Schleich at the London Toy Fair 2013 - PHOTOS

Dear Friends


So I went along to the 60th London Toy Fair 2013 in West London last Thursday and had the pleasure of meeting Papo, Schleich and CollectA who visited for the very first time all the way from Hong Kong. It was quite late in the day and I didn’t have much time plus I felt like a fool like I always do trying to take photos of model animals. I don’t know why I feel embarrassed but I always do ha! All the companies were kind enough to give me a large format catalogue and I managed to get a frog key ring from Schleich.

So having visited the Schleich stand I immediately noticed the lack of displays and new models in comparison to previous years – I couldn’t help but feel that the shelves were a little bare but of course this was party due to an entire range being discontinued – the Hero’s and warriors series. I asked them about this and spoke to the same person who was showing me the Mighty Fighter Elephant the previous year. This along with the Battle Rhino were literally only on sale for 3 months as they were released in September 2012 and discontinued by December. I was told that Schleich decided to cut back on this series as it was too expensive and did not provide value for money – given that the mighty elephant and Battle rhino were retailing around the £30-£40 mark they decided to discontinue this along with the entire series in order to save on costs and plough the money into other ideas. In my opinion it was surprising to see an entire range come and go so quickly within a year and shows just how difficult and unpredictable the market can be. I was assured that the farm and wildlife form the staple of Schleich’s products and will always remain so (thankfully!)

I did learn that all the sales staff at the stand had seen the 2014 line up already! Apparently Schleich work on their upcoming animals around 14 months in advance and all the animals for 2014 are being prepared – as usual the rep was staying tight lipped and I was not able to get information from her about this  I did ask if she saw any antelopes on that list and she said that she didn’t so that’s my excitement gone already 

Anyway apologies for the delay in posting the photos , I tried to take some as quickly as I could before the show started to close.

Overall I think many of the models are getting smaller - I was looking at the dogs and they are far smaller than previous years, indeed we have already remarked on Schleich scaling down the size of many models apart from the horses, which if anything seem to be getting bigger. Understandably this is a cost saving exercise but what I find most frustrating is that the prices keep increasing. Each colour band has gone up again this year in UK retails stores yet the sizes of models are decreasing – how can this be justified? If the models are smaller then less plastic is used which should mean that the prices should at least drop but they don’t and I find this a little unfair. Many of the 2013 wildlife models seem to be smaller species but also recreations of previous models i.e. beaver, seal, otter. Many of the smaller animals are in the red colour band but then I notice that the beaver which is the same size as the Grizzly bear cub is in the nice price bracket – how is this justified? With prices going up, sizes going down no wonder sales are affected.

Finally I wanted to look at the sea animals – to my surprise most of them look just like their recently retired counterparts with just slight changes to the pose i.e. blue shark, great white shark etc. The sizes are also naturally smaller and all the models were made in China – not Portugal! – worst of all the quality of the plastic used is very different compared to the previous sealife models – they are made of a much lighter softer rubber. Many of you will be surprised by this. Disappointingly the Blue Whale is far smaller in scale compared to the other animals. I Was hoping it would be a large model similar to the retired Sperm, grey and humpback whales but it is so much smaller.

Despite all the highs and lows I will continue to purchase all the wildlife and sea life models - I will always be a Schleich collector

You can view all the photos here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]


Enjoy!

PS CollectA and Papo photos will be posted in their own forums so go and check them out.


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Thank you for everything, Numaan. I enjoyed your pics at photobucket, but must say I'm disappointed at the sealife.
That rubbery soft material is in a lot of this year's releases and to find out that it is also in sea animals it's bad news at least for me.
The good news is that I'll save money on them, the only interesting for me is the sea turtle! Again, thank you (our toyfair spy)! (o)):

Thank you very much for sharing. Lovely photos. Lots of interesting information. It seems everything is in some kind of economic crisis these days.

The thing about the lesser quality and light soft rubbery material really bothers me.

Wonderful pics-thanks for sharing


Have you also seen other small brands??

widukind wrote:

Wonderful pics-thanks for sharing


Have you also seen other small brands??

Hi there

No there are no other small animal model makers around. There was an agent for Bully who had a tiny selection of older Bully animals on display and the same for Safari - these companies dont visit themselves.

There are no other companies that come. The Nuremberg show is a much bigger one so I suspect they would go there?

I know Bullyland will be there for sure

Numaan, what would the forum be without you ?

Fantastic pictures, - ohhh, I wished I could go also
But with your photoes it is not so bad to have to stay at home

Looking at your photoes, it seems that my peacock is not as nicely painted as some
Or do they hand-pick the nicest ones ?

I must say I adore those macaws. If I win in the lottery ( have to start playing first), I will buy a whole flock
The Australian sheepdog is wonderful, too - even if the puppy looks like his head belongs to some alien

The elves are not my taste, and that goes for the elf-critters, too.
But no rule without exception ! This one could easily end on my wishlist
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The ball that makes the wings moveable is ugly, but perhaps it could be fixed with some super-glue

Numaan wrote:

widukind wrote:

Wonderful pics-thanks for sharing


Have you also seen other small brands??

Hi there

No there are no other small animal model makers around. There was an agent for Bully who had a tiny selection of older Bully animals on display and the same for Safari - these companies dont visit themselves.

There are no other companies that come. The Nuremberg show is a much bigger one so I suspect they would go there?

Thank you

Thank you for the pics! Thank you for the pics! Thank you for the pics! Thank you for the pics! Thank you for the pics! Thank you for the pics!

I'm so happy to see pics!

Thanks you very very very much, I love all thye schleich 2013 models, some elves have other details..
I don't like the new Unicorn of the Ice Queen Sunaya , have a crown
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Thanks for all the valuable info, it was really interesting to read!

Thanks for the info and photos! I'm a little disappointed in the orca. While it does look better than their last one, the only thing I don't like is how far down the saddle patch (the grey area behind the dorsal fin) is on the back:

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All of their other new sealife figures look like ones that they had in the past, except the sea turtle. I'll probably have to see them in person to make my decision, but most likely I will buy them.


EDIT: I just looked again at both sides of the orca and it looks like it may have been a mistake on the orca's saddle patch. It's in the right place on the one side but not the other

orcagirl26 wrote:

Thanks for the info and photos! I'm a little disappointed in the orca. While it does look better than their last one, the only thing I don't like is how far down the saddle patch (the grey area behind the dorsal fin) is on the back:

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That, and the white EYE patches - why does Schleich insist on putting them so low and set so far back? This one looks better than the abomination they had before, but still, the eye patch is supposed to be above and behind the eye. This figure has it placed directly inline behind the eye.

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oi.

Oh! I want that huuuge giraffe
I have to say... I´m dissapointed with Schleich... too much new stuff for Bayala and other things but their animal collection is pretty weak Anyway... thank you so much for photos Numaan :)

sphyrna18 wrote:

orcagirl26 wrote:

Thanks for the info and photos! I'm a little disappointed in the orca. While it does look better than their last one, the only thing I don't like is how far down the saddle patch (the grey area behind the dorsal fin) is on the back:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

That, and the white EYE patches - why does Schleich insist on putting them so low and set so far back? This one looks better than the abomination they had before, but still, the eye patch is supposed to be above and behind the eye. This figure has it placed directly inline behind the eye.

[img][You must be registered and logged in to see this image.][/img]

[img][You must be registered and logged in to see this image.][/img]

oi.

Yes that's true too, I don't know why they have to do that

Numaan Thank you for the pictures!! So interesting and really useful.

I have to say, I am bewildered by Schleich making a new blue shark and great white shark. These new models are so similar to the old ones and in the case of the Great White, it doesn't even look quite as good as the one they just retired. What was the point? Perhaps to make it smaller and save on production costs?

I am, however, happy about the Blue Whale. I like the look of it. I do wish they had made it much bigger, but since I was already very sure they weren't going to make that whale in a size comparable to the now retired Humpback and Grey Whale, I was just hoping I'd like the model, and so far, I do like it. (I am curious about the material though.)

Thank you again for these great pictures! I'm heading over to your posts on CollectA and Papo now.

I just understand the concept that the models get smaller yet the prices go up - some animals are much smaller than expected. I remember when the Kudu came out a few years ago it was far smaller than previous models. This year the black panther comes across as very small compared to the seal which is big. If these models are smaller and some like sea life made from a cheaper rubber like material then surely the prices should be frozen or reduced a little?

Given that some lines have been unsuccessful such as the Hero and Warrior lines then perhaps Schleich should ease the prices to make it more competitive.

Another final point I forgot to add was the Schleich is now geared towards targeting high street shops and stores - they want to move away from online sellers such as Tesco.com, Amazon and others - they will stick with the large online sellers now but wont take on new online stores who want to sell Schleich. The sales rep told me that Schleich feel's it devalues the company and cheapens the brand which I thought was a very interesting point. So to clarify they would like to move away from online sellers but they will not remove the current online sellers they deal with - they will simply focus their strategy towards high street stores instead.

Numaan wrote:

they want to move away from online sellers such as Tesco.com, Amazon and others - they will stick with the large online sellers now but wont take on new online stores who want to sell Schleich. The sales rep told me that Schleich feel's it devalues the company and cheapens the brand which I thought was a very interesting point.

That is really interesting.

I can't help feeling like this is a business error on the part of Schleich. But I have no substantial information to back up this feeling; for all I know, perhaps they are right that, in the case of plastic animals for children, most of their sales comes from people making purchases in physical stores. But this attitude towards online stores still seems a bit excessively conservative to me.

I'm new to the animal figures collecting thing and I must say that the price-increase of the Schleich figures has stopped me from buying te new ones.
I had a lot of catching up to do with finding some older figures, but Schleich is an easy brand to find online.
I had no problem finding every figure I wanted and the prices always seemed fair.
Little figures costed me 2-3 euros and the bigger ones never crossed the 6 euro line.
Then I arrive at the new figures for 2013 and see the new otter costing more than 4 euros and the new griffon vulture even more than 5 euros.
They are way too expensive in comparisment to their size.

And I'm not buying them....

Because of this I feel forced to look at other companies to find myself an otter and vulture.

I hope Schleich is reading this (since they care so much about their sales!)

Thanks Numaan for your photo reportage.
I usually read Schleich reports and strategy, I remember they saying that they were rethinking the manufacturing way to turn it less expensive. As many people is suggesting here, it is interesting but not when it means lowering noticeably the quality and increasing prices. I confess I am shocked with Schleich prices. Figures arrived here and I almost can't believe that the hyacint parrot, a very small figure with rubber plastic, very similar in quality to PV parrots, is about 6 euros, that is outrageous. I have to remember that PV parrots are 1 dolar figures.
I bought the blue and yellow macaw, I like its pose and it is not as bad as hyacint macaw, but, when comparing manufacturing quality with the Safari figure, I noticed that the painting is less detailed on Schleich figure, it is visible on facial details. Also it has fewer colors, the green on wings and back is missing, use of black is minimal and sometimes replaced by grey coloring.
The Safari figure has the green markings, a richer facial mask, a better plastic and is somewhat larger.
So how to explain that Safari figure is almost half the price? I remember many people choosing Schleich figures due to their good quality in terms of manufacturing and now I am curious to see how people react to the poor materials.
I remember many people here rejecting Bullyland figures and CollectA horses because the material was apparently not so noble.
The shire stallion is almost the same thing.
I know Schleich will continue selling very well next years, it doesn't matter how bad their figures are, you are saying the same that many people, as a Schleich collector you will continue buying them forever. It is your option, I respect but it is not good for you that Schleich feels it. It gives confort to the brand continue decreasing quality and increasing prices.
To me, as a collector of animal replicas where Schleich is only one more brand, their manufacturing quality was the only aspect that is keeping me following the brand, once in scientific, educational and sculpting quality the brand is far from being a reference. Many people love the brand because many started with it and it can be found everywhere but it is a shame that collectors are always neglected by the brand.
Removing their products from online shops is a bad strategy. They only want to sell the figures for higher prices and only thinking in children because they only buy locally and usually don't care with acuracy aspects. Again collectors are neglected. Quality is not only related with where you sell the figures but how you manufacture them. Here in Portugal Schleich is sold everywhere, even in shops non toy related. Curiously they are only disappearing from collectors shops once they are easily found and loosing interest as collectibles. Figures really don't worth what they are asking for it. I am really sad with the brand, mainly knowing that this is the brand more confortable on market.
In a country where the salaries are normally 500 Euros it is impossible to buy a cheap looking macaw for 6 euros. This is horrible and I needed to say.

...

Thank you again Numaan to be our reporter and ambassador at the Toy fair. A lot of things have already been said here, it is good even if those things are often very sad things.
You know I'm not a SCHLEICH addict but I'm sad. SCHLEICH is the first company most of young collectors (younger than me) began with, it is also the most widespread company of all the Animal toys history.
I'm sad to read SCHLEICH strategy, in France Virgin Megastore chosed the same kind and now they collapsed .
I don't know if SCHLEICH is dying now but I know so many "For ever Majors" which died in the past. This kind of events are also a chance for new "for ever majors" to battle for the throne.
About the models themselves, I have a rule for the last years: Never buy a SCHLEICH without seeing it in real.
This year, more than in the past, I will not be able to catch every model I want and I will have to make serious choices so what I read about the Hyacinth macaw for example is very instructive. I have the same feeling when I look at the poor painting quality of the vulture...

Did they give you ANY hints as to what they are working on.

cattlecollector wrote:

Did they give you ANY hints as to what they are working on.

No clue's whatsoever.....sorry! I did try

SUSANNE wrote:

I know Bullyland will be there for sure

Numaan, what would the forum be without you ?

Fantastic pictures, - ohhh, I wished I could go also
But with your photoes it is not so bad to have to stay at home

Looking at your photoes, it seems that my peacock is not as nicely painted as some
Or do they hand-pick the nicest ones ?

I must say I adore those macaws. If I win in the lottery ( have to start playing first), I will buy a whole flock
The Australian sheepdog is wonderful, too - even if the puppy looks like his head belongs to some alien

The elves are not my taste, and that goes for the elf-critters, too.
But no rule without exception ! This one could easily end on my wishlist
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The ball that makes the wings moveable is ugly, but perhaps it could be fixed with some super-glue

Oh, I agree Susanne! I said I wouldn't collect fantasy anymore, but the new griffin is so awesome looking, it has such a nice sculpt and details! He is definately going on my wishlist, hopefully the local hobby store will stock him as soon as he is available. I actually don't mind the ball joint in the wings as it would make him easier to fit on a shelf with my other griffins. He would be a good sparing partner for my papo griffin and bird-man rider too

All things aside, that is really sad what Schleich is doing with its materials and sales. Its like what fastfood places are doing with their food, the hamburger tastes like cardboard but you paid $6 for it :c I am upset about the online sales being cut too, most my schliech buying is done online as I only know of one store that carries it and they hardly keep everything stocked when I visit.

This proverb goes very well with Schleich - First impression is the best impression !!! Schleich has created a strong addiction in many of us collectors just because of their previous quality of products .

This impact still rules our mind psycologically , and as few of you said correctly , we still are very much biased inspite of Schleich's atrocities to the core .

In my case , I am very much focusing on those super good oldies and their fabulous variations , just for their mind blowing quality and class !!! I will make myself contented with collecting as many wonderful oldies as possible , even I never mind having triples or quartets of the same model . That much , my mind is fixed with that super quality of Schleich .

Even in 2010 , some of their products like their Highland cattle family were awesome in the qaulity , scale , mold and paint job . I mean their consistency had definitely gone since 2005 onwards . But now , for the past 2 years, absolute DETERIORATION

........ so many tiny tiny models , and some of those awful animals , ooophhh... no anatomical perfection , total lack of so called Schleich identity .....really annoying