Recent acquisitions

[Isidro]

3. Lumholtz's tree kangaroo (Dendrolagus lumholtzi), a super perfect addition for any obscure species lover! During long time this was the only tree kangaroo easily available by collectors, until Safari released another species last year. The blue eyes are lovely but I'm not very sure if they're realistic - do Lumholtz's have blue eyes?





-Oh.... you again, Miss Wedgie?
-Yes I know, but it's not for protagonism, it's just that my owner doesn't have much more Australian arboreal animals to choose for size comparison...


But being a kangaroo we also can compare it with a terrestrial cousin, the heavily customized red kangaroo from PNSO:


4. Tiger quoll or spotted-tailed quoll (Dasyurus maculatus). Quolls are favourite mammals for me and this rendition is perfect. (Slightly repainted, originally the chestnut upper parts was separated from the clear underparts by a striking yellowish band instead gradually, and same with the head).


Size comparison, it fits perfectly with the CollectA's devil. I will let any of you to think on the dialogue that these two are having.

[Isidro]

5. Finally, the eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus). I like this figure, it's really well done and far superior than most kangaroos by western brands, but... I bought because I tought I could display it without the base, but it can't be sustained without the base. The center of gravity it's just too backwards.




And even worst, the figure doesn't stand straight, but inclined to a side. And sometimes it can fall unsuspectedly. So I will not include it in my collection.


Sizewise fits absolutely perfectly with Noce the red kangaroo, so it's a shame that I can't display it in my shelves. Moreover, if I do that, the base make the grey kangaroo looks like too tall when compared with the free-standing red kangaroo.


And now all my kangaroos for size comparison:

[Arctinus]

Wow, really amazing specimens you got there. And that giant salamander looks incredible! :O

And the olm looks really cute.  Sadly there aren't really many figures and it's one of my favourite animals (and part of our national identity that we're very proud of). I wish Collecta or some other company would make one (that would be scientifically accurate). I found this souvenir sculpt today but it's obviously not the same. 



They even have plushies with babies here, but they can't make a PVC figure? 

[bmathison1972]

@Arctinus - Safari Ltd. made an olm for their Cave Dwellers TOOB. It's not bad, but it has an extra toe on the hind feet

[Arctinus]

@Arctinus - Safari Ltd. made an olm for their Cave Dwellers TOOB. It's not bad, but it has an extra toe on the hind feet

Yes, I was surprised they made one (since it's not a well-known or a popular animal, I believe, and its endemic to a very small area) when I saw your blog review. 
I'm still thinking about maybe getting the toob (even if just for the olm). But my issue with these toobs is that they're not detailed enough (and, as you've mentioned, the three toes on the hind limbs). But thank you. 

Now I really want to check the souvenir stands/shop at Postojna Cave in case any figures pop up, but that'll have to wait till summer, I guess, due to the current situation. 

[Héroe de Leyenda]

  some of mas last acquisition

[stargatedalek]

That eagle is very nice! Who manufactures it?

[bmathison1972]

That eagle is very nice! Who manufactures it?

Science and Nature wedge-tailed eagle

[BlueKrono]

Wow, really amazing specimens you got there. And that giant salamander looks incredible! :O

And the olm looks really cute.  Sadly there aren't really many figures and it's one of my favourite animals (and part of our national identity that we're very proud of). I wish Collecta or some other company would make one (that would be scientifically accurate). I found this souvenir sculpt today but it's obviously not the same. 



They even have plushies with babies here, but they can't make a PVC figure? 

Where have you found these olms?

[Arctinus]

Wow, really amazing specimens you got there. And that giant salamander looks incredible! :O

And the olm looks really cute.  Sadly there aren't really many figures and it's one of my favourite animals (and part of our national identity that we're very proud of). I wish Collecta or some other company would make one (that would be scientifically accurate). I found this souvenir sculpt today but it's obviously not the same. 



They even have plushies with babies here, but they can't make a PVC figure? 

Where have you found these olms?

It was a souvenir from Postojna Cave, Slovenia. I don't remember the exact year, since it was in primary school (more than 14 years ago). 

[BlueKrono]

It was a souvenir from Postojna Cave, Slovenia. I don't remember the exact year, since it was in primary school (more than 14 years ago). 

Ah, that makes sense. The #1 place I want to go in all of Europe! I love olms.

[Arctinus]

It was a souvenir from Postojna Cave, Slovenia. I don't remember the exact year, since it was in primary school (more than 14 years ago). 

Ah, that makes sense. The #1 place I want to go in all of Europe! I love olms.

Yeah, the only place in my country where you can see a live olm (unless you happen to live nearby, then they're sometimes washed up on the surface during floods). We even had a huge event in 2016 where we could witness the hatching of the eggs.  But I digress too much now. 

Links here, if you're interested:

Olm eggs: Tense wait for baby Slovenian 'dragons'

Olm eggs: First two Slovenian 'dragons' emerge

[Isidro]

I passed near a toy shop where I bought other times. Incluenced by the positive feedback for this figure given at the Blog ( http://animaltoyforum.com/blog/2020/09/01/minke-whale-sealife-by-collecta/ ), especially about the presence of ear holes and the two bulges in throat, and after knowing how small can be these whales in real life (about a quarter of the lenght of a blue whale), I decided to purchase this realistic model: the minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) by CollectA.




It's as magnific as the blog review says. Every detail in sculpt is exquisite, showing that CollectA is very meticulous not only with antelopes, and their cetaceans are marvelous too. I love the spiracle, the dorsal fin, the genital slits and the very well done throat sculpt. The general shape of the animal is also very well done.

However, the paintjob of one side is not equal than the other side.



I don't know if this is intended or not. I know that some rorquals have assymetric coloration and one (I don't remember which species) is famous for have the baleens of one side black and the baleens of the other side white. Is this an error or is realistic? Should I repaint it?

Especially caught my attention an isolated diffuse blackish patch in one side, absent in the other side. Just now I realize that it's the same in other examples of the same model, such as the one reviewed in the blog.


Also I noticed that the greyish pattern in the rear flanks is not hand-painted but printed with pixels. This is what made me to reject the otherwise magnific Schleich tiger shark. But in this case the pixels are much finer than in the shark and unnoticed except by close exam, so I can let it pass.


For now I only have two baleen whales. They scale more or less well with each other, overall if we count the minke whale as one of the largest individuals and the bowhead whale as a somewhat young one.


But... beware, there are whale killers in the ocean, and not only those in ships...! Minke whale have same approximate size than orca so they fit well with Collecta killer whale.

[Isidro]

The other figure I bought in the shop is the nilghai (Boselaphus tragocamelus) by CollectA. This figure is not entirely convincing for some people, but I love it and anyway it's the only nilghai figure in the trade. This Indian antelope is very distinctive and it's strange appareance is well reflected in it's funny scientific name, that literally means "ox-deer-goat-camel" because the antelope seems to have a mixture of features of all these animals. I've repainted just the eyes as whole black, because originally they were bay with too disticnt pupils.




Sizewise, it fits very well with the larger Indian ungulates done by major brands, such as gaurs, rhinos or this buffalo:


However, if put aside with smaller animals, like the blackbuck, it looks too small. In general I think that the size is good for fit in any not too strict collection.

Of course, I must present it with its closest living relative, the four-horned antelope:


The nilghai is unaware of the danger behind it...


And after a year and half without nothing to eat ( since http://animaltoyforum.com/index.php?topic=16.msg20803#msg20803 ) because gaurs are too dangerous and blackbucks are too quick, I think our old tiger deserves something for calm its hunger!

[bmathison1972]

I have a colleague from India and he says it's a very good likeness of nilgai

[callmejoe3]

However, the paintjob of one side is not equal than the other side.



I don't know if this is intended or not. I know that some rorquals have assymetric coloration and one (I don't remember which species) is famous for have the baleens of one side black and the baleens of the other side white. Is this an error or is realistic? Should I repaint it?

I wouldn't. And it's fin whales (B.physalus), that are well known for their asymmetrical coloration. I reviewed a paper discussing coloration variability in rorquals, using the dwarf minke as the focus since it has the most complex coloration of them all, and the lateral field is known to have some documentation of asymmetry. The paper established that dwarf minke whales are just about as consistently asymmetrical as fin whales. In fact most Balaenoptera species possess some degree of asymmetry for certain coloration characters, though it's usually strongest in the fin whale.

[Isidro]

Many thanks! Then we could assume that the assymetry of paintjob in the CollectA model is intentional, or at least realistic?

[JimoAi]

I passed near a toy shop where I bought other times. Incluenced by the positive feedback for this figure given at the Blog ( http://animaltoyforum.com/blog/2020/09/01/minke-whale-sealife-by-collecta/ ), especially about the presence of ear holes and the two bulges in throat, and after knowing how small can be these whales in real life (about a quarter of the lenght of a blue whale), I decided to purchase this realistic model: the minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) by CollectA.




It's as magnific as the blog review says. Every detail in sculpt is exquisite, showing that CollectA is very meticulous not only with antelopes, and their cetaceans are marvelous too. I love the spiracle, the dorsal fin, the genital slits and the very well done throat sculpt. The general shape of the animal is also very well done.

However, the paintjob of one side is not equal than the other side.



I don't know if this is intended or not. I know that some rorquals have assymetric coloration and one (I don't remember which species) is famous for have the baleens of one side black and the baleens of the other side white. Is this an error or is realistic? Should I repaint it?

Especially caught my attention an isolated diffuse blackish patch in one side, absent in the other side. Just now I realize that it's the same in other examples of the same model, such as the one reviewed in the blog.


Also I noticed that the greyish pattern in the rear flanks is not hand-painted but printed with pixels. This is what made me to reject the otherwise magnific Schleich tiger shark. But in this case the pixels are much finer than in the shark and unnoticed except by close exam, so I can let it pass.


For now I only have two baleen whales. They scale more or less well with each other, overall if we count the minke whale as one of the largest individuals and the bowhead whale as a somewhat young one.


But... beware, there are whale killers in the ocean, and not only those in ships...! Minke whale have same approximate size than orca so they fit well with Collecta killer whale.

What do you think of the collectA orca compared to some others available in the market. Is it the best?

[Isidro]

Well, there are too many orcas, an it's difficult to choose one of the best. For this one, I think is one of the best. I like the big sickle dorsal fin indicating that is a male. The shape of the head don't convince me too much, however. It looks like a bit too elongated. Also the rear border of flippers could be more rounded. Needless to say that the shape of the grey saddle behind dorsal fin is not accurate - I painted the forward-looking "point". Despite all these small issues this is one of the best orca figures that I'm aware of for my taste - otherwise I would not have chosen it for my collection, that being synoptic, must show the finest example of each species only.

[callmejoe3]

Many thanks! Then we could assume that the assymetry of paintjob in the CollectA model is intentional, or at least realistic?

Yes to both. CollectA really did their homework for the minke whale.