Poecilotheria metallica is a beautiful theraphosid spider from the forests of Andhra Pradesh in India. It goes by several common names, including the Gooty sapphire ornamental tarantula, blue ornamental tarantula, and peacock tarantula, among others. It is an arboreal species, and like many tropical tarantulas, has a very limited geographic distribution, making it prone to population decline. At the time of this writing, the species was classified as Critically Endangered by the IUCN, with a population decreasing. The main reasons for its decline are deforestation and collection for the pet trade. To my knowledge, this species has been made twice, once by Bullyland in 2017 and once by Yowie Group in 2021. Today we are looking at the latter.
First, let’s discuss the sculpt. When promo pics first came out, the habitus looked to me like it was modeled after a jumping spider (Salticidae). And while it does look more ‘tarantula-like’ in hand, I still think the sculpt looks more like a salticid. In addition, it appears to have been sculpted without eyes, which is ironic since my usual complaint about spider figures is that they are usually sculpted with an incorrect eye count and position. The texture on the other hand is very nice.
The total figure length is 5.0 cm. The body length minus appendages is 3.0 cm. The legspan is about 5.5 cm for a scale of approximately 1:2.7-1:3.6 for a female, which, based on the robust body, this figure appears to be.
Next, let’s look at the paint. The base color is a purple, more purple in life than it may appear in my images. The dorsal vestiture on the cephalothorax and abdomen is painted a pinkish-white, and applied very nicely to give the appearance of a hairy animal! The front pair of legs are painted with white and yellow bands, but for some reason these are lacking in the hind two pair of legs.
Figures in this collection were advertised as having ‘super powers’. The super power associated with P. metallica is the possession of fine hairs on the body (trichobothria) that are sensitive to vibrations, smell, and taste, allowing the spider to hunt potential prey and avoid predation! They eat mostly insects, and white their venom can cause intense pain in a human, there are no documented fatalities from the bite of a Gooty.
For collectors of interesting taxa, this figure comes recommended. The Bullyland figure (above) is much nicer, but larger and probably already difficult to come by.
You rolled that review out quick! Well done. I never knew Bullyland made one of these too, that one is spectacular. I hope you cover that one too eventually.