Humans, despite our technology and power, are still just another mammal. Specifically, we are primates, related to many of the ape family. Of all of them, we are most closely related to the Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), found in Eastern Africa, they are known for intelligence, tool use and (at least in the UK) adverts for tea. Like many amazing animals around the world, they are threatened by habitat loss and poaching, as well as by people who keep them as pets, in spite of their sometimes aggressive nature. This is likely why they made it all the way to the “Endangered” section in the Noah’s Pals toy line, a good way to teach children to let them be what they should be: free, wild animals, not in danger from their closest cousins. Let’s see how the figures did.
We start with the male, Caleb, who sports a quadrupedal stance, engaging in the famous ape posture of knuckle walking, a great pose to choose. The colouration is pretty good, with a darker brown, near black here, with the white fur around the face being brilliant. This model is made in several parts, which is clear from the seams that are plainly visual, fortunately only on the back legs. It measures 1.5″ long and 1.3″ high, reasonably small but working well for the 1:24 scale. Pretty good.
Next is the female, Carrie, who goes for more of a sitting pose, fairly relaxed here. Unlike Caleb, this model has no seams, but still showing off the great sculpt work on these models. It is small, like Caleb, measuring 1.6″ high and 1″ long, so great for it’s scale, but not for many lines. Pretty good model.
I do really like this set of chimps, the colouration and sculpt work brilliantly and they are quite a sweet pair. It is in the “Endangered” part of the line, so it is limited to 10,000 models and therefore hard to get, especially since Noah’s Pals has long been discontinued, so best to go to eBay if it tickles your fancy. It is worth a shot.
