Soft bodies - Worms and Mollusks

[brontodocus]

This was - at least for me - a long awaited Papo release. So here's a walk-around of the Papo Marine Life (or "L'Univers Marin") 56013 Octopus, new for 2014. While not identifiable to species level without absolute certainty this figure is probably meant to represent the Common Octopus, Octopus vulgaris Cuvier, 1797. It's quite a huge figure with an arm length (if they were stretched out) of approx. 130 mm or a diameter of perhaps 220 mm (and the arms look short or contracted in relation to the mantle). The mantle is approx. 60 mm long and the pallium (the gut bearing sac-like part of the body behind the eyes) approx. 40 mm. As a result, if one regards this figure as representing O. vulgaris the scale would be between approx. 1:4 and 1:6. The sculpt is very well made and highly detailed with lots of warts in front of the eyes and subtle, longish folds on the pallium. The suckers are among the best I've seen on a cephalopod figure. The beak is not sculpted. It's all in all a wonderful... but, no, wait, this can't be true... there's a sipho (or "hyponome") on either side of the body! So apparently the sculptor didn't know that this is in fact a single organ (which can be stretched out to one side - but only to one side at a time! ). The same mistake happened to the sculptor of the Safari Ltd Incredible Creatures Giant Pacific Octopus, by the way. It seems the Papo Octopus' master model was possibly not sculpted by hand but by computer instead - note the parallel, horizontal lines on the figure which look like unintentional 3d printer artifacts. All of you who have ordered any 3d printed models from e.g. shapeways have seen lines like these on those products, too (if they were not polished off). While I don't have a problem with a sculpt that is designed an a computer I think the master for making molds (which are highly expensive in production) should be more or less flawless and devoid of printing lines. The Common Octopus has so far not been evaluated by IUCN ("NE") and is a commercially important species in fishing industry. It is surprising how this (and other) species can not only quickly change body colouration but also get a wrinkly or even spiny appearance by contraction of subcutanous muscles so that photos of the same individual can look like entirely different species. Even the hornlets over the eyes of this figure are not unusual and a Common Octopus can show them at times.


















Edit 2017-02-04: Fixed broken image urls.

[AnimalToyForum]

Shame about the duplicated siphon...just don't turn the figure around! I also noticed the parallel lines and came to the same conclusion as you. 3D printing is getting cheaper and I'm expecting it to change the toy industry significantly in the next five or ten years...

Otherwise a great figure and a nice detailed review too! Thanks!

[brontodocus]

Many thanks, Adam!  I've also seen those parallel lines on the little WWD Pachyrhinosaurus set of three, I believe Juniper was the one with the most conspicuous of these lines.

[Jetoar]

Really beautiful replica. I was waiting to see it  .

[brontodocus]

Really beautiful replica. I was waiting to see it  .

Thanks, Jetoar! If it wasn't for the double siphon I'd say it's a figure close to perfection.

[Jetoar]

Really beautiful replica. I was waiting to see it  .

Thanks, Jetoar! If it wasn't for the double siphon I'd say it's a figure close to perfection.

Yes, it is the only fail that I have seen in this figure  .

[brontodocus]

Walk-around of the Favorite Marine Life Soft Model FM-912 Giant Squid, Architeuthis dux Steenstrup, 1857; sculpted by Hirokazu Tokugawa. Total length including the two tentacles is 319 mm, length including arms is approx. 208 mm, and mantle length is 90 mm, so the scale is between approx. 1:20 and 1:25 for a mature female individual. "Freddie the Free Diver" by Safari Ltd is approx. 1:22.5 - 1.24 scale. Impressively huge cephalopods (second in its dimensions only to the even larger Colossal Squid, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni Robson, 1925), Giant Squid females can reach mantle lengths between 1.8 and 2.25 m and a body mass up to 275 Kg. Despite having been formally described in the middle of the 19th Century, the species was only known from carcasses and dying specimens until quite recently and the first ever video documentation showing it in its natural environment was in 2012. This figure was released in 2014 and thus could reflect newer insights of the species' general appearance in life. Although the global population size is unknown, IUCN lists the Giant Squid as "Least Concern".













Edit 2017-02-05: Fixed broken image urls.

[postsaurischian]

  Beautiful figure, it's a pleasure to see Tokugawa's continuing work for Favorite (especially for the prehistoric section). I'm sure we will see some more treasures in the near future.
      _{The seam lines around the eye area are a bit infelicitous though.}

[brontodocus]

Beautiful figure, it's a pleasure to see Tokugawa's continuing work for Favorite (especially for the prehistoric section). I'm sure we will see some more treasures in the near future.
      _{The seam lines around the eye area are a bit infelicitous though.}

Thanks, Helge! Yes, it seems he is making new sculpts for the Prehistoric Life Soft Models on a regular basis, now. I think it would have helped if the seam lines had been trimmed prior to painting, yes.

[Jetoar]

Really lovely replica. I think that it is better also MBA figure  .

[Takama]

Beautiful figure, it's a pleasure to see Tokugawa's continuing work for Favorite (especially for the prehistoric section). I'm sure we will see some more treasures in the near future.
      _{The seam lines around the eye area are a bit infelicitous though.}

Thanks, Helge! Yes, it seems he is making new sculpts for the Prehistoric Life Soft Models on a regular basis, now. I think it would have helped if the seam lines had been trimmed prior to painting, yes.

I just hope they keep pumping out some species and dont stop.  It be great if they did more Regular Release Dinosaurs

[brontodocus]

I just hope they keep pumping out some species and dont stop.  It be great if they did more Regular Release Dinosaurs

At least it looks promising, if I remember correctly, Archelon and Dimetrodon have just been released and Megalodon will follow.

[BlueKrono]

Thought I'd thrown them all into one category for forum ease. Sorry taxonomists.

Gastropods (and Hutts)


Cephalopods

[CetaceanFan]

Hmm, that semi translucent Octopus looks like the one that comes with the animal planet tub, but different color scheme.
And if you can than it would be nice to know the company name.

[brontodocus]

Papo Octopus photos are back!

[brontodocus]

Favorite Soft Model Giant Squid walk-around photos are back.

[brontodocus]

Photos of "Blue-ringed" Octopus are back.

[brontodocus]

Photos of IC Giant Pacific Octopus walk-around are visible again.

[brontodocus]

MBA Giant Squid images repaired.

[bmathison1972]

My earthworms:

1. Life cycle by Safari LTD
2. Bullyland
3. Kaiyodo (Backyard Creatures - Soil Organisms)