Review and Photos by OkapiBoy
Choosing a figure for my very first review for the blog proved to be difficult. For my first review, I wanted a figure that was both unique, obscure, and reflect my interest. After much deliberation, I decided on this figure, CollectA’s chiru or more commonly knows as the Tibetan antelope (Pantholops hodgsoni).
So, adding to the Spotted Hyena clan again, this time with a short-lived companion from the Schleich ‘New Heroes’ series. For those who don’t remember the series (from 2011-2013) it featured various human figures representing famous warrior-types from history (Thracian, Ninja, Samurai, etc) as well as some random gladiators, most of whom had names.
I’m going to start by saying that it’s my own fault that the first hyena post on this blog did not come from me…pretty much, of all my collection, freshwater fish and hyenas are the main focus, yet I didn’t give any attention to the latter. It does, however, save me from having to talk about hyenas as a group…more toy talk then, I guess?
It’s no secret that hyenas don’t have a great public image, they’re often vilified and anthropomorphized with less desirable human traits; cowardice, gluttony, maliciousness, just to name a few. Their portrayal in pop culture, even before The Lion King, has never been a positive one. But like other often vilified animals; snakes, sharks, vultures, bats, spiders, etc.
Editor’s note: Time for another addition by brontodocus! This time we selected the 2006 Brahman bull by Safari LTD for their Safari Farm line. I selected this figure to introduce another group of mammals to the blog, and to introduce our first domesticated animal. The Brahman is a domestic breed of zebu (Bos taurus indicus).
Sometimes I wonder how Kaiyodo do it! How can it be possible to squeeze so much detail into such minuscule figures, what sorcery is at play in the ChocoQ lines? The mystery Kaiyodo sculptors are clearly masters in their field, and the humpback whale figure (Megaptera novaeangliae), part of the ChocoQ Animatales series (series 6), is one such example of that mastery.
Review and photos by Suspsy, edited by bmathison1972
While the dingo (Canis lupus dingo) rarely exceeds 35 lbs in weight, making it smaller than a coyote and much smaller than a grey wolf, it is nevertheless Australia’s largest land predator, and one of the most dangerous. Fast, agile, and hardy, dingos often live and hunt in packs consisting of a mated pair and their offspring.
I was thinking for my next review I should do a rodent or lagomorph. I decided to review the eastern grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis Gmelin, 1788) by Safari LTD, which was released for their North American Wildlife line in 2006. The figure was marketed simply as ‘squirrel’ but was clearly intended to represent this species.
Review and photographs by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972
The iconic red kangaroo (Osphanter rufus) bears the crowns of largest kangaroo, largest marsupial, and Australia’s largest native mammal. Exceptionally large males, also called bucks, boomers, or jacks, can weigh up to 200 lbs, stand about 6 feet tall, and cover a maximum distance of around 29 feet in a single leap.
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).
‘Civet’ is a term used to refer to various small-to-medium sized, generally omnivorous feliform carnivorans, most of which are members the family Viverridae. One of the larger species encompassed by this grouping is the sub-Saharan African Civettictis civetta, otherwise known as the African civet. This is perhaps the most well-known species of civet amongst the general public, as civet musk is collected for perfume from this species more often than other species.
I wanted to introduce the first mammal to the Animal Toy Blog, so I used a Random Number Generator in conjunction with my Excel file database and here we have the red river hog, Potamochoerus porcus (Linnaeus, 1758) by CollectA. The figure was released in 2012 as part of their Wild Life line.
For those unfamiliar with Thylacinus cynocephalus, it was a large marsupial predator that died out on mainland Australia 2,000 years ago but continued to survive in Tasmania until the 1930’s.
