Review and images by JimoAi; edited by bmathison1972
In the warm seas of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, a small part of the reef got dark as it is obscured by a diamond-shaped shadow, the entity which casted the shadow flaps her wing-like pectoral fins to propel herself through the water as she opens her mouth to feed on krill and zooplankton. As she flaps her wing-like fins, the shadow follows with her, bringing light to the reef once again. She is a 360 cm wide reef manta ray (Mobula alfredi), an average-size individual. She can get up to 400 cm wide and rarely maybe 550 cm wide. Her species is the second largest species of ray, just behind her close cousin, the giant manta ray (M. birostris). Manta rays are intelligent animals, being the first fish to recognize themselves in front of a mirror, suggesting self-awareness. Manta rays are perhaps the most famous members in the Batoidea, with their pair of cephalic fins on their heads and their docile nature makes them a favourite in public aquaria (my local aquarium has them and they are my favourite animal species) and a standard figure on various marine life merchandise, from plush toys to figurines. To date, every major company that has produced marine life figures has at least 1 figure of a manta ray of both species, although most are unspecified and some were made before both species are classed as their own. Safari Ltd. has produced 3 mantas, 1 unspecified and 2 giant mantas Papo has produced one with a somewhat oversize head, which is likely a giant manta; and CollectA has produced one so far, which is a reef manta and it has claspers sculpted. The company we are focusing on today, Schleich, has produced 3 manta rays far, 2 unique sculpts, and all 3 has been retired, although one of the sculpts belongs to Maia & Borges and has been rereleased by Mojo fun. The sculpt I am going over today has 2 paint variants: an almost all black variant produced in 2008 and the repaint that was made in 2013, which is the subject of today’s review.
About the figure: the Schleich manta ray is likely based on a reef manta ray due to the arrangements of the spots on the bottom of the animal, which extends past the halfway point (although there are rule breakers in both species and some individuals are almost completely black), a white outline on the mouth as oppose to black for M. birostris, the shape of the fins, and the lack of a vestigial spine at the end of her tail. This manta ray has 2 cast variants: one that was slightly larger and made of a more rubbery material, akin to some of CollectA’s dinosaurs and a smaller, hard material. The one I’m reviewing today is the smaller harder figure as I have repainted my older rubbery one as I had gotten it after my first major exam about 6 years ago and I played with it for quite a bit. It did not help that it was slightly scuffed when I got it too. The older cast has a finspan of 16 cm while the newer one has a finspan of 15.5 cm. Reef mantas average at 330 cm to 400 cm, so it will be about 1:25 for the older cast and 1:25.8 for the newer cast or 1:34 and 1:35 respectively when using the maximum size of 550 cm.
This figure is sculpted in a fairly neutral position, with both fins pointing downwards and mouth sculpted closed. The dorsal pattern isn’t instantly recognizable as either manta species, but since it’s more of a ‘Y’ shape, it is more likely M. alfredi. If it isn’t apparent, this figure is a female due to the lack of claspers sculpted on her pelvic fins, which are almost obscured by the pectoral fins. The tail is rather short but all mantas have varying tail lengths. This figure is one of the only 2 (the other being the Colorata Okinawa Aquarium exclusive manta ray which I have reviewed previously) which has the outer spiracle slit sculpted, which is a very minute detail that is often ignored on the vast majority of manta ray figures produced so far, which I often let it slide due to how it’s barely noticeable on the real animal. They eye is glossed to give it a wet look, which gives it more realism to it. I think this is the best manta ray figure produced by the big 4 companies alongside the Safari Ltd Monterey Bay Aquarium one, which is shown here to show the differences between both species and both figures scale exactly well with one another: a 4 metre reef manta compared to a 6 metre oceanic manta:
My only flaws on this figure is the dorsal markings looking a little out of the ordinary, which makes it hard to identify between the giant and reef manta, and that said markings look pixelated. Other than that, it’s a near perfect figure. You can see the spiracle openings too!
Final thoughts are that I think this is one of the best manta rays made by a Western company, tied with the Monterey Bay Aquarium one, which is too big for my main collection. I am sad that this figure only lasted for 4 years from 2013 to 2017 and most Schleich modern animals only last typically about 4 years or so, much to my chagrin as they are sometimes the best in the market. Like some figures, this figure has been recasted a few times by knockoff companies and there are copies that vary in quality. I only recommend buying knockoffs of sculpts that are already retired and if the quality of the knockoff is on par with the original or better, but be warned that some of them may be made with toxic materials and made unsustainably. So, do exercise caution when buying knockoffs, which I strongly discourage unless the figure is really hard to find. I hope Schleich makes another manta ray in the next few years and other companies like CollectA and Papo, should remake their mantas and Safari Ltd should make a reef Manta. For now, the mantas that are available that I recommend are the CollectA reef manta and the nearly 30-year-old Monterey Bay Aquarium Manta by Safari Lt., and maybe the Mojo Fun manta.
On a side note, on the day this has been posted, I am now 1 year older!
