Recent acquisitions

[sauroid]

glad to see you in the forum again Dr. Andre!

[bmathison1972]

Bounty of beautiful butterflies for Blaine . Acquired over the last couple weeks.

First, these are from a set of 10. The seller had many models (they are thin, with magnets) and you bought 10 and got 10 random models. The models in the publicity shot looked good but when I got my 10, while they all had realistic patterns, the colors were random (e.g., a morpho where the blue was pink instead)! I only saved these three as they are somewhat colored like they should be (luckily the set was only a couple USD so I didn't waste much money). The Junonia (ex: Kallima) ansorgei at least it closest to what it should look like. The Papilio demodocus has green maculae instead of cream/yellow. The third I think is a poorly-pained Danaus genutia, although it could be another Danaus...or a pierid mimic...or...



Next more feves! These came with French names, and some folks on STS has helped me confirm IDs based on French translations (a couple are too generic):
left to right, top to bottom:

1. Le Polygone, satyr comma, Polygonia satyrus
2. Le noctuelle, Erebidae, gen. sp.[noctuelle is apparently a generic term for noctuid moths, Erebidae, formerly in Noctuidae]
3. l'Argus vert, green hairstreak, Callophyrus rubi
4. Le cuivre, copper butterfly, Lycaeninae, gen. sp. [form does not fit for lycaenids, however]
5. L'exotique, ?
6. Le maculinea, Alcon blue, Phengaris alcon
7. Le tigre, Canadian swallowtail, Papilio canadensis
8. L'azure, common blue, Polyommatus icarus
9. Le paon de nuit, small emperor moth, Saturnia pavonia [this figure is a good size for for the Kaiyodo Souvenirs Entomologiques figures!]
10. Le Coliade, orange sulfur, Colias eurytheme



Lastly 8 Fascinations metal kits. Normally I do not do metal kits, but since these come realistically-colored, I thought I would give them a try. Eight North American species but at least the Polygonia comma is a new species for me! I will do a review once I have them assembled.

[bmathison1972]

A couple new things.

First an AMAZING life-sized emperor scorpion sculpture (not figure/toy) by Verones. Murky day today so I don't have the best lighting in my apartment; the detail is amazing.



Second a Lucanus maculifemoratus model kit by IMAI [hey Marcel, the other three in the set are D. hercules, A. dichotoma, and P. giraffa]. I found this on eBay when hunting down Beetle Guy's Lucanus capreolus kit (which I'd still rather have LOL). I will do a walk-around once it is completed.

[sbell]

So to end 2017, I cam across one more thing! (cross post from STS)

At a Dollar Tree, no less! Obviously some of these are yet another batch of reissued Prior (the 'bala' shark, the crab)--but some aren't (that seahorse is different, for example)



Overall, not too much to speak of--except I found yet another Climatius!



I've now got quite the school of these...!

But there are a couple others that I could use a hand with species ID's on--I'm not much for typical fish, especially marine ones.



And then, because I wanted the species and they don't exist (yet?) I took some sub-standard Replica Toy Fish figures (they were less-than perfect condition) and turned them into new species!

First, a V1 (unreleased) brook trout (looks more like a Splake to me) became a Bull trout (I hadn't noticed until I was painting that the brook trout dorsal fin is totally wrong...but I did at least smooth away the spines from the adipose fin):


Original:

And a northern pike beacame an Amur pike! Which, to me, should be called a dalmation pike. They are white or grey with black spots and blotches! And after the fact, I realized that the proportions of one of the muskellunge figures would have been better...oh well.

Original:

[stargatedalek]

The first unidentified fish looks like it could be a California Sheepshead wrasse.

[bmathison1972]

The first unidentified fish looks like it could be a California Sheepshead wrasse.

that first green one could also be a crude mahi mahi.

[sbell]

The first unidentified fish looks like it could be a California Sheepshead wrasse.

that first green one could also be a crude mahi mahi.

I thought of the Mahi mahi, but the dorsal fin originates too far back.

The wrasse is a possibility, but not sure about a sheephead.

[stemturtle]

Hydra vulgaris, syn. H. magnipapillata (Shapeways), frosted ultra detail, height 0.9 in or 23 mm.

This familiar freshwater cnidarian is capable of immortality.
Length from 5mm to 15 mm or 0.2 - 0.6 in.
Credit to Dr. Admin for the idea of a push pin for scale.

[bmathison1972]

Hydra vulgaris, syn. H. magnipapillata (Shapeways), frosted ultra detail, height 0.9 in or 23 mm.

This familiar freshwater cnidarian is capable of immortality.
Length from 5mm to 15 mm or 0.2 - 0.6 in.
Credit to Dr. Admin for the idea of a push pin for scale.

Nice to see your planktonic collection growing stemturtle.

[Beetle guy]

There are holy grale figurines...and there are holy, holy grale figurines ;-)

So today I recieved a set of three figurines from F-Toys that I never thought to collect. Three different coloured Lamprima adolphinae females. Measuring 1,7 cm (without the legs) so scale 1:1.  belonging to the third set of the F-Toys 'World Insect Encyclopedia' 2008/2009 (different release dates for parts of Japan).

These are very, very rare, because they never where for sale in stores (F-toys normaly adds a chewing gum to slip the toys into candy isles of supermarkets). They were obtainable by buying them, using a phonenumber on the series boxes to collect them.
I had never seen the set nor one of the three figurines of it, on Yahoo Auctions or elsewhere....  Though recently, complete with original package and letter I saw it. Quess no other auction hunters knew it, since I won it for the starting bid 

This weekend I will do a post on the entire F-Toys beetle output.

The set they belong to:


The box:


Unpacking:


The figurines:






Wit the Lamprima adolphinae males from the set (the blue one was the secret figurine for the set).


Compared to one of the biggest F-Toys beetles figurines; Megasoma elephas.

[bmathison1972]

The last 24 hours have been very fruitful for me.

First, WhiteLightningWolf sold be the last missing Club Earth spider (black widow) and EIGHT new species of Toy Major butterflies (which have already been posted on that thread):



Next, sphyrna18 (a Safari LTD dealer) sold me the 2018 spiny lobster and scorpion [expect walk-arounds later today or this weekend]. He also threw in a couple vintage figures including a long-lost carabid beetle [not shown here]



Thirdly, froggie unloaded a bunch of figures on to me. While I am sad she has to consolidate her collection, I am very happy to be the recepients of these:

first, many older, much-sought after (by me) Bullyland figures. Expect walk-arounds of some of these in the near future.



secondly, some K&M International Magnamorphs from 2005. Never had anything like these before.

[Beetle guy]

The Bullyland ant with wings....very nice!! Also the Safari 2018 Spinny lobster

[stemturtle]

Nature Technicolor Axolotls and Frogs, 2018, set of 8

4 figures of Ambystoma mexicanum, 2 molds, 2 colors
Axolotl, leucistic (chain)        Axolotl, golden albino (chain)
Axolotl, leucistic (magnet)     Axolotl, golden albino (magnet)

4 figures of frogs, 3 species, 3 molds
Argentine horned frog, Ceratophrys ornata (magnet)
Red-eyed tree frog, Agalychnis callidryas (magnet)
Budgett's frog, Lepidobatrachus laevis (magnet)
Budgett's frog, Lepidobatrachus laevis (chain)

Budgett's frog is the only new species of animal toy. The pose makes it hard to stand the figure up unless hanging by the chain. Perhaps the artist intended it to be swimming in water. On land the hind feet should be turned under to raise up the back in a defensive posture. The figure is nicely fashioned.

[stargatedalek]

Each of these sets has had one member that was either swimming or being held (as most of these are fairly typical pet species [or in the case of the 2nd set, the kind of native species that someone might catch and then hatch up in a home aquarium]).

The only exception being the giant salamander.

[sbell]

If that set had a wild-colour axolotl I would have been tempted...but I didn't need the morphs!

Still very nice figures though. Just wish they'd stop with the chains (at least the magnets can be invisible)

[stargatedalek]

If that set had a wild-colour axolotl I would have been tempted...but I didn't need the morphs!

Still very nice figures though. Just wish they'd stop with the chains (at least the magnets can be invisible)

I don't mind them, if only because it's probably the only reason we're getting such interesting poses!

[bmathison1972]

Arthropods from the Paleozoic Creatures set by Colorata:
1. sea scorpion, Acutiramus macrophthalmus (a new/unique species in toy/figure form)
2. trilobite, Olenoides serratus (once uncommon, it seems to be the go-to species these days)
3. anomalocarid, Anomalocaris canadensis (again, commonly made)

Despite the lack of originality with two of them, these are nice little figures!

[Beetle guy]

Did you buy the whole set? Love to see some more pic's. Thinking of purchasing them.

[bmathison1972]

Did you buy the whole set? Love to see some more pic's. Thinking of purchasing them.

I bought the whole set but am keeping the other figures in their baggies so they are pristine for the person I sell them to

[stemturtle]

Did you buy the whole set? Love to see some more pic's. Thinking of purchasing them.

A photo of the Colorata Paleozoic Creatures set of 6 was posted on the Dinosaur Toy Forum by Halichoeres:
http://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=3390.msg194571#msg194571

I bought the set for the orthocone, since I grew up in the Ordovician.