Hopping Mad! Orthoptera!

[Weaselfan93]

Long ago in the 90's Safari had an incredible line of 2:1 scale giant insects that are very well sculpted and detailed. I have collected a few over the years. but recently i won the masterpiece of the entire collection; The rare Lubber Grasshopper! it was in almost perfect condition and a great price! i am so glad to finally have him, after all this entire line is long discontinued.
here he is:

[brontodocus]

It's one of my favourite figures from the Smithsonian Collection, too (currently I have seven of them). Weaselfan93, would you add a few more photos to your first post? It would just make it a walk-around more properly that way. And the figure definitely deserves it!

[Jetoar]

Wonderful  Grasshopper. Is the firts time that I have seen this figure  .

[Weaselfan93]

Thank you for the comments. Brontodocus, do you mean you have seven insects from the Smithsonian collection or seven lubber grasshoppers?

[brontodocus]

do you mean you have seven insects from the Smithsonian collection or seven lubber grasshoppers?

Oh, I've got seven different Smithsonian Collection figures, of course (Eastern Lubber Grasshopper, Stag Beetle, Walking Leaf, Morpho, Emperor Scorpion, Chinese Praying Mantis, and Green Darner)!

[bmathison1972]

Hands down this is one of the finest insect replicas made...and I have A LOT of them.

Andre, I think I have you beat; I have 9 of the Smithsonian Insects: lubber grasshopper; leaf insect; luna moth; stag beetle; Coprophanaeus dung beetle; cercropia moth caterpillar; Scolopendra centipede; Emperor scorpion; Chinese mantid...I may have a spider of some sort too but I can't remember. I think there was also a monarch butterfly (adult and caterpillar?)

I have a green darner and Morpho, but they are part of the Hidden Kingdom Line.

[brontodocus]

Hands down this is one of the finest insect replicas made...and I have A LOT of them.

Andre, I think I have you beat; I have 9 of the Smithsonian Insects: lubber grasshopper; leaf insect; luna moth; stag beetle; Coprophanaeus dung beetle; cercropia moth caterpillar; Scolopendra centipede; Emperor scorpion; Chinese mantid...I may have a spider of some sort too but I can't remember. I think there was also a monarch butterfly (adult and caterpillar?)

I have a green darner and Morpho, but they are part of the Hidden Kingdom Line.

Oh, wait, Blaine, haven't I seen a photo of a Smithsonian Collection Flea a few years back on insectasynthetica? So you should have ten at least.

[bmathison1972]

yes, the FLEA! OK, I have 10 (at least)--and the flea is hands down one of the best insect figures made. I have only two others, with a fourth on the way...

[tyrantqueen]

yes, the FLEA! OK, I have 10 (at least)--and the flea is hands down one of the best insect figures made. I have only two others, with a fourth on the way...

You wouldn't happen to be making a Mucha Lucha reference there, would you? 

[dinocat62]

yes, the FLEA! OK, I have 10 (at least)--and the flea is hands down one of the best insect figures made. I have only two others, with a fourth on the way...

I have these plus Monarch butterfly (4 legs!) and caterpillar, bumblebee with easily breakable wings, stage beetle. Other large Safari insects (but not listed Smithsonian): fire ant, red-legged tarantula, jumping spider, previously mentioned centipede.

[bmathison1972]

yes, the FLEA! OK, I have 10 (at least)--and the flea is hands down one of the best insect figures made. I have only two others, with a fourth on the way...

I have these plus Monarch butterfly (4 legs!) and caterpillar, bumblebee with easily breakable wings, stage beetle. Other large Safari insects (but not listed Smithsonian): fire ant, red-legged tarantula, jumping spider, previously mentioned centipede.

The monarch has four 'functional' legs; the forelegs are reduced (hence the common name for the family, brush-footed butterflies).

My non-Smithsonian (aka Wild Kingdom) Safari Insects include (but not limited to): Morpho butterfly; monarch (poseable wings); mantid (smaller than Smithsonian one and poseable); honeybee; fire ant; orange-barred sulfur butterfly; green swallowtail butterfly; tiger swallowtail butterfly; red ladybird; yellow ladybird; black widow; red-kneed tarantula; jumping spider; green darner dragonfly; desert scorpion (suspect Hadrurus). I am sure there are more but they are packed away (pending new shelving units) and I don't have an inventory.

[brontodocus]

Strangely, the Smithsonian Collection Morpho is inaccurate because it has six legs! But this is something many manufacturers got wrong, even the Furuta ChocoEgg Funny Animals 6 Agrias aedon narcissus has six legs and that one's a nymphalid, too.

[bmathison1972]

Walk-around of the grasshopper, gen. sp. by Bullyland, originally released in 1994. There is no way to attribute a species or even genus name to this figure; this is a typical GGG (generic green grasshopper). No bin-style set of insects is complete without a GGG!

The figure measures 11.0 cm, not including the protruding antennae. It is made of a relatively stiff plastic.

Because this is probably my oldest Bullyland figure, this is one that I was aware was copied by the dollar store set! It was not until these forums that I started seeing other Bullyland insects did I realize most of the larger figures in that dollar store set were Bullyland knock-offs.

Really not too much to say about this figure; it's simple and not specific, so onto the pics:











with it's dollar-store counterpart:

[AnimalToyForum]

It's one of my favourite figures from the Smithsonian Collection, too (currently I have seven of them). Weaselfan93, would you add a few more photos to your first post? It would just make it a walk-around more properly that way. And the figure definitely deserves it!

I'll echo this. I know it has been several years @Weaselfan93, but a full walk-around of this figire would be most welcome.

[bmathison1972]

Walkaround of the migratory locust, Locusta migratoria (Linnaeus, 1758) by Takara Tomy A.R.T.S. - B.I.G. Insects, No. 5, new for 2018. For most of the last several years, T-TARTS' annual 'B.I.G. Insects' set has included four scarabaeoid beetles and one non-scarabaeoid. Recent examples include the Japanese carpenter ant, the giant Asian hornet, a couple mantids, and a crayfish.

The figure is stunning. Definitely above par for T-TARTS insect figures! The four beetles that were released along side this figure are nice but simple: very smooth and monochromatic. The locust is anything but. Extreme detail went into the texture, and it has a nice matte-like finish. The colors are very nice, and depict the usual scheme of the species' solitary phase.

The figure measures 8.0 cm (not including antennae nor legs), making it slightly larger than 1:1 for the normal range of 4.0-6.0 cm. Like most figures in these series, assembly is required. This one comes in 9 pieces: wings; abdomen and meso- + metathorax; upper portion of prothorax; head; the middle and hind legs are individual, but the front pair of legs are part of the underside of the prothorax.

The figure is a real gem! Let the pics speak for themselves:

[bmathison1972]

And here is the 2022 repaint of the Takara locust, this time in migratory colors: