Gaschers Collectors Guide to Schleich Animals

Well - sorry for bothering you with all my questions on subjects that must be absolutely trivial for you

But I now sit with my "bible" - the Collectors catalog from Gaschers...... and I am wondering :

How will I be able to recognize the "minis", the "classics", "the authentics" etc....???? I mean - if I find a bunch of "small plastic creatures" on a market place...... can I imediately tell it's a Schleich?
The "normal" size schleich has schleich, the production year etc printed, that much I know already!
But what about the others? They seem so small, so it seems impossible that they can have name and production year "printed"...... but maybe I'm wrong?

And some of them have been produced by AAA or Safari - and then sold by Schleich??

It is a confusing - but fascinating - new world for me, and I can't wait to explore the unknown areas

Hope someone will take the time to help me out here !!

Thanks,
Margit

Hello Margit. First off, the Gaschers guide is replete with errors. In fact, some of the photos listed there are of figures other than what is listed. Please ignore the "valuations" posted there, as they are woefully inaccurate. Also, the Guide does not list or show most of the many variations of many figures, which are sometimes tied to the location of the manufacture site, and sometimes only indicated by differences in the size and/or painting of the figurine.

The minis are quite small - less than an inch in length, and the Authentics are generally 1.5-2.0 inches in length. Figurines from these series should be easily identifiable otherwise, as they are quite different, in a qualitative sense, from the major Schleich lines. The Authentics were a joint venture with Safari, Ltd., which manufactured them. Schleich licensed them, so they are also a Schleich line, although they will read "Safari, Ltd. China CE" along with the name of the creature represented, either on the bottom or the side of the figurine.

Some of the Safari, Ltd. "Vanishing Wild Life" series was also licensed by Schleich, and so, as with the Authentics, those particular figures have Schleich numbers as well. You can see which figures are cross-licensed by visiting Torben's webpage, which shows all of these except for the oryx antelope, which is also Schleich-licensed.

AAA is a Chinese manufacturer of figurines which has its own rather extensive lines of fauna. Only certain sealife figures were licensed by Schleich and assigned Schleich numbers. There are three such lines, in addition to a single line of sealife figures made by Portuguese company Maia y Borges. These figures can be identified by size (length), as indicated at Torben's site.

Collectively, these cross-licensed lines are referred to in German as fremdserien. I would also note that there is a long-running series of
gmünder fasnet figures displayed on the Tierwelten site which were
manufactured, some by Schleich, and some by Bullyland. These are classic buildings in Schwäbisch Gmünd, the home of Schleich AG, which are reproduced for attachment to keychains and distributed to attendees of the yearly Fasnet festival there.

Schleichtiersammler (Torben's site) is [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and
Tierwelten is [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] .

Yes, the Schleich sub-cosmos is indeed a very big place, and it is a daunting task to familiarize oneself with its many inhabitants. However, regular study and a voracious appetite will speed your progress in this regard. Also, if you regularly peruse the auction and sofort-kaufen (Buy It Now) listings on eBay.de, you may well find yourself quickly developing real expertise in this regard.

If you wish to, you can always post your questions here in the forum area, as many of us will be more than happy to assist you, or you are also welcome to send me a private message with your questions.

Welcome to the Schleich Sub-Cosmos, which is a most wonderful and complex domain!

Okay, well that was rather incomplete. Safari, Ltd. also did two other huge lines with Schleich, namely the The Carnegie Collection (dinosaurs) and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Collection. Those are also beautifully displayed at Torben's website
([You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] More images for your Schleich identification flash-cards.....

That was perfectly explained by Phil.
The only thing i would like to add, is that in the authenthic and other simular lines can be a Schleich mark under the items.
This is very small, and hard to find on the models.
It is written i a little circle, only the word Schleich.

schleich61 wrote:

Hello Margit. First off, the Gaschers guide is replete with errors. In fact, some of the photos listed there are of figures other than what is listed. Please ignore the "valuations" posted there, as they are woefully inaccurate. Also, the Guide does not list or show most of the many variations of many figures, which are sometimes tied to the location of the manufacture site, and sometimes only indicated by differences in the size and/or painting of the figurine.

The minis are quite small - less than an inch in length, and the Authentics are generally 1.5-2.0 inches in length. Figurines from these series should be easily identifiable otherwise, as they are quite different, in a qualitative sense, from the major Schleich lines. The Authentics were a joint venture with Safari, Ltd., which manufactured them. Schleich licensed them, so they are also a Schleich line, although they will read "Safari, Ltd. China CE" along with the name of the creature represented, either on the bottom or the side of the figurine.

Some of the Safari, Ltd. "Vanishing Wild Life" series was also licensed by Schleich, and so, as with the Authentics, those particular figures have Schleich numbers as well. You can see which figures are cross-licensed by visiting Torben's webpage, which shows all of these except for the oryx antelope, which is also Schleich-licensed.

AAA is a Chinese manufacturer of figurines which has its own rather extensive lines of fauna. Only certain sealife figures were licensed by Schleich and assigned Schleich numbers. There are three such lines, in addition to a single line of sealife figures made by Portuguese company Maia y Borges. These figures can be identified by size (length), as indicated at Torben's site.

Collectively, these cross-licensed lines are referred to in German as fremdserien. I would also note that there is a long-running series of
gmünder fasnet figures displayed on the Tierwelten site which were
manufactured, some by Schleich, and some by Bullyland. These are classic buildings in Schwäbisch Gmünd, the home of Schleich AG, which are reproduced for attachment to keychains and distributed to attendees of the yearly Fasnet festival there.

Schleichtiersammler (Torben's site) is [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and
Tierwelten is [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] .

Yes, the Schleich sub-cosmos is indeed a very big place, and it is a daunting task to familiarize oneself with its many inhabitants. However, regular study and a voracious appetite will speed your progress in this regard. Also, if you regularly peruse the auction and sofort-kaufen (Buy It Now) listings on eBay.de, you may well find yourself quickly developing real expertise in this regard.

If you wish to, you can always post your questions here in the forum area, as many of us will be more than happy to assist you, or you are also welcome to send me a private message with your questions.

Welcome to the Schleich Sub-Cosmos, which is a most wonderful and complex domain!

Hi Phil,

the oryx antelope was never Schleich-licensed. It was one of the first Safari Vanishing Wild models but not sold from Schleich.

Torben

Admin wrote:

Hi Phil,

the oryx antelope was never Schleich-licensed. It was one of the first Safari Vanishing Wild models but not sold from Schleich.

Torben

Ahhh, thanks Torben, as I did not realize that to be the case. No wonder you don't have it listed under "Schleich" on your sister website.

Rule of thumb: If Torben doesn't have it, it's probably NOT Schleich.....

WILLYBACOMAN wrote:

That was perfectly explained by Phil.
The only thing i would like to add, is that in the authenthic and other simular lines can be a Schleich mark under the items.
This is very small, and hard to find on the models.
It is written i a little circle, only the word Schleich.

Good point, Willy! Thanks for cleaning up my omission.

Hi Phil,

i´ve listed the oryx antelope under Safari on my homepage. I still miss the young oryx.

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

Torben

That's a lovely oryx antelope.

THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYBODY, for your very good information!!!


I guess I will have to study Torbens site very very closely..... and then then go on Schleich-hunting )

That is one of the nicest Oryxes in the business so far(when i don't mention the Lineol one... ).

Ok Phil, it was just another extra to all the info you gave...

I am very new to collecting Schleich. Got started by finding a couple horses in baggies at our local Goodwill here in Washington State, USA. I have been searching the internet and found this Post and hope someone is able to help me. I see that there is a book out (2009) Collectors Guide to Schleich Animals. Is this book worth the purchase? Is it correct in its listings? Would love to hear some feedback about it and also if anyone knows where in the USA I could find it? Thanks.

Welcome here Suebeedo! Is your name Sue? I've wanted to get the Schleich Collectors Guide too, but you can buy one here [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and on Schleich Gaschers official site too [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I didn't know there was a book :)

I'd like to know if it is worth the money. Anyone own one ?

I have the book

To me - as a new collector - it is definetely worth the money, since it has opened my eyes to new "areas" in the Schleich world!!!!
I know that there are some mistakes in the book, and also I think that some figures are missing (correct me, if I'm wrong)... but overall I'm very happy that I purchased the book!!

Cheers from a danish collector,
margit

I have one too.

I miss the collour variations by many models. For example horses with different brown collours, only one is mentioned in this book.

It is a good book to be able to see what was available, but not all the information is correct and you cannot go by the prices in the book. The 13241 Super pinto is listed at 160 euros or 210 USD. That is one of the closest in price. The brown pelican is listed at 35 euros or 47 USD. It shows the black and white beagle as 30 euros or 40 USD. (We could all own one at that price.) Most of us know those prices are off. It is a good visual reference to help you be able to identify Schleich items, gives the size and number. I use my book almost daily, but I spend a lot of time looking through it and looking on ebay all over the world searching for a few items I am still missing. It is definately a handy guide. It also includes the other lines like the Carnegie Collection, Authentics, Monterey Bay and Vanishing Wild. As long as you are not using it is a true price guide it is worth it in my opinion.

The book was a first in this field, so for that it was good.
There are no colour-variations in the book, which is important for the real collectors.
And there are many, in the older and even in the newer models.
But for a starter like you, the book is a start and a good guide.
I would use the sites of Torben: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and of the family Strassberger: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] as a guide, even when both of the collectors removed much of the colour-variations on their sites...
I collect animal models since i was 6 years old, so this is about 42 years now.
But i came to Schleich just 4 years ago or so, and these sites helped me very much to see what models were made.

I want to thank everyone for their input about the book and where I could purchase one since I found it wasn't available in the USA. I did end up buying one through the Gascher site and was delighted when it took less than 10 days to get here! It will be a good first book for me ~ a newby. Thanks again all. Sue

Hello, Suebeedo. The Gascher's Guide is the only published book of its kind, but you should know that it is replete with errors and the price quotations are useless. However, it should be of use to any collector, especially if you're new to the Schleich sub-cosmos.

Yes, someone mentioned that, but I plan on writing my own prices in it. :) So it is nice to have a collection of photos with approx. dates of manufacturing at least. Sue

Suebeedo wrote:

Yes, someone mentioned that, but I plan on writing my own prices in it. :) So it is nice to have a collection of photos with approx. dates of manufacturing at least. Sue

Yes, and pictures help a lot too.

I agree with all of the other collectors here, that the book still has some use in one or the other way.
And most of the Schleich collectors, want everything what has a connection with Schleich, from paper bags, catalogues and so on, so you could have it for only that reason...

We should all come together and publish our own book I'm sure this forum knows pretty much all about Schleich.

I expect that in the future there will be a more accurate book available and it will be HUGE! Of course not every Schleich item that has been made is in the book. I just saw on ebay.com a toy set called "Yakari" new in box (course the box is aged) as a Buy it Now. It is out of Australia but they will ship anywhere. For you die hard collectors that are missing only a few items is this one you are missing? Also the babies aren't in the catalogue either. It is nice to have some idea as to what is out there though. Happy hunting! :)