The fantastic Arab mare 13221 , - a REAL variation :-D

I was looking for the dark variant of the old Hannoveranian foal, and then I saw the arab mare..it looked BROWN !

Me, oh my, - I have been disapointed so often. Usually it is just the picture on Ebay that distorts the colour  

But this time it exceeded my wildest expectaitions - it is a REAL variant  

First of all, the new  (old) one IS brown  
I managed to take this picture outdoors to show the colour, but it is icy cold today, and storming. So the rest of the pictures are taken indoors by artificial light  
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I got the dark hannoveranian foal from the same seller, - look, it is exactly the same colour as the arab mare.
It has been painted over, - but I am sure it was done by Schleich.
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Look at the difference in the mould. My old, black one is made in China, the new one in Germany.
The Chinese one has a quite different hairstyle  
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And different ears  
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Congratulations Susanne!!

Wow! What a lovely pair of ladies, and what an interesting set of differences! The different manes makes me wonder if the two molds have been made from completely different prototypes altogether.

Congrats Susanne! Mine is brown like your new one. And also made in Germany. :)

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-Kristie

Thankyou, Andreas

Sumo, good point.
The funny thing is that it seems that the black one (China) is in the `95 catalogue, and the brown one is in the later ones, - I will scan pictures tomorrow, it is very late now

Aaarw, Kristie, that mare is BEAUTYFUL, - almost like new ! And your picture, wow

It would mean that this mare sold very well and they made a new mould as a copy from the previous one. Even factory moulds have a limit and sometimes brands to keep the figure in their lines they need to make another mould that is a copy from the previous. Obviously it always result in some differences and in that figure they are really noticiable in terms of sculpting.
That's an interesting variant and fortunately from a horse with an exciting pose although the head is a little bit funny!
Congratulations Susanne!

Congratulations Susanne! I thought mould normally is standard!

wow breath taking

Thankyou Ken and Pip

Roger wrote:

It would mean that this mare sold very well and they made a new mould as a copy from the previous one. Even factory moulds have a limit and sometimes brands to keep the figure in their lines they need to make another mould that is a copy from the previous. Obviously it always result in some differences and in that figure they are really noticiable in terms of sculpting.
That's an interesting variant and fortunately from a horse with an exciting pose although the head is a little bit funny!
Congratulations Susanne!

You may be right, Roger, - but from my 15 years experience in the plastic tool-business, a plastic mould can make A LOT, - I mean hundreds of thousands - of models before it is worn at all. The moulds are made from steel, and the melted plastic doesn`t wear them at all.

Perhaps your other point is the one. The head of this horse does look a bit funnt, - especially the black one had a very strange head. The German mould could be an attempt to make it better

But what ever the reason, I suppose we will never know

Wow, that's very interesting variation of beautiful horse, congratulations Susanne!! I'm happy to see Your collection of variants growing and this new item is great!

Thankyou VERY much, Ana

SUSANNE wrote:

Thankyou Ken and Pip

Roger wrote:

It would mean that this mare sold very well and they made a new mould as a copy from the previous one. Even factory moulds have a limit and sometimes brands to keep the figure in their lines they need to make another mould that is a copy from the previous. Obviously it always result in some differences and in that figure they are really noticiable in terms of sculpting.
That's an interesting variant and fortunately from a horse with an exciting pose although the head is a little bit funny!
Congratulations Susanne!

You may be right, Roger, - but from my 15 years experience in the plastic tool-business, a plastic mould can make A LOT, - I mean hundreds of thousands - of models before it is worn at all. The moulds are made from steel, and the melted plastic doesn`t wear them at all.

Perhaps your other point is the one. The head of this horse does look a bit funnt, - especially the black one had a very strange head. The German mould could be an attempt to make it better

But what ever the reason, I suppose we will never know

That's a very valide point, Susanne! :)
The moulds of these kind of detailed figures can really make thousands of figures but with time the figures start loosing some detail, we can see some almost textureless figures, mainly in models there are in catalogue for a long time. Remember also that Schleich sells very well. :)
I also believe that sometimes they make more than a mould when they launch a figure that they expect that will sell a lot. Recently you showed a Schleich horse with 2 or 3 variations and one of them was smaller. If that's true, it is incredible once to make a mould is a huge investment.

You are right, - and they certainly make different moulds for the different countries they make them in, - like the later giraffes, the old husky, the old Labrador etc

I wished I had a better camera, - the old Arab foal is a good example.
But it is almost impossible for me to take pictures of black models, that show any detail

SUSANNE wrote:

You are right, - and they certainly make different moulds for the different countries they make them in, - like the later giraffes, the old husky, the old Labrador etc

I wished I had a better camera, - the old Arab foal is a good example.
But it is almost impossible for me to take pictures of black models, that show any detail

That shall be terrible when a photographer is much better than her camera! Your pictures are excelent so you make some little miracles. :)
Schleich changed a lot in these last years. Actually all Schleich sculptors are Chinese. Even horse sculptors. I believe that this Arabian was not sculpted by a general sculptor but from someone more used with horses. I cannot judge the morphology but it has an Arabian spirit that I appreciate. Wonderful movement it has!
Of course I don't intend to say that Chinese sculptors are not good. My favourite Wild life figures for 2012 are in CollectA and Mojo ranges, all made by Chinese sculptors. But I still believe that such specific series like horses need someone more expertised, Chinese or not!

Roger wrote:

My favourite Wild life figures for 2012 are in CollectA and Mojo ranges, all made by Chinese sculptors.

Anna is Polish Chinese?

skysthelimit wrote:

Roger wrote:

My favourite Wild life figures for 2012 are in CollectA and Mojo ranges, all made by Chinese sculptors.

Anna is Polish Chinese?

Congratulations Susanne! The brown mare is gorgeous!!

Thankyou very much, Scott

Robertbert, you are wonderfully crazy

skysthelimit wrote:

Roger wrote:

My favourite Wild life figures for 2012 are in CollectA and Mojo ranges, all made by Chinese sculptors.

Anna is Polish Chinese?

Has she sculpted any 2012 Mojo Wild Life figure? Hmmm, you are better informed than me...

Roger wrote:

skysthelimit wrote:

Roger wrote:

My favourite Wild life figures for 2012 are in CollectA and Mojo ranges, all made by Chinese sculptors.

Anna is Polish Chinese?

Has she sculpted any 2012 Mojo Wild Life figure? Hmmm, you are better informed than me...

I didn't, but any of the horse can come back to the wild

Roger, I'm not sure if all wildlife by Mojo was sculpted by Chinese sculptor, I think some were sculpt by British sculptor, but I'm not 100% sure
About the Schleich, I remember talking with Barricade (member of this forum) who personally knows one Schleich sculptor, German sculptor

Ana, it should be a very rare and retired sculptor Made in Germany!

Roger wrote:

Ana, it should be a very rare and retired sculptor Made in Germany!

Don't be so cruel Rogerio