The shires 2013

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I could forgive them some imprecisions.... but not that blond beard. It's neither cute nor realistic, so.. why??? Shame on you, Schleich.

Susanne, I think your picture is full of glamour and you got precisely the spirit of that figure. There is always a place to everything.

Worlds in Miniature wrote:

I could forgive them some imprecisions.... but not that blond beard. It's neither cute nor realistic, so.. why??? Shame on you, Schleich.

"Faire pendant", I guess!
It is nice to compare both figures, both have large eyes, beautiful hairs, long necks, dreamful looking. I only can't see the beard on doll!

Not happy with your Shires... Not sure if I should buy them... I´ll end up buying them anyway xD The filly is the only one I really feel I want her.

SUSANNE wrote:

Look at her, she is probably about 3 months old, and shedding her fuzzy baby-coat !
I have never seen that in a model befor, and I am absolutely in LOVE with this little girl    
The only minus is that the tail is white, - it should be the same colour as the mane .
In a foal there can be quite some white hairs in the tail of a bay, but the tail is clearly black.

Well, it could be a great explanation for the white tail + dark mane... Sooty chestnut, or flaxen. In chestnuts, sooty generally shows as a dark and homogeneous coat, but sometimes it is limited to mane, tail or both, giving the horse nearly black manes and/or tails and leaving the body with the "original" color. Flaxen produces blond mane and tail, nearly white, and it´s more common to see the effect on both mane and tail. However, sometimes only mane or tail is affected by that. I think this foal could be a combination of both: sooty mane and flaxen mane.  Or maybe she´s an extreme Gulastra plume

Roger wrote:

You're welcome. CollectA figures would be superb if their manufacturing quality was similar to what Schleich used us some years ago. Yesterday I watched in real the Shire mare and no doubts it is a huge exercise of childish cuteness. Of course the figure will result very atractive to young children but far from the realism we can see on CollectA Shire. I think Schleich didn't want to make it realistic but only atractive. The figure is somewhat soft like CollectA figures and it is huge as we can see on Alvaro picture. No surprise once we are talking about Shires.
The curious point is that I've found it in a kiosk where we need to ask the owner to show it on our hands once they are in a display that we cannot reach. I asked for the large white horse and the owner to confirm my request asked:
- you mean the Barbie horse? It was funny to hear because many of us used that designation here and someone not related with collecting had the same feeling.
Good or not is already a remarkable figure and will not pass indifferent in this hobby.

You know what.. I've actually made my first online purchase, which contains the Black CollectA Shire among some Papo and Mojo that I've always wanted(brands which are nearly impossible to find around here, so online was my last option, though I will always prefer seeing the figurines IRL first.). I'm looking so much forward to receive them!

The observation of the non-collectors reaction is quite a proof of what Schleich obviously accomplished with this lady.. So, what was your personal impression of her? Could she awaken that hidden love?
I'm again very concerned when you speak of her being made in a softer material than what Schleich usually do... I suppose she was Made in China?

After I entered this forum I've got quite some wakeup- calls, and I've started researching more about, for instnce, horse breeds and correct proportion and so on. Before that, I just bought the Schleich horses and other animals because of them being beautiful to my eyes. I used to know nothing about horses, but now it seems relevant... I've got to know what I'm talking about!

And that's one crazy picture Susanne... I do almost feel sorry for Shire Lady though

Carola wrote:

You know what.. I've actually made my first online purchase, which contains the Black CollectA Shire among some Papo and Mojo that I've always wanted(brands which are nearly impossible to find around here, so online was my last option, though I will always prefer seeing the figurines IRL first.). I'm looking so much forward to receive them!

The observation of the non-collectors reaction is quite a proof of what Schleich obviously accomplished with this lady.. So, what was your personal impression of her? Could she awaken that hidden love?
I'm again very concerned when you speak of her being made in a softer material than what Schleich usually do... I suppose she was Made in China?

After I entered this forum I've got quite some wakeup- calls, and I've started researching more about, for instnce, horse breeds and correct proportion and so on. Before that, I just bought the Schleich horses and other animals because of them being beautiful to my eyes. I used to know nothing about horses, but now it seems relevant... I've got to know what I'm talking about!

And that's one crazy picture Susanne... I do almost feel sorry for Shire Lady though

Sorry for delay replying. Yes, the Shire mare is Made in China. The plastic is lighter but not irritating. I think that all figures deserve to be loved. So that lady is not an exception.
Collecting figures just because we find them beautiful is as nice as collecting them to learn more about the wonderful world of animals. We only have to find which way give us more pleasure. :)
My way of collecting is like any figure is a book about Nature. I always want to learn something new with it. To understand why it has some characteristics, etc. So, the aestetical subject is not enough for me. However, when I am in doubt with 2 figures, the one more atractive wins. It only happens because I can't afford them all or I'll collect them all.
I think you are already enough envolved with that lovely mare and I suspect you'll enjoy her. So you can compare with the CollectA black Shire. Remember, when we are used with a brand, we'll find something weird in our first figures from other brands. It almost always happens. Most people is used with Schleich and it is hard sometimes to accept the different manufacturing characteristics of other brands and even their style. Also, some Breyer collectors, sometimes cannot accept Schleich figures easily due to their cute style. Personally, I find Breyer sculptings more interesting but Schleich figures have much more playability.
It will be great to see your new figures and your impressions about them.

Roger wrote:

It will be great to see your new figures and your impressions about them.

I don't think that was a delayed reply, more the opposite

I'll post pics of my new ones as soon as I get them

The Breyers look very artistic.. Never seen one in person though.

Yes, like you being curious about the 'story' of your chosen figurines, I think is a good thing

Yes, you might be right with people having a hard time getting used to another brand. I do have the lil' CollectA polar bear cub(I found him in a bookstore once by coincidence, where they had a few CollectAs). And I think his quality is very fine and he can definitely compete with Schleich. Mighty fine sculpt and paint(even the yellowish has been added to his fur, like polar bears have. The Schleich Polar Bear doesn't have that realistic detail).
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And here he is IRL
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Ohhhh ! That baby it the cutest ever

Carola wrote:

Yes, you might be right with people having a hard time getting used to another brand. I do have the lil' CollectA polar bear cub(I found him in a bookstore once by coincidence, where they had a few CollectAs). And I think his quality is very fine and he can definitely compete with Schleich. Mighty fine sculpt and paint(even the yellowish has been added to his fur, like polar bears have. The Schleich Polar Bear doesn't have that realistic detail).

If you accept the yellowish color in a polar bear, so you are ready to collect all major brands.
If you want to sell a polar bear make it white and if you want to sell a pig make it very pink. Those are some design rules among these brands. There are some delicious exceptions. You're right, the fur of polar bears is hollow and uncolored over a black skin. It is impossible to do in terms of manufacturing but they often doesn't look white, mainly adultes after a good meal! In the little cute polar bear cub below, you can see that Schleich hasn't even painted the dark marks we can see in polar bears ppaw pads. The figure resulted beautiful and production is easier. However, I think the CollectA is also beautiful and has something more to tell.

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p.s. ignore the poor crazy fox

Roger wrote:

....
p.s. ignore the poor crazy fox

Arrhw, she is SO cute

Ignore the crazy fox?

I'm more disturbed by the drunk little polar bear next to him.
How did he manage to get his paws on that bottle of schnaps?
And why did he have to drink it all by himself?
He could've shared some of it with the fox.

The fox clearly needs it more.

Bloodrayne wrote:

Ignore the crazy fox?

I'm more disturbed by the drunk little polar bear next to him.
How did he manage to get his paws on that bottle of schnaps?
And why did he have to drink it all by himself?
He could've shared some of it with the fox.

The fox clearly needs it more.

Roger wrote:

If you accept the yellowish color in a polar bear, so you are ready to collect all major brands.
If you want to sell a polar bear make it white and if you want to sell a pig make it very pink. Those are some design rules among these brands. There are some delicious exceptions. You're right, the fur of polar bears is hollow and uncolored over a black skin. It is impossible to do in terms of manufacturing but they often doesn't look white, mainly adultes after a good meal! In the little cute polar bear cub below, you can see that Schleich hasn't even painted the dark marks we can see in polar bears ppaw pads. The figure resulted beautiful and production is easier. However, I think the CollectA is also beautiful and has something more to tell.

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p.s. ignore the poor crazy fox

Pure white polar bears and hyper pink pigs sounds like caricatures the CollectA cub actually has black markings under his paws His Schleich foster-mum has black paws too though,

I must say, it is very difficult to ignore that fox I've seen that photo before, and that's one crazy story it can tell.. Like Bloodrayne does

Bloodrayne wrote:

Ignore the crazy fox?

I'm more disturbed by the drunk little polar bear next to him.
How did he manage to get his paws on that bottle of schnaps?
And why did he have to drink it all by himself?
He could've shared some of it with the fox.

The fox clearly needs it more.

Made my day

Bloodrayne wrote:

Ignore the crazy fox?

I'm more disturbed by the drunk little polar bear next to him.
How did he manage to get his paws on that bottle of schnaps?
And why did he have to drink it all by himself?
He could've shared some of it with the fox.

The fox clearly needs it more.

Poor crazy fox! She came from Christophe!
I asked about her life but Kiki hasn't replied.
Our French macaque told in another tread that he is collecting empty wine bottles.
Maybe it explains why fox looks desperate.
Now she'll have a new life without alcohol. Her new name is Miss Pills!

Roger wrote:

...her new name is Miss Pills!

Or perhaps Miss Weissbier ?

SUSANNE wrote:

Roger wrote:

...her new name is Miss Pills!

Or perhaps Miss Weissbier ?

OK, now she is Weissbeer and the polar bear is Iysbeer!

Roger wrote:

OK, now she is Weissbeer and the polar bear is Iysbeer!

Thanks for the pictures Susanne.
I really like the Shires both, but not as a normal Schleich model. I like them as a customizing model. They can be customized as some beautifull Tinkers! (Oh boy, there's the Tinker-crazy girl again )

But still, I would only buy them for customizing.. My plan was to go collecting CollectA horses, but they are really hard to get and oh well, I can use the money that I usually spent on Schleich a lot.

Edit: Just read the posts on the second page and I thought it will look nice to get Tinky in this conversation.
Even though Tinky isn't a Shire, she also has a beard. Yes, they can be multicolored! (Her's is black/white) It's true, the beard is the same color as the coat/fur. But the mane color of the horse is totally wrong too. Never saw a white horse with such yellow manes And when they are yellow, they are just dirty!
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JackyLovertjex wrote:

... Just read the posts on the second page and I thought it will look nice to get Tinky in this conversation.
Even though Tinky isn't a Shire, she also has a beard. Yes, they can be multicolored! (Her's is black/white) It's true, the beard is the same color as the coat/fur. But the mane color of the horse is totally wrong too. Never saw a white horse with such yellow manes And when they are yellow, they are just dirty!

Ohhh, I can`t get enough of your wonderful Tinky-pictures

I am happy that you agree that the beard should have the same colour as the coat, unless it is dirty
But there is a differnece between that white of the mane/tail of the shire and Tinky.
The Shire mare was probably borne bay, and is turning "grey".
Two blacks couldn`t have a bay foal together.

So perhaps she is in a stage of "greying" ( They call it greying even if it is usually whitening in the long run, just in case somebody doesn`t know ), where the mane/tail is still a bit darker than the body...but not THAT yellow

"white" horse with yellow mane and tail:

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But in this case is a Perlino. Shires don´t carry cream gene

SyLoBe wrote:

But in this case is a Perlino. Shires don´t carry cream gene

Exactly

PROOF! There can be Shires this color! [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

It looks just like her

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This horse is grey, not perlino. And its mane is "a bit" cleaner than the Schelich Shire´s :)

So-called white greys have dark cream manes/tail at most. Not as yellow as the model.