Review and images by JimoAi; edited by bmathison1972
In the past reviews, I’ve lamented on how there isn’t enough rays represented in plastic. So far, in the last 3 years there have been quite a few cartilaginous fish figures made, some that are underrepresented: 2021 gives us a Helicoprion and Cretoxyrhina from PNSO, a really stylised great white shark branded as a megalodon from Papo, an awesome basking shark from CollectA, a set of stylized ray figures from Kitan Club, and a Xingu river ray by Kaiyodo. 2022 gave us a leopard shark by Papo, salmon shark by Safari Ltd., 2 sets of shark gashapon figures with 6 distinct species from Takara Tomy A.R.T.S., and a set of mini shark gashapon figures by Ikimon. As for the first half of 2023, we have a set of shark gashapon figures with a unique viper dogfish from Bandai, a goblin and angel shark from CollectA and finally, a spotted eagle ray from Papo, a popular species for which I have been waiting so long for a definite version of. Let’s see if Papo delivers.
From in-hand images, the figure looks like it spots a blackish or dark grey main body but in the person, the figure is more of a brown colour. There are 3 species of spotted eagle rays: Aetobatus narinari, A. laticeps, and A. ocellatus. A. ocellatus is instantly ruled out for me as it lacks the ocelatted patterns in addition to spots. However, A. narinari and A. laticeps are hard to tell apart outside of their range but A. narinari does come in a paler coloration from medium yellowish to brownish which the figure is painted, this I will database this figure as A. narinari.
The figure measures 12 cm from wingtip to wingtip and 10.8 cm from snout to tail, putting it at a scale of 1:10-1:18 for a mature individual, which may be out of scale for many people. However, since the 3 species are very similar, repainting is possible if you want to convert it to the larger A. ocellatus.
The figure is sculpted with the pectoral fins raised as seen in the promo images, but since they’re made of a flexible PVC that warps quite easily, it’s possible to manipulate it to be completely flat.
As mentioned, the color scheme consists of a chocolate brown with white spots on the top and a cream colour for the underbelly. Black is used to highlight the eye, gills, pupils, mouth, and nostrils. Since the figure is handpainted, there’s a chance for sloppy paint but my figure seems fine in the eye department. However, there’s a small strike of brown paint on the nose of my copy.
The sculpt of the figure is phenomenal. There is not much texturing since it’s a marine animal, except for some ridges on the edges of the pelvic and pectoral fins. From the top, the figure looks spot on with the beautiful array of spots, but on the side view, is where the figure truly shines: the duckbill is sufficiently pronounced for an adult and the concave belly with the middle being thinner is a nice accurate touch. The dorsal fin is appropriately tiny and…what’s this? There are 2 stingers present! I am so used to the stinger being omitted from ray figures and even if they had stingers, they only usually have one. In nature, some species may have multiple, up to 3, so this Papo spotted eagle ray is a first! On the underside, there are 5 gills that are appropriately tiny! One minor nitpick from me personally is I feel the tail could use some length as an undamaged tail could stretch up to 5 meters from the base to the snout when undamaged in adults; however, they are rare and most specimens usually have shorter tails or, in some cases, may be tailless.
Overall, this figure is the best of the species. It has rectified all previous attempts in terms of anatomical accuracy. If I were to describe it in one word, it would be perfection. Since this is a brand new figure, it’s not as readily available yet but this figure can be bought from Happy Hen Toys in the United States and Modellpferdeversand, which is where I got mine as they ship internationally. I hope this figure does sell well and if it does, it means more companies like Papo are willing to produce more obscure sharks and rays as well as update their old favorites. Some of my wants are an updated great white shark, Papo’s take on a tiger shark, A Greenland shark, giant guitarfish, and a leopard whipray, and if the trend of making at least one cartilaginous fish since 2018 continues, we very well have a chance for one or more of my choices to be made!