A few new CollectAs for my collection - filling gaps (18th December)

Beautiful new additions and pictures! I too made multiple large orders close together because things have been on sale and I’m afraid figures will be out of stock. Plus prices keep rising

Really lovely new additions! I love the new feral/wild breeds they have released.

Nice additions and great photos.Will have to give consideration to these models!!

Congrats

Joliezac wrote:

Beautiful new additions and pictures! I too made multiple large orders close together because things have been on sale and I’m afraid figures will be out of stock. Plus prices keep rising

Yeah, in previous years I've been happy to pick a few releases and leave the rest on my little CollectA wishlist til later, confident they'd be around whenever I felt like deciding to catch up on them, but this year's just not like that - there's a feeling of having to get stuff while it's there cos once it's gone it might just stay gone.

Saarlooswolfhound wrote:

Really lovely new additions! I love the new feral/wild breeds they have released.

Yeah, I'm really fond of the feral types, it's lovely to see them in model form when most companies seem to concentrate on the usual stock/gaited/competition/show type 'proper' horses
Plus I once had a loan horse who was half exmoor and came feral from the moor, I rode a brilliant Dartmoor at the riding school, and my own 'big pony', though domestic bred and raised, has New Forest heritage, so I've got a good link to all three of our British semi-feral breeds.

Really wonderful new additions! I completely agree, there seems to be so many issues with shipping and supplies at the moment, our local toy shop doesn't think they'll get any Scheich in before Christmas because of it and I'm sure it's the same for other shops too! Sadly it means that a very special dog I ordered from Germany has not arrived- and because it was just one and I sent it without tracking I fear the worst... But I'd like to warn other collectors in the UK about buying figures from the continent at the moment!
I love all those beautiful horses, the foal is so sweet! And even if not as accurate, to someone who doesn't have as much knowledge of donkeys I think this one looks very realistic, especially in your lovely photos with those wonderful backgrounds! But I'm sure there are ways it could be improved and it was interesting to read your views!

Back when I first started buying CollectA horses, almost every sculpt was released in two different colours, at the same time rather than over subsequent years. To save on money, and avoid having to buy any badly designed disappointing paintjobs, I decided to go with buying whichever was my favourite colour for each breed.
And til recently, I was really happy with this method of adding to my collection - the horse which first made me doubt the decision was the Icelandic coming out in bay dun, a colour which suited it even more than the original first release. But one colour per model was my rule, so I stuck to it.
With this year's announcements including several gorgeous re-releases featuring beautiful new colours on already familiar sculpts, my resolve wavered a great deal, and I thought I probably would end up buying them once they come into stock!
Recently, Suzanne introduced some CollectAs of her own, and in among them was the buckskin Appaloosa, which had already tempted me but seeing a real photo confirmed how much I'd like it - and that made me realise something : if I've already given in to the inevitability of buying the 2022 colours, it made absolutely NO sense to keep any of the older alternative colours out of my herd!

So last week I placed a little order of horses in moulds I already have, but these are all their 'other colour' releases, and now the sun's been out I have photos to share



The Appaloosa, which was the final straw in my choice to collect multiple colours. His spotted blanket pattern is rather stylised, but I like it, especially the way the dark spots vary in size.



His face is interesting too, the blue eyes are a first for CollectA (normally the eyes are just black, even in colours which could be blue-eyed), and they've used a grey dividing line to look like the 'mapping' overlap between white and colour which often shows on face markings.



The spotty pattern on the other side



I haven't named him yet, but I did paint a custom a similar colour last year so I might try to pick something similar for them both



Next, the Norwegian Fjord stallion in grey dun. I chose the yellow originally as it's their commoner colour, but actually this version is a nicer interpretation, with more shading.



I must admit, I did temporarily have this one last year, and felt it was a real shame to paint over him when I didn't have the colour already and liked it so much, but he had a lot of missing paint on his face and feet, so he wasn't quite good enough to keep for my collection. And now I have him again, but nicer



His dorsal stripe, carefully painted in to go all the way through the middle of his trimmed mane, just like it should!



Now, the Icelandic, the release which originally made me doubt my one-per-mould rule in the first place He doesn't have the lovely pale mealy muzzle shown in the catalogue photo, but having seen several different 'real photos' of the finished models, none of them do, so it must've been too much effort/time to paint when it came to the production line.



I've named him Stjörnufákur, many Icelandic horses are given names which include descriptions of their colour, markings, or other physical attributes, and this name means a riding horse with a star marking on the head.



I really like his colour, despite lacking the pale nose the dark face is a good example of typical dun features, and his leg shading and dorsal stripe are lovely and softly applied.



There really is no such thing as too many Icelandics in a collection, and it's nice to have another for my CollectA selection.



The final 'other colour' choice is the Akhal-Teke mare in metallic golden buckskin. I originally went for the perlino, thinking it was a much rarer colour to see on a model horse, with the pinkish tone under a silvery sheen - one of the very few breeds where I actively like a pearlised paint application! But there's nothing wrong with the buckskin version, and it was the logical one to track down and finally buy now I'm gathering more colours.



I've named her Iriska, a name picked from a sales page of real-life Akhal-Teke horses - I always figure that when dealing with languages I don't speak and find it too hard to research, if I choose a name a real breeder has given to a horse of the same colour, it can't be wildly inappropriate, like naming a chestnut something which means 'spotted', or a black horse a name which means it's very pale



It's a lovely sculpt, catches the fine hard profile of the head well, and the unusual conformation without being too exaggeratedly thin and raw-muscled, which suits a mare.

And finally, one last choice, not an alternate colour, but I needed something to push my order over £40 for free postage (no point spending the price of a model on shipping when the company will ship for free and I get an extra horse!), and thought I'd go for one more I'd originally decided against...



The mare and terrier set. Well, I'm not sure if it counts as a set when they're actually attached, but never mind



In a way it's a shame they are fixed together, I'd have liked to be able to photograph them separately as well as in their pair pose, and I'd imagine kids would have fun playing with the dog loose, 'jumping' in and out of it's resting position on the horse's back.



Despite that, it's a nice fun pairing, and you do see stableyard pets on horses' backs sometimes - it was a favourite with photographers doing a shoot with showjumpers or famous racehorses for horsey magazines back when I read them in my early teens, if the cat or dog had a particular pal who'd let him settle up there.



Neither of them have been given a specific breed in CollectA's catalogue, other than the vague terrier, and the words pony mare in the description they issue for shop sites, and she's definitely pony sized when stood between these other models. Maybe @Bonnie knows more about the dog?

So that's it for now, a parcel which doesn't contain any new breeds for me, but still a really good one - it's been very satisfying to go back and pick out the colours I probably should've been collecting all along. I'm still not going to aim for an Every Model Released collection of CollectA, the less exciting or just plain disappointing alternate colours can remain unbought, but from now on, I'll be picking everything I want, rather than sticking to a rule

Congrats

Nice pics and explanations as usual 

I must say "Blue eyes" still seems a little bit odd for me 

The Norwegian Fjord stallion in grey dun is absolutely marvellous, my favourite of the batch 

So many wonderful new additions! But especially the mare with terrier! I love this model, it's such an interesting change from the usual sort of thing major brands release, I agree it would be nice for them to be able to be separated but either way they make such a good pair! I too have often seen photos of dogs posing on horses, especially Jack Russells, which I would say is the breed of this terrier! It seems that Jack Russells are a popular choice for people who own horses, I often see at least one hanging around stables! I've always thought of this particular dog as a wire-haired Jack Russell from the fluffier coat texture and beard around the nose, which is a nice change from the smooth coated variety usually made in figure form!

Nice additions George and wonderful pics

Thanks, glad you enjoyed the photos as well as just the horses! I always like to do a proper little photoshoot with them, picking flattering or appropriate backgrounds (like the Icelandic has a mountain in Iceland, or the Akhal-Teke had to have a browner background cos the grassy one was shining off her golden coat and making her look green, too!

Kikimalou wrote:

I must say "Blue eyes" still seems a little bit odd for me 

Ah, that doesn't bother me, I've known and ridden several horses with one or two blue eyes, or even partial half-blue-half-brown in the same eye. One of my friends just bought a horse with two blues. If the face marking catches an eye socket, the eye will very likely have at least a part blue/grey iris.

Bonnie wrote:

So many wonderful new additions! But especially the mare with terrier! I love this model, it's such an interesting change from the usual sort of thing major brands release, I agree it would be nice for them to be able to be separated but either way they make such a good pair! I too have often seen photos of dogs posing on horses, especially Jack Russells, which I would say is the breed of this terrier! It seems that Jack Russells are a popular choice for people who own horses, I often see at least one hanging around stables! I've always thought of this particular dog as a wire-haired Jack Russell from the fluffier coat texture and beard around the nose, which is a nice change from the smooth coated variety usually made in figure form!

I knew you'd enjoy this one, and have plenty to say about it - it's great having such an enthusiast of dog models amongst us!
Thanks for the breed tip, I had a smooth-coated Jack Russel and have only known smooth ones, so wire haired wouldn't have jumped to mind. I'll have to type in his breed as well as his pony friend's when I add them to my website.

beautiful photos

George wrote:

Thanks, glad you enjoyed the photos as well as just the horses! I always like to do a proper little photoshoot with them, picking flattering or appropriate backgrounds (like the Icelandic has a mountain in Iceland, or the Akhal-Teke had to have a browner background cos the grassy one was shining off her golden coat and making her look green, too!

Kikimalou wrote:

I must say "Blue eyes" still seems a little bit odd for me 

Ah, that doesn't bother me, I've known and ridden several horses with one or two blue eyes, or even partial half-blue-half-brown in the same eye. One of my friends just bought a horse with two blues. If the face marking catches an eye socket, the eye will very likely have at least a part blue/grey iris.

Bonnie wrote:

So many wonderful new additions! But especially the mare with terrier! I love this model, it's such an interesting change from the usual sort of thing major brands release, I agree it would be nice for them to be able to be separated but either way they make such a good pair! I too have often seen photos of dogs posing on horses, especially Jack Russells, which I would say is the breed of this terrier! It seems that Jack Russells are a popular choice for people who own horses, I often see at least one hanging around stables! I've always thought of this particular dog as a wire-haired Jack Russell from the fluffier coat texture and beard around the nose, which is a nice change from the smooth coated variety usually made in figure form!

I knew you'd enjoy this one, and have plenty to say about it - it's great having such an enthusiast of dog models amongst us!  
Thanks for the breed tip, I had a smooth-coated Jack Russel and have only known smooth ones, so wire haired wouldn't have jumped to mind. I'll have to type in his breed as well as his pony friend's when I add them to my website.

Lovely you had a Jack Russell too, they are fantastic little dogs!

What gorgeous photos

Not to mention the gorgeous horse models

SUSANNE wrote:

What gorgeous photos

Not to mention the gorgeous horse models

I agree, nice photos.

Magnificent horses. Beautiful photos. Congrats!

I was a bit confused how come I seemed to have posted no new CollectA arrivals since January, when I knew I'd had at least two parcels, but then I realised I put them in a Reviews and Walkarounds thread where they'd be easier reference for other collectors, they're here.

But the most recent parcel wasn't new releases, just a mixed box of some to repaint, and some older models I'd never got when they were new, so I'll put them in this thread instead.



The pinto Friesian cross, variously spelt as Barok or Baroque Pinto depending on how the name's translated. I didn't get him at the time cos I'd already decided to go for the plain black purebred, and thought there was no need to get the one with a bit of white painted on as well And while it still does look like the Friesian with a bit of white on, he's quite a handsome model in his own right, and I'm glad I've gone back through to fill in some of the gaps in my CollectA collection. I've given him the name Hadriaan.



Several years after the stallion, a matching foal was released, and of course not owning the father I didn't get the colt either. But I couldn't resist any longer, he looks so smart and proud of himself! I've named this one Henrikus.

Of course, the best thing to do with matching pairs, is family photos...







The next addition was done a bit inside out - when I place CollectA orders with the UK stockist I use, it's free postage if you spend over £40. Four adult-horse sized models comes to just under that limit, by a few pennies - but a foal-sized model doesn't cost much more than the shipping fee would be, so my logic is always I may as well have a foal rather than pay postage, and I add one on to my order Only last time, there weren't any foals left which I already owned the matching mums or dads for, so I had to buy a random one without anyone to adopt her when she got here, poor thing!



This is Spider, the grulla Mustang filly, and you can tell she was from an earlier batch of my additions cos she's got a whole different photo set up here - and I forgot to take her out on the trip to find a bit of sunny open country, oops!

So when I was making up my most recent order, of course what I had to do was make sure I ordered the matching mare in grulla to re-unite the family.



I've named her Scorpion, so they share a theme, but as I said I forgot to take the foal along for this winter expedition to get some sunshine outside of my shaded garden, so there's no pictures of them together, either. But they're standing side by side on a pile of books here, while they await some shelf space.

Congratulations

I seem to have missed this thread entirely, never really checking in on CollectA things, but all very nice figures! I especially love that gray dun fjord, wow, he is beautiful! The grulla mare and pinto freisian cross are also really lovely. I know it's been said many and many a time, but it's really nice to see excellent horse sculpture work being made available in model lines a step down in price from Breyer (several steps, probably). I would have loved these as a kid!

I think it's a great choice you've made to buy the models you like rather than sticking to your rule, though I do understand the role of those kinds of rules - money and space saving. But you've added some brilliant figures.

beautiful addition

These are wonderful new additions! It's always fun going back and filling in those gaps, gives a satisfying feeling of completion! Scorpion is a great name, especially for such a striking model!

Lovely additions!! Love the pinto Friesians!! Wonderful photos all together!