Giant Squid (Monterey Bay Aquarium Collection by Safari Ltd.)

I must have been about 7-9 years old when I was first introduced to the giant squid (Architeuthis dux) via an episode of Arthur C. Clarke’s Mysterious World, which aired on the Discovery Channel during the 80’s and 90’s. The show was about unexplained phenomena and the episode in question was titled “Monsters of the Deep”. For me, it was all so fascinating, frightening, captivating, and exhilarating. Here we have a show about sea monsters with one important caveat, some of those sea monsters were real. Interspersed with old sailor’s stories of the kraken snatching people off ships were actual images of giant squid carcasses, the gigantic eyes, the flesh rending beak, the wicked, hook ringed suction cups. Moody music and haunting narration all helped set the tone and together it was a perfect cocktail for a small child obsessed with monsters, cryptozoology, the ocean, and anything pertaining to the natural world. As a result of all this exposure at a young age, the giant squid has since been my absolute favorite invertebrate species.

In picking a giant squid for my collection I adopted a “go big or go home” mentality. My intention was not to display my squid amongst other extant animals, so scale didn’t matter, I wanted my squid to be a centerpiece in my own cabinet of curiosities. In seeking out my squid there was only one option, the Safari Ltd. giant squid produced in conjunction with the Monterey Bay Aquarium in 1998.

The MBA giant squid measures 18” (45.72 cm) from end-to-end. There are many ways to measure a squid. You can measure just the mantle, the mantle and arms, or the mantle down to the tentacles with the latter being referred to as the total length. The total length of the giant squid is between 33-43’ (10-13 meters) with males averaging smaller than females. Scaled down from those lengths the MBA squid is 1/22 or 1/28 in scale. Giant squids have a maximum known mantle length of about 7’ (2.1 meters) while that of the toy measures 5” (12.7 cm). Using just the squid’s mantle length the figure becomes 1/18 in scale.

The scale of the MBA squid means that it doesn’t scale well with the MBA sperm whale, or most sperm whale toys in general. If you want a squid that scales well with available sperm whales, then your best bet is the smaller Wild Safari giant squid. Why does it matter that a giant squid scales well with a sperm whale? I don’t think anyone reading this review will ask that question. The predator/prey relationship between these two ocean behemoths is one of the most legendary in all the natural world. Again, my plans for this squid don’t involve a sperm whale so I’m happy with the larger size. It’s likely I’ll eventually get the smaller Safari figure too, just to display amongst my whales.

Starting at the front of the toy we see the squid’s fins, followed by the mantle, a siphon on the underside, and the squid’s gigantic eyes. Giant squid eyes are the largest in the animal kingdom with a diameter of about 10” (25.4 cm). Beyond the mantle we have 8 arms, which are mistakenly called tentacles by most people. Each arm has two rows of suckers running down the inside surface. They’re soft and rubbery, not too dissimilar to how you might imagine an actual cephalopod’s arms.

Running well past the arms are the squid’s two tentacles. Small pink bumps run down their lengths and at their tips are the tentacular clubs with suckers clustered together. The giant squid’s elastic tentacles are used to dart forward and capture prey. Giant squid feed on various fishes and other squids, and it’s unlikely that an unlucky shipwreck survivor would be of much interest to one. The MBA squid has bendable wires within its tentacles, which allows for some dynamic play, but I would be weary of the plastic around the wires cracking with too much use. Nestled within the center of the arms and tentacles is a sculpted beak.

Although it remains a mysterious and seldom documented animal there is no reason to assume that the giant squid is rare. Indeed, bodies have washed up at various locations around the world, meaning the giant squid has a worldwide distribution. It appears to be most common around the North Atlantic, and New Zealand and other Pacific islands. It’s thought that the giant squid inhabits depths of 980–3,280’ (300–1,000 meter) near continental shelves and slopes.

The paintjob is straightforward, the squid is entirely painted in shades of reddish pink. The inside surface of the arms are paler than the upper sides, which are additionally painted with white stippling. The paintjob overall has a nice metallic sheen to it. The beak should be painted but alas, it is not, so it’s pink like the rest of the toy.

The MBA giant squid might not scale well with most other marine animal toys, but it is an impressive and accurately rendered piece that when displayed in the right setting is sure to grab some attention, in addition it also scales well with your standard 1/18 human action figures which gives it additional appeal, especially if you’re a kid in a bathtub. Although over 20 years old the figure is still in production and available widely online for about $13.