When most think of big cats in heraldry, most will think of lions, rampant on shields, but very often they will represent another of Africa’s magnificent big cats, the leopard (Panthera pardus). These rosette-marked cats had large ranges across Africa and Asia, now only pockets of their former territories remain, pushed out by humans, by hunting and loss of habitat.
Brand: AAA
Lion, Jumbo (AAA)
2 (3 votes)
Welcome back to the “Savanah Summer”! When it comes to carnivores in Africa, the feliforms are the more famous, be it the speedy cheetah, the stealthy leopard or the infamous hyenas. Most famous, and biggest, of all is, of course, the African Lion (Panthera leo), king of the…..
Mantis shrimp (AAA)
5 (4 votes)
Editor’s note: As one of the most prolific contributors to the Animal Toy Forum, Brontodocus has posted dozens of spectacular visual walk-arounds over the years. With the launch of the Animal Toy Blog he has kindly given the editors permission to migrate his walk-arounds from the forum to the blog. This post will therefore be the first of many!
Meerkat (AAA)
1.3 (4 votes)
The African plains has some fantastic animals living across it. Gorillas, elephants, rhinos, and other magnificent large animals. But some of the smaller creatures also garner respect and attention. For me, the one that gains this are the meerkat (Suricata suricatta), small carnivores that live in packs across the savanna, eating small animals and dodging larger predators.
Monitor Lizard (AAA)
4.8 (5 votes)
Today’s review concerns a toy that is very near and dear to me because it has been with me for nearly 30 years, and it is one of only a few childhood toys that I kept into adulthood. As such, the specimen in these accompanying pictures has a few city miles on it but that just shows the years of joy it has provided me.
Monitor Lizard (AAA)
5 (4 votes)
Don’t worry, this is not a case of déjà vu, I did indeed review a AAA monitor lizard already. But AAA produced several monitor lizards and this one, although it’s probably the same species as the last one I reviewed, is substantially different. The last time I reviewed one of these I admitted that I was unsure what species it was supposed to be.
Mud Crab (AAA)
4.5 (4 votes)
Scuttling along shorelines, rummaging in the surf or sand, crustaceans are well known beach living animals, especially the crab. With their pincers, shells and multiple legs, they are well known critters, and have many figures made of them. Here, we see one of many examples made by AAA.
As usual, discerning a species is incredibly tricky, as this is just labelled “crab”.
Octopus (AAA)
3 (3 votes)
Review and images by callmejoe3; edited by bmathison1972
Today marks a return to cataloging a member of the group of eight-limbed cephalopods. The order of octopuses, Octopoda, contains 300 extant species. These creatures inhabit a wide range of habitats ranging from pelagic waters and coral reefs to the deepest parts of the oceans.
Pacific Oyster (AAA)
5 (4 votes)
I’ve always had a fascination for my local wildlife and since moving to the U.S. state of Maryland I’ve taken a special interest in the local fauna here, including the unassuming but economically and ecologically important oyster. Although the Chesapeake Bay is most well known for its blue crabs (which I’ve covered before), the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) is a significant local animal as well.
Red Panda (AAA)
3.3 (4 votes)
Fame can lead to some animals being overlooked, or associated merely by their appearance. It is undeniable that the giant panda has a major cultural and global significance, which results in the red panda (Ailurus fulgens) being looked over, despite that their faces are similar, both eat bamboo and both are Chinese.
Ring-tailed Lemur (AAA)
3.7 (3 votes)
Recently, I went on a visit to the Bristol Zoo with my girlfriend. Unfortunately, it was raining quite heavily, so we ducked into the more covered areas to get out of it. Whilst we were getting out of the rain, we quite enjoyed watching the ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) in the primate section.
Snow Leopard, youngster (AAA)
3.3 (3 votes)
Continuing the “Winter Wonderland” series, we are going into the highest elevations of the world, as we look at a figure of one of the rarest cats in the world, the snow leopard (Panthera uncia). These beautiful cats are found across the mountainous regions of central and south Asia, hunting across the Tibetan Plateau and Siberia.