Last week, I realised there was a serious gap in my model equine collection - I hadn't got a Grévy's zebra yet! So I decided it was about time I ordered the CollectA one.
Here he is! I love that they've made this less-appreciated species, almost all mainstream toys and models seem to be plains zebra subspecies, but Grévy's have secretly been my favourites since college, with their big saucer ears and long noses.
They've done a pretty good job with his pattern, getting the great first impression of a lot more stripes crammed in compared to the typical Grants plains zebra models, and no worry of getting a 'bad one' due to human error or a hurried paintjob - because they're printed on, each CollectA Grévy is the same, even though each real one is a little different.
I've seen some disappointment that the stripes on the hindquarters are too vertical, but with the natural variation in real zebras, I don't think it's too bad - some will have a lower divide between the vertical stripes and the horizontal ones. Have a look at the rump of this one (my own pic), there's a good section of vertical lines before it forms a triangle and the stripes change angle.
EARS! You can see here, I got a similar intensity of big giant ear by making a kissing sound at this real gravy zeb (p.s yeah Grévy is pronounced 'gravy', not rhyming with 'heavy')
How do the CollectA zebra species look with each other?
Really good! I prefer the off-white plastic to the bright pure white of the Grévy's - that's how they're made, rather than yellowing cos one's new and one's not - but over all that doesn't matter, especially when photographed separately you wouldn't think 'Well, that's too white!'
While I was putting in my order, I thought I really ought to catch up on a few more CollectA releases I'd missed so far - 'to buy enough for free postage' was my excuse, hah
First, the fairly recent chestnut spotted foal to go with my adult knabstrupper.
It's curious how sometimes CollectA release the adult and baby in the same year, but other times we have a single mare or stallion for a while before they make a matching foal of the same breed.
The wild, heavily-spotted leopard appaloosa pattern of the mare is rather nicer than the simpler spotting they've designed for the little one, but they make a good pair together
Next, the Russian Don, who was held back to the latter part of the year when she was released, so I wasn't able to get hold of her when I ordered my batch that spring.
I'm really pleased to see this breed in model form, I think she's the only one from any mainstream brand? With most companies focusing on the best known breeds with an established fanbase, it's great to see CollectA going for the less common ones, and giving us chance to tick off breeds with a huge importance in their own country, and a lot of history. They deserve the attention!
The colour's really well done, chestnut with a darker mane and tail being unusually common in the breed. And there's a metallic sheen in the paint - I generally hate the overdone pearly/shiny/metallic paint craze on all kinds of model horses which don't need it, but some breeds do have a coat with that sheen, and the Don is one of them. But my favourite thing about the mould is the cocked-back ear, a tiny design choice which gives her a touch of life and realism - with her ear turned round, she's suddenly a model of an actual horse, with reactions and thoughts, not just a posed example of a breed.
And rounding out the parcel nicely, the Sugarbush Draft mare and foal. Well, I couldn't buy one without the other!
Another example of CollectA Chunky-leg Syndrome not being a bother on a draft horse, her legs don't look out of proportion like a light breed would.
I think her spotting is really well designed, some of these toy-type models tend to get given too widely-and-evenly spaced spots, like someone just laid them out in a way which looked tidy, rather than following the patterns seen on real horses. This mare looks more like her spots could be copied from real life.
The matching baby - I'm not sure if he's supposed to have so much grey shading on his head, or whether that's overspray from his muzzle gone way up his face! But his blanket spotted appaloosa pattern is neatly applied, and he has a very sweet and playful look to him.
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