Schleich Q & A

Recently the owner of an independent American toy store contacted me to comment on one of my previous posts about Schleich horses and asked if I'd be interested in learning more about Schleich.

Of course I was interested!  The more I know about the various lines of model horses out there the happier I am.

Scott Mazerall. President and CEO  of Maziply Toys (whose business card says "Owner and Fun Specialist") generously consented to answer all the questions I wanted to ask him.  So I thought about it a bit and came up with some questions that I thought Schleich collectors might want answered.

What follows is a list of my questions and Scott's answers.  Before I get into those, though, you might want to know that Maziply Toys, located in Kingston, Massachusetts recently became the first Schleich Flagship store in New England.  What this means for the Schleich horse collector is that Maziply Toys offers one of the largest selections of Schleich figurines available in the United States.

Trappings of a Flagship Store. Image courtesy of Maziply Toys.      

If you're interested in more information about Schleich beyond what's in this blog, there's a good description of how Schleich figures are created on the Maziply Toys website. And now, on with the Q & A:

Popularity of Schleich Products

Q: I see that you carry the full line of Schleich products -- dinos, fantasy pieces, farm animals, wildlife, horse club pieces, etc.  Of all the various Schleich lines you carry, which would you say are your best sellers?

A: From the perspective of individual units sold, Wild Life makes up 33% of our sales. However, from the perspective of gross sales, Horse Club is our highest grosser with 23% of the gross sales.  Here is spreadsheet data that shows all the lines:

Line	Unit%	Gross Sales%
Wild Life	33%	20%
Farm World	20%	14%
Eldrador	14%	18%
Horse Club	13%	23%
Dinosaurs	11%	15%
Bayala	8%	10%

Q: Recently I've noticed that Schleich has started offering blind bags or surprise bags in some of their lines -- for Farm World for sure.  How popular are these?

A: Blind bags have experienced incredible interest over the last few years. Schleich is no different. However, I have noticed that the blind bags are bought by a broader range than our typical Schleich customer. They invite both the Schleich enthusiast as well as the blind bag enthusiast. I will note that Schleich has not gone super aggressive on blind bags as some other companies may have.

Schleich Horse Club blind bag. Image courtesy of us.schleich-s.com.

Q: How many times during a year does Schleich generally add new pieces to their lines?  Are there specific months we can look forward to for collection updates?

A: This can vary, but here's a breakdown of this year: January: 34, March: 3, July: 25, September: 3, October: 3. As you can see, January and July are the big launch dates for new Schleich products. We do and will carry all of these.

Q: I know that Horse World and Farm World both have Advent Calendars in their line up.  Do all lines have Advent Calendars?  If not, which ones do and which ones don't?

A: This year, we can expect to see advent calendars for Horse Club, Farm World, and Dinosaurs.

Q: What sort of feedback or requests do you get from your customers in general terms?

A: Before we carried the full-line, we would often be asked about products that we didn't have in stock. Now that we are full-line, we don't run into that really anymore. I would say that people are always eager to know what comes next. We are also often asked how many Schleich figures we sell after seeing the amount of dedicated space to the brand in our store. While we don't give exact numbers, I can tell you that Schleich is consistently a top 5 brand for our store.

Schleich Horses

Q: Do you ever watch the YouTube videos that show how people interact with their Schleich horses -- by displaying them on shelves, building elaborate stables for them, and/or featuring them in storytelling videos?  If so, what do you think of these?

A: I absolutely love the passion that I see from collectors. As one of the largest toy stores in the United States, we carry a variety of collectible products. It's always amazing to see the commonalities between how collectors take care of and put pride into their collections. I have seen some pretty amazing things over the years from collectors.

Q: What, if any, is the difference between horses offered in Farm World and horses offered in the Horse Club?

A: Schleich Farm World is more focused on farms, working horses, and Rodeo. Schleich Horse Club may be a variety of horses, but is more story-driven with its four riders and their passion for horses.

Q:  When an older horse mold is replaced (like the 2020 Friesian replacing the older Friesian) are the older molds permanently retired or can we expect them to pop up again sometime?

2020 Schleich Friesian Mare. Image courtesy of Maziply Toys.

A: Schleich does not typically reuse a mold. When they release a horse, they design it from scratch. If you take a look at a specific animal through the years, you can see that it is always evolving into a better product. By reusing a mold, that takes away that opportunity for Schleich, which is why they will typically create an entirely new mold for newly released animal figures.

Q:  Schleich used to produce additional lines that featured horses, like a series of Mounted Knights and a series of Historic Western figures.  Will we ever see a return to that sort of thing?

A: Only the future holds the answer to those questions. However, I can tell you that between now and the end of the year, you should not expect this on new releases.

Q: Do you have any information on anything Schleich horse collectors might look forward to in the upcoming months?

A: For Farm World, expect to see Vet-related playsets and the 2020 Advent Calendar. For Horse Club, we can look forward to Mia's Vaulting Set and the 2020 Advent Calendar. Most of the new horses for 2020 were released earlier in the year. I'm unable to comment at this time on potential releases in January of 2021.

Collecting Schleich

Limited Edition Gold Donkey. Image courtesy of us.schleich-s.com.

Q: I've noticed that Schleich often comes out with Exclusive Edition horses for their various markets.  Do you ever carry these?  Also, lately, they've been doing festive Limited Editions, like a gold donkey (Christmas 2019) and a red rabbit (Easter 2020).  Do you carry those?

A: Yes, we do carry these. There are is also the Golden T-Rex from recently (possibly 2018) and an 80th Anniversary figurine is expected later in the year. We carry the full line, and this includes specialty exclusives. We may run out of certain SKUs from time to time, but they are always restocked if it's still being manufactured.

Q: I think you mentioned to Schleich that it would be a nice thing if they would feature their sculptors by name every once in a while.  Many model horse collectors seek out similar plastic ponies designed by sculptors known in the hobby, like Deborah McDermott (CollectA), Brigitte Eberl (WIA and Bullyland), and Maggie Bennett (Lanard).  Have you heard anything more about Schleich starting to feature their own sculptors?

A: I have attempted to dig into this but have not really gotten any names or information. To be fair, the world has gone through significant change over the last few months, so this may be something that I can get better information on down the road when the world starts to get back to normal.

Q: Are you aware of any good collectors' guides for Schleich figures (aside from the yearly catalogues) in which collectors can keep track of their collection?  It could be an online source or a printed book.

A: This is actually something we have been researching to potentially put together on our website for our customers. It's quite a task and may take some time before we are finished. That said, there are actually 2 catalogs released each year from Schleich: 1HY and 2HY.

Schleich Packaging

Q: I've seen Schleich animals and figures sold in closed boxes, open-front boxes, and loose on a rack.  Do you know how the packaging decisions are made?

A: Single animal figures are typically loose with the classic Schleich flag attached. Smaller sets that usually consist of an animal with a couple of accessories are usually in an open-front box (lately they have been plastic window boxed) and the larger sets are closed boxes.

Closed and Open Front boxes. Images courtesy of triplemountain.com.

Q: Is Schleich looking into getting into more environmentally friendly (recyclable) packaging?  I know the cardboard boxes are recyclable, but I've also received Schleich figures in plastic bags which generally are not.  Do the animals sold in open racks come in plastic bags which are removed by the retailer before display?  If so, is it a recyclable type of plastic?

A: I know that Schleich has taken steps through the years to improve the balance of being environmentally friendly and the protection of the products from manufacturing to the end customer. Yes, loose figures arrive at the retailer in a plastic bag. We remove the ones that go on the shelves but leave some with them on in case we ship them for online orders. It provides additional protection during shipment.

Bonus Question

Q: What is your favourite horse sculpture and why?

A: Oh my! That's like asking a parent which is his favorite child! Each sculpture has its own beauty and characteristics that make each special. But I will say that I really like the mustang 13805 from Farm World. So many mustang figurines follow the cliched rearing pose. While these all look great (as did Schleich's older mustang), I really appreciate that they just went for a simple, yet strong stance that not every other manufacturer has been brave enough to go for.

Scott's current favourite. Image courtesy of Maziply Toys.