Well here’s a range of figures from all kinds of companies featuring all kinds of species…even a tree! Who would have thought!?
Lido Nabisco Barylambda
First up, a figure from the 60s, back when cereal came with awesome toys! Possibly more famous for their dinosaurs series, Lido was a plastic toy maker that also made a range of prehistoric mammals given out with Nabisco products. And among the series of 8 animals, one was a Barylambda, a more obscure Palaeocene mammal. It is a fairly simple, monochromatic figure, with a fair amount of sculpting detail. Overall it is a good representation of the animal, with the weird, low body and long heavy tail. Definitely a good animal for a collection of prehistoric animals–since there aren’t a lot of other pantodont figures to add anyway! They are of course looong out of production, but can still be found in auctions and trades.
Colorata Cenozoic Extinct Animals Glyptodon
Next, another low bodied prehistoric mammal! The Barylambda is a classic figure. This Colorata Glyptodon is one of the most recent! From 2019, a Cenozoic Prehistoric Animals box set was released featuring a number of mammals (and one bird). This one is number 07 of the set of eight. It’s a great representation of the animal, really showing off the heavy armoured back plate and tail. Maybe it could be a little more hairy than it is; interestingly, that Lido figure did more to sculpt in hair. That said, it is a great figure from a really interesting set (there’s a desmostylan as well!) and I highly recommend. The set is of course readily available, as long as you can get it out of Japan.
Yowies Cassowary
Next, we have a modern animal, another figure from the Yowies series. This time the Cassowary, from series 2. The species isn’t specified, but it’s probably a southern cassowary, based on the high crest. It’s not surprising that Yowies would include this bird, as it is such an iconic animal from Australia, and those early series were very focused on the fauna from the general region. This is a pretty serviceable representation of this big bird, even if it is a small figure. The paint is pretty good, and the the overall sculpt is pretty good too. The figure also stands really well, and the seams in the plastic pieces blend fairly well too. As far as finding these figures, they have the usual issues with not being made for almost 20 years…but are probably easy enough to find with a contact in Australia.
Safari Exotic birds toob Quetzal
Now another bird, a modern Quetzal (probably a Resplendent quetzal) form Safari, part of their Exotic Birds toob, number 680404. This is a very impressive species of bird, and the figure is pretty impressive as well. Not only have they done a great job of matching the brilliant colours, but they’ve even managed to given an iridescent sheen to the paint job. It’s a great example of one of many bird species that are very impressive but oddly not produced much, if at all. This toob figure is made very well, and even has a branch to perch on; unfortunately the tail is meant to balance the figure, but mine is bent and it causes the figure to lean forward. Otherwise it is a really nice model. It is still easily available , but the one thing that I don’t know for sure…I got mine when it was first released in 2006, but I have a feeling that the current paint job might not be quite to the same standard (this seems to be a problem with toob sets; the paint jobs are far superior in the initial run–one reason to be quick when new sets come out!)
CollectA Baobab Tree
Finally, a tree! Okay, overall, trees are not super exciting as far as toys go. But sometimes a collection just needs the scenery somehow, and CollectA has produced a few interesting ones, including this one from 2015, item 89795. And with a tree like a baobab, those are just such a cool tree, it’s neat to have one on the shelf. It is a decidedly large tree figure, and takes up a lot of space, but I knew I needed to have this one. It’s also not inexpensive…but after the Schleich one came and went, I decided to make it happen (that Schleich one was even pricier, but the two would go well together). The model is interesting, with the leaf pieces being separate and needing to be attached to the branches, The tall trunk is sculpted very well, and the leaves are actually sculpted very carefully within those leaf groups. They are still readily available, and I definitely recommend picking up one (or more) of these trees to round out displays or dioramas. It will need a pretty tall shelf though!
