2023 Horse Figure of the Year , CollectA 88978 Mustang Stallion Bay Pintoloosa

2023 Horse Figure of the Year , Final Poll!

Dear Friends,

I am excited to inform you that the final poll for the 2023 STS Horse Figure of the Year is now open! You have seven days to cast your vote, with the poll closing on March 2nd. Remember, you can vote for just one figure, but you can change your vote as long as the poll remains active.

The winner of this poll will join all other category winners on March 3rd in the grand final poll.

Your participation in this event is critical in ensuring its continued success for years to come.

Here are the 10 finalists:

To me it is somewhat surprising that a figure of Deluxe size and presented with an official photo is the clear leader of this poll. Not that I think it's wrong, just unexpected. What I did expect was more enthusiasm about the horses because although this is not a forum specifically dedicated to these animals, they have always had a special place in our community.

Last day to vote, the horse poll has 54 votes while the wildlife poll has 70, so I believe there's no reason not to participate even if it's not the theme of our collection.

So the 2023 Horse Figure of the Year is the CollectA 88978 Mustang Stallion Bay Pintoloosa

A beautiful horse!

If the dog category was expectable, this one is a complete surprise to me. I don't mean the horse is not good. The fact it is a Deluxe figure, a reused mold, and a very common breed could demove the voters from picking it up. I was expecting one of the WIA models to win or the Breyer Fjord instead. Horse collectors are much devoted to colors and this result is illustrative.
Here is the ranking:

1. Mustang Stallion (Deluxe), CollectA 19% [ 11 ]
2. Marwari Stallion, WIA 16% [ 9 ]
3. Frisian Horse, WIA 14% [ 8 ]
4. Norwegian Fjord, Breyer 11% [ 7 ]
5. Clydesdale Stallion, CollectA 11% [ 6 ]
5. Morgan Stallion, CollectA 11% [ 6 ]
7. Arabian Stallion Rearing, CollectA 9% [ 5 ]
8. Mustang Mare, CollectA 5% [ 3 ]
9. Arabian Foal, CollectA 4% [ 2 ]
10. Holsteiner Stallion, CollectA 0% [ 0 ]

It amuses me that I own every single horse model in this post, except one - and that's the one which won!

George wrote:

It amuses me that I own every single horse model in this post, except one - and that's the one which won!

Is it the size?

Yeah, I've always stuck to the standard size CollectAs - the 'deluxe' ones don't have improved paintwork, they're just bigger.
The promo photos like the one above, make them look better than they are in real collectors' pictures - in those you can see that the main body colour for each horse is bare plastic, with only fairly basic shading, and white markings added on. Less painting effort, in fact, than the recent standard releases with the coloured eyes!
I kind of feel they're not really value for money - for three times the price, I'd want them fully painted and given added detail, not just more plastic used in making them

I demonstrated my surprise about this winner, though, more plastic was not a factor I considered.