Review and images by JimoAi; edited by bmathison1972
Phoca largha, most commonly known as the spotted or largha seal, is a species of earless seal inhabiting the waters of the Northern Pacific from Alaska to the Yellow Sea. It is sometimes mistaken for the closely-related harbor seal (P.
This figure is the Three-spined Stickleback (or Tiddler, or Tiddlebat, in Great Britain, because that’s kind of hilarious), Gasterosteus aculeatus, number 12 from the first series. This is the only representative of the stickleback order in the set; phylogenetically, they are grouped with more familiar spiny fish like scorpionfish, sea-robins and wolffish (at one time they were grouped with seahorses, pipefish and kin in Sygnathiformes, but that is no longer considered correct).
Review and images by stemturtle; edited by bmathison1972
The release of a figure that represents a neglected phylum is a wish come true for the synoptic collector. A velvet worm, also referred to as a peripatus (when unitalicized), belongs to phylum Onychophora. It resembles a caterpillar with antennae, having 13 to 43 pairs of stubby legs, corresponding to body segmentation.
This figure is the adult Chum Salmon, also known as Dog Salmon or Keta salmon, Oncorhynchus keta, number 05 from the first series. This trout is widespread throughout Pacific Asia and North America, ranging widely in the oceans and travelling far inland for breeding. The Chum salmon is a very deep bodied salmon species.
This figure is the Rainbow Trout, probably one of the most familiar North American game fish, Oncorhynchus mykiss, number 04 from the first series. This trout is widespread throughout North America, and parts of the Kamchatka peninsula; they are also introduced into many other places including, of course, Japan.
My recent review of the Safari blue-footed booby motivated me to review another Suliforme bird that I featured in a comparison photo in that review, the 2020 Papo cormorant, which is also my most recent acquisition.
Cormorants, along with shags, make up the Phalacrocoracidae family, made up of about 40 species.
This figure is the Japanese Dolly Varden (also known as Miyabeiwana or Miyabe Char in Japan), Salvelinus malma miyabei, a Secret Figure from the first series revised release (so, the third release of series 1 for those keeping track). I believe it is numbered #17 in the set, although it is based on model #2.
Today we’re looking at the Safari 2020 weasel, part of their North American Wildlife Collection. Safari’s website doesn’t specify the species, just that it belongs to the Mustela genus. The Mustela genus contains about 18 species, including the domestic ferret, European mink, stoats, and the least weasel…the smallest member of Carnivora.
At the start of the year, I received an email notification from Safari Ltd. that they would be having a 50% off sale on their already discounted, discontinued figures. Not only were some of these figures now up to 75% off but this was also my last chance to get them, I didn’t squander it.
Archie McPhee is a store based out of Seattle, Washington known for quirky and unusual novelty toys and kitsch gifts. They also have an online store. Among many of the products sold by Archie McPhee, which can include anything from rubber chickens to bacon-scented air freshener, to finger puppets, are a decent selection of toy animals.
The Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata) is a species of duck endemic to the American tropics, from the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and Mexico south to Argentina and Uruguay. The Muscovy duck was first domesticated in Brazil, prior to European discovery in the late 1490s. It was bred primarily for meat and today it is often referred to as a Barbary duck in a culinary context.
When Papo announced their 2024 line-up, I decided I would get the capuchin to replace my National Entertainment Collectibles Association (NECA) version, since the latter is an articulated accessory to an Ace Ventura action figure. It got me thinking, I should probably go ahead then and replace the NECA scarlet macaw as well, as I would much rather have representatives of these animals from ‘traditional’ toy animal manufacturers rather than action figure accessories (besides, while the NECA figure morphologically looks like a scarlet macaw, the animal in the film the toy was based on is actually a green-winged macaw).
The mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) is an iconic animal in the American West. Currently living in the Salt Lake region of Utah, I myself can barely go a couple days without seeing them, whether in my neighborhood, while running or birding up City Creek Canyon, commuting through the University of Utah Campus, our outside my office and lab at the University’s Research Park.
For my last ‘spooky’ review for October 2023, I will be reviewing a figure of the executioner wasp (Polistes carnifex), which was produced by Curatorial LLC for Brave Wilderness, a YouTube about animals and nature. I was first alerted to this figure by an STS forum member, and to be honest, before I was made aware of this figure, I had never heard of Brave Wilderness (then again, I don’t use YouTube for watching programs).
In what seems to have become an annual trend, I am reviewing a southern black widow spider (Latrodectus mactans) as part of the ‘spooky’ October reviews. In 2021, I reviewed one by Eastern Unlimited that was specifically sold as Halloween decor. Last year I reviewed Safari’s 1998 figure that was released for the Smithsonian Insects line.
