This is a review of the set Exotic Beetles, released by Play Visions in 1998. This is was one many small theme-based sets released by Play Visions in the mid-to-late 1990s, and one of 6 that were arthropod-centric. Today Play Visions figures are among the most sought-after by collectors! This review today is a glorified version of one of my forum walkarounds, but I wanted to introduce Play Visions to the Blog.
Narwhal (Folkmanis)
3.7 (3 votes)
Review and photos by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972
Perhaps the most bizarre of all living whales is the narwhal (Monodon monoceros), AKA the unicorn of the sea. This review will examining the one from Folkmanis, a company renowned for their top quality animal hand puppets. Unlike the previous plush toys I’ve reviewed here, this one didn’t come from an aquarium or zoo gift shop.
Giant Eland (Wildlife by CollectA)
5 (5 votes)
Grass has been an incredible influence on the world, and resulted in an incredibly diverse number of animals that could eat it: the grazers. Some of the greatest numbers of these animals come from the plains and savanna of Africa, with this review covering the largest of the antelopes, the giant eland (Taurotragus derbianus).
Leopard Shark, 2007 (Wild Safari Sealife by Safari Ltd.)
5 (4 votes)
The first species of shark that I ever saw in person was a leopard shark (Triakis semifasciata). It was at The Nature Store in the Pougkeepsie Galleria in New York. This was in the early-mid 90’s and the place is probably shut down by now. The Nature Store was as much a museum as it was a conventional store, it was fun to explore but you could also potentially buy what you were looking at.
Galapagos Land Iguana (Capsule Q Museum: Reptiles Lounge by Kaiyodo)
4.5 (2 votes)
Review and images by Lanthanotus; edited by bmathison1972
“Ugly” and of a “singularly stupid appearance“ were two of the things Charles Darwin had to say about the Galapagos Land Iguana, Conolophus subcristatus. His judgement about their more popular aquatic relatives, the Marine Iguana, Amblyrhynchus cristatus was not much better, those he describes as the “most disgusting”.
Leopard Shark (Wildlife Artists, Inc.)
3.7 (3 votes)
Review and images by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972
Thanks to its elaborately patterned hide and ability to adapt well to captivity, the leopard shark (Triakis semifasciata) is among the most familiar of sharks. Over the years, I’ve been to saltwater aquariums throughout the continent of North America, and I cannot think of a single one that did not feature leopard sharks.
Monitor Lizard (AAA)
4.8 (5 votes)
Today’s review concerns a toy that is very near and dear to me because it has been with me for nearly 30 years, and it is one of only a few childhood toys that I kept into adulthood. As such, the specimen in these accompanying pictures has a few city miles on it but that just shows the years of joy it has provided me.
Platypus (Wildlife by CollectA)
4.8 (8 votes)
Review and images by jumboplayset; edited by bmathison1972
Ornithorhynchus anatinus!!! If this animal doesn’t send an electromagnetic current of the gleeful excitement of discovery up and down your spine, then you may be an invertebrate 🙂 ! Along with the short-beaked and long-beaked echidnas, the platypus is the last of the monotremes.
Chinese Mantis (Living Things Series by Fujimi Mokei)
5 (2 votes)
Review and images by Isurus; edited by bmathison1972
This figure today is “Living Thing Series No. 23 Chinese Mantis” from Fujimi Mokei. This figure is marketed as the Japanese giant mantis, Tenodera aridifolia, but was painted as the Chinese mantis, T. sinensis, since the species occurs here in Korea.
Blue Rock Rattlesnake (Wild Republic by K&M International)
4.3 (4 votes)
Where plastic toys often fail in species diversity plush toys seem to shockingly excel. The Wild Republic line of plush animals is a major player in the plush animal game and responsible for much of this diversity. Although I don’t collect plush animals I do have a young daughter, as well as an eye for quality toys, so our house has a lot of these plush animals sitting around, including the 54” (137 cm) blue rock rattlesnake (Crotalus lepidus) we’ll be looking at today.
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).
Komodo Dragon (Wild Animals by Papo)
4 (3 votes)
Dragons! Huge, powerful reptiles, with mighty claws and a flaming breath! They are known throughout the world….. as fictional creatures. Nonetheless, the repute of these mythical monsters have been passed to a few giant reptiles of the real world, those whose power, size and ferocity earn it the reputation. The most famous, of course, is the Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis), a relictual species of monitor from a time when the world had many bigger monitors prowling around.
Blacktip Shark (Wild Republic by K&M International)
3.7 (6 votes)
Review and images by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972
The blacktip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus), not to be confused with the blacktip reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus), is a requiem shark found in coastal tropical and subtropical waters worldwide. Like the overwhelming majority of sharks, it has never been rendered as a plastic toy (at least as far as I can tell), but it has been made into a plush one courtesy of Wild Republic.
Komodo Dragon (Amphibians by Bullyland)
3 (3 votes)
Review and images by Lanthanotus; edited by bmathison1972
Despite that the class of reptiles holds a much greater number of species than mammals (even if you do not count in the birds), the number of species represented in toy form is quite low comparatively, especially within the major toy brands. Lizards especially are not well represented, maybe due to their usually small size which makes figures vastly out of scale with other toy figures.
Gray Whale (Big Miracle by Burger King)
3.3 (3 votes)
One of the great tales of evolution is the whales. That tiny, tree living creatures would become gigantic, secondarily aquatic mammals is fascinating, and fills the oceans with many fine forms of cetaceans. Though whaling and ocean pollution threatens them, there are still efforts to teach the youth of today to protect and learn about them.