Review and images by Alopias superciliosus; edited by bmathison1972
The Greenland Shark (Somniosus microcephalus) is the largest of the Sleeper Sharks (family Somniosidae), and one of the largest extant species of sharks, attaining lengths of up to 23 ft (7 m) and weighing up to 3,090 lbs (1,400 kg).
The frilled shark (Chlamydoselachus anguineus) is an enigmatic anguilliform shark in the family Chlamydoselachidae. There is one other extant member of this family, the South African frilled shark (C. africana). They are considered among the most primitive extant sharks. Frilled sharks occur nearly worldwide, usually in the waters of the outer continental shelf and upper continental slope.
It must be Shark Week, one of those times that is able to get my to write again! And as seems to be my way, I’ll be looking at a more obscure figure of a more obscure shark species from a more obscure series, the Swellshark made by K&M International for their bulk Shark set.
It’s Shark Week again and can you believe it? This is the ATB’s fourth year of marking the occasion with toy shark reviews. This year CollectA has released two new and highly anticipated shark figures and it’s my pleasure to be sharing them both this week. To start things off we’re looking at a rather atypical shark, the angelshark, a much-needed addition to any shark collection.
Review and images by JimoAi; edited by bmathison1972
While deep sea life figures are seen as a rare treat amongst the western market, Japan has been mass-producing them for many years since the early 2000s, where they have been made into both high quality figures for collectors and sometimes also cheap novelty toys.
Review and images by JimoAi; edited by bmathison1972
In the past reviews, I’ve lamented on how there isn’t enough rays represented in plastic. So far, in the last 3 years there have been quite a few cartilaginous fish figures made, some that are underrepresented: 2021 gives us a Helicoprion and Cretoxyrhina from PNSO, a really stylised great white shark branded as a megalodon from Papo, an awesome basking shark from CollectA, a set of stylized ray figures from Kitan Club, and a Xingu river ray by Kaiyodo.
Review and images by JimoAi; edited by bmathison1972
In a lagoon within the Great Barrier Reef, the little residents are out and about their colorful home doing what animals do to survive: eat, socialize, adjust to changes, reproduce, and not get themselves eaten. What appears to be a ball of hair is one of the more predatory residents: the sea anemone.
Europe is a continent consisting of the westernmost peninsulas of Eurasia. It is said to be separated from Asia by a variety of natural features including the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, Ural River, and the Caspian and Black seas, among others. Truthfully though, the boarders between Europe and Asia, geological or manmade, are arbitrary.
Review and images by JimoAi; edited by bmathison1972
Many fish toys made by toy companies like Lego and Playmobil are usually generic fish with little to no effort to identify them to any species and are usually accessories thus not much effort are put into creating them. A few exceptions do try, but they often nail the sculpt passively and the colours usually are hit or miss.
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.
Since getting into the animal toy hobby, I’ve seen this enigmatic toy fish discussed more than a few times, due to its ambiguous identity. Originally marketed as a blue groper (yes, that’s the actual name, genus Achoerodus) it appears to now be marketed as a blue grouper. A search on Fishbase indicates that the only fish for which that common name applies is the comet grouper (Epinephelus morrhua).
Review and images by Saarlooswolfhound; edited by bmathison1972
This article marks my first multiple model (Safari Ltd. TOOB) production! Presented here are 14 figures, 7 original pieces and 7 later re-released with updated paintwork. The Cryptozoology Designer TOOB by Safari Ltd. #677504 was originally released in 2013 with simplistic paintwork, then re-released a few years after retirement with much improved paint schemes for most of the figures.
Review and images by JimoAi; edited by bmathison1972
Make no surprise there have already been multiple manta ray figures reviewed on this blog, with 3 from the big 4 already being tackled: CollectA, Papo, and Schleich. It is not surprising, as there is no shortage of manta ray figures, with a number of good and incredible figures in many different sizes: from tube-sized to standard-sized figures, across both the reef and oceanic mantas.
With its stout body, limb-like fins, large head, and perpetual frown, it is easy to see how the frogfish got its name. Frogfishes are members of the anglerfish family, Antennariidae. There are about 50 species of them, and they can be found in almost all tropical and subtropical waters around the world where they inhabit coral reefs and rocky habitats.
Review and images by JimoAi; edited by bmathison1972
Disclaimer: I’ll be covering Version 2 of the Safari Ltd. Venomous Creatures TOOB bat ray, as it is the only figure I have from the TOOB and rays are my specialty when it comes to animal reviews. Also, another review would likely do a run through the entire set with the other figures.
