Little Critterz

[bmathison1972]

Little Critterz is a line of small porcelain figures representing a large variety of species. I have been waffling on whether or not I wanted to get into these, but after getting the Franklin Mint butterflies, I decided to go for it.

The figures are small and come attached to a paper card measuring about 40 mm (1.5 inches square), to give you a size of the figure. They come with a common name and an anthropomorphized name (the latter of which, of course I am ignoring LOL).

To see much of their collection, please visit: http://www.littlecritterz.com/Little-Critterz/. Their 'Northern Rose' line features slightly more realistic figurines not on cards (http://www.littlecritterz.com/Northern-Rose/). There is something there for everyone! Be sure to check out their Retired figures as well (http://www.littlecritterz.com/Retired/)

Of course mine will all be arthropods. Here are my first 6 (I have some crustaceans coming from another dealer); Latin names are my choosing:

1. tarantula (apparently Brachypelma smithi):



2. lady beetle on forget-me-not flowers (there is another lady beetle figure in the collection, but it's on a daisy):



3. monarch (Danaus plexippus):



4. bumblebee (Bombus sp.); it's 'name' is Magnolia, and it appears to be sitting on a Magnolia flower!!!



5. morpho butterfly (Morpho sp.). This might be my favorite; the detail on the underside of the wings is great for such a small figurine.



6. scorpion:



There are a few more insects, and as I said I have 6 crustaceans coming as well. I'll post them when I get them.

[CetaceanFan]

These look very neat!
I will Definetly be picking some of these up!
Also thanks for sharing, because I would probably never know about this line myself.

[BlueKrono]

The ladybug looks like it's drowning, teehee.

[bmathison1972]

Some figures from their 'Northern Rose' collection (http://www.littlecritterz.com/Northern-Rose/). These are larger, and more detailed than the main Little Critterz line (some size info given below to see how they relate to the standard line, which sit on 40 mm square cards).
Adding porcelain figurines to a collection could bulk it up nicely, luckily arthropods are not as well-represented in this medium either (well, not as well as other taxa...)

Scientific names are of my assigning.

1. blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) on an oyster shell (oyster shell max. length 75 mm). They also offer a blue crab not on an oyster shell.



2. monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) on a flower cluster (wingspan 78 mm). Another great example of this ever popular species. The antennae are a soft wire.



3. hermit crab, gen. sp. (claw to apex of shell 70 mm). I never turn down a good hermit crab figure; have always had a fondness for them.



4. dragonfly, gen. sp. on a pink water lily (wingspan 65 mm). Not sure I can ID it further; appears to be a skimmer in the family Libellulidae.



5. lady beetle, gen. sp. on a flower (flower diameter 50 mm). If that central macula was anteriorly-located, this would be a good representative of Coccinella septempunctata

[animaltoyforum]

I have the Tylosaurus in this series.

[bmathison1972]

I have the Tylosaurus in this series.

Nice!

They even have a prehistoric fish! 

[sbell]

I have the Tylosaurus in this series.

Nice!

They even have a prehistoric fish! 

I've seen it--a Xiphactinus! I should probably pick it up at some point...!

[bmathison1972]

The Little Critterz Line crustaceans:

1. lobster (RETIRED version)
2. lobster (current version--looks cooked uggh)
3. fiddler crab
4. blue crab
5. hermit crab
6. Alaskan king crab
7. dungeness crab

gif image hosting

[bmathison1972]

I have re-uploaded these images to Postimage.

[bmathison1972]

While cruising eBay, I stumbled upon a couple more I was unaware of. One is a monarch larva from the Little Critterz line and the other is a bumblebee from the Northern Rose line. The bumblebee was advertised as being retired; I assume the monarch larva is too since it's not on their website. There is still a retired swallowtail in the NR line I am missing.

[animaltoyforum]

I am very fond of these cute little critterz.

I noticed you've left the figures attached to the cardboard backing, whereas I removed mine. It was glued on well! Now I wonder, was I supposed to leave it attached, i.e. is the card intended to be a proper base, or is it just a matter of preference?

[Isidro]

4. dragonfly, gen. sp. on a pink water lily (wingspan 65 mm). Not sure I can ID it further; appears to be a skimmer in the family Libellulidae.

Clearly it's Libellula luctuosa. Shame that it's sitting in a disproportionately tiny waterlily flower (or the dragonfly is enormously oversized), and same for the bumblebee on Magnolia flower (looks like of the group Bombus muscorum/pascuorum, nice option different from the always seen B. terrestris). The flower bed for the monarch is much better: they are Asclepias curassavica, main host plant for their caterpillars and often visited by adults too. Talking about monarchs, that morpho butterfly looks like just a monarch with the wings blue, instead a morpho...

[stemturtle]

I am very fond of these cute little critterz.

I noticed you've left the figures attached to the cardboard backing, whereas I removed mine. It was glued on well! Now I wonder, was I supposed to leave it attached, i.e. is the card intended to be a proper base, or is it just a matter of preference?

The cardboard base attached to the Little Critterz Bonobo Baby was printed, "Soak in water to remove glue." I pulled the cardboard off first, then soaked the figure. The bottom of the feet scarped cleaned with a fingernail.

[bmathison1972]

I am very fond of these cute little critterz.

I noticed you've left the figures attached to the cardboard backing, whereas I removed mine. It was glued on well! Now I wonder, was I supposed to leave it attached, i.e. is the card intended to be a proper base, or is it just a matter of preference?

The cardboard base attached to the Little Critterz Bonobo Baby was printed, "Soak in water to remove glue." I pulled the cardboard off first, then soaked the figure. The bottom of the feet scarped cleaned with a fingernail.

Personally I prefer to keep the cardboard labels on them. Not sure why but I like to keep them that way