I've fallen down a very expensive rabbit hole...

[IceRebel]

I was only looking for plastic animals for school topics, and now i've fallen head first down a Schleich rabbit (and other animals) hole.

Oh my goodness they're lovely and so detailed for such small figures, but the price

3 dinosaurs selling for £20+, a panda and her baby for nearly £10 delivered to my door.

Now i've seen them, other plastic animals just look crap and cheaply made in comparison. Yet if I ever bought any, I would be too tight to actually give them to the children to play with.

Take a look at the website recommended (if your bank balance can take it)

Compared to other brands (as mentioned up thread) my bank balance can take it. However, that would be for me, just a few cute figures, not a zoo or jungle for my school children.

i would buy bundles online, look at local facebook and gumtree pages. i have bought huge bundles for only £20. We have a massive collection of farm animals, farm buildings and horses. the whole lot has cost less than £100.

All scheich animals have schleich printed on them.

Is there some kind of themed fundraiser you could do? Perhaps along the lines of 'Dear Zoo' and the parents are encouraged to 'adopt' the animal that their child would like to be sent by the zoo with a donation? I would be happy to donate to something like that, and if a few people chucked in a tenner then you would be off to a good start.

All ours still great 'new' condition.We mostly have the dinosaurs but have a few zoo animals (the usual suspects!) Just the mammoth that's badly aged! It's obviously rough textured which is what we put it down to.

My dad 8 collects the ponies she has a lots she loves them she got a schleich pony advent calendar this year they are well worth the money

I've seen these and wondered who bought them? My DD must have the same imagination as me, as I have no idea what the point of them is and she always walls straight past. It's just pretend play, so it doesn't need to have a ton of detail? I'll have to have a closer look next time I'm in the toy shop as I'm genuinely bemused, they've always looked really boring!

I limit myself to buying 3 schleich animals a year - one for each of the DC's stockings. I've already got them for next year because there was a sale on just after Christmas! I always try to find unusual animals, like sloths, toucans, etc. rather than just getting a sheep or something. That way they become a bit obsessed with their annual animal & like to find out more about it. We've learnt about all sorts of animals, food chains & habitats over the years... See, it's all in the name of education!

We have lots. DS1 has about seven dinosaurs as his main Christmas present last year. DS2 has lots of the safari animals, which have been gradually collected over birthdays and Christmas’s. They are lovely.

I knew what this thread would be about from reading the title, I also fell down the rabbit hole! We have lots of the horses, I'm yet to show dd the unicorns..

My DH won a Schleich competition he didn't remember entering, a couple of years ago A big box of the stuff just randomly turned up one day. There were about 200 Smurfs (which were new at the time) plus a load of elephants, dragons & superheroes It was most bizarre.

They are beautifully made.

My DD never went for any small world really for playing with, but age 12 she still has her bayala characters on display.

Hers seem a bit more pastel than the current ones though. I think I prefer the older ones.

Someone is selling a ton of these on one of my local selling pages! I'm trying not to look as we already have a complete shit load of schleich and papo plastic animals, and really don't need anymore. They are beautiful though and I think children enjoy them more because they're so lifelike. Have you seen the schleich advent calendars...😱 so addictive

livingthegoodlife Huge bundles for £20 sounds like an amazing bargain. Also thank you for the tip about them having Schleich printed on them.

BlueMerchant Interesting that the mammoth's coat seems to be the cause, most of the animals i'm looking at are smooth coats so will hopefully be more durable.

Imstickingwiththisone I suppose all children like different toys, but I can definitely see the appeal of them. That's not to say my children don't like to play with simple wooden toys, because they will happily sit and do so. However, the detail and realism of these figures are lovely, and they do so many animals that my children would usually never see or learn about.

AGnu That's so lovely, and a great justification for the buying them. There are so many learning opportunities.

Equimum Your DSs are very lucky, I bet they spend hours playing with them.

How do you pronounce Schleich?

LlamaShark Just from the title, oh dear that's bad. Although at least I have a lot of company down the rabbit hole.

confusedofengland No wonder you were confused, over 200 smurfs in the post. What an earth did you end up doing with them all?

SerendipityReally It's so lovely that older children are also still enamored with them.

barkinatthemoon Local selling sites, now there's a thought.

I suspect today is going to be rather expensive, but it's all in the name of education.

How do you pronounce Schleich?

In my head i'm saying Shhh-like, but who knows. I daren't even try and work out Ostheimer.

DpWm you pronounce with the i sound.

We have a farm of these treasures. My DC love pointing out the massive balls on the pig years of entertainment. Some of the horses are interesting too.

OH (and my) obsession is limited edition teddies, the 1/1 can be eye-wateringly expensive, even 1/1000 aren't cheap.

I know the feeling but it's holztiger here also wooden and you can get subscriptions online £20 a month and 3-4 arrive at your door

Our local Waterstones sells schelich figures. Their loyalty card mkes it easier... every so often I get a small one for ‘free’

Schleich obsessed here too, have a ton of dinos now and some farm animals. Have loads of holztiger too but the boys prefer the Schleich

Bloodyfucksake Oh dear, I hadn't even considered the animal's anatomy, oh well impromptu science lesson it is.

Jitterbugz How expensive are we talking? And do you have any pictures of the teddies. I never knew they made unique teddies, as in on of a kind which is what I assume 1/1 means?

CatsCatsCats11 I think you're the 3rd person to mention holtztiger, so I finally caved and googled. They're so cute, a lot like Ostheimer but with brighter colours. The trouble with wooden toys is it's hard to get pen marks off of them. Speaking from experience

Iwantedtrianglesnotsquares I had no idea physical shops sold them, especially not a book shop like Waterstones. I'm off into town later, any idea where else I might be able to see them in person?

Our very large collection is in the attic waiting for grandchildren. Couldn't bring myself to sell any although we did sell the eyewateringly expensive Dutch barn.

Toy shops sell them. I think the early learning centre used to sell them as well as their own cheaper versions.

My youngest dd was obsessed with these and I used to take her into Waterstones every week so she could have a play whilst I read and she would sit and make little families with them. It was the only place she ever asked to go so one christmas I spent a lot thinking it would be totally worth it. DD announced on seeing the little farm that I had set up that it looked much nicer in Waterstones and she would still prefer to go there to play with them The bloody animals have been sealed in a tupperware crypt for future generations although I sometimes take out the kangaroo with removable joey to play with myself.