What a delight! A box full of toys from Schleich arrived at our home a few days ago. These sturdy figures were packed well, compactly, and arrived in excellent condition. Since we live on forested land, my children and I at once enjoyed pointing out all the forest animals who have visited our yard - deer, fox, and rabbit for instance. We then discussed which ones we have seen in Nova Scotia in general, and tried to recall their Latin names since we're learning Latin in our homeschool. It wasn't long before my 5 year old daughter had scooped the lot of them and made them part of her little play world along with her dolls in her room. I'll have to convince her to share them with the rest of the family, LOL. Although my 10 year old son really has his eye on Schleich's fantasy figures in the Schleich catalogue.
As a family who adores nature, it is refreshing to see animal figurines so beautifully and realistically captured that they could sit on a mantle as a decoration, but also sturdy and fun to play with and learn with. Just look at the hand-painted features of the polar bear in the photograph above.
Schleich has over 500 items available, including Farm Life, Wild Life, Forest Life, Plants and Trees, Pets, Dinosaurs, The World of Knights, The World of Elves, and The World of the American Frontier collections. At the Schleich website, you can view the first chapter of a story involving their elf figurines, which is also available for purchase.
In Nova Scotia, you can find these figures at Toys R Us, Chapters, and many specialty toy shops, including... Uncommon Kids Gear Inc, Halifax Cole Harbour Farm Museum, Dartmouth The Ridge Shop, Stewiacke note: this store has the ENTIRE line - I just visited and I was in love with the horses, and my son with the knights :) The museum-quality scale models are out of this world as well!
Hay Hospitality, Truro
To give you an idea of price, Chapters online sells the figures starting at $5.95 and up, with playsets available at $12.25 and up.
Schleich is currently running a Hobby Farm Home Contest. Now until March 31, 2009, send in a photo of your family's farm diorama using Schleich animals and accessories, and you could win a Schleich Red Barn valued at $159.99!
My kids are anxiously awaiting their box! We started a "plastic animal" collection for our 11 yo when she was just 1. It has continued to grow, and they are on my kids' lists every Christmas and Birthday.
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Feb. 18, 2009 - Glad you got an item to review first!
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