The long-awaited CollectA 2022 releases are being sent out to stockists in two batches, the first just arrived in the UK last month, the others are estimated around December, but I couldn't wait til then to buy them all in one go, so I picked up the four from this summer batch, and will have a second boxful later on.
The Yakutian Stallion is only new sculpt and new breed in these first's half-of-the-year releases, so he gets to be featured first!
He's really rather adorable! I know these ponies are very hardy and hard-working, not leading pampered lives in the slightest, but this sculpt just makes him look so cuddly!
That's not a bad thing, and it certainly doesn't even approach the amount of cuteness inflicted on Schleich models to the frustration of many adult collectors - his sweet face doesn't have exaggerated features or anything which contradicts realism.
Over the last few years, much has been said about CollectA's relatively recent chunky-legs problem; I'm as disappointed in that as anyone, but on pony and draft breeds it doesn't look obvious or incorrect, the Yakut gets away with the leg proportions in a way the light, leggy, fine breeds cannot - the likes of the Marwari, Saddlebred, or Hackney look wrong, but this small chunky breed looks perfectly ok.
The Yakut sculpt touches on all their distinctive traits, the kind of thing which always gets a mention in the books or websites listing horse breeds, namely their short compact but strong build, the abundant mane and tail, and the shaggy thick coat which grows four inches long in winter - they live outdoors all year round, in the far north (see the red area in this map) and are easily one of the most hardy horse breeds in the world. This one seems to be sculpted in his summer coat, with only the legs and beard remaining shaggy, but it's clearly a nod to that famous characteristic of the breed.
I'm not sure why they chose a plainish grey, when there's a lot of very pretty dun shades which are more common, but greys do exist so I've no problem with the decision, it's not an error so much as a wondering why they didn't go for something more interesting!
But he's nicely painted, with shading and an off-white tone with a little hint of warmth to it (pure white tends to look blueish in models, and gives the impression the animal is overly cleaned, like a show pony just been scrubbed with soap and not allowed to roll while it dried off! )
All in all, a really nice rendition of a breed which isn't as well known as many, but well worth having. And incidentally, the first to be added to my collection - I've considered doing customs before but never dared tackle sculpting the fluff!
This is, as I'm sure all CollectA horse fans will recognise, an older mould re-released in a brand new colour for 2022. We've already had it in chestnut blanket spotted, black blanket spotted, and buckskin blanket spotted, so this is the first time we've seen the spots spread forward onto the rest of the horse!
Being an older sculpt, this one doesn't suffer from the too-thick limbs, but there was a chunk of folded cardboard pushed between the legs for shipping, and looking at some of my angles here, I should probably have left the legs to settle before doing my photoshoot, as they're a little bit splayed!
Any displaced limbs (or tails or ears) on CollectA models can easily be adjusted by immersing in just-boiled hot water if they don't quite stand right, but in this case it was just the packaging which pushed his hooves too wide apart, and by the following day he was standing flat-footed and straight-limbed without any intervention on my part.
Just look at all those spots! They look to be hand-painted rather than printed on or masked off, though it could be some sort of stencilling process I'm not familiar with, so it's possible the models will vary a little from individual to individual, I'll be curious to see more photos as other collectors buy this release, to check how alike they all are!
Although we'd already had one black based Appaloosa pattern, this update isn't really redundant or unnecessary, I think it is a step up in realism compared to the initial 2010 release (on the left here)
Another re-release in a new paintjob, this time a mould which hasn't had a new colour since 2010. The Hanoverian is one of the most popular of CollectA's horse sculpts, and it's easy to see why, with such great sharp accurate anatomy and good conformation for the breed. So it's no surprise that collectors have been customising this one for years, as the old colours were very plain and not very nicely done compared to more recent releases from the brand. So it was about time he got a handsome new makeover!
The white markings are also crisply applied, rather than quick/lazy fuzzy fade-out edges, which is something I and many other model horse collectors, count as the sign of a quality paintjob - even Breyer don't bother on many Classic and Stablemates releases any more, so it's good to see CollectA going the opposite way and making sure they add better markings than they did in the early days.
Another lovely touch is the eye detail - you can't see in my pictures but he's got metallic golden brown eyes painted in, with horizontal oval pupils just as they should be.
The other side, showing the placement of dappling is symmetrical and planned, not random patches put on anyhow.
The only negative is the hoof painting, the back ones are in the right place but a little bit messy, but the front ones are painted far too far up, onto the fetlocks - perhaps others were done with more care and I got an unlucky one, but it is a fault and will probably affect show quality if you're considering photo or live showing with your models. If you happen to live in a country/area where CollectA are stocked in actual physical shops, that's something to look out for when hand-picking your purchases.
Now, the new Arabian...
When the promotional pictures of this one came out, I was really concerned they might be a 'too good to be true' thing, and show a one-off custom artist's proof paintjob then the factory models would be plain and lacking in comparison. But I am pleased to announce that they're just as good as the images we were being tempted with!
I just love the way the mane is done, with the graduated shading combined with crisp hand-painted ends. The blond tips are painted on over the body colour, then the brown shading is sprayed into the mane and tail afterwards, leaving a lovely effect which you don't ever usually see in factory produced models. Her colour is very deep and vibrant, and set off beautifully with the flaxen mane and white markings which make her look flashy and eye-catching - just the sort of thing real Arabian breeders want for the show ring!
A very elegant horse, with a good pose which is typical for the breed but also very pretty - I can see animal toy collectors who aren't even really horse fans taking to this one, as it's got a lot of visual appeal whether you know much about the Arabian breed or not.
As with the Appaloosa and Hanoverian, this is one of CollectA's older moulds, from 2011 this time, so she has fine and crisply sculpted well-detailed legs, essential for her to look true to breed type. The Arabian is one breed which really wouldn't work in their more recent style with smooth plump legs and less prominent joints, so I'm glad they brought back the original instead of bringing out a new 'matching' stallion.
I think this colour is an improvement on the original 'Golden Chestnut', released back in 2010. Different enough that collectors might want both (as this very photograph proves!), but providing a much nicer modernised paintjob for anybody selecting just one.
Funnily enough, I was planning to repaint my damaged body-box mare almost this colour, now I have to rethink and pick something else!
And finally, take a look at the wonderful eyes! It's a shame they're not a feature for all 2022 releases, the Yakut and Appaloosa don't have eye colours, and we'll have to wait and see whether they appear on the Noriker, Saddlebred, Orlov Trotter, and Paint horse at the end of the year.
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