“Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Hear Ye!“
“Now, this second day of February, Punxsutawney Phil, the Seer of Seers, Prognosticator of all Prognosticators, was awakened from his burrow. In Groundhogese, Phil directed the Inner Circle to his Predictive Scroll.”
And thus begins the Groundhog Day ceremony (roughly) as it has begun each year in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania at Gobbler’s Knob since 1886.
Thanks to its wide, loosely hinged mouth that makes up about a quarter of its total body length, the gulper eel (Eurypharynx pelecanoides) has become a poster child for the deep sea and the bizarre creatures that live there. No surprise then that Safari Ltd. included it in their Creatures of the Deep collection back in 1998.
Walk-around of the Safari Ltd. Creatures of the Deep Hatchetfish, cf. Argyropelecus sp. (but read on), originally produced in 1997. Total Length (TL) is 132 mm and Standard Length (SL, so without the caudal fin) is 111 mm. Since I wouldn’t go so far to try to identify it to species level the scale may be anywhere between approx.
Walk around of the honey bee, Apis mellifera Linnaeus, 1758 by Safari LTD for their Incredible Creatures line, originally released in 2006. What is surprising about this figure is that it is the ONLY insect to ever be released in the Incredible Creatures line, and it would be the only terrestrial arthropod if not for the recent sinking of the old Hidden Kingdom line into the IC line (of course, the only remaining figures in that line are the monarch, black widow, orange-kneed tarantula, and revamped scorpion).
Horseshoe crabs of the order Xiphosura have been swimming the Earth’s oceans for the last 445 million years, and as a veteran writer for the Dinosaur Toy Blog, it only seemed appropriate that my first review for the ATB be on something as old (or older than) the subjects I’m used to writing about.
Review and images by JimoAi; edited by bmathison1972
Jellyfish, along with sponges, are among the oldest living creatures on earth. They have been traced all the way back to the Cambrian period, dating back over 500 million years ago. Jellyfish are part of the phylum Cnidaria and are closest related to corals and anemones.
The largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) is the U.S.A.’s premier freshwater gamefish. An estimated 30 million Americans target the species, creating a $60 billion dollar industry. I admit it, I’m one of those 30 million Americans. I’m an avid fisherman and the largemouth bass has been my favorite species to target ever since I was a small boy catching bluegills alongside a dinky little farm pond, where the comparatively elusive and gigantic largemouth bass ruled as the apex predator.
The leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularius) is easily among the most popular pet reptiles in the world, and perhaps the most popular pet lizard. Entire industries exist that are dedicated to producing leopard geckos in the hundreds of different selectively bred color morphs they’re now available in and it’s unlikely that you’ll ever walk into a pet shop that doesn’t have them.
I promise I will eventually not write about a fish…but today will not be that day. Instead, I’m going to write about a really interesting fish, and a really unusual–and rare–figure produced to represent it (spoiler, it’s in the title!). I am speaking of course about the Safari Ltd Loach Minnow, produced for Marsh & Associates LLC (as part of their Marsh Education program).
Review and images by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972
Homarus americanus, better known as the American, Canadian, Atlantic, Maine, or northern lobster, is both the heaviest crustacean and the heaviest of all extant arthropods. Old individuals regularly average around 20 lbs and the record holder, caught off the coast of Nova Scotia in 1977, weighed a staggering 44 lbs, which is heavier than my four year old son!
One of the most powerful animals in the Animal Kingdom, having a bite force of over 3,000 psi and able to hold its breath underwater for over an hour, the crocodile is an impressive animal that is feared and yet even revered in some cultures, notably the Ancient Egyptians who worshipped them.
For this post I am revisiting a figure that I originally discussed on the Animal Toy Forum here, the Safari Ltd Horned Frog from 1997! This figure has a few sources of mystery around it due to a few factors–first, the line it is part of. In the few places it is referenced online, it is referred to as a part of the Incredible Creatures line–this makes sense as it is nearly perfect 1:1 scale and has the typical hollow-cast design.
Review and images by Lanthanotus; edited by bmathison1972
In recent years, an uncommon and elusive animal reached quite a reputation, especially due to an increase of advertisement as “the most trafficked animal you didn`t know existed”. Although pangolins have existed in the form of toy animals at least since the early 80’s, and have quite impressive appearances in children’s animal books as by famous Rinaldo D.
This is a walk-around of the 2014 Safari Ltd Incredible Creatures piranha, Pygocentrus sp. Total length (TL, i.e., including caudal fin) is 120 mm and standard length (SL, i.e., without caudal fin) is 107 mm. The figure shows characteristic traits of both the red piranha, Pygocentrus nattereri Kner, 1858 and San Francisco piranha, Pygocentrus piraya (Cuvier, 1819), e.g., the reddish eyes are more typical for P.
The prairie dog of western North America is not only an icon of the American west but a keystone species as well. Prairie dogs are burrowers, and their extensive network of tunnels, chambers, and mounds known as “prairie dog towns” serve as important habitat for a host of species, including burrowing owls and the black-footed ferret that not only lives in prairie dog burrows but also preys on them.
