I recently bought a lot on eBay, mainly for some Play Visions prosimians and bats. Within this lot was this baby white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simium) by Safari Ltd. Normally I do not collect baby animals to compliment adults, but this a rather nice figure, especially given it was produced back in 1996.
Type: Baby Animal
Emperor Penguin, adult and chick (AAA)
4.2 (5 votes)
Welcome, once again, to my “Winter Wonderland” series! We started in the great white north, now we shall go to the frozen south of the world: Antarctica, responsible for such icy greats as the Ice Age. It is also an area where terrestrial mammals aren’t present, thus the major terrestrial animals are penguins, having adapted to the cold climate over millions of years.
Life Cycle of a Honey Bee (Tarlin)
4.5 (2 votes)
Today we are looking at an interesting collection from a company called Tarlin (I must admit, I had never heard of them before learning about this set). The set, which came out recently this year, is simply called ‘Bees’ and features developmental stages and brood chambers of the western honey bee, Apis mellifera.
Gorilla, baby sitting with banana (AAA)
3.3 (6 votes)
Primates. The order of which humans and our closest related species belong to. One of the groups that we are also included in are the great apes, the largest being the gorilla (Gorilla gorilla). These magnificent African apes are critical endangered and need protecting. It has many, many figures of the species made.
Beluga Whale, adult and calf (Monterey Bay Aquarium Collection by Safari Ltd.)
4.6 (5 votes)
Review and images by callmejoe3; edited by bmathison1972
Today will be the blog’s first time covering the beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas), a charismatic arctic denizen. The beluga whale is the sole member of its genus, with the narwhal (Monodon monoceros) serving as its only extant relative within the family ‘’Monodontidae’’.
African Lioness, with cub (Wild Animals by Papo)
4.9 (7 votes)
No other extant animal captures the essence of the wild like the lion. It is without a doubt the most famous of the big cats and often referred to as “King of the Beasts”, “Lord of the Jungle” and so on.
The lion’s great strength and the male’s impressive appearance have made them popular and a staple of pop culture and the toy figure industry.
Large Brown Cicada, ecdysis process (Bandai, Bandai Spirits, Break Co. Ltd., & Kaiyodo)
5 (3 votes)
Today we are looking at the ecdysis process of the large brown cicada (Graptopsaltria nigrofuscata), a species of cicada distributed throughout much of Southeast Asia, including China, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan. The ecdysis process is whereby a growing animal sheds its skin as it gets larger (e.g., a molting snake) or an insect advancing to the next stage of development, as we will see in this review.
Okapi, adults and calves (CollectA & Bullyland)
4.7 (12 votes)
From the rolling savanna, we now head eastwards and deep into the jungles of central Africa to meet one of its most elusive, beautiful, and mysterious animals, the okapi (Okapia johnstoni).
As you may have noticed that both of my forum and blog name is OkapiBoy, any guesses? When I first saw an okapi in person, it was more than a decade ago when I was in the Midwest visiting family.
African Elephant, calf (Living Animal Models by PNSO)
5 (4 votes)
Review and images by postsaurischian; edited by bmathison1972
Today we not only get the Blog’s first African elephant, specifically the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana), but also the first figure by PNSO. This figure No. 04 in the Living Animal Models line, which figures large-scale models. Like other PNSO models, the figure comes with a name, and this figure is sold as ”Manman the African Elephant”.
Zebra Shark (Wild Safari Sealife by Safari Ltd.)
5 (4 votes)
When we think of sharks it is usually species like the great white, tiger, or bull sharks that immediately come to mind. If not those particular species there is at least the generic idea of what a shark looks like and indeed, many species fit that mold. But sharks are an incredibly diverse group of animals that come in all shapes and sizes in order to fit into whatever niche they’re a part of.
Opossum, with babies (Wild Safari North American Wildlife by Safari Ltd.)
4.8 (6 votes)
A cute and unique figure (and one of my favourites from the series) is the North American Wildlife collection figure, the Virginia opossum with babies, Didelphis virginiana Gray, 1821. With a total length of 139 mm and a snout-vent length of 96 mm the scale would be approx. 1:4 – 1:5.
Life Cycle of a Praying Mantis (Insect Lore)
3.7 (3 votes)
Insect Lore is a company that primarily makes products for the observation and study of living insects (nets, rearing containers, magnifying glasses, ant farms, etc.). In the 2000s, they made life cycle sets of select insects. These were really nice sets that featured original sculpts, including a couple rarely-made species (mealworm beetle, American painted lady).
Asian Elephant, cow and calf 2017 (Wild Life by Schleich)
4.5 (11 votes)
Review and photographs by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972
The magnificent Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) is the second biggest of the three extant species of pachyderm, the second biggest land animal in the world, and the biggest land animal in all of Asia. It can be distinguished from its two African cousins largely by its domed cranium, smaller ears, and rounded back.
Warthog, piglet (Wild Life by Schleich)
4.8 (4 votes)
The warthog, Phacochoerus africanus, or the common warthog to use its full vernacular name, is a wild member of the Suidae or pig family. There are four subspecies in the genus, each occupying a slightly different range within in central Africa. Schleich have made several figures of this animal, two boars (an early release and a later version), one sow, and a piglet, but I’m not looking at the whole family today – just the warthog piglet.
Reindeer, adult and calf (Wildlife by Mojö Fun)
4.4 (8 votes)
Review and photos by Saarlooswolfhound; edited by bmathison1972
The Mojo Fun reindeer adult and calf, numbers #387186 and #387188 respectively, were released as new products in 2019. They are included in Mojo Fun’s Wildlife range of models. The adult measures at about L-13 W-7 H-13 cm and the calf is L-9 W-2 H-6 cm.