Brown-throated Sloth (Wildlife by CollectA)

Review and images by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972

The brown-throated sloth (Bradypus variegatus) is the most common of the three species of three-toed sloth inhabiting Central and South America, and also the most famous of all sloths due to its decidedly adorable appearance. Any sloth toys, sloth storybooks, sloth-themed clothing, or other sloth-themed products you’ve come across in stores are likely to be based on this species. The same goes for sloth characters in cartoons and movies.

Here we have CollectA’s 2020 figure, which was sent to me as a review sample and should become available for purchase in June. It is billed simply as “Sloth,” but its colour scheme makes it quite unmistakable as the brown-throated species. The fur on the body and limbs is beige with dark grey wash and streaks of white while the fur covering the front of the neck and around the face is medium brown, hence the animal’s name. The face is painted light brown with medium brown for the muzzle and very dark brown surrounding the black eyes. Finally, there is a large dark brown patch with a dull orange U-shape on the sloth’s back. This patch is only found on males and has scent-marking glands that attract females during mating season.

Our sloth is sculpted sitting up with his head turned to look to the left, his left arm raised high, and his right arm lowered. This makes him 8 cm high at the top of his left hand and 9 cm wide. Looks like he’s in the midst of climbing through the trees in search of the rubbery leaves that make up its diet. He will only descend to the forest floor once a week to urinate and defecate, during which time he is vulnerable to attack by jaguars. Pumas can be even more dangerous due to their excellent climbing skills and harpy eagles are perhaps the sloth’s deadliest enemy of all due to their keen eyesight, maneuverability in flight, and enormous talons. The sloth’s only defense against predators are his curved claws.

The fur on this sloth has been lovingly sculpted to give it a thick, shaggy appearance, especially on the head. All the proportions appear accurate, from the somewhat pear-shaped body to the long, tapering limbs each ending in three curved claws. And I have to say as well: the decidedly peaceful, friendly-looking expression on the sloth’s face makes it even more appealing. Brown-throated sloths spend more than half their day dozing, climb very slowly, and move about extremely slowly on the ground, but are excellent swimmers.

The key to any sloth’s climbing prowess lies largely in its curved claws, and this figure has been designed so that it can successfully hang by its limbs from your fingers or various other household objects. Needless to say, this is a very fun feature indeed!

Between its superb sculpting and strong play value, I think that this is the very best sloth figure to date. A big thank you to CollectA for this review sample. My son loves it!