Among the animals of the world known for intelligence, one of the top three is the dolphin. These crafty cetaceans are known to be playful, agile and inventive, learning to deal with their ever changing world in many ways, like using river banks and bubbles to hunt. These clever critters do suffer as a result of humans, whether caught in nets, polluted oceans or captured to be used for our entertainment. They have long been carved into models and sculptures, and here we look at an older example by Safari.
As with many of these older figures, the actual species is not specified, just called “Dolphin”. It has been identified as a common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus), the most common species of dolphin in the world, found from America to Western Europe.
As an older model, it is a bit crude, but the major features are all there, though the nose is a little over rounded. The pose is very dynamic, breaching the surface of the water, perhaps going to do a trick. Not sure the tail fluke can bend that far, but it isn’t terrible. It measures 1.8″ high and 1.8″ long, making it small and good for the collector with little space on the shelves. The colour matches the animal, with dark grey and a lighter underbelly. There is some variety to this, as a brownish grey version exists, and one with an unpainted nose. Not bad at all.
This is quite an old figure now, long since discontinued, and I see many collectors going for more up to date and better sculpted models. There is a charm to it, but I would say only get it if you specifically want it, as it can be easily passed up. Nice, but not up to today’s standards.
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The dolphin is specifically the second most intelligent animal, after, of course, the mice 😉
Bravo for the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy reference!