The Unlisted - a deep dive search of lost models with forgotten names

[bmathison1972]

Yeah the tag is a simple but great little touch honestly, it reminds me of going into an old gift shop or book store type of place

I wish you'd consider reviewing it, even briefly, for the Blog for October in our Halloween/creepy critters theme!

honestly I've been thinking about it, I just worry if my assessment wouldn't be as in depth or expertly done as everyone else, y'all go into so much amazing detail about them.  But I might try, especially as some of these figures seem obscure enough I don't know if anyone else would be likely reviewing them

That would be neat. And please don't feel you have to go into too much detail. Blog reviews are essentially glorified walkarounds LOL. You can be as detailed or as brief as you like.

[NSD Bashe]

It's been a while since I've posted in here.  As I mentioned elsewhere I have now obtained the Sun Wai cowfish, one of the early figures to partly inspire this thread.  I am thrilled to have finally added this illusive little guy to the list of found fish. 

However what I mainly wanted to discuss today is a group that remains unrecovered and unnamed.  While the Sun Wai models now feel much less mysterious than before, this other group has only found itself higher on the list of the unsolved (in my opinion at least) taking the top mystery spot.  While I have mentioned them in the past, what I don't believe I ever discussed was a particular theory I came up with.  When it first occurred to me, I was initially certain I had solved it; then as I examined the images more closely I felt less sure, and eventually decided it was an absurd theory, thus I never spoke of it.  But every now and then I have come back to this idea, and after much examination and contemplation I now think it may not be such an impossible theory.  In fact I'm wavering between almost likely and somewhat plausible.  But before I ramble too much here are the figures I'm speaking of:
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/ocean-sea-animals-fish-rubber-big-lot-1950412799

Now unfortunately since I don't want to share screen shots of someone else's photos of their old eBay listing, I'll have to describe which ones I'm talking about in that massive jumble.  Up at the top is a green porcupinefish that somewhat resembles Safari's; toward the upper right a little beneath a small clownfish and a blue thing is a light tan cowfish with little black speckles; and a little below that, just to the left of a whale and a bright purple anglerfish is a round, yellowish brown pufferfish looking figure facing out with little bumps all over its head.  Those three specifically, the green porcupinefish, tan cowfish and lumpy brown pufferfish(?) are the trio of unknown origin about which I now speculate.

My theory involves this:
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-90s-club-earth-1999-molded-4694293586

The unknown fish are similar tropical coral reef type fish, with similar solid looking thickness to their fins, and (especially the cowfish) have similar detailed patterning and look like they could believably be in the same set.  At least to me they do.  If you look closely you might even see what could be a coin slot on top of at least a couple of them. 

One big issue with this, however, is the size.  The Club Earth boxfish coin bank is around 9 inches long, so that makes it rather unlikely the ones seen in that massive lot serve the same function, as they are much more comparable to the size of the Safari LTD deep sea fish, closer to the 5 inches range.

Alternatively they might be in the same series but not all coin banks.  They might even all function as different "utilities", like salt and pepper shakers or a stamp on the underside.  Thus my theory is that they are all Club Earth brand and in a kind of "set" with the coin bank boxfish, but not themselves coin banks. 

Another possibility is that the green porcupinefish and the lumpy brown pufferfish are not in the same set as the tan cowfish, with the cowfish alone being connected with the coin bank boxfish since it most of all has a very similar style of detailed hexagon patterning along with the type of fins, tail and overall body build. 

But my current guess is they are all Club Earth, since these different species of fish would naturally display different patterns on them, and if they each function as different things that might also determine how they're built slightly different from one another.  And simply the fact that the three of them are in the same lot, similar types of fish of a similar size to one another with at least comparable enough levels of detail, all of which I've never seen anywhere else, makes me think they are most likely related to one another, and the cowfish is similar enough to the design of the coin bank boxfish that my gut instinct right now is they are most likely in the Club Earth brand; and just as the Sun Wai brand has larger and smaller models in the same series, so too might these ones.  Anyhow just to reiterate that is all pure speculation and might be entirely untrue.  But it was fun for me to contemplate.

[MudpupWaterdog]

I'm not sure if this helps, but I had that green porcupinefish. I don't think I do anymore, but I remember it being hollow plastic that was generally firm but had give to it, like an empty plastic soda bottle. It did have thick fins and thick spines, and was about four or five inches in diameter (so the fins made it longer lengthwise).

No idea what company produced it; I had it as a kid and it didn't survive one of the many "mass extinction" events that hit my collection between childhood and adulthood. Tangential, but another casualty of those were the complete Play Visions nudibranch and eel/sea snake collections.

[NSD Bashe]

That is actually very interesting, I will say I'm again rethinking my idea that those were all CLub Earth.  I think at least the cowfish might be Club Earth due to what I noticed about its pattern or it might be in the same set as the green porcupinefish and the bumpy brown one, but I'm not so sure the porcupine fish is Club Earth.  I have a couple other theories.

You said it was hollow and firm plastic, I wonder if it could be Toy Major.  The fins particularly on the porcupinefish and the lumpy brown fish remind me a little bit of the fin structure on some of the Toy Major deep sea fish, although I think those were a little less realistic looking.  The rounder ones of those are also hollow and firm, although I'm not sure I'd describe them as feeling like a soda bottle.

Another idea that crossed my mind, I wonder if they could be Discovery Channel.  We've seen sets of deep sea fish from Discovery Channel that were very little known and pretty niche even by deep sea model standards, so I wonder if they could also have a lesser known set of coral reef dwelling fish.  In any case it's the sort of thing I wouldn't be surprised at them producing.  And I could easily see the detailed cowfish being a Discovery Channel figure, maybe more-so than Toy Major.  But those are just guesses.  I don't suppose you remember where you got the porcupinefish?

[NSD Bashe]

Well believe it or not I think I've actually just found the answer:

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/blue-pufferfish-figurine4-inch-spiked-4781016674

The porcupinefish at least appears to be K&M, albeit this is a blue one and not a green one it looks like the same model...  While I don't know for sure if the cowfish and lumpy pufferfish are the same brand they might well be in which case all my theorizing was a bit off   

[MudpupWaterdog]

Yes, that's it! I had the green one from the first image but that's the same sculpt. I don't remember where I got it because I was under ten years old when my parents bought it for me sometime in the 90s. Probably a just local toy store.

I don't know about the cowfish or lumpy pufferfish. I did have a cuttlefish about four inches long and made of squeezable rubber (it could spray water from its face) like many of these models you've been identifying. Have you come across any Sun Wai or Club Earth cuttlefish? I remember it came in a two pack, one was light yellow with brown stripes and the other was a vaguely purplish taupe color. I'll see if I can find pictures. There was nothing about it on the Toy Animal Wiki. I recall getting it in the mid-90s at either a Nature store or a Discovery Channel Store on a trip to Baltimore.

[sbell]

Well believe it or not I think I've actually just found the answer:

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/blue-pufferfish-figurine4-inch-spiked-4781016674

The porcupinefish at least appears to be K&M, albeit this is a blue one and not a green one it looks like the same model...  While I don't know for sure if the cowfish and lumpy pufferfish are the same brand they might well be in which case all my theorizing was a bit off   

Being K&M it's not surprising that the sculpt would be in multiple colors. Their usual m.o. for this kind of figure (rubbery or squeeze) would be to have 3 or 4 color variants.

[MudpupWaterdog]

What's that long black eel looking thing near the bottom?

Just running through this post again and I found another mystery I can solve - or at least contribute to.




It's an eel, stamped 'MADE IN CHINA" without any brand logos. I had always assumed it was AAA but now I'm not so sure. It had barbels when I bought it (you can see the stubs) but I cut them off as a kid because I knew American eels didn't have barbels and I wanted to "fix" the model.

[NSD Bashe]

I did have a cuttlefish about four inches long and made of squeezable rubber (it could spray water from its face) like many of these models you've been identifying. Have you come across any Sun Wai or Club Earth cuttlefish? I remember it came in a two pack, one was light yellow with brown stripes and the other was a vaguely purplish taupe color. I'll see if I can find pictures. There was nothing about it on the Toy Animal Wiki. I recall getting it in the mid-90s at either a Nature store or a Discovery Channel Store on a trip to Baltimore.

Aha, you mean this guy?

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-sun-wa-taiwan-rubber-4843989881

I didn't realize it was Sun Wai but I'm pretty sure I've seen these in eBay lots now and again

[bmathison1972]

I can't check TAI now as it's blocked at my work but I wonder if that is a knockoff of a Bullyland eel (or maybe it is Bullyland but they didn't mark their early figures?)

[sbell]

I can't check TAI now as it's blocked at my work but I wonder if that is a knockoff of a Bullyland eel (or maybe it is Bullyland but they didn't mark their early figures?)

I have the eel. It's marked.

I'm not at home so I can't check. But it definitely doesn't have nasal tubes

[MudpupWaterdog]

Here's the Bullyland eel, taken from the TAW site.

I think my figure may be inspired by it, but the head and the fins on mine look different enough to be their own thing. But it's hard to compare with only a single reference photo.

Mine has nostrils carved on the figure, and a smooth "forehead" where the Bullyland one has lobes around the eyes and a smooth nose. The eyes on mine are placed lower and don't bulge out this way - its eyes are indented with pupils that are molded into the plastic.

The curves generally match, but mine has a much straighter tail and basically no anal fin (though I can see on the Bullyland that that figure does have more of an anal fin).

Finally, the Bullyland figure has casting seams running right down the sides, but mine's casting seam runs right along where the sides meet the ventral surface.

[sbell]

Here's the underside with markings. Note that the anal fin is fully sculpted but folded



And that's not a seam, that's a sculpted, raised lateral line:



The shape is easier to see here.

It's also much shorter:



The only seam that is obvious is along the cheek:



Back in the day, when Bullyland was good, it was very very good.

(Pics made possible with the help of Destroyah)

[MudpupWaterdog]

Wow, thanks Sean (and Destroyah)! That's a very thorough walkaround. The designers of my mystery eel may have taken inspiration from Bullyland's figure but this eel is pretty different - no lateral line, no sculpted anal fin on the bottom beyond a few cm at the tail, diamond-shaped fins, barbels, more anthropomorphic eyes, visible seams, and a deeper mouth.

I've gone over the thing a few times looking for any more clues like a brand stamp or logo but there's nothing beyond MADE IN CHINA.

I can provide more walk-around photos if anyone's interested. I also don't want to hijack NSD Bashe's thread too much here, though it does seem the eel is a "lost model with a forgotten name."

[MudpupWaterdog]

Aha, you mean this guy?

I do! That's exactly the cuttlefish I had, in that color scheme and in taupe. Thanks for tracking it down. I can't confirm that it was Sun-Wai, just that it was made of similar material and had the same squeezy properties. Similar in size and construction to the filefish.

[NSD Bashe]

I also don't want to hijack NSD Bashe's thread too much here, though it does seem the eel is a "lost model with a forgotten name."

Oh don't worry about that this thread is for anyone who wants to discuss any weird unknown figures, I'm always intrigued to see more discussions

[NSD Bashe]

This will be a little of an unusual post since I normally start by discussing figures that are lost or otherwise not obtained to begin with, but this relates to a figure I have only just learned about from obtaining it.  I got a large sailfish figure labelled "Temminck", a brand I've never heard of before, nor have I found much about it other than there being a pheasant called Temminck's tragopan. 





I searched up Temminck toy fish and all that seems to come up is another listing of this particular fish; specifically this came up:

https://www.bibelotandco.fr/en/lot-of-2-large-soft-plastic-fish-cuvieret-and-temminck-china-173102

Interestingly, this Temminck sailfish appears to be paired with a variant of the Sun Wai lionfish, presumably listed as Cuvieret here.  When I look up Cuvieret toy fish mostly what comes up is more variations of the Sun Wai lionfish.  So I wonder whether this version of the lionfish was stamped with Cuvieret, or whether that was possibly yet another distributor's name, just like Club Earth, Play Visions and Accoutrements were over here.  And further, is Cuvieret / Sun Wai connected to Temminck at all, or are they both just being sold side by side.

I will note, while this Sailfish is distinct from the Sun Wai fishes, not only for the lack of the Sun Wai logo or an NO.S number, the structure is different but with some similarities as well.  It is hollow but feels slightly thicker, the fins are a tad thicker and more solidly attached, although they have similar flappy structure with similar indentation lines along them, and there are somewhat similar texture bumps over the sides of the figure, but perhaps most notably there is a different sailfish figure I am all but positive is the Sun Wai brand observable in a Worthpoint listing: (https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/unknown-rubber-plastic-marlin-fish-1997078776).  Therefore I wonder if this Temminck brand is not the same as Sun Wai or even a rebranding of a Sun Wai figure but possibly inspired by it, or at least inspired by the Sun Wai style of fish models in general.  And I wonder whether this is the only Temminck figure or if there are others out there...  Either way I'm glad to have found this one, whether it's a unique anomaly or only the beginning of another rabbit hole

[widukind]

So a few more Worthoint finds.
First there's a listing for that same Sun Wai/Club Earth porcupine fish I showed earlier, only this one has an Accoutrements tag:

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/porcupine-fish-rubber-squirt-toy-1721702706

I believe these are really Sun Wai brand at the core, since that is the logo imprinted into the figures themselves, and various interchangeable brands of Club Earth/Play Visions/Accoutrements distributed these particular figures.


Next I've come across an "unknown brand" of sailfish (listed as a marlin) which looks to me very much like it could be in the same set as the other Sun Wai fish (something about the thin shape of the fins, the similar Made in China followed by a product number, even similar aspect of having little bumps patterned across the skin) - I imagine it's very possible the Sun Wai logo could be hidden behind one of its fins unnoticed by the seller:

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/unknown-rubber-plastic-marlin-fish-1997078776


Lastly but not least, I have come across a rather beautifully detailed Club Earth spotted boxfish, albeit as a plastic coin bank.  It is still an outstanding looking figure, one of my favorite of the weird things I've stumbled across since the Sun Wai filefish and cowfish:

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-90s-club-earth-1999-molded-4694293586

While clearly not in the same set as the "squirting fish", there is one other thing which presumably sets it apart from those.  Judging by the numerous other Worthpoint listings for a similar type of Club Earth frog bank, and even a currently active listing on eBay for a Club Earth beetle bank, "Club Earth" is in fact stamped into the bottom of these figures.  Thus Club Earth is themself the actual producer of this figure, not just a distributor.

Wow, that boxfish.

[widukind]

Sadly much of the sea life treasures are so huge.