Worst piece 2012

I never knew Schleich could be so research-less. Did you see the "Asian Magical Being"?
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OK, it looks pretty. BUT DOES IT LOOK ASIAN? Not to me! Not only it isn't precisely named ("asian magical being"; what being? pfff...), but the only hoofed mythical asian animal I know is the qi-lin. But look at the ORIGINAL ASPECT OF THE QI-LIN:
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Do you sincerely find it resemblant? I DON'T!!! Schleich not only didn't make enough research to name its creature properly, but they even didn't represent it properly.

Bleah.

In fact, the creature the "Asian Magical Being" looks like the most is the YALE, or CENTICORE. The Centicore looks like a hybrid between a horse and a mountain goat, with boar tusks. It has the capacity to rotate its horns from behind to forward and vice versa when it fights, says the legend. Here is a pic of the Centicore:
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To me, THIS animal looks a lot like the Schleich so-called "Asian Magical Being", a lot more than the actual magical asian hoofed being, the qi-lin. If Schleich called their creature "the CENTICORE", I would have said it's a fine piece. But not as an "Asian Magical Being". A very unprecised name for a creature that does not look asian at all.

What do you think?

You are right !
It is like they have tried to make some over-cute Harry Potter creature

Mhh, it may become very popular among little girls , - big, dark eyes and gold and such.
But let`s see it. Sometimes the actual models isn`t like the pictures from the catalogue

Hands(Hoofs) down the zorse!

I was thinking between the CollectA red panda, Schleich new polar bear or African elephant or any of the repaintings like CollectA white lions or Papo white crocodiles. But choosing only one I'll choose the Papo tylosaurus, a perfect aberration!

Aw come on Balti, the "Asian Magical Being" is much worse than the poor little zorse!

-Kristie

I agree the magical being is just so wierd looking!

SUSANNE wrote:

You are right !
It is like they have tried to make some over-cute Harry Potter creature

Mhh, it may become very popular among little girls , - big, dark eyes and gold and such.
But let`s see it. Sometimes the actual models isn`t like the pictures from the catalogue

OK, to be more resmblant to an actual qi-lin than the catalog's pic, the so-called "Magical Asian being" would have to:
1- Be scaly instead of hairy
2- Have pointy canines in a big mouth instead of a small mouth
3- Have a mustache (qi-lins have a mustache)
4- have a jaw-long beard
5- Have a human-like nose

In other words, the catalog's picture has to be a totally different figure. Pretty unlikely that a camera can be so bad, its picture of a lion looked like the one of an octopus, don't you think?

Kristie wrote:

Aw come on Balti, the "Asian Magical Being" is much worse than the poor little zorse!

-Kristie

That's right: at least, THE ZORSE CLEARLY REPRESENTS A ZORSE. The "Magical Asian Being" looks like anything, but an actual asian magical being.

Like many companies, don't you think they should have mandatory drug testing for the figure concept team before they make the figures...
"Asian Magical Being" is horrible(But I don't collect the fantasy figures), but I still think the zorse is lousy!

I'm thinking it's basically the bastard offspring of a heraldic unicorn and a Melody Pena kirin, with a dash of MLP thown in.

I must say I kind of like this Asian magical animal and also forest unicorn, I will not buy them as I don't collect fantasy, but anyway these 2 are for me not the worst. They are fantasy creatures after all so it was nothing wrong if the author used more imagination (or imagination helpers ) and the effect is quite cute... Maybe only name "Asian" doesn't fit, but it's only name...

If I would choose worst of fantasy it would be one of the elfes, unanatomical Magnolia elf or Lotus elf, they are so ugly As well as the Anemone twins

But if I choose from wildlife I also dislike the red panda by CollectA and zorse by Papo. Which one is worse from these 2? Well, I vote for red panda

Sumo wrote:

I'm thinking it's basically the bastard offspring of a heraldic unicorn and a Melody Pena kirin, with a dash of MLP thown in.

I saw Melody's Kirin and I never liked it either: it does NOT look like a kirin! So, using this as a kirin model, it's like using a Cyclops model to make a Centaur...

If they want to make it acceptable, they HAVE GOT TO rebaptise it! As a Centicore, it would be largely acceptable.

(I feel sorry for a piece of plastic. So much hate :'( )

I don't understand all this fuss around the Asian creature. Of course everyone has right to their opinion, but when I first saw the figure, I instantly knew it was inspired by Asian culture (I found out only later its name). To me it looks very much Asian. Definitely not traditional, but a mix of modern and traditional culture. Maybe influenced by the Japanese cute culture.

And it's a mythical creature, so the rendition doesn't have to be "accurate", because no-one has seen one. Also, myths change as time passes. There are already multiple variations of Kirin in popular culture. And I think that Schleich didn't want to make a creature that already exists, but their own, because it fits their fairy world better...

And btw it doesn't say it's a Qilin/Kirin, it's only an Asian inspired creature to a brand's fantasy line... I think the figure is rather nice, but there's something in the pose and the back that slopes down that bugs me... It's definitely not in the worst figures list for me.


I think that this is far more worse...
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Yes, this dog looks bloody stupid. I think Schleich could create much more nicer crossbreed dogs.

My favourite for the worst Schleich figur is the dancing Marween. She looks like someone has broke her neck and turned her heas around

And I wonder why the the asian magical being didn´t get a name. The older elves and dragons all got nice names and this one not.

very unimaginative, I think.

You are right Stitch-Frank ! If only that creature had had a name, nobody would have thougt it is "wrong".

Krista, you are right also about the creature...as always

However I sort of like that doggie.
One of my friends once had a "Cane da pastore Bergamasco"-dog. An awfully cute and loving dog.
It could look like there is a bit of Bergie in that crossbred Schleich
You can see some * here * in case you do not know the breed

I know the 2012 horses are not hugely popular with many of us this year, but I honestly think the icey foal is the worst. Still not in my herd.

Bowhead Whale wrote:

Sumo wrote:

I'm thinking it's basically the bastard offspring of a heraldic unicorn and a Melody Pena kirin, with a dash of MLP thown in.

I saw Melody's Kirin and I never liked it either: it does NOT look like a kirin! So, using this as a kirin model, it's like using a Cyclops model to make a Centaur...

If they want to make it acceptable, they HAVE GOT TO rebaptise it! As a Centicore, it would be largely acceptable.

Melody's Ki-Rin was never intended to represent a traditional Asian Kirin (I should ask her what her inspiration was, but I think they are just her own personal interperitation of what a kirin might look like if it was a real animal). However, she is currently working on a Chinese Foo Dog that is based off of traditional "foo dogs".

SUSANNE wrote:

You are right Stitch-Frank ! If only that creature had had a name, nobody would have thougt it is "wrong".

Krista, you are right also about the creature...as always ;)

However I sort of like that doggie. :scratch:
One of my friends once had a "Cane da pastore Bergamasco"-dog. An awfully cute and loving dog.
It could look like there is a bit of Bergie in that crossbred Schleich :D
You can see some * here * in case you do not know the breed :roll:

I think that the dog is sorta cute too, but they could have made the fur look a bit better. To me it looks too unrealistic compared to all the other Schleich animals..
And thanks for showing pics of bergie dogs! They're cute!

After a long search, I found this old picture of "Basco". It was taken in 1981, when he was only a big puppy
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He DOES look like that Schleich-dog, I think

Sorry, this next one is completely outside the subject, but isn`t it cute ?
The whippet was my first dog, Silver.
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She looks very thin in the picture. Whippets can sort of "shrink", when they are not completely happy with the situation

those are great photos Susanne! (That whippet looks like she is shivering.)

scot(t) wrote:

those are great photos Susanne! (That whippet looks like he is shivering.)

You are right !
Silver was Olympic standard expert in shivering when something did not please her

Great photos and lovely dogs, Susanne! I love vintage black&white photos! Thanks for posting!

That first dog looks a bit like the Schleich dog, indeed! haha :D<3

I love whippets <3

stitch wrote:

Yes, this dog looks bloody stupid. I think Schleich could create much more nicer crossbreed dogs.

My favourite for the worst Schleich figur is the dancing Marween. She looks like someone has broke her neck and turned her heas around

And I wonder why the the asian magical being didn´t get a name. The older elves and dragons all got nice names and this one not.

very unimaginative, I think.

That is exactly what I meant: BE SPECIFIC, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE. "Asian Mythical Being" should have been called either "Centicore" or "Zlatorog". Zlatorog is a slavic white chamois with golden horns, which's horns are the key to a treasure hidden in slavic mountains. "Asian Mythical Being" could have been called "Zlatorog" and I wouldn't have said so bad things about it. So, it's really the name "Asian Mythical Being" that bothers me much. "Slavic Mythical Being" (Zlatorog) or "European Mythical Being" (Centicore) would have been better names for the figure.

By the way, Kristaru, you are absolutely right about the mix-bred dog from Schleich: it looks like a mop to clean the floor with. Bleah!

Asian Mythical Being ... NOT Kirin, but the "friendly" aspect of a Kami, similar to the one in the film "Princess Mononoko". It would be nice if they also made a model of the "angry" aspect.

Lesley
castlerigg