BreyerFest 2021 Questions Answered!
This file is in regards to BreyerFest 2021 and will answer questions that are asked regarding the public information that has been released from Breyer through Breyer’s website. All of the information can be found on their website under the Events tab under the BreyerFest Blog as well as their own FAQs. RTB is here to help guide you through the adventure of planning your event, no matter if it is in person or virtual. We are also here to provide a positive community in the model horse hobby. I do not work for Breyer, I do not speak for the brand or the company, I am merely one hobbyist that decided there needed to be a place to answers and for all of the links in one place. Breyer now has their own official group and by all means, if you feel that you can get a better answer there, please join it. That being said, let’s jump into the questions and answers!
1. How will I be able to attend BreyerFest this year? BreyerFest is completely virtual this year. It will take place on Breyer’s website and you need to have an account on their website in order to attend. This account is free and you only need an email and your name in order to sign up.
2. How do I buy tickets for BreyerFest? BreyerFest 2021 is a virtual event so the tickets are e-tickets this year and there will not be a physical ticket sent out. This year, Breyer is offering three different ticket types in order to attend the event. When they go on sale, you will need to purchase them from the Breyer website using your Breyer account.
3. What are the new ticket tiers? This year, there are three new ticket tiers for this virtual event. They are completely new and the information released so far is awfully confusing! However, I am working my best to work through the information and simplify it for everyone. The new ticket tiers are the VIP All Access Tickets, the All Access Tickets, and the General Admission Ticket. Each ticket tier comes with different things that will be in the next few questions.
4. What is the VIP Ticket and how do I get it? The VIP ticket is new this year and is the absolute top tier of the BreyerFest 2021 tickets. These tickets include everything that will be available during BreyerFest plus so much more! However, you MUST enter a lottery to try and purchase one of these tickets. That lottery runs from Friday, January 15 to Monday, January 18 and you are able to enter once per day. There will be 800 names drawn plus a Stand By list and you will be notified by email that you have won the spot. There will be more on the lottery in the next few questions. The VIP ticket costs $230and you absolutely must purchase two of the Special Runs and two of the Limited Editions when you pay for your ticket. These models cost extra and their prices can be found in our Price List file. The VIP ticket includes: one Celebration Horse, a full set of the Event Stablemates, guaranteed two Special Runs (must be two different models), guaranteed two Limited Editions (must be two different models), a free VIP Swag bag, access to enter the Photo Show (cost is extra), access to enter the contests, access to participate in the workshops (cost is extra), access to special VIP workshops, access to all three days of BreyerFest 2021, $10 coupon for BreyerFest merchandise, access to exclusive VIP content. There is a debate currently on whether the VIP content is available or not. On January 14, it was stated that there will be exclusive content and on today, it was stated that there would be as well, however there are a few places where the VIP content is not on the list of what comes with the VIP ticket.
5. The VIP Lottery, how does that work? This is where things get super confusing, but hang in there! The VIP Lottery will run for about 4 days and during that time frame, you can enter with your Breyer account once per day. You definitely need to make sure to read the Terms and Conditions all the way through before you enter or if you are like me and have rotten luck, you can enter and then spend all night reading them. When you enter for the lottery, you are entering for one of 800 tickets. There will then be 200 other VIP tickets offered on February 1st as a first come, first served method. When you enter, make sure that you know that you need to purchase two Special Run models and two Limited Edition models BEFORE the event. So, if you win the lottery and are able to purchase a ticket, you will be required to pay the $230 PLUS the costs of the two Special Runs and the two Limited Editions before January 26th. If you cannot do that, you will forfeit your VIP ticket. Another thing that causes confusion is the wording of the limitations on the tickets. The terms and conditions state that they will be limited to ONE VIP TICKET per account, name, email, and/or address. I am taking this to mean that it is quite literally limiting it to one VIP ticket per shipping address. However, I am human and can be quite fallible and be wrong here. The complete Terms and Conditions have been screenshot and placed in the BreyerFest Virtual Planning Post Topic to be seen at all times, in case you are like me and tend to forget what you were doing.
6. Wow, that seems like a lot of money, what about the other tickets? The only other ticket, at this time, that we know the price to is the All Access ticket. That costs $75 and comes with one Celebration Horse, Access to purchase up to two Special Runs (this will be ran like last year and a description of how that runs will be coming soon!), access to purchase Limited Edition Models, access to purchase the Event Stablemates (limited Quantity), access to all three days of BreyerFest via the Breyer website, access to enter the photo shows (cost is extra), access to enter the contests, access to participate in the workshops (cost is extra). Tickets go on sale February 1st. There is NO specified time when the tickets will go on sale.
7. What is the last ticket tier and how much does that cost? The last ticket tier is General Admission and we are not sure of the price yet. With this tier, you get one Gambler’s Choice (random pick) Event Stablemate, access to purchase the Limited Editions, and access to all three days of BreyerFest via the Breyer website. The price is $20 for this ticket and they will be released for sale on February 1st.
8. What happened to the Store Specials and the Tent Models? For BreyerFest 2021, they have been renamed. This year, they are now called the Limited Edition Models. These models include the two or three portrait models that were known as the Store Special models as well as the lone stablemate, the Freedom series, the Crystal, the Plushie, and the Stablemates Set that would have been in the Pop Up Tent. They are now all considered the Limited Edition Models now.
9. How much is the All Access Ticket? The All Access ticket is $75 and includes one Celebration Horse, Access to BreyerFest for all three days, Access to purchase up to two Special Runs (They must be two different models), Access to purchase the Limited Edition Models, Access to enter the workshops (Cost is extra), access to enter the BreyerFest model horse shows (Cost is extra), Access to participate in contests, and access to purchase a limited supply of a full set of Event Stablemates (supplies are limited). As soon as they go on sale, I will post it here in the group!
10. How much is the General Admission Ticket? The General Admission ticket is $20 includes the following: One Event Stablemate that is Gambler’s Choice (random draw), access to BreyerFest for all three days, access to purchase Limited Edition Models, and the ability to purchase a limited supply of a full set of Event Stablemates (supplies are limited). This ticket is currently not on sale, but as soon as it is, it will be posted here in the group.
11. I want to get the All Access Ticket, but how is the Special Runs going to work? Last year was the first virtual type events for Breyer and they did some awesome experiments. Last year, there was an email with a link sent out to those that have tickets that allowed them to purchase the Special Runs. This link was a list that allowed you to order the Special Runs in how you wished that you could received them or if you would, how much you like each one. You submitted your list in the required amount of time and a computer did a random draw of which two models that you would be able to purchase during the event. Last year, they had time slots when you would be able to purchase the chosen models, but this year they did away with it and you are able to purchase your chosen models all weekend long, just be sure to purchase them before the end of BreyerFest! Later on, Breyer will release the official information on how the Preference List will work this year, but this will give you an idea of what might happen for this year. As soon as the new information is released, I will update this section.
12. Will there be a program this year? Last year, Breyer offered a digital program for the event and it was available for download to be printed off. There never was a physical program made. For 2021, they will be doing the same thing and providing a digital program for the event with the ability to download and print it off.
13. I want to purchase more than one ticket, am I able to do that? The only ticket that you are not able to purchase multiples of would be the VIP ticket. Unless otherwise stated when the official information is released for the All Access and the General Admission tickets, you should be able to buy as many as you wish. There might be a limited, but this has not been announced yet and if and when it is, the group will be updated to reflect the changes.
14. How many Special Runs can I purchase with one ticket and can they be both the same type of model? With each ticket for BreyerFest (the VIP ticket and the All Access Ticket) that allows you to purchase Special Runs, you are allowed to purchase up to two of them. The VIP ticket, you have to purchase two of them, but the All Access Ticket, you can purchase up to two of them or none at all, if you do not wish to. You must purchase two different models with your ticket, so you can only get one Surprise Model and one Pollock with one ticket, if that makes sense.
15. I do not like any of the Special Runs, but I like the Limited Edition models, what ticket type can I purchase? The General Admission ticket would be the absolutely the best option for you, unless you want the Celebration Horse. The Celebration Horse only comes with the VIP ticket and the All Access Tickets, but you are able to purchase the Limited Edition models will all of the tickets.
16. The Breyer FAQs state that I can have unlimited “trips” through the store, can you go into details about this? Sure! Under their answer, it says that you can have unlimited trips through the store, but you can only purchase one Limited Edition model at a time. This means that say you want to buy one of all of the Limited Edition models, you will need to buy them one at a time. So you put the Crystal in your cart and you will need to purchase it right then before you can add anymore to your cart. So you can buy as many as you want, just one at a time.
17. Will there be a timer on the carts on the website during BreyerFest? Breyer is currently working on this or a solution to the problem that they had during 2020. As soon as they have released that information, I will update this section.
18. During BreyerFest 2020, I was unable to buy anything. Will this be fixed? For 2021, Breyer will be offering all of the Limited Editions at a set time each morning and when they are sold out, they are sold out until the next day. Leading up to the release, it will likely be refreshfest until they are released on the website. There are a certain amount of models released per day and when those are sold out, they are sold out. Each day will have a certain amount of models released for that day.
19. So how does buying the Limited Editions work? Breyer has not released all of the details about everything, but they have released a rough idea of how this is going to work. So bear with me as I explain it because it is quite confusing. On each day of BreyerFest, Breyer will be releasing all of the Limited Editions for the day at a certain time that they will announce. We do not know what that time is yet and we do not know how many will be released at that time. But we do know that you can only purchase one Limited Edition Model per transaction, but there are no limits on transactions. This is said in their FAQs, down near the end of the page. However, this has now disappeared from the FAQs so until we know more, this is what I am going to go with. This will make for a lot of transactions, however with a flat rate shipping to international and Canadian members, this should not cost each time that you check out. This section will be updated when more information is known.
20. Will there be a cart time? Well, Breyer says that they are working in it with Shopify, however Shopify does not offer this service at this time. So they are working on it!
21. How much is shipping and will I have to pay every time? Shipping can be rather complicated during a virtual event so right now, before the event, I am going to say hang in there because it might take months for everything to get shipped out! But other than that, Breyer is offering a Flat Shipping Fee again this year to Canada, Hawaii, Alaska, and International. This means that while there is a fee for shipping, it does not mean that you are paying that fee for every item that you purchase. All of your shipping charges will be dealt with after the event mostly and you will be paying one fee. If you are in Canada, Alaska, or Hawaii, you will be paying $10 for shipping. If you are from any other International country, you will be paying $25 for shipping. Customs fees are not added to this and are normally extra.
22. Is there going to be a Diorama Contest? Yes, there is. No, the information has not been released. Hang on there!
23. What is the difference between the Special Runs and the Limited Edition Models? Special Run models can only be purchased if you have a VIP or an All Access Ticket. They can NOT be purchased with a General Admission ticket. With each ticket that allows you to purchase Special Runs, you can purchase up to two Special Runs per ticket. Why? This has always been in place since the Special Run tickets were a thing. You can only purchase two different Special Runs as well, so you cannot purchase two of the Surprise models. The Limited Edition models are available to everyone that has a BreyerFest ticket. That means the VIP, the All Access, and the General Admission ticket holders can purchase any of the Limited Edition Models. To review what a Limited Edition model is, jump back up to number 8.
24. I want a VIP ticket, but I want to purchase ALL of the Limited Edition models, HELP?! First off, we got you! Second, you can do that! The two that you pick when you buy your ticket are the only two that are guaranteed. During the event, you can purchase all of them that you will be able to get so no worries, you can still purchase a ton of plastic pony models.
25. Do the Limited Edition models really sell out? Yes, yes they do. And they can sell out incredibly fast too, if they are in demand. Last year, they sold out so fast that people were left reeling. However, it is very, very unlikely that Breyer will offer glossy models this year to make up for the models selling out. So, you might still be in for a refreshfest, but we got you here!
26. Do you think that there will be Glossy Limited Edition models made? In short, no. They have upped production and I do not see what happened last year happening this year. However, I could be wrong. I am still a human and I definitely don’t work for them so I do make mistakes from time to time. Edited to add that Breyer is now offering the Limited Edition models as a back order, in case that you miss them when they are released. Only three models are exempt from this back order and those are the crystal, the single Limited Edition Stablemate, and the Plushie.
27. Omg, why are you still here? I mean, RTB is not really needed now that Breyer has their own official group. Yeah, that is true. However, I still run a very positive community and well, I can break down the information into a simplified version and offer it to you. If you want to join their group, more power to you! I will continue doing my thing for as long as I can and I hope that you will stick with me. I many not have a lot of information about these virtual events, but I do know my way around a computer and I hope that I can help you with that, especially if this type of event makes you nervous. I do offer lots of Live videos to just hang out in and listen to me answer your questions during the event so maybe it feels like someone is there with you and I do my best to help, even with I have no idea what I am doing sometimes!
28. How many tickets can I purchase? Good question! However, Breyer never really answered that as well. They have posted in their FAQs and copied directly here: Breyer reserves the right to monitor BreyerFest ticket purchases and refund ticket purchases at its discretion. So it looks like you can buy as many as you want, but if you buy too many, it might be refunded. Until they go into it further, this is the only answer that I can give you.
29: Why are there no Single Day Tickets? It appears that Single Day tickets are no more! The cost of the General Admission ticket is $3 more than the Single Day Tickets of old and come with the same stuff that the Single Day Tickets came with as well.
30. What exactly does Gambler’s Choice mean? Random Draw, just a fancy way of saying it.
31. The VIP ticket is not for me, however I still want a set of the Event Stablemates. Can I still buy them? Yes! You can! There will be a limited supply of Full Sets available to ticket holders that are not VIP and you can purchase them directly. Just remember that they are limited so they will go quickly.
32. I got an All Access Ticket, how will I be able to purchase my Special Runs? After the ticket sales close (This means that there will indeed be a date set that they will stop selling tickets), you will be sent an email. In that email is a link that will ask you to rank the Special Runs in order of your preference. After that time period ends, you will then have to wait until the event. On the first day of the event, you will be able to log into your account and see which Special Runs were selected for you at random, based on your preferences. You could very well get exactly as you wanted so hang in there! If you have more than one ticket, all of your models will be revealed to you at that time. You do not have to purchase the models that were selected for you, however you cannot swap them out for other Special Runs. You can purchase your models at any time during the weekend. General Admission tickets do not have access to Special Runs.
33. When do the models ship out? After the event in July. The Celebration models and the Event Stablemates might start shipping out earlier.
34. How will my plastic ponies be shipped to me? Breyer will use whatever is best for them. They might send them all in one box or in several boxes. Last year, they sent the majority out in one box. If you are International or in Canada, you will only be charged for how many boxes actually ship out to you. It could be more than one box or it might just be one box.
35. I do not get emails from Breyer, help!!!! We got you! Even if you do not get the emails, the links and that do get posted here in the group. But no worries, maybe these next steps will help you get the emails back. If it does not, you will need to contact Breyer Customer Service directly. First, go to the website and scroll down to the bottom. There you will be a box that says sign up for our newsletter or something similar to that. Fill out that information with the information that you already use and check to opt into the emails. That should help. make sure Breyer is not going to your Spam folder. If this did not work, you can try to see if you can create another account since they are free and see if you will get emails then. If you do, then you will need to contact Breyer about your original email address.
36. I am going to be on my phone all BreyerFest weekend, won’t I? Well, yes and no. The models will likely release in the morning, but again, we do not know the exact time yet. We do know that they will be released every day during the weekend though. Once that time period ends, you do not have to play refresh the page. But there is so much to do all weekend long, even if it is online. Last year, there were tons of videos to watch, a model horse show to enter, workshops to do, and more! Even my tiny human was kept entertained! But you do not need to watch it all, unless you want to.
37. Why do the workshops cost money? Traditionally, the workshops were always an added fee. Last year, they had to change everything on the fly so things got moved around and added to no charge. But this year, even though it is still virtual, it is going back to a more normal event that we have known and loved. When the schedule and information is released about the workshops, we will definitely know more.
38. So when do BreyerFest tickets go on sale? February 1st, All Access and General Admission tickets go on sale to the public. On February 1st, the left over VIP tickets will go on sale to the public.
39. I do not want to sit at the computer all weekend long, will I still be able to get the Limited Edition models? Yes, you will still be able to purchase Rheverence, Apollo, Josie, and the stablemate set no matter what during the weekend. Once they are sold out, they will be available to purchase via backorder. These backordered models will be sent out in December, but the exact date is not confirmed. The special runs, the Limited Edition Plushie, and the Limited Edition Stablemate are not affected by this information.
40. Ok, seriously, what is this Preference List that I keep hearing about? Ah, the Preference List. While the absolute instructions have NOT been released for 2021, I will definitely post what happened for 2020 and that should give you a great idea of what to expect for this year. When you purchase an All Access Ticket, you will be purchasing a Special Run Ticket. This ticket allows you to purchase up to two Special Runs from the selection of Special Runs (You can check out what the releases are in our BreyerFest 2021 photo album.). Closer to the event, you will get an email that will send you a link. You will need to be logged into your account in order to access this page. There you will find a page that will ask you to rank the Special Runs in order of how you like them. This list is set up to help Breyer know what you are thinking and that will be used to decide which models that will be chosen for you when they make the pull. This is all random draw, but there is a high probability that you might get the ones that you wished to get. When the weekend of the event comes, you will see which models were selected for you in your account and you will be able to purchase them then. You will have until Sunday to purchase them, but there are no “times” in which you need to log in to purchase them.
41. I want other models than just what is offered at BreyerFest, will they be available? Last year, all of Breyer’s website was available to purchase models from, including the Holiday Horse. This is very likely the case for this year, but they can and do sell out of many popular items during that weekend. This is also a great time to save on shipping since anything ordered that weekend, should potentially be included as it was last year. If this changes, I will definitely update this section.
42. Breyer did a back to basics video and explained everything, will you do that? No, since everything that I have posted here has been broken down and simplified, I just kind of beat them to it. However, I do offer Live videos very often that everyone in the group is welcome to join in on and ask their questions as well as hang out with many hobby members. While I do not work for Breyer or speak for the brand or the company, I break down the information that they have on their website and group as well as offer a hobbyist perspective to it all.
