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

Dog Heartworm (GPI Anatomicals)

5 (4 votes)

Happy Valentine’s Day everybody!

All major holidays have various symbols associated with them, such as a Christmas tree for Christmas, a turkey or cornucopia for Thanksgiving, a four-leaf clover for St. Patrick’s Day, or a jack-o-lantern for Halloween. There is no doubt that the heart has become the most popular symbol associated with Valentine’s Day, and what better way to celebrate such as association on the Animal Toy Blog with an animal that lives in the heart (or at the very least, the pulmonary vessels) of its host!

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Lobster Moth, caterpillar (Diversity of Life on Earth – Caterpillars Vol. 2 by Bandai)

Name(s): lobster moth, Stauropus, Stauropus fagi Brand: Bandai/Bandai Spirits, Diversity of Life on Earth Classification: Arthropods, Butterflies & Moths, Insects Type: Baby Animal, Figurine Range: Asia, Europe

3.5 (10 votes)

For the most part, adult moths in the family Notodontidae (commonly referred to as the ‘prominents’) are relatively drab moths, at least in the Northern Hemisphere. There are exceptions, of course, but in general they are fairly non-descript (to the casual observer) brown and grey moths typical of those seen at a porch light on a warm, humid summer’s eve.

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Bullet Ant (Diversity of Life on Earth – Ants by Bandai)

Name(s): bullet ant, Paraponera, Paraponera clavata Brand: Bandai/Bandai Spirits, Diversity of Life on Earth Classification: Arthropods, Bees, Ants & Wasps, Insects Type: Figurine Range: North America, South America

5 (5 votes)

The bullet ant (Paraponera clavata) is a notorious insect from the rainforests of Central and South America. It is often regarded as having one of the most painful stings of any insect, and currently has a rating of 4.0+ (the highest possible) on Schmidt’s Sting Pain Index.

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Caracal (Wild Life Africa by Schleich)

Name(s): Caracal, Caracal caracal Brand: Schleich Classification: Carnivorans, Cats, Mammals Type: Figurine Range: Africa

4.3 (8 votes)

The caracal (Caracal caracal) is a small cat that lives over much of Africa (outside of rainforests and much of the Sahara Desert), the Arabian Peninsula, Middle East, and Central Asia to western India. It prefers scrub forest, thickets, savannas, marshy lowlands, rocky hills, and semi-deserts, generally in areas that are dry but offer sufficient vegetation for cover.

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Japanese Carpenter Ants (Epoch)

Name(s): Camponotus, Camponotus japonicus, Japanese carpenter ant Brand: Epoch/Tarlin Classification: Arthropods, Bees, Ants & Wasps, Insects Type: Figurine, Set Range: Asia

5 (2 votes)

The Japanese carpenter ant (Camponotus japonicus) is a widely-distributed species that occurs throughout much of East Asia, from Pakistan and Mongolia, east to China, Russia (eastern Siberia), and the Philippines, and Japan. Like other carpenter ants, colonies, which can consist of thousands of individuals, occurs in dead and decaying wood, such as logs and the dead, hollowed-out part of standing trees.

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Caiman (Wild Safari Wildlife by Safari Ltd.)

Name(s): Caiman, Melanosuchus Brand: Safari Ltd., Wild Safari Wildlife Classification: Alligators & Crocodiles, Reptiles Type: Figurine Range: North America, South America

4.8 (13 votes)

Today I will be reviewing the 2019 caiman by Safari Ltd. I was inspired to review this figure after it came up for my daily Museum post and all the exhaustive research I did on determining its identification. Let’s discuss the identification first, shall we? Safari Ltd. only marketed this figure as a caiman, mentioning both the genera Caiman and Melanosuchus on their website.

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Sea Slug Chopstick Rests (Rainbow)

Name(s): Aldisa, Aldisa albatrossae, blue dorid, Chromodoris, Chromodoris magnifica, gloomy nudibranch, Hypselodoris, Hypselodoris apolegma, Hypselodoris festiva, Tambja, Tambja morosa Brand: Rainbow Classification: Mollusks Type: Figurine Range: Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean

5 (2 votes)

Nudibranchs, also known as sea slugs, are fascinating creatures. They come in a very wide variety of sizes, shapes, and colors, making them very popular with biologists, aquarium hobbyists, and collectors of toys representing interesting and unique animal taxa. There are over 3,000 valid described species! There have been several nudibranch-centric sets made over the years.

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Chambered Nautilus (Prehistoric by CollectA)

Name(s): chambered nautilus, Nautilus, Nautilus pompilius Brand: CollectA Classification: Mollusks Type: Figurine Range: Pacific Ocean

5 (7 votes)

In 2020, CollectA started adding invertebrates to their Prehistoric line, including the trilobite Redlichia and the cephalopods Orthoceras, Passaloteuthis, and Pleuroceras. Interestingly, there were two extant invertebrates released that year as well, the Atlantic horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) and the subject of today’s review, the chambered nautilus, Nautilus pompilius, also known as the emperor nautilus.

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Common Pillbug (Sofubi Toy Box by Kaiyodo)

Name(s): Armadillidium, Armadillidium vulgare, common pillbug Brand: Kaiyodo, Mega Sofubi/Sofubi Toy Box Classification: Arthropods, Crustaceans Type: Figurine Range: Cosmopolitan

5 (3 votes)

Walkaround of one of the common pillbug, Armadillidium vulgare (Latreille, 1804) by Kaiyodo, Sofubi Toy Box, No. 012A, originally released in 2017. Armadillidium vulgare is native to the western Palearctic but has been introduced to places around the world, including North America. Kaiyodo previously made this figure (albeit much smaller) in 2015 as part of their Capsule Q Museum Backyard Creatures – Soil Organisms set (see penultimate image).

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Caterpillars to Go (Club Earth)

3.2 (6 votes)

Nearly two years ago to the day, I reviewed Club Earth’s Butterflies to Go collection after acquiring the last figures for that Holy Grail collection. Now today I get to do the same thing for the Caterpillars to Go collection, again having received the last figure in this Holy Grail Collection.

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Bornean Orangutan (Wild Safari Wildlife by Safari Ltd.)

Name(s): Bornean orangutan, Pongo, Pongo pygmaeus Brand: Safari Ltd., Wild Safari Wildlife Classification: Mammals, Primates Type: Figurine Range: Asia

4.4 (9 votes)

I had to take a photo of this figure for today’s daily ‘Museum’ post and decided to throw together a quick review of it for the Blog, especially since we don’t have have a this species on the Blog yet! The Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) is, as its common name suggests, endemic to the island of Borneo.

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Citrus Long-horned Beetle (Diversity of Life on Earth: Stag Beetles Vol. 4 by Bandai)

Name(s): Anoplophora, Anoplophora chinensis, citrus long-horned beetle Brand: Bandai/Bandai Spirits, Diversity of Life on Earth Classification: Arthropods, Beetles, Insects Type: Figurine Range: Asia

5 (2 votes)

The citrus long-horned beetle (Anoplophora chinensis) is a cerambycid beetle native to East Asia. Larvae develop in various hardwoods, and the beetle is considered a pest of several ornamental and commercial food plants, including citrus, pecan, apple, sycamore, willow, pear, mulberry, litchi, kumquat, fig, and many others.

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