Laugh and Grow Fat Sea Animals Series 1 (Animal Heavenly Body)

Review and images by JimoAi; edited by bmathison1972

Happy Shark Week! For a change, instead of reviewing a shark for this year, I will be reviewing a selected group of sea animals with a shark included, of course.

An introduction to Animal Heavenly Body. They are a Chinese company, akin to a mix of PNSO and Haolonggood with a hint of Popmart, which focuses on modern animals with some stylized features with them. However, they have recently released a line of figures similar to Ikimon or Kaiyodo, which aren’t all that stylized in terms of proportions. Blind boxes figures are very popular as of late, with the aforementioned Popmart being the top player in the market. They mostly focuses on licensed characters or their own theme with SpongeBob and the Minions series being the ones that I collect and am the most familiar with. In a set, there are usually 6 to 12 characters being sold in a case with a slim chance of getting a secret, which may be sought after depending on how popular or critically acclaimed they are. Animal Heavenly Body essentially combines Kaiyodo and Ikimon with Popmart into a really aesthetically-pleasing products, and their Laugh and Grow Fat series is really charming, to say the least. They have released sets of insects, reptiles, birds, marine life, and dinosaurs under this series, and I have both series 1 and 2 of the marine life. Today we’ll be only taking a look at Series 1. There are 6 figures of well-known sea animals which will be looking at.

Red (Volitans) Lionfish (Pterois volitans)
Perhaps the most surprising addition to the set, considering there are more popular choices for tropical fishes. It is still a really well done figure, albeit it’s not too stylized as the rest considering it does look relatively normal. The figure is cast in a clear plastic and painted white for the main body with numerous amounts of red stripes adorning the body and fins, and horns have been sculpted. The fins aren’t too sharp, but the pectoral fins do feel that they may break if too much force is applied. This figure is unique in that it is the only lionfish figure I’m aware of to display it’s mouth open, with gills visible on the inside. The volitans lionfish is rarely made, as opposed to the luna lionfish which most companies usually produce, with the only other one in mind being a Kaiyodo aquarium one.

Orca (Orcinus orca)
Despite it being Shark Week, there is a well-known predator of sharks included. The orca is probably the most iconic marine mammal due to its black and white patterning and it being able to hunt and eat the supposed top predators of the ocean. This figure doesn’t look like it would be able to do that with it’s pudgy body and puffy cheeks. It is a male, especially with its high dorsal fin, but the pectoral fins have to stay small for the aesthetics of the figure. The genital slit is sculpted! There are teeth sculpted and painted white, with a pink mouth interior. The figure is glossed with a black main body and white patterns and an off-white saddle. Animal Heavenly Body has also produced a properly proportioned female orca with a calf for their Miracle of Life series.

Beluga Whale (Delphinapterus leucas)
Probably the one animal in the set associated with cute sea animals, the beluga fits right in like a lock. The figure has its mouth sculpted open with a pink interior and no teeth sculpted. Something different about this figure is that it’s a creamy colour as opposed to being fully white, similar to the Favorite Co. figure. It is slightly smaller than the others but it does not make it any less impressive or out-of-place. Like the orca, it too has pudgy cheeks and a genital slit sculpted. Animal Heavenly Body has two versions of this animal, one blowing bubble rings and the other in a neutral pose.

Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias)
Now here’s a subject that fits the theme of the week. The great white shark has been made countless times in toy form so this feels like an inevitable choice. Glad they went with a more realistic approach rather than a Jaws route. The figure is painted in a dark, almost black, grey with a white underbelly, although the grey could be more jagged which the Safari Ltd. and Schleich figures did better. The mouth is pink and, as with all well done great white figures in neutral poses, only the bottom teeth are sculpted. The fins are all present, with black tops present on the pectoral fins, and the gills are appropriately tall for the species. Easily my favourite addition of the set!

Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas)
Another icon of the ocean that has to be included. This is perhaps the most eye-catching and detailed figure of the entire set. The figure is painted in multiple different shades of brown for the skin, carapace, and scutes on the head and flippers, with white outlining, and yellow for the outside of the eye and plastron. The beak looks rather chubby to accommodate the art style. It does help that it has a larger canvas to be worked on, considering some of the features are exaggerated, which Animal Heavenly Body uses to their full potential here.

Walrus (Odobenus rosmarus)
To be fair, this figure is the least stylized and as from a quick glance, only the flippers and the main body have been squished. But to be honest, they don’t really have to do much since real walruses are already chunky in of themselves. The head looks like it’s tucked in like what seals would do, and the figure is painted in a chocolate brown with darker shades around the flippers and an off-white for the tusks. Fine wrinkles adorn the skin and all digits on the flippers are finely sculpted. The figure does remind me of the 2018 Schleich walrus which is very chunky in of itself. This should conclude the set until…

…the SECRET FIGURE!

Giant Pacific Octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini)
This set does indeed have a secret figure in the form of a giant Pacific octopus, which only occurs in 1 in 12 chances. I normally wouldn’t fork out a huge sum of money on secrets, unless it’s something I feel I have to get like this octopus. Like the lionfish and the walrus, it isn’t as stylized as much as say, the turtle, with only its mantle being exaggerated. The figure does the species justice: fine wrinkles throughout the skin, a reddish brown top with a cream under belly, individual suction cups sculpted, and with only 1 siphon! The eyes are a dark orange with black pupil. The arms are all different lengths, with the longest one being stretched out. Definitely a worthy chase piece and coincidentally not the first time a giant Pacific octopus has been a chase figure, as the upcoming SpongeBob SquarePants Band Geeks blind box series as Squidward as the chase piece :-).

While I don’t usually go for stylized figures, I decided to give this set a chance and I’m glad I did, as it captures both the stylized look and realism that I know and love from other companies into an exciting set. Since this set is Chinese exclusive, I wouldn’t hold my breath in chasing it if you live outside of Asia. This set has been out since 2022 and these types of figures don’t have the longest shelf life, but it sure is refreshing to tackle something different once in a while!