Author: bmathison1972

I am Blaine, known by bmathison1972 on the forums and blogs. I am a professional parasitologist specializing in agents of human disease, including medically-important arthropods. I am also an amateur entomologist and study Nearctic click beetles (family Elateridae). Historically, much of my collection was devoted to insects and other arthropods, but in late 2018 I started building a Synoptic Collection of other species, to have one good exemplar of any animal species (my personal ‘Natural History Museum’). Other hobbies include hiking, bird-watching, running, and lifting weights, but my other ‘big’ hobby is visiting sports arenas, especially baseball stadiums. Whenever I travel for work (which I do with some frequency), I always check to see if there is a local college, independent, minor, or major league team to see.

All reviews by this author

Ethiopian Wolf Hunting Big-headed Mole Rat (1:10 Canids by Beauty of Beasts)

5 (4 votes)

Beauty of the Beasts is an online Etsy shop featuring resin animal figurines made by artist Qinguy Li out of Halifax, Canada. The site is probably best known for its Complete Feline Series which features nearly every, if not every, species of wild feline in 1:10 scale. They also have 1:10 tapirs, a brown bear, a spotted hyena, and just started a 1:10 canine series.

Japanese Firefly (Natural Monuments of Japan by Kaiyodo)

5 (2 votes)

This is a modified version of the walk-around I did for the Animal Toy Forum.

Walk-around of what is probably my favorite figure, the Japanese firefly (also known as genji-botaru), Luciola cruciata Motschulsky, 1854 by Kaiyodo, No. 45 in the Natural Monuments of Japan line. The species has been made a couple times, including previously by Kaiyodo for their Choco Q Animatales line.

Merino Ram (Farm Life by Papo)

5 (4 votes)

So, today is my birthday. I was thinking of doing something special for my B-day, but I could not could not come up with anything creative. I started looking at the numerical date (4-2-1972) and applying it to my collection database (for example, the fourth tab, second clade, line 1972), but I could not find a logistical way to do it.

Snowy Owl (Wild Life by Schleich)

5 (3 votes)

A couple days ago we had a random Spring snow storm, so I took advantage and snapped a few pics of a species that would normally be home in such a climate, the snowy owl, Bubo scandiacus. What is interesting, I posted the first review on the blog and that figure was Schleich’s tawny owl.

Tropical Rain Forest Frogs, Part 2 (Real Figure Collection Box by Colorata)

5 (1 votes)

This is the second part of a two-part review of the Tropical Rain Forest Frogs collection box by Colorata. Part 1 covered the Neotropical species. This second part covers the African, Madagascan, and Asian species.

Each figure is a single, solid piece of plastic. Five of the figures in the set come with a habitat-style base, three of which appear to be permanently attached to the base.

Tropical Rain Forest Frogs, Part 1 (Real Figure Collection Box by Colorata)

3.5 (2 votes)

When researching the frog species in the recent Capsule Q Museum release by Kaiyodo, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that 14 of the 16 figures in the Tropical Rain Forest Frogs collection box by Colorata were new species for me! I decided to buy a complete set, as paying for a whole set for 14 figures is still more cost-effective than hunting down individual figures of interest.

White Rhinoceros, 2010 (2016) (Wild Safari Wildlife by Safari Ltd.)

4.5 (6 votes)

Today I am presenting one of my favorite ‘large mammals’. As a kid growing up in Phoenix, one of my favorite animals to see at the Phoenix Zoo was the white rhinoceros, Ceratotherium simum. As with most large, familiar animals, this species is no stranger to toy form.

Dust Mite (Wolff Marketing Group, Inc.)

5 (1 votes)

Today I am reviewing a rather unusual figure. It is a model of a dust mite sold in a snow globe-type display! The figure was produced by Wolff Marketing Group, Inc. for the allergy medication Zyrtec (which was first manufactured by Pfizer but is now sold by by Johnson & Johnson – I am not sure how old the figure is, so I am not sure which company this figure was produced for).

Woodpecker Finch (Nature Zone: Galapagos by Bandai)

5 (2 votes)

It has been quiet on the Blog, so I thought I would put up a figure that just arrived in the mail today, the woodpecker finch (Camarhynchus pallidus) by Bandai from the Galapagos Nature Zone collection. The Galapagos collection is one of at least two geographically-focused sets in the Nature Zone series (the other I am aware of is for Australia).

Dubia Roach (Micky Maus by Egmont Ehapa Publishing Company)

5 (2 votes)

Micky Maus is a biweekly comic book series featuring Disney characters. It is published in Germany by the Egmont Ehapa Publishing Company. Some (all?) issues come with a toy of sorts and the February 7, 2020 issue came with large rubber cockroach. I have forum member widukind to thank for securing me a copy and mailing it to me!

Brazilian Whiteknee Tarantula (Bullyland)

4 (3 votes)

Uninspired for what my next post would be, I decided to use a random number generator on the Arachnids sheet of my Excel collection database and landed on the Brazilian whiteknee tarantula (Acanthoscurria geniculata) produced by Bullyland in 2017. As Bullyland continued to fade over recent years, they continued to make really good arachnid figures, including a few that are ‘unique’ in toy/figure form.

Fischer’s Lovebird (Chocoegg Pet Series 2 by Furuta)

3.5 (2 votes)

Today is Valentine’s Day, and what better way to celebrate with a lovebird! Today we will be looking at Fischer’s lovebird (Agapornis fischeri) that was produced by Furuta for the second series of the Chocoegg Pet line. Fischer’s lovebird is endemic to the east-central African countries of Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi.

Emperor Scorpion (Wildlife by Mojö Fun)

4.3 (3 votes)

The emperor scorpion, Pandinus imperator, is a large species of scorpion endemic to the rainforests and savanna of Africa. Because of their large size, hardy nature, docile behavior, and relatively mild venom, they are popular in the pet trade (I had them growing up). This species is no stranger to the toy animal industry, and today we are looking at the 2020 rendition of this species by Mojo Fun.

Spinifex Pigeon (Yowies Series 4 by Cadbury)

3 (2 votes)

When I first introduced the Yowies to the Blog, I started with a relatively recent figure from the US-based Yowie Group. Today we are going back to the Yowies’ Australian roots, when they were still being produced by Cadbury. Specifically, we will be looking at the spinifex pigeon (Geophaps plumifera) from Series 4.

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