Blue-Footed Booby (Wings of the World by Safari Ltd.)

At the start of the year, I received an email notification from Safari Ltd. that they would be having a 50% off sale on their already discounted, discontinued figures. Not only were some of these figures now up to 75% off but this was also my last chance to get them, I didn’t squander it. A lot of those figures also don’t have reviews yet so for those I acquired I’ll be adding them to the blog in due course. I start my review with this preamble because I want to make you aware of these discontinued figures. You should get them while you can. If not through Safari directly, then through whatever distributor you prefer that still has them in stock. This is your last chance before they enter the secondary market, and the prices will likely go up.

With its bright blue feet that it uses to attract a mate through a unique dance, the blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii) is one of the more recognizable, popular, and comical of all seabirds. The blue-footed booby isn’t just aptly named because of its blue feet, the booby part of its name comes from the Spanish word “bobo”, which means stupid or foolish. This name stems from the ease with which the birds could be captured by 18^th century sailors. Like a lot of island species isolated from humans, the birds did not perceive the bipedal primates as a threat. Today we’re looking at the Safari 2017 blue-footed booby, easily the best representative of this species available.

Blue-footed boobies occur in tropical portions of the eastern Pacific, from the Gulf of California to Peru, and most famously, on the Galápagos islands where about half of the population breeds. They feed on various small fish and squid which they capture through spectacular dives from a height of up to 80’ (24 meters). They can dive up to 65’ (19 meters) deep. Boobies are members of the Suliformes order along with cormorants, anhingas, and frigatebirds.

The Safari blue-footed booby stands 2.5” (6.35 cm) tall and measures 4.5” (11.43 cm) from beak-to-tail along its curves. The actual blue-footed booby measures about 31.9” (81 cm) and has a wingspan of 62.2” (158 cm). I’m never confident in scaling bird figures but I estimate this figure to be about 1/7 in scale.

The figure is presented in a static pose with its wings folded and head tilted downward. Although a flying pose is probably more popular with kids, I greatly prefer bird figures that are resting and relaxed like this one. The detail work is fantastic, as it tends to be with Wings of the World figures. The feather detail on the wings is particularly noteworthy.

The figure is painted white with brown streaks above and white below. There should be a white patch on the back of the neck but that’s missing here. The brown along the back could be a bit heavier too but let’s not get too nitpicky. The wings are brown, and the tail has brown streaks. The feet are the iconic blue that they ought to be, and the dagger-like beak is blue gray. The vibrant little eyes are yellow with black pupils and a lifelike sheen.

Upon receiving it the Safari blue-footed booby promptly became one of my favorite bird figures. It is expertly sculpted, and the paint application is excellent for the most part. This is a figure not to be missed but was unfortunately retired last year. Get it while you can from distributors that still have it in stock. It retails for less than $6.00.