CollectA 2022 and some older models

I'm still trying to catch up on recent arrivals, I've got very behind on blogging arrivals and reviews - I've had not one but two parcels of CollectA since I last shared photos of my arrivals, so I'm combining them into one big post. 

Let's start with the newest releases....

Oryol mare

Much better known as the Orlov Trotter, named after their developer Count Alexei Orlov, this is a famous breed but not a common one outside its native homeland, and it's fairly rare to see in model form, too. With nothing yet from Breyer, the market leader in the model horse world, we have to turn to the more toy-type brands : Mojo Fun have released their Orlov Trotter sculpt in two different shades of grey, and now CollectA bring us a brand new one.

Sculpted in, quite logically, a trotting pose - but it's a rather relaxed-looking jog, rather than the high speed trot which the breed is capable of. This could be for stability reasons - a pose at full extension can cause the dreaded issues with model horses : wobbling, or warping of the limbs, both of which often end with tipping over entirely. This trot has enough movement to look energetic, without causing actual movement on your shelves!

The dapples on this model aren't quite so successful as those on the beautiful Hanoverian released earlier in the year, I think they come across more like messy paint-brush stipples compared to his neatly shaped and carefully arranged blobs of paler grey. But although they look hand-painted, they are definitely an applied transfer print, it hasn't been left up to the factory artists to dot the speckles on individually.

The mane and tail are given a bit of depth with a graduated fade to grey down the tail, and a blondeness sprayed on both so they don't look starkly white but more realistic, like the horse is carrying a little bit of natural dirt in the hair.

The other side, where perhaps the dapples are a bit better, being more spread out and with less obvious gaps around them!

All in all, it's a nice enough model, of a breed I'm glad to see, slightly let down by the dappling design.

American Saddlebred stallion

The American Saddlebred is a breed which we already have abundance of in the model world. Multiple brands, with multiple moulds each, often in more than one scale already. But they've been a notable gap in CollectA's catalogue for all this time - it's rather baffling that they've taken so long to get round to adding one to their range!

And here he is! A stallion in liver chestnut (the mane and tail are a very dark brown, not black), with nicely done crisp-edged markings, he's quite handsome and has the right showring stance and attitude to suit his breed.

But he's sadly let down by CollectA's tendancy to very chunky legs these days. Saddlebreds in real life are very fine-boned and light; an impression of elegance and height with their long slender limbs. Giving him such solid thickness, lacking definition between the joints and what should be narrow shins and pasterns, makes it look like he's wearing legs from a much fatter horse or much heavier breed!

As with the Hackney and Marwari from previous batches, which should have been spindly-legged lightweights but ended up heavy-legged, it really does detract from the overall accuracy of the model when they don't have the 'typey' conformation model collectors are looking for.

Despite the legs, the general proportions of the horse are ok - the shoulders and quarters are where they should be, the neck is the right length and the right angle, the head is very nicely put together and has a nice expression. This is where CollectA do excel when compared to the more widely available Schleich horses, and why they're still the best of these toy-type brands : even when the fat legs are taken into consideration, they're still more accurate and visually appealing than their main competitor.

I'm not sure why they went for a fairly bland coat colour, when Saddlebreds are one of the most colourful breeds in the world; with so, so many dilutes and pinto patterns to choose from, who really thought a dark-maned chestnut was the most exciting option?

But still, it's satisfying to tick such a popular breed off the list. Although some collectors don't like it when a common breed is made again, I think of it in a different way, and like to see each brand expanding their catalogue and compiling a comprehensive range, regardless of whether anyone else 'got there first'.

Noriker mare

Just one draft horse breed from CollectA this year, the Noriker from Austria - but we get two, cos they've released a mare and her matching foal. Frustratingly, the foal wasn't in stock the day I ordered my adult horses, then the very next day it popped up as in stock after all, so it had to follow separately in a little parcel all alone, poor thing!

CollectA's draft horses are blessed indeed, as the chunky legs which are such an issue with light breeds blend perfectly into the sculpt - they're meant to be this thick! The faces, too, are a delight, and it's remarkable how many times the same person can form a handsome roman nosed heavy horse head without it becoming repetitive and formulaic : every single one looks unique and this gives the models their individuality and a whole lot of character. Where one is stern, another looks kind; where one is alert and sharp, another is so placid she's almost ready for a nap. This Noriker has a bright and cheerful look, and will pair well for posing with her foal.

A breed which comes in several coat colours, it's a bit of a pity they didn't go for the famous leopard-spotted pattern, as there's not many chances for a big spotty draft horse, and this would've been ideal. Perhaps something to hope for as a future release - now we've had extra colour options on the Icelandic, Appaloosa, Arabian, and Hanoverian it's seeming a little more likely that any one mould may return with a second (or third, or fourth!) colour some time.

But chestnut is perfectly ok, and I like that they went for a very different version than their Belgian mare, using a spray-shaded coat and much blonder mane this time.

Noriker Foal

I'm not sure how CollectA decide which breeds should be issued with matching foals - it's not just automatic when they've chosen to make the adult example a mare, as many of them aren't given foals, while some of the breeds which do have a foal available are represented by a stallion. But it's always nice when they bring out a new matching baby, and even more so when it's a draft breed for a change!

Much like the matching mum, this chunky little one is just right for the breed, with stocky legs and a solid draft build, even at this early age. The colouring's done well, too, remembering that foals' first fluffy coats are often much paler shades than their adult colour will be.

Of course, the best thing about buying family groups or pairs is posing them together for cute pictures - here's a little selection from their photoshoot (as with all images on my blog, click them to see a larger copy)

Paint Horse stallion

I've saved my favourite in this batch for last, the stunning Paint Horse stallion!

As with the Arabian Mare in liver chestnut (see my other CollectA 2022 review here), I had my doubts about the honesty of the catalogue image for this one. It just seemed too good to be true, like they'd photographed a one-of-a-kind artist's proof model with a high-quality finish but then the production models would turn out to be a simplified let-down lacking the added level of detail. But, just like the Arabian, I was pleasantly surprised to find I'd got a model in my hand which was every bit as good as the unspoken 'promise' of the promotional picture!

With his bay colour nicely shaded and a super-realistic fiddly-outlined pinto pattern, this has got to be one of the best renditions of this two-tone coat ever done in the world of toy-type small plastic models. Where stencilled or airbrushed markings often leave a smudged or blurry edge (and peel-off masking is only used on harder plastic like Breyer models) this application by decal/transfer of a white layer over the top of the sprayed base colour leaves a perfect crisp edge, and means every model will have an identical realistic outline to the patches.

He also has a spectacular level of detail for a mass produced regular run toy : eye colour and pupils, grey skin smudged carefully around the mouth and nostril, and within the pinking where his marking reaches his muzzle, a couple of dark spots on the upper lip. This is the sort of effort you expect to see on custom repaints, not factory finish figures!

Here's the reverse of his pinto pattern, just as well designed as the display side.

Another nice touch is the fact the socks are crisp markings too, when it's easier and cheaper to do a fade-out that's often what happens, so it's great to see CollectA stepping up the majority of their paintwork decisions this year.

Although he's another re-used mould, it isn't quite a repeated breed in a new colour, as this stallion was originally sculpted as an Appaloosa and now represents a Paint Horse. So that's one more to tick off the list of breeds available from the brand, and one I can wholeheartedly recommend!

And now, the second boxful : some older models I ordered when there was a discount offer on BigJigs Toys, the site I always buy my CollectA from now - colours I'd missed out the first time round.

The pinto Friesian cross, variously spelt as Barok or Baroque Pinto depending on how the name's translated. I didn't get him at the time cos I'd already decided to go for the plain black purebred, and thought there was no need to get the one with a bit of white painted on as well! And while it still does look like the Friesian with a bit of white on, he's quite a handsome model in his own right, and I'm glad I've gone back through to fill in some of the gaps in my CollectA collection. I've given him the name Hadriaan.

Several years after the stallion, a matching foal was released, and of course not owning the father I didn't get the colt either. But I couldn't resist any longer, he looks so smart and proud of himself! I've named this one Hendrikus.

Of course, the best thing to do with matching pairs, is family photos...

The next addition was done a bit inside out! BigJigs do free postage if you spend over £40 - the only thing is, four adult-horse sized models comes to just under that limit, by a few pennies - but a foal-sized model doesn't cost much more than the shipping fee would be, so my logic is always may as well have a foal rather than pay postage, and I add one on to my order, Only last time, there weren't any foals left which I already owned the matching mums or dads for, so I had to buy a random one without anyone to adopt her when she got here, poor thing!

This is Spider, the grulla Mustang filly, and you can tell she was from the earlier batch of my additions cos she's got a whole different photo set up here - and I forgot to take her out on the trip to find a bit of sunny open country, oops!

So when I was making up my most recent order, of course what I had to do was make sure I ordered the matching mare in grulla to re-unite the family.

I've named her Scorpion, so they share a theme, but as I said I forgot to take the foal along for this winter expedition to get some sunshine outside of my shaded garden, so there's no pictures of them together, either. But they're standing side by side on a pile of books here, while they await some shelf space.