Sun Bear (Mojö Woodland by Mojö Fun)

The sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) is the only member of its genus, the world’s smallest bear, the world’s most arboreally adapted bear, and the only bear that specializes in myrmecophagy (consumption of ants and termites). Features like their strong arms, inwardly turned forepaws, and flattened chest aid them in their arboreal lifestyle. Loose skin is said to be a defense mechanism, allowing the bear to essentially turn within its skin when attacked, important when you’re a small bear living among big cats. Long claws and the largest canine teeth relative to size of any extant bear allows them to break into insect nests, while protrusible lips and a tongue up to 10” long are used to extract insects and honey, earning them their other common name of honey bear. The ability to seal their nostrils prevents insects from being sucked into their nose. They’re still omnivores though, and will also consume fruit, nuts, tubers, eggs, and the occasional vertebrate. Sun bears live in forests, scrublands, savannahs, and grasslands in southeast Asia.

Figurines of this unique species are few and far between, with most of them being discontinued low quality figures. The only decent sun bear that’s available is the one we’re looking at today, by Mojo Fun. Mojo Fun is usually at the bottom of the totem poll where western toy companies are concerned but they have occasionally delivered highly desired gems, such as this figure.

Mojo ups the ante with this figure’s appeal by sculpting it in a sitting posture with its forepaws resting on its knees. I’m not aware of another bear toy positioned this way, so that alone makes it stand out in a collection. A quick Google image search will yield many images of sun bears resting this way.

Sun bears reach a head-and-body length of 29-55” (100-140 cm) and have an average shoulder height of 28” (70 cm). Females weigh between 55-110 lbs. (25-50 kg) while males weigh between 74-176 lbs. (34-80 kg). The scale of Mojo’s figure is difficult to calculate due to its sitting posture, but it has a rough head-to-body length of 4.25” (10 cm) which would put it in the 1/6-1/12 scale range. The figure itself stands about 3.25” (8 cm) tall. This means that the figure won’t scale well with most standard sized bear figures.

The figure has an almost humanoid quality to it, much like the actual sun bear. The appearance and odd proportions of the sun bear elicits an uncanny valley like feeling, so much so that a zoo in China recently made headlines after being accused of using a person in a bear costume in one of their displays. It was just a sun bear that spectators couldn’t make sense of.

Short ears rest atop a flattened head and a wide crest runs down each side of the neck.  Loose skin can be seen rippling down the backside. The claws are long and well defined and the soles on the hindfeet are bare. Sun bears have a short tail, but the figure doesn’t. Since the figure is sitting, it’s not missed. The sun bear’s whorls of hair over the shoulders are also absent, which in life would cause the hair to radiate in all directions. All the hair flows from front to back on the figure. Another whorl should be in the center of the chest. The hair does appear accurately short and smooth though.

The figure is black with a pale orange/cream colored U-shaped patch on the chest. This patch is what gives the sun bear its name and it varies in shape, from a tighter U-shape than we see here to completely circular. It can vary in color too, from dark orange, to yellow, to white, and in some individuals it’s entirely absent.  It is thought that it’s used for either sexual or dominance displays with other sun bears or to deter predators. The eyes and nose are glossy black with the paint application on the nose being slightly askew on my copy. A brown wash is painted over the muzzle and the claws are gray.

The Mojo sun bear is a must have in any bear collection that doesn’t adhere to a set scale. It is acceptably accurate to the real animal and presented in a unique pose that’s sure to make it stand out. As if being a sun bear wasn’t enough to make it stand out! The Mojo sun bear is one of the highlights in Mojo’s range of figures. It is currently in production and retails for about $8-12.