Welcome to another “Savanah Summer”! Being a large continent, there are many places where Africa connects to oceans, in fact both the Pacific and Indian oceans are there. Thus, there is a huge amount of aquatic life, be it mammals, birds and, naturally, fish. Fish never tend to be as popular on toy shelves (unless it’s part of the shark family), so it’s always nice when a company makes more common fish.
Brand: Kaiyodo
Asian Giant Hornet (Revogeo by Kaiyodo)
5 (4 votes)
Today we are looking at the third release in Kaiyodo’s Revogeo line, the Asian giant hornet, Vespa mandarinia. The Revogeo figures are large, articulated, and (to date) all arthropods. Endemic to Southeast Asia, eastern Russia, and Japan, V. mandarinia is the world’s largest hornet. It gained some attention here in the U.S.
Black Wolf (Asahiyama Capsule Zoo by Kaiyodo)
4.5 (2 votes)
Review and images by Saarlooswolfhound; edited by bmathison1972
Another trip along the holiday trail, a hell hound has arrived on the scene for presentation… Not truly, instead, I have a very precious Kaiyodo Asahiyama Exclusive black phase wolf model. Reused from the Choco Q Animatales model #239 from series 11, the mold itself is precisely the same besides a color change.
Blue Whale (Mega Sofubi Advance by Kaiyodo)
4.4 (8 votes)
There are many iterations of a fabled, island-sized sea monster across various cultures, which were in no doubt inspired by early accounts of animals such as the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus). Blue whales exist in all major oceans, but precise distributions are patchy and their migratory movements are poorly understood.
Common Cuckoo (Birdtales Series 2 by Kaiyodo)
5 (2 votes)
I’ve been intending to write a review of this figure for quite a bit now, but until now, schoolwork and other real life issues have gotten in the way of that. Anyway, let the review commence:
Brood parasitism, the act of relying on other individual animals to raise young, is easily one of the most interesting strategies that has evolved in animals, with it appearing in insects, fish and birds.
Common Pillbug (Sofubi Toy Box by Kaiyodo)
5 (3 votes)
Walkaround of one of the common pillbug, Armadillidium vulgare (Latreille, 1804) by Kaiyodo, Sofubi Toy Box, No. 012A, originally released in 2017. Armadillidium vulgare is native to the western Palearctic but has been introduced to places around the world, including North America. Kaiyodo previously made this figure (albeit much smaller) in 2015 as part of their Capsule Q Museum Backyard Creatures – Soil Organisms set (see penultimate image).
Common Snapping Turtle (Capsule Q Museum: Foreign Invaders and New Friends by Kaiyodo)
5 (2 votes)
Review and images by jumboplayset; edited by bmathison1972
For me, my all time favorite animal is without question the common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina). I remember when I first saw the species in the wild, in a tiny creek down the way from my grandparents’ house. The creek ran between two streets but was unbelievably idyllic, glowing grass-green in the sun, the bubbling and smoothly flowing sounds of the little creek.
Emperor Scorpion (Revogeo by Kaiyodo)
5 (2 votes)
I decided to migrate over my Revogeo emperor scorpion walkaround from the forum, to make the Kaiyodo Revogeo collection complete (to date) on the Blog. I edited the language to reflect the current year.
Today is a walkaround of the emperor scorpion, Pandinus imperator (Koch, 1842) by Kaiyodo – Revogeo, originally released in 2019, and the first in the Revogeo line.
Frilled Lizard (Capsule Q Museum: Reptiles Lounge by Kaiyodo)
5 (3 votes)
Images by postsaurischian; additional text by bmathison1972
The frilled lizard is a popular and familiar again that lives in northern Australia and southern New Guinea. It is famous for being able to run bipedal, but mainly for its neck frill, which makes it so distinctive, the species is immediately recognizable in even the cheapest of figures (luckily the one we are looking at today is one of the nicer representatives of this species in toy forum).
Galapagos Land Iguana (Capsule Q Museum: Reptiles Lounge by Kaiyodo)
4.5 (2 votes)
Review and images by Lanthanotus; edited by bmathison1972
“Ugly” and of a “singularly stupid appearance“ were two of the things Charles Darwin had to say about the Galapagos Land Iguana, Conolophus subcristatus. His judgement about their more popular aquatic relatives, the Marine Iguana, Amblyrhynchus cristatus was not much better, those he describes as the “most disgusting”.
Giant Tube Worm (MIU Deep Sea Odyssey 2 by Kaiyodo)
5 (3 votes)
“Life will find a way.” These words, spoken in the Jurassic Park franchise, are so poetic and beautiful in their simplicity. They are also very true, as, no matter where you are in the world, there is liable to be life, even in the most inhospitable locations. Thermal vents in the pelagic zone seems a bad spot to live in, yet life has found a way to live in this harsh environment and reap the benefits, such as this review’s subject, the Giant Tube worm (Riftia pachyptila), an annelid that lives by these vents, harvesting the minerals they spew out.
Giraffe Stag Beetle (Revogeo by Kaiyodo)
3 (2 votes)
Today I am continuing reviews of Kaiyodo’s Revogeo arthropods with the giraffe stag beetle (Prosopocoilus giraffa) which was released in late 2021. This is the fifth figure in the series following an emperor scorpion (2019), red-clawed crab (2019), Asian giant hornet (2020), and Japanese giant water bug (2021).
Humpback Whale (Choco Q Animatales Series 6 by Takara and Kaiyodo)
4.5 (2 votes)
Sometimes I wonder how Kaiyodo do it! How can it be possible to squeeze so much detail into such minuscule figures, what sorcery is at play in the ChocoQ lines? The mystery Kaiyodo sculptors are clearly masters in their field, and the humpback whale figure (Megaptera novaeangliae), part of the ChocoQ Animatales series (series 6), is one such example of that mastery.
Indo-Pacific Sailfish (Aquatales Polyresin by Kaiyodo)
4.5 (4 votes)
Walk-around of the Kaiyodo Aquatales Polyresin Aquatic animal figure collection Series 1 No. 005 Indo-Pacific sailfish, Istiophorus platypterus Shaw, 1792. It was one of my most anticipated figure from the series. This small gem has a length of 131 mm FL (= Fork Length) or 118 mm SL (Standard Length, i.e.
Japanese Carpenter Ants (Revogeo by Kaiyodo)
5 (2 votes)
I am continuing what seems to have become a tradition of mine, which is to review the next Kaiyodo Revogeo arthropod. Today we are looking at a pair of Japanese carpenter ants (Camponotus japonicus) which were released just last month. I discussed the geographic distribution and biology of this species here the last time I reviewed the species, so for this review I will focus exclusively on the figures themselves.