Review and images by JimoAi; edited by bmathison1972
When it comes to cats on the African savanna, those that comes to mind to most people are the lions, leopards, and cheetahs. There are other cats that people don’t think off, like the caracal or the subject of this review, the serval (Leptailurus serval). It is a medium-sized cat that looks like a cross between a cheetah and a house cat and is recognizable by its long legs, small head and short tail relative to the body, long ears for a heightened sense of hearing, and pale yellowish fur with black spots and stripes. They have a shoulder height of 54-62 cm, head-and-body length of 62-100 cm, and a tail length of about 30 cm. Like all other cats, they are carnivorous, feeding on birds, reptiles, and small mammals, which the serval catches using its jumping ability; they can jump up to 200 cm and I have had the fortune to witness it in person at the Singapore Night Safari. These cats are hunted for their skins, which are used in traditional medicine, and face habitat loss. Despite this, it is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN . Interestingly, in 2017, the serval saw a surge in popularity, especially in Japan, as the anime ‘Kemono Friends’ became a huge hit there, and a serval character is the mascot of the franchise.
About the figure: the figure has a shoulder height of 2.6 cm, head and body length of 5.3 cm, a tail length of 2 cm, and a total length of 7.3 cm when stretched out. This puts this figure at about the 1:21 scale range. This figure is part of the Wild Rush series, which is a series of figures focusing on animals from specific locations. This serval is part of Series 01, which also includes a shoebill, zebra, lion, and white rhinoceros. Along with these animals, anime characters based on these animals accompanied the line up, at least from the first to the third series.
This figure is sculpted as if the cat was in mid-stride, with one leg forward and the other backwards in both the front and hind legs. There are no genitalia sculpted, so this figure is gender-neutral, being able to pose as a male or female, whichever you please. The anatomy of this serval looks spot on. All the key features are there: the small head, large ears, long legs, and short tail. The figure is painted in this pale yellow color too with a whitish underbelly and the patterns around the body are painted in this black color, which runs all the way to the underbelly. As expected from Kaiyodo, they don’t shy away from detail and this figure is no exception; the eyes are spot on with no sloppy paint splotches and they even sculpted and painted the toe beans on this figure.
This figure is a gashapon figure and like most, it comes in a few pieces. There are seams on the legs and the head of this figure, and a year after getting this figure, the left leg popped off mysteriously and I has to glue it back on. This figure is made of a slightly brittle material, which may not be suitable for kids, although not as brittle as the old Aquatales or Dinotales figures.
Overall, a solid little figure. Despite the seams, I think this figure is a hit for me. The smaller size of this figure allows you to scale it with the larger animals that share its habitat, like leopards, and the fact that Kaiyodo packs so much detail in such a tiny sculpt ticks all the right boxes for me, even though I don’t really collect terrestrial mammals. This figure may be already retired so get it quick before it skyrockets in price. Second-hand stores like eBay or Yahoo Auctions may still have some in stock. Other figures of this cat that have been produced are the cubs from Takara Tomy and Epoch, and Kaiyodo has another one, but in a ‘lucky cat’ pose. Currently, Colorata and Safari Ltd. have produced servals that are still in production. I really hope CollectA or Papo makes a serval for their future lineups.
Compared to Safari Ltd.’s serval:
