Golden Eagle (Wildlife by Mojö Fun)

Review and images by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972

The golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) is perhaps the most quintessential and famous of all eagles. For certain it is the most widespread, ranging across the continents of North America, Europe, and Asia. It has also figured prominently in human culture more than any other bird. It has been a symbol of the Greek god Zeus, of the Roman Empire, of the great Muslim hero Saladin, and, unfortunately, of the Third Reich. It is also presently the national animal of Albania, Austria, Germany, Kazakhstan, and Mexico and appears on the arms of Egypt, Iraq, and Palestine.

Surprisingly then, the golden eagle hasn’t received any toys in recent years from CollectA, Papo, Safari, or Schleich. Instead, it was Mojö Fun that released one in 2022. This eagle is sculpted with its wings spread wide, its head down, its legs stretched out in front, and its tail fanned. Clearly, this individual is clearly alighting at its nest or on a branch or the ground. Or perhaps it’s about to pounce down on some prey. Golden eagles are opportunists and have a versatile diet that includes reptiles, amphibians, small ungulates, and other birds, but the bulk of its diet consists of small mammals such as rabbits, hares, ground squirrels, marmots, and prairie dogs.

This eagle measures 7 cm long, 15.5 cm wide, and slightly over 6 cm high. It balances on its feet and the tips of its tail feathers, although this particular one keeps leaning to the right. Its plumage is painted in varying shades of brown ranging from medium on its back to very dark at the wingtips. Orange is used for the eyes and the beak, with is airbrushed black at the tip. Finally, the feet are dark yellow with glossy black talons. It looks like a decent paint job on the whole, but real golden eagles tend to have some white mixed into their feathers as well.

On that note, the sculptor did a pretty fine job rendering the detail on the wings. The primaries and secondaries, the primary, secondary, and marginal coverts, and the alulas can all be identified. The body and the tail look good too. That being said, I’ve honestly seen superior sculpting on birds made by CollectA, Papo, and Safari Ltd.

Which brings us to accuracy. While the wings and tail have the overall correct appearance, the head appears to be too large in proportion to the body and the beak is missing the curved tip that is characteristic of all eagles. But the biggest injustice is with the feet. Golden eagles have enormous, curved talons, with the very biggest ones on the hind toes. But the front talons on this toy are tiny and the hind ones are even tinier, to the point of being practically non-existent! Granted, almost all birds of prey figures have reduced talons for safety reasons, but it really feels like they went a little too far here.

Overall, this golden eagle is an alright toy, but it’s definitely not a great one. Mojö Fun has noticeably improved over the years, but they’re still not in the same league as those other companies I mentioned earlier.