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?
Classification: Mammals
Spotted Hyena (Wild Life by Schleich)
3.8 (10 votes)
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.
Brahman Bull (Safari Farm by Safari Ltd.)
3.2 (6 votes)
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).
Humpback Whale (Choco Q Animatales Series 6 by Takara and Kaiyodo)
4.7 (3 votes)
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.
Dingo (Southlands Replicas)
5 (5 votes)
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.
Eastern Grey Squirrel (Wild Safari North American Wildlife by Safari Ltd.)
4.8 (5 votes)
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.
Red Kangaroo, male (Southlands Replicas)
5 (4 votes)
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.
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).
African Civet (Wildlife by CollectA)
5 (6 votes)
‘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.
Red River Hog (Wildlife by CollectA)
4.8 (8 votes)
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.
Thylacine (Wildlife by Mojö Fun)
5 (7 votes)
Mojö is a company renowned for their abysmal dinosaur toys but fairly proficient when it comes to sculpting mammals both extinct and extant. They’re also the only company I’m aware of to tackle this important and fascinating animal although CollectA will have their version out later this year.
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.