Hercules Beetle (State of the Art – SO-TA)

Review of one of three Hercules beetles (Dynastes hercules) from the (to me) new Japanese figurine company SO-TA (State of the art). The set of three include three of the same Dynastes hercules sculpts with colour variations of the wingcaps (elytra). There is a version with yellow, blueish gray and black elytra. In this review the black version.

The Hercules beetle (Dynastes hercules, Dynastinae) is a species of rhinoceros beetle native to the rainforests of Central America, South America, and the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the largest flying insects in the world.
This giant beetle is one of the frequently made species in Japanese beetle figurine land. This to the extend that I nearly passed on this figurine. But. I must say, it is state of the art! The size scale 1:1 with it’s 16,2 cm. The flyer that comes with the figurine states a few records in size for the species. 171,0 mm in 2015 and 174,2 mm (!) in 2017.

The plastic is of a sturdy, slightly flexable quality and the pieces fit good and stay in place. The detail of the sculpting is very good in this figurine. The paint is realy nice (but not very detailed) and comparable to the paint from the F-Toys Insect hunter beetles. The legs are nicely slender and full of detail as well. Only the to the body connecting leg parts are not defined.

The figurine comes in a vending machine capsule. These are very popular in Japan. That means this huge beetle must be assembled (to fit in the capsule).

The model comes with a flyer with information on the species and also on the ( I quess) sculpter HirokA. There is a simple assembly instruction as well. I must say these are amongst the best Hercules beetles figurines. If you want one to be presented in your collection, this is a very good choice!