The world’s largest and most visually striking dolphin, one of its most intelligent animals, and undisputedly one of its most accomplished predators, the killer whale (Orcinus orca) needs no introduction from me. Whether they’re attacking boats or wearing dead salmon as hats the orca is constantly generating interest and is one of our most beloved and familiar animals.
Author: Gwangi
My name is Arthur but I go by Gwangi on the blogs and forums, as homage to the old dinosaur and monster movies I love so much. In addition to writing about and collecting toy animals (extinct and extant) I also share my home with a variety of living animals, mostly reptiles but a little bit of everything. I have a lifelong interest in all things pertaining to nature and natural history and most of my hobbies can be linked to those things in some way. I currently live in Maryland with my wife and daughter. In addition to writing on here I also write magazine articles, typically about local wildlife and aquarium fishes.All reviews by this author
Pilot Whale (Wild Safari Sealife by Safari Ltd.)
4.3 (12 votes)
Pilot whales are members of the Delphinidae family that get their name from the unproven belief that a single member of the pod leads the rest and that they’ll follow that individual even if it means certain death, which is supposed to explain why pilot whales strand en mass. Indeed, pilot whales are among the most likely cetacean species to become stranded.
White-tailed Deer, Buck 2012 (Wild Safari North American Wildlife by Safari Ltd.)
4.6 (9 votes)
In May 2016 the President of the United States signed the National Bison Legacy Act, making the North American bison the official National Mammal of the United States. I think they made the wrong choice and should have gone with the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) instead. Hear me out.
Common Cuttlefish (Sealife by CollectA)
5 (10 votes)
Before we begin the review, I would like to extend my gratitude towards Happy Hen Toys for sending this figure along as a review sample. Happy Hen Toys is a U.S. distributor of animal figures and one of the only places in the country where you can get CollectA figures at a reasonable price.
White Lion Family (Toymany)
4.6 (11 votes)
Before we begin, I would like to thank bmathison1972 for sending this set to me, which he received as a review sample from ToyMany. Be sure to use his discount code, BMLION20, if ordering directly from ToyMany’s website, and receive a 10% discount.
In the Timbavati region of South Africa there once lived a population of leucistic Southern African lions (Panthera leo melanochaita) that were white in color and are thought to have existed there for centuries.
Death’s-head Hawkmoth (Squishable)
4.5 (4 votes)
I thought I was done with reviews for spooky season this year but with only a few days left until Halloween I was determined to make sure this cutie was featured on the blog before season’s end. This is the death’s-head hawkmoth (genus Acherontia) by Squishable. Death’s-head hawkmoths seem to be all the rage this year.
Tarantula Wolf Spider (Wild Animals by Papo)
5 (6 votes)
No spooky season would be complete without a member of Araneae, the spiders, quite possibly the animal most symbolic of Halloween. What haunted attraction isn’t covered in fake spider webbing? And what child doesn’t bring home at least one plastic spider ring after a night of trick or treating? Today we’re looking at the 2016 Papo “tarantula”, a figure that our own Blaine Mathison stated, “might be the best spider figure ever produced”.
Long-eared Owl (Wings of the World by Safari Ltd.)
4.6 (8 votes)
It’s October again, and that means for the entire month we’ll be featuring spooky creatures and creepy crawlers here on the blog. Halloween is big in my household. Decorations go up in September, apple cider is well stocked in the fridge, pumpkin scented candles burn, and horror movies play every night.
Pygmy Hippopotamus (Wild Safari Wildlife by Safari Ltd.)
4.1 (12 votes)
I wasn’t originally going to post a review this week but there was one last figure I wanted to cover before October began and creepy critters would dominate the blog. It’s the Safari Ltd. pygmy hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis) and the reason I wanted to cover it sooner than later is thanks to a certain baby pygmy hippo that has taken the internet by storm.
Vietnamese Pot-bellied Pig (Farm World by Schleich)
4.5 (8 votes)
Today it is my great pleasure to share one of my holy grail figures with the blog, the 2014 Schleich pot-bellied pig. This figure was retired in 2018, one year before this blog was launched and I got into extant animal toys. I don’t know how it came across my radar but for a couple years now I’ve been looking at eBay listings for it, in the hopes that I could find one for a decent price.
Pig (Farm World by Schleich)
5 (4 votes)
The figure we’re looking at today is not one that I deliberately added to my own collection, it was one that was given to my barely one year old daughter while visiting some relatives. They handed her the pig to play with and then insisted she should keep it. Well, she’s too young for this sort of toy, so it has been sitting on my shelf until she reaches the recommended “3 years and up” age.
Everglades TOOB (Safari Ltd.)
4.9 (7 votes)
The Everglades is a subtropical and tropical wetland spanning 7,800 square miles (20,000 km2) in central and south Florida in the United States. Water from the Kissimmee River south of Orlando feeds into Lake Okeechobee and then continues south into Florida Bay. Although mostly marsh and flooded grassland the Everglades also run through cypress swamps, hardwood hammocks, pinelands, coastal prairies, and mangrove forests.
Elk (Wapiti) (Wildlife Collection by CollectA)
4.9 (16 votes)
Before we begin the review, I would like to extend my gratitude towards Happy Hen Toys for sending this figure along as a review sample. Happy Hen Toys is a U.S. distributor of animal figures and one of the only places in the country where you can get CollectA figures at a reasonable price.
American Badger (Wild Safari North American Wildlife by Safari Ltd.)
5 (7 votes)
The American badger (Taxidea taxus) is said to be North America’s only species of badger, but the truth is that badgers are a polyphyletic group, united not by a single common ancestor but by appearance. In the case of the American badger, it is the only member of its sub-family, Taxidiinae.
Bobcat (Wild Safari North American Wildlife by Safari Ltd.)
5 (9 votes)
The bobcat or red lynx (Lynx rufus) is North America’s most abundant and wide-ranging species of wild cat. It can be found from southern Canada through most of the United States and into Mexico. Although heavily persecuted it has been able to maintain its range and a generally high population.