Mr Z Yili horse in hand mini review. - Picture heavy

Hi folks,

Yesterday i received my order from Machnegun-figures which included my very first truly 1/6th horse.

First off the boring part, he (I'm pretty sure he's a he) arrived in a large brown carton with Mr Z logo on the side, pretty non descript really, inside




I was impressed by the size of him I guess he weighs 3lbs (2.5 kilos ish) and when standing is quite stable.

As far as I can tell he stands 28cm tall which is approximately 168 cm in 1:1 or 67" which is just over 16 hands




I was actually dreading his colouration from the pictures , I originally wanted the Grey but had to settle for the 'brown' one.

That having been said I am actually quite impressed, he's a red brown and I don't know if you can see it but is shaded in a darker colour I guess you would describe him as Chestnut or Sorrel perhaps ?

The overall figure is beautyfully textured, in some of the pictures the daylight makes him appear to be slightly frosted, when I showed my friend she thought the breed was a Akhal Teke, until I pointed out that it was the effect of the light on his 'coat' which really does look reallistic.


The mane , forelock and tail are of some form of Hair or wool and feel very soft.


Accessories, he comes with a bridle, a single rein and his saddle assembly.








The bridle and a good proportion of the saddle are made of either very fine leathe or more likely phleather
His Bridle fits quite easily over his head and is secured by a working buckle under his chin.


The rein is a single cotton round lace with rings on the ends (more on this later)




The saddle when I removed it from the packaging I had to re hook the 'bed roll' which attaches by 2 small wire hooks to the back og the saddle.

generally the saddle fits quite easily although not trappinh the mane and tail was a slight challenge as was doing up the buckles, of which there are 2 attached to the girths.



I did initialy think that one of the main staps that go arroung his tail end was attached twisted but this has sorted itself out.

The saddle is in one piece but comes multi layered attached together by rivets.


Okay this is where i get told off as I dont know what the parts of this type of saddle are called.


first off we have a fringed and decorated blanket made of some sort of swade/swadette the decorations are printed

over this run the girths, then we have a glossy saddle pad?


over this runs the stirrup straps with nice brass effect irons attached.


over this is the main saddle which is made of stiff vinyl plastic the colouration seems to imply that its made of metal?


then we have the blue printed swadette


One thing that bugged me about the construction of the saddle was the fact that the stirrup is on a single long strap running under the saddle, this isn't fixed so its possible to have a long side and a short side.


Tack wise I think they could have added a bit more detail as in places its very basic in construction, things like 'keeper' loops to stop the loose ends of the girths flapping and a leather rein not a cord one. But hey what do I know maybe this is acurate for the tack they were aiming at?


As far as I can tell this breed is supposed to be only 14 hands I may be wrong on my measurements but I make him a good 2 hands taller.


the following are some fun shots using Julianna who is an original So2a ans my new s24a who came with the same order. so you get some idea of the size.












I am considering getting better Tack if I can decide what I want but I think a better bridle and reins first.

I am open to suggestions.

I hope this was useful

Susanna

He’s stunning , beautiful chestnut colour! The coat texture on these guys is one of the coolest things about them, imo! I’m stuck on my phone so I can’t write too much atm, but I think he’s an absolutely gorgeous 1/6 horse, especially compared to some offerings out there. I only wish there were still some left! ;_;

Thanks so much for the detailed review and photos —I’ll comment more later when I get home. : )

Congratulations. The overall shape and proportions are excellent. The texturing is very nice. The saddle and tack are cool. The wrinkling up the neck looks off but I can't really say why.

The wrinkling was brought up before on the original pre-order thread, and it was noted that it really just depends on the horse, the breed, the position of the neck, etc. It may be somewhat exaggerated here, but it doesn’t look all that unrealistic to my eyes.

now thats a damn fine mount you got yourself there. gone are the days of walking everywhere by yourself, outa way

it´s been a few years now, but as far as i remember, my horse had some wrinkles like that, though not that many, after we were in the forrest for a few hours at full speed at a time and him sweating like mad  not that he didn´t enjoy it as well, still it was funny to see him going from "when can i run, when can i run" to "come on, how much farther do you wanna go" good times

I think the wrinkling looks off because it is inconsistent with the pose. Horses necks wrinkle like that when the head is pulled further back. They get wrinkles around the cheeks when the nose is pulled in, like this.



The above statue has a more natural pose that doesn't create those kinds of wrinkles.

Excellent review. Thanks for all the detailed photos. Beautiful looking horse. I've been super-impressed with most of the Mr. Z animals I've gotten -- they've been nailing it when it comes to horses, far better than anyone before -- particularly with all the different breeds. Now I wish I would have gotten a couple of these guys -- one dark brown and one white (for Brego and Shadowfax). Hopefully at some point, we'll get more of a pony, then I'll settle for making Bill to go with the Fellowship.

Delanie, if you are looking for different tack, here's Jean Ross' FB page: 

https://www.facebook.com/Jean-Ross-Studio-Custom-Model-Horses-Saddles-and-Tack-587857378024544/


And I'm with you Stryker, these Yili horses truly are stunning, and they would indeed make great LotR mounts.  I had hesitated about them at first because I was struggling to find any in-hand pics and couldn't decide which coat colour to get. Then, I came across a German model horse forum and some of the photos on there looked so good that I was immediately convinced I had to get one. But by then, the amount available were dwindling, and I also had run into some financial setbacks. That was only just a month ago. By the time I was able to finally consider it again, they were all gone. ;_; 

I'm hoping that Mr.Z will eventually put out more models of horses with this level of sculpting. Especially the head sculpt and coat detailing. I'd personally prefer to see some more baroque breeds, but anything that was comparable to these ones would do! :')

Great looking steed and ladies!

Thank you for the detailed and well-illustrated review. These really look great, and are consistent with the level of excellence we've come to expect from Mr Z's animal statues. The sheen on the coat makes it look so realistic, whatever the breed or color. Just received by second Hanoverian from them.

I think the textures are amazing! He's gorgeous!

Wow looks more realistic than some real horses.

GubernatorFan wrote:Thank you for the detailed and well-illustrated review. These really look great, and are consistent with the level of excellence we've come to expect from Mr Z's animal statues. The sheen on the coat makes it look so realistic, whatever the breed or color. Just received by second Hanoverian from them.

So, how do the Hanoverian’s compare to these? The prices for the remaining Yili’s has gone through the roof, where the Hani’s are still around the same retail price.

I would be interested to see a comparison as thinking of getting one or the equestrian set

The Mr.Z Hanoverians are much shorter than this Yili horse, for one -- I think someone figured out that they are only the equivalent of about 14.1 hands, whereas as the breed in reality tends to be anywhere from 15 to 18 hands.  Kind of ironic as I think the Yili horse in RL is the smaller of the two breeds, its average height being about 14 hands, while this Mr.Z Yili horse seems to be about 16 hands. Perhaps Mr.Z got their heights a bit mixed up... ;p

Personally, I think the Yili model is the nicer of the two in terms of the sculpts/molds. The head, especially, for some reason just catches my eye a bit more. That being said, I have obviously not seen either in person, and only just basing that on the promo and in-hand photos I've seen. A lot of this is subjective though, and down to personal preference. : )

BTW, here is a pic of a bay-coloured Yili horse, in which some 'ripples' on its neck can be seen: 

Thanks for the Info Sky, I'm glad you managed to find a good picture, especially showing the neck. I'm at present looking to redo the Bridle, and reins which is the only bit of its tack I don't really like although I do wish the saddle didn't have a 'running' stirrup.

I have found this website

https://www.riorondo.com/

Which sells an interesting array of buckles and fittings even if for smaller scales.

I could do with some help with style, I'm thinking English style with brow and nose band but open to suggestions but that is only because that's what I'm used to riding with. Any help would be appreciated.

Overall I do like this horse I wish I had a paddock where I could keep one in Real Life although it would have to be as tall

Susanna

I'm glad the pic is helpful -- they seem to be quite nice looking horses. But I've been rather fascinated with both steppe horses and Russian breeds lately, so it's no wonder I'm kinda partial to them, as they are a blend of both. 

And ooh, that's an excellent find on the saddle-making kits!! I will definitely be looking into those! Especially since most of the tack I want at this point is just really simple stuff, it shouldn't be too difficult to put them together and weather them a little bit to get the desired effect. 

I understand wanting to alter the bridle, as it seems to be oddly constructed and sits a bit too low on the brow and nose for my tastes. Most of my riding experience is in English -- both Hunt seat and Dressage -- though I do have a little experience in Western, as well as basic mounted combat. Haven't ridden regularly in years, so my memory might be a lil fuzzy, but I can try. :') 

Regarding the style of the bridle, are you wanting it to be English style while still 'matching' the current saddle?

Hi Sky, yes I want it to match the saddle and I think English would be best as some of the American / cavalry styles look a little complicated. I do however like the idea of using miniature buckles and hooks I love that sort of thing rather than 'cheating' by using say false buckles and glue or Velcro.

I also want to replace the reins I'm thinking of using their 3/32" lace which equates to just over 1/2" in1:1 what do you think?

I have never ridden western style although I want to go to Spain for a week to ride Andalusian horses.

I'm intrigued by the mounted combat btw

Riding Andalusians in Spain sounds heavenly! <3 

The thickness of the reins sounds like it should be ok. I'm trying to look on the page you sent, but it's a little bit confusing. I thought there were more options for 1/6, but other than the cavalry type action man stuff, it seems mainly Traditional and Classic Breyer scales. 

I'm not sure where one would get appropriately-scaled buckles for use on an English bridle, though I have seen some things like English style stirrups for sale on Ebay. On an English bridle, you could get away with just constructing your own buckles out of thin wire, as the buckles on 1:1 English bridles tend to be rather small and unobtrusive. Just really small belt buckles, essentially. But yeah, the only metal pieces you'd need to worry about would be the various buckles and of course the bit. 

I came across this youtube video about putting a 1:1 bridle back together after taking it apart for cleaning. Maybe helpful for 1/6 projects?

Without in any way wishing to deprecate the Yili horses, I do prefer the Hanoverians -- in part because of the absence of ripple folds (which seem a little too prominent for the pose, according to what has been posted), and more so because they are indeed smaller, which helps integrate them better with most most historical figures. I think there is wide consensus that 1/6 horses are usually oversized.

I think the Hanoverian models are nice [and I'm probably going to get one myself!], and I agree that from a historical perspective their size as a riding mount is preferable. I have no practical reason for preferring the Yili, it's just purely personal preference. Neither horse model is, imo, completely accurate as a representation of the breeds they are supposed to be --- but they are both a big improvement on the typical generic 1/6 horses we've seen in the past, which usually have heads and poses that are not even recognizable as that of a real horse to me. So, I'm not really complaining about either, just lamenting that I missed out on the Yili, since if I'd had to choose between the two, that would have been my first choice. Ideally, I would have liked to have all the Mr. Z horses. ;D 

Overall, I'm super glad that all these Mr.Z figures exist...especially since I would like to think they've raised the bar for 'mass produced' 1/6 horses quite a bit. Gives me hope that there will be more like them, eventually.

Well, I’m interested in seeing what a figure (particularly male) looks like on both of these horses. While it may be more realistic, I’m a little concerned that the Hanoverians will look like a grown man riding a pony; much like the 1/6 scale motorcycle issue — where it’s too small. There’s a reason why the movies tend to use taller, and often larger, breeds — it looks more natural under a grown 6’ tall man, and it’s more bad-ass. So, I’m definitely looking forward to seeing side by side (if possible) comparisons.

I think a man and/or male figure can ride a smaller horse and not look ‘ridiculous’, but it tends to require a mount that is stockier or which has a wide ‘barrel’ —aka, wider back that takes up more leg.

Thanks for showing, great Pictures ! Ah, i love Mr. Z Figures. The Sculpts are so fantastic, i think we will forgive the creasing at the neck. If You are not happy with the size of sue next to the Horse, maybe a figure with a new plump body will fit better ?