Author: AnimalToyBlog

Dr Adam S. Smith, aka 'Animaltoyblog' here, and 'Animaltoyforum' on the Animal Toy Forum, is a Natural Science Curator and palaeontologist at the Nottingham Natural History Museum, Wollaton Hall, UK. At the museum he is co-responsible for a collection of 750,000 natural history specimens. Adam launched the Animal Toy Blog in August 2019 to accompany the Animal Toy Forum (created in December 2012) and sister site to the Dinosaur Toy Blog (created July 2007). He is particularly interested in prehistoric marine reptiles, runs The Plesiosaur Directory website, and has published several popular articles and technical papers on fossil marine reptiles. Adam is best friends with George the Gorilla. test

All reviews by this author

Announcing… the Monster Toy Blog!

Brand: Uncategorised Type: News & Announcements

5 (6 votes)

We’ve launched a new partner website, the Monster Toy Blog!

The Monster Toy Blog completes a Holy Toy-rinity of figure review sites together with our existing Animal Toy Blog and Dinosaur Toy Blog sites.

Screenshot of the Monster Toy Blog

We have a dedicated team of eight enthusiastic reviewers – EmperorDinobot, Faelrin, Gwangi, Saarlooswolfhound, SBell, Suspsy, Torvosaurus, and myself – who have been posting plenty of new reviews to launch the site with a monstrous bang.

Visit it now, bookmark it, and subscribe for updates! https://monstertoyblog.com

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Giant Pandas (Jungle Pandas Family Set by Toymany)

Name(s): Ailuropoda, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, Giant panda Brand: Toymany Classification: Bears, Carnivorans, Mammals Type: Baby Animal, Figurine, Set Range: Asia

4.2 (6 votes)

Before I start this review, I would like to thank @Toymany-kenc and the folks at Toymany for these review samples. We hope this is the start of a long and productive relationship between Toymany and the Animal Toy Forum and Animal Toy Blog!

The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is one of the most recognizable, familiar, and iconic animals on the planet.

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Chimpanzee with baby, 2010 (Wild Safari Wildlife by Safari Ltd.)

Name(s): common chimpanzee, Pan, Pan troglodytes Brand: Safari Ltd., Wild Safari Wildlife Classification: Mammals, Primates Type: Baby Animal, Figurine

Chimpanzee with baby on its back figurine.

3.9 (9 votes)

This toy (#295929) was released in 2010, the same year Safari Ltd retired an earlier and very similar sculpt of a chimpanzee with baby (#272229, released 1998). So, in effect, this model was a direct replacement, and a notable upgrade.

The young chimp is piggybacking on the adult and convincingly looks like it’s clinging on tightly.

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Hummingbird (ChocoEgg Series 6 by Furuta)

Name(s): broad-billed hummingbird, Cynanthus, Cynanthus latirostris, Eupetomena, Eupetomena macoura, swallow-tailed hummingbird Brand: Chocoegg/Choco Q, Furuta Classification: Birds, Hummingbirds Type: Figurine

4.3 (4 votes)

This miniature in the ChocoEgg Series 6 by Furuta is usually listed under the broad name “hummingbird”, so that’s how I’m listing it in the title here, but some websites specify it as the swallow-tailed hummingbird, Eupetomena macoura, a species of hummingbird from South America. However, since the figurine lacks many of the distinctive characteristics of that specific bird, not least a forked swallow-like tail, something is clearly amiss, and that’s why I was reluctant to adopt the specific name at face value.

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Meerkat (ChocoEgg Series 6 by Furuta)

Name(s): meerkat, Suricata, Suricata suricatta Brand: Chocoegg/Choco Q, Furuta Classification: Carnivorans, Mammals Type: Figurine

4 (4 votes)

Here’s a walk-around of the miniature meerkat figurine from the ChocoEgg Series 6 by Furuta. I previously shared this on the Animal Toy Forum, where member Isidro commented that it looks like it has a meerkat body and ring-tailed lemur face. Brontodocus also commented that its pose and size is nearly identical to the Play Visions ‘Civets & Mongooses’ meerkat.

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Andean Condor (ChocoEgg Series 6 by Furuta)

Name(s): Andean Condor, Vultur, Vultur gryphus Brand: Chocoegg/Choco Q, Furuta Classification: Birds, Birds of Prey Type: Figurine

3.5 (6 votes)

This will be the first of several brief posts I’m planning to migrate over from the now-defunct Animal Toy Forum Walk-arounds section. The posts were originally just intended as walk-arounds on the forum so I don’t have much to say in addition to the photos, or if I do have thoughts, I don’t have the time to articulate my comments right now.

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Komodo Dragon (GrabNGo by Rebor)

Name(s): Komodo dragon, Varanus, Varanus komodoensis Brand: Rebor Classification: Lizards, Reptiles Type: Figurine

4.2 (5 votes)

The GrabNGo Rebor Komodo dragon is available from Everything Dinosaur here .

Rebor are best known for their prehistoric animal models. Their gung-ho attitude in that arena has sometimes been controversial and even abrasive in the past: controversial because of the glee with which they have embraced certain anatomically inaccurate movie-inspired dinosaurs of the ‘awesomebro’ kind; abrasive because of their willingness to rub it in the faces of more palaeontologically-minded potential customers.

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Warthog, piglet (Wild Life by Schleich)

Name(s): common warthog, Phacochoerus, Phacochoerus africanus Brand: Schleich Classification: Mammals, Pigs & Peccaries Type: Baby Animal, Figurine

4.8 (4 votes)

The warthog, Phacochoerus africanus, or the common warthog to use its full vernacular name, is a wild member of the Suidae or pig family. There are four subspecies in the genus, each occupying a slightly different range within in central Africa. Schleich have made several figures of this animal, two boars (an early release and a later version), one sow, and a piglet, but I’m not looking at the whole family today – just the warthog piglet.

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Blue Whale (British Museum: Natural History by Invicta)

Name(s): Balaenoptera, Balaenoptera musculus, blue whale Brand: Invicta Classification: Mammals, Whales & Dolphins Type: Figurine, Monochrome

4.3 (4 votes)

Oof! Two blue whale toy reviews in a row, these things happen! The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is the only extant animal in the famous monochrome line produced by Invicta Ltd for the British Museum (Natural History). If you’re not familiar with this museum that’s because the museum was rebranded in the 1990s as the Natural History Museum, London.

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Thorny Devil (Amphibians by Bullyland)

Name(s): Moloch, Moloch horridus, thorny devil Brand: Bullyland Classification: Lizards, Reptiles Type: Figurine

5 (4 votes)

I know, I know, the thorny devil (Moloch horridus) is a reptile, not an amphibian. However, I’m being accurate by being inaccurate, because Bullyland inexplicably categorised this figure in their ‘Amphibians’ collection. Perhaps ‘herpetofauna’ didn’t have the same ring to it, or ‘Reptiles and Amphibians’ was deemed too wordy.

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Humpback Whale (Choco Q Animatales Series 6 by Takara and Kaiyodo)

Name(s): Humpback whale, Megaptera, Megaptera novaeangliae Brand: Animatales, Chocoegg/Choco Q, Kaiyodo, Takara Tomy A.R.T.S. Classification: Mammals, Whales & Dolphins Type: Figurine

4.7 (3 votes)

Sometimes I wonder how Kaiyodo do it! How can it be possible to squeeze so much detail into such minuscule figures, what sorcery is at play in the ChocoQ lines? The mystery Kaiyodo sculptors are clearly masters in their field, and the humpback whale figure (Megaptera novaeangliae), part of the ChocoQ Animatales series (series 6), is one such example of that mastery.

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Coelacanth (Wild Safari Prehistoric World, by Safari Ltd)

Name(s): Coelacanth, Latimeria, Latimeria chalumnae, West Indian Ocean coelacanth Brand: Safari Ltd., Wild Safari Prehistoric World Classification: Fish, Lobe-finned fish Type: Figurine

4.9 (7 votes)

The coelacanth, Latimeria, is an iconic species of ‘living fossil’ and a text-book example of evolutionary stasis – an organism that has changed very little over millions of years. This is presumably why Safari Ltd picked this distinctive prehistoric-looking fish for their Wild Safari Prehistorics line, which is normally dedicated to prehistoric critters.

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