Schleich Tiger subspecies ?

Hi everyone,

I was wondering what is the last Schleich Tiger subspecies : [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

To me, it looks like a sumatran tiger but I am not sure.

Hi

It was recently reviewed on the Animal Toy Blog as a Siberian tiger: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

However, I am not sure what criteria the author used to determine that. That author is pretty thorough, so I assume it was marketed as such!

It is not the same tiger.

The one reviewed you just posted is from Collecta. I am talking about the Schleich one from 2015.

I am planning to get both but I would like to have two different subspecies if possible

RtasVadumee wrote:

It is not the same tiger.

The one reviewed you just posted is from Collecta. I am talking about the Schleich one from 2015.

I am planning to get both but I would like to have two different subspecies if possible

hahahaha! wow, sorry about that. I saw the same year and biffed on the company! Too funny. Sorry about that. I thought they didn't look quite the same.

Being absolutely no expert, but "Sumatran tiger" sort of went through my mind too

However, I think Schleich just made "A tiger"

Well, If somebody needs it to be a Sumtran tiger, I suppose that will do fine

Very rarely will the quality of a figure denote a subspecies, so unless a company specifically specifies, it can probably be whatever subspecies you want

Ok, thanks.

I already have the old Schleich tiger family (here is the male : [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ) as well as the Papo roaring tiger ( [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ) that both clearly look like bengal tigers.

I would like to get the Collecta siberian tiger and the new schleich tiger that I will tag as sumatran tiger since it is more brownish/reddish and has larger and darker stripes.

Does it seems you coherent ?

Welcome here :)

RtasVadumee wrote:

Ok, thanks.

I already have the old Schleich tiger family (here is the male : [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ) as well as the Papo roaring tiger ( [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ) that both clearly look like bengal tigers.

I would like to get the Collecta siberian tiger and the new schleich tiger that I will tag as sumatran tiger since it is more brownish/reddish and has larger and darker stripes.

Does it seems you coherent ?

variation in thickness of stripes or how dark one part is over the other can vary from person to person (painter), factory to factory, based on QC standards. The good news is, that it is your collection, and if you feel it looks most like a Sumatran, you can call it that for your collection. Just note, the figure you buy may or may not look like others posted online or in promo pics!

I think people over-analyze factory-intrinsic features on a figure and try to attribute it to the company/artist targeting a specific taxon. This is particularly challenging when assigning subspecies to mammals, many of which are artificial constructs that might not have validity in nature (do we really need 45 subspecies of re fox?!?!?!?!)

widukind wrote:

Welcome here :)

Thanks, I didn't introduce myself. I am Ben from France and I have quite a large animal figure collection.

I do not count my figures but I think they are over 500, from Schleich, Collecta and Papo.

I collect wild animals only (but a mallard duck is "wild" for me, and an ankole-watusi is exotic enough to have a place in my collection ) both terrestrial and marine.

I started with Schleich when I was a child, then stopped, and started again two or three years ago.

Most of my figures were bought in shops since I find it more fun than ordering online. Since Schleich retired most of its figures and I stopped collecting for a long time, I had a lot of fun travelling around in order to find rare figures in old toy shops.

However, I have to import my Collecta figures from England since this brand is not available in France.

I particularly like Schleich figures from 2007-2015 and like most of you, I think the new ones are getting too cartoonish. Collecta is probably my greatest discovery : I think this brand has the most amazingly realistic figures. Although this is the French brand, I am not very fond of Papo. The scupt is often very good but the painting is often quite poor. However Papo still have many very good figures.

I am planning to get some Mojo ones in the future but they are very difficult to find in Europe, even on the internet. I think I will need your help to figure out the size of these figures compared to Schleich, Papo and Collecta ones.

I have read this forum for quite a long time and since you seem really nice, I have decided to join you

My favorite figure is probably the Schleich drinking giraffe : [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

bmathison1972 wrote:

RtasVadumee wrote:

Ok, thanks.

I already have the old Schleich tiger family (here is the male : [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ) as well as the Papo roaring tiger ( [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ) that both clearly look like bengal tigers.

I would like to get the Collecta siberian tiger and the new schleich tiger that I will tag as sumatran tiger since it is more brownish/reddish and has larger and darker stripes.

Does it seems you coherent ?

variation in thickness of stripes or how dark one part is over the other can vary from person to person (painter), factory to factory, based on QC standards. The good news is, that it is your collection, and if you feel it looks most like a Sumatran, you can call it that for your collection. Just note, the figure you buy may or may not look like others posted online or in promo pics!

I think people over-analyze factory-intrinsic features on a figure and try to attribute it to the company/artist targeting a specific taxon. This is particularly challenging when assigning subspecies to mammals, many of which are artificial constructs that might not have validity in nature (do we really need 45 subspecies of re fox?!?!?!?!)

Yes I know that figures can be quite different in real than in promo pics ! But I have seen this tiger many times in shops and I know how it looks like in real. I know I can call whatever I want a sumatran tiger, but I wanted to have some tiger experts' point of view

I think this one will make a good sumatran tiger for my collection because it is way more reddish than those I already have.

Hi RtasVadumee and welcome here :)

This is a very nice tiger model by Schleich , probably the best one from them ... at least for me.
And like Susanne , I also think, that maybe Schleich company call it just a "A tiger" too :)
But I also think, that maybe the sculptor tried to present a Siberian or Sumatran tiger .
And you are right also about the color, and these larger, and darker stripes, which can go for a
Sumatran tiger .

Now, I have a topic for you , which maybe can help you to choose how to call this model
Please, check [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Thanks costicuba, I know this topic, the result is indeed quite amazing (I am not a big fan of this model's red eyes and the repainting fixed that).

But since it was necessary to repaint the figure in order to make it look like a Sumatran tiger, I guess it didn't look like a sumatran initially (?)

I also love your custom snow leopard from Papo. I bought the new 2020 snow leopard from Schleich but I am now regretting it since I prefer my old Papo one.

Welcome on forum and thanks for your presentation. I hope you really enjoy here and your collecting story is very interesting.
Kosta is probably one of the best persons to help you about this subject once as a very talented painter, he studied carefully the typical color and pattern features of each subspecies.
However, I have also my opinion here and risking to disapoint you, I think it is much probably a regular Bengal tiger. It has a vibrant orange what means it is ulikely a Siberian tiger, though, we can see that inner parts, mostly inner legs, are light colored with very faded strips. Sumatran show a heavier striping pattern in these parts too. There aren't double strips as far as I can see and the "degradation" we see at the end of the Sumatran tiger strips, are not so obvious in this figure. I also do not think they are wide enough, mainly on rump or hind quarters area to match a typical Sumatran.
Whenever a company to not mentions the subspecies, it is likely a Bengal tiger once it is the most common and also the subspecies where white variants, very popular among toy makers, ocur.
Obviously you can use it as a Sumatran, there is no evidence that it is not, just our personal guesses.
It is also my favorite Schleich tiger of ever and with good difference from the previous versions but ironically, my only Schleich tiger is the sitting one.

Roger wrote:

Welcome on forum and thanks for your presentation. I hope you really enjoy here and your collecting story is very interesting.
Kosta is probably one of the best persons to help you about this subject once as a very talented painter, he studied carefully the typical color and pattern features of each subspecies.
However, I have also my opinion here and risking to disapoint you, I think it is much probably a regular Bengal tiger. It has a vibrant orange what means it is ulikely a Siberian tiger, though, we can see that inner parts, mostly inner legs, are light colored with very faded strips. Sumatran show a heavier striping pattern in these parts too. There aren't double strips as far as I can see and the "degradation" we see at the end of the Sumatran tiger strips, are not so obvious in this figure. I also do not think they are wide enough, mainly on rump or hind quarters area to match a typical Sumatran.
Whenever a company to not mentions the subspecies, it is likely a Bengal tiger once it is the most common and also the subspecies where white variants, very popular among toy makers, ocur.
Obviously you can use it as a Sumatran, there is no evidence that it is not, just our personal guesses.
It is also my favorite Schleich tiger of ever and with good difference from the previous versions but ironically, my only Schleich tiger is the sitting one.

Thank you, this is exactly the kind of very detailled comments I was expecting while creating this topic !

You make a point with stripes on inner legs, I have just looked at some pictures of real Sumatran tigers and you are right.

I think I am gonna get it anyway, even if it's a Bengal tiger and I have already plenty of them, because I am lacking new figures to buy in my favorite shops and this one is pretty nice. I did not buy it before because it does not go as well as the previous Schleich models with my Papo roaring tiger which remains my favorite (I have the 2008 Schleich tiger [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] fighting the 2015 Papo roaring tiger [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] , they are really well matched )

The sitting one ? Are you talking about this one [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ? I also have it from my childhood and it is now in my "vintage" collection (separated from the main one). It is so deliciously old-fashioned !

I am glad my comment was useful! Though, I recomend you to get the new Schleich tiger, it is unmissable for a tiger lover as you are. I also have to get the Papo roaring tiger at some point, it is really a phenomenal figure. I have from Papo the regular walking one, the tigress with cub, the lying tigress nursing and I shouldn't need more. I also love the new CollectA but sometimes it is hard to get everything we like. I have a few vintage ones too.
Yes, that's the Schleich sitting tiger, I am glad you preserved yours. Actually, mine has a huge meaning to me and it belonged to the childhood of a previous member of this forum that wanted me to take care of it.

Hi there,

I just found a 2015 Schleich tiger with strong markings on inner legs and very dark orange coat in my favourite toy shop.

I did not buy it because I was upset by the tail which suddenly becomes white but it seems it's normal.

I think I will go back to the shop tomorrow and take it with its cub

I bought the 2015 Schleich tiger and tried to choose a darker one with a lot of strips.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I still think it can easily look like a Sumatran, considering pictures of typical specimens of both subspecies from Wikipedia :

Sumatran tiger : [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Bengal tiger : [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

My three male tigers together :
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

That is surely a Schleich tiger that the company painted for you.
When comparing it with the other two, it is by far the one most similar to a Sumatran tiger. Your figure has strips particularly wide and dense and it is heavily striped. Quite similar with the picture of the Wikipedia. Lucky choice! The most different thing is the tail, it is white in Schleich model but the rest is surprisingly similar!

Roger wrote:

That is surely a Schleich tiger that the company painted for you.
When comparing it with the other two, it is by far the one most similar to a Sumatran tiger. Your figure has strips particularly wide and dense and it is heavily striped. Quite similar with the picture of the Wikipedia. Lucky choice! The most different thing is the tail, it is white in Schleich model but the rest is surprisingly similar!

Yes, the white tail upset me at first but then I watched pictures on the net and went to other shops and noted that all figures have this tail suddenly becoming white.

Now I have convinced the only reluctant one on this topic, I can go to bed and sleep in peace

Well, I hope you are already sleeping but when you are awake, please let us know where is made your tiger.

I don't know where my tiger is made, probably in some factory in China (I am unable to read the writtings on the figure) but I can tell you I bought it in a small book and board game shop where I buy most of my Schleich figures.

My Schleich tiger looks exactly the same and is made in China.

When I saw this tiger for the 1st time, I was convinced it was a siberian tiger in spite of its dark and numerous stripes because of its stocky look and rather long fur and was very surprised, later, to discover its name in the catalog! I bought it of course because it's the best from Schleich with the will to repaint it on "siberian way".. :)

Caracal wrote:

When I saw this tiger for the 1st time, I was convinced it was a siberian tiger in spite of its dark and numerous stripes because of its stocky look and rather long fur and was very surprised, later, to discover its name in the catalog! I bought it of course because it's the best from Schleich with the will to repaint it on "siberian way".. :)

Hi dear compatriot, this tiger's name in the French catalog is an overinterpretation. On the Schleich English website, it is only referenced as "tiger" and not "Bengal tiger" like in the French catalog.

You also have the CollectA Siberian tiger which is not bad as well : [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]