Rtas' main collection

Nice again

RtasVadumee wrote:

Thank you Bonnie, you're adorable, I should have a look at your collection topic too, I am doing it straightaway.

My collection definitely doesn't have the same quality of figures as yours, there is certainly more of a range
But there are mostly Schleich there as far as major brands go, I've only just discovered the others!

I like the Schleich wild boars, I think I have one of these from the previous generation. I am for a long time thinking about buying the Mojo model that is probably my favorite but I never did it. I also don’t recomend it for you once it is really big and it will look like a prehistoric beast in your collection.
Vietnamese pigs are interesting, they look like small hippos.

V Mammals

M) Even-toed ungulates

5) Pigs

c) Other suids

Species : Warthog, babirusa, red river hog
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Figures on this picture (from left to right) :
- Schleich 14613 Warthog Sow (2010-2014)
- Schleich 14612 Warthog Piglet (2010-2013)
- Schleich 14611 Warthog Boar (2010-2013)
- CollectA 88727 Sulawesi Babirusa (2015-still in production)
- CollectA 88554 Red River Hog (2012-still in production)

Fun facts :
- I know the Schleich warthogs are not very popular on this forum. Most collectors have the Papo rendition instead. I don't know why because I think these warthogs from 2010 are really great models with better proportions than the Papo figure which has a too big head.
- I don't think the upcoming new warthog from 2021 is gonna be any better than these ones. However, I will obviously buy it if it is the same size as those I already have.
- It is very surprising that Schleich decided to release a male and a female since there is no sexual dimorphism and the two figures are almost the same. However, that's what I enjoy as a "families/groups collector" and I whish brands (especially CollectA) released more female animals even when there is no striking sexual dimorphism.
- The warthog piglet is actually the only Schleich baby to be less cute than a real one !
- We often talk about CollectA antelopes but this red river hog is also one of their absolute masterpieces, undoubtedly one of my favourite models from that brand. Sculpt (especially the hears), paintjob, pose, I love everything about it.
- The red river hog was selected by my father to be part of my first CollectA bunch of figures. Indeed, my parents had planned to surprise me by giving me my first CollectA figures as a gift when I was only collecting Schleich but they finally gave up on the idea because they were afraid it would not be the same scale. I think they showed a really good taste by selecting the red river hog.
- As Pardo already said, one cannot go without a babirusa in his/her collection. However, I may regret my CollectA choice a little as I think the Safari rendition may be more accurate. The skin colour of the Safari figure looks truer to the (only two) babirusas I have seen in my life.
- I found the warthog family during my figure hunts, the male was part of the Umitok set from Bayala. I ordered the two other pigs on Ebay.
- I have seen each of these three species in only one zoo : the warthog in London zoo, the red river hog in Beale park, a small zoo in Berkshire, and the babirusa in Champrepus, a small zoo in Normandy whose babirusas were the only interesting species. Now, the Champrepus' babirusas have moved to the big Norman zoo, CERZA, that one where you can also see black wildebeest and Congo buffaloes, definitely a place to go sooner or later.

Update : Were added to the collection
- Schleich 14843 Warthog (2021-still in production)
- Safari 180629 Peccary (2014-still in production)
For further information, please check the addition topics.
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Wonderful again!
I love Beale Park, I always went there when I was younger and is still one of my all time favourite places!

Bonnie wrote:

Wonderful again!
I love Beale Park, I always went there when I was younger and is still one of my all time favourite places!

So you live in Berkshire ? Reading maybe ?

I like very much all these pigs, the Schleich warthog is my favourite too. Also I definitely prefer the Collecta babirusa, actually there was a documentary about Indonesia's wild life the other day and they looked exactly like the Collecta model.
The Safari is very clean. :p

same choices! :)

I had a hard time deciding on a warthog. The Papo and 2020 Safari ones are nice, but big. I finally decided on the PNSO figure. The 2021 Schleich figure looks good, but not sure it's good enough to replace PNSO.

I also own the Schleich warthog, namely the boar and I defintely don’t have that idea that Papo’s model is favoured on forum. I think everyone likes these Schleich warthogs. They are very beautiful pieces and very well done. Maybe it is only missing the energy often typical of a warthog. Design is not very Schleichy but poses are boring as usual at that time. Safari’s retired model was surely not as good but the pose was much nicer. I have the CollectA babirusa, I also think it is slightly better than Safari’s but I think I like both models. Babirusas are so rare that someday I may get the Safari babi too.
Red river hog was one of these bombs CollectA presented to us, I also think it is an excellent model and a fantastic species. I still own the Safari peccary that is nicely sized.

Roger wrote:

I also own the Schleich warthog, namely the boar and I defintely don’t have that idea that Papo’s model is favoured on forum. I think everyone likes these Schleich warthogs. They are very beautiful pieces and very well done. Maybe it is only missing the energy often typical of a warthog. Design is not very Schleichy but poses are boring as usual at that time. Safari’s retired model was surely not as good but the pose was much nicer. I have the CollectA babirusa, I also think it is slightly better than Safari’s but I think I like both models. Babirusas are so rare that someday I may get the Safari babi too.
Red river hog was one of these bombs CollectA presented to us, I also think it is an excellent model and a fantastic species. I still own the Safari peccary that is nicely sized.

Oh yes, the Safari peccari !!! It will definitely be part of my first Safari order

Indeed, I may have mistaken the Papo and the PNSO...

Very nice pigs! I own also these, except the warthogs, I have the PNSO model instead, that I prefair very much. These Schleich ones are not bad, and the texture and paintjob is much better than in my model Faraji, but the tusks are horrible in my opinion and always deterred me from buying these models.
I'm not so sure about the red river hog being one of the masterpieces of this brand. For sure they're good in other than antelopes, but I think this is not the finest example. The pose of this hog seems strange to me, as if it was being too compact, and the thing that disappoint me more are the ears, with a strange-looking base and all the lenght fusionated with body. Of course the paintjob is also not fine, lacking the unmistakable white mask that these pigs have. But is a red river hog, and despite all this, is not bad one, so I bought it and repainted it.
I think CollectA babirusa is much more accurate than Safari one, overall regarding thickness of the legs in proportion to the body. Certainly, the CollectA one is too shiny, but by other hand Safari one is too pale. Babirusas are always much darker than that. For the tusks I prefair very much the CollectA one, too. However both are nice and same-sized, and can compliment each other. Both are overgrown for my tastes, but all my other pigs (except the PNSO warthog) are also a bit big, so the babirusa matches well.
Warthogs are not as common in zoos as one could thing for such an emblematic species, and babirusas are and always has been a rarity. However I'm surprised that you only saw red river hogs once, as it seems every major zoo have some.
I've seen babirusas at two zoos (Fuengirola and Berlin), warthogs at other two (Barcelona and Franklin Park) and red river hogs at 9 zoos (Fuengirola, Madrid, Berlin, Duisburg, Cologne, Wüppertal, Artis, Pairi Daiza and Franklin Park).

I would much like to see your repainted red river hog too !

Warthogs are not endangered species so maybe that's why there is little interest to keep them from a conservation point of view.

However, I went to zootierliste to check the zoos keeping these different hogs and I saw that there was now only one zoo in Europe (Berlin) keeping bearded pigs. So I feel really lucky to have seen them in London as it seems that they are no longer kept there.

RtasVadumee wrote:

I would much like to see your repainted red river hog too !

Of course! Not a very meritory repaint, it's rather simple, but I think the model is better with it!

Pardofelis wrote:

5. The red river hog, Potamochoerus porcus. Well, I forgot taking a picture after repainting it (I did with my mobile, but my mobile don't have connection with my PC). But I think many of you are familiar with the appareance of the model as sold by CollectA, with all dark face. If not, here is an image from [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] if he doesn't mind that I put it here for comparison :) (if not, I can replace it by a link, just tell me)

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Honestly I'm proud of the repainting! :) It looks much more a red river hog now! :)
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Thirsty river hog in the river!
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The Congo Basin couple that I used so many times for my new Central African additions...
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With my also recent babirusa bought in the same shop, these are all my suids !
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Indeed, that's a huge improvement, if you did not live so far, I would have asked you to do the same on mine as I already did with Alain. I would never dare to repaint on my own.

V Mammals

M) Even-toed ungulates

6) Hippopotamus

Species : Hippopotamus, pygmy hippopotamus
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Figures on this picture (from left to right) :
- Schleich 14831 Hippopotamus Calf (2020-still in production)
- Schleich 14814 Hippopotamus (2018-still in production)
- CollectA 88833 Hippopotamus (2018-still in production)
- Schleich 14682 Hippopotamus Calf (2013-2017) Bootleg
- Schleich 14681 Hippopotamus (2013-2018)
- CollectA 88686 Pygmy Hippopotamus (2014-still in production)
- CollectA 88687 Pygmy Hippopotamus Calf (2014-still in production)

Fun facts :
- The hippo is by far the species I waited for the longest time to replace in my collection, for several reasons. First, the vintage Schleich hippos are among my very favourite old Schleich, best preserved too as they are, unlike my vietnamese pig, not damaged at all, and they still look very decent today. Then, no newer model really convinced me as I have never liked the Papo. That was until a new challenger arrives...
- This CollectA hippo is similar to their white rhino (and even better in my opinion) : a magnificent model so perfect in every way that it looks real, alive. I think it is even a bigger challenge to represent well-known, iconic species than obscure antelopes because we will tend to be more demanding as these animals are so familiar to us and we know perfectly what a figure of them should look like. Successful challenge for CollectA, once more ! I really don't think there is any debate left about which hippo is better between CollectA's and Papo's. The size is also perfect for a Schleich collector, much better than the actual Schleich dwarf hippos !
- The CollectA model had the merit of making me take a much deeper interest in hippos' genitals ! Indeed, before owning this figure, I actually did not know what they were supposed to look like. When I received it, I was much disappointed to discover what looked like a vulva between its legs. I expected a powerful male and it was a big mama... But then, I searched on the internet and found that this kind of vulva was the fenestra which the penis got out by during mating, that male genitals were internal and that my figure was actually a male !
- This duel between the CollectA and the Schleich hippo from 2013 you can see on the picture perfectly shows how proportions are better respected by the CollectA model. The Schleich one looks a bit cartoonish with its huge head and tiny body. It is also very small but I don't mind since I consider it as a young teenage male trying to challenge the old patriarch !
- The 2018 model, although it is smiling, is an improvement as far as proportions and size are concerned and makes a perfect wife to my CollectA male That's one of my favourite "marriage between brands".
- The baby in the middle of the photo is the same sculpt as the Schleich model from 2013, it definitely looks like the Schleich model but it definitely is not. When I bought it, it had a tag where it was written "World Wonders", I don't know whether it's the brand or something else and I don't have the tag anymore. I strongly believe it's a bootleg unless anyone here can tell me which brand it is.
- The pygmy hippo is clearly oversized, even compared with the CollectA common hippo, but I really don't mind about that, I needed this species and like the model, even if it's not especially a masterpiece.
- I ordered the CollectA models on Ebay and bought the Schleich ones in my favourite toy shop in my parents' town. I found the bootleg baby in a zoo.
- I have seen both hippo species in zoos.

Wonderful models again, the CollectA hippo is magnificent! And I love your Schleich hippos too, a lovely group!

I just have the Papo one and the pygmy CollectA. Maybe later, the big CollectA.. :)

A great array of hippos Ben, I have the two Schleich (well one's a bootleg in your collection) from 2013, and the most recent Schleich adult. And finally I have both pygmy hippos, as well as the Safari which looks better size wise.

I am still however wanting to get the Papo female as she has been on my wishlist since 2016 but I recently learnt she retired in 2018, so unless someone can sell/trade her to me (Is she in the shop near your work Ben?) I'll be looking for a while longer

Advicot wrote:

A great array of hippos Ben, I have the two Schleich (well one's a bootleg in your collection) from 2013, and the most recent Schleich adult. And finally I have both pygmy hippos, as well as the Safari which looks better size wise.

I am still however wanting to get the Papo female as she has been on my wishlist since 2016 but I recently learnt she retired in 2018, so unless someone can sell/trade her to me (Is she in the shop near your work Ben?) I'll be looking for a while longer

No, unfortunately not. I may have bought it for myself if they had it, that's the male I don't like, I do like the Papo female.

Is the Safari really smaller ? A comparison pic maybe ? I may replace my CollectA since I also like the Safari very much and the calf would fit with the Safari adult too.

I wouldn't replace your CollectA with the Safari, even though its size is better its painting is not.

Comparison pic coming up! :)

Advicot wrote:

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The Safari really fits better, but it doesn´t look as good as the CollectA. For me, the size isn´t as often a really problem. However, when we have a comparison between hippo and pygmy hippo, the size is rather important for me

After a few posts where the Schleich renditions were of my likings, this time you’re showing a species with which Schleich was never able of convincing me. At least, those with open mouth, I never liked them. Though, that is just a personal opinion and you are far from being the only one that loves them. I really always liked best the Papo model and only the current CollectA brought the common hippo to a higher level. I have the CollectA pygmy hippos, I don’t know how to make this animal look like a masterpiece, when it is just an aubergine with legs. I think I also like the Safari model.
Oh, there’s a Schleich hippo I like very much and I forgot, it is the baby sitting, clearly inspired in the old Britains model. I have the latter but I should have acquired the former when it was easily available.