Blue Whale (British Museum: Natural History by Invicta)

Oof! Two blue whale toy reviews in a row, these things happen! The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is the only extant animal in the famous monochrome line produced by Invicta Ltd for the British Museum (Natural History). If you’re not familiar with this museum that’s because the museum was rebranded in the 1990s as the Natural History Museum, London. Invicta is probably better known for the dinosaur toys in this line, which have all been reviewed already over on the Dinosaur Toy Blog. So, it’s satisfying to feature this figure here, as it feels like we’re underlining a project.

Although it is a beautiful replica, the Invicta blue whale always seemed a little out of place alongside the prehistoric animals in the series.  However, the Natural History Museum is renowned for its iconic life-size blue whale model, which dominates the museum’s mammal hall. This gentle giant is popular with visitors, maybe even as popular as the dinosaurs, which probably explains why this toy was produced.

Pictured here is the monochrome version, which was produced in a hard plastic. There is also a painted colour version made in softer plastic, but that one is more difficult to track down. Maybe some dear reader would like to share pictures of that one, too?

The monochrome blue-grey colour is appropriate and works especially well in this case as the shade roughly matches the colour of the living animal. Indeed, the living blue whale is a rather plain animal, essentially lacking patterns or shades.

Note the Invicta stand in the images. This one pictured is white, but they were also produced in a translucent plastic. All of the marine animals in the Invicta line came with this same stand and it really helps to turn this figure into a pleasing display piece.

Despite its age – I think the sculpt dates back to the 1970s – the Invicta blue whale remains one of the most accurate blue whale figures. It is slender, almost serpentine, in contrast to the bloated behemoth so often depicted in pop culture.

The texture is beautifully smooth and the fins are delicate and sharp-edged. The grooves running along the underside of the figure are meticulously sculpted, as are the eyes and blowhole.

As with all Invicta models, the moulding seams are rather obvious, but these tend to run along the edges of the flippers where possible, so they are not too distracting.

Text is hidden away on the underside of the tail. It reads “BRITISH MUSEUM C NATURAL HISTORY BLUE WHALE LENGTH 30M INVICTA LTD MADE IN LEICESTER ENGLAND”

This figure has been out of production for many years but is commonly available on Ebay, especially in the UK. The monochrome version is, at least…