Review and images by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972
A fairly typical member of the earless or “true” seal family, the spotted seal (Phoca largha) inhabits the cold waters of the northern Pacific Ocean. Its range includes the Yellow Sea off China, which may have been a factor in CollectA’s decision to make not one, but two toys of it in 2014.
Recently, I went on a visit to the Bristol Zoo with my girlfriend. Unfortunately, it was raining quite heavily, so we ducked into the more covered areas to get out of it. Whilst we were getting out of the rain, we quite enjoyed watching the ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) in the primate section.
Review and images by callmejoe3; edited by bmathison1972
The common minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) is the smallest species of rorqual and the second smallest baleen whale after the pygmy right whale (Caperea marginata). They range from 6.0-9.5 meters in length and weigh 4-8 tons.
I received today’s figure in the mail just last week, even though it came out 20 years ago! I am talking about the western capercaillie, also known as a European grouse, Tetro urogallus, which was released by Schleich in 2000. A common and familiar bird, it is surprising there were so few figures made of it, and they are all, to the best of my knowledge, retired.
Review and images by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972
The only purely herbivorous marine mammal, the dugong (Dugong dugon) forms the order Sirenia along with the three species of manatee. It is believed to have been the inspiration for the legend of mermaids, although I reckon the sailors who sighted a dugong back in those days had to have been either extremely lonely or extremely inebriated to mistake its visage for that of an alluring woman.
Review and images by Lanthanotus; edited by bmathison1972
The superb bird-of-paradise or greater Lophorina (Lophorina superba) of New Guinea is a somewhat inconspicuous species among the group of Paradisaeidae. Unlike a lot of other species, the males are just black with a bit iridescent blue color on the breast and top of the head, no obvious elongate feathers or other striking coloration.
Walkaround of the Alaskan king crab, also known as the red king crab or Kamchatka crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus (Tilesius, 1815), by CollectA Sealife Collection, released in 2019. This figure is one of a couple firsts. It is the FIRST crustacean by CollectA. It is the FIRST arthropod by a Western company’s ‘Sealife’ line (not counting Incredible Creatures crustaceans by Safari LTD).
Review and images by Lanthanotus; edited by bmathison1972
While a lot of people would describe a lot of animals as “ugly” or “disgusting”, those words are rarely attributed to the large group of birds. When applied, those terms most often hit the varied group of carrion-feeding birds like vultures. But also these have a somewhat majestic appearance, at least when gliding through their aerial kingdom.
Standing in a glade, head held high, displaying its mighty antlers as he observes his domain. This is the image that comes to my mind when I think of stags, male deer that rut and battle for territory and mates. They are also more common to see in toy form, as their majestic antlers are more likely to grab the attention of kids than the females that lack them.
As a volcanic island chain, Hawaii is not known for it’s ancient fossil fauna, but it has a selection of modern extinct species. The ‘O’ o (or Moho, based on the scientific name) were a group of birds that were native to Hawaii, now all extinct, the last being recent enough to have recordings of it’s mating call (worth hearing, though prepare to be moved to tears).
Images by Takama; additional text by bmathison1972
This caracal (Caracal caracal) figure was produced by Yowie Group (=Yowie USA) in their Premier Series, which was the relaunch of the popular Yowie line.
The caracal is a small to medium-sized cat endemic to savannas, dry forests, and grasslands of sub-Saharan Africa, Arabian Peninsula, Middle East, and Central Asia, as well as coastal North Africa.
Review and images by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972
The loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) is the second largest living turtle after the leatherback, averaging around 135 kg (298 lbs) in mass, but capable of achieving up to 545 kg (1200 lbs). Its name derives from its large head and powerful jaws, which it uses to crush hard-shelled prey.
If you wanted to see mammals as they were when they started to differentiate from reptiles, the best place would be to look at the monotremes. These mammals lay eggs, sweat milk, and the one we will look at here, the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) even still has venom.
I really like cattle breeds. Even before I started a ‘synoptic’ collection, I liked toys and replicas of different cattle breeds. While the non-arthropod section of my collection is generally synoptic, I plan on investing in various cattle breeds. I do not want to get overwhelmed by going back and buying all the breeds I missed; instead, I will buy new ones as they are released or as opportunity comes along (findings at stores, museums, zoos).
Although there are a plethora of toy hammerhead sharks out there very few of them identify the toy as anything more specific than a hammerhead. Most people probably don’t even realize that hammerhead is not a specific species of shark but rather an entire family of sharks (Sphyrnidae) that includes 9 distinct species.