Rtas' main collection

V Mammals

H) Carnivorans

1) Feliforms

d) Felids

1. Small felids

Species : Eurasian lynx, puma, ocelot
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Figures on this picture (from left to right) :
- Schleich 14627 Lynx Female (2010-2014)
- Schleich 14628 Lynx Cub (2010-2014)
- Schleich 14164 Puma (2000-2004)
- Papo 50224 Ocelot (2017-2019)

Fun facts :
- I know I should replace my old lynx and puma but no newer rendition manages to convince me. I don't like the newer Schleich lynx and unlike most of you, I am not fully convinced by Papo's model, especially because of the face's paintjob. I am not convinced by Papo's puma neither (don't like its pose and prefer the old Schleich's eyes). I may be interested in Mojo's puma but I don't know what size it is. As a consequence, I keep these old lynx and puma which are not that bad in my opinion (my puma especially, is particularly well-painted I think).
- The lynx female and cub are two of the only second hand figures I ever bought and as a result, they are a bit damaged.
- I did not know Papo's ocelot existed before I saw it through the shop's window. It was during my lunch break and the shop was closed. I desperately wanted that ocelot (there were only two of them) and thought about it the whole afternoon at work. I felt relieved when I finally finished work and was able to go back to the shop.
- I have the puma from my childhood. I bought the lynx female and cub to an Ebay seller, it was one of my first (and only) Schleich online orders. I got the ocelot from this toy shop close to my job.
- I have seen pumas, Eurasian lynxes and ocelots in zoos.

Update :
- Papo 50189 Puma (2016-still in production) now replaces the old Schleich. For further information, please check the addition topics.
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The Papo lynx face paintjob is as incredibly perfect as the rest of the model. At least in the promo picture. Maybe you saw the real figure and is much worst?? Papo cougar is also perfect (they have two, one walking and one standing, I mean the walking one), the pose is the best one for all the cougars in the trade, unlike the weird-posed Safari cougar. Both Papo lynx and Mojo puma are in my future purchase list since long time ago. At the moment I only have the Iberian lynx (Mojo), as well as this same ocelot. The ocelot is one of the best Papo felines and is a shame that they retired, maybe for not being a much commercial toy. I've repainted eyes of mine, making round pupils instead vertical slits, and a bit of the face. I would like to repaint also the fur pattern, but this is too much work for a too little change, and is not as bad in the original paint.

I have all these figures in my collection except for the puma. My Eurasian lynx family is 5 strong, 2 pumas and the Papo ocelot

This Schleich puma is a good representative of what I use to say about these older Schleich. It has beautiful eyes and a good painting, besides that, we can't see almost anything of a puma on it. These short chubby legs and general proportions are not defintely my taste. It is a good looking model, very attractive and a valuable collectible but quite unrealistic. I am also not 100% satisfied with other puma figures, I have the Mojö Fun young lady and the Papo. Though, I find these superior to Schleich without any doubts, in my opinion, of course.
New Papo Eurasian lynx does not have a rival, both sculpt and painting are almost perfect and it will be hard to improve it. I've got mine as soon as I could to avoid power painted later versions. I have the pragmatic Mojö Iberian lynx, a model with very good proportions and decent painting in later versions. Still, both Safari bobcat and Canadian lynx. They are nicely sculpted but the painting do not give them justice.
I have also the ocelot, a unmissable model but I hope Papo introduces a caracal in its range soon.

To the joy of our French namesake friend!

I do desperately want a caracal by any brand that I can get hold of.

I would really enjoy to see the Mojo puma. I have really no idea what size it is and there are several versions with different paintjobs (as often with Mojo). But I guess it is not with you at the moment Roger, is it ?

I don't agree with you about the Papo lynx guys. The ones I saw had a totally blank stare and I could not resolve myself to buy it. I know you think that a "true and serious" animal collector should care about the sculpt first and do not pay so much attention to the eyes but it is actually important to me and in this respect, I think this is not such a good figure. I mean, unless you do have the perfectly painted Papo lynx which looks like the promo pic as we all know how much paintjob quality varies from a figure to another with Papo...

Here's the Papo figure from my collection

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No, I do not think it about serious collectors, I don't even know what it is.
I think also that everybody cares with how nicely eyes are painted, even a 3 years old child is the first thing that thries to notice when choosing a figure and makers know it.
What I think is that a penguin with beautiful zebra strips with nicely painted eys do not works as a nice zebra figure, on the other hand, a nicely sculpted figure of a zebra doesn't need the painting to be a great figure.
I am also only just giving my point of view and the reason of my personal choices, I am not in any moment trying to make you think your decisions are wrong. I think we agreed it more or less at the start and I think it gives a kind of constructive discussion to your topic. If you want, I can easily change my style of comments once in fact, I love all figures, I even have the same Schleich lynx as you and for a certain time I wished to have the Schleich puma. If I had more money and room, I'd surely was one of the really "serious" collectors we have on forum.
I don't have the Mojö puma with me and the pictures I uploaded on forum are lost. I see the Schleich puma is larger than I thought but I am 100% sure Mojö's is even larger, it is larger than Papo's that I have with me. Maybe around the size of a Schleich lioness, I guess.
It is also not close to Schleich old style, painting is not excellent and eyes are blue once it represents a subadulte.

Here is my lynx.

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Roger wrote:

What I think is that a penguin with beautiful zebra strips with nicely painted eys

Ah, do you mean this one
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Pardofelis wrote:

Roger wrote:

What I think is that a penguin with beautiful zebra strips with nicely painted eys

Ah, do you mean this one
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Exactly, I regret so much not getting this zebra when it was reasonably affordable. I feel there is something not very realistic on it but I love crazy ideas and this one is my favorite of all the 75th anniversary.

No Roger, you don't have to change your style of comments, you are giving your opinion, I appreciate it and I am also giving mine. On that matter we do not agree, and even if I have to admit your lynx is not the worst painted I have seen, I am still not convinced by the picture. It happens sometimes and it's not a problem

However, I think an amazing zebra sculpt can hardly be a great figure if it's not well painted. And I do think comparing, for example, a short-legged and chubby puma with a zebra-like striped penguin to point out the lack of accuracy and realism of the first one is a bit... exagerrated

I know it was not your intent to compare these two, I just want to show you that this example is not very relevant to demonstrate the superiority of sculpt over painting when accuracy and realism are concerned.

RtasVadumee wrote:

However, I think an amazing zebra sculpt can hardly be a great figure if it's not well painted. And I do think comparing, for example, a short-legged and chubby puma with a zebra-like striped penguin to point out the lack of accuracy and realism of the first one is a bit... exagerrated

I know it was not your intent to compare these two, I just want to show you that this example is not very relevant to demonstrate the superiority of sculpt over painting when accuracy and realism are concerned.

I agree, my example is exagerated but I have fun with it.
Though, let's try something. Pumas are good to this exercise. Let's suppose Schleich puma was painted like an orange tabby cat. Do you think someone would guess it was a puma sculpt originally? Now let's try it with the Safari puma. Probably many people could not guess what it was originally but someone knowledgeable as you are, surely could see it is a puma even if painted like a tabby. . I am using the Safari as example not because it is my favorite but it is the most recognizable of all puma models, I guess. Obviously sculpt is not enough when we have to make a choice.
My pictures are never good to judge a figure, too much light on it and the flash put all with vibrant colors.
I have here with me Papo and Schleich female lynxes and I honestly find the Papo much nicer painted in all aspects. Maybe not the best Schleich sample too.

I can't blame Ben for been so skeptic with Papo, I'm maybe more than him. The lynx was OK though, better than any other around. Here is mine

(EDIT: I posted the pics smaller than I wanted by mistake, if you want to repost any of them bigger tell me)

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Kostas, your Papo lynx is the best I have seen.

Roger, depends which Safari puma you are talking about. This one actually looks like a lioness [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The other one however, is a good puma sculpt [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Bulkier and with a wider skull than the Papo version, I definitely prefer it. But again, I have no way to figure out what size it is

RtasVadumee wrote:

Kostas, your Papo lynx is the best I have seen.

When I go to the Papo store I always have my magnifying glass with me.. This was the best out of three. I couldn't find a puma without loopy eyes though, but I bought one anyway. It's one of my favorite animals and other than that, papo's a decent figure.

RtasVadumee wrote:

Kostas, your Papo lynx is the best I have seen.

Roger, depends which Safari puma you are talking about. This one actually looks like a lioness [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The other one however, is a good puma sculpt [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Bulkier and with a wider skull than the Papo version, I definitely prefer it. But again, I have no way to figure out what size it is

I was referring to the second figure you linked. It is their "standard" sized version and I don't have it but surely it is large for your taste.
The first figure is a jumbo sized one and it was a very bad idea from Safari once they reused the mould of a black jaguar, naturally it doesn't look like a cougar. They already replaced it for a Florida panther, much nicer but remember those are really huge!
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V Mammals

H) Carnivorans

1) Feliforms

d) Felids

2. Cheetahs

Species : Cheetah
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Figures on this picture (from left to right) :
- Schleich 14747 Cheetah Cub (2016-still in production)
- Schleich 14746 Cheetah Female (2016-still in production)
- Schleich 14327 Cheetah Kitten (2004-2016)
- Papo 50020 Cheetah (2004-2020)
- Schleich 14614 Cheetah Female (2010-2016)
- Papo 50018 Cheetah Cub (2006-2020)

Fun facts :
- The Papo adult and cub are sold together as a set but strangely enough, the adult is a male.
- It is quite funny to note that the Schleich 14327 cheetah kitten fits perfectly with Papo's male, much better than the Papo cub actually.
- I have seen cheetah cubs once and I think none of these figures look like a real one. All of them lack the typical silver crest on the back.
- I may add the CollectA "king" cheetah to this family one day but it is not my priority right now.
- I bought the 14746 female and its cub in my favourite Schleich shop. I bought the Papo male and its cub in my usual Papo shop. I found the 14614 female in a toy shop we went to after visiting a zoo with my grandmother. I bought the 14327 kitten to a collector of my region I met on a famous French second hand website.
- I have seen cheetahs in zoos.

Nice cheetahs

Wonderful cheetah family! :) I have the Schleich 14746, that is really a masterpiece and and example of how Schleich do very good with big cats. However, I've seen the Papo model in the house of a collector friend and it's absolutely nice. Probably the latter is the best cheetah of western brands, and I even tought slightly in substitute my Schleich one for it (I will don't).
In my opinion and juzging only by your photo, the best cub is the one in the right.

In my cheetah family I have all the same figures as you except for the Schleich retired cheetah cub. My family is made up of the Schleich 2016 which is my father (of the two babies), the Papo who is my adult female, the retired Schleich cheetah as my adult child to my Papo and the two cubs belong to the retired Schleich. I might buy the king cheetah by CollectA but I don't really need him. I'll ask my grandfather and see his opinion on it.

Your Papo cheetah has a totally different colour scheme to mine and mine has the original red eyes! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Papo cheetah was one of the figures that convinced me to start collecting. I knew before both Schleich cheetahs standing but they always seemed quite boring to me. Papo's is also standing but it is a majestic sculpt that shows standing and boring are not the same thing. Both are very commercial and non scientific companies. their cubs are not a result from lack of knowlege, it is important to these companies that cubs are clearly identifyiable with their projenitors. During 1990's, it was even very common to see figures of babies just as miniatures of their parents.
It also explains why puma babies are rare, they are very different from their corresponding adults, with blue eyes and spots but being so cute why only Bullyland made it?
I have Papo cheetah (old red-eyed), Schleich Bayala, Mojö Fun male and the newer Schleich cheetah that is a fantastic figure! I still have a king cheetah repainted by Anna Dobrowolska and I am in the same boat about the CollectA king cheetah. I like it but it was never on my priorities.

Pardofelis wrote:

Probably the latter is the best cheetah of western brands, and I even tought slightly in substitute my Schleich one for it (I will don't).

Are you talking about the running one : [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ?

I really don't like its too big head an eyes even though the pose is cool. I definitely prefer mine (the previous version).

And I don't understand why you are talking about "substituting" it, can't you have both ? They fit perfectly well together as male and female.

Advicot wrote:

the Papo who is my adult female

But... it does have balls !

Advicot wrote:

Your Papo cheetah has a totally different colour scheme to mine and mine has the original red eyes!

Yes, that's because I bought it as part of the set adult + cub while you probably got it separately.

My grandfather bought the cub and the parent as the set in Perpignan. This may seem really odd but it seems my cheetah doesn't have any parts that determines its sex, it seems I have a non-binary cheetah!

V Mammals

H) Carnivorans

1) Feliforms

d) Felids

3. Leopards

Species : African leopard
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Figures on this picture (from left to right) :
- Schleich 14399 Leopard cub (2009-2013)
- Schleich 14360 Leopard (2007-2016)

Fun facts :
- My collection is very, very, very poor as far as "spotted" leopards are concerned. Of course, I also have the two vintage Schleich models from 1995 and 2003 but this one from 2007 is the only one I can decently include in my main collection. It is everything Roger may dislike : it has short legs, a big head and a chubby body, but very nice eyes and facial expression.
- I am seriously considering buying CollectA's new African leopard as I consider it is the best model currently on the market and, unlike some of you, I actually like its eyes enough. I am just afraid of its size. I may also purchase CollectA's Amur leopard but again, I am not sure about how big it is.
- But one thing is for sure : I really dislike Schleich's most recent rendition. I know Pardo won't agree with me but I also know I have an ally in this debate, as Kostas (spacelab) also prefers the 2007 version over the 2016 one.
- I found both the female and the cub in toy shops during my figure hunts.
- I have seen leopards in zoos.

Update :
- Safari 100239 Clouded Leopard (2019-still in production) was added to the collection. For further information, please check the addition topics.
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