Animal Toy Blog – Page 84

Saola (Wildlife by CollectA)

Name(s): Asian unicorn, Pseudoryx nghetinhensis, Saola, Vu Quang ox Brand: CollectA Classification: Cattle, Mammals Type: Figurine

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.

Buy on

Orange-barred Sulfur (Hidden Kingdom Insects by Safari Ltd.)

Name(s): orange-barred sulfur, Phoebis, Phoebis philea Brand: Hidden Kingdom Insects, Safari Ltd. Classification: Arthropods, Butterflies & Moths, Insects Type: Figurine Range: North America, South America

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.

Buy on

Green Mamba (AAA)

Name(s): Dendroaspis, Dendroaspis angusticeps, eastern green mamba, green mamba Brand: AAA Classification: Reptiles, Snakes Type: Figurine Range: Africa

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.

Buy on

Scalloped Hammerhead Shark (Sealife by CollectA)

Name(s): scalloped hammerhead shark, Sphyrna, Sphyrna lewini Brand: CollectA Classification: Fish, Sharks, Rays & Kin Type: Figurine

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).

Buy on

Striped Hyena (Wild Animals by Starlux)

Name(s): Hyaena, Hyaena hyaena, Striped hyena Brand: Starlux Classification: Carnivorans, Hyenas, Mammals Type: Figurine Range: Africa, Asia

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.

Buy on

Vaquita Porpoise (Wild Safari Sea Life by Safari Ltd)

Name(s): Phocoena, Phocoena sinus, vaquita porpoise Brand: Safari Ltd., Wild Safari Sealife Classification: Mammals, Whales & Dolphins Type: Figurine Range: North America, Pacific Ocean

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.

Buy on

Japanese Clawed Salamander (River Life by Colorata)

Name(s): Japanese clawed salamander, Onychodactylus, Onychodactylus japonicus Brand: Colorata Classification: Amphibians, Newts & Salamanders Type: Figurine Range: Asia

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).

Buy on

Octopus (Marine Life by Papo)

Name(s): common octopus, Octopus, Octopus vulgaris Brand: Papo Classification: Mollusks Type: Figurine

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).

Buy on

Pallas Cat (Naturally Adorkable by Naturalism)

Name(s): Otocolobus manul, Pallas cat Brand: Naturalism Classification: Carnivorans, Cats, Mammals Type: Figurine Range: Asia

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.

Buy on

Great White Shark, 2015 (Sealife by CollectA)

Name(s): Carcharodon, Carcharodon carcharias, great white shark Brand: CollectA Classification: Fish, Sharks, Rays & Kin Type: Figurine Range: Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Oceania, Pacific Ocean, Southern Ocean

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.

Buy on

Pill Scarab (Dango Mushi 04 by Bandai)

Name(s): Madrasostes, Madrasostes kazumai, Madrasostes kazumai hisamatsui Brand: Bandai/Bandai Spirits, Dango Mushi Classification: Arthropods, Beetles, Insects Type: Figurine

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.

Buy on

Aye-aye (Ueno Zoo Box by Colorata)

Name(s): aye-aye, Daubentonia, Daubentonia madagascariensis Brand: Colorata Classification: Mammals, Primates Type: Figurine Range: Africa

3 (3 votes)

This time around I’m going to introduce what I think is the first primate to the blog…and what could be more appropriate than one of the more primitive modern primates, a strepsirrhine, a lemur to be exact? Specifically, the aye-aye Daubentonia madagascariensis Gmelin 1788. So, also one of the weirdest primates as well, and an endangered on as well (on an island of full weird and endangered organisms).

Buy on

Brand
Name(s)
Classification
Product Type
Range

Brand

Name(s)

Classification

Product Type

Range