It was only recently that I decided to add the CollectA king cheetah to my collection.
Let's face it against the Schleich cheetah from 2016.
CollectA model was released in 2013, during what I call the 2nd wave of CollectA models when the brand wanted often to show something alternative to the market.
Cheetah was not an exception to that rule and the company presented us with a king cheetah. It is important to mention that king cheetahs are not a different species or subspecies of
Acinonyx jubatus but just a rare color mutation of a cheetah.
Schleich model was released in 2016, we can tell it is a 3rd generation cheetah and again a female. The first rendition was made in 1998, while the 2nd generation was launched in 2010. There's a Bayala figure also.
Starting with their faces, we notice immediately the different way the eyes are designed, hard to see with my flashy pictures but Schleich's interpretation is more appealing in my opinion.
However, Schleich's model has the lacrimal strips too wide appart and the nose is also too distant from the "sad" mouth. This combination gives a dog face to the model. CollectA is more accurate in this regard.
Another important difference are the ears. Schleich's model have them short and round as we see often on cheetahs while CollectA's model has relatively long and narrow ears. I can see on pictures they're not static but this shape of ears on CollectA's model does not seems too convincent for a cheetah.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Their poses are interesting. Especially the Schleich model that shows a dynamic pose from all angles. Clearly in contrast with the previous two generations that were in a boring standing pose with the head turned. The animal looks allert while moving with the tail up showing some tension.
On the other hand, CollectA's model is walking with the mouth slightly open what is a great detail. Once cheetahs do not roar, it is rare to see a cheetah figure with open mouth. Though, this one is not supposed to be roaring as it is obvious.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]King cheetahs are identified for having large blotchy spots and three dark strips extending from the neck to the base of the tail.
It is easy to see that CollectA respected these features. It is important to point that it is much easier to mass produce the painting of a regularly patterned cheetah than a king cheetah. So, that's another bonus to the CollectA model.
We can also notice their manes. As you know, cheetahs are born with very long manes in their backs. That's the reason why kits look so much different from their parents. Though, they reduce gradually with their age.
We can tell them that the CollectA figure may represent a younger animal once Schleich's figure shows a much less prominent mane. However, the 4th picture will tell us that other feature should be considered before.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Watching their ventral parts, we see their are whitish and unspotted. Perfectly correct for cheetahs.
Interesting is to notice that the CollectA model has its genitals represented and yes, it is a male! So, male cheetahs have more conspicuous manes than females and it explains the good option of CollectA representing it in that way.
Both models have pawpads painted and the semi-retractable claws (exclusive among felines) represented.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]I really recomend both models. I will give the cake to the Schleich cheetah, it is a particularly exciting model in my opinion though, CollectA's figure deserves also our atention and it is a king cheetah, good to recall.
Not a trophy, here a comparison picture of the Schleich cheetah with the CollectA Dama gazelle. I don't have a Thomson's gazelle with me at the moment, I am afraid Dama's are not so prepared to escape from the fastest animal on land.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]As the king cheetah seems less common among collectors, here is an extra picture with the current CollectA leopard.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]A little off topic but some natives thought king cheetahs were a cross between a leopard and a hyena.
When I see this model from this angle on picture below. I think how cool could be a CollectA spotted hyena in that same style.
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Thank you Rogério for this very interesting comparison revealing many details I haven't noticed! I have both of them and this one from Schleich and the first version of Papo (female 50 020) are the ones I prefer.
