Advice on Collecting please

Hi!
I am new to collecting Schleich!
Just wondering if there is a database on rare schleich?
Any tips on how to start collecting would be greatly appreciated thank you.
I see so many places that say 'Rare' but then have read elsewhere that they are not.
How do you not get caught?
Thank you!

Welcome here:) Look in the toy animal wiki under the brand Schleich. But i also dont know what is rare and what not. The best way to find out is you look on ebay.de. Most of Schleich figurines you can find there, if not it is mostly rare i think :)

Thank you!
When collecting, do people just buy what they like the look of? Or do you try and buy everything you can?

Calamity wrote:

Thank you!
When collecting, do people just buy what they like the look of? Or do you try and buy everything you can?

What you want. So i am a specie collector and start with Veb Plaho in my childhood. Later as it was possible to bought Schleich i only bought this species that i dont had in my collection. It is all a question of money :) I think rareties you should buy if you have a chance or if the price is fine :)

Hi, Calamity , wellcome here !
I think that Andres gave you very good advice, - look for what you like best
At the "TAI" http://toyanimal.info//index.php?title=Schleich , we are some mebers of this forum, who try to make pictures and data of as many model animals as we possibly can, but there are many sites with Schleich.

About models being rare, - on auctions lots of people call a model "rare" as soon as it is not being made any more, even if there are thousands for sale
The best indication of rarity is if it was only produced for one or two years.
But then Schleich has recently begun re-launching models, both in their standard range, and as so-called "Exclusives", so be careful.

After collecting/researching for some time, this confusing picture will gradually become more and more clear for you.
That is part of the fun

Calamity wrote:

Thank you!
When collecting, do people just buy what they like the look of? Or do you try and buy everything you can?

I don't collect Schleich, so can't answer specifically, but can give a few general points:

1) As no one can collect everything, they usually have some self imposed limits on the scope of their collection, and these limits will be a bit different for each person, although there are popular ways of collecting. It might be everything made by favourite brands, or it might be by one or more species (if animals), such as horses or a bit broader, such as all farm/domestic animals.

2) As already said, you will soon learn here and from other collector sites which Schleich items are rarer, but I doubt any are really mega rare, being a modern brand. I only collect vintage brands, and many of those figures turn up frequently, even items last made before 1940! Of course there are some rare and expensive vintage/antique figures, as you'd expect from small toy animals made 75+ years ago, but even if expensive, they turn up relatively regularly. I say this just to put a bit of perspective on so called 'rare' figures made less than 10 years ago.

3) I have quite a broad collection, and although there are a few series I am somewhat obsessed about to the extent of spending perhaps too much on when they appear for sale, in most cases I only buy if rather cheaper then usual prices. Simply a case of scrolling through the lots ending today on eBay, putting several on my watch list, and then deciding which to actually bid on. Similarly in 'real life' at an antique fair or flea market, I walk round twice, first time just buying any of my top priority or real bargain price items, and second walk round (if I have any cash left! ) to go back to the best of the stalls where I saw items which I'd quite like and were a reasonable (but not mega bargain) price.

4) When starting a collection, which can include starting a new 'section' to a generally long established collection, you can usually find some relatively cheap large mixed lots to get going. This might apply to you if you decide to start collecting another brand other than Schleich. Despite collecting since I was a small kid, almost 60 years now, this situation has applied to me over the last couple of years, as I've now added some European vintage brands to my collection, Reisler (Denmark) and Starlux (France). I'm only just now beginning to think about specific items in the farm ranges of both these brands, and have no intention of spending a lot on single items of either, as there are still a lot of common items I still don't have - but if I get a chance of buying that nice Reisler horse drawn farm wagon at a halfway sane price.....

Thank you sooo much for all the information!
And such quick responses! This forum is great!!

I have a couple of figures that dont have a year date on them....
Is this good or bad?

I'm sure that by joining this forum you'll learn a lot quicker than you would otherwise about Schleich figures you're starting to collect now, and other ranges you might add in the near future.

This obviously includes learning what are really rare items, and when you are REALLY in a 'once in a lifetime' buying situation. I'm sure we all think back to times when we didn't buy something, and really should have, or by contrast, times when we did buy something, and now wish we hadn't, because it doesn't seem so good now, or have seen many better condition examples, and cheaper, since then. However by learning as much as you can as quickly as possible you will hopefully reduce the number of times this happens to you.

Calamity wrote:

...
I have a couple of figures that dont have a year date on them....
Is this good or bad?

The older models ( also the first ones of those that were made for many years) did not have a year on them, so it is probably a very good thing

Ohh goodie!
I need a 'Like" button I think!
Thank you all!
Can't wait to learn

i collect figures that i like and i dont base my collecting on rarity. collect figures you find pleasing to you, not because they are "rare".

the Toy Animal Wiki and Schleich.animobil.info are good guides on Schleich figures, tho i dont think they are complete.

are there other Scleich guides out there?

http://www.valinor.nl/schleich/index.html
Valinor, also a member here, has a really good site on almost (if not all) Schleich figures.

And for collecting, it is just a matter of taste
Look around and discover what you like and which figures you like.
Schleich (like a lot of other brands too) has different 'sections', Pets, Horses, African wild life, Sea life, etc. Maybe you like the pets more than sea life, so you can collect pets instead of sea life...

For me it is all about the figure, and what I like about it.
I can like a dog from one brand, but dislike a dog from an other
I recently discovered the Japanese brands and I love them, but I also have a great Border Collie collection :)

As I always say with model horses - "buy what you love, not what you think will win ribbons."

In terms of the major brands, buy what models you like, not what everyone else likes or that is "rare" or desirable. If you like Bullyland horses then buy the Bullyland horses. Who cares if they're not popular or desirable? If you like top-dollar Connoisseur Breyer models, buy them (well you're going to need a lot of cash for that but still save up and buy them if you want them). I'll admit I've spent very large amounts of money on just one model horse. Because I like it and I wanted it. No other reason. If it wins ribbons or NAN cards, that's an added bonus for me!

Another site you might want to look at is tiewe.de. It's also Schleich only but a great resource.

I have noticed that a lot of people put the number of the toy when advertising.
How do you know what the individual number is for that animal?
Thank you!

If you want to know what is a really rare item, read THIS

Calamity wrote:

I have noticed that a lot of people put the number of the toy when advertising.
How do you know what the individual number is for that animal?
Thank you!

The Schleich section of the forum has a whole sub-section of past Schleich catalogues.

What I do (for the vintage brands I collect) is print out whichever ones I need and keep them in a folder, always kept nice and handy near my computer so I can look up and check things whenever something comes up, be it here, browsing on eBay, or whatever.

The websites linked above also have the number of the model listed.

Thank you.

I have noticed that a lot of people call there animals individual names....why??

I have also noticed that people keep the tags on them. The first thing I do is rip the tag off, lol.
I have kids so they like to play with them (probably all collectors worst nightmare? lol)

just buy them their own toys to play with and buy your own for keeping/display/collecting.

Calamity wrote:

Thank you. I have noticed that a lot of people call there animals individual names....why??

It just adds to the fun. Until you get too many models and you can't name them anymore If you want to name them, great! If not, that's great too!

Again I'll reference to the model horse hobby - if you live show then your horses all have to have names, like a real horse show. So all of my model horses have names (other than the release names) for purely that reason. My major brand models do not have names.

Calamity wrote:

I have also noticed that people keep the tags on them. The first thing I do is rip the tag off, lol.

I've seen mostly the people that keep the tags on are people that are not collectors, but that pick up the model and resell it - thinking it's worth a lot more without the tag. In reality, I haven't met many collectors that do keep the tags on. Many will keep the info booklets and such (like me), but toss the rest. The tag doesn't add any value (on the newer ones, the old Safaris with info booklets are slightly more valuable), and in fact can cause damage to the model over time - yellowing and leaving sticky residue. Tags block the view of other models as well.

Calamity wrote:

I have kids so they like to play with them (probably all collectors worst nightmare? lol)

Not really. They are essentially toys. There's no getting past that. They're toys so they're meant to play with!

LeeAnn... You are very wise

Thank you LeeAnn!
That all makes sense!
That is my way I thinking, they are toys, they should be played with :)
I wonder what the kids will name them now!? :)

You're welcome! Please share with us what names your kids give them.

Calamity wrote:

Thank you.

I have noticed that a lot of people call there animals individual names....why??

I have also noticed that people keep the tags on them. The first thing I do is rip the tag off, lol.
I have kids so they like to play with them (probably all collectors worst nightmare? lol)

On the other hand, some old Britains figures had tags, and they add considerable extra value to the few figures which have survived with them still present.

They came in two types:

1st in lead for exported figures, a 'made in England' tag in lead as part of the casting which kids normally snapped off, I think some time during the 1930s.
2nd was a cardboard tag (which could be removed and replaced - not destroyed by removing) clipped around the leg of plastic 'Swoppet' cowboys, Indians and knights in the early 1960s.

I do, of course, have no idea whether the tags on current brands still being present will add extra value to these figures in future.
I'm inclined to think they will, but only a minority of collectors will be that obsessed with 'condition' and 'original packaging' to pay a lot extra for them. Perhaps one of our members who collect sci-fi and fantasy toys from the '70s and '80s, where this is already the case, can give an insight/prediction?

Hello! If you are just collecting for fun( playing, being rough) Then go for it! For real collecting though, keep them safe( like babies) and dust them, try not to drop them, and be proud of your collection!