Mojo Fun model horses

I've always been a great fan of collecting toy type brands, whether the handmade one-of-a-kind charm of Julip and Magpie, or the variety to be found in the realms of what I unofficially call 'toyplastics' - the likes of Schleich, CollectA, Safari, Bullyland, and Papo. They're all around about the same scale, so they mix and match well whether you want them for play or display in a collection, and over the years I've built up quite a herd.
For a long time, Schleich were the market leader and a hobby favourite, giving decent value if you wanted models which were easy to get hold of in toy shops, and not too expensive. But along with a lot of adult collectors, I've gone off them more and more in recent years, as their sculpting changed direction in favour of some kind of stylised cuteness, at the expense of looking much like horses any more. Meanwhile other brands like Safari and Collecta were putting out much, much more realistic moulds, for not a lot more money, and so my collecting shifted toward finding better toy models, not just what was easy to get hold of in local shops.

One brand I hadn't really taken much notice of in the past was Mojo Fun - I think I'd seen some of the earliest models years back, and nothing had caught my eye, so I'd never investigated further or kept up with what the brand was doing.
Recently, some Mojo horses came up in an ebay search, and I though 'Hang on, that's really nice...' and had a poke around the listings, gradually getting more impressed by what I found.
The more recent models are very nicely sculpted indeed, and I find it's always, always the mould which is the make or break for me - an ugly, badly proportioned model lacking detail and realism can be painted any kind of wonderful lifelike colour and I'll still think it's terrible, but a really nicely done mould can easily get away with a simple paintjob and remain impressive.

So I sorted through the Mojo listings, and narrowed down the wishlist into a few particular choices for my first order.

First up, the piebald cob, sold as a 'tinker' mare. She's really nicely sculpted, capturing the honest, willing face, chunky build, and smooth stride of this type of horse so well - she reminds me very much of one of the kind but sparky horses I learnt to ride on. Here's a couple more photos...

 

What's interesting about this model's markings is how much they've changed over the years, if you look her up on Google images, there's been three different designs - the first seems to be an airbrushed, soft-edged style, the second was a sharper, stencilled-looking pattern, and then this current design has a similar crisp-edged look but a different arrangement of patches. I like this one best, but all three have been decent, each a good attempt at a possible set of tobiano markings, not the highly unrealistic random black blobs some poor piebalds get lumbered with.

Next up, the shire stallion, another mould which stands out as nicely done and well proportioned. The plastic is quite sturdy and heavy in hand, adding to the feel of a chunky horse, they're not lightweight and flimsy plastic, but solid and feel like they'd stand up well to childrens' play if you're after models for a younger fan.

Another angle on the shire, showing his handsome profile better than the side shot (the only problem with photographing models posed with a turn on the head), and one with his absolutely adorable foal!

I mean, look at this! I think he's got to be one of the nicest heavy horse foal sculpts I've ever seen, particularly from the toy-type ranges.

Here you can see what I mean about a relatively simple paintjob lifted by the quality of the sculpting - black is one of the most basic colours to paint, but the effort taken really shows, his socks have a gently fuzzy edge to blend them in just enough, and there's a nice depth of dark brown in his coat rather than being plain black plastic.

Another must-have when I was making up my order was this irresistably sweet donkey! Just look at that little face, and the big ears pricked make her look so happy. And she didn't travel alone...

Yep, if there's one thing cuter than a happy little donkey, it's an even littler baby donkey!

 

I love how uncertain and shy this one looks, his hesitant pose and worried ears, like he's waiting for a reassuring touch from mum, or a gentle fuss from his owner to encourage him.

 

Now, I know one of the most helpful things in a blog or forum post about a lesser-known model is always a comparison with something more people know in person, so here's my donkey posing with some new 'friends', the various toy-type brand donkeys already in my herd...

With the newest Schleich donkey, they're more or less identical height at the shoulder, but the build and conformation are different enough that they actually feel different sizes in the hand, the Mojo being much more petite.

Left to right we have here : Bullyland, Collecta, older Schleich, Schleich mammoth donkey, newer Schleich, Mojo. (The Colleca example is actually the African Wild Ass standing in as a domestic donkey, because I realised I don't have theirs yet!)

And the Mojo baby meeting the Schleich one, the difference in proportions is even more pronounced here than in the adults, especially the length of leg and size of head.

Left to right : Bullyland, Schleich mammoth donkey, Collecta, older Schleich, newer Schleich, Mojo.

So there they are, my first parcel from Mojo Fun, but definitely not going to be my last, there's already four more I'm hoping to tick off my wishlist soon.
Oh, and if you're impressed and thinking of ordering any of your own, I know people always love a tip-off on a good place to buy the less readily available brands - I'd thoroughly recommend buying direct from the company (check the seller name on the ebay listings) - the prices are better than any others on there, with a money-off deal if you buy more than one, and the friendly customer service is absolutely second to none, you can tell they really care about the models and the hobbyists who buy them. And we all appreciate that!