Review and images by JimoAi; edited by bmathison1972
The narwhal (Monodon monoceros) is a species of toothed whale that lives in the Artic waters of Greenland, Canada, and Russia. Along with the beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas), they are the only living members of the Monodontidae family of whales and it’s not too hard to see why. Both species have been known to interbreed and produce an offspring known as a narluga. These whales get to about 395 to 550 cm in body length, with males being larger than females, as are most tooth whales. The narwhal is known to possess the famous “tusk” (from a protruding canine tooth), which is absent or rarely present in females (in rare cases even 2 tusks) and it is what gives them the nickname ‘Unicorn of the Sea’ and can be up to ~300 cm. The main purpose of the tusk is unknown. There’s drone footage of narwhals using the tusk to stun fish. However, there are many faults to this as females do hunt fish without any issue and they do live longer than the males. A more likely hypothesis is that the males use it as a mating display or to fend off rival males or to break sea ice. Narwhals prey on fish, squid, and shrimp, and they are in turn preyed on by killer whales and, when they are trapped in sea ice, polar bears and walruses. These whales are classed as “Least Concern” By the IUCN despite being affected by climate change.
About the figure: this figure measures 27 cm long and 18 cm when the tusk is omitted, putting this narwhal at the 1:22-1:30 scale for an adult. Based on the genital slit and lack of mammary slit, this figure is a male which is the case with the majority of cetaceans outside of the Monterey Bay line, Schleich’s orca, and some sex-neutral figures. This in my opinion is a trade off from the majority of sharks and rays being sculpted as females.
This narwhal is sculpted in a neutral pose with the tail turning slightly to the left. The figure is painted in a dark gray main body with a creamy underbelly and fine speckling. The tusk are painted in a reddish brown color and the eye is painted a glossy black. There is some black airbrushed parts, notably on the underbelly which stops in the mid section as well as the genital slits and on the bottom of the fluke.
From the silhouette, the figure does have all the defining narwhal characteristics: a long tusk on the right side of the melon and rounded flippers and fluke. The eyes are a bit odd with the right eye looking alright, but the left one makes the figure looks really angry and to me it looks kinda off. The tusk seems to be too thick but it’s probably for childrens’ safety and from pictures I’ve seen of actual narwhals, it needs to be yellowish rather than the reddish brown. Also, due to the somewhat flexible material, is prone to warping. The speckling on the back look too fine and numerous: they should be much larger. Papo’s rendition has a better paint job but that figure has more faults.
Despite the faults, I think this is a decent figure of one of the most distinct cetaceans, and one that has gotten quite a bit of attention thanks to an annoyingly catching song that came out years ago and the really grotesque narwhal characters that recently debuted in SpongeBob SquarePants. As far as standard sized narwhal figures, there is also the Papo one with a shorter but white tusk which, could be used as a rare tusked female or sub-adult male, or the Safari Ltd. version which I think is the best even though the patterns is off. I plan to replace this CollectA figure with the Safari version, it but haven’t got the energy to do so as of late. This narwhal was released in 2013 and is still in production and available for an inexpensive price. It’s worth noting that the paint scheme of this figure has been replaced with at least 2 other paint variants: one with darker grey and finer and slightly more numerous specking and a more brownish tusk, as well as the best version with larger speckling (although the tusk retains it’s reddish color). I bought mine back in 2016 at an aquarium that’s closing down, and it looks like I got the first print run of the figure. That said, it’s a risk buying this figure online if you’re critical on which version you’re going to get and I feel it’s better to examine the figure in hand at physical shops before purchasing.
With fellow Artic native marine mammals: Papo beluga and the Schleich walrus:
I struggled with choosing a narwhal figure as well. I also preferred the look of the Safari figure, but I went with this CollectA figure, I think because of size. It’s been a few years now and I can’t remember my rationale.
Very nice!