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!
Elk (Wapiti) (Wildlife Collection by CollectA)
4.9 (11 votes)
Before we begin the review, I would like to extend my gratitude towards Happy Hen Toys for sending this figure along as a review sample. Happy Hen Toys is a U.S. distributor of animal figures and one of the only places in the country where you can get CollectA figures at a reasonable price.
King of Wasps (Diversity of Life on Earth: Advanced Wasps Vol. 2 by Bandai)
4.4 (7 votes)
Megalara garuda, commonly called the King of Wasps or Garuda wasp, was only formally described in 2012. It was named after the Hindu deity Garuda, the bird-like mount of the Hindu god Vishnu. This crabronid wasp is endemic to the Mekongga Mountains of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
Japanese Macaque (Wild Life Asia by Schleich)
4.3 (9 votes)
Review and images by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972
The Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) is also commonly referred to as the snow monkey, and it certainly lives up to that name as no other primate save for Homo sapiens lives in a colder and more northerly habitat.
Laugh and Grow Fat Sea Animals Series 1 (Animal Heavenly Body)
3.9 (8 votes)
Review and images by JimoAi; edited by bmathison1972
Happy Shark Week! For a change, instead of reviewing a shark for this year, I will be reviewing a selected group of sea animals with a shark included, of course.
An introduction to Animal Heavenly Body. They are a Chinese company, akin to a mix of PNSO and Haolonggood with a hint of Popmart, which focuses on modern animals with some stylized features with them.
Asian Arowana (Monster Fish by Takara Tomy A.R.T.S.)
5 (2 votes)
After recently discussing some Takara figures from a Monster Fish set (…the Fishing Wars) I thought I’d go into some others. So I am looking at the pair of Asian arowana figures from an earlier Takara Tomy series…also called Monster Fish (!?) but not fishing themed I guess? In fact the theme is pretty loose (the other two figures are deep sea fish…) I don’t actually have those other two, but I do like bonytongue figures.
Giant Pandas (Jungle Pandas Family Set by Toymany)
4 (5 votes)
Before I start this review, I would like to thank @Toymany-kenc and the folks at Toymany for these review samples. We hope this is the start of a long and productive relationship between Toymany and the Animal Toy Forum and Animal Toy Blog!
The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is one of the most recognizable, familiar, and iconic animals on the planet.
Chinese Sturgeon (Mini Ancient Fish Series 2 by Bandai)
4.8 (4 votes)
This figure represents the fifth and final model in the Mini Ancient Fish series 2 from Bandai. In this case, it a fish well-known as ‘ancient’, a Chinese sturgeon Acipenser sinensis. Sturgeons are well known as primitive fish, with the order Acipenseriformes represented in the Jurassic, and the earliest member of the sturgeon family Acipenseridae being known from the late Cretaceous, included in the same genus Acipenser (although it is believed that this genus is paraphyletic–so the taxonomy could change).
Grass Puffer (Freshwater Fishes Book 2, first AND second release by Yujin)
4.3 (6 votes)
This figure is the grass puffer (AKA Sunafugu, meaning sand puffer in Japanese), Takifugu niphobles, model 30 and number 15 from the second series. This is the only pufferfish in the whole series, a family of immediately recognizable fish well-known for taking in air or water to make themselves much larger, as a defense mechanism.
Barred Mudskipper (Freshwater Fishes Book 2, first AND second release by Yujin)
4.1 (9 votes)
This figure is the Barred Mudskipper, Periophthalmus argentilineatus (also called the silver-lined mudskipper, which is literally the species name), model 29 and number 14 from the second series. Once again, I eventually got my hands on both versions, with the second release first. This is the second Yujin goby, this time as the representative of the mudskipper subfamily (Oxudercinae, family Gobiidae) in the series.
Amur Goby (Freshwater Fishes Book 2, second release by Yujin)
4 (8 votes)
This figure is the Amur Goby, Rhinogobius brunneus, model number 28 and number 13 from the second series. This is the only Yujin true goby (Gobiinae, family Gobiidae) in the series. They are quite small fish, generally living on the bottoms of freshwater streams and brackish estuaries, hunting small invertebrates.
Roughskin Sculpin (Freshwater Fishes Book 2, first AND second release by Yujin)
4.2 (6 votes)
This figure is the Roughskin Sculpin (for reasons that are unclear, the Japanese name Yamanokami apparently translates to “God of the Mountain!”), Trachidermus fasciatus, sculpt number 27 and number 12 from the second series. This is the first and only sculpin (Cottidae) in the Yujin series.
Northern Snakehead (Freshwater Fishes Book 2, first and second release by Yujin)
4.3 (7 votes)
This figure is the Northern Snakehead, Channa argus , model 24 and figure 9 from the second series. These large, strictly freshwater predators are naturally found in the Korean Peninsula, China and Russia. Given the northern range, it is not surprising that they are cold tolerant, and have since been introduced to several other places including the US, Japan and parts of Europe (so far Canada has kept them out, but they are heading to the Great Lakes, so we’ll see how that goes) edit–at least no established populations since this was written.
Japanese Eel (Freshwater Fishes Book 2, second release by Yujin)
4.2 (5 votes)
This figure is the Japanese eel (nihon unagi in Japan), Anguilla japonica, model sculpt 23 and number 8 from the second series. This is the only freshwater eel found in Japan, although it is found throughout Eastern Asia as far south as Vietnam. Like many other freshwater eels, the Japanese Eel is catadromous, spawning and hatching at sea but living much of their life in freshwater habitats and brackish estuaries.
Japanese Spined Loach (Freshwater Fishes Book 2, first and second release by Yujin)
4.2 (6 votes)
This figure is the Japanese Spined Loach (or Japanese striped loach), Cobitis biwae , model 22, and number 7 from the second series. This is a small, long-bodied loach endemic to Japan, there are numerous potential subspecies but no distinction was made with the model. There are actually a number of similarly-patterned loach species in many parts of Japan, but so far this is the only species specifically identified on figures.