Compare and Contrast

Remember high school English class?  How many "compare and contrast" essays did you have to write?  They may have seemed tedious then, but the skills we learned by doing them can actually help us to make our model horse buying decisions today.

For example, pretend you were in the market for an approximately Little Bits scale shetland pony.  Lots of model horse companies offer them.  For the purposes of comparing and contrasting I chose a selection from five of the major solid plastic horse modelling companies -- CollectA, Schleich, Bullyland, Papo, and Mojo.  Ideally I'd also have a Safari pony in there as well, but Safari is not currently offering any Shetlands in this size, and I couldn't find an older one for a reasonable price.

(L-R) Papo, Bullyland, Schleich, Mojo, and CollectA Shetlands

However, we have enough to do comparing the others.  Let's see how they stack up:

First, the similarities: despite the fact that two of these models are standing squarely on all four feet, all of the models have carved hooves that are more or less detailed.  The CollectA has the most detailed hooves, while the Bullyland has added painted horseshoes.  The Schleich also has shoes, but they are not painted.

CollectA Shetland Pony II

All but the CollectA have a heavy mane falling on both sides of the neck -- the CollectA's mane is blown back in the breeze but it looks as if it might fall on both sides if the pony were standing still.

Price-wise, these ponies cost me between $10.50 and $6.99 Canadian, with the Bullyland being the most expensive and the CollectA the cheapest.

Papo Shetland Pony

The Papo is the largest of the quintet, and looks to be the fattest.  At first I found her eyes disturbingly human, but as I studied her I found that her look back over her shoulder suggested very strongly a saucy pony looking to see if her rider is being inattentive enough for her to indulge in some sort of bad behaviour, like nipping, rearing, or bolting.  Shetlands have a bad reputation for just such pranks.
 


 Schleich Shetland Pony Gelding

 Bullyland Shetland Pony

The Scheich and the Bullyland are much the same size and shape, but the Bullyland looks stockier with its heavily feathered fetlocks, while the Schleich has a slightly cleaner build.  The CollectA, by contrast, represents a very well-groomed pony -- the kind you might see at a youth horse show or a gymkhana.

Mojo Shetland Pony

Oddest of all is the Mojo, with her relatively skinny build, her long, stretched neck, and forelock completely obscuring one eye.  She reminds me a lot of Shaggy in the old Scooby-Doo cartoons.  What with her narrowness and her awkward stance, she is the least like the standard Shetland type of all the ponies, but I could see her following a bucket in a "bribe your pony" race at a county fair.

It's difficult to pick a favorite out of all of these -- I can't really decide between the well-groomed CollectA and the wild-looking Schleich -- but if forced to pick one I think I'd go for the CollectA as it has the best conformation despite falling short in the huggable hairiness category.  It is the smallest of the bunch, but it is also the cheapest, and for my money a darn good buy.

Now see how helpful that high school English class was?  If only I hadn't bought them all before I made my choice ...