Before I start this Blogpost, I must again thank @Kenc and the folks at Toymany for donating this review sample. It is very much appreciated. As with other Toymany set reviews, this is a general overview to introduce the animal toy community to the set and does not prevent others from doing more in-depth reviews of individual figures. I will be covering the animals based on family-level (or higher) groups and will include sizes and scales and any interesting tidbits of information.
Before I get started I want to make two quick observations of the figures. First of all, they appear to be made of a harder, better quality plastic and there was no warping during transit. Secondly, although many of these are familiar species, many are sculpted in poses we are not accustomed to seeing! Nice!
Reptilia: Testudines (turtles and tortoises)
The reptiles are represented in the set by a lone alligator snapping turtle (genus Macrochelys). In 2014, Macrochelys was broken into two species, the alligator snapping turtle (M. temminckii) and the Suwannee alligator snapping turtle (M. suwanniensis). Since I already have an Agatsuma Entertainment figure representing the typical alligator snapper, I am going to use this figure to represent the Suwanee population! The carapace length is approximately 3.7 cm for a scale of 1:9.5-1:21.9 for M. temminckii and a scale of 1:9.5-1:17.6 for M. suwanniensis.
Avialae (birds)
The set contains two birds, the American bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo). The eagle is sculpted as if just landing or about to take off, and has a body length of about 5.3 cm for a scale of 1:13.4-1:18.1. The turkey is sculpted sitting (yet displaying). It sits about 4.0 cm long and 4.7 cm wide. The only metric I could reliably measure for calculating scale is the tarsus (visible on the underside), which at 0.6 cm puts the turkey at 1:16.2-1:31.8 depending on the subspecies.
Carnivora: Ursidae (bears)
The lone bear in the set is the brown bear (Ursus arctos). Toymany took relatively novel approach and sculpted the bear sleeping. While I like it, it makes calculating scale a bit challenging! Using the head as a metric (n=1.7 cm), the scales comes to roughly 1:22-1:25 based on a study of 55 bears from Yellowstone National Park. Using an estimated body length (n=6.0 cm) from the same study, the scale comes to 1:25-1:27. It seems like 1:25 is a happy median.
Carnivora: Canidae (dogs)
There are two dogs in the set and neither represent the most common wild canid made (grey wolf). Nope! Instead, we get a coyote (Canis latrans) and….a gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus)!!!! The gray fox has been a ‘wished for’ species for a number of us now for a while! The coyote has a shoulder height of about 3.0 cm for a scale of 1:17.7-1:20.3 depending on the sex and subspecies (the figure is clearly sculpted after a male specimen). The gray fox has a shoulder height of about 2.7 cm for a scale of 1:11.1-1:15.9.
Carnivora: Felidae (cats)
There are also two cats in the set, a jaguar (Panthera onca) and mountain lion (Puma concolor). The jaguar is a fun choice; while technically they occur in North America (North America by definition does all the way to Panama), it’s not a species typically associated with the United States or Canada, although they are sometimes spotted in southern Texas and Arizona. The jaguar is crouching but I have estimated the shoulder height at 3.2 cm for a scale of 1:17.8-1:25.3. Using a body length of 6.0 cm, the scale comes to 1:18.7-1:30.8. The mountain lion has a shoulder height of roughly 3.0 cm for a scale of 1:20-1:30. Both cats are clearly sculpted as males, so that should be taken into consideration when calculating scale.
Artiodactyla: Antilocapridae (pronghorn antelope)
Our next figure is the pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana). The figure is sculpted with its head down as if grazing. With a shoulder height of about 3.9 cm, the figure has an average scale of 1:22.4 for a buck.
Artiodactyla: Cervidae (deer)
There are two deer in the collection, a bellowing moose (Alces alces) and a Key deer (Odocoileus virginianus clavium), the smallest subspecies of white-tailed deer. To my knowledge, this is the first figure specifically marketed as a Key deer! The bellowing moose (an uncommon posture for this species as a toy or figure) has a shoulder height of 4.6 cm for a scale of 1:30.4-1:45.7. The Key deer has a shoulder height of about 4.0 cm for a scale of 1:16.5 for a doe.
Artiodactyla: Bovidae (cattle, goat, sheep)
There are three bovids in the set, a resting bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis), a Rocky Mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus), and a bellowing American bison (Bison bison). The posture of the bighorn makes calculating a scale challenging. I estimate the shoulder height being about 4.0 cm for a scale of 1:22.5-1:26.3, but this should be taken with caution! For the mountain goat, using a shoulder height of 3.5 cm the scale comes to 1:28.6 for a male, but using a body length of about 5.0 cm, the scale comes to 1:24-1:35.8 for a male. The bellowing bison stands about 4.0 at the top of the shoulder hump for a scale of 1:41.8-1:46.5 for a male.
Overall this set comes highly recommended to those who like to collect ‘miniatures’. It offers a variety of species, some common and some not. They are made of a high quality plastic and have amazing detail in sculpt and paint. Available on Toymany’s website. Use promotional code BMMNA10 when ordering from Toymany’s site and receive a 10% discount!
Disclaimer: links to Ebay and Amazon on the AnimalToyBlog are affiliate links, so we make a small commission if you use them. Thanks for supporting us!