The Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) is the widest ranging of all otter species, with a distribution covering most of Europe, large portions of Asia, and even part of northern Africa. It is also the most commonly made otter species by toy companies, although the North American river otter and sea otter are well represented too. I must admit that when I picked this otter off the shelf on my most recent visit to Tractor Supply Co. I had the North American river otter on my mind, a common species where I live and favorite animal of mine. But with Schleich being a European company I should have known this figure was not the species I was seeking and its inclusion in the Schleich European wildlife collection confirms it. I guess my hunt for a North American river otter continues. All well, I didn’t have a Eurasian otter in my collection anyway, so all is good.
This Schleich otter is new for 2023 and measures about 3.25” (8.255 cm) long. The actual Eurasian otter reaches a total length (tail included) of 36-55” (91.44 – 139.7 cm). This puts the figure at 1/11 – 1/16 in scale.
The figure is presented moving forward with all four limbs planted on the ground. It has the accurately sleek appearance, long body, and shortened limbs of an otter. Fine details are well executed and include a fine coat of fur etched into the sculpt and distinct webbed digits tipped in tiny claws. There are even tiny pits around the muzzle where the whiskers would grow from. My only negative criticism towards the figure is that it has the cute smirk that Schleich has been incorporating into nearly all their extant animals lately. Otters are already cute without exaggerated features.
The figure is predominantly painted dark brown, but the face, underside of the neck, and portion of the chest are pale grey. Each tiny claw is tipped in white, and the eyes, nose, and mouth are black and shiny. The paint application is excellent overall, especially on the claws. The entire figure has a glossy look to it, as though the otter has just emerged from the water.
The Schleich otter is an improvement over the company’s past otters and of the toys currently in production I think it’s at least superior to Papo’s. CollectA has an otter in production too that looks quite good and doesn’t have the cutesy smirk of this figure, so if this one isn’t to your liking make sure you check that one out. The Schleich otter is new for 2023 and retails for about $5.99.
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Wow, that’s a very nice European otter! I have the Papo version but if I was starting today, I’d have to consider this one!
With regards to the North America river otter, just wait for the Everglades TOOB to come out. I have the Safari NAW otter and it’s a behemoth next to other otter figures (I know you aren’t super scale-conscious). But I suspect the TOOB otter will be a good stand-in alongside ‘standard-sized’ figures; I plan on replacing the NAW otter with it when it eventually releases.
I’ve seen the NAW otter and it doesn’t interest me much. The one in the Everglades TOOB looks much better and it’s probably close to the same size as this Schleich one. Very excited to get that TOOB!
Shane commented on the ATF Safari New for 2023 thread that the otter in that TOOB will be about 3.5″, so yes very comparable to the Schleich model, if just a tad longer.