Review and images by JimoAi; edited by bmathison1972
To close out my Schleich figure reviews, I would be looking into their tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier). They are the largest of of the requiem sharks, averaging 400-550 cm from snout to the tip of the caudal fin. They are found in tropical and temperature waters and are characterized by their squarish snouts and stripes on their body, which give them their name. They are generalist predators, feeding on fish, birds, mammals, cephalopods, reptiles, and inanimate objects as well. They are among the most dangerous sharks to humans, only behind the great white and bull in terms of recorded human attacks, although humans pose a greater threat as these sharks are killed by bycatch and for their fins, and are classified as ‘Near Threatened’ by the IUCN.
About the figure: This figure measures 16.5 cm from the snout to the tip of the top caudal fin, putting it at the 1:24 scale for an adult male, which this figure represents with the presence of claspers (although like the hammerhead, they are incorrectly separated from the pelvic fins, which they should be part of).
The figure is sculpted in a slightly undulating,”S-curve” pose with it’s mouth open, probably to simulate it feeding. Unlike most shark figures, the bottom jaw features 3 rows of teeth! While a lot of these toy figures have slightly blunted teeth, I feel it works slightly well in the tiger shark’s favour, as their teeth are quite broad which reflects on them being adapted for crushing turtle shells. Like the hammerhead, I feel it’s on the derpy side, albiet not as much as the hammerhead. The figure’s proportions are really well done: all 5 gill slits are present, the tail looks well proportioned, and the figure as a whole looks proportionate to a real tiger shark.
The colour scheme is what to be expected: a light gray for the top with a white underbelly for countershading, a void black eye, pink for the interior of the mouth and yellowish teeth. Now for the stripes, the way they are patterned is well done however the fact that they are printed on with a pixelated look to them, does take away some realism from the figure’s overall feel.
Like many Schleich sea animals, it is made of this rubbery plastic which doesn’t sit right with me. Admittedly, I was too harsh in the hammerhead shark review on the plastic quality, as it seems that the earlier sharks are made of a lesser quality and they have gotten better in the more recent releases. Still, it’s not bad!
Overall, it’s a decent figure that does it’s job in representing a tiger shark, although not really a cup of tea of mine. This shark is out of production so your best bet would be eBay if you’re a serious shark or Schleich collector. If you’re after a tiger shark, the sad reality is that none so far hits the right mark as of yet. The Wild Safari one has a really nice sculpt but the missing gill slit, which is unfortunate as is the paint, which leaves more to be desired as well. The retired Monterey Bay Aquarium one is really good but a little too cartoony and big. The CollectA one is big and is missing the 5th gill slit. The fantastic Kaiyodo and Colorata Deluxe figures are too small, although the Colorata works as a 1:35 scale if you’re after scaling it with other marine mega-fauna or dinosaur figures which favour the 1:35. And so, I feel it’s about time that a company does a decent standard-sized tiger shark, considering they’re one of the more iconic sharks around. So maybe Papo makes one, considering their recent great track record with elasmobranchs, or maybe Safari Ltd. could resculpt theirs. And if I were to rank the Schleich sharks it would be like this: the tiger comes in last, the hammerhead in the middle, and the great white comes in at the top.
Compared with the Schleich great white and hammerhead:
Compared with the Professor:
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