Papo Impala: Problem with the sculpt?

Hi guys

What is wrong with one of the Impala's horns? The tip of one appears to be missing making it look like it is damaged. I bought it from a seller recently and sent it back twice thinking it was damaged but now I am beginning to feel that this is how it was made and the error occurred during the tooling stage (prototype to plastic injection).

Look at my photos, the tip of the left horn it missing so upon close up it looks strange. Can someone inspect their copies and let me know?

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That's a shame I don't have one so I can't offer help there, but I'm sure it wouldn't be a difficult fix with some superglue and baking soda if you had to

LeeAnn wrote:

That's a shame I don't have one so I can't offer help there, but I'm sure it wouldn't be a difficult fix with some superglue and baking soda if you had to

ha aaarrgh noooo i would want a perfect model with no damage but I would be interested to know if it is just a bad production batch or whether everyone with the same model has this...do share folks

On mine the horns have app the same length .
Something must have broken off yours

SUSANNE wrote:

On mine the horns have app the same length .
Something must have broken off yours

Hi Susanne

Could you post a picture so I can compare?

Hi Numaan,

Here are photos of mine via the link. I looked at them all and the impala's left sided horn does not have the point as much as the right.
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Shawn

You can se mine here [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Thanks Shawn and Susanne

I think the problem is that that one tip did not form correctly. It looks like the tip has been broken off and all Papo impala models have this. In my case one of the horns is just bent down a little so it looks short but the tip of mine is the same as yours and other photos I see online......strange! you would think they would spot this

Asymetry in Papo antelope horns seems to be common. Check [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

As a collector, these kinds of things bother us, me included (especially if it's a mistake from the brand as you've described). However, perfection is actually rare in the animal kingdom, whether it's due to asymmetry related to genetics, or accidents from fighting, but antelope horn and deer antlers etc. are fairly fragile if pressure is applied in the right way and place. Sparring often leads to damage if it gets into a serious dispute. But that is what makes individuals unique within a population.

Saarlooswolfhound wrote:

..... perfection is actually rare in the animal kingdom, whether it's due to asymmetry related to genetics, or accidents from fighting, .....

Exactly !!!

Mine has the same issue + serious problems with the front legs, they manifest a tendency to bend and end up becoming something similar to an x...of course, the figurine has problems standing. Bought it from MPV last autumn.

It is not a surprise that for a long time, antelope figures were quite rare in toy shape. These figures are really hard in terms of manufacturing and cause several problems during their manufacturing process. It is also common to see these delicate parts bending,deforming, breaking or presenting some sculpting problems. Thus, it was easier for most companies, just to prevent releasing them. They are not best sellers among kids, they are hard to manufacture, they have often difficulties to be aproved in children safety tests and as they show post-production problems, they also are not always good contributors to the quality level of the company.
It was such rare in old days that we admired for a long time the old Schleich oryx, a handsome figure but clearly with a thick tail, legs and especially thick horns for a gemsbok. These thick horns also contributed to a very wide head that made it look more like a domestic cow than like an antelope. Though, nobody complained of bent legs or horns. Later, we witnessed a little miracle with the Safari Arabian oryx, a figure with unbelievable slim horns. It was even at the time considered by a popular blog, the most popular non Schleich figure!
This Safari antelope shows already some tendency to bend horns and I doubt they are not easily breakable.
After the sable advent, in 2011, when Mojö, Safari and CollectA released sable antelopes simultaneously, and after it, mostly from Numaan's cooperation with CollectA, antelopes started to be more common, namely in CollectA's range. Most of them, have also a tendency to bend easily and often show balance problems.
Here is the point of this long dissertation. Those were the best problems I had during my collector life, the unusual species, the delicate legs, bold poses, magnificent horns, yes, they bend easily but they can also be fixed and they are the result of wonderful and ambitious sculpts. Who could think of having a hirola, a lesser kudu, a nyala,a waterbuck, a saiga, a shiru, etc., etc..
We see that with time, these challenging figures are done better and better by companies. Take the example of the newer version of the greater kudu from Schleich, a relatively delicate figure with a irreprochable manufacturing quality. Also CollectA is learning with some mistakes of the past and experiencing better solutions to their antelopes and horses. The Safari lesser kudu is also a very well finished work and I think we should keep supporting companies with these ambitious projects, obviously they learn when little flaws are pointed out but dramatism should be avoided once it could discourage them from keeping this philosophy. It is not a reprimend to anyone, I am just trying to prevent it from happening.