Surprised by the Christmas Surprise

Boy howdy, did Breyer catch the hobby off guard yesterday! Collector Club members received an email announcing that the Christmas Surprise, always done on Christmas Day, would happen today, December 19, around 11:00 AM eastern time.

There were some clues in the email as to what the surprise might be.  There will be four colors with a glittery finish, and a couple of black (coal) models. 

The biggest clue for me was, "a beloved sculpture by Kathleen Moody." And immediately Silver and Susecion came to mind. I started making a list of Moody molds that I thought might be contenders for the 2023 Christmas Surprise model.

Kathleen has done a lot of molds for Breyer, and some of them have been used for other Christmas offerings such as the annual Holiday Horse and even a few Santa Surprise horses. I made notes by the molds' names on those, and then did some highlighting to help me organize my thoughts.

I think the strongest contenders are:

~ Silver (despite having been used for a Vintage Club offering this year) 

~ Susecion (never done in association with the holidays)

~ Huckleberry Bey (used as Nutcracker Prince in 2009)

~ Goffert (Noelle in 2008)

Possible, but not as strong of contenders:

~ American Saddlebred (the Holiday Horse in 2013)

~ Big Ben  (never done in association with the holidays)

These molds are very popular among hobbyists, and I would not be surprised if we see one of them later today.

What I would like to see offered today:

1) Silver

2) Huckleberry Bey

3) Big Ben

4) Susecion

5) American Saddlebred

6) Goffert

A logical choice would be Susecion since she has never been used, but Susecion has never been released without her foal, Le Fire. Might we get a second surprise and have a mare and foal set revealed? That would be really neat!

Stay 'tooned!

A few Santa Surprise and other holiday horses from my collection. From left, Ivy, Emerald, Frankincense, Candy Cane Zebras, and a red Stablemate Clydesdale. (Emerald and the green Candy Cane Zebra are wearing my much loved sleigh bells made for me by Jennifer Buxton.) 

Advent Calendar Reveal December 19

A nice little palomino foal who made me think of Sultanna, Little Feller, and Two Socks, all of whom I have known since they were foaled. I don't name my Mini Whinnies (Mighty Mouse is an exception but he's a Prieser, not a Mini Whinny) but I did this one. Meet Little Feller, named for Sultanna's first foal who only lived two days.

Zebra Candy & Abby Candy

I set a reminder on my phone to remind myself to check Breyer's web site and see what they had up for the Santa Surprise Christmas Day.

 They had the zebra mold listed in four colors (red, green, gold, and blue) of 500 each plus 12 "Licorice" (coal) in black!

While I thought the price point at $135 (and free shipping) a bit high, I still went ahead and ordered one and I sure am glad that I did.

Photos do not do the piece justice - it's a pearly and just beautiful! 

I'd hoped to get a green zebra as Green is the last name of my friend, Pam, who died, but I am still happy with the gold. As I understand, they did not sell out and so maybe I will have another chance. (I'd love a red one, too, since Abby's favorite treat is red and white candy canes!)

Speaking of candy canes, Teacher Daughter sent me this photo yesterday. It was the first day back to school from winter break and these three boxes were in her school mailbox along with a note.

"Dear Herd: Love, JoEllen."  JoEllen is a fellow teacher who knows that Lisa likes to go to the barn with me and feed candy canes to the herd. 

You can bet that Abby wrote her a thank you note!