Insect Lore is a company that primarily makes products for the observation and study of living insects (nets, rearing containers, magnifying glasses, ant farms, etc.). In the 2000s, they made life cycle sets of select insects. These were really nice sets that featured original sculpts, including a couple rarely-made species (mealworm beetle, American painted lady).
Classification: Arthropods
Great Lakes TOOB (Safari Ltd.)
5 (5 votes)
Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. Those are the names of the Great Lakes of North America that boarder the central/east United States and Canada. In total area they represent the largest freshwater lakes on Earth, holding roughly 20% of the world’s surface freshwater and 9/10ths of the water supply for the United States.
Japanese Firefly (Natural Monuments of Japan by Kaiyodo)
5 (2 votes)
This is a modified version of the walk-around I did for the Animal Toy Forum.
Walk-around of what is probably my favorite figure, the Japanese firefly (also known as genji-botaru), Luciola cruciata Motschulsky, 1854 by Kaiyodo, No. 45 in the Natural Monuments of Japan line. The species has been made a couple times, including previously by Kaiyodo for their Choco Q Animatales line.
Dust Mite (Wolff Marketing Group, Inc.)
5 (1 votes)
Today I am reviewing a rather unusual figure. It is a model of a dust mite sold in a snow globe-type display! The figure was produced by Wolff Marketing Group, Inc. for the allergy medication Zyrtec (which was first manufactured by Pfizer but is now sold by by Johnson & Johnson – I am not sure how old the figure is, so I am not sure which company this figure was produced for).
Dubia Roach (Micky Maus by Egmont Ehapa Publishing Company)
5 (2 votes)
Micky Maus is a biweekly comic book series featuring Disney characters. It is published in Germany by the Egmont Ehapa Publishing Company. Some (all?) issues come with a toy of sorts and the February 7, 2020 issue came with large rubber cockroach. I have forum member widukind to thank for securing me a copy and mailing it to me!
Brazilian Whiteknee Tarantula (Bullyland)
4 (3 votes)
Uninspired for what my next post would be, I decided to use a random number generator on the Arachnids sheet of my Excel collection database and landed on the Brazilian whiteknee tarantula (Acanthoscurria geniculata) produced by Bullyland in 2017. As Bullyland continued to fade over recent years, they continued to make really good arachnid figures, including a few that are ‘unique’ in toy/figure form.
Emperor Scorpion (Wildlife by Mojö Fun)
4.3 (3 votes)
The emperor scorpion, Pandinus imperator, is a large species of scorpion endemic to the rainforests and savanna of Africa. Because of their large size, hardy nature, docile behavior, and relatively mild venom, they are popular in the pet trade (I had them growing up). This species is no stranger to the toy animal industry, and today we are looking at the 2020 rendition of this species by Mojo Fun.
Blue Crab (Incredible Creatures by Safari Ltd.)
5 (3 votes)
The blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) is a species of swimming crab of the family Portunidae that ranges along the Atlantic coast of North and South America, from Cape Cod to Argentina. It has also been introduced to European and Japanese waters but nowhere is the blue crab better known and beloved than in the Chesapeake Bay area of Maryland and Virginia.
Miyama Stag Beetle (Insect Hunter by F-toys)
5 (2 votes)
Today I again decided to explore my entomological roots and again used a random number generator to decide which figure to review. It landed on number 241, which in my Excel file is the current location of the Miyama stag beetle (Lucanus maculifemoratus) that was produced by F-toys for the 2011 release of their Insect Hunter line.
Yanbaru Long-armed Scarab (Yanbaru Creatures by Colorata)
3.7 (3 votes)
Today I decided to go back to my entomological roots, and with nearly 2,000 insect and arachnid figures, I decided to use a random number generator to decide for me. And so here we have the Yanbaru long-armed scarab, Cheirotonus jambar, that was released in 2017 by Colorata for the Yanbaru Creatures box set.
Golden Ghost Crab (Colors of the Animal Kingdom by Yowie Group)
5 (3 votes)
I was debating on whether or not to post before Christmas, but I got a cool new figure in the mail today, so I said, let’s do it! So today I am reviewing another Yowie figure for the Blog. This time it is the golden ghost crab, Ocypode convexa, from the recently-released series, Colors of the Animal Kingdom.
Sydney Funnel-web Spider (Bullyland)
5 (3 votes)
Bullyland’s Animal World figure of the intimidating Sydney Funnel-web Spider Atrax robustus O.P. Cambridge, 1877. Length excluding chelicerae is 69 mm, so the scale is approx. 1:0.4 – 1:0.6. This is considered the most venomous spider on Earth.
Giant Deep-sea Isopod (Dango Mushi 05 by Bandai)
5 (4 votes)
Review of the giant deep-sea isopod (Bathynomus giganteus) by Bandai, released recently in November, 2019 for the fifth set in the Dango Mushi Line. I am not going to go into too much detail on the animal itself, as this was covered when the species was first introduced to the Blog.
Australia’s Deadliest Nature Tube (Wild Republic by K&M International)
4 (3 votes)
Review of the Australia’s Deadliest Nature Tube, by K&M International for the Wild Republic line. The set was released in 2018. To be honest, I bought this set specifically for the three arthropods, since I am a completist when it comes to arthropods identifiable to the species level. However, now that I am building a Synoptic Collection, I thought I could use the octopus too.
Orange-striped Shrimp Goby (Another Aquarium by For Corporation)
3.7 (3 votes)
I had not planned on another post so soon, but since the blog has been kinda quiet, I thought I would transfer over one of my walkarounds. This time, the orange-striped shrimp goby, Stogonobiops yasha Yoshino et Shimada, 2010 that was released as part of the line called Another Aquarium by the company For Corporation (yes, that is the name of the company).