Today’s review concerns a toy that is very near and dear to me because it has been with me for nearly 30 years, and it is one of only a few childhood toys that I kept into adulthood. As such, the specimen in these accompanying pictures has a few city miles on it but that just shows the years of joy it has provided me.
Classification: Lizards
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.
Komodo Dragon (Amphibians by Bullyland)
3 (4 votes)
Review and images by Lanthanotus; edited by bmathison1972
Despite that the class of reptiles holds a much greater number of species than mammals (even if you do not count in the birds), the number of species represented in toy form is quite low comparatively, especially within the major toy brands. Lizards especially are not well represented, maybe due to their usually small size which makes figures vastly out of scale with other toy figures.
Green Iguana (Wild Safari Wildlife by Safari Ltd.)
Cool Reptiles Bucket, Part 1 (COG Ltd)
4.3 (3 votes)
I’m back! Again! And this time I decided to approach a unique set, one that I have had for some time. It’s a bucket set produced by COG Ltd called Cool Reptiles–as will be seen in part 2, this name is a major misnomer (this is when the term “herptile” would be so handy)…Today, I am going to look over the reptiles.
Chinese Water Dragon (AAA)
5 (4 votes)
Today we’re looking at another splendid toy from AAA, one that’s cast from an actual specimen and startlingly lifelike in appearance and detail. But don’t be fooled, this is not an iguana despite what’s stamped on its underside; this is actually a Chinese water dragon (Physignathus cocincinus).
Land Down Under TOOB (Safari Ltd.)
4.8 (5 votes)
Australia, like all islands, is an isolated laboratory of sorts, one that offers a look at what the world might be like under different evolutionary pressures. The rest of the world at large operates in much the same way, no matter where you go; the placental mammals (cats, dogs, deer, antelope, etc.) dominate top tier niches.
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.
Thorny Devil (Amphibians by Bullyland)
5 (4 votes)
I know, I know, the thorny devil (Moloch horridus) is a reptile, not an amphibian. However, I’m being accurate by being inaccurate, because Bullyland inexplicably categorised this figure in their ‘Amphibians’ collection. Perhaps ‘herpetofauna’ didn’t have the same ring to it, or ‘Reptiles and Amphibians’ was deemed too wordy.
Endangered Animals–Marine TOOB (Safari Ltd)
4.3 (6 votes)
So for my next foray into Animal Toy Blog I am going to discuss a full set of ten figures from a relatively new set from Safari Ltd, released in 2017 (but I only just discovered it…go figure). I’m going to come out and say, there will be brief parts (in point format) and longer parts (paragraphs) as I will discuss the toob figures individually (save two).
Perentie (Southlands Replicas)
4.4 (9 votes)
Review and photos by Suspsy ; edited by bmathison1972
The perentie, Varanus giganteus, is Australia’s largest lizard and the world’s fourth largest lizard after the Komodo dragon, Asian water monitor, and crocodile monitor. Growing up to over two metres in length, they inhabit hot desert regions and feed on virtually anything they can catch and kill with their sharp teeth and claws.