Quick look at more dinosaurs…but a modern one this time! It’s a Scarlet Ibis from a Safari toob. The original toob is the Exotic Birds toob, item 680404, first released in 2006. The set featured a number of birds that, I suppose depending on perspective, would be exotic, from a variety of locales (mostly Latin America and Australia…plus a snowy owl? Weird assortment honestly. At some point figure the Scarlet ibis was retired in favour of a White ibis (meaning, they don’t paint it pink anymore), as well as some other paint changes (most being simpler). I looked at a different figure quite a while ago, the Quetzal figure, another figure that has been heavily changed into a lesser paint job. Clearly, mine is from the earlier period, I think I got it in 2008.
I don’t have a lot of bird figures, I think I got this toob early on. It was very likely that I decided to pick this up to augment the animals represented for my kids–can’t ignore birds after all. I am glad to have picked it up when I did, as always the initial runs have the best paint and casting detail. The figure is a good example of the mid-2000s high quality toob figures we cam to expect from Safari Ltd. Lots of sculpt detail, well applied paint with nice touches and flourishes (note the black detailing under the tail!) As with many other figures from the set, this figure is a very nice one.
As a mentioned, the Safari Scarlet Ibis is no longer available, having been replaced by the much simpler paint job of a White ibis. The sculpt is still the same of course, still very well done. But the scarlet bird is just that much more striking. It’s kind of disappointing to learn that the set completely changed the species to, honestly, a less exotic species. I guess they’re cheap enough it’s possible to just repaint one. For bird collectors it would be worth seeking, especially since there aren’t other options for the species (or…ibis in general).
