Schleich 2015 Spotted Hyena Crocuta crocuta (Schleich #14735)

(I posted this on the Animal Toy Forum, but thought I would share here as well)

So it's not much of a secret that I'm usually less than enthusiastic about what Schleich gets up to these days. Part of it relates to what I tend to collect (I can easily say I have every freshwater fish from them... ). It's also no real secret that I am very enthusiastic about hyena figures; it's even the logo animal for my online store (it's [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Yes, shameless plug. No, I don't carry Schleich; they aren't an easy company to deal with).

But it was a given that hyena>Schleich so as soon as the store in town had them, there I was. It does not disappoint.

Often I would give some background on the animal here--fossil history at least back to the Miocene; this species (Crocuta crocuta) has been around since at least the Pliocene in some form; the large subspecies Crocuta crocuta spelaea has been found in several Ice Age sites in Europe (so yes, throw them into your Pleistocene dioramas); they are predominantly African now, but were once more widespread through to the Middle East region; they are usually regarded as scavengers but are far more successful as social hunters; they are tireless cursorial hunters, running for several sustained kilometers to keep up with prey; by biomass they are the most common large carnivore on the African continent; they are also known as 'laughing hyenas' due to their loud, laugh-like sounds because they always get the joke and apparently humor is how they communicate over long distances; in short they rule.

Okay. So I did it anyway. In short form. But most of that is kind of well-known.

This is the fifth incarnation of hyena from Schleich (say whaaaatttt? some of you will say) and it is by far their best. It captures the heavy, powerful nature of these dog-like but cat-related predators and manages what is probably the best spotted hyena paint job yet (even more so than my other favorites, the Mojo and the Safari. I will not speak of the Papo cartoon). The colours run a very well-blended gamut of browns, tans and yellows with of course dark blotches and spots and excellent detail around the face--complete with bright, shiny black eyes that, on a real one close up, would be a terrible thing to see that clearly (I like them, but I'm not crazy).

It's also their largest hyena figure, 8.5cm along from nose-tip to base of tail, 3.5cm tall at the hip and just about 5cm at the shoulder. Scale is hard to determine because of the range seen in the species (70 -91.5cm at the shoulder) so anywhere from about 1:14 to 1:18, 1:20 if you want a female, I suppose, because they're bigger. And in this figure's case, it might be female--it's ambiguous, because of the weird genitalia of spotted hyenas. I'm not taking that photo. Get your own.

Well that's all well and good. Pictures?
Of course:

Standard right-side profile:
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This view gives a really good sense of the animal's proportions. Heavy, large rear haunches, longer, thinner front limbs, and a thick, strong neck.

Right profile, somewhat raised:
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Mostly the same image, although the colours are clearer in this one. The ventral darkening is more obvious (a little exaggerated by the flash).

Front view, raised up a bit:
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A more head-on view. Show the broad head and big ears. Kind of a view you’d see if one walked up to you.

Front view, head-on (two photos):
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A view into the mouth of the beast. The next thing you'd see after it walked up to you? Hopefully not. It's funny just how black the eyes went, although it's pretty true to the figure, except they are very shiny. From this angle, you can see the detailed sculpting of the lower canines. But picky me--the incisors are not separated (should be 3 per quadrant for 6 top and bottom).  The molars and premolars are sculpted as 4 in each quadrant, but are not well-differentiated, especially the massive carnassials (mammal tooth nerd!). There should be a 'fifth' in the uppers anyway. I'd be more forgiving if they hadn't proven that it could easily be done on the short-lived gladiator figure (the numbers are wrong, the incisors are non-existent, but the cusps of the carnassials are clearly visible).

Oblique front left-side view:
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Another great way to see the power sculpted into the neck and shoulders. The slope of the back is also really clear here.

Profile, left side:
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So now the hyena is just ignoring us, or saw something more interesting over there. But the colours actually turned out pretty well here, showing the blends among the browns, yellows and tans, with the darker highlights in the mane and legs.

Back/rear view:
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Another good way to see the paint job on this figure, as it has apparently become entirely bored with us and is walking away.

Right rear oblique view:
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It's coming back! And now the big canines are clearer. It's funny, but at this angle the bend in the next isn't as obvious. It looks almost short.

And why did it come back?

Family photo!

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At the back , from left to right

1 - The current spotted hyena
2 - The first-version REPAINT from 2005 (Art#14347)
3 - The ORIGINAL version from 1997-1999 (Art#14139--and no, I'm not letting that go)
4 -The short-lived  Gladiator hyena with spiked collar from Fall 2013 and retired within two months (Art#70079--available online for only $69.95--please don't do that).

2 & 3 were probably the first widely available, decent hyena models (I have a Bully of similar age, and a couple of AAA, but they aren't quite the same). But the influence of a certain African-themed animated film from a certain mouse-inspired company is pretty clear, especially given what we have now.

And finally, up front, the only Brown hyena made by anybody--a minitiere from 1965-1996 (obviously, mine is from closer to 1996), Art#10059. It's not labelled as a brown, of course--but the mane and proportions preclude a spotted, and it has some brown paint on the mane, so I'm sticking with that.

So now go get your hyena. Make Schleich feel like making other hyena species.

But I was wrong about why this guy was distracted. A friend came home from the store with him (it was a free gift):

I have named him Jimmy. I don't know if he has an official name or not, but that's what I will call him. The stick is 3cm in a straight line tip to tip, if you'd like a scale.

He and the hyena are friends. Look how the hyena is coming to see Jimmy!
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Get the stick hyena! Jimmy will play with you!
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Grrr! Tug of war with a 150lb hyena is a good idea! Jimmy is smart!
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Oops. Jimmy fell--I guess an 65lb kid isn't quite strong enough for this game (my 60 lb dog once dragged my 35 lb daughter down our driveway--it's only funny now because she's okay and because she doesn't know I'm writing this).
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Look, hyena senses Jimmy's weakness and is very likely going to make sure he's okay. I'll stop here because I'm sure everything will be fine.
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If only because Jimmy will almost need to show up elsewhere. His sizing is hilariously about right for all manner of figures. ;D

And a quick dental comparison of the Gladiator & current model:

Gladiator hyena:
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2015 hyena:
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I didn't get the incisors in there. They are almost non-existent in the gladiator model. Maybe he got bit too many times? Might explain the angry mohawk hair.

A very nice hyena, thanks for the pics :)

Very interesting post, thanks for taking time to make it

Jimmy is a very brave boy

Thankyou, Bell, for this informative and funny series of photos

No problem. It's fun, and I should do it more often. It just takes a while.

And it is kind of a special event--a decent (in my opinion) hyena from Schleich. Now, if they'd just do a proper Brown or Aardwolf that would be great.

Thanks for the walkaround! Quite honestly the gladiator hyena is still my favorite, even with the chain.

LeeAnn wrote:

Thanks for the walkaround! Quite honestly the gladiator hyena is still my favorite, even with the chain.

I agree.. Schleich guy has those demonic eyes

In my opinion the Gladiator Hyena is by far the best regarding sculpt!
But the new one is nicer with paint and texturing, I think.

Thank you for sharing great photos and comparisons

sbell wrote:

Scale is hard to determine because of the range seen in the species (70 -91.5cm at the shoulder) so anywhere from about 1:14 to 1:18, 1:20 if you want a female, I suppose, because they're bigger. And in this figure's case, it might be female--it's ambiguous, because of the weird genitalia of spotted hyenas. I'm not taking that photo. Get your own.

Oh, I can tell you it's a female alright. Without taking pictures.
*Puts Madonna CD in beatbox and starts singing:*

"Papa don't preach, I'm in trouble deep
Papa don't preach, I've been losing sleep
But I made up my mind, I'm keeping my baby, oh
I'm gonna keep my baby, mmm"

Well, yes, it's likely female. But the sculptor left some ambiguity.

OK Simmone!

sbell, I am very glad that STS community also deserves these great walk arounds from you! It is very well presented and your description is very "transversal" as it is our community! I mean, it is adjusted to several different tastes and ways of collecting.
I find it very interesting and after reading your appreciations, I am tempted to buy it. I am also more enthusiast about the Bayala version but, as I am not able of removing that colar, I'll think about the regular Schleich one.
Teeth layout, toes, are always very important as you know, it is important when companies care with these details. I personally give more importance to it than to painting although the ideal is that everything is nice. I don't like crocodiles with wrong number of toes even when the painting is excellent. Teeth and toes are still used to determine fossile species, taxonomically, feeding habits, etc. I hope we'll see more of your walk arounds .

Thanks Roger. I honestly don't do a lot overall--but this was a hyena, it's something I'm going to do. And once I figured out that I can just copy and paste between the two forums, it's that much easier.

I do agree that, in some respects, more care went into the gladiator hyena--but I also know that the figure was discontinued (along with the entire world heroes line) within about 2 months. It was released in October that year, I bought mine online in November, and by early December they were listed as retired on the Schleich website. Which is crazy! It meant that most retailers never even had any in. My daughter was just glad to get her war elephant before they went away as well!

It is too bad that the collar, etc don't come off. Perhaps someday they will do another run--I notice that Schleich is getting more into accessories and scenery pieces, but I'm guessing weapons and war gear will be low on the list!

And, I studied fossil rodents--entirely from teeth--so I know how important those little features are. It's too bad that the designers of these figures don't always recognize this.

Very nice post! really enjoyed it a lot.

I like both the Gladiator Hyena and the new 2015. (I have both.) I think I prefer the 2015 model. I'm really happy with it.

Thank you very much for this excellent topic, I enjoyed it a lot. I still have a preference for the Mojo one , despite a lesser painting's job, because of something odd for me in the head of the new Schleich. I really can't explain, I had the same feeling with the Schleich wolverine... Maybe you can help ?

By the way, there is no shame to tell us the path of an excellent shop like Fauna figures. It is one more useful link for collectors And I like the way you are showing your models!

Thanks Christophe.

I think, looking at them now, it might be that there is little definition between the head and neck--the cheeks and jowls kind of blend straight into the neck; on the Mojo and Safari (and even the other Schleich hyenas) the head, and especially the heavy jowls, are distinct from the neck. It could just be the pose of this figure, with the skin folding into the jaw, giving a straight-line appearance, but I wouldn't know if that was intentional.

And I'm glad the store plug is okay! I try not to do it often though!

sbell wrote:

Thanks Christophe.

I think, looking at them now, it might be that there is little definition between the head and neck--the cheeks and jowls kind of blend straight into the neck; on the Mojo and Safari (and even the other Schleich hyenas) the head, and especially the heavy jowls, are distinct from the neck. It could just be the pose of this figure, with the skin folding into the jaw, giving a straight-line appearance, but I wouldn't know if that was intentional.

And I'm glad the store plug is okay! I try not to do it often though!

We know you're a collector and that you use our board mainly as a collector. So you can use the link of your hsop in your signature, no problem about that.

Thanks Roger, I will get that together eventually.

Schleich's models used to be more symmetrical. Now the faces are all crooked and strange.

wow! Thank you for the nice pictures!  I wasn't sure at first if I should add this one to my little hyena collection, but now I will!