Schleich's - New for 2018

[Rossano]

Holsteiner Foal - 13860

[Rossano]

Appaloosa Mare - 13861

[Rossano]

Appaloosa Foal - 13862

[Rossano]

Morgan Horse Stallion - 13869

[Rossano]

Morgan Horse Mare - 13870

[Rossano]

Welsh Pony Stallion - 13871

[Rossano]

Welsh Pony Mare - 13872

[Rossano]

Dartmoor Pony Mare - 13873

[Rossano]

A few things about me & the horses.

I really don't understand why so many horses, what a waste of room for a wider species diversity. On the other hand my son is growing difference-sensible, but he loves horses, since he takes riding lessons, so he often wants some of them. I try to address him towards diverse types of horses and up to now we got a Przewalsky, a Shire, a Hannover, an Ardennese, and an Arab. One of the few ones that I also wanted to add to the collection was just an English Thoroughbred Stallion. Honestly, for my knowledge of horses and models (both close to zero...), Schleich's horses models look very nice, and I enjoy them. This English Thoroughbred Stallion looks fine as well. What is your opinion?

[Rossano]

I am realizing now that, excluding horses, were it not for the Indian Rhino, the number of species that are not already on sale with a different sculpt would have been equal to...

ZERO!

       

[Rossano]

So, am I going with the dinos, or we are finished like this?

[sbell]

So, am I going with the dinos, or we are finished like this?

You can probably be done. The Prehistoric stuff belongs on the DTF anyway.

As for horses...most of us are wildlife collectors--but horse collectors are an entirely different breed; thanks to Breyer, they have been 'a thing' for decades longer than whatever we do--I remember an aunt and uncle, 35 years ago, had dozens of them across a high mantle on their shelf (since sold...which is sad, becuase they'd have been worth a small fortune). It was an existing community before the internet or even fax machines were common.

So the short answer is...money. Also, CollectA has an agreement with Reeves International (AKA jerks that mostly sell horses in North America) which has really bumped up their horse model numbers--and Schleich does not like to risk any market share loss.

[bmathison1972]

I agree with both Rossano and Sean with regards to horses: I don't like that companies invest so much in them, but understand why they do. Poor Sean and I, our favorite taxa tend to be underrepresented outside of Japan (in the entire history of the Incredible Creatures line by Safari there has been ONE insect, the largest class of animals on the planet).

That being said, thank you for adding the horses, for completeness sake (extant animals). I was tasked with adding CollectA 2018 and it was the same thing, half horses 

[Badger]

Oh YAY, more figures of every single possible form of horse that make up half the lineup.

In all seriousness, I don't get the appeal of horse figures, even to those who already ride horses, considering they probably already have a specific horse "assigned" to them for riding lessons or own a horse themselves.

[brontodocus]

It's not only that Schleich is mostly, well, a bit uninspiring in their choice of new additions, it also seems that updated releases of represented species are not necessarily an improvement over their predecessors... Not so long ago, Schleich has released a male Chimpanzee I really liked. And now this one? Well, but as in previous years, I have to say that once again I'm not overly surprised how little inspiring I find those Schleich releases. The Walrus and Koala look quite nice, though...

[DolphinsAreJerks]

It's pretty odd that they released a bunch of species that they already have. I might get the orca, because I'm obsessed with them and it does look cute, but it's not as dynamic as other orca toys on the market, including the older Schleich one.

[Badger]

It's pretty odd that they released a bunch of species that they already have.

To be fair, that strategy has worked for them for a few years

[Orcinus Ocean]

I immediately wanted the killer whale upon seeing the picture, but after seeing it in person, I declare it... pretty awful.

I hope it's okay that I post these pictures here.






Glad it's a female (since while bulls are more spectacular and thus popular, females are rare and hard to find), it has a nice rostrum, but that's about it.
No saddle patch (which is one of the few flaws on the Papo killer whale), enormous flukes (even more than on said Papo model), huge, long flippers, and overall ugly proportions and markings.

I can see amazing, realistic proportions on many species across these brands, but killer whales (and often dolphins) seem to always get the short stick. It's like they kinda sorta looked at a photo of one and then made a sculpt.

[Orcinus Ocean]

I also saw their new great white shark, and while I already really like the previous model, this one was nice as well.