The Schleich "16753 Ingo Koblischek Künstlerpferd" (My rarest model)

Hello Fellow Collectors  [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

As those of you who have been following my collection thread will already know,
I recently bought an incredibly rare Schleich horse model.

I've decided to dedicate a whole new thread to this model as he's quite a unique rarity and
there isn't much info about this model out there.

The model I'm referring to is the "16753 Ingo Koblischek Künstlerpferd" or "Artist Horse" released in 1999 and retired in 2001

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It was part of a series of 6 horse models that were all designed by the German artist, Ingo Koblischek and sold in limited numbers.
They are a slightly bigger scale than regular Schleich, standing at 1:18 scale instead of 1:24. All 6 of these models are rare
but non so much as the "Black Rearing Stallion"

This particular model is incredibly allusive and almost impossible to find for sale anywhere. (Actually, it's a challenge to even find many images of it).
I myself had been searching for over 10 years for this model and in that time, I have only seen it listed "for sale" Twice!  (that includes the one I ended up buying).

The first time I saw it for sale, was roughly 4 - 5 years ago on eBay. It was in "Used Condition" with no box or tag and had serval paint chips and small scratches.
I decided to bid up to £300 for it, since I knew how rare it was and there were already serval bids for it. I was winning the bid for a while, but in the last few
minutes I was outbid significantly by several people and the model sold for £450, a price I would never have been willing to pay at the time.
It was the first and last time I ever saw it for sale.

Until 2 weeks ago.

I decided to search the model number into eBay (as I had done near enough everyday since learning this model existed) not expecting any
results to show up as usual, when lo and behold there it was. After all that time not only was there one for sale, it would also post to my
country, it was together with it's original box!!! and even more unbelievably, it still had the original tag!!!

I was so shocked to be seeing it that I just sat staring at my PC screen for serval minutes, before I realized I had already made the decision that I
was going to buy it. Then I saw the price.....and I sat for serval more minuets convincing myself it was worth it. Logically I know that this model,
in "brand new/unused condition" is worth anywhere between £800-£900 (that's without the price of shipping & customs on top) and as I had
previously witnessed, others were willing to pay £450 for this model in used condition with no box or tag, and this listing, while the box had been opened
and the horse had been removed, it was still being sold together with the box and more importantly, it still had the original tag.
So I had to decide.....is it worth £670 (that's without postage/customs btw).

Well, since I'm making this post at all, you know what decision I reached.
In total, this model cost me £840, a price that for anything else, would have been completely out of the question.
The only reason I talked myself into it was because of how close to perfect it is, and I knew that I was never going to get an opportunity like this again,
along with the fact it's one of the very last of the retired models I need to fully complete my Schleich horse collection (I'm only missing 5 retired models
now and none of them are anywhere near as expensive as this one)

All in all I'm very happy with my decision to buy it, and the price hurts far less now, since after telling my dad that I'd finally found this model
and that I'd bought it, he kindly offered to put £300 towards it himself.
(When I was younger, my dad would often help me look for retired models, even going as far as to do so in his own free time while I was still at school.
I'd arrive home and he'd pull up an eBay listing to ask "Do you have this one?" so in a way it very much became a hobby for him as well,
which is probably why he still offers to help me out with paying for the really pricy models/sets even now that I'm older and buying them myself)
So in the end, this model actually cost me £540. A price I know I would never find it for again (at least not in near new condition).

In conclusion, this has always been my all time holy grail of models and I truly believed I'd never actually own one.
To own one in near perfect/new condition is an absolute dream come true and it will forever be one of my most prized possessions.


Side note:
Here are some images of all 6 of the "Künstlerpferd" models:
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I now own 3/6 of them[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]


Other works by Ingo Koblischek:[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Super bravo ! I managed to get the black one this year too for about 400€ (without box but in perfect condition, I'm not interested in boxes ^^)
Very nice collectible models in any case
Here's a little video I made about them:


All 6 are in my collection and the black one was the last figure I needed in my collection

Loustic wrote:

Super bravo ! I managed to get the black one this year too for about 400€ (without box but in perfect condition, I'm not interested in boxes ^^)
Very nice collectible models in any case
Here's a little video I made about them:


All 6 are in my collection and the black one was the last figure I needed in my collection

Hi Loustic,

Normally I also wouldn't care about the box, but trying to find any sale listing of this model was proving to be impossible for me.
I would have bought this model without the box had I been able to find one (it would have been cheaper if I could have found one)
but this was the only listing I could find, so I decided to just go for it. Getting it in the box was just a bonus!

I actually just watched your video about them the other day. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I remember, that i seen them 2001 in stores, but i didn't buy.

Congratulations on this rarity!

Saarlooswolfhound wrote:

Congratulations on this rarity!

Thanks!

Tupolew Tu-154 wrote:

I remember, that i seen them 2001 in stores, but i didn't buy.

I had a similar situation with the Lunar Mustang model (82983). He was being sold for about £25 at the store I used to get my models at (I’ve heard that model was only available in china but they definitely had him there in that UK store so I don’t see how that can be true)
But I was 14 at the time and I was only collecting the “real” looking horses back then and I didn’t want him because he was bright red.
Wish I could go back and tell myself to get it because it’s worth around £300 now and I need it as part of my collection.
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Rare and beautiful!

TheRedLupine wrote:

Tupolew Tu-154 wrote:

I remember, that i seen them 2001 in stores, but i didn't buy.

I had a similar situation with the Lunar Mustang model (82983). He was being sold for about £25 at the store I used to get my models at (I’ve heard that model was only available in china but they definitely had him there in that UK store so I don’t see how that can be true)
But I was only 11 at the time and I was only collecting the “real” looking horses back then and I didn’t want him because he was bright red.
Wish I could go back and tell myself to get it because it’s worth around £300 now and I need it as part of my collection.
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Same here, but i wasn't 11, but i had also very less money at this time (sick diabetic cat). The "Künstlerpferde" looked ugly in my eyes when i was 20. ^^
But i have the 2022 black unicorn, which was only a few days for sale. Let's see, how worth will increase by time.

Tupolew Tu-154 wrote:

Same here, but i wasn't 11, but i had also very less money at this time (sick diabetic cat). The "Künstlerpferde" looked ugly in my eyes when i was 20. ^^
But i have the 2022 black unicorn, which was only a few days for sale. Let's see, how worth will increase by time.

Man, lucky.
I debated getting that unicorn myself because I really liked the look of it, but i just never got around to it and then it was taken off the website.

I looked for it after and it was being listed for about £154 on eBay and that was just a few weeks later so who knows how much it’ll be worth in a few years.

It's evident that this figure is something you fought for and wished for a lot. Gone are the days when I used to be surprised when someone paid a substantial amount for a figure, but now I see things in a completely different way. The joy you felt when receiving this rare and beautiful figure is noticiable, and it's wonderful to know that your father supported you in this endeavor.
Think about it; many people spend this amount or more on an iPhone that they will use for a maximum of 5 years and then discard or resell at a much lower price. This piece will likely be a symbol of joy for many years, and knowing that it even comes with the box and tag, even if life forces you to sell it or you decide to do so, you'll likely get a higher value than what you paid, unless this hobby changes dramatically. The most important thing is the happiness you feel. I would throw my little money out the window if I were sure it would free me from some ghosts and bring me joy.

Roger wrote:

It's evident that this figure is something you fought for and wished for a lot. Gone are the days when I used to be surprised when someone paid a substantial amount for a figure, but now I see things in a completely different way. The joy you felt when receiving this rare and beautiful figure is noticiable, and it's wonderful to know that your father supported you in this endeavor.
Think about it; many people spend this amount or more on an iPhone that they will use for a maximum of 5 years and then discard or resell at a much lower price. This piece will likely be a symbol of joy for many years, and knowing that it even comes with the box and tag, even if life forces you to sell it or you decide to do so, you'll likely get a higher value than what you paid, unless this hobby changes dramatically. The most important thing is the happiness you feel. I would throw my little money out the window if I were sure it would free me from some ghosts and bring me joy.

I know that to anybody who doesn't collect stuff like this it must seem like a crazy price to pay (and really I suppose it is)
But I personally don't regret it for a second.
The fact I get to own this model at all is so cool & exciting to me. As you said it makes me happy knowing this incredibly rare model is part of my collection,
especially since I was convinced I would never own it and therefore never fully be able to complete my collection.
Now that I have this model, my dream of "owning every Schleich horse" suddenly seems actually achievable and the joy I feel at knowing that was worth every penny.

Roger wrote:

It's evident that this figure is something you fought for and wished for a lot. Gone are the days when I used to be surprised when someone paid a substantial amount for a figure, but now I see things in a completely different way. The joy you felt when receiving this rare and beautiful figure is noticiable, and it's wonderful to know that your father supported you in this endeavor.
Think about it; many people spend this amount or more on an iPhone that they will use for a maximum of 5 years and then discard or resell at a much lower price. This piece will likely be a symbol of joy for many years, and knowing that it even comes with the box and tag, even if life forces you to sell it or you decide to do so, you'll likely get a higher value than what you paid, unless this hobby changes dramatically. The most important thing is the happiness you feel. I would throw my little money out the window if I were sure it would free me from some ghosts and bring me joy.

I agree with Roger a 100%. If the model brings you a lot of joy, there's no need to worry about the cost, as long as it does not affect your living or other people's living in any negative way. If spending that much on a model gives you hapiness, a sense of acomplishment, that's all that matters.

I myself have been in that dilemma before. There was a time in my life when I didn't have enough income to buy even the common figures I wanted. At that time of my life, spending 50, 100 dollars, in a single toy, was absurd.

But as time went on and I grew older, my income increased and I could start to afford more expensive stuff, I realized that there is not much difference in spending 100 dollars in a toy or spending it in daily stuff like fast food, drinks or other common pleasures. If you tell someone you went to a nice restaurant and spent 300 dollars in a single meal, people actually compliment you and envy your "experience", even if you know and tell them the food wasn't that special etc.

But the same people might not understand if you tell them you spent that same amount on a toy, some might even criticize you. And I believe that for us, finding that holy grail that we will cherish for years, is way more exciting and fullfilling than going to a restaurant or simply spending going to see a blockbuster movie etc.

I felt the same way as you did with the Toyway Walking with Dinosaurs Ornithocheirus. I wanted it so badly and I had only seen it for sale on eBay once! At the time, even wanting to spend on it, I couldn't afford the astronomical (at least for me) price tag.

I spent 12 years hunting for it, to a point where it was becoming annoying to not find one Although it was understandable, because it was a unreleased model. So I kept looking, contacting everyone I knew had one and making offers, until someone one day agreed to sell me theirs. I did have to pay a lot for it, but it was such a momment in my collection history that I don't regret a single cent spent on it.

It brought me joy, hapiness, relief, and made my WWD collection finally complete. Not only I could enjoy it now, but also enjoy the rest of the collection even more than before.

So nowadays, when I see a really rare model for sale, that I really want, I don't hesitate too much to buy it, if it is within my budget. I know I will be able to work and earn that amount of money back in a relatively short amount of time, all the while I appreciate my new acquisition, instead of having to keep looking for 3, 5, 10 more years after another cheaper one, that might not even appear for sale.

So, although I don't collect horses and I am not particularly interested in them, I congratulate you for your awesome find, that is a special momment for any collector.

ikessauro wrote:

I agree with Roger a 100%. If the model brings you a lot of joy, there's no need to worry about the cost, as long as it does not affect your living or other people's living in any negative way. If spending that much on a model gives you hapiness, a sense of acomplishment, that's all that matters.

I myself have been in that dilemma before. There was a time in my life when I didn't have enough income to buy even the common figures I wanted. At that time of my life, spending 50, 100 dollars, in a single toy, was absurd.

But as time went on and I grew older, my income increased and I could start to afford more expensive stuff, I realized that there is not much difference in spending 100 dollars in a toy  or spending it in daily stuff like fast food, drinks or other common pleasures. If you tell someone you went to a nice restaurant and spent 300 dollars in a single meal, people actually compliment you and envy your "experience", even if you know and tell them the food wasn't that special etc.

But the same people might not understand if you tell them you spent that same amount on a toy, some might even criticize you. And I believe that for us, finding that holy grail that we will cherish for years, is way more exciting and fullfilling than going to a restaurant or simply spending going to see a blockbuster movie etc.

I felt the same way as you did with the Toyway Walking with Dinosaurs Ornithocheirus. I wanted it so badly and I had only seen it for sale on eBay once! At the time, even wanting to spend on it, I couldn't afford the astronomical (at least for me) price tag.

I spent 12 years hunting for it, to a point where it was becoming annoying to not find one Although it was understandable, because it was a unreleased model. So I kept looking, contacting everyone I knew had one and making offers, until someone one day agreed to sell me theirs. I did have to pay a lot for it, but it was such a momment in my collection history that I don't regret a single cent spent on it.

It brought me joy, hapiness, relief, and made my WWD collection finally complete. Not only I could enjoy it now, but also enjoy the rest of the collection even more than before.

So nowadays, when I see a really rare model for sale, that I really want, I don't hesitate too much to buy it, if it is within my budget. I know I will be able to work and earn that amount of money back in a relatively short amount of time, all the while I appreciate my new acquisition, instead of having to keep looking for 3, 5, 10 more years after another cheaper one, that might not even appear for sale.

So, although I don't collect horses and I am not particularly interested in them, I congratulate you for your awesome find, that is a special momment for any collector.

Thank you!
I really appreciate that, and I completely agree with you.

What a story, many congratulations again! It's a really interesting sculpt. I can see where it might not have appealed to many but I like its stylization. I can see in the other sculptures by the same artist that he has a particular style and it's neat to see that in the toys. While the price tag is high, I do agree that buying an expensive 'toy' is not any different than other things people spend as much money on. It all comes down to what is valuable to the person. I don't know if I will ever spend over $100 on something I collect, but more and more I do understand that it is not as crazy as it sounds at first. Some of my Breyer grails are $200-$500 and I just can't imagine ever getting them, but these kinds of stories are always really exciting to share in. Congrats!!