A Double Reveal!

We tricked you yesterday with our sneak peek snippet! It’s actually this year’s mare and foal set!

Generally considered Sweden’s oldest town, Birka (pronounced like Beerka with a rolled r) was established in the year 750 as a trading market and flourished for more than 200 years.  Merchants came from all over Scandinavia, continental Europe, and the Orient to buy, sell, and trade goods like furs, antlers and walrus tusks, Chinese silk, glass, metalware, pottery, amber, and honey. In about the middle of the 10^th century, this site was abandoned for unknown reasons, but the wealth of information left behind in the ground by the more than 3,000 grave sites has been incredibly valuable for archaeologists reconstructing what life might have been like for medieval Scandinavians living in and passing through this area.

Examples of medieval Scandinavian glassware, a coin, tablet-woven trim, brooches, beads, a key, and fur.

Founded in 710, Ribe (pronounced like REE-buh with a rolled r) is the oldest town in Denmark and was also a thriving market town for several hundred years.  Like Birka, traders and merchants came from all over Western Europe and as far east as China to sell their wares. Unlike Birka, however, Riba seems to have been founded on the King of Denmark’s orders as a planned city. The king’s mint was also located in Ribe during the 11^th and 12th centuries and coins, as well as countless other artifacts, have been uncovered by archaeologists. 

Both Birka and Ribe are UNESCO World Heritage sites and to celebrate the longevity of these historic places in Scandinavia we are pleased to share with fans our next Special Run models for BreyerFest: Midsummer Fair. This sweet pair is done on mold #572, Lonesome Glory, and mold #710, Gilen. Birka, the mare is done as a beautiful chestnut blanket appaloosa, and her foal, Ribe, is a palomino blanket appaloosa with lightning leg markings and a hammer face marking. These models will be available to our in-person VIP and All-Access ticket holders only.