My Killer Whale collection + description of rare vinyl that's my favorite one.

[callmejoe3]

Hey guys, back when I was a kid, I remember getting this really neat vinyl killer whale from Toys R Us sometime between 2006-2010. I've lost that figure since then and it took me about 3-5 years to even find the brand again on the animal Toy Wiki 3 weeks ago (it was only added around April of this year). Even then, listings were scarce, which really indicated that this figure was long discontinued. Though I managed to come across a SINGLE UK seller on eBay that had the figure and I bought it in a heartbeat. It had just arrived yesterday



This is the Toy Major Trading co. Killer Whale 1749 A. This figure was released in 2006 as part of their Sea Life lineup and is roughly in the 1:35 scale in according with a ~20ft killer whale. It's a real shame that this figure is so rare because it's honestly one of the better killer whale vinyls released at the time and still is now IMO. It remains my personal favorite killer whale vinyl.





My adoration for this vinyl mainly lies within its sculpt. For 2006, the proportions are really nice, much better than the competing figures like the 1998 Safari ltd and both the 1995 and 2004 figures from Schleich. I especially like the way it approached a tall male-like dorsal fin; the back is not concave with a pointy tip like the shorter fins of juveniles and females, but flat-wavy with a round tip. The head and flukes are probably a bit too big to make it look 1:1, but nothing's too distracting other than the overly large sclera, which I can paint over. However, what really makes this figure stand out is how its good proportions are accompanied by a neutral-arched anatomical pose. This is the standard pose that I strongly prefer from my vinyl cetaceans. It also has its mouth closed, which I also generally prefer. It's in this area where vinyl orcas with even better proportions like the Monterebay Aquarium and the most recent Safari ltd figures fall short for me. Neither of those figures are in a neutral arch, and I'm also not a fan of the MOJO 2012's pose, which is more of a pure straight line. So very few killer whale figures cross this good balance between good proportions and my preferred cetacean pose.

Comparison with the rest of my collection

1.  1995 Schleich

2. 1998 Safari LTD


3. 2004 Schleich

4. 2019 Safari LTD

5. 1991 Monterey Bay Aquarium


It's a shame that this sculpt is retired and hasn't been released by Toy Major or licensed to another brand like the Maia and Borges sculpts for the sperm whale, gray whale, and humpack whale were between Schleich, Papo, and Mojo.

This is a sneak peak of my much larger cetacean collection. I have 2 critical items coming through the mail that I have to wait for before showing off the whole thing.

[AnimalToyForum]

Looking good! Male killer whales have ridiculously tall dorsal fins, don't they! I sometimes forget but that 1995 Schleich figure really hammers the point home.

A quirky aside, and sorry for the minor derail: my sister has an Orca phobia. Really weird, she admits, but even now in her 30s she can't even bear to look at a picture of one. She talks about it here: http://littlelizzieweirdo.blogspot.com/2012/07/killer-whale-phobia-explained.html And bizarrely, she's not alone: https://www.fearof.net/fear-of-whales-phobia-cetaphobia/

[callmejoe3]

Makes perfect sense to me, honestly. Whether they're actually friendly or not, it doesn't change that they're fairly intimidating creatures. I actually used to be afraid of them, like seeing the giant fluke from Finding Nemo or the live action Pinocchio movie from 1996. It was a weird thing where they were intimidating, but I wanted to see more of them.

[callmejoe3]

Looking good! Male killer whales have ridiculously tall dorsal fins, don't they! I sometimes forget but that 1995 Schleich figure really hammers the point home.

Yeah, though Schleich does that weird thing where they choose to make it tall, but keeps the back concave with a pointy tip. I have a lot of sculptural issues with that figure, but I will commend it by actually having the ''correct'' neutral-arched pose.

[AnimalToyForum]

Makes perfect sense to me, honestly. Whether they're actually friendly or not, it doesn't change that they're fairly intimidating creatures. I actually used to be afraid of them, like seeing the giant fluke from Finding Nemo or the live action Pinocchio movie from 1996. It was a weird thing where they were intimidating, but I wanted to see more of them.

Oh, don't get me wrong, you wouldn't catch me swimming with killer whales, they are terrifying top predators!. Maybe you're attracted to them because they are so intimidating. Similar to how so many children (and adults) love dinosaurs.

Still, I'm not going to be hiding behind the sofa watching Free Willy. I suggested to my sister, tongue in cheek, that she watches Orca (1977), but she dared not even watch the trailer. Have you seen it?

I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of your whale collection. If you're interested, you can see my marine reptile collection on our sister forum: http://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=3.0

[Gwangi]

I've seen Orca (1977). One of the more enjoyable Jaws rip-offs in my opinion. And for Harry Potter fans the movie stars a young Richard Harris who played the original Dumbledore.

I grew up watching the more family friendly Free Willy and for a good part of my childhood I was obsessed with killer whales. Great collection Joe! I still need to pick up an orca for my cetacean collection.

[callmejoe3]

Makes perfect sense to me, honestly. Whether they're actually friendly or not, it doesn't change that they're fairly intimidating creatures. I actually used to be afraid of them, like seeing the giant fluke from Finding Nemo or the live action Pinocchio movie from 1996. It was a weird thing where they were intimidating, but I wanted to see more of them.

Oh, don't get me wrong, you wouldn't catch me swimming with killer whales, they are terrifying top predators!. Maybe you're attracted to them because they are so intimidating. Similar to how so many children (and adults) love dinosaurs.

Still, I'm not going to be hiding behind the sofa watching Free Willy. I suggested to my sister, tongue in cheek, that she watches Orca (1977), but she dared not even watch the trailer. Have you seen it?

I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of your whale collection. If you're interested, you can see my marine reptile collection on our sister forum: http://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=3.0

I'd say my interest in orcas as an adult is slightly moreso with how they're challenging animals rather than intimidating. I'm just fascinated by how uncanny their intelligence and behaviors align with humans in some ways. There's a lot of interesting stuff like how a process known as ''cultural hitchhiking'' has been effecting the evolution of subpopulations and how they're one of the few animals alongside humans and other toothed whales where their cooperative breeding favored females evolving extended post-reproductive lifespans.

I've seen the 1977 Orca film and I really like it. On a superficial level, the film seems to reek of the ''dangerous threat to humans'' myth that orcas were subjected to prior to the serious behavioral research that started in the 1960's. However the movie actually does reflect the times by having the orca's intimidation come through its emotional capacity to feel passion and revenge like a human while also displaying an absurd degree of cunning. The movie hypes the animal, but hypes it up by focusing on its mental complexity that the scientific community had recently gotten swept up in. The grossest scene was definitely when the female mate had that miscarriage.

The movie also preserves an interesting misconception that researchers had at the time: killer whales were monogamous. This perception came through the observation of adult male resident orcas sticking with the same females throughout their adult lives. However, it turns out those females were their sisters, aunts, and mothers, whom they do not mate with. Resident orcas and other fish-specialists ecotypes are strictly philopatric to their natal pods. Mammal-eaters like transients are different, where males do often disperse, but I don't believe there's any record of monogamy in any killer whale population. The entire species-complex is generally promiscuous and individuals mate with partners from outside their natal pods.

They're my 2nd favorite cetacean. #1 is the Sperm Whale for similar reasons.

BTW, That is a mighty fine Mesozoic collection you got there.

[callmejoe3]

I've seen Orca (1977). One of the more enjoyable Jaws rip-offs in my opinion. And for Harry Potter fans the movie stars a young Richard Harris who played the original Dumbledore.

I grew up watching the more family friendly Free Willy and for a good part of my childhood I was obsessed with killer whales. Great collection Joe! I still need to pick up an orca for my cetacean collection.

Man, I love the three theatrical Free Willy films for so many reasons, recently did a post analyzing all three movies on my personal blog

As far as PVC killer whales that you actually can get, I'd recommend the 2019 Safari Ltd or the 2008 Papo one for a male. Then the recent Schleich one for a good female, though I'm not sure if it would scale nicely with the other two. The 2012 Mojo could probably do that.

[sirenia]

Quite a nice looking pod you got there. Look forward to seeing more of your collection.

[bmathison1972]

Very nice! I have the 2019 Safari figure in my collection.

[callmejoe3]

Very nice! I have the 2019 Safari figure in my collection.

That's a good one to have

[callmejoe3]

Quite a nice looking pod you got there. Look forward to seeing more of your collection.

Yeah, if the estimated deliveries are to be relied upon, I should have my last two items by the week of thr 24th.