Market Place Copying: Designer Schleich Candle Stick holders?

I absolutely love BoConcept, a modern Danish furniture company that has stunning and extremely expensive furniture.  There is a store near my work place in Central London and  I popped in today to browse the latest collection.  

I suddenly came across some wildlife sculpture made of a white stone resin material.  These have a small dip in their back to hold a candle and they are quite large and heavy.  They cost £19.00 each (approx 24 euros?) and I thought they were extremely cute and well made - good enough to buy as a decoration piece or even paint and turn them into realistic animal models.  However having inspected all three animals it occurred to me that they looked very similar to Schleich models!  All three are exactly the same as Schleich with the exception of the Rhino's neck having been slightly extended and turned to the left.  I think the Schleich models have been moulded and enlarged somehow.

Is this illegitimate copying or has Schleich given permission for their animals to be copied? The models are cute.....now if they copied the Kudu then I would have bought it instantly!  See images below:

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Wow, first jewel cases, now candle holders? Im really curious, if this is legal :) Great find!

Wow, interesting! Congrats on this find.

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AlienMantis wrote:

Wow, first jewel cases, now candle holders? Im really curious, if this is legal :) Great find!

I doubt it's legal, but obviously difficult to avoid for bigger companies. Copying like this is never ok, I guess  

Great discovery though

That is very interesting! We don't know if Schleich gave permission to copy their figures or if they're just copied. What I know is that they are inspired in Schleich like you're pointing. Sometimes I think people see Schleich copies everywhere but here there is no doubts. :)

schleich61 wrote:

AlienMantis wrote:

Wow, first jewel cases, now candle holders? Im really curious, if this is legal :) Great find!

What's next - piggy banks?!  

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INTERESTING