Collected Comparisons. African buffalo and orangutans!

Thank you Jolie. :) 

A few more from recent additions.
A stand in Megalania from the IC Komodo.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Feathered Trexes and raptor relatives.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Friesians (old Schleich and Safari are very similar in style, left and right respectively)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

My old "family" of horses from my first childhood move (where I couldn't find Schleich anymore and only Safari models were available to me) is now complete again.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Some new china puppies and kittens, not marked as WingMau but very very similar... new models on left, old WM on right (some repainted)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The whole group of WM (including originals AND repaints alongside these new china models)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I enjoy so much to see all those old Safari horses together. We all knew the good old Schleich horses but those Safari remained anonymous for a long time. Good point also about the Frisians, I believe the Schleich model is a Maia & Borges mold.

My favourite 'generation' of Safari's Friesian horses is the middle one (top shelf, on the left) - I think that's the peak of the sculpting quality and realism cos it's got so much more crispness and detail than the first version, and a lot better conformation and anatomy than the more recent one.
This comparison is really useful for illustrating how the brand's sculpting has evolved over time, I don't think I've ever seen all three in one photo before!

George wrote:

My favourite 'generation' of Safari's Friesian horses is the middle one (top shelf, on the left) - I think that's the peak of the sculpting quality and realism cos it's got so much more crispness and detail than the first version, and a lot better conformation and anatomy than the more recent one.
This comparison is really useful for illustrating how the brand's sculpting has evolved over time, I don't think I've ever seen all three in one photo before!

I agree and the Friesian trio really shows clearly the 3 main waves of Safari standard sized horses. Expanding the initial farm horses, they were able of introducing a horse themed series called Winner's Circle that I believe was not as successful as it deserved since it coincided with the best wave of Schleich horses. I also missed the Safari Lusitano horse so I am guilty too. 2014 witnessed the last releases of the 2nd wave and only in 2018 Safari released new horses. I am convinced each era corresponds to a different sculptor. I remember reading something about it. If I find the information about the sculptors, I may add it on TAW.

Roger wrote:

George wrote:

My favourite 'generation' of Safari's Friesian horses is the middle one (top shelf, on the left) - I think that's the peak of the sculpting quality and realism cos it's got so much more crispness and detail than the first version, and a lot better conformation and anatomy than the more recent one.
This comparison is really useful for illustrating how the brand's sculpting has evolved over time, I don't think I've ever seen all three in one photo before!

I agree and the Friesian trio really shows clearly the 3 main waves of Safari standard sized horses. Expanding the initial farm horses, they were able of introducing a horse themed series called Winner's Circle that I believe was not as successful as it deserved since it coincided with the best wave of Schleich horses. I also missed the Safari Lusitano horse so I am guilty too. 2014 witnessed the last releases of the 2nd wave and only in 2018 Safari released new horses. I am convinced each era corresponds to a different sculptor. I remember reading something about it. If I find the information about the sculptors, I may add it on TAW.

The Safari horses were very popular with collectors here in the UK, as that was the first time the brand had been available to us from a British stockist, and we loved the sculpts - they were adopted with enthusiam by hobbyists who were also into the toy side (and not purely Breyer/Stone/resin) for a couple of years there it seemed everyone was buying, customising, and showing Safari. Then the revamped CollectA horse range came along, and we loved those too. It was such a revelation to have small cheapish plastic horses which weren't Schleich!

That great 'middle' batch which fell between the farm horses and the current ones were sculpted by Jane Lunger, best known for her G3 (and some more recent) Breyer Stablemates. I'm afraid I don't know any names for the earlier or later sculptors, though.

Thank you everyone!

About the horses... I like them all just fine. But my favorite sculpts range from the group shown here to the generation of the mid range friesian. The latter of which had some really lovely horses. The manes and posture of several remind me of carousel horses. (Lusitano, andalusian, friesian etc.)

George wrote:

Roger wrote:

George wrote:

My favourite 'generation' of Safari's Friesian horses is the middle one (top shelf, on the left) - I think that's the peak of the sculpting quality and realism cos it's got so much more crispness and detail than the first version, and a lot better conformation and anatomy than the more recent one.
This comparison is really useful for illustrating how the brand's sculpting has evolved over time, I don't think I've ever seen all three in one photo before!

I agree and the Friesian trio really shows clearly the 3 main waves of Safari standard sized horses. Expanding the initial farm horses, they were able of introducing a horse themed series called Winner's Circle that I believe was not as successful as it deserved since it coincided with the best wave of Schleich horses. I also missed the Safari Lusitano horse so I am guilty too. 2014 witnessed the last releases of the 2nd wave and only in 2018 Safari released new horses. I am convinced each era corresponds to a different sculptor. I remember reading something about it. If I find the information about the sculptors, I may add it on TAW.

The Safari horses were very popular with collectors here in the UK, as that was the first time the brand had been available to us from a British stockist, and we loved the sculpts - they were adopted with enthusiam by hobbyists who were also into the toy side (and not purely Breyer/Stone/resin) for a couple of years there it seemed everyone was buying, customising, and showing Safari. Then the revamped CollectA horse range came along, and we loved those too. It was such a revelation to have small cheapish plastic horses which weren't Schleich!

That great 'middle' batch which fell between the farm horses and the current ones were sculpted by Jane Lunger, best known for her G3 (and some more recent) Breyer Stablemates. I'm afraid I don't know any names for the earlier or later sculptors, though.

Thanks, now that you mention Jane Lunger I remembered we mentioned it on forum a long time ago and at the time I pointed the Frisian and the Morgan as my favorite sculpts from that wave. I will mention it on TAW because I really can't remember everything.
I was never an active part on horse themed foruns, so my idea is probably narrowed to my personal experience on STS and when the forum started, it was too much all around Schleich. Only the CollectA models sculpted by Deborah gained some protagonism later. Actually it makes me happy to know that Safari horses were appreciated among horse collectors. When I try to check on auction websites in Portugal and Spain, I rarely find a Safari horse for sale and I find thousands of Schleich.

martinmtrevino wrote:

Not quite sure what this has to do with the topic?

It's a spam post lol. Somebody associated with or being paid by the operators of that website.

thebritfarmer wrote:

Not quite sure what this has to do with the topic?

pipsxlch wrote:

It's a spam post lol. Somebody associated with or being paid by the operators of that website.

Thanks for noticing it, you always can report me through pm because I can't see every single post as soon as it is posted.
A relatively soft spotted spam but defintely spam and I deleted the post.

Great comparisons again!I love the older Safari horses as I remember getting them when I went to the USA for the first time and thinking how great they were and still are!!

Roger wrote:

thebritfarmer wrote:

Not quite sure what this has to do with the topic?

pipsxlch wrote:

It's a spam post lol. Somebody associated with or being paid by the operators of that website.

Thanks for noticing it, you always can report me through pm because I can't see every single post as soon as it is posted.
A relatively soft spotted spam but defintely spam and I deleted the post.

Thanks! I will remember that for next time. I was looking for a report button, another forum I moderate on has one.

thebritfarmer wrote:

Roger wrote:

thebritfarmer wrote:

Not quite sure what this has to do with the topic?

pipsxlch wrote:

It's a spam post lol. Somebody associated with or being paid by the operators of that website.

Thanks for noticing it, you always can report me through pm because I can't see every single post as soon as it is posted.
A relatively soft spotted spam but defintely spam and I deleted the post.

Thanks! I will remember that for next time. I was looking for a report button, another forum I moderate on has one.

We disabled the report system. We are a small community and these things rarely happen so it is enough to report through message or just posting as you did.

Update! Now that my collection is 90% resorted and accessible again, I was planning on reviving this thread. 

Over the last 8 months I have gotten tons of requests for comparisons of X with Y or walkarounds of models. My brain from 9 months ago would have been able to remember most of these requests and complete them when I could. But my brain now doesn't function quite as well and I have forgotten specifics of things. So, if you want to see some walkarounds or comparisons of models please re-request them here! I am excited to begin contributing to this community more again and get back into my beloved hobby more than just crossing things off my wishlist.

I remember Kiki asked for walkarounds of my AAA hermit crab and AAA bat... any others?...

I am still open to suggestions/requests if anyone needs a comparison. :)

Just a few photos will be presented here before being uploaded to my website The Curious Compendium.

Striped Hyenas, I was SO excited complete my ChapMei Trio! My first is made of more enjoyable plastic, the 2 new models are more rigid and shiny/less realistic looking.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

There are lots of variations of Chap Mei figures, material, colors and even engines when it is the case of battery animated figures. Congratulations for completing your trio of hyenas,

Thank you Roger! That is what I wondered... I may be wrong, but the furthest left Chap Mei to me appears to be the oldest and highest quality, more like the big brands material. The recent two (middle and right most) are harder plastic with a sheen to the finish, more "disposable toy" type of concept. Each one is well made and sturdy and detailed, just a different finish quality and material.

I just found this great thread and I love it.
You started it at a time when my eyes kept me away from screens, so many good things to catch up on now.
What is the model below the IC "Megalania" ?

The Chap Mei hyenas looks better and better to me

Thank you Kiki and Andreas.

Kiki, I think you mean the other lizard? It is a "megalania" I customized from a cheap chinamal toy. I took more interesting pattern interpretation for it. :)

the Chap Meï trio is frightening!

Very cool-looking trio, congrats!
Are they somewhat inspired by The Lion King trio of hyenas?

Yes, indeed the Chap Mei's are very scary. Nice to have a trio.

Wonderful striped hyenas, I love the Chap Mei trio and I think the model at the back, I think by CollectA, so beautifully made and amazing level of realism!