Why do Schleich retire their figures so quickly

[JimoAi]

I know some companies do too but Schleich seems to always retire their figures so quickly even popular ones. For example, A manta ray introduced in 2013 was retired in 2017 and has yet to receive a resculpt as of yet. I would also like to point out that schleich has also a relatively small line up to other companies and while companies like Safari ltd has a huge range that is bigger than Schleich's, some figures remained in production even for decades like the Monterey bay aquarium line

[bmathison1972]

usually how fast something retires is based on how well it sells.

The reason the MBA series has lasted so long might be because of contractual obligations with the Aquarium (just a guess).

[stargatedalek]

Schleich don't tend to view other brands as competition, so much as bugs to be squashed. It's sad and disgusting the lows they stoop to but perhaps even sadder is that it seems to work very well.

To that end, their "real" competition is themselves. They discontinue a figure as soon as its sales start to dip even slightly, in order to clear space for the next T-wrecks, elephant, chimpanzee or lion. Popular species get replaced frequently, and obscure or otherwise less popular species only last a year or two.

[Advicot]

I totally agree @stargatedalek

In my opinion I think Papo seem to retire their figures very quickly. In recent years they have come out with some unusual species in figure form, which is bold to be begin with, and then we see they have retired quickly in two or three years. Why do they bother releasing figures that are unusual and discontinue them after a short while, it doesn't make sense.

I'm not saying they should stop making unusual species in figure form 
I'm just confused at their logic

[Loon]

I think it's very much like what happened with Batman V. Superman. The company puts a decent amount of money into a product, and when that product does not have an absolutely massive return, they deem it a failure. Batman V. Superman made a butt load of money, but the studio also put a butt load in, and while it did have an ok gross, you don't invest over 300 million dollars (probably closer to $500 million, if we count the advertising budget), to only make $870 million. You want to make a billion. You want that Star Wars-Marvel money. I think a company like Schleich has a similar mindset. They're honestly more analogous to a company like Lego, when it comes to its business model, than something like Safari. Schleich is a massive monopoly and is too big and conservative to feel that even the slightest risk is worth the effort. Of course, they'll keep putting out obscure animals. A diverse product lineup naturally leads to more sales, definitely more than if you only sold lions. But, they won't keep them around for long, since they don't sell as well as those trademark species.

[Sable Antelope]

What I am curious about is it more cost effective to have more high quality molds that is kept in circulation for years or keep churning out new molds of popular animals (lions, horses) that are lower quality. I am assuming the later as I noticed Schleich seems to be churning out newer molders almost every year of charismatic animals while quickly retiring some of the more obscure animals. I also feel their quality has gone downhill especially with their horses. I feel they are targeting customers whom only collect one type or limited types  of animal(s)

[stargatedalek]

Using less appealing molds would barely even qualify as a cost saving measure, as short of bootlegging pre-existing products it won't save much money not to hire a sculptor who can make more realistic sculpts.

No, the lower quality molds/sculpts is a deliberate stylistic choice. Perhaps they want to appear "softer" and more "kid appropriate" than other brands in order to entice parents, at what I can only assume is a loss of interest from kids themselves.

[sirenia]

Often the way. In one year, out the other.

[Cachalot]

I have also noticed that Schleich has started using a brittle rubber on some of their animals, especially their sea animals.