The honey bee. Apis mellifera. Probably the most iconic insect in human history. Surprisingly, not commonly made in toy form, at least not at the species level by manufacturers of collectible animal models (almost every ‘bin-style’ set of toy bugs has a generic bee, however). Also, when bees are made, they are rarely super accurate models; I suppose it is because it is such a familiar animal, it is easily recognizable with minimal effort (sort of like an elephant; it doesn’t have to be a good elephant, but a smooth, gray mammal with a trunk, pair of tusks, and big floppy ears will be immediately recognizable as an elephant).
Brand: Papo
Horned Lizard (Wild Animals by Papo)
4.3 (3 votes)
Review of the Texas horned lizard, Phrynosoma cornutum, by Papo, new for 2019 (just got it in the mail just today!). The figure is not marketed at the species level but is a good representation of P. cornutum (more on the morphology below). I was hesitant to buy this figure, mainly because I thought it would be too big compared to other small lizards in my Synoptic Collection.
Jackal (Wild Animals by Papo)
4.6 (5 votes)
Review and images by Saarlooswolfhound; edited by bmathison1972
The Papo “Jackal”, #50259 was released in 2020 and is currently in production. It is part of the Wild Animal collection from Papo. The figure itself measures approximately 2.2 in. in length and 2 in. tall (5.58 cm in length and 5.08 cm tall).
King Cobra (Wild Animals by Papo)
4.5 (2 votes)
Review and images by Lanthanotus; edited by bmathison1972
While the suborder Serpentes counts approx. known 3600 species, the everyday person would probably only be able to name four or five, and the cobra would be a sure contender amongst these. This popularity stems from the potency of its venom as well as from its quite unique defense behaviour.
Komodo Dragon (Wild Animals by Papo)
4 (3 votes)
Dragons! Huge, powerful reptiles, with mighty claws and a flaming breath! They are known throughout the world….. as fictional creatures. Nonetheless, the repute of these mythical monsters have been passed to a few giant reptiles of the real world, those whose power, size and ferocity earn it the reputation. The most famous, of course, is the Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis), a relictual species of monitor from a time when the world had many bigger monitors prowling around.
Kraken (The Enchanted World by Papo)
3.6 (7 votes)
The kraken (Microcosmus marinus) is a cephalopod native to northern Europe that’s renowned for its size and ship sinking abilities. Although its true size is unknown, Erik Pontoppidan, bishop of Bergen and author of Natural History of Norway wrote that the kraken is “the largest sea monster in the world…round, flat, and full of arms, or branches.
Ladybug (Wild Animals by Papo)
4.3 (3 votes)
In 2016, Papo released their first two arthropods, a European wolf spider (a.k.a., tarantula) and a fat-tailed scorpion, which probably represent the best spider and scorpion figures outside of Japan (and the wolf spider may just be the best spider figure, period!). For someone like me who, at the time, only collected arthropods, this was a welcome sign!
Leatherback Sea Turtle (Marine Life by Papo)
3.8 (6 votes)
Review and images by JimoAi; edited by bmathison1972
The leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) is a species of sea turtle and the sole member of Dermochelyidae family. It is the largest and heaviest reptile alive today that isn’t a crocodilian (disclaimer: while many snakes like reticulated pythons and anacondas are twice the length of these turtles, they are way lighter).
Leopard Seal (Wild Animals by Papo)
3.1 (9 votes)
Review and images by EpicRaptorMan; edited by bmathison1972
Imagine a white fuzzy seal with big black eyes crying out for food. Now imagine a massive predator with enormous jaws and an appetite to match; this is Hydrurga leptonyx a.k.a. the leopard seal.
Today I chose to review the leopard seal by Papo (56042) and if you couldn’t tell by the intro, the leopard seal is not to be trifled with.
Leopard Shark (Marine Life by Papo)
5 (13 votes)
Review and images by JimoAi; edited by bmathison1972
Hound sharks have not been made into figures by any of the major figure companies, whether it be it by Western or Japanese companies, save for one: the leopard shark (Triakis semifasciata). It is a small- to medium-sized shark that inhabits temperate waters in the Pacific Coast of North America, primarily in kelp forests and reefs.
Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Marine Life by Papo)
5 (4 votes)
Review and images by JimoAi; edited by bmathison1972
Sea turtles are majestic animals. They have been on this planet since the Jurassic period and are still swimming our seas today. When other marine reptiles like the ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and mosasaurs went extinct by the KT mass extinction, the oceans were left with just snakes, turtles, the marine iguana, and saltwater crocodiles.
Manta Ray (Marine Life by Papo)
4.7 (3 votes)
Review and images by JimoAi; edited by bmathison1972
In the warm waters around the Galapagos Islands, a giant oceanic manta ray (Mobula birostris) swoops by, causing the nearby fish to flee due to the large size of the ray. She opens her large mouth to allow zooplankton to be collected and in turn, her gill rakers filter them, allowing seawater to be exhaled.
Marabou Stork (Wild Animals by Papo)
5 (5 votes)
Review and images by Lanthanotus; edited by bmathison1972
While a lot of people would describe a lot of animals as “ugly” or “disgusting”, those words are rarely attributed to the large group of birds. When applied, those terms most often hit the varied group of carrion-feeding birds like vultures. But also these have a somewhat majestic appearance, at least when gliding through their aerial kingdom.
Merino Ram (Farm Life by Papo)
5 (4 votes)
So, today is my birthday. I was thinking of doing something special for my B-day, but I could not could not come up with anything creative. I started looking at the numerical date (4-2-1972) and applying it to my collection database (for example, the fourth tab, second clade, line 1972), but I could not find a logistical way to do it.
Monarch (Wild Animals by Papo)
4 (1 votes)
Today I will be continuing the reviews of Papo’s 2020 arthropods with the monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus. This is one of 5 insects (6 arthropods total) produced by Papo in 2020. Interestingly, it is the only arthropod in their entire collection to-date that is not naturally European, given that Papo is a French company (more on that later).