Today it is my great pleasure to share one of my holy grail figures with the blog, the 2014 Schleich pot-bellied pig. This figure was retired in 2018, one year before this blog was launched and I got into extant animal toys. I don’t know how it came across my radar but for a couple years now I’ve been looking at eBay listings for it, in the hopes that I could find one for a decent price.
Type: Figurine
Longnose Lancetfish (Mini Collection Deep Sea Fish by Bandai)
4.2 (5 votes)
We’re back with another small figure from Bandai in their mini capsule series. I failed to recognize before that all of these models are part of what is now called the “Diversity of Life on Earth” series, which covers not only these capsule animals but a number of other figure types.
Reticulated Giraffe, calf (Baby Wildlife by Toymany)
4.8 (5 votes)
Before I start this review I must once again thank @Kenc and our friends at Toymany for donating this review sample, the fourth in a series of six I will be reviewing!
The reticulated giraffe (Giraffa reticulata) breeds every 20-30 months. The gestation period is roughly 457 days.
Pig (Farm World by Schleich)
5 (4 votes)
The figure we’re looking at today is not one that I deliberately added to my own collection, it was one that was given to my barely one year old daughter while visiting some relatives. They handed her the pig to play with and then insisted she should keep it. Well, she’s too young for this sort of toy, so it has been sitting on my shelf until she reaches the recommended “3 years and up” age.
Blue-and-Gold Macaw (Wings of the World by Safari Ltd.)
4.7 (9 votes)
Review and images by Sam; edited by bmathison1972
The blue and gold macaw (Ara ararauna) is one of the world’s most popular parrots. These beautiful birds come from Central and South America and the Caribbean, and are a resident in the countries of Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Colombia, Suriname, French Guiana, Venezuela, Guyana, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Paraguay.
Fjord Mare (Horse Club by Schleich)
4.4 (7 votes)
Hello again! Here we will have the review for the mare counterpart to the fjord horse pairing. If you would like to read more about the breed itself, I included a history and variety of facts for them in the Schleich’s gelding article here. The figure being discussed below is the mare figure by Schleich produced in 2024, #13980.
Fjord Gelding (Horse Club by Schleich)
5 (6 votes)
Howdy folks! I have another horse review, huge thanks to Happy Hen Toys and their enormous generosity to provide a sample of this pair of horses. A rather rare breed in toy form, these two were welcome to my herd and are quite an improvement over the previous generation.
African Bush Elephant, calf (Baby Wildlife by Toymany)
4.3 (3 votes)
Before I start this review I must once again thank @Kenc and our friends at Toymany for donating this review sample. The quality of Toymany’s figures, their relatively inexpensive price point, and their willingness to engage with, and take thoughts and comments by, the toy animal collector community shows why they are a quickly rising star in our hobby!
Red-cheeked Salamander (Great Smoky Mountains Park Shop by Safari Ltd.)
5 (6 votes)
Over the course of the summer I reviewed the entirety of Safari’s famous and sadly discontinued Tennessee Aquarium Salamanders line, a set of 7 life-like and life-size models released in 1995 (one in 1997) and retired in the mid-2000s. But I also hinted at a spiritual successor that, while not in the line, fits alongside them in theme, style, and production…also geographically.
Everglades TOOB (Safari Ltd.)
4.9 (7 votes)
The Everglades is a subtropical and tropical wetland spanning 7,800 square miles (20,000 km2) in central and south Florida in the United States. Water from the Kissimmee River south of Orlando feeds into Lake Okeechobee and then continues south into Florida Bay. Although mostly marsh and flooded grassland the Everglades also run through cypress swamps, hardwood hammocks, pinelands, coastal prairies, and mangrove forests.
Shiba Inu (Best in Show by Safari Ltd.)
5 (8 votes)
Before I start this review I would like to thank our friends at Happy Hen Toys for providing this review sample for the Blog! I have been waffling back and forth on whether or not to get this particular figure, so when an opportunity came up to review it, I was most grateful!
Common Mudpuppy (Tennessee Aquarium Salamander Collection by Safari Ltd.)
5 (7 votes)
So here we are–the final figure in the Tennessee Aquarium series from Safari, the only figure released after 1995 (1997 to be exact). This is the common mudpuppy Necturus maculosus, number 210672, probably the hardest to find one and, when stacked together, the largest and most imposing by a wide margin.