Alligator Gar (6 Inch Series by Replica Toy Fish)

Back with another Replica Toy Fish figure, another from the original (and only) six-inch figure collection. I won’t lie, of the 6 this was one of the two I was most excited for. At the time I think it was the only model of the species…or maybe even the whole family (the collection is a bit of a blur sometimes). I am referring to the alligator gar, Atractosteus spathula.

One advantage of this species as that it’s already been covered on the site here and here, so I won’t need to go into more than brief details about the species. I will reiterate that alligator gar are the largest of the gar species, found in freshwaters of the southeast United States, as well as entering estuaries and even near-shore marine habitats. And in terms of length, these large predators often reach lengths of 1.8 meters (6 feet), with possible historical lengths of up to 3 metres (10 feet).

One other thing I want to point out is the colouring of these fish; previous figures have been seen in a gold with black spotting and a mostly olive with black markings; in the largest individuals they seem to become much more simply coloured, with an olive or brownish back and sides, fading to a light colored belly, reddish fins, and no black markings. Which is directly related to the figure we’re looking at today.

First things first, this is a pretty substantial figure, similar in overall size to the RTF six-inch tiger muskie and northern pike. The overall length is about 14.1 cm (about 5 1/2″, so once again not actually 6 inch figures…) This would give a scale of about 1/22, a pretty decent scale for most ‘modern’ animal figures. The overall colour is reflective of a very large adult (so the large scale makes sense), with a dark olive shading over the top of the head and back, fading down the sides from dark green to light green, and finally white on the very bottom, including the interior of the paired fins.

The fins themselves are variously green with red-wash, or more red; this paint application is a little rough, with some red extending onto the body. Also rough is the eye paint (at least on this particular figure, again, the paint on these could be inconsistent)…one is painted well, greenish with a distinct black centre; the other looks like the black centre was kind of a second thought, and is barely there. Of the many alligator gar figures I have, none demonstrate this same colour scheme, probably allowing it to best stand in for a true giant fish; it’s one of the largest gar toy figures I have.

The sculpt of the figure is quite good, again really showing off that ‘mature alligator gar’ look. As always, straight and stiff, but that’s typical for RTF…and the species in general, which tends to be how these big fish just float around anyway. The is large and smooth, with large, heavy curled ‘lips’ on the edge of the mouth. Teeth are sculpted to be visible in the mouth, although the jaws are closed. Unfortunately, this very detailed feature on the mouth is not painted or even washed, so it’s only really visible in close inspection. The gill opercula are also well picked out, as are the folds in the throat and bottom jaw.

Behind the head, the whole body is picked out in thick, keeled scales. Unfortunately the scales are more rounded, like a ‘typical’ scale of most euteleost fish, when they should be more of a diamond-shape to represent the characteristic ganoid scales (this was notable in the 6 inch longnose gar too). The paired fins are sculpted extended but small, molded against the body instead of a rayed fin with a narrower attachment to the body (again, a pretty standard mode seen in RTF fish, and many other models besides, probably for stability of the figure).

The anal and dorsal fins both large and extended at the back of the body, followed by a large caudal fin. The latter is appropriately asymmetrical, and when looked at closely, it is clear that the upper margin extends a little more, and the edge of the lower lobe is slightly shorter, with smaller rays. In this instance they do well with representing the morphology of a large gar body.

So to sum up, this gar figure is an excellent model of a popular and impressive fish. The paint job even looks pretty good, other than some details on the mouth. And of course the scales, but that seems to be a pretty persistent problem with a lot of gar figures to be honest. This is certainly a great figure and one of the most missed one from the whole line.

I know I’ve said it a lot, but the 6 inch figures from RTF was their real gem, especially given the unique ‘river monster’ choices that they used for those ones. While I always enjoy fish figures, and especially primitive fish, it would be great to see more in this style (almost all tend to be in the tube/capsule figure realm these days). But if you ever get the chance, make sure to get this one. But coming up, the last of the 6 inch line…and to me, the most interesting figure in that series (and maybe among the RTF overall).