Decline in Schleich horses

Lads, is it just me, or has Schleich SERIOUSLY dropped its standards in the last few years regarding the horses? I mean, check out the difference in the classic Arab stallion and the 2021 offering:

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Nicely proportioned. Posed in a manner befitting a skittish, highblooded stallion. Subtle variations in the shading. The confirmation isn't perfect - the legs should be smoother and straighter - and the face is a little long, even for an Arab. (I prefer the graceful dished head of the retired mare.) However, this is a very good representation of the wonderful Arab breed. I remember being very impressed by him when I saw him in the toy store as a child.

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BUT WHAT THE HELL IS THIS??!! This Arab is solid black, which is already inaccurate for the breed, and it looks clumsy to boot. The eyes are way too big, and black all around, leaving no room for the sclera. Don't get me started on those nightmarish legs. The hooves don't even have the lovely silver horse-shoes the older model has! The nose is oafish, and the face has none of the Arab's elegance. The body doesn't possess the realism which Schleich has always emphasised as a unique selling point. The flowers in the tail look twee, to be honest. The animal even has a ewe neck.

Schleich animals retail for pretty steep prices. They should be, at least, as accurate and true to life as the little mass-produced creatures you get in farm life tubs. These people have been making horses since the 80s, and their mid-2000s pieces were genuinely beautiful. How in God's name do you get WORSE????

I totally agree with you ... I am a collector of horses, donkeys and zebras, and it breaks my heart to see such an evolution ... they were beautiful the old years ...
I noticed this difference since the CEO changed, now apparently Schleich is led by the former CEO of Lego. And since this change, Schleich has become more toys, whereas before it was well written in our catalogs "toys and collection".
Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about this evolution...

I think it works for all comparisons, I think the difference with the Arabian mares is even more dramatic. I have myself acquired a good number of Schleich horses during these old days and during the last years the only horse I acquired from Schleich it was the Sorraia Mustang because it is a Portuguese breed and the figure is decent enough. The older generations of Schleich horses had an interesting balance between what should be a toy and a recognizable replica of a horse breed. Quality finish was irreprochable. I'd say only poses were somewhat boring but relatively appealing. These last models have more dynamic poses but all the rest is clearly of an inferior level. Even poses, being more dynamic, are often not natural. Old Schleich horses were a kind of paramount of the desired and perfect toy that stimulated the collecting hobby and that influenced an almost legendary line of animals. Those recent horses are too much children oriented and often weirdly sculpted and not enough recognizable to the breed level. They are also excessively girlish with all these flowers, braids, ribbons, etc. I know a lot of traditional and faithful collectors of Schleich horses stopped collecting them even if they still can get some enthusiasm from some collectors and mostly from Kids.
Schleich assumed this way, this is a commercial strategy, a design option, not exactly that they don't know how to do horses, obviously as a big brand, they can easily put a serious equine sculptor working for them but who sculpts these horses, and not wanting to be disrespectful, is clearly not working to get good replicas of horses, the goal is clearly to make appealing horse toys for kids.
Despite my long comment and respecting all decisions from these companies. I continue thinking Schleich should have two different series of horses.
One with these horses with a lot of pink and blue and flowers and another with horse figures in a similar quality to their previous models to keep the good reputation of the brand and the enthusiasm of the huge collecting community that Schleich generated many years ago.

I know!

Another thing which annoys me about the new Schleich is the bizarre gender dichotomy between stallions and mares. This is most obvious in the Shires. Observe:

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This animal has big dick energy. There's no two ways about it. The pose is dynamic, the mane and tail are incredibly well sculpted, and the face is definitely a Shire face. This is a he-man of a horse.

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This Shire mare, on the other hand, is so feminine she barely looks like a horse. With her enormous eyes, shy smile, and plaited tale, she's more like a housewife than a potential war-steed. Her pose is static and boring. The difference between her and her mate makes it clear that she is intended to be a "girl" toy, which is weird, not least because this sexual dimorphism does not exist in real-life Shires.

I grew up with Arabs, they CAN be black (though it's rare); the equine actor in The Black Stallion was a black purebred Arab stud named Cass Ole- only his chrome was dyed to match the unmarked horse of the story. Back on track, I agree about that horse and the others. The Sorraia is the only Schleich horse of any breed to tempt me for years. Braids and bows and blooms are a total turnoff, even if the sculpts were better. I don't expect a plastic toy horse aimed at children for a more or less reasonable price to be a perfect rendition- strength of the material and safety of sharp edges, if no other reason. That it can actually be done- look at CollectA's masterpiece of an Arab mare, Anna's Mojo Arab mare is wonderful also. I know the adult collector market is not their focus. But what boy would want a frilly fancy horse like that? Seems they're running off part of their target market. Animal toys traditionally have been gender neutral, many of my male friends growing up had toy horses and played with mine. I agree with Rogerio's suggestion of two separate lines- girly and normal.

I don't think separating the line into "girly" and "normal" is a good idea, tbh. It sends the message that little girls deserve twee crap, while boys deserve realistic, educational sculpts. Thankfully, in the newer horses, I'm starting to see more dynamic designs in the mares

They've already done that in some ways. Their old "fantasy" medieval lines were fairly realistic and "educational" (the horses from the fairy line were normal, not stylized or highly colorized as they are now) and their knights were basic from a historical perspective but again, realistic in style. Today the medieval fantasy line is very "little boy" focused I feel and they also stylized the fairies even more for young girls. As a child I had a few from both lines but today I don't personally like the art style. I feel they are starting to do the same with horses (and domestic animals to some extant) and wildlife. The horse sets always have bright colors and flowers and ribbons etc. like a carnival while wildlife is releasing action sets like capturing a lion or hyena or whatnot... maybe its just my opinion but those are my thoughts.

As for the actual quality I think it comes and goes in all lines of theirs but the horses have a specific sculptor style that doesn't fit most of us here. The sorraia is my first purchase in years but even then the proportion seem a bit odd to me sometimes. But that style does appeal to some collectors, so its just a case of "to each their own" I suppose.

And another thing!
The figures used to be such a nice complement to the horses. You could buy little sets with a rider, some tack, or a blanket. You could buy a vet or a stable boy. You could also get a showjumper and a vaulting lesson. All were realistic and utilitarian. But nowadays, you have that damned horse club thing. You can't even buy tack or riders separately anymore - they only come with the horse club kits

I agree that the style is different between "classic" Schleich horses and the newer style. I, however, rather like that style. I usually buy a few of the new horses each year.

It's unfortunate that you can't get riders outside the horseclub sets, but I dislike both the bow-legged riders and the way the jointed ones pitch forward, so I've swapped all my riders to Mattel's Jurassic World humans. You can, however, get saddles by themselves. They're in the catalog still (at least the Jan-June 2021). Same with the blanket sets that came out with the first generation of horseclub girls.

I have an other critic point at Schleich. Many of their regular figures are only short time for sale. And i want more special paintings for other animals, not only horses or carnivore dinosaurs.

I rarely buy Schleich horses since a few years. Sorry, but most of them are like cartoon animals. Same with dogs and cats etc. I wrote to Schleich and complained. Their feedback was like: "objection noted but nothing will be done".

When a company doesn't consider feedback relevant cos their sales are too high to care, the only thing we can do is spend our money and attention what we do like.

I haven't spent a penny on new Schleich for years, since their horses got so bad, so I've spent a few hundred on CollectA and Mojo instead. Sure, it's not much per person, but it adds up if SO many of us have stopped buying and taken our collection in a better direction.

In my small way I'm rewarding the companies who are doing what I do like, releases with realistic anatomy and accurate breed types - they're getting my money, of course, but also a positive attitude of telling fellow collectors how much I like the CollectA/Mojo releases, through discussion, reviews, photos, and my custom painting and occasional photo showing to get them 'out there' in the model horse world.

Positive buyers who won't shut up about how much they like a brand are JUST as important for a company's PR as all our (quite justified and correct!) complaints, so if you feel like feedback's being ignored, you can still do something - drop the brands which aren't up to scratch, and support the ones which are doing good things!

George wrote:

When a company doesn't consider feedback relevant cos their sales are too high to care, the only thing we can do is spend our money and attention what we do like.

I haven't spent a penny on new Schleich for years, since their horses got so bad, so I've spent a few hundred on CollectA and Mojo instead. Sure, it's not much per person, but it adds up if SO many of us have stopped buying and taken our collection in a better direction.

In my small way I'm rewarding the companies who are doing what I do like, releases with realistic anatomy and accurate breed types - they're getting my money, of course, but also a positive attitude of telling fellow collectors how much I like the CollectA/Mojo releases, through discussion, reviews, photos, and my custom painting and occasional photo showing to get them 'out there' in the model horse world.

Positive buyers who won't shut up about how much they like a brand are JUST as important for a company's PR as all our (quite justified and correct!) complaints, so if you feel like feedback's being ignored, you can still do something - drop the brands which aren't up to scratch, and support the ones which are doing good things!

I get my Schleich nowadays from a stall in the Milk Market from a fellow called Frank. First rule of the Milk Market: never ask the stallholders where they got their stock. It's a grey market, and we all like it that way

I buy Schleich every year, the last were the fruit unicorns and the stone monster. Planned is some Bayala end Eldrador, the riding ponys, dinosaurs and some other.

Schleich is one of the few brands, that got no substantial problems from covid 19, they still in the winner zone. So their figure politics cannot be false.
The buyers not only contains self proclaimed collectors from german forums.

I've noticed this as well. I haven't had any interest in Schleich models in some time. Their art style has just become something that appeals to young children, and not to those looking for a more realistic style. The proportions are all out of wack in Schleich horses, and their paint jobs have only gotten worse.

I am more choosy, but I still love Schleich's horses. And quite often I like the newer models more than "classic" ones. I have branched out into Collecta horses a bit, but only because my knights and elves action figures need horses that are a bit bigger. (They're Boss Fight Studios 4" figures, compared to the 3.75" Mattel Jurassic World figures I use in my modern barn.)

I still like the horses, but adore more older models. I collect the horses per factory country ( Germany, China, Portugal and so on), made in Germany is still my favorite... and thats also an issue i dont think that horses are made in Germany anymore. The new horses are mostly made in Vietnam...

The situation makes me curious what is going to happen next and how wil 2024 look. I also wonder if schleich itself knows about the collectors opinion that he horses are declining

Wallace98 wrote:

I don't think separating the line into "girly" and "normal" is a good idea, tbh. It sends the message that little girls deserve twee crap, while boys deserve realistic, educational sculpts. Thankfully, in the newer horses, I'm starting to see more dynamic designs in the mares

Maybe we should use the term "Disney Princess style" than the term "girlish style". Disney princesses are really in this "I pose to be pretty" philosophy while other female kids' characters, like Dora the Explorer, are closer to reality. Many little girls love to play "princess", but it is not the only thing they love to do.

I am going to be reviewing these newer models for HHT on the Animal Toy Blog shortly. I need to review anatomy and terms so I can be accurate and thorough but in general, there IS a distinct different between models produced in the 90s and early 2000s, the late 2000s to about 2010, and then from there to now.... 3 generations with a VAST difference in style, quality, and finish.

Credit where it's due, some of the most recent Schleich sculpts have been a vast improvement on the recent trend to ignore anatomy in the pursuit of something 'pretty' and vaguely horse-shaped.

Take a look at this year's Noriker, and the new Haflinger mare and foal. Vastly different proportions than the typical Schleich sculpt, with hefty backsides, deeper chests, shoulders with muscle, and decent joints in the legs, correct and comfortable-looking leg and neck positions. That issue with the fetlocks being aligned wrong (so the heels stick out backwards) isn't there in those three sculpts. The ears look more like ears and are in the right place on the skull, not fat spoons stuck on in the wrong place, and the depth of the jawline combined with straight profile and large muzzle in the two adults gives the shape of a real horse head.
I'm certain that a different sculptor did those three models, someone who's either fully familiar with horse anatomy and proportion in advance, or at very least has put the work in to research and reference what they were asked to make.
The only down side is the stupid red flowers in the Haflinger's mane, if it hadn't been for those I'd have been willing to buy one, to reward them with a sale on a well made item which IS what knowledgeable horse fans want to see. Just like I replied earlier in this thread about spending money with other brands instead, it's the sales figures which are the only feedback they really care about, and buying the best horse would be encouragement for them to commission more like that and less of the roughly-horse-shaped But they spoiled it with silly flowers! The Noriker is too plain a colour to tempt me.
And they're all too expensive in my country to buy unless I really, really like everything about them - they cost more than double what they did a few years ago

What I can add about the topic is that Schleich's horses are sculpted by different sculptors, some of whom are not even employees of the company. However, despite this, all horse sculptures undergo slight changes before entering the production process. There are two main reasons for this: first, to ensure that the final model is optimized for the production process and child safety parameters. The second reason is to ensure that there is a certain homogeneity among the different designs of the different sculptors. After all, they are all sculpted for the same brand and series, so it is important that they appear to belong to the same collection and preserve the brand's identity.

George wrote:

Credit where it's due, some of the most recent Schleich sculpts have been a vast improvement on the recent trend to ignore anatomy in the pursuit of something 'pretty' and vaguely horse-shaped.

Take a look at this year's Noriker, and the new Haflinger mare and foal. Vastly different proportions than the typical Schleich sculpt, with hefty backsides, deeper chests, shoulders with muscle, and decent joints in the legs, correct and comfortable-looking leg and neck positions. That issue with the fetlocks being aligned wrong (so the heels stick out backwards) isn't there in those three sculpts. The ears look more like ears and are in the right place on the skull, not fat spoons stuck on in the wrong place, and the depth of the jawline combined with straight profile and large muzzle in the two adults gives the shape of a real horse head.
I'm certain that a different sculptor did those three models, someone who's either fully familiar with horse anatomy and proportion in advance, or at very least has put the work in to research and reference what they were asked to make.
The only down side is the stupid red flowers in the Haflinger's mane, if it hadn't been for those I'd have been willing to buy one, to reward them with a sale on a well made item which IS what knowledgeable horse fans want to see. Just like I replied earlier in this thread about spending money with other brands instead, it's the sales figures which are the only feedback they really care about, and buying the best horse would be encouragement for them to commission more like that and less of the roughly-horse-shaped But they spoiled it with silly flowers! The Noriker is too plain a colour to tempt me.
And they're all too expensive in my country to buy unless I really, really like everything about them - they cost more than double what they did a few years ago

I don't know for sure, but I'm almost positive that the haflinger mare is sculpted by Vincent of da Vinci Creations (I follow him on Instagram). He did the grey trakehner mare with the boots and bonnet, the moonstone unicorn stallion, and the trakehner gelding and they all have the same kind of style and realism as the haflinger in my mind.

George wrote:

Credit where it's due, some of the most recent Schleich sculpts have been a vast improvement on the recent trend to ignore anatomy in the pursuit of something 'pretty' and vaguely horse-shaped.

Take a look at this year's Noriker, and the new Haflinger mare and foal. Vastly different proportions than the typical Schleich sculpt, with hefty backsides, deeper chests, shoulders with muscle, and decent joints in the legs, correct and comfortable-looking leg and neck positions. That issue with the fetlocks being aligned wrong (so the heels stick out backwards) isn't there in those three sculpts. The ears look more like ears and are in the right place on the skull, not fat spoons stuck on in the wrong place, and the depth of the jawline combined with straight profile and large muzzle in the two adults gives the shape of a real horse head.
I'm certain that a different sculptor did those three models, someone who's either fully familiar with horse anatomy and proportion in advance, or at very least has put the work in to research and reference what they were asked to make.
The only down side is the stupid red flowers in the Haflinger's mane, if it hadn't been for those I'd have been willing to buy one, to reward them with a sale on a well made item which IS what knowledgeable horse fans want to see. Just like I replied earlier in this thread about spending money with other brands instead, it's the sales figures which are the only feedback they really care about, and buying the best horse would be encouragement for them to commission more like that and less of the roughly-horse-shaped But they spoiled it with silly flowers! The Noriker is too plain a colour to tempt me.
And they're all too expensive in my country to buy unless I really, really like everything about them - they cost more than double what they did a few years ago

These are actually 3 examples of the newer horses I actually like and consider getting at some point. When I was younger I knew a lot more about horses and anatomy etc. but its been so long that that portion of my collection let alone my horsey enthusiasm were an active part of my thoughts that I need to review some things so I can talk about it with accuracy as you have done here. For me, the majority of Schleich's horses are far too stylized, as Roger has explained why, to tempt me. The proportions work better on foals in general but lots of the models are just... wonky to say the least. Their last 3 drafts are better (NOT perfect but BETTER), and a handful of their offerings as I have hinted at are nice looking... I am hoping that slowly, these newer figures produced by other artists will slowly take over the current line. But for me, the bottom line is that the equines of Schleich are not what they used to be, and I much prefer the older series. (Also, with that being said... while CollectA is considered the premiere for horses among the big 6 brands, I have my complaints there too!)

I'm happy that Brave Dog Customs has sculpted the horses for next year(and 2025 apparently). You can immediately tell a difference. The Friesian stallion is especially nice.

I agree, at least judging from the official pictures, the new horses represent a step forward in my opinion. I'm anxious to see the new Schleich horses locally.