new shire-stallion, strange quality?

Ive got a question about the shire stallion: today I was in a store and saw the figure for the first time. when I held it in my hand, I noticed that it is made of a very strange plastic, extremly (!) bendable legs, and the surface was not like on other figures, it felt like... old chewing gum? it had the 3+-tag, so its made in china, supposebly. I checked the other new horses, and they werent that strange, just maybe a bit more bendable than older ones, but the surface felt normal. has anyone else noticed that problem on the shire-stallion? I like the figure pretty much, but I would prefer one made of "normal" plastic. has anyone a "made in germany" one? and if yes, has it the same problem?

i really hope that this is just a miss-production and not the new quality-standard...

The Shire stallion has a very strange plastc. Thats the normal quality of this horse and no miss production. The other figures are normal!

I don`t have him , but now I may...just to see the first Schleich chewing gum horse

I didn't see this one yet, but I saw the other horses and their plastic was pretty hard, especially Fell Pony Stallion and Hannover Mare, those two were made in Portugal. Most of the figurines that are on sale here are made in Germany and some in Portugal (those two mentioned horses, squirrel and snow hare), and there was only one made in China and that was the Hyazinth Ara and yes it is much softer plastic, very much alike birds of prey from Bullyland. I guess it's only the made in China models that are much softer.

Hmmm...that's weird .Some older Schleich horses have a softer plastic,like the 2002 Appaloosa gelding (mine is made in Germany).Is he super bendy? If you were to put him in storage,I would think his legs would get all bent togeter (like most horses ).

I got a few of the new Schleich horses today, including both Shire adults and the Appaloosa family, and the plastic the Shire stallion is made of is, indeed, very strange and unpleasant to the touch. It's soft, light, easily scratched and reminds me of Bullyland figures.

I'm not happy - after all, one of the reasons I've been collecting Schleich horses for some 16+ years was their superior quality, their details and the nice, heavy plastic used.

The other new Schleich horses I got today are made of a harder type of plastic, but they're proportions are so messed up - huge heads, thin/crooked legs, short necks...

The conclusions I've reached is that Schleich has eventually decided to target their products to new demographics I do not identify with.

Maybe it's a bigger market for them. For me, it means I'll be channelling my collecting efforts into different brands.

Today I finally discovered some of the new Schleichs in the Danish stores. All the new were Made in China versions.
The adult Shires seem to be the only new horses of that strange rubbery plastic. It felt very odd. But it seems to be something of the Chinese versions, since my new Shire mare is Made in Germany and she's made of the usual hard plastic we know. (I ordered her from MPV, and I was very pleased to get a German version of the, to me, best plastic quality)
I saw some of the Chinese Shire mare, and on all of them, their front legs were bend, and it was such a shame. Might be bad handling by the store or whatever. Her paint was more pale than of my
German one.

The other new horses Made in China seemed like they were made of the usual hard plastic. They didn't have the new appaloosas though. I didn't buy any new ones either. But I did think the new Lipizzaner had something interesting to her The new Hanoverian mare might end on my list, but she is quite dull, according to my first impression. Lts see by second impression....

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From what is discribed, They are trying to make some diffrent kind of plastic for there products. My Velociraptor is extremly bendy, however tha paint is sensetive. something that irks me about Schilich now

schleich61 wrote:

Folks, I can finally confirm that the reason for the change to a much softer rubber in the new Schleich horses has been inspired by the firm's new director, pictured below with a famous horse from his personal stables...

Phil, you must agree that it is a beautiful Bay horse, it only needs some black on lower legs!
As I commented, the childish design won't ruin Schleich but the lower quality is very dangerous!

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