Takara – Fauna Figures

FigureTales 287 – Clades – Cladistia

We're looking at a clade again today, and as far as clades go...I have been excited and dreading it all at the same time. As the title says, it is the crown group Cladistia, which includes the modern bichirs and reedfish and their fossil relatives. I'm excited because as I'm sure I've mentioned before, bichirs are easily my favorite fish of all time. Dreading because, well...not a whole lot to say. I may be a fan, but I'm no expert.…

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February 28, 2022

FigureTales / Run the Set

Vault Tales 272 Run the Set Takara Monster Fish

More fish this week, this time ostensibly a 'set' but really just two different versions of the same figure, from the same series. In recent years Takara has started releasing small gashapon sets of figures, usually 3 to five figures, a little larger than more familiar Kaiyodo, Yujin, and similar models. Most are in a couple of pieces, often with some kind of jointing or movement. There are also quite a number of themes--a few fish ones, some prehistoric ones,…

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January 6, 2022

FigureFrenzy / FigureTales

Vault Tales 269 FigureFrenzy Pachycephalosaurus, Triceratops, Spinosaurus, Mawsonia, Cycad

Well, thanks to the ol' Random Number Generator, I ended up with figures that will all be presented in some kind of pair (one because, well, I am making it one...you'll see). So we will see a couple of mediocre Mattel figures, and then some far more interesting ones. All prehistoric today though! Hasbro Jurassic World mini Pachycephalosaurus (pair) A couple of small Pachycephalosaurus in different colours. They are fine. Just fine. About 1:55 scale, more or less in scale…

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December 6, 2021

FigureFrenzy / FigureTales

Vault Tales 260 FigureFrenzy Stegosaurus+Allosaurus, Goldfish, Sea turtles, Salamander, Gar

Bunch of random figures yet again! Overall, pretty great figures. Including a cool gar from a company I haven't visited for a while. There's even going to be a few paired figures! Takara DinoExpo 2012 Dino Kingdom Stegosaurus+Allosaurus A classic pair of dino antagonists! Stegosaurus and Allosaurus on fancy bases! They are both around 1:83 scale First up, we have a pair of dinosaurs that were released as part of a set with a Japanese Dinosaur Expo in 2012. The…

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November 4, 2021

FigureFrenzy / FigureTales

Vault Tales 258 FigureFrenzy Axolotl, Barracuda, Lemur, Diplocaulus, Torpedo Ray

Another day, another very random bunch of figures. Again, a pretty broad range of animals and companies. Kaiyodo Takara ChocoQ Animatales Pets Axolotl A lovely little Axolotl figure. It's about 1:4 scale, so it would be a giant compared to The Doctor there. Or she is very, very tiny. Here we have another excellent figure from the Kaiyodo Takara ChocoQ Animatales Pets series. This one is from series 4, so it was after the split between Kaiyodo and the original…

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October 28, 2021

FigureFocus / FigureTales

Vault Tales 257 FigureFrenzy Anteater, Hatchetfish, Velociraptor, Allosaurus, Salamander

Another figure frenzy today, all over the place again! Dinosaurs and fish and amphibians! I'm a little late with it, so I'm going to be brief here! Safari Ltd South American toob Giant Anteater Another recent addition to the collection, a Giant Anteater figure. About 1:19 scale--a handy thing about toob figures, they scale well with other figures! I only just discussed the Capybara from the Safari South American toob, and already, a week later, here we are with the…

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October 25, 2021

FigureFrenzy / FigureTales

Vault Tales 247 FigureFrenzy Ichthyosaurus and belemnite, Torpdedo ray, Catfish, Cusk eel, Trumpetfish

Another frenzy of figures! And all aquatic animals! Mostly fish, with one prehistoric reptile + mollusk diorama...let's get in the water! Bandai Hungry Dinos series 1 Ichthyosaurus A very detailed diorama featuring Ichthyosaurus leaping from the water with some kind of cephalopod in it's mouth; likely a belemnite of some kind (I assume Phragmoteuthis based on location and size). The figure is roughly 1:30 - 1:40 scale. I've also included a closer photo of the belemnite. The first figure is…

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September 20, 2021

FigureFrenzy / FigureTales

Vault Tales 245 FigureFrenzy Sea Cucumber, Sea Star, Pipefish, Garden eels, Goby

It's been a while since I did a random figure frenzy, but here we are! Five figures from varying companies, of varying quality. And all represent marine animals (although I don't think they coexist...) FUL (Nayab?) Sea Cucumbers large & small A couple of Sea Cucumber figures from ta set of small and large marine figures. Let's be honest, not a particularly common animal figure...similar in size, about 1:5 and 1: 4 scale First up, a pair of weird little…

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September 13, 2021

FigureTales / Run the Set

Vault Tales 237 Run the Set Takara TOMY Carnivorous Plants

Time for another set! And another Japanese set no less! But a bit of a shift--a series of plants which is...less my normal thing. But they're the Takara TOMY Carnivorous Plants figures. Which, given how weird that is, I had to take the opportunity when I saw them! The first couple figures. I appreciate the bases, which include the Latin names, allowing me to know what they even are! In this case, a Fanged pitcher plant (L) and a Winged…

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August 16, 2021

FigureFrenzy / FigureTales

Vault Tales 219 FigureFrenzy Cockatoo, Coyote, Eel, Goblin shark, Wakaleo

Back to a randomized figure frenzy. And this one is very, very random! A lot of these will also be pretty quick...sometimes there just isn't much to say... Safari Ltd toob Sulfur-Crested Cockatoo The same Sulfur-crested Cockatoo figure from two different toobs; the one on the left was purchased more recently...but the figure on the right is much more detailed! The figures are about 1:5 scale, so a bit big for Ray there, but it looks about right First up…

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June 14, 2021

FigureTales / Run the Set

Vault Tales 198 Run the Set Kaiyodo Takara ChocoQ Amazing Animals

It's a Run the Set today, a few figures from one of the last Kaiyodo Choco animal series. In this case, it was a set called Amazing Animals, released with Takara in the rebranded 'ChocoQ' line. This occurred after Kaiyodo parted ways with Furuta in about 2003 (I think); from what I recall, Kaiyodo had insisted to Furuta that only their ChocoEgg Kaiyodo figures would be part of the Furuta offerings...then Furuta didn't do that. So Kaiyodo went over with…

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April 1, 2021

FigureTales / ToyTrio

Vault Tales 177 ToyTrio Goblin shark, Spinosaurus, Basking Shark

Another weird assortment today. Honestly, I'm going to keep these short. Not that they're not good figures in their ways, but sometimes there isn't much to say. Learning Curve "Dinosaur Train" The Old Spinosaurus This is a very strange depiction of Spinosaurus. It's cartoon accurate I suppose. First up, another Dinosaur Train figure from Takara. This time, it's their take on Spinosaurus from an episode called "The Old Spinosaurus and the Sea" featuring...a Spinosaurus. Next to the sea. As a…

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January 18, 2021