Review and images by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972
Alas, less than five years after its promising debut, the animal toy company known as Southlands Replicas is no more. But while it did exist, it produced many superb renditions of Australian fauna, including the tragically extinct thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus)..
This individual is meant to represent an adult male. It is sculpted in a threat display with its feet planted, its head raised, and its jaws open to the full 120 degree extent, exposing all its sharp teeth. Alternatively, it could just be letting out a very big yawn. Either way, it looks impressive!
At around 11 cm long, our male is about the same length as the female from CollectA, but considerably beefier and taller at 6 cm. Its fur is coloured light brown with a white underbelly, black stripes on its back, medium brown stripes on its tail, and black claws and pads on its feet. Its head features a black nose and mouth lining, light pink for the inside of the mouth, a maroon tongue, off white teeth, medium brown eyes, and pink inside the ears. There is also a bare patch of salmon-coloured skin on its underside, with a visible scrotum.
The sculpting on this figure easily rivals that of any mammals from CollectA or Safari. The sleek fur is meticulously sculpted and the folds of skin on the back of the neck give the animal a realistic appearance. The muscles in the limbs are nicely defined and the proportions seem to be in keeping with all we know about thylacine anatomy. Paint quality, however, is an issue. The tail on my figure was slightly warped when I took it out of the packaging, and when I tried bending it back into a stiffer pose, the paint began to chip! I’ve never had that happen with any of my animal figures before.
Aside from the paint chipping (which I certainly hope isn’t a widespread issue), this is a really great thylacine figure with excellent detail and a fierce appearance. It truly is a shame that Southlands Replicas folded. However, the adult brumbys, the perentie, and the Tasmanian devil are currently slated for release as part of Mojo Fun’s 2022 assortment (the sculptor worked for both companies), so those ones at least will continue to please children and adult collectors.
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I prefer the CollectA figure, but it appears that both Thylacines are the same shoulder height?
It’s hard to go wrong either way, and they probably scale fine if you wanted to create a ‘family unit’.
I prefer CollectA’s and Mojo’s Thylacine figures to this one. The size of those teeth is absurd.