It's been a busy summer and we're loving it! We donated a model to Model Horse Blab's (modelhorseblab.com) Birthday Celebration, I was invited to judge the Collectability Division in their photo show, and our new store is starting to take shape.
Our donation to Blab's celebration this summer was a lovely Grey Appy Stock Horse Foal (solid-faced variation) in his original box, and the winner is Ekaterina of Yroslavl, Russia! We've shipped to several European countries, Canada, Brazil, Japan, and even the island of Cypress, but this is our horse heading to Russia! If you're listening, Ekaterina, congratulations on winning him!
I was surprised and honored to be asked to judge Collectability in Blab's summer show this year. I had over 100 entrants in 11 classes, submitted from collectors all over the world. There were some gorgeous, hard-to-find models in there, and it was definitely a challenge to judge, but so much fun! If you'd like to see the entries, here's a link to the gallery on Blab: http://www.modelhorseblab.com/blabpics/g4428-breyer-collectability-div-judged-26-overall-champ-2freserve.html Congrats to all the winners there as well!
We announced that we'd be opening our first physical store way back in spring. There have been some challenges (Breyer territory restrictions caused a change of location, for one), but the project is underway and progress is being made. The current plan, to re-purpose a handome camp into a horse-themed store, is coming together. The camp needs to be moved half a mile down a narrow logging road to its new location then be remodeled, but it will be perfect when it's done. The interior pine paneling and cathedral ceiling are beautiful.
Being raised in the woods of Maine, we're doing almost all of the work ourselves, so it's not going as quickly as it might if we hired a crew, but when it's done, we'll have a store we're quite proud of. My mother and her partner John are spear-heading the project (since semi-retirement gives them more time to work on it) and Roy and I are spending every available moment helping with the site prep. The logging road has now been widened enough to maneuver the building along it (we hope!) and yesterday we built the forms for the foundation. The cement truck should be here on Friday to pour the cement, and them comes the day we've been anticipating for three months: The big building move! We'll keep you posted, and there will be pictures once things start moving, so to speak. Getting the building down a bumpy, hill dirt road will be a challenge - Cross your fingers!