Gray Wolf, 2015 (Wild Life America by Schleich)

Carrying on with Spooky Season here on the Animal Toy Blog, it’s time to look at the “big bad wolf” and based on its appearance, this one certainly fits that description. It’s the Schleich 2015 gray wolf (Canis lupus). If I’m being honest, it’s not a figure I would pick for my own collection. And it’s not part of my collection. This toy belongs to my daughter, and I acquired it in a box of toy animals that I bought for her off eBay several years ago. Still, it’s a figure by a popular mainstream company and worth taking a closer look at, especially since it’s October.

This figure was released in 2015 and retired in 2019. Since it is part of Schleich’s American wildlife line that means it must represent one of the North American gray wolf sub-species. The grizzled reddish-brown pelt makes the eastern timber wolf (C. l. lycaon) come to mind, but I highly doubt Schleich was aiming for anything more specific than a gray wolf and any endeavor to try to identify it more specifically would just be for one’s own amusement.

Since gray wolf sub-species come in a range of sizes we might as well scale this one down from the aforementioned eastern wolf. Eastern wolves reach a length of about 5.5’ (1.6 meters) and when scaled down from that the 4.5” (11.43 cm) figure comes out to be 1/14 in scale.

The Schleich wolf is depicted in a crouched posture with its teeth barred, nose wrinkled, and hair raised. All these features suggest that the wolf is acting aggressively but the pinned back ears suggest that it’s actually afraid and acting defensively. Although it’s fun and dynamic for kids I prefer my figures slightly less menacing so it’s not something I would put on my own shelf.

I would perhaps like it more if the raised hair was rendered better. The hair across the entire body is uniformly raised, giving it an unusual pinecone-like appearance. It reminds me of the popcorn texturing on my ceiling, or as forum member Saarlooswolfhound suggested, flambé gone wrong. To more accurately depict a wolf in this posture Schleich should have concentrated on emphasizing the raised hackles (hair along the back). It’s just overdone here and looks silly here. Other fine details are nicely executed however, with highlights including wrinkling around the muzzle and sculpted foot pads.

As mentioned, the figure is mostly a grizzled reddish-brown color. The underside is mostly white, and the lower extremities are white and reddish-brown without the grey tips of the body. The tail tip, nose, pupils, claws, and foot pads are black, the eyes are brown, and the teeth are white with a gray wash over them. Since my copy gets played with it has numerous scuff marks that make the paint application difficult to appreciate. It’s mostly good, except for the misaligned pupils.

Although I don’t care for the dramatic posture and stylized hair, I do have to commend Schleich for creating a dynamic figure that’s no doubt fun for their target audience. And if you’re not a synoptic collector then having a bit of variety on your shelf is probably nice too. I just don’t want this to also be the mental picture a child has every time they think of a wolf. Wolves have enough of an undeserved bad rap as it is. If you’re a parent, make sure you add a few less-frightening wolves to your child’s pack. This wolf is no longer in production so if you want one, you’ll have to head over to eBay where it’s still easy to find.