Another WIA horse : Erren (now with in-hand photos)

The first WIA model to be sculpted by Morgen Kilbourn, a stallion called Erren

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A very dramatic mould, an action pose with a lot of action in it. He fits well with the other plastic 1:18 WIA horses so far - despite being a different sculptor their art styles aren't vastly different, so you won't have any jarring contrast in finish.

Just one colour this time, rather than the usual choice of two, this is because he's being described as a portrait model. But from what I can gather in the translated text and a review of the book online, the horse features in an adventure story about a princess, so he's a fictional one, rather than portrait in the usual sense of 'copied from a real horse'. It's still possible they'll re-use the sculpt to release in another colour in future, but for now he's been allocated to this character. Luckily, he was written as a very nice colour, with some flashy markings too!

It is always a joy when I have some new from WIA: It is from a different sculptor, so I believe it will not be part of the same series as the previous models?
Fortunately it is 1/18 scale and it is not mandatory all horses are from the same sculptor to work nicely together.
I think first Deborah's sculpts for CollectA were equally dramatic.
Though, this one is dancing and singing at the same time, it's really great! I think it is not a problem to share a picture on forum.

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I was just admiring this model over on the 2022 horses topic, it really is such a stunning horse, so much movement to it! It look so powerful and muscular too, whoever sculpts these horses must have a very good knowledge of their anatomy!

I think as long as they're the same scale and material, WIA's plastic horses work together just fine and can be counted as 'all one thing' in our minds, when we're collecting or displaying or listing by brand, even if the MPV shop site files them as a different 'series' by sculptor.
That's more likely for clarity and so they can boast about what great well-known artists they're working with by emphasising the names, rather than actually splitting the brand into separate series and expecting us to think of them that way.
I mean, imagine how illogical and nonsensical it would be to file Schleich or Papo figures divided up by who sculpted them, we wouldn't go along with that even if one shop organised their site headings that way

The anatomy is great, you're right Bonnie, I think this is what makes WIA stand out among other toy brands. Along with CollectA and Mojo, they're using artists who really understand the anatomy and proportion and posing of horses, and what makes a model look right, rather than just employing people who can make a decent effort but with unrealistic proportions and inaccurate breed-types (Schleich and Papo), or people who claim to have seen a horse before once (those bad Made In China antelopecowdog creatures labelled 'horse' but not resembling any one species )

I think he looks quite similar to the CollectA Lusitano at first glance (this one), but that's probably the colour as much as the pose or conformation - if you compare the photos you can see that one's legs are a lot longer/slimmer and it's not so deep through the girth. The Erren sculpt is designed as a Criollo so we shouldn't be getting strong Iberian vibes from it - even though some of their ancestors were imported Spanish horses, the tough feral lifestyle and mixing in of draft and stock types means they're a lot more thick-set and coarse-looking than a Lusitano would ever be.

The mane is maybe the only thing that's make me think he looks a bit atypical for the breed, cos working and showring Criollos are usually clipped off short along the neckline, leaving just a tuft at each end, and their tails are cut choppy and square at the bottom - you don't usually see them with that much hair, where it's pretty standard to have luxuriant flowing manes and tails on Iberian breed sculpts.
Maybe an individual from one of the old feral herds, or kept free ranging for breeding and only rounded up occasionally, that's what he could be. Similarly I could see it working ok as a mustang, or any of the other US-based Spanish Colonial Horse breeds, if people wanted different breed allocations.

But really I'd love to see it in the manchado Criollo colour as the later alternate release!

...wait, does this mean I need to buy two and make it happen as a custom? Oh no, that's a lot of pattern to paint in

It is a wonderful new horse by WIA! Not sure if I need this one but it has character!!

It is ever so beautyful. Wonderful pose, and corgeous colour

What a cool horse! And nice to know that Morgen Kilburn sculpted it!

As soon as I noticed the Erren models switch from pre-order to available ready in stock, I placed my order, and today my parcel arrived. I thought adding the pictures here would be very handy for reference in the future, compared to losing them in the middle of my General Additions thread.

Erren came in very protective packaging - wrapped in a soft plastic bag, then fitted in a moulded box-style unit with a taped lid, which held his limbs supported in place, finished off with plenty of paper stuffing to stop them jiggling inside the card shipping box. With so much effort to protect them it's hard to see any way these could get damaged in transit, which is a good thing as the plastic is slightly more brittle than the play-resistant toy-type brands use - WIA models don't have the familiar rubbery feel of Schleich, Papo, CollectA, or Bullyland.

Let's have a look at him...

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In person, he looks just as good as expected - after nothing but excellent paintjobs, I've come to trust WIA to provide images which match well to the models in hand. I ordered two, so I could repaint the spare, and it was honestly difficult to decide which one to keep for my collection, neither had any flaws which spoilt the finish, and the paint application between the two was consistant on shading and
markings. They're identical twins, with none of the variation between individuals we'd expect in the more mass-produced models like Breyer or Schleich.

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The mould looks great from so many angles, it was only catching the limited evening sunshine in my garden which kept the photoshoot quite brief!

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Very happy with him - he fits in very nicely with my existing WIA horses despite being a different sculptor, and it's great to have another breed added to their range. Notably, the Modellpferdeversand website describes him as a 'first edition', which hints there will be other colours on the same sculpt in future - I look forward to seeing what they are!

Here's some plain-background photos for Toy Animal Wiki, whenever the editors have time to add him in

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A beautiful, very dynamic horse!! Stunning!!

Stunning model!!!

I got one too

Perhaps the WIA model I love most.
But they are very different, so perhaps it is nonsense to compare...

Spectacular horse! I really like the colours. What horse breed is it?

It is a Criollo horse

Roger from Portugal can tell you a lot about them .

George, what another fabulous horse from WIA. A different sculptor, the same dignity. I really love it and I will use your pictures on TAW as soon as possible.

SUSANNE wrote:

It is a Criollo horse

Roger from Portugal can tell you a lot about them .

I don't have much to say about Crioulos.
OK, it is a Portuguese word used for everything from a different continent with Iberian origin.
These horses derive from Spanish Andalusian and Barbs which were sent to Americas. There was some Garrano blood on them too. Then they moved to a feral condition in America in a story similar to Mustang horses.

Great! Thankyou, Roger

Roger wrote:

George, what another fabulous horse from WIA. A different sculptor, the same dignity. I really love it and I will use your pictures on TAW as soon as possible.

SUSANNE wrote:

It is a Criollo horse

Roger from Portugal can tell you a lot about them .

I don't have much to say about Crioulos.
OK, it is a Portuguese word used for everything from a different continent with Iberian origin.
These horses derive from Spanish Andalusian and Barbs which were sent to Americas. There was some Garrano blood on them too. Then they moved to a feral condition in America in a story similar to Mustang horses.

Thank you, very interesting.

I am in love !
What a beautiful model this is
George, thank you very much for these wonderful photos.