Samples, Counter Samples, and Artist Proofs

Breyerfest is almost here and in just over a week collectors will be hitting the Breyer store for what is affectionately known as the Ninja Pit of Death or NPOD. Each year Breyer cleans out the archive room and offices and on Friday morning of Breyerfest they put out all kinds of leftovers, overstock, samples, and even tests! This is why people start lining up the day before to make sure they are first to hit the store. Historically this has often caused a melee among collectors trying to grab deals and rarities and thus the dramatic nickname. Luckily in recent years they have given people numbers and the store is much more orderly than it used to be (but there is still some jostling and grabbing and sometimes bad behavior as people go through the bins).

There is often confusion about what is and isn't a sample so I wanted to talk a little bit about the production process and what you might find in the Breyer store bins! I personally love collecting samples and counter samples and really anything that comes directly out of the Breyer factory and offices - because it's usually cool and historically interesting in some way.

When a new model is being designed the first step is usually a prototype model to try out the design. These are sometimes hand-painted in acrylics by a contracted artist or designed by the Breyer team in house. If it's a new mold they may even be painted on the resin prototype instead of a plastic body. You'll often see examples of these in early promotional material with a photo of the hand painted resin prototype instead of a production model (since they aren't ready yet). These are also usually signed or marked in some way by the artist.

I am lucky enough to have an example of one of these. Sarsaparilla, a Breyerfest special run from 2000, was designed by Sheryl Leisure. I was able to acquire the original prototype for him and you can see the extra care that was taken in his color and shading as compared to the production run. It's hard to see from my slightly blown out photos but his hooves are also hand-painted and a different shade of pink. She initialed him on one hoof with SL.

If they model doesn't make it further in the process, this is where a "test color" comes from, and these will typically be one of a kind. In the early days of the Breyerfest auction these "true" test colors from the factory were the auction models. Nowadays they paint very special one-of-a-kinds specifically for the auction with a level of detail and artistry that is above and beyond the typical test color.

If a model moves forward, the next step in the process is to paint 6 (or so) samples to make sure the color and pattern can be reproduced at scale. These are called "Vendor Quality Samples" and I think these are still painted stateside so if you find a model without a VIN and signed "VQS" perhaps also with a date or initials, congratulations - you definitely have a sample model!

This lovely ELCR Lady Phase from 2010 is one such example. The ink of her signature is starting to fade but it reads "VQS 8/6/09 MK". I love to find these not only because they are a unique part of the production process, but because there is often just that little bit of extra care taken with their paint job and they will be just a bit nicer than the production run. Of these 6 samples, 3 are sent to the factory (China in this case) and 3 remain at the office. The factory will then paint another set of 6 or so Counter Samples and send those back to HQ. These are then compared to original VQS models and either accepted or rejected. If rejected, the process repeats. The rejects are mostly sent back to be destroyed/reground but sometimes they slip out.

This Diamond Jubilee counter sample was rejected. Unfortunately the "rejected" signature has faded to where you can't read it anymore (you might just see the remnants of it on the upper right above the stamp) but his (rejected) stamp is in black ink rather than the purple that ultimately went in to production!

The models that make it through will usually be denoted with "approved" or "OK" and initialed by the reviewer. These counter samples also do not yet have the VINs on their hooves. These are only needed for the production models due to regulations that require the models to be traceable to batch and factory in case of something like lead paint tainting where a product recall is needed (this has never happened with Breyers but when the regulation came out it was happening more generally with chinese or foreign made products, so this consumer protection step was added)

My OK'd sample Lady Phase here is from 1994, before production went to China, but showcases the same process. If you find a model without a VIN but signed with something like "OK" initials and/or a date, congratulations you have a counter sample! Once the production models have been approved, then a new round of samples and counter samples are done for the packaging. Some NIB models you may find in the Breyer store bins are probably from this process and if you look carefully you might find some interesting uniqueness. These are probably the most niche of the samples and not interesting to most collectors - but as always I think it's cool and if I find one for a mold I collect I'll usually grab it.

This classic Keen was one such find for me - If you see sticker residue like the photo on the right that definitely indicates a sample. Those are the labels that the factory uses when sending them back for approval. I haven't been able to prove it definitively but I am pretty sure this particular box was never in production - I do not remember ever seeing the pink tab in the regular run release or that exact lower banner. But I wish I had bought a regular one and kept it NIB to compare!

Now, not every sample and counter sample gets signed. So how do you know if you have a sample? Oftentimes there are subtle but significant differences that didn't make it to production. Compare your model closely to a regular run (or regular special run) and see if you can spot any differences.

Can you tell what is different about this Fortuna?

How about this Rainbow? This one is a little harder.

And check for those stamps. This Haute Couture sample doesn't have a VIN or the Breyerfest stamp.

The more subtle thing I look for is the quality of the paint work. Both the samples and the counter samples tend to be just a little bit nicer than the production models. Better shading. better masking, better dapples, more care given to details like eyes and hooves. Which Acadia do you think is the sample?

Of course the giveaway is probably the VIN on the stand, but the top one is the sample! He was originally auctioned off during a virtual Breyerfest from Breyer on eBay so he is a known sample. They are both super nice and I took awhile hand picking the regular Acadia, but the sample is just that next level nicer (in my opinion).

pardon my dust

Some people will say just because it doesn't have a VIN doesn't mean it's a sample. This may be semantics or just personal opinion, but I would disagree with that assessment. It doesn't mean it was painted in the USA but it does mean it was part of this sample and counter sample process because the production models must have a VIN. So in my opinion any model found in the Breyer store without a VIN should be considered a sample of some kind.

Sometimes, unlike the above models, they aren't obviously different from production models other than the missing VIN. This Lindsay's Faith was a NPOD find and doesn't have a VIN. She looks almost identical to the regular run. I would still say there is just a little more care given to her paint job and things like the brand and the mane masking - but now we are getting really subtle and most people wouldn't notice that. I would call her a counter sample.

There are usually also lots of other models in bubble wrap or otherwise loose that do have VINs. What are those? More likely they are overstock or extras that were hanging around but they could still be an interesting part of the process. I found a Renaissance Marabella one year that I am 99% sure was the model they used for the catalog photo because the paint and dapples match up identically. That's cool! You might also find some nice bargains - there could be relatively rare leftover special runs like web specials or older Breyerfest special runs. No matter what you find, save the packaging or at least save a record of the packaging like by taking a photo, so in the future the provenance of it having come from the Breyerfest Breyer store will follow that model even if it doesn't seem like anything special otherwise.

Outside of the Breyer store models (usually), there are also the Artist Proofs. These are mostly associated with the Connoisseur line and as part of this sample process the 6 or so samples were marked as artist proofs. These samples are marked on the hoof with "A/P" instead of a number out of 350. During the Connoisseur era Breyer often sent these to live shows as donations to be auctioned or raffled off (my own show received an AP Hope n Glory one year that was raffled off) or used in other promotions and giveaways. So they are out there among collectors and a fun thing to look for!

I was lucky enough to run across an AP Shalimar before the market for Connoisseurs really took off.

Another interesting parallel is now with the Premier Club. The sculptors receive 6-12 copies of their new premier models and from what I have seen they usually sell those copies off to their customers in one way or another. I have purchased three of these - I have an artist copy Shannondell, Vermeer, and Rhiannon & Rhemi. The artists almost always sign these and sometimes include their own special COA so that you know this was one of the artist copies. From what I've seen these are usually not samples - they look otherwise just like the production models and they have VINs. Interestingly though my Rhiannon and Rhemi set do not have VINs - so perhaps it varies? It is something I'm going to be doing more research on.

So that's the story on samples, counter samples, and other interesting models you might run across in the bins at the Breyer store! Give your finds a good look over and see what cool thing you might have discovered, even if it might be obscure! I'll be right there alongside you digging for treasures.