Insects TOOB (Safari Ltd.)

I have recently reacquired the Safari Ltd. Insects TOOB and thought I would showcase it for the Blog. There have been at least three (maybe more) iterations of this TOOB over the years, with I believe the first version coming out in 2004. At some point (I don’t know what year) Safari also released a glow-in-the-dark version of the TOOB. I originally had an earlier version of this TOOB (see last image), but parted with most of its contents when I changed the focus of my collecting several years ago. However, I recently decided to get it again in order to have a complete set. There are 14 figures in the set. I will point out right away that other than the butterflies, which I believe are reissued sculpts from earlier Safari sets (e.g., Butterflies of the World Collectors Case), none of these sculpts are unique. They have been used numerous times in dollar store and drug store bin sets as well as sets marketed by known companies such as K&M International, Animal Planet, Innovative Kids, and Toy Major. Safari Ltd. probably partnered with a manufacturer in China that mass produces these insect figures for numerous distributors. There may be minor refinements, but none of these are original. For that matter, even the butterflies may be common sculpts. Figures in the K&M International Butterflies Nature Tube have similarities to Safari’s Butterflies of the World Collectors Case, for example. That being said, it’s a fun set for someone like myself who specializes in insect figures. Because of the generic nature of most of the figures, I am going to be presenting them by broad relationships (usually order-level clades). I will make some identification attempts where possible, but in most cases it won’t be possible.

Arachnida (spiders and scorpions)
There is one each generic spider and scorpion. The earlier version of the spider was more colorful, with banded legs and pale stripes running down the body. The earlier scorpion was brown. There are variations of the scorpion figure by other distributors that have only six legs! Glad Safari went with the more accurate version.

Chilopoda (centipedes)
The version shown here is black with yellow legs. The earlier version, which I prefer, appeared to have been based on Scolopendra heros. Today’s is more generic. Scolopendra species are variable in color, and while there are many dark species with yellow legs, I doubt this figure can be attributable to anything specific.

Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies)
The lone odonate in the set is an all-black dragonfly. An earlier version of this figure was red with yellow spots running down the abdomen and blue eyes.

Orthopteroids (grasshoppers, cockroaches, mantids, and kin)
There are three orthopteroids in the set, one each generic mantis, grasshopper, and cockroach. The mantis can probably be attributed to a praying mantis (Mantis religiosa) or an Asian Tenodera species. The grasshopper appears to be based on something in the family Acrididae, albeit with rather long antennae. All three of these have very similar, if not the same, paint jobs as earlier TOOB versions.

Coleoptera (beetles)
The lone beetle in the set is a generic ladybug. Earlier versions were similar but at least one release had a black pronotum.

Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths)
There are three lepidopterans in the TOOB, two butterflies and a caterpillar. The blue butterfly is specifically marked ‘morpho’ and is probably based on Morpho peleides, as the 2001 Collectors Case and 2004 Hidden Kingdom Insects model were based on this species. An earlier version (perhaps the original) of the morpho had tails, a similar inaccuracy seen in the Collectors Case M. peleides (and today some promotional pics continue to show that older version). Luckily Safari corrected the error for the morpho….Unfortunately, however, that error is still present, just in another figure! The red and black butterfly is marked ‘swallowtail’ but from what I can tell, no papilionid has this color pattern. The color pattern is the same as the Collectors Case scarlet leafwing (Siderone galanthis, a species Safari also used for their Authentics butterfly collection). However, the CC scarlet leafwing didn’t possess tails! If Safari wanted this to truly represent a swallowtail, there are numerous other easy options, including both the eastern swallowtail and green swallowtail, two species which feature in previous Safari collections. Safari has a bizarre history with tailed butterfly figures that shouldn’t have them… The third lepidopteran is a swallowtail caterpillar, complete with an extended osmeterium, a defensive organ that produces a foul-smelling secretion used to deter would-be predators.

Diptera (flies)
The lone fly is a generic black figure. The earlier version was a dark chocolate brown. I believe I have seen this sculpt used by other companies as a house fly (Musca domestica), but Safari only stamped it as a ‘fly’.

Hymenoptera (bees, ants, wasps)
The set includes both a generic ant and a bumble bee (Bombus sp.). The ant looks similar to earlier versions but I have seen this sculpt in red as well by other distributors. The bee was specifically marketed as a bumble bee, and I like this color version better; the previous version was dull yellow with thin black stripes.

A product of Safari’s earlier years, figures in this set don’t really hold up to insects being produced lately by other companies, like Papo. This set probably caters best to completists, Safari specialists, or for parents of young children interested in nature. Safari has been producing really nice tube sets in recent years with original sculpts of interesting animals. The Insects TOOB would be a prime candidate for an upgrade.

By the way, here is a pic I took for the Animal Toy Forum back in 2019, showing figures from an earlier version of the TOOB. Notice the ladybug and scarlet leafwing butterflies are missing (I was upset to have received an incomplete TOOB!). I am not sure when this version came out, but there are some differences than the original 2004 version.