Executioner Wasp (Brave Wilderness by Curatorial LLC)

For my last ‘spooky’ review for October 2023, I will be reviewing a figure of the executioner wasp (Polistes carnifex), which was produced by Curatorial LLC for Brave Wilderness, a YouTube about animals and nature. I was first alerted to this figure by an STS forum member, and to be honest, before I was made aware of this figure, I had never heard of Brave Wilderness (then again, I don’t use YouTube for watching programs). I looked into this show and from what I can tell, it’s another example of sensationalizing nature, more specifically animals and their natural defensive mechanisms, for the purpose of entertainment and, being on YouTube, social media approval. The host of this show is actually known for allowing himself to be bitten or stung by numerous venomous creatures. Perhaps he should take a lesson from Steve Irwin and quite while he’s ahead… But enough about that; I am not here to criticize a show I don’t even follow, I am here to talk about a figure that was released in conjunction with the show. And this isn’t the only one! Doing some snooping online, there are several other animal figures associated with Brave Wilderness, including the Brave Wilderness Adventure Kit #1, which includes figures of a bullet ant and giant desert scorpion! I’ll be searching online for that one for sure (and if you find it first, Saarlooswolfhound, since you are good at sniffing out these rare finds, I have first dibs – LOL).

Being a member of the genus Polistes, the executioner wasp is a kind of paper wasp, so named for their nests which are constructed from dead wood and plant material and have a texture similar to paper. The species occurs in the American tropics, from southern USA (southern Arizona and Texas) south to Brazil. It is one of the largest neotropical vespid wasps with an average body length of 2.4-2.7 cm and a maximum length of 3.3 cm. Despite its size and its sting (which ranks 4.0+ on the Schmidt Sting Pain Index, the highest possible ranking), it is not an aggressive insect and is unlikely to sting unless seriously provoked. The wasp usually lives in humid open areas in evergreen tropical and subtropical forests. Nests are usually constructed on branches of trees and shrubs or under the eaves of buildings. A typical colony consists of 4-13 adult wasps which was started by a solitary queen. Larvae are fed nectar and macerated insect prey provided by adult wasps.

The BW figure comes in a blister pack with an accompanying patch, which can be ironed onto clothing. From what I can tell, many of the toys in the BW line come with such patches for kids to collect and wear. The back of the packaging also has an information card on the wasp to be cut out and saved with others. There doesn’t appear to be any indication anywhere on the packaging as to what year the figure was produced, however (looking at YouTube, the video for this species was posted four years ago, so it may have come out around then).

The figure (exclusive of appendages) measures approximately 5.3 cm, for a scale of 2.2:1-1.6:1.

I have to admit, the sculpt of the wasp is very nice! Much better than anticipated. A lot of detail went into sculpting individual segments and sclerites. The body is a relatively firm PVC. The legs, antennae, and junctures between major segments (e.g., the juncture between the thorax and abdomen) are pliable, but not soft (i.e., nothing droops when picked up). A stinger is sculpted, so the figure either represents a queen or a female worker. The most baffling thing about the sculpt is the wings, as there appears to be only one pair of wings (unless it’s implied the hind wings are under the front wings, but nothing in the sculpt of the wings suggests that). The wing venation is not accurate, but in insect toys it so rarely is that it’s not a feature I analyze too harshly when grading accuracy.

The paint job is also very well done and from what I can tell accurate for the species. The base color is a golden yellow with orange wash and highlights and brown on the top of the thorax and on four of the abdominal segments. The eyes have an appearance of pseudo-translucence which I like. The wings are a translucent yellow fading into amber basally.

Overall this figure comes recommended to collectors of interesting taxa. It is one of the few Brave Wilderness animal toys still available and can be found on Amazon (where I bought mine) or on the Brave Wilderness website (which links to Amazon). Despite my personal reservations for shows like Brave Wilderness, I appreciate them expanding their merchandise into the toy animal realm and giving us interesting taxa to collect! Speaking of interesting taxa, I should point out this is the sixth species of Polistes in my collection! Hard to imagine there are at least five other species of paper wasp out there as toys or figures. The other five I have are P. annularis (Skillcraft), P. dominula (Blip Toys), P. dorsalis (Play Visions), P. humilis (Cadbury), and P. rothneyi (Yujin).