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. The shells are often used for buoyancy devices, living in the tropics of Asia. Here is one such example, the Winged Argonaut (Argonauta hians), found in the South China sea and Philippines, along with areas of Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Here we see an example by the every reliable Kaiyodo. Let’s take a look.
This is part of the Bottlecap series, so is attached to the base by a clear stick. The rocks are rubbery, so fairly safe from damage. It is not likely to fit on many bottles however, so don’t expect it to defend your drinks. It lists that it is part of Aquatales and it’s binominal name. The model itself is translucent, giving it quite a cool effect when held to the light.
The pose shows the animal with it’s tentacles writhing over it, exposing it’s suckers underneath. But 20,000 leagues under the sea, but I like it. The animal itself measures 1″ high and 1.1″ long, not bad for an animal that only reaches 12cm long. The accuracy is on point too, just as in life.
There are only two models of the Winged Argonaut, and this is by far the better. Well styled, great pose and well made. as always, Kaiyodo knocks it out the park with this one, definitely worth picking up if you get the chance. It was discontinued many years ago, so eBay or Japanese second hand dealers are your best bet, and I feel it is well worth it. It doesn’t disappoint.
I don’t like to be too critical, but all of these images are noticeably out of focus.
Yeah, I’ve commented on it before but I know you can take better pictures than this, I’ve seen them. Pictures like this are worthless, they cheapen your review, and the blog, and do nothing to showcase the figure. Not trying to be a jerk, just calling it like I see it. Your reviews are great and you should strive to take pictures befitting of the review itself.
Not the best, but tried to do better. Sometimes is hard to get my camera to focus on the figure rather than the background.
But you’ve taken pictures in focus before. The tube worm review has focused pictures. In these pictures the camera is focused on the stuff behind the figure, so maybe try pulling the camera back away from the figure a bit. Focused shots are better than closeups. I think you’ll get it if you play around with it a bit more. If the autofocus isn’t working how you want it to, try manual focus.
it also helps to take the pics from farther away and then crop; that way the camera doesn’t detect so much variation in depth-of-field
Takara tomy has an argonaut but it’s a greater argonaut