The Schleich 14873 Alpine ibex - a walkaround by Kikimalou

After the Armadillo and the Bonobo, it's time to introduce the new Schleich Alpine ibex.
The Alpine ibex is a stocky animal with sturdy legs and a short, broad muzzle.
The coat is dull and brownish over most of the body, lighter on the belly, with darker markings on the chin and throat. The hair on the chest is almost black.

What about our newcomer? This is the 6th Ibex produced by Schleich, and the fourth of 'classic' size. He replaces Schleich 41459, discontinued in 2019.

The style is very different from his predecessors, he is bigger, not really cute, the proportions are rather good, the size of the head is not exaggerated and the smile is discreet.

Our friend's scale varies from 1/13.6 to 1/15.2
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Unfortunately, he also has a few faults in my eyes. The quality of the product is inferior to what was done before, the material is more cheap and my specimen doesn't stand on its four legs, it even tends to lean to the left.

Even if the animal is rather dull, the paintwork on the figurine could have been less so. Previous models were much more glamorous in this respect. Even the quality of the paintwork leaves something to be desired, and I have the unpleasant feeling that it won't last over time.
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In keeping with real life, the large horns are curved towards the rear, with transverse ridges at the front and are smooth at the rear.
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To sum up, I would say that the new Schleich is fairly realistic, but that the paintwork and the quality of the material could be improved.

And finally, two family portraits

With my 1/15 scale European fauna
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With other goats at 1/15 scale
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I think the key of the huge Schleich success was the finish quality a good number of years ago. Even figures unrealistically sculpted gave a pleasant feeling of quality. This is an aspect in which Papo and Safari fell short while trying to compete with the German brand. Safari failed due to its paintings with few color transitions that didn't work well for most figures, and Papo was very inconsistent, presenting figures with exquisite finishes like the first lionesses and others that were absolutely disastrous.
It is extremely useful to have these superb photographs as a visit card for Schleich's new figures. I like the figure, but perhaps I can resist the temptation to acquire it. First, because I already have two figures of this species from the same brand, and the one from the mountain animals set pleases me a lot. Besides, we are still waiting to see what sensations the sumptuous interpretation from CollectA will bring us. But this is always easy to say; Schleich figures appear in front of us all the time, and there is always that day when we cannot avoid it.

I don't have any alpine ibex yet!
But I prefer new CollectA 2024 Ibex. It has better position and colour. The Schleich's one is too bright!

I will still get this one, but if the quality is poor in-hand, I will consider the one by CollectA. The overall 'look' of the CollectA version just doesn't appeal to me.

I rather like this one. The main reason is his face. It looks very realistic. Ibex have goat-like faces and the face of this ibex very much reminds me of the goats I had as a child.

I really like the sculpt of this figure. I have the 3 previous Schleich ibex and I like them very much. I think the biggest downside of this figure is the paint application. It looks unfinished? Hopefully I will find one in hand with some better paint.

Thank you so much for the walkaround!

bmathison1972 wrote:

I will still get this one, but if the quality is poor in-hand, I will consider the one by CollectA. The overall 'look' of the CollectA version just doesn't appeal to me.

I promess some comparison pics as soon as I catch the CollectA

rogerpgvg wrote:

I rather like this one. The main reason is his face. It looks very realistic. Ibex have goat-like faces and the face of this ibex very much reminds me of the goats I had as a child.

The sculpt is good I agree but the painting is a miss for me, the samefor the balance. Whether you like the brand or not, Schleich is known for its well-finished models, but that's not really the case with this one.

Joliezac wrote:

I really like the sculpt of this figure. I have the 3 previous Schleich ibex and I like them very much. I think the biggest downside of this figure is the paint application. It looks unfinished? Hopefully I will find one in hand with some better paint.

Thank you so much for the walkaround!

You're welcome I wish you to find a better painted model but I'm not sure you will succeed.