Play Visions, Wing Mau (=XX), and Club Earth

[brontodocus]

I never thought there was such a variety among them - and so many of them are representing European species, too!

[bmathison1972]

thanks to Lance (weaselfan93) I now have the Coccinella novemnotata figure. I now have 4 species of Coccinella that can be confirmed at the species level!

[TheAnimalStudyGuy]

Hooved mammals

Giant Muntjac male (Noah's Pals)
Red River Hog (KM)
Bongo
Caribou
Giant Muntjac female (Noah's Pals)
Quagga
Tapir
Forest Buffalo
Banded Duiker
Serow (Kaiyodo)
Aurochs
Sable Antelope
Sitatunga

Hi, dinocat62 and the others! I just found out that the PV and KM figures are manufactured by Wing Mau, a Hong Kong-based plastic figure factory. Here's their link:
http://wingmau.com.hk/

By the way, did you got the Forest Buffalo on eBay, or from other retail store?

Kind regards!

[bmathison1972]

I was going to make this a Blogpost, but I think it's a bit overwhelming for the Blog (at least all at once), so I decided to make it a forum post.

Today we are looking at an overview of the entire set of Beetles made by Wing Mau. I wanted a concise review for all the figures in the set to serve as a single-point reference for collectors. Related taxa will be imaged together, with a short note on geographic distribution. For many years I had 13 of the figures, and in just the last couple weeks miraculously completed this Holy Grail set with help and guidance from STS forum member NMR_Okapi!

First of all, yes, these figures are made by Wing Mau. For years, myself and others on the forums mistakenly thought the manufacturer was called 'XX" because the Wing Mau logo of a 'W' on top of an 'M' gave the impression of consecutive X's. I am not sure when the set came out, but it was probably in the mid-late 1990s alongside sets by Play Visions, K&M International, and Club Earth. Each figure is marked on the underside with the Latin name of the species (so there is no doubt to the intended species) and the Wing Mau logo.

The first pic below is a Beetles poster that is known to every entomologist who studies beetles. Every coleopterist and insect museum in the country probably has this poster hanging on its walls. It has become a staple among beetle enthusiasts. I am certain that this poster was the inspiration for these figures, as all 24 species happen to be on this poster and they are all marked with the same Latin names. The poster has a copyright of 1992, printed in Italy. The poster, as shown below, today hangs on my bedroom wall above my computer. It was a gift from a grad student in 1995, when I was an undergrad at the University of Arizona. She gave it to me for watching over her live insect cultures when she was on a collecting trip that summer (sorry for the glare; the poster is laminated).



Now onto the figures. I have made an attempt to image related taxa together. Nearly every species here is unique in toy/figure form.

Family Carabidae (ground beetles), from left to right:
1. green tiger beetle, Cicindela campestris. Europe
2. fiery searcher, Calosoma scrutator. North America



Family Histeridae (clown beetles)
1. Hister quadrimaculatus. Europe



Family Lucanidae (stag beetles), from left ro right:
1. Darwin's beetle, Chiasognathus granti. Argentina, Chile
2. Mesotopus tarandus. Sub-Saharan Africa
3. rainbow stag beetle, Phalacrognathus muelleri. Australia, New Guinea



Family Scarabaeidae (scarab beetles), from left to right, top to bottom:
1. Aphodius fimetarius. Palearctic, introduced to North America, Australia
2. green June beetle, Cotinis nitida. Eastern North America.
3. Dicranorhina berbyana. Sub-Saharan Africa
4. Jumnos ruckeri. Thailand



Series Elateriformia, families Buprestidae (metallic wood-boring beetles), Lampyridae (fireflies), and Cantharidae (soldier beetles), from left to right:
1. Anthaxia nitidula. Europe
2. Photinus pyralis. Eastern North America
3. Podabrus tomentosus. Eastern North America


Family Coccinellidae (lady beetles), from left to right:
1. two-spotted lady beetle, Adalia bipunctata (typical form). Holarctic
2. two-spotted lady beetle, Adalia bipunctata (dark morph). Holarctic
Note: even though there are two color morphs of this species, they made original sculpts for each, and did not just paint the same sculpt two different colors!
3. nine-spotted lady beetle, Coccinella novemnotata. North America (being displaced by introduced C. septempunctata and Harmonia axyridis)



Superfamily Tenebrionoidea (darkling beetles, and allies), from left to right:
1. ironclad beetle, Zopherus nodulosus haldemanni (marked Zopherus haldemanni). Texas, northern Mexico.
2. cardinal beetle, Pyrochroa coccinea. Europe



Family Chrysomelidae (leaf beetles), from left to right:
1. green tortoise beetle, Cassida viridis. Europe, North Africa, introduced to Canada
2. dogbane beetle, Chrysochus auratus. North America
3. Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decimlineata. North America, introduced to Europe



Family Cerambycidae (long-horned beetles), from left to right:
1. musk beetle, Aromia moschata. Palearctic
2. Phosphorus virescens jansoni (marked Phosphorus jansoni). Africa
3. spotted longhorn, Rutpela maculata (marked Strangalia maculata). Europe

[dinocat62]

Hooved mammals

Giant Muntjac male (Noah's Pals)
Red River Hog (KM)
Bongo
Caribou
Giant Muntjac female (Noah's Pals)
Quagga
Tapir
Forest Buffalo
Banded Duiker
Serow (Kaiyodo)
Aurochs
Sable Antelope
Sitatunga

Hi, dinocat62 and the others! I just found out that the PV and KM figures are manufactured by Wing Mau, a Hong Kong-based plastic figure factory. Here's their link:
http://wingmau.com.hk/

By the way, did you got the Forest Buffalo on eBay, or from other retail store?

Kind regards!

Retail a long time ago probably Toys R Us.

[bmathison1972]

Today I am showing the complete set of Wing Mau snakes. Most, if not all, of these figures were also produced for Club Earth as part of their To Go series. There are 12 species in the set, all representing North American species. On thing that makes this set neat is that it is dominated by colubrids, which usually get ignored in toy form because most are are not venomous like the elapids and vipers nor gargantuan like the constrictors and pythons.

All species are marked with the 'XX' Wing Mau logo and the common name in English. They are roughly 13.0 cm long, not stretched out, on average. They are all also unique sculpts, meaning they did not take the same sculpt and paint it different colors to represent different species (even though there are similarities in poses).

Reptile enthusiasts like @Gwangi and @suspsy might enjoy this set 

1. desert patch-nosed snake, Salvadora hexalepis hexalepis.
Despite the detail in these small snakes, this figure is not sculpted with the characterstic nose patch.



2. western blind snake, Rena humilis.
This figure actually comes stretched out like all the others, but I contorted it myself to this pose.



3. yellow-bellied water snake, Nerodia erythrogaster flavigaster.



4. eastern ribbon snake, Thamnophis sauritus sauritus.



5. Arizona coral snake, Micruroides euryxanthus.
This figure replaces the Play Visions version in my collection! I know, it is surprising to replace a PV figure, but the Wing Mau figure has a much better length-to-width ratio of the body! This is a species I saw in the wild back in Arizona.



6. California kingsnake, Lampropeltis californiae.
So, two things about this figure. First, it is stamped 'desert kingsnake', which typically refers to L. splendida. Secondly, this figure comes in two color forms. The other color form actually better resembles L. splendida, but the version I have here looks more like L. californiae. When these figures were first produced, L. spendida and L. californiae were subspecies of the common kingsnake, L. getula (and some authorities probably retain the old system). The face should have more yellow and the rings should go to the end of the tail.



7. northern pine snake, Pituophis melanoleucus melanoleucus.



8. eastern copperhead, Agkistron contortrix.
The figure is marked 'southern copperhead'. This figure would be much better if the head was the proper shape; it is a bit too elongate for this species.



9. blacktail rattlesnake, Crotalus molossus.
I normally don't alter figures, but this one I did slightly. The black base of the tail before the rattle was missing, so darkened it up a bit with a Sharpie marker ;-)



10. rubber boa, Charina bottae.
Like the western blind snake (above), I contorted this figure into this position. Looks better to me .



11. western smooth green snake, Opheodrys vernalis blanchardi.



12. southern ring-necked snake, Diadophis punctatus punctatus.
I always liked ring-necked snakes! On this figure, the yellow ring is a little farther down the body than it should be, but still easily recognizable as this species.

[Gwangi]

Oh yes, I like those a lot. Thanks for sharing. I didn't even know they existed.

[Birdsage]

I would particularly like to obtain the following (non-Wing Mau) sets:
Parrots and Cockatoos
Fleas, Ticks, and Lice/Parasitic Arthropods
Arctic
Congo? (Unknown, includes forest buffalo, leopard, gorilla, etc.)

Also these Club Earth Sets:
Birds to Go (particularly the duck, osprey, and vulture)
Snakes to Go
Lizards to Go (specifically the collared and zebra-tailed lizards)
Frogs to Go
Ants, Termites, and Angel Insect
Arctic

And also the Wing Mau beetles.

The Wing Mau Beetles, Snakes, Lizards, and Frogs cannot be found on the Wing Mau site, but some PV items are, so I will try to obtain these rarer items from that site.