Brook Trout, revised (3″ figure by Replica Toy Fish)

Back with another run of Replica Toy Fish figures, this time the last series that was released as retail models. Based on my records, these were out in roughly October of 2015. The entire lot of them are all from one family, and overall were super popular with customers for their brief run. I refer to the series a Trout and Salmon, as ever single model represented a salmonid. Even more specifically, all but one of the figures represent members of ‘Oncorhynchini’, or the Pacific trout, Pacific salmon, and taimen. The sister clade is the Salmonini, which includes Atlantic salmon, Atlantic trout, and char. Only two species of this clade were produced by Replica Toy Fish, the late-release brown trout and a species that was part of the original twelve in the Northwoods set as well as a revised (and improved) version for this round of releases, the brook trout Salvelinus fontinalis.

Seeing as the brook trout was discussed in the earlier post I can skip that here. Instead I’ll just quickly mention that the brook trout is one of many Salvelinus which are often more grouped together as ‘char’ or ‘charr’ (but most are commonly referred to as trout anyway). As a group they have a circumpolar distribution across much of Eurasia and North America (so yes, they extend to the ‘Pacific’ too). All are coldwater and primarily freshwater, with some migrating to marine areas. A number of them are popular as sport fish, and some support commercical fisheries. One of the most distinguishing features is that all species feature a white or cream margin along the leading edge of the pectoral, pelvic, anal, and lower caudal fin margins.

So, on to the figure–as mentioned, this is the second release version of the species from Replica Toy Fish, and there are some major improvements from the original. It is about the same size as the original, about 8cm (3.1 inches) long, so about 1:4 scale for an animal of average length of 26cm (although they can be much larger, depending on ecomorph). The sculpt is better defined and more true to the fish. The body has a fusiform body, with a more rounded snout and more pinched caudal peduncle than the original version; it gives a less bulky appearance. The eyes are more inset, and the ‘lips’ on the mouth are more pronounced, with the mouth slightly agape.

The finnage is much better represented. The fins are more angular instead of rounded. The first dorsal fin is squared, with distinct fin rays. The adipose is larger and raised, with some rays visible as well. As always, the pectoral fin is compressed against the body. The pelvic fins are prominently extended, with the rays appearing to originate from a more singular point on the body as opposed to all extending from the body. The anal fin is large and triangular, with a slightly curved point on the rear margin. The tail is far better than on the original; instead of bulbous and rounded, it is more pointedly emarginate, with distinct upper and lower forks and a slight curve in the centre.

As for the paint job, it is a massive improvement and really captures the distinct markings of a brook trout. The overall back and sides are a dark green, with the belly, lower fins and most of the tail all a dark pink; this is a very distinct char colouring for many species. The entirety of the dorsal fin, back, and sides are detailed with yellowish-green slots and thick squiggles (properly known as ‘vermiculations’); the sides are then picked out with red dots and light blue spots. The only thing missing is small black spotting on the back and dorsal fin. Overall though, this series of patterns and colours does a great job of indicating characteristic brook trout markings. Two issues though–first the eye paint is sloppy, mostly yellow and on the pictured figure, the black centre is missing (my other one is painted properly, didn’t catch that when choosing a model for photos!) Second, the distinct white edge of the lower fins is either nonexistent (pectoral fins, pelvic fins) are weakly represented (anal fin, lower caudal fin). It’s sort of there…but should be brightly visible even from the sides.

Overall, this was a big improvement on the first attempt (maybe second attempt….foreshadowing?) by RTF on a brook trout. Still, not a figure often made despite it’s familiarity. In general, although the RTF company didn’t stick around long after this series came out, it was very, very popular (we’ll see as the various other species are visited!) I’ll be honest, the complete lack of salmonids in the Toy Fish Factory releases was a surprise…and I think may have had an impact on their success (there were soooo many species planned…I’m still bitter). But this brook trout is only the first, and subsequent models will be even more unique!