Schleich 2013 wishes and predictions

schleich are weird in 2013 they like familes but they are retiring the moose and calf leaving that male a loner i dont like 2013 ideas but thank god the hippo has gone

SilkySky wrote:

Hi everyone,
I just noticed on the Schleich website that they have the Collector Items for 2013 marked already!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
It seems strange to me that so many of the new figures from 2012 are being retired already- the Heroes, and many of the Farm People too. Lots of Arelan Elves are being retired too, it looks like I'll have to purchase all the ones I'm missing before they're impossible to find!!

I'm in shock. I already have them, but they're retiring lots of nice wildlife items (kudu, tapir, badger, moose...) and lots of marine life.
Does it means that will we have also LOTS of new wildlife items? I think not

ana wrote:

Thank You for the link. It's not good news to me, I wanted this torak bear and porcupine but probably I will not be able to buy them

Maybe they will be as lonely animals in wildlife series

Did you notice how much items are going to be retired next year. Without the smurfs 154 figures.

I don't like that they are going to break families, but thats may a possibility that we'll see new animal species in 2013. And my info that I got a few months ago is true. The new heroes are leaving the range in 2013.

Bye bye new heros, bayala arelan and medievals knights :)

Abu Rai wrote:

I'm in shock. I already have them, but they're retiring lots of nice wildlife items (kudu, tapir, badger, moose...) and lots of marine life.
Does it means that will we have also LOTS of new wildlife items? I think not

My reaction is exactly like Joan's. I'm really surprised they are eliminating great wildlife figures like the Yak, the Kudu, and Badger, to name a few examples. I love the Moose family, but I suppose that the Cow and Calf don't sell as well, so it makes sense that they are keeping the male Moose and the female Kangaroo.

The Marine Life purge surprises me even more. The Great White Shark? Surely that's a good seller.

I suspect (and from my own point of view, fear) that Schleich has discovered that the Fantasy lines sell much better than the Wildlife and Domestic animals lines, and that they are putting more of their energies into the Fantasy lines and dialing back on the animals.

If that is the case (it's just my worry, I don't know whether it is what's happening), then we shouldn't expect to see Schleich bringing out lots of new and interesting animals. They'll stick with their tried and true sellers -- e.g. the female Kangaroo, the female African Rhino -- and we'll have to look to companies like Mojo and CollectA to offer us interesting wildlife. I love Mojo and CollectA and I'm glad they exist. But I also have really enjoyed Schleich's contributions and will be disappointed to see this change in direction, if it occurs.

We'll have to wait and see what new animals they release to find out I suppose.

Of course if lots of Elves are being retired too, then who knows what Schleich is up to.

who knows.

they are taking things out randomily now

Good, that i collect the sharks in the summer. ^^

Maybe we see a new great white? Please a female.

Paka wrote:

Good, that i collect the sharks in the summer. ^^

Maybe we see a new great white? Please a female.

yes and a calf or baby ( or what ever you would call one)

I am really surprised that they're retiring all the heros and complete arelan! maybe schleich is restructuring the lines? I dont think that they will concentrate on the fantasy stuff, at least not more than on the other lines then they wouldnt retire these big pieces like the gladiator with the rhino after only one year.

we will see what will happen, maybe they only change theyre style and want to keep everything "homogen"...

WOW!!! So many great animals ??? Highland cattle?? Kudu???? Wildebeest??? Yak?? Moose cow and calf???
I hope, where will be goddamn strong collection for 2013!!!!

I'm also surprised and... disappointed. Moose family is beautiful, I wanted to get them, but I have never thought they will be retired so fast, as well as gnu, lions, tapir and kudu... I don't know if I will be able to buy them until they will be removed from the offer. This made me very depressed.

Schleich may be trying to make anew start by wiping out most of there animals and restarting with higly detailed, but they would have to choose more carefully as for instance the 2011 bager was high standered quality

Schleich retires items for two reasons: they either replace them(as with the hippo and sealife this year) or they have them at the bottom of the selling list(not enough sells for that item to keep it). So it's all based on commercial success rather than inspiration or any sort of logic. That really disappoints me! :/ I do not exept alot of new animals this year: most likely regular species and more elves.

Today I was in Austria in of the Müller stores and they were already selling some Bayala and Arelan models and even that Elephant attachment at reduced prices (cca. 5 euros less than the usual price). I wondered what the hell is going on and now after seeing this horrible list of retiring models it all makes sense. I don't care about the fantasy models and dinos and humans, but now I have to buy the shark whale and killer whale!

I am really surprised to see so many good figures going.

The whole sea life collection is gone Hopefully this means a whole new sea life line for next year, as this is a very importnat and I would think popular area, hopefully we will see some new figures.

The wildlife seems so strange to me, tapir, kangaroos, warthog, ostrich, camel foal and lions. These were all great figures and I hope they will be replaced. Although FINALLY THE HIPPO IS GONE!! We might see some new hippos in 2013, we can all cross our figures.

I am sad to see the replicasaurus line go, I feared schleich would get rid of this line in favour of cheaper and smaller dinos, shame as I liked them.

Farm life is mixed, some of the older models needed an upgrade, but there are so many newer models going like the geese, highland cattle, swans etc. I am also sad to see the plants and trees go, this wasn't a bad line either. Similarily, the dogs are unusual in choice.

Overall, schleich's choices seem odd, some models shouldn't be retired, it seems as though it is all random and they are doing it just for the sake. I would love to see them being replaced by better ones, but I honestly can't see it. Why spend so much money developing new figures only to take them off the market so soon????

And now let me dream...
What would I do if head the schleich sales department if it were foreseeing a good year for animal collectors?
Well, first I will announce some new features in any website, so buyers know they we're there. After, all retired items (a lot of them) will be announced, foreseeing that people become desperate with many retired ones. Finally I'll announce large and numerous innovations for 2013 that would leave everyone with the impression that it is the best year schleich in years.
Well ... just dreaming

Anyone else starting to worry about Schleich? The new horses are just pathetic. It honestly looks like they've noticed what kind of stuff the newer brands are turning out and just decided they won't even try to compete. The new sealife is fine, but nothing we haven't seen a frillion times before.

2012 made me suspect Schleich was redefining their objective, and now I think it's clear the company has reached a conscious decision to go for quantity and sure sellers, rather than trying anything remotely new. That is certainly understandable, but from a collector's POV a pity nonetheless.
(C'mon Schleich, prove me wrong! ... please?)

I'm with Scott on this one. I am thinking that they will be cutting back on their wildlife and domestic animal lines in favor of the better selling fantasy lines (why else would htey retire SO many of their animal figures?). This worries me though, as I really like Schleich, but then again I have been wanting to branch out in my other comany figures collection, with Mojo Fun at the head of my wishlists. But Schleich had some great figures back in the day, why don't they just compete and try re-releasing some of their older great figures? Their choices to retire this year are really random and seemingly odd... I am starting to doubt their work...

but the arelan and hero figures are completly out next year... seems like these figures didnt sell as good as it was expected... and the knights-line was also smaller every year. I hope that the new knights wont be to much over the top. and, to hope for the best, that schleich just wants to make the number of figurines smaller, so that the quality can improve...
I know, it even sounds like a joke to me. but especially as a toy-product, there are many other brands, and all are cheaper, i think (I can only speak for Germany...). So maybe they will try to show their advantages to explain the higher prices.

I look in the future, not in the past. So i wait for all new stuff and i think, this will liked by me. ^^

The most of the retired figures already here in my home.

I think there is some hope. Unless something is happning. If those figures will be really retired, it means a change of strategy. The first a reduction in families. It could mean that they will introduce a wider diversity of species, I know mainly young members love families but I love diversity. So, to open space to risky selling figures, they also need to descontinue some bad selling figures, like the kudu, tapir or yak, for example. What I'm not sure is if it would represent an increasing in quality. Yak, kudu and badger are, in my opinion, the top3 of recent Schleich figures. What I'm afraid is if they are thinking in presenting more best selling animals in different poses, like more elephants, lions, wolves, etc. Anyway, better that than more fantasy figures.
I hope Schleich will react to better ranges of CollectA and Mojo this year and approach Papo and Safari in realism. :)

I simply meant that they go for realism and some more unique species as in the past, Schleich was the first to introduce an oryx, as far as I know, and the quality of those older figures is great. I hope, as roger stated, that they go for uniqueness and diversity as CollectA and Mojo Fun, but try for realism of Papo or Safari ltd. (although I feel all those companies have uniqueness and realism in their own way). I just hope that Schleich doesn't not only focus on fantasy, but also does not foget their animal lines. :)

Saarlooswolfhound wrote:

I simply meant that they go for realism and some more unique species as in the past, Schleich was the first to introduce an oryx, as far as I know, and the quality of those older figures is great. I hope, as roger stated, that they go for uniqueness and diversity as CollectA and Mojo Fun, but try for realism of Papo or Safari ltd. (although I feel all those companies have uniqueness and realism in their own way). I just hope that Schleich doesn't not only focus on fantasy, but also does not foget their animal lines. :)

It's so good to feel like a very old man SCHLEICH was the first to introduce an oryx after several older companies indeed

About thinking that SCHLEICH will concentrate his strategy on Fantasy, we already know there will be new species in horses and sea life

It seems it is not the end of SCHLEICH animal lines and it means we don't need to call our forum STS for "somethingelse Tier sammler"

Maybe following or adopting Japanese company strategies " Shorter product cycle".