Recent acquisitions

[JimoAi]

got some new additions!


starting off with some sea animals for my main display. Roster includes the Safari LTD sea lion, I'll be databasing it as a Steller's sea lion due to the scale of it and it's clearly a female sea lion. Got the spectacular Papo elephant seal, which I'm databasing off a Northern elephant seal, The Papo Manatee, The mojo humpback whale and the Safari ltd tiger shark which has a very good sculpt dragged down with the lack of a 5th gill slit and the stripes being sparce and too generic, which I have repainted and added the 5th gill slit!


An official Bandai gachapon store opened near my place just last week and I was looking forward to getting the Bandai Sharks set. Unfortunately, they didn't have the set yet but they did have the fossil fish set! I've managed to get all 5, including the secret/chase Malaysian Blue base Golden arowana, but not including 3 red arowanas, 5 alligator gars and 4 each of Frilled sharks and coelacanths!

also acquired the Bandai waiting animals wave 9 as the Spotted eagle ray and the Hammerhead shark caught my eye! it's not everyday that rays get included in stuff like this and they went with a Spotted eagle instead of a Manta! the hammerhead shark is generic but probably represents S.lewini from the head shape and shorter dorsal fin

Lastly, got the SpongeBob nendoroid. This seems to be the year of highly articulated SpongeBob figures as super7 is releasing highly articulated figures of SpongeBob, Sandy, Patrick and Squidward which are comparable to the likes of a Figma or highly articulated dolls. I've went with the nendoroid instead of the super7 Spongebob as the nendoroid is more expressive, and I've seen alot of not so favourable reviews on the SpongeBob figure in particular. I've kept my preorders for Sandy, Patrick and Squidward however. Also this is a plead for companies to make a Sea sponge figure especially Aplysina fistularis because there's a severe lack of them in the market even by Japanese companies and I'm sure they'll bring anyone's reef diorama to life.

[bmathison1972]

I am envious that you have a Bandai store near you     

[JimoAi]

I am envious that you have a Bandai store near you     

oh it's newly opened and it draws in a big crowd even after opening day. the store looks to be on the smaller side but it contains 300 gashapon machines and some premium ones that are way more expensive. Not much Diversity on Life on earth tho, I've seen only like 10-15, including the leopard gecko and armadillo mini collection, hamster and sugar glider mini collection, beetle, caterpillar, pacman frogs, baby crested geckos and the mentioned fossil fish are the ones on the top of my head and they're more expensive than alot of the other gashapon options.

[Fembrogon]

Also envious of you for that Bandai store; that sounds really cool and very fun to visit.
then again, maybe I'm better off without the extra temptation so close...

Speaking of Bandai, I had a set of Ikimono Encyclopedia figurines arrive yesterday, courtesy of @brettnj. This is the mini mantis set which was released early this year - extremely lifelike, but definitely fragile! Assembly had to be done with care.

[bmathison1972]

I got both colors of the ghost mantis and the Deroplatys; I was not happy with how they assembled. I think I had to reinforce some with Glue-all/school glue

[NSD Bashe]

Well I obtained a particularly rare variant of the AAA anglerfish that I have only ever seen one image of from a seemingly defunct online store.  I had this on my radar but didn't expect to come across it at this time (and for a pretty decent price).

[bmathison1972]

Congrate NSD Bashe. As niche as it may seem (per your other post) I love your devotion completeness to these unusual fish!

[NSD Bashe]

Thanks   

[Fembrogon]

I got both colors of the ghost mantis and the Deroplatys; I was not happy with how they assembled. I think I had to reinforce some with Glue-all/school glue

They're tricky to assemble, aren't they? I was really struggling with some of the legs and heads. I don't think the pegs and holes were molded with enough definition.
They look lovely when finished, though; I just have to check them sometimes to make sure they're balanced on their feet correctly!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Congratulations on the angler fish! I was watching that one too as I had never seen it before. Congratulations!

[bmathison1972]

Today I got some review samples from our friends at HHT, including the Papo rose chafer, Papo common spider, and Safari Ltd. Great Dane.
They were also nice enough to include the Papo spotted eagle ray, even though JimoAi will be reviewing it

No pics here; you'll have to wait for the reviews

Seeing the morphology in-hand, I think the rose chafer is Protaetia cuprea rather than Cetonia aurata (both can go by the common name 'rose chafer) and the spider is Parasteatoda tepidariorum.

[NSD Bashe]

Congratulations on the angler fish! I was watching that one too as I had never seen it before. Congratulations!

Thanks     I hope you weren't too disappointed to see it get taken though; tbh I almost felt a little greedy grabbing it since they're hard to find now but I really wanted to display the full rainbow of anglers  (if I see another one I'll let you know)

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Hey, no need to apologize! My comment was only meant to convey that it is a real eye catching piece. I liked it, but didn't need to "have it now" if that makes sense... I have been budgeting for some other figures instead, hence why I passed on it for now. I am glad it joined your venerable deep sea fish army! 

[BlueKrono]

@NSD Bashe I'd be interested in it if you ever see another one. Thanks for keeping an eye out.

@EpicRaptorMan I believe you said you were looking for the Papo horned frog too... I recently found them for sale in an online store in Sweden. Very reasonably priced, even shipping to the US was surprisingly cheap, and it actually showed up too, and quickly at that! It was a legit one, still had the hang tag and everything. A great buying experience. Here's the link:
https://w90489.shop.textalk.se/en/brand/papo/horned-frog.html

[NSD Bashe]

@NSD Bashe I'd be interested in it if you ever see another one. Thanks for keeping an eye out.

Sure thing

[bmathison1972]

Just got the DCS fllightfish; thanks to @NSD Bashe for altering me to it on eBay.

Don't feel like taking a pic for one figure, so here's a link the N'Bashe's (it's the smaller plastic one):
https://animaltoyforum.com/index.php?topic=63.msg35220#msg35220ash

[BlueKrono]

Just got the DCS fllightfish; thanks to @NSD Bashe for altering me to it on eBay.

Don't feel like taking a pic for one figure, so here's a link the N'Bashe's (it's the smaller plastic one):
https://animaltoyforum.com/index.php?topic=63.msg35220#msg35220ash

What is a flightfish?

[Isidro]

Just got the DCS fllightfish; thanks to @NSD Bashe for altering me to it on eBay.

Don't feel like taking a pic for one figure, so here's a link the N'Bashe's (it's the smaller plastic one):
https://animaltoyforum.com/index.php?topic=63.msg35220#msg35220ash

What is a flightfish?

I think something like that

[bmathison1972]

Just got the DCS fllightfish; thanks to @NSD Bashe for altering me to it on eBay.

Don't feel like taking a pic for one figure, so here's a link the N'Bashe's (it's the smaller plastic one):
https://animaltoyforum.com/index.php?topic=63.msg35220#msg35220ash

What is a flightfish?

I thought I corrected that typo, but my correction must not have taken. Hmmm

[JimoAi]

ordered the Papo eagle ray and a childhood grail of mine: the 2005 1:32 Schleich Great white. can't wait for them to get here!