What is collecta ?

Hi y`all,
Can anybody tell me a little about Collecta? I only heard about them a few weeks ago.
Like, where are they made? Who makes them? How old is the brand? How are they, compared to Schleich, - price, material ? Anything, I would be most grateful.

Susanne

The collecta's I have, the plastic is quite hard, not soft like Schleich. They have some beautiful models, I have the Mute Swan and Bison and they're fantastic.
I find collectA a lot more pricey than Papo or Schleich myself. Some of their animals aren't that great, but others as I said are amazing.
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WOW! They are gorgeous, esp the swan !
And fantastic shots
Thanks for sharing !

How do you put photoes into your messages ? I have tried to make a Flickr-account and a serving.com account to upload photoes, but it does not work. I am an old computer-illiterate, I know

SUSANNE wrote:

WOW! They are gorgeous, esp the swan !
And fantastic shots
Thanks for sharing !

How do you put photoes into your messages ? I have tried to make a Flickr-account and a serving.com account to upload photoes, but it does not work. I am an old computer-illiterate, I know

Glad the pictures helped, I just love these two. The mute Swan is the best swan I've seen yet.

Well I use [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] which Willy helped me with when I first posted pictures here. But it's quite simple, I'm registered there now as if you're not, after a while your photos will disappear, so it is best to register with them.
But if you don't want to register this is how you do it...
On the page which I linked to, you'll see a box which at the side says "Browse" click that and get your picture from your computer then add it, after the address appears in the box press "Hochladen". That takes you to another page where you will see your picture on to top left. Under this heading "BB-Codes (für Foren, Gästebücher):" there are three boxes with codes in, choose the one next to this "BB-Code in Originalgröße:". Then copy the code in the box and paste it into your thread!
I hope I explained that alright

A bit about our recent acquisitions of the CollectA and discussion of these figurines you can read in the thread below ---"Our first animals to CollectA"----. As I have written Harriet are made of plastic, hard, and those models that are in the pictures are well painted. IMHO values are comparable with Schleich. All the models that we bought are very good and particularly the swan, falcon, Spoonbill, bison. Anyway, I'll write what I see pictures.We are very well-liked and complement Schleich animal world. In Poland, the figures are cheaper than Collecta Schleich and Papo figures (40-50%).

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WOW!
Harriet, I did it, I did it !!!!!!!
See the little classic-bull !
Now I can put pictures in as well

SUSANNE wrote:

WOW!
Harriet, I did it, I did it !!!!!!!
See the little classic-bull !
Now I can put pictures in as well

Yippee, that's great Susanne! The bull is really nice too!

CollectA is a new brand of United Kingdom, it is producing animals simce 2006 (I supose).
The first animals have generaly poor quality but it is improoving in the last years.
From olders are some interesting... barn owl, badger, otter, etc.
The improovement are visible matching the lions. The 2010 lions are much better than earliers.
The mute swan is not a reference because it's one of the best figurines of all brands. In my oppinion is far best than new Schleich and Papo.
The swan is not representative of the general quality of CollectA.
The plastics are harder than other brands but in some figurines that's very nice and it uses different plastics in different animals. For example, wild boars are of a very dry plastic while tylosaurus is made of a softer versions. It works very well because it's a prehistoric marine animal. In mammoth the tusks are bery soft while the body is very heavy and hard. In 1:15 huge t-rex is diferent too! In general is more similar to Schleich than Bully or Papo.
The balance is correct, in my oppinion CollectA is the best in this point.
The brand has the biggest range of dinosaurs, but, of course, not always up to mark because it works with very recent species. For example there is already a gigantoraptor a dino discovered in 2007!!!! Some are very nice like 1:6 velociraptor but in this matter things are always changing.
The finishing is not as good as Schleich, Papo or Bully, but similar to Safari???
The painting is improoving along the years but are variations of quality in the same model! You have to choose carefully.
The new horses are dramatically better than the old ones and probabily it will be the best in near future!
It has more than 40 dogs and 12 cats.
If you want only few pay atention to bison, moose, cape buffalo, new lions, babboons, mallards, etc.
Don't forget that it is my oppinion...

Hi, Roger,

Thanks for this very good introduction.
It sounds like they have a future for collectors, - maybe the first ones will be rare and expensive some day. Esp if they are not very perfect so that few were sold

One of my friends has persuaded his Schleich-toyshop-owner (long word) to get some in her shop.
He is getting the gazehounds - Afghan hound and Greyhound - with puppies, and the siamese cats for me. I look very much forward to getting them but have no idea when this will be.

Do you know them?

Thanks again,
Susanne

SUSANNE wrote:

Hi, Roger,

Thanks for this very good introduction.
It sounds like they have a future for collectors, - maybe the first ones will be rare and expensive some day. Esp if they are not very perfect so that few were sold

One of my friends has persuaded his Schleich-toyshop-owner (long word) to get some in her shop.
He is getting the gazehounds - Afghan hound and Greyhound - with puppies, and the siamese cats for me. I look very much forward to getting them but have no idea when this will be.
Do you know them?
Thanks again,
Susanne

This is a true collector thought... so the old lion was already retired from 2010 catalogue and I have it.
I'm not the best person to talk about dogs and cats but I know the Afghan hound and the siamese cats.
They are beautifull but I can't tell you if they are realistic... maybe other people in this forum are more helpfull in this point.
Anyway see the photos

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with the Bullyland persian Princess and Schleich cat...
As you see is not perfect but the others are not too!

Thankyou for a lovely picture. I just love that bully-cat, and the Schleichone is actually one of their best, I think ;-)

The CollectA- siamese is a bit too rough, Siamese are very elegant. But I must have it, I adore Siamese cats.

This one is realistic, - but it is cheating, I know It is my beloved Mummi sitting with a Schleich oryx

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Your pussy cat is beautiful Susanne!

Susanne, your cat it's by far more realistic than the ones in my photos!!!

If you are collecting cats i think the best choice is to buy all. There are only few in the market...
Do you have the Bully and Schleich siameses?

Yes I have the schleich ones :

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Actually I would like to ask if there really is a dark and a light version, or if the dark one just comes from a smoker`s home ? I have tried to wash her but she doesn`t get any lighter..

Oh yes, I would love all the collecta-cats, but where to buy tthem ????

The Bully Siamese, - I used to have have her, but da... if I can find her. It is a sitting cat isn`t it ?

Susanne

PS thanks for comments to Mummi. She thinks (knows) she is gorgeous, but always loves any compliment ;-)

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Actually I would like to ask if there really is a dark and a light version, or if the dark one just comes from a smoker`s home ? I have tried to wash her but she doesn`t get any lighter..

Hi Susanne, I don't have any knowledge about there being a light or dark version as I don't own that cat, but do know that plastics can absorb smoke causing them to smell. I once purchased second-hand a string of white beads to hang on the Christmas tree not realizing they smelled until I removed them from the baggie that they were in. They stunk! I ended up throwing them out. How many people would know to smell something first?
Mummi is gorgeous. Is she a good watch-cat? I have heard that Siamese are good guard cats. It looks like she is doing a good job guarding the Schleich! She probably guards the house too when laying on the windowsill in the sun!

SUSANNE wrote:

Yes I have the schleich ones :

Thanks for the pic!

Actually I would like to ask if there really is a dark and a light version, or if the dark one just comes from a smoker`s home ? I have tried to wash her but she doesn`t get any lighter..

Try to see if they are made in the same country, sometimes it means different painting... but I know that Willy and Ken, in this forum has some cats like yours. This model was only 4 or 5 years in market

Oh yes, I would love all the collecta-cats, but where to buy tthem ????
Try here:
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The Bully Siamese, - I used to have have her, but da... if I can find her. It is a sitting cat isn`t it ?
Yes, it a sitting cat like the other collectA siamese
Susanne

PS thanks for comments to Mummi. She thinks (knows) she is gorgeous, but always loves any compliment ;-)

And she'd loved certainly have mor little friends!!!

WOW !

You even have a Danish site for me !!!!!

Thanks a heap !!!!

I found the Bully Siamese ! In the box of schleich Kangaroos, - where else ?

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To the left one of the cheap but very nice Safari-cats you get in a tube with, - 15 cats ??
The two to the right are the famous brand "Hong Kong"

But they are cute aren`t they ?

SUSANNE wrote:

I found the Bully Siamese ! In the box of schleich Kangaroos, - where else ?

Oh! Cats love be in strange places... I have the sitting CollectA cat but it is in my nephew's hands and I can't find it... probabily it is in koala's box!!!

To the left one of the cheap but very nice Safari-cats you get in a tube with, - 15 cats ??
The two to the right are the famous brand "Hong Kong"

But they are cute aren`t they ?

They are really very cute and I'll try to find the Safari ones. You are a really cats collector!!!

Very cute cats!

Nice Siamese cat collection. Thanks for sharing.

Uff! Finally I've found my CollectA siamese sitting cat hunting dinos!
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Hello little kitty, could you please teach me some modern dance figures ?

Roger said:

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Uff! Finally I've found my CollectA siamese sitting cat hunting dinos!

Kikimalou said:

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Hello little kitty, could you please teach me some modern dance figures ?

You guys are so funny!

[quote="Kikimalou
Hello little kitty, could you please teach me some modern dance figures ? [/quote]

Surely Christophe!!!
It's a question of fashion!!!
Go to a disco and see the modern ladies!!! Gel snails, mascaras, botox, etc. And what are they doing? Dancing for the cats like me!!!
Are you still intersted learning modern dance figures?
Try to see what do those ladies look?
Velociraptors!:)