Review and images by JimoAi; edited by bmathison1972
The great hammerhead (Sphyrna mokarran) is the largest of all hammerhead sharks, attaining lengths of 400-600 cm in the largest specimens, though they mostly average smaller. Outside of their great size, their most distinctive features are their cephalofoils being relatively smooth, tail fin, and tall dorsal fin, which can get up to 180 cm in the largest and most extreme cases, although it is rare nowadays. These sharks inhabit tropical and warm temperate waters worldwide, dwelling in coastal areas and the continental shelf. They are at the top of the food chain, preying on fish, crustaceans, and cephalopods. Stingrays are a favourite, and the sharks use their cephalofoils to pin them down on the sand to prey on them. Predators include tigers, whites, larger hammerheads (especially for smaller individuals), and orcas. Their main threat today is humans, for which these sharks are caught as bycatch, caught for sport, or harvested for their fins. As such, they are classified as a ‘Critically Endangered” species by the IUCN with some estimates putting them at as low as 200 individuals.
About the figure: The figure measures 16 cm from the tip of the cephalofoil to the tip of the caudal fin. This figure is a male, as indicated by claspers which are unfortunately disconnected from the pelvic fins, putting it at the 1:25 scale. The figure is positioned in a swimming pose with the tail undulating and the mouth wide open, revealing an array of teeth. Most hammerheads only show the bottom teeth or none at all, but this one showcases all of them and they’re finely sculpted (although the bottom row is unpainted at least on my copy).
For sculptural details, the 5 gill slits are present. With the cephalofoil, it’s easily distinguishable as a great hammerhead, with relatively smooth bumps and a central indentation. It even has nostrils. There is a lateral line sculpted which is another plus, and the fins all look to be the correct size with the really elongated top caudal lobe, which is really long but not as long as a thresher shark.
The colour scheme is a grey, which does occur in some specimens, although most have a more brownish tone to them. The underbelly is white with blacktips on the pectoral fins, which is a minor detail that many figures miss, and the mouth interior is painted a pinkish color. The eye is painted white with a black pupil, and I’m not sure what about it but it makes the figure looks somewhat cartoony despite real great hammerhead eyes looking like that. I would like to also point out that the open-mouth Schleich went for does give this figure a goofy look.
While the figure has hit a lot of the right marks, I do feel there are a number of flaws keeping this from being as good as it can be. The aesthetics of how the figure is presented with its open mouth does look cartoony, in addition to the eye application and the unpainted bottom teeth. The most glaring issue for me is the material it is casted in. It is this rubbery material that feels that it would crack and rub off if it’s bent too much, and feels odd to the touch. I guess it’s for water play, and the toy does float, but as an adult collector I would much prefer a harder PVC model and so this figure is definitely not for me. Schleich has unfortunately used this less-than-desirable material for most of their marine life, except their pinnipeds, but I’ve noticed the manta ray and sawfish are cast out of a more standard PVC. I’m unsure if that was done initially or closer to their retirement, but it would be awesome if all their figures are cast out of the more standard PVC material as opposed to the current one.
In short, I feel it’s one of the better hammerhead figures, but it’s not incredible. This figure was released back in 2020 and is still in production, so it should be relatively easy to find. Unfortunately, the great hammerhead seems to be lacking in a great figure. This Schleich one is easily superior to the Safari Ltd. one and on par with the retired Monterey Bay Aquarium model. Some really well done hammerheads are by Kaiyodo and For Corporation, which are in a smaller scale and are Japanese exclusives. The Papo figure, which is thunderous compared to many figures, and the recent Toymany scalloped hammerhead from the 6PCS Sharks set looks promising. Schleich has an older hammerhead figure that’s more generic, but that figure long retired and now rare. I can only recommend this figure to parents with young children who want to use it as a bath toy or as an educational tool, but as from a collector, I’m not really feeling this one.
Compared to the Schleich tiger shark:
Compared to a 1:18 Scale Professor Membrane from the Invader Zim series:
Great review of an excellent figure. While I disagree that this figure is necessarily on par with the Monterey Bay Aquarium figure, especially older models from the early 90s, it is a very nice representation of a male of this species. Something that kind of bothers me about a lot of collector’s opinions about hammerheads is the generalization of species into “hammerhead shark.” That is like lumping all big cats into “tiger” regardless of species. This is a great hammerhead shark, so it should be compared to other great hammerhead shark figures. Papo is a scalloped hammerhead. Previous Schleichs are smooth hammerheads. The Toymany is a scalloped, or appears to be. Most of the Japanese companies also make scalloped hammerheads. For a long time, Safari was the only company that made great hammerheads, and they still are with the exception of a Takara figure and this Schleich figure. For what it is worth, my figure does not appear to have quite so goofy a mouth, but even that aside, this figure is a really good male great hammerhead. Having seen great hammerheads in real life, I would definitely recommend this figure to anyone looking for a good representative figure.
Thank you for your great review of this figure!