My name is Adah R., and am the person behind Spotted dreams studio. I’m a collector, customizer, blogger, photo shower, and judge. Silver Web Studios reached out to the OMHPS community and asked for guest bloggers, so I volunteered to write a post. :) Please note that in this post, when I refer to 1:18 scale, I am speaking of the general vague scales that surround the common rubber brands. They vary from 1:18-1:20.
The model horse community as a whole seems to have discarded the 1:18th scale with their carpet herd. When a collector mentions the brand names Schleich, CollectA, Papo, Mojo, etc. the typical image is of an 8yr old holding a rubbed up rubber. Maybe we can picture a nice one in a show ring, but then we form a prejudice around cost. “Well, I paid $175 for my horse that I entered in that class. That rubber probably only cost about $10.” Maybe so. But some of my best horses have cost under $20, and I guarantee you’ve had a few too. Ever been surprised at how well a RR SM shows in a big class of 50+ models, some of which are LEs? Cost doesn't matter. Workmanship and breed assignment does. If you are skilled enough, you can take a solid black Schleich Freisian and make it beat a Django in a Freisian class. Brand is only a word, please don’t judge on it.
As a photo show judge, I never knock a model down the placement line purely based on make. We have different makes to accommodate different collecting styles. Let’s pretend for a moment that Peter Stone, Schleich, CollectA, Papo, Mojo, Safari Ltd, all other major rubber dealers, and all the resin casting services shut down. If you wanted to continue in the hobby, you had to go with Breyer. Whoa! Can you imagine what that would do to the hobby economy?? You thought Alborozo had reached his peak, but guess again! All these new collectors have driven prices up. We see a nearly 20% raise in the price of flipped club models, BF pick-ups are scarce and those available nearly cost prohibitive. You can continue to imagine the story. We NEED the other makes to spread out the collecting weight and influence.
Now, does that mean that rubber are top of the line, stunning collector items all of the time? Nope. I collected mainly rubber for a long time before I switched to OF plastic. I will be the first to tell you that Othello is a lot more realistic than the old Shleich vanner. However I will also tell you that the old Schleich TWH has better biomechanics than BGB. Schleich’s latest models have really slipped in conformational accuracy, but you can still do fairly well with most of them.
CollectA is probably the best currently available rubber line. The biomechanics, conformation, and colors are typically pretty good (there are exceptions). I also like most of what I see coming from Papo these days (most of what I see is in Happy Hen ads, so forgive me if there is some terrible model out there I don’t know about! Lol). I am not a fan of Mojo’s recent additions to the line, but they may be improving. Their animals are great though!
I am glad to see that there has been a resurgence in artist resins being released in the 1:18-1:24 range. I am hoping it will bring some more respect for that scale. It’s a really nice size, especially for those with limited space.
Some people seem shy about sharing that 1:18 is their preferred scale for collecting. Let’s do better about making all scales and sizes feel welcome. :) As show hosts, we can do better about providing classes for rubbers. As judges, we can work on our prejudices. As fellow showers, we can improve our view of the competition, and be good sports. As collectors, we can remember 1:18 as an expansion option for our herds, and consider adding some (tip: they are an affordable option for adding some rare breeds to your collection!). As sellers, we can expand our inventory. As a hobby, we can improve our views of common standards.
Big thanks to Silver Web Studios for allowing me to guest blog!
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