Back with another less familiar sharks for Animal Toy Blog Shark Week 2022! Well, a few days ago I introduced an odd little figure that went to the dog(shark)s so today lets balance it it out with a cat(shark). This one is a less familiar figure from a less familiar Japanese company…of a less familiar shark!
Lantern Shark (Wild Republic Rubber Balls by K&M International)
4.5 (2 votes)
So, it’s Shark Week again and once more I rise up from my own thing to bring in a couple of unusual shark models. Because I can never just bring up a more familiar figure because that’s too easy! So I’m going to look at a tiny little figure that just happens to represent a pretty tiny shark!
Salmon Shark (Wild Safari Sealife by Safari Ltd.)
5 (9 votes)
It’s Shark Week once again, the Discovery Channel’s weeklong marathon of shark documentaries that has been 34 years running. So popular is Shark Week that it’s practically a national holiday here in the United States. National Geographic has gotten in on the action too with their own Shark Fest which celebrates the cartilaginous fishes with an entire month of shark content this year.
African Pompano (Kurosio Komekko series 1 by Kaiyodo)
5 (3 votes)
Welcome to another “Savanah Summer”! Being a large continent, there are many places where Africa connects to oceans, in fact both the Pacific and Indian oceans are there. Thus, there is a huge amount of aquatic life, be it mammals, birds and, naturally, fish. Fish never tend to be as popular on toy shelves (unless it’s part of the shark family), so it’s always nice when a company makes more common fish.
Japanese Flying Squid (Nihon Auto Toy)
4 (7 votes)
Review and images by Bruhmingo; edited by bmathison1972
Hello all, today I would like to share one of my favorite figures in my collection, the Nihon Auto Toy Japanese flying squid, (Todarodes pacificus). It has been difficult to find information on this model and the company producing it, but they seem to have been sold in Japanese crane games at arcades.
Crucifix Crab, small (AAA)
4.5 (4 votes)
Review and images by Bruhmingo; edited by bmathison1972
My passion as a collector is most geared towards replicas cast from real specimens, and AAA is perhaps the best known producer of such models. AAA is a rather mysterious company that produced many of our favorite cast replicas. While this means exemplary detail, it is often incredibly difficult to identify the species a figure is representing, usually due to mislabeling or an inaccurate paint scheme.
Bullock’s Nudibranch (Incredible Creatures by Safari Ltd.)
4.8 (9 votes)
Bullock’s nudibranch (Hypselodoris bullockii) is a colorful and familiar sea slug from the Indo-Pacific region. They are benthic in nature and are often associated with coral reefs. It turns out, many historical records of H. bullockii are incorrect, due to morphologic confusion with other species in the bullockii-complex.
Leatherback Sea Turtle (Marine Life by Papo)
3.8 (6 votes)
Review and images by JimoAi; edited by bmathison1972
The leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) is a species of sea turtle and the sole member of Dermochelyidae family. It is the largest and heaviest reptile alive today that isn’t a crocodilian (disclaimer: while many snakes like reticulated pythons and anacondas are twice the length of these turtles, they are way lighter).
Giant Squid (Adorables by Adore Plush)
4.5 (4 votes)
Review and images by Fembrogon; edited by bmathison1972
Hello, Animal Toy Bloggers! My name is Fembrogon, from the Dinosaur Toy Blog. Although the vast majority of my creature collecting has been devoted to extinct life, there are plenty of extant animals which have long been a source of fascination as well.
Winged Argonaut (Kurosio Komekko Series 1 by Kaiyodo)
5 (4 votes)
Of the various classes of animals, Cephalopoda is among the smartest and most intriguing, the tentacled forms having taken many forms over the millennia. Often there are shelled forms, like the ammonites and Nautiloids. Another, coming from the same groups as octopus, are Argonauts, or paper nautiluses, as the shelled females have very brittle shells, where as the males lack shells.
Backside of the Rays (Kitan Club)
3.8 (4 votes)
Review and images by JimoAi; edited by bmathison1972
Japan has produced many well made animal figures for both accurate and for comical situations, like animals at work or sleeping animals. In these scenarios, it’s usually land mammals that get these treatment, but occasionally reptiles, birds, and fish will join the roster.
Tropical Fish Market (Okinawa Bussan Exhibition by Kaiyodo and Sapporo Beer)
5 (2 votes)
Review and images by JimoAi; edited by bmathison1972
Kaiyodo is a well known brand in Japan and throughout the world for their often small but highly detailed figures. They do make well known species but where they truly shine is in their unique and obscure species, especially in the Choco Q, Natural Monuments of Japan, Dinotales, and Aquatales lines.