River Horse: Hippos

[OkapiBoy]

River Horse: Hippos
Hippopotamus or “hippos” is the third largest type of land mammal alive today, next only to elephants and rhinos. Hippo, from the ancient Greek for “river horse”, lives a semi-aquatic life, inhabiting rivers, lakes, and even mangrove swamps. There are two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae, the hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) and the Pygmy hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis or Hexaprotodon liberiensis), both species are native to Africa.
Despite physically resembling pigs and tapirs, their closest living relatives are the cetaceans (whales and dolphins) from which they diverged about 55 million years ago. The earliest known hippo fossil dates to about 16 million years ago. Both extant species of hippos are found exclusively in Africa, although they were more widespread in prehistoric time with fossils found in Europe, Asia, Madagascar, and some Mediterranean islands (Crete, Cyprus, Malta, and Sicily).
The Hippopotamus (H. amphibius) is the largest of the two species and is more widespread. It can be found in rivers, lakes and swamps, from North, central, and south Africa. It also inhabits more open grassland and savannahs habitat than its pygmy cousin.
The pygmy hippo (Choeropsis liberiensis or Hexaprotodon liberiensis) is much smaller than its larger cousin. It has a more restricted range, mostly in the forested rivers and swamps of West Africa. The pygmy hippo is reclusive and mostly nocturnal.
Hippos are popular toy figures, with almost all major toy lines having one in their respective collections. I currently don't have many figures in my collection, so add your
CollectA

Papo - the best and most impressive of them all

Safari or Schleich?

Mojo

Wild Republic


Unfortunately, my near attempt of acquiring the Colorata pygmy hippo ended in disaster
I won and lost it... seller lost the figure and refunded me
 

[Battatitan]

The hippopotamus definetly is on all figure companies' 'To Do' list - they're just so abundant in toy form!  Obviously that's good news for hippo-fans and diorama enthusiasts. 
CollectA's hippo has nice colouration but the pose seems a little.... unnatural...  Especially when compared to the dynamic majesty that is Papo's. The hippo whose manufacturer you're unsure of is infact Schleich's old male hippo (who's now finally slipped away to make way for Schleich's new hippo pair).
And of course, Mojo's beautiful (but more importantly closed-mouthed offering  ) is assuredly one of my favourite figures from all the major brands, mainly because of it's unique pose and fine details.
Unfortunatly I don't have any of the hippos you haven't shown here so I am unable to add any pictures. 

[skysthelimit]

My Hippo group few months ago...



Lineol Hippo

[sauroid]

cool hippos everyone.

[Jetoar]

Amazing Hippos, the best from my point of view is Papo version 

[skysthelimit]

Amazing Hippos, the best from my point of view is Papo version 

Photo finish 

[Battatitan]

Amazing Hippos, the best from my point of view is Papo version 

Photo finish 

Nice pair; they look really nice together. It's not hard to visualise them both battling over a pool of females. 

[tyrantqueen]

Mojo and Papo are the best- the others don't compare so well

I believe that AAA made hippopotami too (one with an open mouth, and a mother and calf) but they were not so well received among collectors.



And Country Artists made a resin sculpture of a mother and baby



(Not my photos)

Also, is the title of this thread not erroneous? I thought hippos were related to cetaceans, not horses...

[sbell]

Also, is the title of this thread not erroneous? I thought hippos were related to cetaceans, not horses...

Hippopotamus literally means "River Horse" in ancient Greek.

[Ana]

Nice hippos everyone!! I like Papo, Lineol and Mojo best Papo young is for me the number 1 

I like also WW hippo, I have one home but it belongs to my son's collection Will try to post photo soon 

[brontodocus]

There are some other very good Hippo figures besides the Papo version! The Lineol, Mojö and Britains figures look phantastic, too! And of course the big Wildlife Wonders Hippo.

Unfortunately, my near attempt of acquiring the Colorata pygmy hippo ended in disaster
I won and lost it... seller lost the figure and refunded me

Oh, dear, sorry for that... I had to wait quite long for mine but eventually received it. Here it is:

It's a very tiny figure, only 45 mm long and 20 mm high at the shoulder, so the scale is between approx. 1:33 and 1:39.

[Battatitan]

There are some other very good Hippo figures besides the Papo version! The Lineol, Mojö and Britains figures look phantastic, too! And of course the big Wildlife Wonders Hippo.

Unfortunately, my near attempt of acquiring the Colorata pygmy hippo ended in disaster
I won and lost it... seller lost the figure and refunded me

Oh, dear, sorry for that... I had to wait quite long for mine but eventually received it. Here it is:

It's a very tiny figure, only 45 mm long and 20 mm high at the shoulder, so the scale is between approx. 1:33 and 1:39.

Wow, what a great little figure. Despite his size, he looks really good.  I'm sorry to hear of your unfortunate mishap, OkapiBoy. 

[Jetoar]

Wonderful pigmy hippo  , I like it  .

[sauroid]

very cool pygmy hippo.

i have this '90s Safari Ltd. hippo (the others are mostly small figures)

[Fukuiraptor]

Thanks everyone for the great photos!  I love pictures showing the same animal made by different companies.  More importantly, I don't have a hippo yet 

[sbell]

There is at least one other pygmy hippo:



It's a UK Yowies one (so probably just as hard to find as the Colorata one, but not really as good).

[skysthelimit]

Safari Ltd Wildlife Wonders

[Ana]

You have great collection of hippos Robert, and all great quality ones, congrats! 

I see the Yowie pigmy hippo first time, what a nice figure in lovely walking pose, thank You for sharing Sbell!

[postsaurischian]

Also, is the title of this thread not erroneous? I thought hippos were related to cetaceans, not horses...

Hippopotamus literally means "River Horse" in ancient Greek.

It's called 'Flusspferd' in German, which also means 'River Horse' .
Sometimes official naming is wrong, but that's how it is.

[Fukuiraptor]

Its translation in Chinese also means "River Horse" 

Also, is the title of this thread not erroneous? I thought hippos were related to cetaceans, not horses...

Hippopotamus literally means "River Horse" in ancient Greek.

It's called 'Flusspferd' in German, which also means 'River Horse' .
Sometimes official naming is wrong, but that's how it is.