Today I am in a city being hit by the first winter storm of the year…in September. Again. Which immediately put me in the mood to discuss an animal that might be far more comfortable with this miserable weather–the Canada Lynx Lynx canadensis Kerr 1792 made by Safari Ltd released as part of their North American Wildlife (NAW) line of animals in 2016.
Eastern Lubber Grasshopper (Smithsonian Insects by Safari Ltd.)
5 (5 votes)
Review and photos by stargatedalek; edited by bmathison1972
Editor’s note: It gives me pleasure to post the first Blog review by longstanding forum member, stargatedalek. I have a confession to make; I had a sneaky suspicion this would be her first… :-). I actually intentionally have not reviewed it myself because I thought she’d be submitting it!
Manta Ray (Sealife by CollectA)
3.8 (5 votes)
Review and photos by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972
Biggest of all rays, the magnificent manta ray is an imposing but gentle giant that feeds only on zooplankton. What you may not be aware of is that there are currently two recognized species: the giant oceanic manta ray (Mobula birostris) and the smaller reef manta ray (Mobula alfredi).
Roseate Spoonbill (Wild Safari Wildlife by Safari Ltd.)
4.8 (6 votes)
Walk-around of the Safari Ltd Wild Safari Wildlife 2016 roseate spoonbill, Platalea ajaja (Linnaeus, 1758); item No. 224829. Total length is difficult to estimate but may be around 127 mm if the figure was fully stretched out. Bill length is 32 mm and wing chord is 50 mm so the scale is approx.
Saola (Wildlife by CollectA)
5 (7 votes)
Review and photos by OkapiBoy
Last time we explored the high Tibetan country and met one of its unique and charismatic inhabitant.Today, we travel down south of mainland Asia and head west towards the coast, leaving behind the harsh landscape.For my next review, I have decided to continue with the Asian theme and spotlight another animal from Asia.If you look at the map of mainland Asia, you will see a stretch of mountains that run north to south like a spine that divides the interior and the coast.
Orange-barred Sulfur (Hidden Kingdom Insects by Safari Ltd.)
4.5 (4 votes)
A lot of my posts for the Blog to date have been to introduce interesting lines or add some new broad taxa. But, it is time for me to go back to my entomological roots! So today I am reviewing the orange-barred sulfur (Phoebis philea) that was released by Safari Ltd.
Green Mamba (AAA)
4.3 (3 votes)
AAA is a toy company that produced a wide array of toy animals throughout the 80’s and 90’s. Some of their toys are among the very best of the species they represent but I must admit AAA is largely a mystery to me. When they began and when they ended, who sculpted their toys, I couldn’t answer those questions.
Scalloped Hammerhead Shark (Sealife by CollectA)
4.7 (6 votes)
Review and photos by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972
Of the 350 or so extant species of shark, none are more distinctive and immediately recognizable than a hammerhead. But there are in fact nine recognized species of hammerhead, ranging from the adorable little bonnethead (Sphyrna tiburo) to the massive great hammerhead (Sphyrna mokarran).
Striped Hyena (Wild Animals by Starlux)
3.8 (4 votes)
Today we are going back in time with a figure, to one that may predate many of us here on the blog! I am speaking about a Striped Hyena Hyaena hyaena (Linnaeus, 1758) by vintage company Starlux. So I can bring out another species of hyena, and bring up a classic series of figures as well.
Vaquita Porpoise (Wild Safari Sea Life by Safari Ltd)
5 (5 votes)
The vaquita (Phocoena sinus) has the distinction of being the smallest and most endangered cetacean in the world. In the last 22 years the population of vaquita has dropped from 567 to roughly 10 individuals. The vaquita, like so many marine species, is not targeted specifically but ends up as bycatch in gill nets set for other species, in this case the similarly sized totoaba fish (Totoaba macdonaldi) which is itself also critically endangered.
Japanese Clawed Salamander (River Life by Colorata)
3.7 (3 votes)
So just going over my shelves, wondering what I could review, and my eyes fell on what might be the original Colorata set (or one of them)–their River Life set! What sets this one apart is the diversity–3 frogs, several fish, and one exclusive never-again-released salamander, a Japanese Clawed Salamander Onychodactylus japonicus (Houttuyn, 1882).
Octopus (Marine Life by Papo)
4.6 (7 votes)
Time for the next walkaround by brontodocus, this time the 2014 octopus by Papo. I picked this figure for two reasons. First, to have our first mollusk on the Animal Toy Blog. And second, because there is an obvious anatomical error with it (you will see below, brontodocus explains it well).
Pallas Cat (Naturally Adorkable by Naturalism)
5 (2 votes)
I am using today’s review to introduce an unusual set of animals from a series called ‘Naturally Adorkable’, which was released in conjunction with a Chinese natural history magazine called, well, Natural History. I am not sure of the release date, but I believe 2018 based on when the figures started showing up on the forums and eBay.
Great White Shark, 2015 (Sealife by CollectA)
3.9 (8 votes)
Review and images by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972
The most famous, most popular, and most feared shark of them all is unquestionably the great white (Carcharodon carcharias). It has appeared in more films, documentaries, books, comics, cartoons, games, and toy lines than any other shark, and probably any other sea creature for that matter.
Pill Scarab (Dango Mushi 04 by Bandai)
5 (2 votes)
Little is
known about the biology of this subfamily in the Scarabaeoidea beetle group Ceratocanthinae
(Coleoptera: Hybosoridae). A fast part of the known species are pantropical but
a few species are known from the temperate forest regions of North America,
South Africa and the south-eastern Palaearctic zone. Some of the species are
flightless.