Aardvark (Safari Ltd. - Wild Safari Wildlife)

[brontodocus]

One of those figures you always planned to acquire and when you finally decide to buy it it's retired and already hard to find... It really took me quite some time to find this one. But hey, here is the walk-around of the Wild Safari Wildlife Aardvark, Orycteropus afer (Pallas, 1766). Snout-vent length is approx. 89 mm and tail length 50 mm, so the scale would be around 1:11 to 1:14.









Edit 2017-02-07: Fixed broken image urls.

[Jetoar]

The name of this creature in spain is anteater pig. The last summer, I saw one of this creature in a zoo. Is a rere animal. Cool figure, I like it  .

[Ana]

Lovely one!   I have only two Naoh's Pals aardvarks and one from another company (Marks I think)

BTW Name "aardvark" also is connected with pig somehow, it comes from two Dutch words: aard- earth and varken- pig  

[brontodocus]

Lovely one!   I have only two Naoh's Pals aardvarks and one from another company (Marks I think)

BTW Name "aardvark" also is connected with pig somehow, it comes from two Dutch words: aard- earth and varken- pig

From what I've seen the Noah's Pals aardvarks are very nice, too! Like many vernacular names of African animals, these are taken from Afrikaans (which is derived from Dutch), same is true for e.g. Gemsbok, Hartebeest, or Wildebeest.

[Ana]

Lovely one!   I have only two Naoh's Pals aardvarks and one from another company (Marks I think)

BTW Name "aardvark" also is connected with pig somehow, it comes from two Dutch words: aard- earth and varken- pig

From what I've seen the Noah's Pals aardvarks are very nice, too! Like many vernacular names of African animals, these are taken from Afrikaans (which is derived from Dutch), same is true for e.g. Gemsbok, Hartebeest, or Wildebeest.

Yes, that's true Another example is Bontebok and Eland I think (Eland means Moose in Dutch, haha ). Afrikaans and Dutch are very, very similar, some say 90%-95% the same.

[critter]

I also only have the Noah's Pals. I just haven't been able to find the Safari Aardvark. 

Great pictures! (very jealous.) 

[brontodocus]

I also only have the Noah's Pals. I just haven't been able to find the Safari Aardvark. 

Great pictures! (very jealous.) 

Thanks, critter! My only way to get it was with ebay saved searches, after a few months this one popped up and it was BIN. I'm quite jealous in return about your Noah's Pals aardvarks, I'd be happy If I could find them somewhere (I only knew one source in Germany for Noah's Pals but they don't have them anymore ).

[Takama]

Here is the reissue for 2015









FYI this is the same sculpt from 2005



But it came with a new style tag

[brontodocus]

It's great to see that the Safari Ltd Aardvark has been rereleased! Good news for all of those who haven't got one, yet.

[sbell]

It's great to see that the Safari Ltd Aardvark has been rereleased! Good news for all of those who haven't got one, yet.

I think Safari has done a couple of reissues, although I can't remember the others. While it's great that it's available again, this wasn't exactly a great year for exciting or unique animal figures from them.

Lovely one!   I have only two Naoh's Pals aardvarks and one from another company (Marks I think)

BTW Name "aardvark" also is connected with pig somehow, it comes from two Dutch words: aard- earth and varken- pig

From what I've seen the Noah's Pals aardvarks are very nice, too! Like many vernacular names of African animals, these are taken from Afrikaans (which is derived from Dutch), same is true for e.g. Gemsbok, Hartebeest, or Wildebeest.

Yes, that's true Another example is Bontebok and Eland I think (Eland means Moose in Dutch, haha ). Afrikaans and Dutch are very, very similar, some say 90%-95% the same.

And can't forget the Strandloper. Or is that just one I would think of?

[stargatedalek]

I think Safari has done a couple of reissues, although I can't remember the others. While it's great that it's available again, this wasn't exactly a great year for exciting or unique animal figures from them.

I beg to differ, you don't see bass made very often (outside of novelty often low quality fishing themed toys). I agree its not as many as some years (nothing can compare to their crop last year!), but between the bass, grouper, nurse shark and shrimp I do feel that Safari has made quite a few relatively unique pieces this year. Then again I don't really pay attention to the mammals so perhaps there is often times more new than I'm realizing.


I'm curious, which paint app is it that appears more natural to everyone? Personally I think I prefer the original aardvark.

[sbell]

I think Safari has done a couple of reissues, although I can't remember the others. While it's great that it's available again, this wasn't exactly a great year for exciting or unique animal figures from them.

I beg to differ, you don't see bass made very often (outside of novelty often low quality fishing themed toys). I agree its not as many as some years (nothing can compare to their crop last year!), but between the bass, grouper, nurse shark and shrimp I do feel that Safari has made quite a few relatively unique pieces this year. Then again I don't really pay attention to the mammals so perhaps there is often times more new than I'm realizing.


I'm curious, which paint app is it that appears more natural to everyone? Personally I think I prefer the original aardvark.

I should have been more specific--I was referring specifically to the WS Wildlife (and NAW) lines. They did okay with the IC, Sealife & prehistoric lines. The less said about this year's toobs the better.

And I too prefer the original paint scheme.

[brontodocus]

I'm not sure if the paint scheme of the new version differs as much from the old one as the photos suggest. Yes, I see that the white spot in the eye is missing but the rest may be due to different lighting and background. It would be interesting to see a side-by-side comparison of both versions in one photo to be sure.

[sbell]

I'm not sure if the paint scheme of the new version differs as much from the old one as the photos suggest. Yes, I see that the white spot in the eye is missing but the rest may be due to different lighting and background. It would be interesting to see a side-by-side comparison of both versions in one photo to be sure.

Everything I've seen makes me think it is 'pinker' or 'less grey' this time around.

[sphyrna18]

I'm not sure if the paint scheme of the new version differs as much from the old one as the photos suggest. Yes, I see that the white spot in the eye is missing but the rest may be due to different lighting and background. It would be interesting to see a side-by-side comparison of both versions in one photo to be sure.

Everything I've seen makes me think it is 'pinker' or 'less grey' this time around.

The reissued aardvarks I got in stock are, if anything, darker than the original release, but not by too much. They are pinker than the original brown, but they have dark gray highlights and accents. The overall shading is much nicer than the original, imo, and I very nearly convinced myself that I needed to add the new one to my own collection because of it's nicer shading.

[sphyrna18]

I should have been more specific--I was referring specifically to the WS Wildlife (and NAW) lines. They did okay with the IC, Sealife & prehistoric lines. The less said about this year's toobs the better.

I'm still all about the new WS Jaguar.  As far as I can see, it blows just about every other jaguar figure away.  I've always favored the Schleich Jaguar, mostly due to it's big head, short legs & tail, and robust body, but it lacks any real movement and muscle detail.  This new WS Jag not only has the best coloration, it's sculpt is immaculate.  I'm also really liking the Wildlife Wonders Coyote.  I think it offers an exceptional level of detail and really captures a species that currently only Safari sees fit to make into a a figure.  I wish Safari would introduce even more wild dogs into their collections, as they seem to really excel at them.  Even the Fennec Fox, which I tend to think looks more like a Blanford's Fox, is a very nice figure (sculpted by Doug Watson, I believe). 

[brontodocus]

I should have been more specific--I was referring specifically to the WS Wildlife (and NAW) lines. They did okay with the IC, Sealife & prehistoric lines. The less said about this year's toobs the better.

I'm still all about the new WS Jaguar.  As far as I can see, it blows just about every other jaguar figure away.  I've always favored the Schleich Jaguar, mostly due to it's big head, short legs & tail, and robust body, but it lacks any real movement and muscle detail.  This new WS Jag not only has the best coloration, it's sculpt is immaculate.  I'm also really liking the Wildlife Wonders Coyote.  I think it offers an exceptional level of detail and really captures a species that currently only Safari sees fit to make into a a figure.  I wish Safari would introduce even more wild dogs into their collections, as they seem to really excel at them.  Even the Fennec Fox, which I tend to think looks more like a Blanford's Fox, is a very nice figure (sculpted by Doug Watson, I believe).

Now you got me checking Safari Ltd's website for it... I was not inspired when I saw it in the catalogue but judging from the other photos there it looks awesome! Thanks for reminding me, Chad, I think I'll get one, soon.

[brontodocus]

Walk-around images of WS Wildlife Aardvark are visible again.

[EpicRaptorMan]

I was looking at getting this aardvark. Safari LTD advertises that the figure is 2.25in Tall x 5in Long (including tail). I am a bit concerned with it's overall size.

Does anyone have a photo of this aardvark in relation to something else?