It is difficult not to think back on Schleich 2017 without a sense of nostalgia. It was a truly magical year that saw the release of some of our favorite Schleich toys. This was the year Schleich put out some of their best horses, and while only a few new toys were added to Bayala, they were magnificent. Let’s take a peek and see what you might have missed.
While you're here, you may want to shop our Schleich animal figures and playsets.
Schleich Bayala
The kingdom of Bayala has always been a magical place, full of wonder. Nalenjas Mist Dove embodies that well. This was an adorable and colorful little figure with a shimmery crystal tail. One could almost mistake it for a young phoenix. The Mist Dove has a soft, magical song that enchants anyone close enough to hair it.
Two mermaid playsets were released in the Schleich 2017 line. The first was the Michelle Toy Set. This set came with the mermaid, Michelle, and her baby sea horse Miniki as well as a few accessories.
The second set was just a little more exciting. I know, it’s hard to get more exciting than something as adorable as Miniki, but Schleich found a way!
The Royal Seashell Carriage Set came with a mermaid and a merman. There’s an intricate seashell carriage for them to ride inside, complete with accessories. What, you may ask, should pull the royal carriage? A blue and purple-maned sea unicorn, of course! Anything less just would not do.
Schleich Horses
As I said, the Schleich 2017 collection was a great year for horses too. Horses are available in both Farm world and Horse Club collections. There were a few more commonplace horses released, such as the Tennessee Walker Mare and Gelding, and the Pinto Mare. However, we also saw a whole slew of rare and exotic horses!
2017 brought us the Tinker Stallion with his luxurious black and white mane and tail. We were delighted with the Andalusian Foal and Stallion, as well as the Hanoverian Foal, Mare, and Gelding. Discovering a family of Haflinger horses—Mare, Foal and Stallion—was a real treat.
The most amazing horses to come out of the entire collection were the Lipizzaner Mare and Foal. The fighting horses of Spain! This breed is one of the oldest horse breeds in all of Europe, first bred in 1580. They were bred and trained as fighting horses, to carry their riders into war. Their wartime duties are long past, but the Lipizzaner horses are still trained in the same way to this day. The difference is, now they perform acrobatic feats that look surprisingly like a dance, for audiences.
Fun fact— Did you know people come to Vienna, Austria from all over the world, just to watch the royal Lipizzaners dance?
Schleich Wild Life
There were some notable animal sets in the Schleich 2017 Wild Life collection. The American Forest Dweller Set came with a Moose, a Black Bear, and a small Skunk. The Forest Animal Babies Set went well with it because it had a baby Black Bear, a Baby Moose, and a Warthog Piglet.
It was impossible not to get excited when Schleich brought out the big guns and released the Jungle Research Station. That set was huge! There were so many accessories it was hard to focus on anything. The station is built on a giant stone crocodile head! There was an Orangutan, a Black Panther, a Baby Elephant—so many great little figures to play with!
Of course, the Schleich 2017 had other great animals in the Wild Life collection too. There was an entire family of Elephants, so realistic you can almost hear them trumpet. There were creatures from North America, South America, Asia, Australia, and Africa. If you bought all of them for your child, they would never have had a dull moment in 2017.
But that Jungle Research Station…
Schleich Dinosaurs
Speaking of research, did you have the chance to check out the Schleich dinosaurs that year? They had some truly amazing finds.
The Allosaurus and Acrocanthosaurus were huge and scary looking. The Brachiosaurus, with its impossibly long neck, stomped along in giant herds with the spike tailed Kentrosaurus and back-plated Stegosaurus. The wicked-looking raptors in the Feathered Raptors Set ran along behind them, looking for someone to trip.
It was the fearsome Red Tyrannosaurus Rex that really caught our eye, though. He probably caught the eyes of every other dinosaur too and set the whole herd running for their lives.
Schleich Farm World
Life was slow on the farm that year. The animals took a rest. There were not many new releases in the Schleich Farm World collection.
The only one that was notable was the Large Farm with Angus Toy Set. This was a more traditional farm. The barn was red with a gray tin roof. The farmer had a lot of work to do, tending to the Black Angus Cow and Calf.
If you checked out the Farm World animals already out from previous years, you could have built yourself a wonderful little farm. If not, it was a complete set, so your child would still have had a blast playing with it.
Closing
We hope you enjoyed learning about the 2017 releases! Be sure to check out Schleich through the years!