Praying mantises are cool – I think that’s an opinion I can safely say is shared between many animal enthusiasts. Out of all the hundreds of thousands of insects known to science, probably no group is equal parts so peculiar and charismatic as Order Mantodea, the mantises. It’s only natural, then, that a number of toy and collectible animal brands have tackled mantises and continue to do so.
Type: Figurine
Arctic Fox (Wild Safari North American Wildlife by Safari Ltd.)
4.8 (12 votes)
Off we go back to the Arctic to explore another extreme climate inhabitant… the Safari Ltd. Arctic fox for 2023! Released under the item number of #100731, it presents a very special Arctic animal. This will also be the first post for this species on the blog! Unlike the Arctic wolf discussed in another recently released blog post, this animal is a unique species to its mainland cousin.
Common Wall Lizard (Garden Animals by Papo)
4.4 (7 votes)
The common wall lizard, Podarcis muralis, is familiar lacertid that occurs in Central and Southern Europe, from northwestern Spain to the Black Sea of Turkey. They can be found in a wide variety of habitats, from coastal plains to high-altitude mountains, with a preference for rocky microhabitats. Because of this, they have become well adapted to urban and suburban settings, where they live among rocky structures, rubble, and debris.
Killer Whale, 2019 (Wild Safari Sealife by Safari Ltd.)
3.7 (11 votes)
Review and images by caipirasuchus; edited by bmathison1972
Orcas (I prefer this term over killer whales), Orcinus orca, don’t need an introduction. One of the most popular marine creatures, it is also a very common species in the toy market. It’s not difficult to see why: big, beautiful, and presenting one of the most unique and striking color patterns in the animal world, orcas are everyone’s favorite.
Clydesdale Stallion (Horse Country by CollectA)
5 (3 votes)
The Clydesdale is a breed of draft horse that originated in the valley of the river Clyde, in the county of Lanarkshire in Scotland. They are the result of breeding imported Flemish stallions with small native draft mares during the 18th century. Later, in the 19th century, Shire horses were also used in the breeding program.
Southern Pygmy Spiny-tailed Skink (Animal Kingdom by Shantou Yixinsheng Toys Co., Ltd.)
3.5 (8 votes)
Every now and then an interesting figure comes along of seemingly unknown origin. This is often the case with figures from China and Japan, the former of which are often referred to as ‘Chinamals’. Such appeared to be the case recently when forum member Kikimalou posted an interesting figure of a pygmy spiny-tailed skink on the STS forum.
Great Hammerhead Shark, 2020 (Sea Life by Schleich)
4 (9 votes)
Review and images by JimoAi; edited by bmathison1972
The great hammerhead (Sphyrna mokarran) is the largest of all hammerhead sharks, attaining lengths of 400-600 cm in the largest specimens, though they mostly average smaller. Outside of their great size, their most distinctive features are their cephalofoils being relatively smooth, tail fin, and tall dorsal fin, which can get up to 180 cm in the largest and most extreme cases, although it is rare nowadays.
Arctic Wolf (Wild Life by Mojö Fun)
4.6 (12 votes)
Happy holidays to all! I hope this latest post finds you in the holiday spirit, or at the very least an “Arctic animal appreciation” one. This post will focus on the Mojö Fun Arctic wolf #381052 released in 2022. The model itself is the first of its kind for Mojö, having only released one other wolf species, and the most common (read “generic”) of them at that.
Amazon River Dolphin (Sealife by Collecta)
5 (13 votes)
My thanks to Happy Hen Toys for providing this figurine for review. Be sure to check out their website down below.
River dolphins might not be as famously charismatic as their oceanic relatives, or as infamously dangerous as some contemporary freshwater predators; but they’re a remarkable and precious sample of the diversity of life which can be found in the planet’s river systems.
Tabby Cat, Orange (Safari Farm Collection by Safari Ltd.)
4.1 (8 votes)
Being December we’re now at the height of the holiday season and so for my next couple of reviews I’ll be featuring seasonally appropriate animals. “But this is a cat”, I hear you say, “what do cats have to do with the Holidays?” Well, if you’re asking that question then you’ve apparently never heard of the Yule cat, my favorite piece of Christmas folklore.
Scarlet Macaw (Wild Life America by Schleich)
4.5 (11 votes)
When Papo announced their 2024 line-up, I decided I would get the capuchin to replace my National Entertainment Collectibles Association (NECA) version, since the latter is an articulated accessory to an Ace Ventura action figure. It got me thinking, I should probably go ahead then and replace the NECA scarlet macaw as well, as I would much rather have representatives of these animals from ‘traditional’ toy animal manufacturers rather than action figure accessories (besides, while the NECA figure morphologically looks like a scarlet macaw, the animal in the film the toy was based on is actually a green-winged macaw).
Tiger, Standing Adult and Cub (Wild Animals by Papo)
3.8 (14 votes)
Review and images by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972
The charismatic Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) is the nominate tiger species and probably the one that most people envision in their minds when you mention tigers to them. Native to the Indian subcontinent, it rivals the Siberian tiger for the title of world’s biggest living cat.