Let’s look at another weird range of figures. One of them isn’t much to look at–but how often do we see caecillian figures? Almost never to be exact.
Kaiyodo Dinotales Series 2 Brachiosaurus
First up, another of the great Dinotales figures, specifically the Brachiosaurus from series 2, number 27. There is not a lot to still say about Dinotales but of course it’s an amazing model. I think the little feet might not be quite right, but it’s hard to tell. Really nice styling–and one of the most unique colour patterns I’ve seen on a Brachiosaurus figure. It’s surprising that it wasn’t until the second series that Kaiyodo added a sauropod to their model line but it was worth the wait. I would definitely recommend getting your hands on this figure, it really is a nice one.
Animal Kaiser Spiny Terrapin
And now another oddity from Animal Kaiser. This is supposed to be a Spiny terrapin which is kind of an unusual species to make–but Animal Kaiser is great for unusual species. They are also great for really, really stylized figures–this turtle look almost like a weird Gamera monster! The real animal does have spines, but they are nowhere near this pronounced. Fun though. I wound up with this figure randomly in a lot of figures from Japan. It actually took me several years before I actually figured out what the company was…and it was literally just a few days earlier where I find out the species. I’d had it confused with a different Animal Kaiser turtle figure. Or maybe I just had it wrong altogether. Anyway, it’s a weird take on what is otherwise a pretty innocuous turtle species! For a turtle fan, it might be worth tracking down. I only have it because of happenstance and it’s fine, but given that they’re long out of production there might be other turtle figures to track down first.
Colorata Sharks of the World Real Figure Box 1 Sand Tiger Shark
Then we have another Japanese figure (third in a row..!) this time the Sand Tiger shark from the Colorata “Sharks of the World” Real figure box. This is actually from the original box–in that set, most of the smaller figures were actually paired in the box–that’s right, most of the figures were actually there twice! This was true of most of the sharks and rays. Of course, I found homes for most of the doubles because why wouldn’t I? It’s definitely a really nice model, although these earliest figures were just a little simplistic–especially in the face. It’s great to have one of these fairly iconic shark species. The good news is that it is still possible to get this figure in the Colorata Sharks set, but you’ll only get one in the box now!
COG “Cool Reptiles” Two-line Caecillian
I mentioned the COG “Cool Reptiles” once before. In that instance, it was a generic green salamander. This one is more outstanding though–because with close inspection of the face (this post has been about a number of second and close looks) it appears to be one of several caecillian figures from the set! (side note: no turtles or frogs…but a few caecillians?) The colour is a little off–there is usually a more defined margin at the mid-body from the dorsal and ventral side, with the top very dark but speckled, and the belly a solid colour. The dorsal of this figure is reminiscent of some specimens, with more of a speckled appearance. But the face sculpt is definitely a caecillian, and how often do we see these animals as figures? Never. For a collector of unusual animals–especially given how unusual caecillians are–this makes a great addition. Of course, I have no idea whether this series is still in production. But I recommend getting it if you can–I once blogged on the Animal Toy Forum about it, you can see all of the figures here.
