After rodents, bats, which make up about 20% of all mammal species, form the second largest mammalian order, Chiroptera. Consequently, many bat figures (although not quite as many as the size of the group would suggest) have been made over the years, with one of the more recent attempts being Papo’s first, and so far only, bat figure, released in 2018, which is also the subject of this review.
Papo simply markets this figure as a ‘bat’, however the proportions of the ears, shape of the face and fur colouration all pretty clearly show this figure was modelled after the brown long-eared bat, or Plecotus auritus. This makes sense for Papo, as it is a European species (and at that, a very widely distributed one). Based on the body length of this figure (~2.5cm), it is approximately 1:2 scale.
Especially for a generic bat figure, this figure is immaculately accurate; apart from the pretty much spot on proportions and colours, Papo has taken very good care to portray some of the finer details, for example the texture of the wing membrane and inside the ears, and even the proportions of the eyes (as this species is partially diurnal, it has larger eyes than most other insectivorous bats). These are all things that are rare to see done on bat figures from the major companies, so overall, Papo deserves quite a bit of commendation for their efforts on this particular figure.
Finally the paint has overall been applied quite well on this figure, although the size of this figure means that certain areas, such as the fingers and the shoulders, haven’t been done quite as well. Considering these areas are extremely thin or hard to reach though, I think Papo’s attempt at painting them here was quite reasonable, and this is something bound to vary between individual copies of this figure.
Overall, nitpicks about painting aside, this is an excellent representation of a type of animal which is relatively hard to do well, and possibly the best one that is ‘standard sized’. Hence, I would recommend it to virtually anyone looking to include this species in their collection, especially those who specialise in a region it can be found in, or in bats in general. I would also recommend it over the Kaiyodo figure of the same species due to it being moderately superior in accuracy (the ears, eyes and fur in particular are better sculpted and painted on this figure) and significantly easier and cheaper to get.
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Oh wow! I didn’t pursue this because I thought it would be too big, but it is a good size next to other bats in my collection. I have the Kaiyodo Chocoegg figure of this species, but this one might actually be a bit better!
Fantastic. There definitely aren’t enough toy bats, aside from generic Halloween decorations.
I was kind of skeptical at first because the paint job in the photos looks a bit so-so, but after holding it in my hands I must say I really love this little critter. It’s actually so small (it fits into my palm) and so detailed! Something I couldn’t grasp from the photos. Now I wish Papo would make more bat species.