I'm just the opposite with the finishes. I got into them because I love their matte look. I don't like the glossies or the newer ponies which are more semi-gloss than matte. I find a lot of the Breyer communities I've tried being members of are pretty snobby though. Its really hard to fit in unless you have a thousand bucks a month to spend on plastic horses and go to Breyerfest and shows and stuff. Go forbid you just happen to like horse models and that is that.

Another collector checking in I buy most of my models at Breyerfest personally. It's always been difficult finding a local store with a decent selection and prices and it's only gotten harder in recent years. Diamond is right about Blab being one of the best places to learn about them and the Model Horse Sales Pages being a great place to buy them. For current models, you may need to find a dealer online. You can now buy directly through Breyer's webpage as well, but they'll be more expensive unless it's a special run you can only get through them. I've been rather disappointed with the direction Breyer seems to be going recently and have been more into ponies because of it. I still keep up with what they're doing, but I've become more picky in what I actually buy.