CollectA 2013 Thoroughbred Mare Deluxe - Walkaround&Review

Hey all, another CollectA Deluxe Horse walkaround

Sculpted by Deborah McDermott.

This time their Thoroughbred Mare from 2013 - Bay colour variant. This one was boxed when I received her. Very neat box and the model is well protected. (They are also sold loose with a tag around the leg).
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Got her out, and I must say, that I was not very impressed with her. The shading/airbrusing is a little too obvious, and she doesn't have any other shading than that. So quite a flat colour.
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Seeing her from the front she looks quite strange. If the leg out to one side is done for stability I do not know. It just looks like she got a squish on both sides of her withers/shoulders- also causing her to have the infamous extreme pearshape.
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I think her anatomy/conformation looks much more like a very young horse or even a foal, than a fully grown mare. Her head seems too big, her back is too short and the neck is too short too.
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She does have a really lovely face. But I've seen better detail and paintwork on the small scale CollectAs...
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The plastic quality is great - heavy and hard.
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The exaggerated pearshape. Really a shame, and I still wonder if this is a molding issue or actually Deborah who makes them like this on purpose, as I've experienced the small scale molds to have a lot less of this pearshape.
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And compared to the 2010 small scale Hanoverian. I think he has a much MUCH better anatomy and correctness and I wish he was deluxe instead...
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Out of the whole CollectA 1:12 Deluxe Horse range, I think the Thoroughbred Mare is the absolutely weakest/worst mold, both speaking anatomy, biomechanics, conformation (ABCs) and paintwork (according to pictures of the Chestnut version, that one doesn't seem to have more detail than the Bay). I think this model is a waste of a 'spot' in the deluxe line, and CollectA could have chosen something way more interesting, in my opinion. Their best horses are still among the small scales. Making this deluxe line I think deserves to be used to add the best molds, paintjobs and overall quality to the models inhabiting that product line.
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And a scalechart
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What do you think, am I too harsh on this model?

Interesting walk around Carola! I think the model has very nice head and neck! But indeed overall proportion and pose are IMHO not good. You are right: she is way too short, especially her back. And her pose looks very stiff, like she had a back pain
About the painting, it is just not very impressive factory painting but it's not very bad I think.
I think the packaging looks very good and it seems like great protection for this model

Beautieful pics of a nice horse :)

Thankyou again for a fine walkaround

I agree that this is not up to the usual standard of present CollectA horses .
Especially the very short neck and back bother me, - a long elegant neck and a well proportioned, strong back are the marks of a thoroughbred horse

But still, perhaps we are spoiled . If not for the strange "shades", it would be a lovely model

Wonderful pictures and review, thank you Carola!  

I agree on all points. There are lots of anatomical issues where this one falls short (for whatever reason: mold creation process, artist styling, etc). Although I still think she is quite lovely as a whole and I like the dynamic pose that was attempted. If she were the smaller scale I would buy her.

Ana wrote:

And her pose looks very stiff, like she had a back pain  

I think you are right! My standardbred mare has some pain issues from old racing injuries and it alters her gaits quite a bit. She looks very much like this when she runs around in the pasture. Perhaps that is why this one endears me? Maybe I will buy one after all.

Thank you all for your opinions on this one It is interesting to read both different and similar views.

Eek! I was considering buying one of these - glad I didn't. Once again a very nice idea but just not good execution. Thanks for the walkaround!

Night Elf wrote:

Ana wrote:

And her pose looks very stiff, like she had a back pain  

I think you are right! My standardbred mare has some pain issues from old racing injuries and it alters her gaits quite a bit. She looks very much like this when she runs around in the pasture. Perhaps that is why this one endears me? Maybe I will buy one after all.

Yes, if she reminds you of your own horse that surely is a good reason to buy this model! By the way I remember photos of your mare, she has two donkey friends, right? She's so lovely looking horse

Ha, so I made a diagnosis for a plastic horse Maybe I will become a plastic horse's vet

LeeAnn wrote:

Eek! I was considering buying one of these - glad I didn't. Once again a very nice idea but just not good execution. Thanks for the walkaround!

Indeed it is such a shame

Ana wrote:

Night Elf wrote:

Ana wrote:

And her pose looks very stiff, like she had a back pain  

I think you are right! My standardbred mare has some pain issues from old racing injuries and it alters her gaits quite a bit. She looks very much like this when she runs around in the pasture. Perhaps that is why this one endears me? Maybe I will buy one after all.

Yes, if she reminds you of your own horse that surely is a good reason to buy this model! By the way I remember photos of your mare, she has two donkey friends, right?  She's so lovely looking horse  

Ha, so I made a diagnosis for a plastic horse Maybe I will become a plastic horse's vet

I think we do sometimes need plastic horse vets ..

Thorougbred mares easily look like foals once these horses are very slim and tall. Also, that particular figure has a relatively small tail, with a longer and thicker tail it could look much more like a mature horse or sub-adulte. I understand your points about this figure and agree with most of them, though, I think the figure is very decent. Thoroughbreds are very hard to get correctly and you have the same feeling when judging other representations from other brands. If a TB figure looks like a "normal" horse, so it is not a TB but any other breed. The legs problem turn these figures somewhat unelegant, the company allows the sculptor making delicate legs than they compensate it spreading them. Hard to think in a more balanced option.

Roger wrote:

Thorougbred mares easily look like foals once these horses are very slim and tall. Also, that particular figure has a relatively small tail, with a longer and thicker tail it could look much more like a mature horse or sub-adulte. I understand your points about this figure and agree with most of them, though, I think the figure is very decent. Thoroughbreds are very hard to get correctly and you have the same feeling when judging other representations from other brands. If a TB figure looks like a "normal" horse, so it is not a TB but any other breed. The legs problem turn these figures somewhat unelegant, the company allows the sculptor making delicate legs than they compensate it spreading them. Hard to think in a more balanced option.

Thank you for your comment, Roger I'm happy that this model do have admirers. I do not hate her, she is just not according to the CollectA standard I know I know they can do better!

Well you got it all there. What a disappointment. She does not look particularly good eheh. I love the face thou - Deb certnainly knows how to make them look cute.
The newer ones are better so we won't be to hard for Deb right?

JonasV wrote:

Well you got it all there. What a disappointment. She does not look particularly good eheh. I love the face thou - Deb certnainly knows how to make them look cute.
The newer ones are better so we won't be to hard for Deb right?

Deborah's small scale models are still better than the deluxes - I am seriously wondering why!

Carola wrote:

JonasV wrote:

Well you got it all there. What a disappointment. She does not look particularly good eheh. I love the face thou - Deb certnainly knows how to make them look cute.
The newer ones are better so we won't be to hard for Deb right?

Deborah's small scale models are still better than the deluxes - I am seriously wondering why!

True! are you disappointed you bought this one?

JonasV wrote:

Carola wrote:

JonasV wrote:

Well you got it all there. What a disappointment. She does not look particularly good eheh. I love the face thou - Deb certnainly knows how to make them look cute.
The newer ones are better so we won't be to hard for Deb right?

Deborah's small scale models are still better than the deluxes - I am seriously wondering why!

True! are you disappointed you bought this one?

Yes, she dissapointed me - only because I have seen many great models from CollectA, and she didn't have the same standard. My dissapointment is all tied up to my expectations (as it always is ).