Snow Leopard, youngster (AAA)

Continuing the “Winter Wonderland” series, we are going into the highest elevations of the world, as we look at a figure of one of the rarest cats in the world, the snow leopard (Panthera uncia). These beautiful cats are found across the mountainous regions of central and south Asia, hunting across the Tibetan Plateau and Siberia. However, these cats are in decline, owing to poachers hunting them for their beautiful coats. The beauty of these animals has resulted in several figures of it being produced, such as this example by AAA.

The eagle eyed readers will have noticed that this model is very familiar. The reason is that this mould was used for the Leopard youngster. This is a common thing with AAA models, creating multiple species by colouring it in a different colour scheme. You may have noticed it doesn’t match the animal, lacking the silvery grey of the actual animal, but this is due to age, I have had this model for many years, most models will have the proper colour scheme.

As with the other Leopard youngster, the pose it a neutral sitting position, staring out over it’s terrain. For a youngster, it’s quite large, measuring 5.1″ long and 3″, the large paws, and slightly under developed skull show that it isn’t quite fully grown, differing it from an actual adult leopard, though it should display a thicker fur, given the colder climes it lives in, thus it should be affected by the Bergman’s rule.

This is an older model, so is outdated by modern figures. It is a charming figure, worth a pick up if you like it. eBay is gonna be your best to find it, as it is long since discontinued. Soon the “Winter Wonderland” and winter will be over, so stay tuned!