Today we will be looking at a rather fun set called Figure Pictorial Book of Gakken Insect (well, at least that’s the translation) by Bandai. The set was produced in 2003 and contains five species of Japanese arthropods. When I initially started focusing on arthropods, this was one of my ‘Holy Grail’ collections; luckily I was able to secure it fairly early on.
Classification: Beetles
Japanese Rhinoceros Beetle, life cycle (Bandai Spirits & F-toys)
5 (2 votes)
In just under two years ago, on August 21, 2019, I posted the first review here on the Animal Toy Blog. Now, I have the pleasure of posting review #500! Wow, 500 reviews just under two years! Many thanks to all the reviewers who have made this possible!
Allomyrina dichotoma is known as the Japanese rhinoceros beetle in English and kabutomushi in Japanese.
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!
Firefly (Chick-Fil-A Properties, Inc.)
2 (3 votes)
Walkaround of a novelty food premium, a firefly by Chick-Fil-A Properties, Inc., originally released in 2014. I like food premium figures. They are often unique, original releases, that tend to disappear quickly after being released. As such they are often difficult to obtain and over time may fetch a bit of money to acquire them!
Miracle of the Earth: The Brilliance of Fireflies (Jám)
5 (2 votes)
Today I am showcasing a very interesting set. It has been a ‘Holy Grail’ set for a while and I recently completed it. The figures in this set are probably worthy of individual reviews, but since it is such a rare and unusual set, and it is unlikely anyone else would have these figures to review (among our regulars), I thought I would show the whole set at once.
Mini Insects and Spiders (Mini Animals Collection by CollectA)
4 (2 votes)
Ever since CollectA started releasing collections of mini dinosaurs based on their larger and standard-size dinosaurs, I knew that if they ever released a set of mini arthropods, it would represent miniature versions of their Insects and Spiders Collection. I was correct. I was not expecting it 2020, but at least I had figured out their plan.
Ladybug, pair (Large Insects & Spiders by Bullyland)
3 (4 votes)
Transferring over one of my walkarounds of Bullyland’s insects and arachnids, today we look at the lady bug, or more precisely the seven-spotted lady beetle, Coccinella septempunctata Linnaeus, 1758. There are two figures, one with the elytra closed and one with the elytra partially open, revealing the flying wings; both figures were released in 1994.
Exotic Beetles (Play Visions)
5 (3 votes)
This is a review of the set Exotic Beetles, released by Play Visions in 1998. This is was one many small theme-based sets released by Play Visions in the mid-to-late 1990s, and one of 6 that were arthropod-centric. Today Play Visions figures are among the most sought-after by collectors! This review today is a glorified version of one of my forum walkarounds, but I wanted to introduce Play Visions to the Blog.
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.
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.
Snail-eating Ground Beetle (Capsule Q Museum: Japanese Animal Collection, Tohoku by Kaiyodo)
4.3 (4 votes)
The ground beetles are a large, cosmopolitan family of beetles (Carabidae) with more than 40,000 species worldwide. Many species of ground beetles (adults and larvae being predators of many invertebrates, including various pests) are considered beneficial organisms to humans.
Carabus blaptoides is a species ground beetles distributed in Russia and Japan having many subspecies.