Review and images by JimoAi; edited by bmathison1972
The goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni) is the only living member of the family Mitsukurinidae, with other members dating back to the early Cretaceous, which is in the order Lamniformes which includes such All Stars such as the great white, mako, basking, megamouth, and others.
Review and images by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972
Well, here it is, my review of the final sample animal toy from Happy Hen Toys—for now. Once again I must express my deepest thanks to them for such wonderful generosity. And I’ve saved the very biggest for last: CollectA’s second version of the massive and marvelous blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus).
Recently, when forum member Suspsy reviewed the Papo emperor penguin, I made a comment that I also had this figure, and it was one of only a couple figures I didn’t initially retain from Colorata’s Penguins of the World box set. After I published that comment it got me thinking, and I revisited the three figures from that set I didn’t retain (the other two were the chinstrap penguin and rockhopper penguin, both of which I went with Safari Ltd.’s versions).
Review and images by Kikimalou; edited by bmathison1972
The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) is the largest carnivorous marsupial still alive. About the length of a Corgi, with a stocky body, a large head full of teeth, and a tail about half the length of its body. The coat is black with, most of the time, white markings on the neck and on the rump at the base of the tail.
In addition to being a country, Australia is also a continent, but the continent of Australia is not just composed of Australia itself. The Australian continent includes mainland Australia, Tasmania, New Guinea, the Aru Islands, the Ashmore and Cartier Islands, and most of the Coral Sea Islands as well as a smattering of other islands.
Review and images by Fembrogon; edited by bmathison1972
There’s a Gashapon for just about everyone, I’d wager. Bandai’s trademarked capsule toy brand (an onomatopoeia name for the “gacha-pon” sound of the machine crank and tumbling capsule) has been running strong for over forty years, covering just about anything that can feasibly be made into a miniature – from company mascots and popular anime characters, to erasers and food items, to even highly realistic insects and lizards.
Although they look like lizards the tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) of New Zealand is in fact the last living member of the order Rhynchocephalia and not a lizard at all. This order of reptiles, closely related to squamata (lizards, including snakes), had their heyday during the Mesozoic, getting their start in the mid-Triassic and achieving worldwide distribution during the Jurassic.
Review and images by Fembrogon; edited by bmathison1972
G.I. Joe is not a franchise I have any prior affiliation with or affection for; it just never crossed my radar in any meaningful way growing up. Show me a big, articulated reptile toy, however, and I will gladly offer any merchandise brand a moment of my time.
For author’s summary of species look here
This will be the last review of a cetacean species from the Monterey Bay Aquarium collection, the sperm whale adult and calf pair.
The adult female measures 29 cm, which corresponds to an 11.6 m whale at the marketed 1:40 scale. Above, you can see it scales well with the Safari Sea Life giant squid (24.5 cm/9.8 m) and the CollectA basking shark (22 cm/ 8.8 m).
For the author’s overview of this species, please see this review
Despite many killer whale figures having been produced, it has been about 2 years since I’ve last covered this species. Most of them tend to fall short of my standards, but maybe things will be different for the Monterey Bay Aquarium series that rarely leaves me disappointed.
I’m a little late to the Hallowe’en party this year…but better late than never. And in that spirit, here’s a set of animals that, if you mess with them, ‘late’ could be your proper adjective. Animals that as a group tend to create a visceral if generally unnecessary fear and loathing, even though most are harmless.
Review of the complete set Aquatic Museum by Wing Mau. While in recent years, it appears Wing Mau is producing and marketing figures by Play Visions, Club Earth, and K&M International, this appears to be an original set of theirs. The set consists of six species of crabs native to Japan and surrounding areas, one of which is a unique figure (see below).
