Black Jaguars Family Playset (Toymany)

Before I begin my review, I must thank @Kenc and the folks at Toymany for providing this review sample for the Blog.

The jaguar (Panthera onca) is a species that needs little introduction. It is an apex predator in Latin America, ranging from the extreme southern USA to central South America. Throughout much of its range, it is sympatric with the mountain lion (Puma concolor). The jaguar is a stocky, powerful predator, able to take down prey such as giant anteaters, capybara, white-tailed deer, javelina, and even caimans! Jaguars are not as commonly made as toys as their Old World cousins leopards, lions, and tigers, but there is a decent selection available (although there are several figures of generic ‘black panthers’ which may also represent jaguars). In 2024, Toymany released a set of six jaguars, featuring three adults and three cubs. Earlier this year, they released the set of black jaguars we are looking at today, which consists of five of the six sculpts from the 2024 set (missing is the stretching cat), along with an adult in a neutral standing position whose sculpt was originally featured in their 2023 Jungle Animals with Cubs Playset (which was a set of big cats). I should point out that a couple of the cubs were originally featured in their 2023 Felidae Cubs Playset. Melanistic jaguars are not as common as the typical spotted morphotype, but do occur in populations throughout the animal’s range. Melanism is caused by deletions in the melanocortin 1 receptor gene and inherited through a dominant allele. Black jaguars are more abundant in the tropical rainforests, probably because the denser vegetation provides better camouflage, even during the day.

All six cats in the set come with the level of detail in the sculpt we have come to expect from Toymany, with fine detail and texturing in the muscles throughout the body, the fine fur, and paw pads. And while all six are painted black, they are not a ‘solid’ black, and the rosettes are visible even in the black, as they would be in nature. All six figures also have some dark pinkish tones inside the years, golden eyes, and jet black noses.

We will first look at the three adults. First up is my favorite, the female resting on the branch. And yes, the cat is removable from the branch, but doesn’t doesn’t sit in a realistic position without it. The formal name of this set is 7-Piece Black Jaguars Figurines Family Playset, and if you are wondering if the branch is the seventh figure, the answer is yes.

The next two adults are the neutral standing and sitting cats. The standing cat is the easiest for which to calculate scale; with a shoulder height of 4.7 cm, it scales at 1:12-1:17.2 depending on sex and population. It can be assumed all three adults are within this scale range.

Lastly, the three cubs. One is sculpted laying while another is sculpted in a neutral standing pose. I am not entirely sure what the third is doing, but it looks playful, perhaps either checking something out on the ground or preparing to pounce on a sibling. I cannot calculate scale without knowing their precise age, but they appear to be in scale with the adults.

Again Toymany delivers a set of high quality figures at an affordable price point. I already had the 2015 Safari Ltd. jaguar, which appears to be a male, but plan on retaining at least the resting female on the branch to compliment it. Available as a set or individually on Toymany’s website. Use the special code BMJAGUAR15 for a 15% discount when ordering directly from their website.