Schleich colour variations

Saarlooswolfhound wrote:

I could be wrong, but I am uncertain that these are "variations" in paint color rather than toys thay have been played with in the bathtub and have residue from soap on them...

I promise you, those were first bought that way in the stores in 2006 and had tags on it, as a young boy i cut the tags away for playability and I never soaped on them in a bathtub.

In 2007 there where many factory errors from products made in China (not just schleich) because of lead paint, even some were announced in public news because of health hazard for children. I don't want to start fake news or something.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] here is a little article about this subject.

But I think every now and then some "factory errors" are a common sight on the market, it is human to make mistakes, somethimes it could also happen to Schleich, thats why we see sometimes some variations, we normaly wouldn't see.

My personal thought: I think they somehow these figures bypassed the safety standards from the factories in China, because all were made in China.

For further research, it would be nice if anyone has figures painted that way would share some pictures. Thank you.

Some of these are variations however not special as it is not that rare. Have you washed them? Had some come through i thought was variation, but then showed to be old soap stuck in the holes made me feel stupid ^^

Thank you for reviving this topic. I'm not sure if the subject will regain the enthusiasm of the past when most collectors were exclusively dedicated to Schleich, and in the gaps between new releases, the discovery of variations helped keep the collector's fever alive. I enjoy the subject more from the perspective of understanding the production process. I have no idea about the value and rarity, but I believe the idea will be more about the search for figures that present some tangible differences. It may also be useful for those seeking a more attractive variant. I remember the gull sold locally in shops was painted in a very poor layout and someone presented at the time a much more attractive variation. I've never got it myself. I also enjoy those sculpts which are available for a long time, the respective injection molds get worn and they need to be replaced. New injection molds are never an exact copy because a new resin sculpt has to be made and it is impossible to make it exactly alike and sometimes also because the brand decides to use the chance to fix little things. Those are like new models even if they are not anounced as new products.

a6point62 wrote:

Some of these are variations however not special as it is not that rare. Have you washed them? Had some come through i thought was variation, but then showed to be old soap stuck in the holes made me feel stupid ^^

Maybe they became dirty in factory and they just washed it off there and didn't want to get rid of them before shipping out to stores, thats why they might look that way.

I bought them new back in stores, when they where released and they looked that way. At that time I thought they looked strange [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] but I really grew to like and appreciate them for what they are.

One of these stores were I bought them was called "Trio - Der Spielwaren- und Freizeitmarkt" it had simalar concept like Toys "R" Us/smyths toys. -> they even sold schleich before Toys "R" Us/ now Smyths Toys started sellling them here in the German/Austrian Region -> short history

Personaly I am a fan of variants, it gives these figures even more life and uniqueness. :)

I believe their are still variants from the past and now, which we haven't even found yet.
Like they prototype Kudu 14136 shown in the 1997 catalog, the years followed they changed the product picture, it looks very different to what we actually got (for exemple the head and neck looks different). There are very good pictures of him on the first page, even some comparision pictures but the protoype still looks different. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Some more colour variants:


Trakehner Mare
Productnumber: 13261
Availability: 2002- 2007

Mine are
Made in China
Made in Portugal

I know there are many variants made from this figure not just Schleich, nowadys Maia & Borges sells them under there line.

Here are some pictures:
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Many Schleich moulds have a lot to tell. I've seen through several collectors large congas of models which presented color variations of the regular models, more the exclusive from sets, the special editions and sometimes even differently branded.