Jill's (growing) Collection [update 4.30.24]

Man o' War is stunning! And the standardbred too. I got the South American and Asian animal toobs too and thought the birds were particularly good. I like the anteater too. Yes, the fennec! I didn't get this toob, but it looks great. Do you have the CollecA reptiles and amphibians toob? I think you'd like it.

Many great additions,especially the tubes!The Breyers are wonderful as well and love the poster!I was surprised to see that I have a few of the horses on the poster

Thanks everyone!

bmathison1972 wrote:

Jill
Unfortunately most of the Cave Dwellers figures are generic (and they should be left as such on TAI).

But I reviewed the set for the Blog, with some suggestions (check the comments for additional suggestions). I think since I posted that I have come up with other IDs for the crab and scorpion, but my database isn't handy at the moment

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Oh thank you, that's very helpful! I also didn't realize there were two releases, I'm glad I got the opaque ones rather than the transparent.

rogerpgvg wrote:

Do you have the CollecA reptiles and amphibians toob? I think you'd like it.

I didn't know they had one! Thanks for mentioning it, I looked it up and it's great! I definitely want to add that to the collection . . .

Taos wrote:

Many great additions,especially the tubes!The Breyers are wonderful as well and love the poster!I was surprised to see that I have a few of the horses on the poster

When I was young, I would pick my favorites from this poster that I hoped to own someday. I have six of them now, but it would be neat to have them all! Unfortunately the welsh pony is a very expensive special run, so I don't know if I'll ever have that one . . .

My end of the year acquisitions, including my Christmas present to myself. My parents and I all got one "big" gift this year, and mine was three vintage Breyers that I have been looking for. (I was the cheapest of the three--mom got a computer and dad got a set of golf clubs, ha!)

The mule (called the "balking mule" for obvious reasons) I saw in a Just About Horses magazine when I was little and have wanted it since then. I didn't realize then how pricey the mules run. Even this one, which is one of the cheapest since it was a regular run, is usually at least $50 and most often more like $80. I got her for $50 which I consider a good find since she is in pretty nice shape! She's a really beautiful color, one of my favorites, called "seal brown," and personally I think she is the nicest of the mules. Thankfully, since many of the others run $100-$300! Her pose and halter make her unique, but her teeth make her seem kind of ferocious.  
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This fjord, a portrait of the real GVF Sjokolade, is the last on this mold I really wanted to get. Even though he is technically the same color as Henry, you can see that they are very different versions of it. I know a few fjords in real life who are this darker coat color, and it's my favorite for sure. I had a little trouble finding this guy because when I would post looking for him, many people would offer Henry thinking they were the same model. It's the same struggle the real horses have--it can be hard to tell them apart until you know the individuals well! But together, they are very obviously super different.
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And then I got my first Breyer wildlife figures (that aren't broken! I have had a moose for a long time, but he is in terrible shape). The bear cub I found by accident, mislabeled as a Play Visions figure for $3! Well, I couldn't pass that up, so then I was thinking--well it will be awhile before I can find a mother for him. And then the same seller who had the mule and the fjord also had the mother bear, and she offered all three of them to me for great prices, so! In the same month I was able to find both! I really like the Breyer wildlife series and I hope to someday have many more, but they are not easy to come by affordably, so perhaps slowly. These are the first releases on the bear mold, possibly meant to be grizzlies? But I think of them more as brown colored black bears, with the pale face.
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Still horses, but not Breyer, I found this stunning family of Hartlands at an antique store. Hartlands ran as contemporaries for Breyer for a long time, but are lighter plastic, smaller, and were generally more affordable. They also as you can see are more stylized but in such a lovely way. This is the morgan family in sorrel, and I could not pass up that color. They are the only Hartlands I own.
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And last but not least, some goofy little horses! I had never heard of Jasman as a company or the My Precious Pets series until I saw these in an ebay lot and looked them up. I didn't decide to get them then, but I kept thinking about them. They definitely cross the line from stylized into cartoon that I usually don't like to cross, but SOMEthing about them struck a note. Eventually, I stumbled onto an ebay lot that had all of them in good shape for a reasonable price, so I said, well why not! So they have joined the family. They're quite funny. Maybe because they were sold in the 90s, even though I never saw them, they have a quality of nostalgia for me with that style. Or maybe they are just silly in the right way.  
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I never realised Sjokolade was SO different to Henry, but then I'd only ever seen him as the official catalogue photo so perhaps that's what misled me, they can often be very strongly lit which washes the colours out a bit - I thought he was just a very slightly browner shade of paint, with that odd spot on each cheek. But seeing these together, yes there's a big difference, and I can see why you needed to have them both! Now I want them both too

Wonderful new additions to your collection Jill. Really like the background on how you came by them.

Great additions!The Mule and the Brown bear are wonderful!I haven't seen the Hartland horses before and they are really lovely as well.

Wonderful new additions, all. Congrats!

Mules CAN be quite ferocious! I know of a local story from Idaho (where I used to live) where one proved its heart. If I remember it correctly, a gentleman was out trail riding with his trusty mule packhorse on a hunting trip. They'd been out all day and he had stopped to let his horse and mule rest. While he was "glassing" the hills for deer (looking at them through binoculars), his horse spooked suddenly and ran off. The reason? A mountain lion was barreling right for him. As he was lifted his rifle to defend himself, a large brown blur swept in... the mule not only blocked the attack of the lion but between his hooves and teeth he actually killed it! When the guy checked the lion out it was a younger but fully mature male cat; and his little mule made quick work of it and no one was of severe harm. A truly amazing story if you ask me, but I digress...

Really great additions and its nice to see you back here again. :)

Thank you all!

George wrote:

I never realised Sjokolade was SO different to Henry, but then I'd only ever seen him as the official catalogue photo so perhaps that's what misled me, they can often be very strongly lit which washes the colours out a bit - I thought he was just a very slightly browner shade of paint, with that odd spot on each cheek. But seeing these together, yes there's a big difference, and I can see why you needed to have them both! Now I want them both too

I was actually pretty surprised when I got them next to each other just how different they are. It can be tricky to tell in photos where they aren't next to each other for some reason, which is why I got so many offers for the wrong horse. Despite Henry's place in my heart as my first fjord model that introduced me to the breed, I do think Sjokolade is a better paint job (though the dots on his cheeks are mysterious).

Saarlooswolfhound wrote:

Mules CAN be quite ferocious! I know of a local story from Idaho (where I used to live) where one proved its heart. If I remember it correctly, a gentleman was out trail riding with his trusty mule packhorse on a hunting trip. They'd been out all day and he had stopped to let his horse and mule rest. While he was "glassing" the hills for deer (looking at them through binoculars), his horse spooked suddenly and ran off. The reason? A mountain lion was barreling right for him. As he was lifted his rifle to defend himself, a large brown blur swept in... the mule not only blocked the attack of the lion but between his hooves and teeth he actually killed it! When the guy checked the lion out it was a younger but fully mature male cat; and his little mule made quick work of it and no one was of severe harm. A truly amazing story if you ask me, but I digress...

Oh my gosh, yes, that's quite ferocious! I'd always be taking that mule with me from then on when going out into the woods . . .

Congratulations Jill on these very beautiful models! Love the hartlands, very stylish and elegant horses. I wonder how many different types are out there then?
The 2 Fjords look great together - just as well you knew the differences between them and persevered!
And I love the Breyer animals too, so well sculpted. These bears are just great! Nice that the baby got a mama and they all came easily to you
Love the mule aswell, I like the teeth too

The large bear Breyer is fantastic, congratulations

I just found that Hartland foal at a fleamarket! It really is an attractive thing.

Thank you everyone!

sunny wrote:

Love the hartlands, very stylish and elegant horses. I wonder how many different types are out there then?

There are a lot! I don't know of a site like Identify Your Breyer for them, but I do know they were produced late 1940s-1990s in many molds. Hartland actually started producing horses before Breyer, but is not currently making any that I am aware of. As always, if I had the space, I could definitely enjoy starting a Hartland collection.

January! I had started January on a theme. No horses so far this year, but dogs! I managed to finally get the Stargo set and then also accidentally discovered the Imperial set as well as how many larger hard plastic Hong Kong dogs there are. I was originally going to focus on those things for a little while, but ultimately changed courses as different cool things popped up.

I got a new phone and the camera is different so my photos are in weird focus as I try to relearn how to take close ups . . .

The Stargo set I made a thread for elsewhere, but it's a really neat set for the price. I think it's especially cool to see the malinois and the wolfhound. It brought a few other breeds into my collection I didn't have (or didn't have many of) as well, like the Weimaraner and Akita. Unfortunately, my photo site has just suddenly stopped working and these were the last photos to load, so I don't have them! But [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] is the thread if you want to see them.

The Imperial dog set is rubbery and hard to find in decent shape, so I have settled for trying to find them with their little first prize hang tags. They are a little bigger than I expected them to be, especially the boxer! For some reason, he's huge! But it's a really cool set, hits a lot of good notes with a cool vintage look while still being pretty realistic and detailed.
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And the Hong Kong dogs also surprised me. I thought they were going to be all similarly sized, perhaps released as a kind of "set" or at least made by the same place or something, but their scales, as it turned out, are not relative at all. The boxer is again very huge! I didn't get any more of them yet even though they are all really nice, very beautiful sculpts, because their size makes it hard for me to display them anywhere. Hopefully though more will be in my collection someday.
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And then I veered from the dog track because I found some of the Yowies I am still looking for. I seem to be down to the hardest to find ones from the older sets, or at least I haven't had luck pinning them down. The hornbill wasn't so hard but I was hoping not to have to buy a group of them to get it and end up with duplicates, so when a single one at a good price appeared, I jumped on it. The seal also has been easy enough to find but not for a good price, so I was happy to finally find it at not too high above cost. The elephant seal and the trout cod, though! I coughed up quite a bit more for each of them, haha. Exciting to finally check those off the list!
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And finally, a little bit of randomness. My parents very kindly bought the okapi for me while they were out running errands one day! I don't pay much attention to Schleich so I hadn't giving the current okapi a second look, but now that I have it, I do really like it. It's legs are much thinner than some Schleich animals, which is what turns me off for a lot of them. Plus the tilt to the ears is very cute!

The PEC mole was another exciting find. I really like the PEC sets, and I hadn't ever seen any of the "garden animals" set show up anywhere, so I had to get him when he did. The AAA mouse and the little unmarked rodent came with him also. That gray "mouse" has a furry tail and he looks kind of like a flat chinchilla, haha. The AAA mouse is really good, I was surprised! It seems like many of the AAA sculptures are really excellent in terms of realism.
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congratulations on your new models Jill, I really like the elegance of the hornbill model, it it's nicely sculpted.
It's amazing to see how your collection has grown on here!

A southern ground hornbill? I love the sound they make!

Oh, I wish I'd known you were looking for the trout cod, i have that one in my trade box! Which other Yowies are you seeking?

Always nice and interesting stuff. I think there are many more Hongkong treasures to find and the PEC could be some more interesting figures. It is a little sad that there are so less to find of PEC

Congrats on the new additions.I especially like the old Hong Kong dogs.I have the boxer as Palitoy model but with a collar.The Doberman is a really lovely sculpt if way out of date now!

Congratulation Jill for your newcomers,I'm happy you like the Schleich okapi and I like very much the AAA mouse

Thank you all! :)

sunny wrote:

congratulations on your new models Jill, I really like the elegance of the hornbill model, it it's nicely sculpted.
It's amazing to see how your collection has grown on here!

Thank you, I agree, it's a very nice figure. Yowie continues to impress me given their size. Some of them are real hum-dingers. Others? Well.

George wrote:

A southern ground hornbill? I love the sound they make!

Nice, I had to look it up, I don't think the ones that lived across from the giraffe exhibit I used to clean ever made any noises while I was there. It's cool!

pipsxlch wrote:

Oh, I wish I'd known you were looking for the trout cod, i have that one in my trade box! Which other Yowies are you seeking?

Oh, thank you, that's kind! I also wish I had known you were looking to part with one, but so it goes. My current list:

- Palila
- Mandrill
- Okapi
- Orangutan
- Yellow-Eyed Penguin
- Blue Danselfish
- Tree Kangaroo
- Giant Pacific Glass Frog
- Giraffe calf
- Iberian Lynx cub
- North African Hedgehog baby
- Southern Cassowary chick
- Visayan Warty Piglet

Obviously I don't expect to end up with the glass frog or giraffe without some incredible luck, but.

widukind wrote:

Always nice and interesting stuff. I think there are many more Hongkong treasures to find and the PEC could be some more interesting figures. It is a little sad that there are so less to find of PEC

I hope to find many more of both, yes! It's sure hard to search for PEC because they are almost never listed like that.

Taos wrote:

Congrats on the new additions.I especially like the old Hong Kong dogs.I have the boxer as Palitoy model but with a collar.The Doberman is a really lovely sculpt if way out of date now!

That's very cool, I didn't realize he had more than one iteration, but that does make sense because the beagle at least I also saw in several color variations.

Apparently there is a giant Boxer breed I didn't know yet.
The Schleich okapi is a wonderful model, I also have one in my collection although I didn't need it at all.
As far as I know these AAA rodents are not easy to find and AAA is regaining some interest among collectors.

AAA is one of my favorite brands of larger figures, I think. They have some that are so realistic, but then they do swing wildly the other way, too. I always say if I had the space, I'd start collecting AAA in a focused way.

Jill wrote:

AAA is one of my favorite brands of larger figures, I think. They have some that are so realistic, but then they do swing wildly the other way, too. I always say if I had the space, I'd start collecting AAA in a focused way.

Not all AAA figures are large, for example, these ducks (first set) is composed of small figures and it is a set with different species, if you don't have it, you'll probably love htem.