Pig (Farm World by Schleich)

The figure we’re looking at today is not one that I deliberately added to my own collection, it was one that was given to my barely one year old daughter while visiting some relatives. They handed her the pig to play with and then insisted she should keep it. Well, she’s too young for this sort of toy, so it has been sitting on my shelf until she reaches the recommended “3 years and up” age. I already have a generic pink pig in my collection by CollectA. I reviewed it a couple years ago and it’s not a figure I ever plan to replace but since this one is now sitting around the house, I figured it was worth sharing here.

This is your standard pink pig, which means it likely represents the American Yorkshire or English large white, with the former being derived from the latter. They’re both among the most commonly farmed pig breeds and are characterized by their pointed ears and white (pink) color. These pigs can stand 3’ (0.9 meters) tall at the shoulder, measure 6’ (1.8 meters) in length, and weigh up to 750 lbs. (340 kg). Schleich’s pig stands 2.25” tall at the shoulder and measures 3.75” long. That puts the figure at about 1/19 in scale.

This figure represents a sow, and she is standing in a static pose with her head lifted and looking leftward, as if waiting for the farmer to deliver a bucket of slop. Proportionally and in her expression she looks like a young adult. Schleich nails the fine details here and the pig is given a generous coat of hair that has a layered appearance. Although most pigs are often considered sparsely coated, they do grow a thicker coat in the winter months. The hair nicely follows the contours of the animal’s body with finer hair sculpted around the face than elsewhere.

Other noteworthy details include a wrinkled snout, veins visible within the ears, skin folds along the forelimb joints, stretched skin connecting the hindlimbs to the torso, a defined indentation between the flanks and belly, and 14 nipples on the belly with grooves on either side and between each row. The bottom lip is curled down a bit and Schleich couldn’t resist adding their trademark smirk here.

This all makes for a fantastic pig sculpt but it’s hard to appreciate the craftsmanship when the thing is just too darn pink! While breeds like the Yorkshire and English large white can be described as pink it’s much more subdued than this. And it’s the skin that’s pink, not the hair. The hair on these breeds is white and since this pig is especially shaggy it should ideally be less pink. I feel like this poor sow probably has a sunburn and if you see an especially pink pig in real life, it probably has one too. The only parts that aren’t pink are the brown hooves and black eyes. The figure also has a sheen to it that along with the vibrant pink makes it look less lifelike than CollectA’s offering, which is why I won’t be replacing it with this one.

The 2021 Schleich pig is a great sculpt with many fine details to appreciate that loses some of its realism to its vibrant pink and shiny paintjob and the cartoony smirk that Schleich insists upon. If you’re really into pigs it might be worth looking into but there are better breed specific pigs available and for your basic pink pig, I still prefer CollectA’s above all others.