Village Story! And welcome Solitaire family.

My clowder of flocked cats just got some new additions thanks to the wonderful MariaDavidova from the SF forum, who helped collectors in other countries to buy the Village Story figures, which can only be found in Russia. 

And before I continue with the post, I must apologize for the quality of these photos. I am no longer in my dorm room with the window by my dresser, so I need to come up with a good space to take pictures at home.

The family names are Greycat and Redcat (found here), and I honestly can't think of anything better, so they will stay. I still need to think of first names for all but the Greycat parents, who are Mark and Stephanie.

Here are the Greycats.  The first noticeable difference between Village Story figures and Sylvanian Families is that VS figures have eyebrows. They are very subtle, and I don't find them too strange. They certainly give them a cartoony look compared to SF. There are a few more differences between VS and SF, though.

The Greycats seem inspired by a cross between the Harveys and Fishers. Their markings are more blocky, and the stripes don't continue towards the back of the head.

Also, the VS cats have long whiskers and chenille tails. Only some SF cats have that kind of tail.

The muzzle is shaped slightly differently, and the ears are just a bit smaller. (Though still big enough for me to find them cute!) The shape of the body is different.

VS seems like the closest alternate brand of flocked toys to SF, but they can't quite share clothes. VS bodies are just a bit smaller, and their clothes fit them pretty snug to begin with. The quality of the clothes is good, though, and they blend seamlessly (haha) with the style of SF clothes. 

These are the Redcats! I like them even better, because they look so unique among my other cats.

They are reddish brown tabbies, but they look nothing like the Macavity or Beaman family.

I also recently bought the Solitaire cat family, who are my first TOMY family. They did not come in their original clothes, but they did come with vintage clothes (with snaps!) and were in nearly perfect condition.

I noticed that TOMY figures are smaller than EPOCH or Flair figures. (L-R: new EPOCH, old EPOCH JP, tall Flair, short Flair, open hand TOMY)

They have their feet closer together and their arms curve in more. I can't wait to obtain the Catwoods, and see if the flat-handed TOMY figures are different than the open-handed ones. (Besides the hands, of course!)

How do other figures fit into this lineup? Like this:

(MT father, FF, new EPOCH, EPOCH JP, tall Flair, short Flair, VS, TOMY, MT mother)

(new EPOCH, EPOCH JP, tall Flair, short Flair, VS, TOMY, FF)

Overall, the VS figures have a body shape similar to TOMY SF, with the close feet and curved-in arms, and smaller head. But their bodies are a bit taller.

I think I've rambled enough. Well, I'm very excited about my new purchases, what can I say? Hopefully I will be able to take the new cats out for their family photos this weekend. (I have a lot of photos to upload as well.)