Who makes it? Part of a series of ‘Mystery’ or Cryptid models from Japanese company Medicom, this ‘Ancient Shark’ is part of their Mystery Museum series 2. It is referred to as ‘Ancient Shark’ officially, but given the size (there is a yacht-like boat in the base) it is most likely referring to Otodus megalodon, or more commonly, Megalodon.
When did it come out? I honestly have no idea. Probably early to mid-2000s.
Still available? Nope. Occasionally they show up in auctions, but as with many of these series, this was a limited one. And they weren’t widespread even then.
Where can it be found in my displays? There are actually a few different companies from Japan that have made cryptid and mystery series, and in many cases they took inspiration from real (living or extinct) animals as models. All of these figures are displayed together on a shelf, with other similarly sized figures.
How does it fit in the collection? I don’t normally collect cryptids, but in the case of these inspired-by-reality figures, I can make exceptions. At the time I think the only other megalodon was a Yowies Lost Kingdom, and not surprisingly, this one is better. There are lots of different ones now, though few in this size range.
Any story behind it? I am not sure. I likely managed to get it as a lot from Japan. But it is possible that I picked it up through a trade as well. I know I got a whole bunch of them at the same time.
Notable remarks about this figure (a review that isn’t really a review): It’s hard to review figures like this. As a shark, it’s pretty good. It gets all of the shark features right (so many toys, even now, miss the full 5 gill slits). The paint scheme and overall style is obviously derivative of a great white shark, but there are little things that feel like they wanted to make it distinct. The head, for example, seems a little shorter and broader, while the body has a bit more thickness to it. This is in line with some suggestions that Megalodon would be massive, but relatively stocky compared to a great white, proportioned more like a basking shark or even sand tiger sharks (which are also part of the same order of sharks, Lamniformes). The figure seems to try and split the difference there. The sculpt details are very well done, with the infamous giant teeth clearly sculpted and visible. Given that the model is only 7cm long, the teeth are of course small but still stand out prominently. Scale is of course a bit of guess work. Using 15 metres (some estimate are higher, some lower) the scale would be 1:200! This of course could vary depending on the length used.
Would I recommend it? I would. I mean, really, it’s unlikely that I wouldn’t recommend a figure in my collection, but ones like this are pretty unusual and add something different to the shelves. Medicom is kind of obscure as far as animal figures go, since I don’t think that’s their main thing anymore. But when they made an animal model, they made a really good one. And if you’re a fan of sharks, this is definitely a different one to have. And, again small Megalodon figures are not that common. Most of the ones made recently (Mojo, Safari, Favorite, and PNSO all immediately come to mind, though I don’t have all of them) tend to be larger figures. So this one can fit a shelf better!
