Today I am reviewing a set of five figures I bought specifically for just one of the figures it contains. However, since I have the whole set, I might as well review all five for the Blog! Also, this will be our first review of an entire Wild Republic Polybag collection! The set today is called Wilderness Series 1 and consists of a white-tailed deer, American black bear, coyote, striped skunk, and, the reason I bought it, a hellbender!!!! Series 2 consists of an elk, mountain lion, wolf, and American bison. I have seen both sets sold together under the name Wilderness Series. Wild Republic polybag collections do not always present the best representatives of the species they contain, but every now and then they contain a really interesting species, and it is the inclusion of a hellbender why we are seeing this set today! For each figure, I will show it alongside the version of the species that I have in my collection (or in the case of the hellbender, something very similar).
White-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus
The underside of the figure is specifically marked ‘white tailed deer’. The figure stands 7.2 cm at shoulder making it 1:7.4 – 1:16.5 in scale, depending on the subspecies. It is very and apparently hollow; the antlers and legs are particularly soft. There is an obvious seamline at the base of the neck (I suppose one could cut it off there and make a trophy…).
larger than, and not nearly as good as its counterpart by CollectA:
American black bear, Ursus americanus
On the underside of the figure it is marked ‘black bear’. The figure is 8.0 cm at shoulder, making it 1:8.75 – 1:13.0 in scale. Like the deer it is soft and hollow, but sturdier due to its bulky frame. There is an obvious seam-line mid-body.
Larger than, and again not nearly as good as, its counterpart by Safari Ltd.:
Coyote, Canis latrans
This figure is marked as ‘coyote’ on the underside. The figure is 5.4 cm at shoulder making it about 1:10 in scale. The legs are very soft and it does not stand well. For those of you broadly interested in canids, this figure could easily be repurposed as an African or Asian jackal species!
Next to its smaller and slimmer counterpart by Safari Ltd.:
Striped skunk, Mephitis mephitis
Simply marked ‘skunk’ on the underside. The figure has a body length of 6.0 cm (not including the tail), making it 1:8.7 – 1:12.8 in scale. Because it is smaller and stockier, it is not as soft as the deer, bear, and coyote. The eyes are a piercing demonic white!
Next to its counterpart by CollectA. Unfortunately, my CollectA figure has a sloppy paint job on the head (Safari Ltd. also released a nice one this year):
Hellbender, Cryptobranchus alleganiensis
Here we are! The reason we are all here today! It is even marked ‘hellbender’ on the underside. The figure is 11.0 cm along the spine, making it 1:2.7 – 1:6.7 in scale. This offers a rare opportunity to get a ‘giant salamander’ other than the Japanese giant salamander (Andrias japonicus). I was aware of this figure, but had forgotten about it until stemturtle posted it on the ATF and reminded me of it. So, I jumped on eBay to secure the set. The figure is more rigid than others in this polybag. Worth pursuing for collectors of interesting species!
Forming a yin-yang with one of the Ikimon Japanese giant salamanders:
Overall, outside of the unique species (hellbender), there is nothing in this collection that you cannot easily get a better reprsentative of.
P.S. If anyone wants to review any of these figures individually as a blogpost, that is OK. For some, more pics at different angles might be nice.
Aargh…I just want that hellbender. The others are…whatever. But it’s maddeningly hard to find still.
Looking at that Deer (sans antlers, at least) I can’t help but see a South Andean Deer or something similar in the head/face…. might be worth customizing?
Also, given what I have always considered to be a tragic dearth of coyote figures, this set at least has one that is… decent…. Sure it could use a lot of improvement, but, I suppose, you generally get what you pay for…. and the only figure anyone is paying for here is that Hellbender!