Live Auction High Points

As we promised last week let’s take a look at some of the most popular (or most expensive!) Live Auction lots from the past 29 years.

BreyerFest 1990 (our first year!) had a unique one-of-a-kind bronze casting of Stud Spider, which sold for $1,000. While this doesn’t seem too impressive compared to what some auction items have sold for in recent years, this was the most expensive lot by far in 1990. A few years later, BreyerFest 1993 had over 70 different lots in the Live Auction, a feat that we haven’t repeated since. With that many lots up for grabs, our dedicated collectors helped raise a lot of money to support our Breyer Beneficiaries.

BreyerFest 1995 overtook all previous records when a Jumping Horse in a gorgeous Glossy Grey Appaloosa sold for $2,000; there were a few other models that year as well that sold for at least $1,000. In 1998 we inched closer to the $3,000 mark when a Serengeti (a raffle model on the Big Ben mold) was purchased for a remarkable $2,700.

A dedicated collector was finally bold enough to hit the $3,000 mark in 2004 by purchasing a Smutty Palomino Appaloosa on the Flash mold. A few lots later that record was shattered when a Silver Dapple Lady Phase was purchased by a collector for $4,000! We were amazed!

The year that will stand out in our minds for years to come is 2008. On the auction block was a Smutty Palomino Alborozo, which was purchased for a mind-boggling $13,500; a record that still stands today. The Alborozo mold was broken after BreyerFest 2008 so there are very, very limited quantities of the model. No wonder it has an extra special spot in Collectors’ hearts and herds.

In 2011, the fan-favorite was the Vintage Roan Appaloosa Proud Arabian Mare and Foal, which was purchased for an impressive $5,000.  Also highly coveted were the Royal Tortuga Weathergirl, which sold for $3,700 and a Lady Phase with High Gloss Dapple Rose Grey Pintaloosa coloring that went for $3,200.

The Alborozo mold made another appearance at BreyerFest British Invasion, but didn’t quite beat the previous auction record of $13,500. This High Gloss Dappled Bay version was purchased for an incredibly generous $8,000, setting the record for the 2012 Live Auction. In 2015, at BreyerFest Vive la France, the Glossy Silver Dapple Bay Fighting Stallion set the record for the evening by going for $7,500.

Our last few lots of the BreyerFest 2017 Auction helped us ended on a high note when a Glossy Dapple Black PAM (Proud Arabian Mare) sold for $7,000, a Glossy Bay Tobiano Nokota sold for $6,000, our Sunday raffle model Rangoli sold for $5,200, a Blue Roan Sabino Fighting Stallion sold for $6,000, and a Shannondell in Chestnnut Sabino Tobiano sold for $5,000. The incredible generosity of our collectors made the 2017 Live Auction the most successful auction in BreyerFest history!

Who knows what next year will bring at the BreyerFest Salute to Horse Heroes Live Auction!