My next Shark Week review is another blast from the past, the 1996 Wild Safari leopard shark (Triakis semifasciata). Since the release and retirement of this toy, better leopard sharks have come along by Safari and Papo, but this oldie is still worth taking a look at. Curiously, this figure is not cataloged on Toy Animal Wiki, so I don’t know when it was discontinued but its replacement was released in 2007. I imagine that it was retired around that time.
Leopard sharks are attractively patterned, docile, medium-sized sharks that are popular in aquaria and found in the eastern Pacific Ocean, from Oregon to the Gulf of California. They live in marine and brackish waters, over sandy or muddy bottoms near kelp forests or rocky reefs in bays or estuaries and consume various small fishes and benthic invertebrates.
Leopard sharks average 50-60” (120-150 cm) in total length while this figure measures 6.5” (16.51 cm) in total length, putting it at about 1/7-1/9 in scale. It is presented with a slight rightward curve of the body and a slight leftward curve of the caudal fin. The body is somewhat arched and the figure rests on its pectoral and anal fins.
For its age, this figure isn’t bad and was at one time probably the best leopard shark figure available. The head is a bit off and should be broader and flatter with more well-defined flaps on the nostrils. The first dorsal should have a rounder tip and the anal fin is positioned too far back along the caudal peduncle. The body is accurately long and slender though, with broad triangular pectoral fins and a second dorsal that is about three-quarters the size of the first dorsal. The tail is accurately shaped with a longer upper lobe but the notch in the upper lobe could be more well defined. In general shape and proportions though, this figure is unmistakably a leopard shark, and I won’t judge it as harshly as the shark in my last review.
The mouth is open with teeth sculpted against the jaw and shallow grooves around the mouth which make it end up looking kind of miserable in disposition. Faint grooves are sculpted into the fins that are deeper along the back edges and fade away closer to the front. The figure lacks claspers, which means it represents a female. Five small gill slits are sculpted along each side of the head. The figure is metallic gold colored with a paler underside and black saddles and splotches along the body.
The 1996 Safari leopard shark is a decent figure for its age and worth seeking out for vintage toy or specialist shark collectors. For most collectors, the newer Safari and Papo figures are obviously going to be better options but for a shark species so seldom produced I’m happy to have this one. Luckily, if you do want this shark, it’s common on eBay for about $10.
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I definitely had this one. I might still but can’t be sure…!
Not bad for its age! I have the newer WS Sealife version.
I had to go digging to check if I still had it–apparently Safari never actually retired this version, they retooled/changed it and kept the same model number 274929. On the TAI the two versions are both pictured.
I think TAI is in error. They list both as 1997 but the one featured here (https://toyanimalwiki.mywikis.wiki/wiki/Safari_274929_Leopard_Shark) has a different sculpt and is marked ‘2007’ on the underside. They might have kept the same catalogue number, but the sculpts are noticeably different.