African Bush Elephant, 2022 (Wildlife by CollectA)

Review and images by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972

The African bush or savannah elephant (Loxodonta africana) is the biggest of all three extant elephant species and the biggest of all extant land animals. An average bull stands 3.2 metres (10.5 feet) tall at the shoulder and weighs around 6.6 tons, but the record specimen was around 3.9 metres tall and 10.5 tons in weight. Naturally, such stupendous size comes at the price of constant consumption of food, but it also brings a very obvious benefit. Rhinos, hippos, buffalos, and all other herbivores will give way to a bull elephant at grazing spots and watering holes and even entire prides of deadly lions will shrink away in submission to the true boss of the savannah.

Unlike Safari Ltd. and Schleich, which have produced many African elephant figures over the years, CollectA has up until this year stuck with the same one since 2006. Now feast your eyes on the new and much improved version! Standing 11 cm tall and measuring a little over 17 cm long from the tip of its trunk to its tail tuft and 7 cm wide at the ears, this majestic pachyderm is now the largest figure in CollectA’s Wildlife collection.

Unlike with Asian elephants, both male and female African elephants have large, prominent tusks, but the visible sculpted genitalia on this figure clearly shows that it represents a bull. He is sculpted in a walking stance with his tail swaying to the left, his right front leg in mid-step, his ears swung back, his mouth tightly closed, and his wonderful trunk lowered with the tip upturned to the left. He looks strong and fearless, yet also rather peaceable. Female bush elephants usually remain with their herds for the duration of their lives, but males leave between the ages of 10 and 19. Younger bulls will live in bachelor herds for a time, but older ones tend to live solitary lifestyles and only return to a herd during the mating season.

Naturally, the main colour on this toy is dark grey all over. Beige is used for the claws and for the wash on the off-white tusks. The eyes are glossy black. The edges of the ears are slightly darkened and there is a faint brown wash across the body.

This bull has all the key characteristics of an African elephant: a flattened cranium, a concave back, and enormous ears. The thick, curved tusks also make it easily identifiable as the bush species. The African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) has smaller ears, thinner, straighter, and darker tusks, and only achieves a maximum size of three metres in height and four tons in weight. To the best of my knowledge, nearly every African elephant toy ever made has been of the bush variety, so it certainly would be nifty if CollectA or any other company tackled the forest one someday.

The bull’s saggy, baggy-looking skin is covered in a network of crisscrossing wrinkles, with the thickest ones running down the entire length of the trunk. The tusks are covered in shallow grooves and there are visible blood vessels running through the ears, which when flapped help their owner to lose more body heat in hot weather.

The 2022 CollectA African bush elephant is an absolutely superb toy that meets all the necessary criteria: it’s big, it’s beautifully sculpted, and it’s in keeping with the real deal. Collectors of all ages will undoubtedly enjoy it. I already expressed my desire for a toy of the forest species, but I’m even more hopeful that CollectA produces a new version of the Asian elephant for 2023. Here’s hoping!