like the touchability box, showcase box, and shrinkwrap box - but this post is just for the newer interesting things that I've picked up along the way.

It is rare, but sometimes the packaging can make an otherwise common model something special.

German Olympic Set

Ok check these out! The German Olympic Set of bays Keen, Jet Run, and Might Tango were a Sears special run in 1989 and 1990 and typically this set came in a cardboard box with a photo of the three on the front and a COA listing the gold medal winners Rembrandt, Ahlerich, and Orchidee. But I've occasionally stumbled on them packaged individually and according to Nancy Young's book while 4,500 sets were made for Sears, there was also a 500 piece SR made for German company Siwek GMBH and 144ish sets for "European Customers" - so I am assuming my individually boxed models are part of those SRs. It's really the only way you might tell them apart from the Sears run so I have kept them boxed.

The classic Keen is my No. 1 most obsessive conga so grabbing the Ahlerich was a no brainer when he popped up for sale but I also enjoy the rest of the USET set so later on when I saw the Rembrandt and it is so unusual to find them packaged separately so I got that one too. I didn't notice, until I got them, that their boxes are pretty different too. The Ahlerich has a sticker in German and Rembrandt's is in English, plus Rembrandt is on the older platform box style and Ahlerich in the newer corner triangle style box. But also interestingly the Rembrandt has a 1990 box catalog inside (Ahlerich has none, either it was removed at some point or never was there). So is Ahlerich one of the 500 Siwek GMBH models and Rembrandt one of the 144 packaged for other European stores? I think that's pretty cool if so!

Now one of those historical regrets - the Rembrandt seller had one of each but I knew I already had the Ahlerich so I only bought Rembrandt. Looking back I should have bought all three but especially the Keen because the completionist in me now needs the German version and the English version!!

Advantage Chrystler

Keeping on the Keen theme this is one of the surprisingly rare models that generally hobbyists take no notice of - only my fellow obsessive Keen collectors. He was special run in 2000 for BreyerWest, in the early days when it was held in Canada. Although IDYB says around 1000 were made, people who were at the event told me there were actually only 250. I had two different people doing pickups for me - one attended the show and showers were given one with a special embroidered blanket. My other pickup person picked one up for me at the Breyer store there and she told me she was glad she went first thing to make sure she got one because sometime on the afternoon of the first day the owner of the real horse came in and bought out the rest of the stock. So very few made it in to collector hands. I was SO grateful for the pickups because it would have been a struggle for me to find one later.

But, enter this one pictured above. This is actually my third one - the one from the show was already loose and I had unboxed my other one too. But a few years ago this beauty popped up on eBay with a $20 starting bid - I was so curious to see where it ended, given the rarity! Well it went the whole week with no bids. The seller relisted it and I was thinking well FINE if no one else is going to grab this rare beauty then I will! I won him the second time around for the starting bid - so now I have three of them and this one will stay in the box.

One thing I've learned over the years is that the classic scale just isn't that popular. There are very few that command big prices, even though they are rare, and even fewer that aren't the original HR/Love molds. I happen to be a big fan of this size model but unlike traditionals and stablemates they just don't have the same type of following. As I was putting together this post I also realized all but one of my interesting modern NIB models are also classics, ha - that probably tells you something too.

NY Toy Fair Mariah

Here's another model that I think is really cool but has totally gone under the radar and/or nobody else thinks it's as cool as I do. In 2013 Breyer gave away a SM highland pony keychain from their booth at the NY Toy Fair. You have to be someone in the toy industry to attend so they were tricky for collectors to get ahold of and caused quite a stir at the time. Some attendees put them in eBay and so some hobbyists were able to get them. In 2014 the giveaway was a little less interesting to most because it was otherwise the classic Mariah but in a special box. Her box says "A Gift from Breyer!" and the back has a little marketing blurb.

Similarly a few people who attended put them on eBay so I actually bought two - nobody was really going for them but I think it's unique and interesting. There have been other models that are considered distinct special runs even though without the box/provenance you can't tell them apart from the RR version (most commonly seen among stablemates) so in my mind this will always be the very rare Toy Fair SR Mariah!

The Misrepresented Ideal

This guy I found at a store when Ideal was current and I thought it was hilarious that he was in the "Racing Legends" box with the Churchill Downs background so I had to get him just for the comic factor. They are supposed to have the more generic "Breyer Legends" background but someone got them mixed up and thus we have the wrong box Ideal. A few other people found some like him so he is a bit of hobby fun for those of us who like mistakes, oddities, and otherwise very niche collectability nerd stuff. My real horses have always been warmbloods and, although they might have a speedy moment, racing legends they are not, haha.

NPOD Samples and Otherwise

The legendary "Ninja Pit of Death" or NPOD is what hobbyists call the first morning of Breyerfest when Breyer typically puts out samples, overstock, oddities, and other things they're cleaning out of the warehouse or archive room. People have found all kinds of cool and unusual things over the years. People line up EARLY to be sure they are first in!

The vast majority of the time I am at the Open Show and so I don't get to attend the early Breyer Store melee. Even when I am not doing the show, I'm not usually one for sitting in the line so I might wander in a bit later to see if anything remains. Some years they have also put out goodies throughout the weekend, so over the years I have been able to pick up a few interesting things myself. That includes some of these packaging samples!

This Ariat SR still has the approvals sticker on the side showing he was one of the final samples all boxed up and sent back from China for approval.

This Keen also has the remnants of that approval sticker and I don't think this particular box was ever actually released. I've looked and looked but I haven't seen one with the "Thoroughbred: Excellent Jumper!" tab inserted like this guy.

This Keen I picked up last year and it has the Archive Room sticker on it. I haven't figured out anything unique about it but there's that Keen conga again so just having an Archive room one, even if it's otherwise identical to the run, is fun! The model does look particularly nice, although I'd hate to take him out.