Great White Shark, 2013 (Sea Life by Schleich)

Although there are roughly 440 species of shark it’s the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) that has most captured the human imagination and it makes sense, it’s one of a very small handful of sharks that preys upon large mammalian prey, our own species included, albeit rarely. The white shark brings to mind the famous quote by E. O. Wilson; “we are not afraid of predators; we’re transfixed by them, prone to weave stories and fables and chatter endlessly about them, because fascination creates preparedness, and preparedness, survival. In a deeply tribal way, we love our monsters.” That hard wired fascination with our predators is what has led to the white shark standing at the forefront of the human imagination. Sure, Shark Week is a week where we celebrate sharks as a whole but which species gets the most screen time?

As far as toy animals are concerned we’re spoiled for choice with Ol’ Whitey and today we’re looking at the 2013 figure by Schleich. This is neither the first nor the most recent white shark by the company. There are others from 1995, 2004, and 2018 and perhaps others that I’m not aware of.

This figure measures about 6.5” (16.51 cm) in length and would be 1/20 in scale for an average size white shark of 11’ (3.4 meters) in length. Of course white sharks can grow much larger than their average size and if we wanted this toy to represent a 21’ (6.4 meters) specimen then it would be 1/38 in scale. Keep in mind that male white sharks average smaller than females and this toy is a male, as indicated by the presence of claspers on the pelvic fins.

I personally find this particular white shark toy refreshing when compared to most other white shark figures. The body is presented in a calm swimming posture with the tail curving to the left and head towards the right.

The mouth is just barely open with the teeth only slightly visible. White sharks must swim with their mouth partially open in order to facilitate breathing. In this way water is forced into the mouth and over the gills in what is known as ram ventilation. The relaxed mouth presented here is a nice alternative to the gaping, open mouth present on the majority of white shark figures. It’s not as much fun to play with perhaps but it displays beautifully. This shark appears tranquil and elegant, as these sharks typically would whilst going about their day.

This toy is anatomically sound. The snout is long and conical in shape, second dorsal and anal fins small, body spindle-shaped, tail crescent shaped with strong keels, and gill slits long. Although we regard the white shark as a one-of-a-kind animal it’s anatomically quite similar to its many close relatives that also share these features. White sharks belong to the Lamnidae or mackerel shark family, along with the longfin and shortfin mako, salmon, and porbeagle sharks. Aside from the shortfin mako these other lamnid sharks are not especially popular and as far as I know have sadly not been reproduced in plastic.

The figure is painted gray dorsally and white below, displaying the counter shading that aids this species in avoiding detection. The color change along the sides is abrupt and jagged as it would be in life. I especially like the small grey speckling added below the gills and ahead of the pectoral fins. The dorsal side of the pelvic fins should be gray but are white on this particular toy, a very minor nitpick. The black tipped underside of the pectoral fins are there which gives it a few bonus points.

Overall I think this is one of the better white shark figures ever produced. Instead of being presented as a menacing predator it’s presented as being just another fish and I appreciate that about it. There are several other mass produced whites out there at the moment by the likes of Papo, Safari, CollectA, as well as the 2018 Schleich but none capture the elegant grace of the white shark quite like this one. The 2012 Schleich white shark is now retired and getting harder to find but worth tracking down.