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).
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
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)
3.8 (4 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.
Kinkajou, pair (Noah’s Pals by Caboodle! Toys LLC)
4.3 (3 votes)
Noah’s Pals was a line of toy animals that featured male and female pairs of select species. The line was produced by Caboodle! Toys LLC starting in 2006 but was taken over by Schleich a couple years before production ceased. The line was divided into four subsets: Endangered Pals, Vulnerable Pals, Common Pals, and Exclusive Pals.
Miyama Stag Beetle (Insect Hunter by F-toys)
5 (2 votes)
Today I again decided to explore my entomological roots and again used a random number generator to decide which figure to review. It landed on number 241, which in my Excel file is the current location of the Miyama stag beetle (Lucanus maculifemoratus) that was produced by F-toys for the 2011 release of their Insect Hunter line.
Primates TOOB (Safari Ltd.)
5 (3 votes)
Review of the 2019 Primates TOOB by Safari Ltd. I had bought this set early on when I started my Synoptic Collection, mainly for the marmoset and tamarins. I have since retained the bonobo and sifaka too, pending eventual release of standard-sized figures of these species. This TOOB is another example of Safari Ltd recently upping the game in their TOOB sets, with others being Whales (2018), Dolphins (2019), Great Lakes (2020), African Savannah (2020), and Pelagic Fishes (2019).
Yanbaru Long-armed Scarab (Yanbaru Creatures by Colorata)
3.7 (3 votes)
Today I decided to go back to my entomological roots, and with nearly 2,000 insect and arachnid figures, I decided to use a random number generator to decide for me. And so here we have the Yanbaru long-armed scarab, Cheirotonus jambar, that was released in 2017 by Colorata for the Yanbaru Creatures box set.
Périgord Goose (Farm Life by Papo)
4.7 (3 votes)
On Thanksgiving I presented a turkey for the Blog, so it makes sense on Christmas I would present a goose, a bird traditionally served on this holiday. Depending on the location or culture, three are several traditional Christmas ‘meats’. In my household growing up we ate beef, and when I lived in the Czech Republic for grad school, carp was the traditional Christmas meal.
Golden Ghost Crab (Colors of the Animal Kingdom by Yowie Group)
5 (3 votes)
I was debating on whether or not to post before Christmas, but I got a cool new figure in the mail today, so I said, let’s do it! So today I am reviewing another Yowie figure for the Blog. This time it is the golden ghost crab, Ocypode convexa, from the recently-released series, Colors of the Animal Kingdom.
Corals in Colour (Yujin)
5 (3 votes)
Review of the complete set of the Corals in Colour produced by Yujin in 2005. The set consists of 16 small figures representing primarily stony corals; however it also includes two species hydrozoans that morphologically similar to hard corals. The figures are quite small, being on average 2.5 cm between their greatest points.
Giant Deep-sea Isopod (Dango Mushi 05 by Bandai)
5 (4 votes)
Review of the giant deep-sea isopod (Bathynomus giganteus) by Bandai, released recently in November, 2019 for the fifth set in the Dango Mushi Line. I am not going to go into too much detail on the animal itself, as this was covered when the species was first introduced to the Blog.
Arctic Hare (Wild Safari North American Wildlife by Safari Ltd.)
5 (6 votes)
Normally I wouldn’t do back-to-back posts, but we had our first real snow this weekend, so I took advantage of the situation to snap up some pics of a figure that in real life would be at home in such an environment: the Arctic hare, Lepus arcticus. This figure was produced by Safari Ltd.