Anyone who has a habit of collecting has an origin story. I think many of us can even remember our very first models we bought, whether it was at age 6 or 60. My story began when I was about 3 years old (very young, how could I remember that? A rare gift of mine is a great memory of early childhood but that is a story for another time...). I distinctly remember walking into my local farm and ranch store on an errand with my parents. Walking past the rack of plastic figures I stopped dead in my little tracks and snatched up two horses. They were the Schleich Shire gelding #13247 and the sorrel mare #13225. I asked my parents and they conceded, and thus began my early collection days. I continued to add models to my herd slowly, a few for Christmas', a few for birthdays, picking one up when we visited that magical farm and ranch (in my mind "toy") store. I was given my first Breyer at a young age as well, something my mother also casually collected in her childhood, and we could bond over.
I played with these figures as a child. My older siblings and I would set up play farms and sceneries; they would play with their Barbies or Polly Pocket figures while I added the animalia elements to our play skits. I would take them outside to our yard, making volcanos in the sandbox, or racing horses on the lawn. As I grew into a teenager, I could not ever convince myself to part with my plastic childhood friends; I still had enthusiasm for them. Right up until I fledged into a full "Collector", I would take every single model I owned out into our spacious living room and set up the farm sets and fences and surrounding wildlife. This would take some time, and once completed I would admire them for a few hours, then pack them up to my bedroom.
Circa 2009, having moved to another state for a few years and then having moved back to my hometown but a few weeks prior, my mother and I walked back into that farm and ranch store and happened to walk by that Schleich stand. But this time, there was a catalogue, free to take with me. While waiting for my mother to find sprinkler parts or whatever the project was for the day, I opened a catalogue. And this cracked my entire mind open to the possibilities of what was out there. Luckily, that store had a very kind and tolerant manager that would allow me to "special order" models of my choosing (coming in packs of 5, he would set aside a single figure of the batches and then sell the duplicates on the shelf). I had my nose in that catalogue all the time, to the point I wore out the tender stapling and had to collect another one from the store I visited all too often now. In the years to come as my young self became more accustomed to how the internet worked and the early days of online shopping, I learned about Safari Ltd. (a brand I was exposed to when I had moved a few years prior and my regular Schleich models were not available to me there) and more details about the Schleich brand. Within a few months I was delving into nearby stores within a day's drive of me and learning about production of these toys and how they are numbered, etc....
Around 2012, I first discovered STS Forum but chose to lurk initially. However, not after too long the frustration of not being able to see the images members shared got the better of me and I signed up. I met so many wonderful people, some of them not around anymore that I dearly miss, and some that have been there since the grand beginning of the forum and still very active! I have learned even more about all sorts of aspects of this hobby and as I grew my collecting tastes changed and my own collection slowly accumulated. Now, nearly 10 years after finding STS, 13 years after becoming an official "Collector" properly, and 23 years of owning any plastic model, I now curate a 5,000+ piece collection. Schleich, Safari Ltd., Bullyland, CollectA, Mojo Fun, and Papo are all present in force, as well as models that outdate me (my oldest figure is older than my parents even), and span a variety of artistic styles, materials or composition, species, and categories. Recently, I was even persuaded to casually add insects and arachnids to my compendium, despite having a slight fear of these types of animals. And the hoard continues to grow... I find excuses to acquire new pieces all the time. What better joy is it, than to find something rather inexpensive, but all-encompassing of my interests, that brought me to socialize with people all over the surface of the Earth and educate my mind on nearly any related topic imaginable? No better joy indeed, than to explore this amazing world of plastic animal figurines...
