Today, another post, another Bandai Animal Kaiser figure. After talking about the Velez Ray I realized that there were several from the Animal Kaiser series that would be worth looking at. So I went over the ones I have to see what would be interesting. This one really stood out, so I decided to talk about it.
Cool Reptiles Bucket, Part 2 (COG Ltd)
5 (3 votes)
And now I complete the review started here of a set of reptiles and amphibians from weird toy maker COG Ltd. As seen before, it is a set of very small herptiles (I will revive that term!) composed of 9 reptiles and 7 amphibians. Part one was 1 crocodilian, 5 lizards, and 3 snakes.
Wolverine (NWF Dairy Queen promo by Toy Major)
3.8 (4 votes)
It’s a bit of a chunky boi
Today I’m looking at a figure of a very familiar animal–from a rather obscure line! It’s the famous (infamous?) wolverine, Gulo gulo (Linnaeus, 1758). If we want to be really sub-specific, it’s meant to be Gulo gulo gulo, the Eurasian wolverine, if the differences between Eurasian and North American populations are different enough.
Chinese Water Dragon (AAA)
5 (3 votes)
Today we’re looking at another splendid toy from AAA, one that’s cast from an actual specimen and startlingly lifelike in appearance and detail. But don’t be fooled, this is not an iguana despite what’s stamped on its underside; this is actually a Chinese water dragon (Physignathus cocincinus).
Land Down Under TOOB (Safari Ltd.)
4.8 (5 votes)
Australia, like all islands, is an isolated laboratory of sorts, one that offers a look at what the world might be like under different evolutionary pressures. The rest of the world at large operates in much the same way, no matter where you go; the placental mammals (cats, dogs, deer, antelope, etc.) dominate top tier niches.
Gray Whale (Monterey Bay Aquarium Collection by Safari Ltd.)
4.3 (3 votes)
The gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) is a baleen whale that’s the sole extant member of its genus and the family Eschrichtiidae. Two populations currently live in the north Pacific, one small Asian population and a much larger population along the western coast of North America. Gray whales are near shore species and are frequently sighted along California and the Baja Peninsula.
Griffon Vulture (Wild Life by Schleich)
4 (4 votes)
The griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus) is one of the most widely distributed of the old world vultures, ranging throughout Asia, Europe, and small portions of Africa. As such they also represent the archetypal vulture; the kind you might see perched on a tombstone in an old western movie, despite being visually dissimilar to the new world vultures of the American west.
Striped Hyena (Wild Animals by Starlux)
2.5 (2 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.
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).
Shark Ray (Wild Safari Sealife by Safari Ltd.)
5 (5 votes)
It’s a shark! No, wait, it’s a ray! It’s a shark-ray! Although all ray in the front and all shark in the back the shark ray (Rhina ancylostoma) really is a species of ray, but in appearance it looks like some kind of transitional form, making it easy to see the close relationship between sharks and rays.
Endangered Animals–Marine TOOB (Safari Ltd)
4.3 (6 votes)
So for my next foray into Animal Toy Blog I am going to discuss a full set of ten figures from a relatively new set from Safari Ltd, released in 2017 (but I only just discovered it…go figure). I’m going to come out and say, there will be brief parts (in point format) and longer parts (paragraphs) as I will discuss the toob figures individually (save two).
Slender Oarfish (Deep Sea Fishes version 2 by Colorata)
4.3 (6 votes)
After all of these years, I’m finally doing a blog post for the Toy Forums! It is of course a fish, and since it’s hard to decide I went with one that arrived only a couple of days ago–the updated Slender Oarfish Regalecus russelii (Cuvier, 1816) made for the revised Colorata Deep Sea Fishes box.