Skunk, pair (Noah’s Pals by Caboodle! Toys LLC)

Evolution has produced many ways for life to defend itself, with eyes and jaws, claws and teeth. More interesting to me is when animals use chemical methods to stay alive. From the venomous reptiles to the explosive force of the bombardier beetle, internal chemistry can be a trump card for many animals. One animal is known for a potent form of this: the power of stink. No animal is more renowned for this ability than the striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis). In particular, the striped skunk is well known across America for this, and is fairly popular in the media. Maybe that’s why a pair was added to the Noah’s Pals line. Let’s take a look!

Starting with our male, Steve. As the scale is 1:24, he is quite small, a mere 1.2″ long and 0.9″ high. He is alert, tail raised. Perhaps someone is about to get the full stink treatment! The paint is simple, but accurate, capturing the image of a Striped Skunk perfectly. Gotta say, the fur detail is really good here, credit where it’s due.

Next is our female, Shelly. While Steve is offensive, Shelly seems more defensive, tail curled to encompass herself. Looks really good, as does the paint job that looks better on her. She is equally diminutive, measuring 1″ long and 0.4″ high. She does prove good things come in small packages though.

Overall, in spite of their small stature, these are really nicely-done figures, with a great sculpt, anatomical correctness (if a tad stiff in places, mainly the tails not fanning out enough) and a decent paint job. I like this cute pair. eBay is your best bet, and I do recommend them.