Blaine's Bin Bugs

[bmathison1972]

Here is an interesting set of 12 figures from an unknown manufacturer. The figures are larger than standard bin tubes, almost comparable with Wild Safari-sized figures. Some unique sculpts and a few interesting species choices.

Because of their size, breaking them into two images. first the non-beetles:
cricket, cockroach, cicada, wasp, bee, spider



Next, the beetles:
tiger beetle (Cicindelinae), longhorned beetle, unknown beetle (I had always called this a buprestid, but not with much confidence; suggestions welcome!), lady bug, goliathine scarab (Trigonophorus rothschildi varians), dung beetle (Coprinae).

[bmathison1972]

A set of six generic figures, utilizing sculpts seen many times over and over...

dragonfly, grylloblattid, mantis, ant cockroach, cricket

[bmathison1972]

You can call whatever you want, I only said in what it was based. Looks like as if you feel molested by my comment!

After re-reading what I wrote I can see how it came across as harsh (a frequent dilemma when interpreting posts, emails, etc) but my comment about calling them what I want was meant to be jovial. 

[bmathison1972]

Three accessory packs by Schleich.

First the 'Butterfly Set' from 2015. It has two butterflies and an agave-like plant. The butterflies are generic, but the paint application on the orange one looks as though it might have been influenced by the monarch, Danaus plexippus and the yellow one was influenced by a sulfur butterfly in the family Pieridae. Both are generic though (and I don't think either would be associated with this plant in nature, but don't hold me to that).



Next is the 'Death Valley Set', also from 2015. It has a scorpion, spider, millipede, and a cattle/bison skull. The millipede, which is quite well done given its small size, is a welcome change. There are several large, dark millipedes in the desert southwest, most in the orders Spirobolida and Spirostreptida. The spider and scorpion are too generic, although one could imagine the spider as the western widow, Latrodectus hesperus but it's lacking the red hourglass!



Thirdly is the 'Scorpion Nest' from 2016. The scorpion is the same model from the Death Valley Set and the 'nest' has been used multiple times with other figures for similarly-styled accessory packs.

[stargatedalek]

I would say Emperor scorpion is a safe ID. The pitting on the claws and they're stubby nature are hard to place on another.

[bmathison1972]

I would say Emperor scorpion is a safe ID. The pitting on the claws and they're stubby nature are hard to place on another.

Morphologically they do appear to be modeled after an emperor scorpion, but if the Death Valley set is true to it's name, emperor scorpions do not occur in North America 

[acidshadow]

Our next set will be of a set of generic insects bought at a dollar store, probably in 1999 or maybe 2000. It is from an unknown manufacturer. The figures are a hard plastic, but not too brittle. If the paint looks like it has chipped over time, they actually looked like that when I bought them! Despite their generic appearance, I have not seen these sculpts repeated elsewhere!

There are 9 sculpts representing 14 figures. From left to right, top to bottom: centipede (two color forms), spider A (two color forms), grasshopper, spider B (two color forms), ant (two color forms), flea (two color forms; and fat! but fleas are so rarely made, it's a nice treat), cockroach, bee, fly.

I know this is a somewhat older post, but I made an account just to thank you so much for featuring this collection. I had this collection (or at least most of it) when I was very young; I'd estimate from about 1995 at least? I'm pretty sure I had this set before the age of 10, and I was 12 in the year 2000 (I'm also in the UK if that's any help).

I used to have my collection living in the dolls house, and I'm in the process of painting a set of scenes with this insect family. But I couldn't quite remember the whole set. I distinctly remembered the brown and grey sets of fleas, centipedes and spider B. I even distinctly remembered the yellow fly, but I couldn't quite recall the other insects. I confused my memory of the ants for woodlice (a favourite animal of mine, I think is secretly wished for woodlice figures and still do!) and the flies for being a pair. One yellow and one black (It's a red bee!).

But your photo refreshed my memory, and they are such good references to paint from.

The fleas were my favourites and clearest in my memory. Fat and slightly inaccurate, but even I knew they were fleas when I was little. 

I really appreciate people like you sharing these things. I had been very lost searching for them!

[bmathison1972]

Our next set will be of a set of generic insects bought at a dollar store, probably in 1999 or maybe 2000. It is from an unknown manufacturer. The figures are a hard plastic, but not too brittle. If the paint looks like it has chipped over time, they actually looked like that when I bought them! Despite their generic appearance, I have not seen these sculpts repeated elsewhere!

There are 9 sculpts representing 14 figures. From left to right, top to bottom: centipede (two color forms), spider A (two color forms), grasshopper, spider B (two color forms), ant (two color forms), flea (two color forms; and fat! but fleas are so rarely made, it's a nice treat), cockroach, bee, fly.

I know this is a somewhat older post, but I made an account just to thank you so much for featuring this collection. I had this collection (or at least most of it) when I was very young; I'd estimate from about 1995 at least? I'm pretty sure I had this set before the age of 10, and I was 12 in the year 2000 (I'm also in the UK if that's any help).

I used to have my collection living in the dolls house, and I'm in the process of painting a set of scenes with this insect family. But I couldn't quite remember the whole set. I distinctly remembered the brown and grey sets of fleas, centipedes and spider B. I even distinctly remembered the yellow fly, but I couldn't quite recall the other insects. I confused my memory of the ants for woodlice (a favourite animal of mine, I think is secretly wished for woodlice figures and still do!) and the flies for being a pair. One yellow and one black (It's a red bee!).

But your photo refreshed my memory, and they are such good references to paint from.

The fleas were my favourites and clearest in my memory. Fat and slightly inaccurate, but even I knew they were fleas when I was little. 

I really appreciate people like you sharing these things. I had been very lost searching for them!

Glad you enjoyed it. I remember I bought mine shortly after the Disney movie, A Bug's Life came out, so I probably bouth it in 1999 (but it could have been made sooner). I was living abroad in 1997 and 1998 so it wasn't that early (A Bug's Life came out in 1998).

[Birdsage]

The next set will be the World of Nature Insect Collection by Funrise Toys (1989). I have already reviewed this popular set in detail, but here is a quick overview. Many very interesting species choices presented here.

Names are what they were marketed as; Latin names in parenthesis are of my assignment:

TOP ROW:
wolf spider, black widow (Lactrodectus tridecimguttatus), trapdoor spider, tarantula, Euscorpius, sheep tick (Ixodes ricinus).
SECOND ROW:
giant whip scorpion (Mastigoproctus giganteus), cockroach, king termite, common praying mantis (Mantis religiosa), migratory locust (Locusta migratoria), weevil (Lixus sp.).
THIRD ROW:
great diving beetle (Dytiscus marginatus), click beetle (maybe Ampedus species), death's head hawkmoth (Acherontia atropos), common hornet (Vespa crabro), tarantula hawk wasp, large headed worker ant (Pheidole megacephala).
BOTTOM ROW:
Dinoponera ant, bumblebee, tse tse fly, fruit fly, black fly, horse fly.

These are, as you said, some very interesting species for sure! How did you find them?

[bmathison1972]

@Birdsage the whole set was on eBay