Barred Muskipper (Yujin - Freshwater Fishes Series 2, second release)

[sbell]

This walk around is part of my series of the Yujin Freshwater Fish series. Part of this will be repeating this same introductory and concluding info because copy-and-paste is easy, and it keeps things consistent.  So feel free to only read this once (or never...) as well as the stuff at the end. My main motivation is that Yujin does not have many walk arounds on this site, which is a shame because they make some great models. It is also an attempt to flood (!) the site with some fishes, because there simply have not been enough lately.

One other thing--when I give the lengths of the living species, I will be using the length given on the figure's paper for consistency. Some of them seemed off, but they seem close—often better than my original usage of the Fishbase TL (unless the FB one is more interesting...). When there are more than one, I will use the higher values. And the scales will be rounded and approximate!

So now, the fish!

This figure is the Barred Mudskipper, Periophthalmus argentilineatus , number 29 from the second series. This is the second Yujin goby, this time as the representative of the mudskipper subfamily (Oxudercinae, family Gobiidae) in the series. This is a very widespread species, in estuarine and brackish coastal regions along the Indo-Pacific oceans. This means that they range from southern Africa through the Red Sea to Oceania and Australia, north along the coast of China to Korea and the southern islands of Japan, and then further east across several Pacific localities. A map through Fishbase also indicates that they may occur in the more equatorial/sub-tropical Pacific coastal regions of the Americas, making this the most naturally widespread figure in the Yujin series! With a range like this, I'm honestly surprised that they have not been divided taxonomically into many separate species or subspecies (at least, ones that have held up to scrutiny). Mudskippers are of course famous for their ability to leave the water during lower tides to wander along mudflats, mangrove swamps and other tidal environments to hunt, even climbing trees using the pelvic-fin suction cup. They are also found in aquariums; although I'm not sure of the species, I actually successfully kept a vivarium with mudskippers and other estuarine animals for a while, and they are as fun to watch as the sound (catching the crickets before the archerfish could shoot them, for example!). The Yujin model gives a length of 9cm, although most sources referred to them as 19cm.

This model measures 6cm long, giving a scale of roughly 1:2 (1:3 with the longer, more frequently seen length). This is another very complex-patterned fish, possible the hardest to describe yet! It is a variety of shades of brown, darker on the dorsal margin fading to very light brown and then white on the belly. There are numerous black bars across the back, each of which has ragged markings and tend to sweep anteriorly from their origin on the dorsal column. On top of all of these are two irregular rows from the pectoral fins to the base of the tail which are very thin, very vertical, and very light crème colour. On top of the head, along the cheeks and where the 'neck' would be, are a scattering of crème coloured dots. A dark band extends across the cheeks from above the upper lip to the pectoral fin. The body itself is a great sculpt of a resting or calm Mudskipper, with a big, bulbous head and a body tapering to a point at the tail.  The dorsal and caudal fins are sculpted in a yellow plastic, but they are lying flat, indicating that the Mudskipper is not threatening or fighting (as opposed to the Amur Goby, whose raised fins are a more aggressive pose). The pectoral fins look like the others, but are in the position of propping up the fish, as they would when walking. The head appears to be sculpted to show the gills filled with water, so the Mudskipper can crawl on the beach or trees; this or it just has really big cheeks! The pelvic fins are more separate than in the Amur Goby, which makes sense as these fish do not tend to 'stick' to surfaces the same way .This is another Yujin fish without any base at all; seeing as it is in a walking pose, this makes sense, although it would have been neat to see it on a branch or something.

There are a few other mudskipper figures out there, but like the goby they are generally different species, again from Yujin and Kaiyodo.

Pictures:










I refer to this one as the bowhunting tournament pose--a hole in it, tossed on its back...but it's easy to see the detail that Yujin puts into every side of the models (and can often see the numbers in the photos).


For those not familiar, the Yujin Freshwater fishes were released as two series of fish, for a total of 32 fish figures. This number includes at least 3 secret figures (whose numbers remain in sequence--all figures are marked somewhere with the number) but does not incorporate a number of re-issues and repaints; there was at least one complete reissue (from which mine all come so far). The original releases, from what I can find, had yellow papers; the second release used light blue for the Series I and black for Series II. The entire set, with all variants and secrets, is actually available as a boxed set on YAJ (for around $300!), but individual figures can be found there or even on eBay for a variety of prices (the secrets & specials are of course the most expensive). Myself, there are still two or three species I don't have, but I haven't put a lot of effort into changing that...

Another nice thing about these Yujin fish model is that, like most Yujin releases, almost all of them come with a natural base and acrylic stem to display them (the Series II has a few exceptions). There are 4 or 5 bases used, plus a few unique ones for some specials. When I received mine several years ago, the fish+acrylic stems were not directly associated with the bases, so I just went with whatever worked (so if you have one or two, and the base is different, now you know why--I couldn't find a way to be sure if the bases were specific). All of the bases are based on environment--wood stems, gravel, river rocks, silt+plants, that sort of thing. Most are monochromatic, but a few are painted differently (again, often for the specials). In fact, if I wanted to get really pedantic, the bases themselves are labelled with letters based on the style, but I won't.

[Jetoar]

Wooooo a Muskipper figure  .I didnt know this figure and it is really impresive  .

[brontodocus]

Brilliant! So far, I only knew about a Kaiyodo mudskipper, this one is new to me!

[sbell]

Brilliant! So far, I only knew about a Kaiyodo mudskipper, this one is new to me!

There are actually a couple from both companies--I have a different species from Yujin from the Saltwater series (they should have just done a brackish set...) and one of the two that Kaiyodo makes, both of which are bottlecap figures!

[sbell]

So rather than create a whole other walkaround, I will post this compare-and-contrast walkaround here.

This is my second First-release Yujin Freshwater fish model; the first was the Willow Shiner. As with the shiner, if it is representative, Yujin made some significant, positive changes for the second release. The molds are the same, but the paint schemes are generally stronger and more detailed. Between this figure and the Willow Shiner, it has helped me decide that my collection will be complete if I don't have a complete run of both First and Second releases. There are a few that, if I get, I would be okay with because of the different paint schemes (the mudskipper is one of the most different, and eventually I may find an eel or snakehead) but for the most part the differences (based on the papers) don't vary enough to go through the struggle!

This figure is the first release of the Barred Mudkskipper, Periophthalmus argentilineatus . As with the second release, it is number 29.

The overall colour of the Release 1 mudskipper is a light brown with irregular dark brown saddles and stripes on the sides—the markings do not match in any way on the two sides of the fish. The body is then overlain with numerous white dots along the dorsal margin and across the entire head. The sides have thin white vertical stripes from behind the gills to the base of the tail. All of the fins are translucent yellow-orange, except the dorsal fins, which are folded onto the body, and coloured like the body. The face and head is uniformly olive-brown, with the aforementioned white spots. The pupil of the eye is a dark red circle, ringed by black. The belly is a light yellow to white; the pelvic fins are white like the body.

The most notable colouration in this figure is in what it is missing—it does not have the prominent, dark black bars along the sides (as seen in the Release 2 version). This is odd, as the black bars are what gives the fish its common name!

Still overall a nice fish figure, and different enough from the Release 2 that it could be seen as a unique individual.

Like the Release 2 Mudskipper, this is one of the few figures with no base at all.

PICTURES:
I have a few different ones—the model, of course, followed by a few companion shots with the Release 2 Mudskipper!









The major difference between the Release 1 and 2 figure is that the second release has a lot more detail in the paint job—more colours, more defined paint schemes, and a higher degree of sophistication in the paint application. Even the eyes are painted differently, with the Release 2 having a more complex pupil and colouring. Although I have only seen the other Release 1 figures in pictures, many of them seem to reflect the same differences in paint jobs compared to the 2nd releases.

Comparison between the Barred Mudskipper Release 1 and 2 (Release 2 on the right in the first 3, on the left in the last one--it's pretty clear which one is which):

[postsaurischian]

  Love the Mudskipper ... and the whole series.
I'm glad I bought a lot of them for very cheap prices a few years ago.
One of the best fish series of all time!

[sbell]

Love the Mudskipper ... and the whole series.
I'm glad I bought a lot of them for very cheap prices a few years ago.
One of the best fish series of all time!

Tell mw about it, they're great figures. Years ago I bought a near-complete set, missing only two species (and, of course, a lot of the variants).I have since managed to track one of them down, but stillneed a carp. Not even the overpriced, rare koi-colourings. Just a carp. Which is proving frustratingly difficult.

[brontodocus]

It's great to see you post so many of the Yujin Freshwater Fishes, Sean! Since they're becoming increasingly rare it's very helpful to get all this comprehensive information (my Yujin fishies count is still zero). Have you thought about making a separate thread that includes the entire series (e.g. in the Animal toy lines section)?

[bmathison1972]

It's great to see you post so many of the Yujin Freshwater Fishes, Sean! Since they're becoming increasingly rare it's very helpful to get all this comprehensive information (my Yujin fishies count is still zero). Have you thought about making a separate thread that includes the entire series (e.g. in the Animal toy lines section)?

...or maybe do what I did for some of the insect sets and do it all as a Review (rather than individual walkarounds), still here under 'Yujin'. This review would, of course, complement your detailed walkarounds

[sbell]

I will do that, yes--but only once I've got the last stupid fish of the series. I never thought I'd chase after a silly carp figure so much--ot have it prove so difficult. There are really expensive options, of course, but unless someone wants to buy the rest of a $150 set or something, I'm just going to have to be patient.

Then, when they are all at least represented (it's unlikely I can ever complete the set with all of the colour variant koi, char, cherry salmon, and gold eel) then I can lay them out properly.

Until then, I will move on to other fish! The Marmit series needs some attention. Maybe. They aren't really as nice...