Monday Markets: Mar 24 2025

Breyer Midwest was this past weekend and it looked like a great time! Although I couldn't attend in person I was watching the internet and social media with great interest! I always love seeing the in person photos of the Breyerfest SRs - somehow they feel more real than the Breyer product photos - and this year's look great! I'm even more excited about the Show Jumping WB and the General Admission Stablemates! Hopefully the Old Timer doesn't veer to green as OF grulla sometimes can - but I'm still very excited about the surprise possibilities for his run. The dapples look GREAT on Future is Bright and I hope they are that nice across the run. I definitely prefer this mold with the full mane.

This also meant the reveal of the 2025 volunteer models! It's Duende and Lesli Kathman, the hobby's very own horse color expert, designed the patterns. She chose the Mangalarga breed because they have some of the most unique and unusual patterns in the horse world and the first two color reveals do not disappoint! You can read her comments about them here: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/162T9WNHDf/ I'll be getting one for judging at Breyerfest and I can't wait to see which variation I get! To bring it back to today's topic, it looks like they're selling around $800-$850 so far on Facebook.

BmW also brought the long awaited Glossy Marc of Charm! For years we have been wondering will he be a prize model or a CCA special? He ended up as a run of 250 which is a nice middle ground in terms of rarity and collectability. I also personally think that his release being after the surprise Hamilton run tamped down some of the potential chaos around his release - there are quite a few really nice mattes and glossies on this mold now. He has also been selling on Facebook for around $400-$500. This is actually right in line for where the last three BW glossies were selling right after the event. The question is, will he drop off in price from here as the other three have? I do think he's more popular and desirable than the others so maybe (at least for now) he might settle around $350 - but that's just a guess.

One interesting thing is that not a single one of either the volunteer model or glossy MoC have been listed to eBay. Hobbyists and collectors have generally been trending away from the site in recent years because of all the extra fees - so it certainly makes sense - why list on eBay when you could get a quick sale on FB and not have to pay the extra 10-20%. But it still makes me a little sad and nostalgic. Like a lot of ND hobbyists, eBay was the great leveler for me because you can access and bid on models without any politics, negotiations, or even necessarily having to communicate with sellers at all. I know it sounds dumb, but I struggle even with sending a message to someone I don't know on Facebook. Then you hope you're first and you have to keep communicating on sometimes more photos, and on shipping quotes, and on payment options, and that is something I honestly struggle with. And if it is PM for Offers that is even worse. So I have always loved eBay because it handles all that for you and it's very transparent and fair.

But enough about that, let's get back to some interesting sales!

This Florentine running foal went a lot lower than I expected - in my experience this is one of the harder colors to find, especially in this condition (i.e. not super brown/dull/tarnished). The golds aren't as popular as the blues but I was still expecting $800+

This woodgrain FAS is super cool - woodgrains with blue ribbon stickers are extremely rare and one like this is on my someday wishlist too. Most of the woodgrains were discontinued before the blue ribbon sticker era but the woodgrain family arabians just squeaked in so if you're lucky you might find one with a sticker like this from the very end of their run in 1966.

Speaking of woodgrains this collection is absolutely phenomenal! They are in immaculate condition including their very like-new gold tenite stickers, which of course are highly collectible on vintage woodgrains. The running foal does not have a sticker but he's also a particularly nice one that was not off a lamp - also very hard to find. What a great set!

In other news Breyer is having another 20% off sale (for CC members, 10% off for non-CC members) which brings the price down to around $40 for many of the new 2025 releases. I'm holding out a little longer myself but also still keeping an eye on new model prices broadly in case tariffs kick in, but so far it has been driving prices down as people try to sell current inventory to gain as much liquidity as possible. Although average Amazon prices have ticked back up again after a low of $39.44 last week.

I did note this deal though - $26.80 today for Gilded! He was the spring decorator last year and not super popular so there is plenty of overstock. I will probably grab one at this price - any traditional Breyer under $30 is a good buy and although I don't collect this mold I do love gold based decorators and I always thought this pattern was pretty cool. Maybe he will be valuable in the future - but then again poor Bandera is still selling at $20 (If they had only painted his eyes!)

Here's a link: https://a.co/d/h8kMf9P