What Scale is a Magpie?

Magpie Model Horses are generally considered 1:12 scale, which means 1 inch in miniature scale equals 12 inches in real world scale... ideally. In the model horse and the dollhouse worlds, 1:12 scale often covers a bit of a range.

The horses below are all considered 1:12 scale models, but you can see what a difference there is not just in height, but in the scale of the sculptures.

There is even a certain amount of inconsistency in scale between individuals within their own brand. I'm not saying this as criticism, I am an avid collector of all of these models, but just to illustrate how loosely we throw about the 1:12 scale label.

Julips, by nature of their materials are on a slightly more massive scale as their legs cannot be too fine as it causes production difficulties due to their leg wires and overall weight of their bodies, and the latex tends to give the sculptures a soft, pony-ish look. Plastic models have more leeway in this area as they do not flex and are made of a lighter material. So a Julip model of the same general size and even breed type can look like a larger scale pony rather than a smaller scale sport or light breed.




If you convert the measurements of these horses to 1:1 scale (or real world scale) and then convert that into hands, you will find that none of these horses are true 1:12 scale models.

At 1:12 scale, the Breyer Ruffian is 13.2 hands tall and the Magpie and Julip models are both 12.3 hands tall. For the Breyer Ruffian to reach the 16.1 hands of her real life counterpart she would need to be a whole inch higher at the withers!

This isn't a deal-breaker for most of us. Many items sold by dollhouse companies are not quite to scale themselves, and even things made to scale rarely look out of place with our models. The following pictures will give you some idea about how the three most common Magpie molds look with various dolls.

Typical Dollhouse adult and child

Julip HOTY doll and Lundby adult

Julip Originals adult and child
(they're quite old, so they look a little rough)

At 1:12 scale the Magpie Hunter is 12.3 hands high, at 1:16 scale, he goes up to 17 hands. Both types of Julip riders are around 1:14 scale while the Lundby man is 1:16 scale, which is closest in scale to the mold, but to me looks a bit small compared to the horse, but that's probably because I'm used to seeing Julip riders and dollhouse dolls with my Julips and Magpies.

Typical Dollhouse adult and child

Julip HOTY doll and Lundby adult

Julip Originals adult and child
(they're quite old, so they look a little rough)

At 1:12 scale the Magpie Arabian is 11.1 hands high, at 1:16 scale, is a good 15 hands.

Typical Dollhouse adult and child

Julip HOTY doll and Lundby adult

Julip Originals adult and child
(they're quite old, so they look a little rough)

At 1:12 scale the Magpie Arabian is 8.1 hands high, at 1:16 scale, 11 hands, which is about right for one of the smaller Welsh Pony grades.

So, what scale is a Magpie, I'd say technically around 1:16, but it could work for up to 1:12 depending on your dolls and what breed of equine you were going for. I hope these pictures can help give some idea of how well a particular Magpie would be able to integrate into a herd or scene.