Mathison Museum of Natural History

[sbell]

One of my favorite CollectA figures!

Mine too, and it came out shortly after I expanded my collection beyond arthropods. Needless to say, it was an instant purchase 

I had been hunting for the coveted Bullyland figure for a long time. It was nice to get an alternative. A more affordable one too. 

Do what I do, amd have both ! Of course, I was there when it released, so it was a bit easier.

And the Starlux!

If I ever come across the Bullyland I'll still get it and display them both, it's just nice to have that gap in my collection filled.

That one makes me think the brilliant heyday of Bullyland. I'm really glad I got in on all of their weird ones when they first came out. So hard to find now.

[Gwangi]

One of my favorite CollectA figures!

Mine too, and it came out shortly after I expanded my collection beyond arthropods. Needless to say, it was an instant purchase 

I had been hunting for the coveted Bullyland figure for a long time. It was nice to get an alternative. A more affordable one too. 

Do what I do, amd have both ! Of course, I was there when it released, so it was a bit easier.

And the Starlux!

If I ever come across the Bullyland I'll still get it and display them both, it's just nice to have that gap in my collection filled.

That one makes me think the brilliant heyday of Bullyland. I'm really glad I got in on all of their weird ones when they first came out. So hard to find now.

I thankfully have most of the more obscure critters from Bullyland but there are still a few I'm missing. Most notably the Arizonasaurus and Mastodonsaurus. Holy grails for me.

[bmathison1972]

Mastodonsaurus is a Holy Grail for me, too.

[sbell]

One of my favorite CollectA figures!

Mine too, and it came out shortly after I expanded my collection beyond arthropods. Needless to say, it was an instant purchase 

I had been hunting for the coveted Bullyland figure for a long time. It was nice to get an alternative. A more affordable one too. 

Do what I do, amd have both ! Of course, I was there when it released, so it was a bit easier.

And the Starlux!

If I ever come across the Bullyland I'll still get it and display them both, it's just nice to have that gap in my collection filled.

That one makes me think the brilliant heyday of Bullyland. I'm really glad I got in on all of their weird ones when they first came out. So hard to find now.

I thankfully have most of the more obscure critters from Bullyland but there are still a few I'm missing. Most notably the Arizonasaurus and Mastodonsaurus. Holy grails for me.

For a brief time I had 2 Mastodonsaurus. The first was a mistake from Dinosaur Farm, they sent it instead of the Bully mastodon (gomphothere). It was pretty beat up though.
Got a second one later. I think when they reissued some models. And rehomed the first one.

The Arizonasaurus is one of their last great ones and I can't believe there aren't more models of it!

[bmathison1972]

Species: Lepidochelys olivacea (Eschscholtz, 1829)
Common name(s): olive ridley sea turtle; Pacific ridley sea turtle

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Takara Tomy A.R.T.S.
Series: Primary Turtles in Colour
Year of Production: unknown
Size/Scale: Carapace length approximately 3.5 cm for a scale of 1:17.7-1:20
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure was first produced by Yujin in 2002 before Takara acquired the 'Primary Colour' line. The turtle is removable from its base.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Circumtropical
Habitat: Benthopelagic; at depths of 0-200 meters. Nesting occurs on sandy beaches.
Diet: Marine invertebrates
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Vulnerable
Miscellaneous Notes: Like other sea turtles, L. olivacea returns to sandy beaches to lay its eggs. Mass nesting events are called arribadas. Lepidochelys olivacea has nesting sites throughout its range, but Gahirmatha Beach in Odisha, India is the largest known breeding ground for this species. The beach is now part of the Bhitarkanika Wildlife and Gahirmatha Marine Wildlife Sanctuaries to help protect the turtles.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Jumnos ruckeri Saunders, 1839

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Wing Mau
Series: Insects
Year of Production: unknown
Size/Scale: Body length (excluding appendages) approximately 4.3 cm, within scale 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare (possibly unique as a sculpt)
Miscellaneous Notes: The Wing Mau Insects collection consists of 24 figures representing 23 species of beetles (there are two color variants of Adalia bipunctata). The figures have the Latin name printed on the underside. The figures seem to have been influenced by an Italian poster, Beetles, from 1992, as all the species are represented in that poster (including both variants of Adalia bipunctata) and have the same Latin names assigned to them (this poster hangs in my home office; I've had it since 1995). Some figures in this set were also produced for Play Visions for their Habitat Earth line (including today's). Most of the species in this Wing Mau collection are unique, at least as sculpts, although many get copied and bootlegged. Today's model is often sold in generic insect and beetle sets, often with unnatural colors.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southeast Asia (India to Myanmar, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia)
Habitat: Tropical rainforest
Diet: Larvae feed in decaying wood, humus, detritus; adults feed on ripe fruit and sap
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Jumnos ruckeri exhibits marked sexual dimorphism whereby males have more elongated front femora and tarsi.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Dama dama (Linnaeus, 1758)
Common name(s): fallow deer; European fallow deer

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: CollectA
Series: Wildlife
Year of Production: 2014
Size/Scale: Height at shoulders approximately 6.0 cm for a scale of 1:14.2-1:16.7
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: Very few figures of D. dama are still available, with other modern standard-sized figures being produced by AAA, Bullyland (2012), New-Ray (2008), ELC, and Nayab.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Asia Minor and the Mediterranean Basin; introduced to many locations around the world (see below)
Habitat: Primarily deciduous woodlands; also mixed forests, subalpine forests, grasslands, scrubland, savanna
Diet: Vegetation, including grasses, low-growing shrubs, herbs, buds, shoots, bark
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Prior to the last glaciation, the distribution of D. dama included most of Europe, but towards the end of the Pleistocene its range was limited to parts of Asia Minor and the Mediterranean Basin. It has been introduced to at least 38 countries around the world for game, including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Peru, Morocco, Réunion, São Tomé, the Seychelles, South Africa, the Comoros, the Falkland Islands, Israel, Lebanon, Great Britain, Ireland, and most of continental Europe. Most of the introductions in Europe occurred prior to 1900.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Oncorhynchus mykiss gilberti (Jordan, 1894)
Common name(s): Kern River golden trout; Kern River rainbow trout

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Replica Toy Fish
Series: 3 Inch Collection
Year of Production: 2015
Size/Scale: Body length approximately 7.9 cm for a scale of 1:3.2-1:9
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare (unique as a subspecies)
Miscellaneous Notes: RTF also made the nominate subspecies, the Kamchatkan rainbow trout (O. m. mykiss), for the 3 Inch Collection. I do not have it to know whether or not it uses the same sculpt, but images online seem to show two unique sculpts.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Kern River System in Tulare County, California
Habitat: Clear, cold, clean mountain streams
Diet: Aquatic invertebrates, fish, fish eggs
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated (as a subspecies); NatureServe status is Critically Impaired
Miscellaneous Notes: The Kern River golden trout is endemic to the Kern River and its tributaries, although it's current range is drastically reduced from what it used to be. Remnant populations live in the Kern River above Durrwood creek, in upper Ninemile, Rattlesnake and Osa Creeks, and possibly in upper Peppermint Creek. It belongs to a complex of three subspecies often referred to as the 'golden trout complex'. The other two subspecies are the golden trout (O. m. aguabonita) and the Little Kern golden trout (O. m. whitei). The golden trout is endemic to the southern Sierra Nevada, including the upper reach and tributaries of the South Fork of the Kern River, and Golden Trout Creek and its tributaries. The Little Kern golden trout is endemic to the main stem and tributaries of the Little Kern River.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Myrmecobius fasciatus Waterhouse, 1836
Common name(s): numbat; noombat; walpurti

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Yowie Group
Series: Rescue Series
Year of Production: 2017
Size/Scale: Body length (exclusive of tail) approximately 4.3 cm for a scale of 1:4.1-1:6.7
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: This species actually came up by random selection about a week ago, albeit with the Science and Nature figure. However, in preparing the review I realized what a horrible paint job my particular S&N model had (for example, completely lacking streaks over the eyes). I ordered this Yowie version on eBay to compare the two. In-hand, I much prefer the Yowie, both by sculpt and paint. Interestingly, however, the two figure scale very similarly to one another.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Australia; fragmented sites in Western Australia (Dryanda Woodland, Perup Nature Preserve, Mount Gibson Sanctuary), South Australia (Yookamurra Sanctuary), and New South Wales (Scotia Sanctuary)
Habitat: Eucalypt forest, semi-arid and arid woodlands, spinifex grassland
Diet: Termites
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Endangered
Miscellaneous Notes: Myrmecobius fasciatus is a specialized predator of termites. It does not intentionally eat ants, and while ants have been found in their feces, it is believed the ants are predators of the termites that get accidentally eaten along with the termites. An adult numbat requires on average 200,000 termites a day to sustain itself!

[bmathison1972]

Species: Equus ferus caballus Linnaeus, 1758
Common name(s): Clydesdale

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: CollectA
Series: Horse Country
Year of Production: 2013
Size/Scale: Height at withers (shoulders) approximately 10.0 cm for a scale of 1:16.7-1:18.3
Frequency of breed in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Common
Miscellaneous Notes: The Clydesdale is no stranger to CollectA. The first sculpt from 2007-2013 was used for a Grullo Sabino and a Dapple Grey. Today's sculpt was introduced in 2013 as a Bay (as seen here) and Black Sabino Roan. It was reissued in 2023 as a Black Sabino. CollectA also produced a foal in Bay and Black Sabino Roan alongside today's stallion and produced a Bay mare from 2010-2014. The foal was also repainted in 2023 as a Black Sabino alongside the updated stallion.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: The breed originated in Scotland (Lanarkshire) and is now bred throughout much of the world.
Habitat: Farmland, meadows, fields, pastures
Diet: Grasses and hays
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Domesticated
Miscellaneous Notes: The Clydesdale originated in Lanarkshire, Scotland along the River Clyde (hence the name) in the mid-1700s. The breed was created from a combination of native mares with Friesian and Flemish stallions. The breed's registry goes back to the 1830s. The Clydesdale Horse Society of Scotland was formed in 1877. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the breed was exported to other countries in the British Empire as well as North and South America, continental Europe, Russia, Australia, and New Zealand. Breeding in Australia and New Zealand was very successful and the Clydesdale was called 'the breed that built Australia'. The Clydesdale was originally bred as a draught animal, and was used for agriculture, hauling coal, and other heavy hauling. Today, they are still commonly used for draught purposes, including agriculture, logging, and, most importantly, transporting beer (I know, I know, they technically don't deliver the beer, but rather are used in parades and commercials for advertising Anheuser-Busch's beer). They are also popular riding and show animals.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Dryophytes cinereus (Schneider, 1799)
Common name(s): American green tree frog

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Incredible Creatures - Tree Frogs
Year of Production: 1997
Size/Scale: Legspan 9.0 cm. Snout-to-vent length approximately 6.0 cm, within scale 1:1 for a large specimen
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: This sculpt was also used for the spotted chorus frog (Pseudoacris clarkii) in the same set.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southeastern and Eastern United States in the Atlantic Plain
Habitat: Canopy forest, ponds, lakes, marshes, streams, water lily prairies; also parks and yards with plentiful vegetation and a reliable water source
Diet: Insects and arachnids
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Males of D. cinereus are very territorial and will defend their calling sites against rivals using aggressive interactions. Initially, they use a combination of aggressive call signals, but if that fails, males will wrestle one another for dominance.

[bmathison1972]

Species: †Miragaia longicollum Mateus et al., 2009

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: PNSO
Series: Prehistoric Animal Models
Year of Production: 2020
Size/Scale: Body length approximately 22.0 cm for a scale of 1:27.3-1:30
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure took a radical turn from past reconstructions of Miragaia and appears to be based on upcoming works related to The Miragaia Project (which I cannot really follow as I am not on social media). I searched, but to the best of my knowledge, this reconstruction hasn't appeared in a peer-reviewed format yet. If anyone has updates, I'd be interested to hear!

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Late Jurassic (Tithonian) of present-day Europe
Habitat: Open woodlands and adjacent riparian areas, coastal plains
Diet: Plants
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: One of the most interesting features of Miragaia among stegosaurs is its elongated neck, which consists of at least 17 vertebrae. Paleontologists speculate the long neck is the result of back vertebrae becoming incorporated into the neck. Among stegosaurs, the number of presacral vertebrae seems fairly conserved, but with Miragaia and related, there appears to be a clear transformation of dorsal vertebrae in the back becoming 'cervacalized' into cervical (neck) vertebrae.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Eupatorus gracilicornis Arrow, 1908
Common name(s): five-horned rhinoceros beetle

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Sega
Series: Mushi King - small series, standard
Year of Release: unknown
Size/Scale: Body length (including horns) approximately 4.5 cm for a scale of 1:2 for a major male
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the fourth time we've seen E. gracilicornis in the Museum. The Sega 'small standard series' were 10 sets of 10 figures each, for a total of 100 figures representing 65-75 species of Lucanidae and dynastine Scarabaeidae. The dates of release are currently unknown to me (c. 2008). The figures were produced in conjunction with Bandai and came with Pokemon-style playing cards. At the time of this writing, I think I have all but two of the species. For a review of the sets, please see the overview by forum member Beetle guy here.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southeast Asia (China, India, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia)
Habitat: Rainforests
Diet: Larvae feed in rotting wood; adults feed on nectar, plant sap, and overripe fruit
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Like many large dynastine scarab beetles, E. gracilicornis has marked sexual dimorphism. Males (as shown here today) have four large pronotal horns and one cephalic horn (hence the common name, 'five-horned rhinoceros beetle'). Females have a more rugose pronotum and lack the pronotal and cephalic horns.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Odocoileus hemionus Rafinesque, 1817
Common name(s): mule deer; black-tailed deer

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Big Country Toys, LLC
Series: Hunting Toys
Year of Production: unknown
Size/Scale: Height at shoulders approximately 6.0 cm for a scale of 1:13.3-1:17.7
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare (possibly unique, see below)
Miscellaneous Notes: There are a couple mule deer on Toy Animal Wiki by AAA and Marx, but not sure if those identifications were intended by the manufacturers or if those are 'STS community identifications'. I can see myself replacing this figure if it ever gets made by Safari, CollectA, or similar.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Western North America
Habitat: Highly variable, including deciduous, coniferous, and mixed woodlands, semideserts, deserts, plains, grasslands, sagebrush steppe, chaparral; also parks, cemeteries, suburban areas
Diet: Leaves of shrubs and trees, grasses, forbs, beans, pods, nuts, berries, lichens
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: There are two main groups of mule deer, the 'strict' mule deer and the black-tailed deer. The strict mule deer is broadly distributed in the West and is divided into eight subspecies: O. h. californicus (California), O. h. cerrosensis (Cedros Island, Baja, Mexico), O. h. eremicus (Lower Colorado River Valley, northwestern Mexico, southeastern California, and Arizona), O. h. fulginatus (southern California and Baja California), O. h. hemionus (western and central North America, including the Rocky Mountain region), O. h. inyoensis (Sierra Nevada Mountains, California), O. h. peninsulae (Baja California Sur), O. h. sheldoni (Tiburón Island, Sonora, Mexico). The black-tailed deer is more restricted along the West Coast and is divided into two subspecies: O. h. columbianus (Pacific Northwest and northern California) and O. h. sitkensis (coastal and islands of British Columbia and Alaska).

[bmathison1972]

Species: Papilio xuthus Linnaeus, 1767
Common name(s): Asian swallowtail; Chinese yellow swallowtail

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Capsule Q Museum - Caterpillars Vols. 1, 4, and 5
Years of Production: 2013, 2020, 2023
Size/Scale: Body length of 2013 and 2020 figures approximately 5.6 cm for a scale of 1.4:1-1.1:1. Body length of 2023 figure approximately 6.0 cm for a scale of 1.5:1-1.2:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Common
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the fifth time we've seen P. xuthus in the Museum. The three caterpillars from left to right represent figures from Vol. 1 (2013), Vol. 4 (2020), and Vol. 5 (2023), respectively. All three are unique sculpts (although the sculpt from Vol. 2 was also used for a Papilio protenor in the same set).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: East Asia; introduced to Hawaii
Habitat: Forests, gardens, parks, citrus orchards
Diet: Larvae feed on plants in the family Rutaceae, including cultivated Citrus; adults are attracted to flowers
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Females of Papilio xuthus mate with multiple males during its lifetime, increasing the genetic diversity in their offspring.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Cobitis biwae Jordan & Snyder, 1901
Common name(s): Japanese spined loach; Japanese striped loach

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Yujin
Series: Freshwater Fish Pictorial Book 2
Year of Production: unknown
Size/Scale: Body length approximately 5.5 cm for a scale of 1:2
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: The fish is removable from its base. Figures in this set were released at least twice; I am sure mine is from the second release based on forum member sbell's recent review this species on the Animal Toy Blog.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Japan
Habitat: Freshwater rivers, especially with sandy or gravely substrate
Diet: Freshwater invertebrates, detritus
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Cobitis biwae native to much of Honshu and Shikoku in Japan, but invasive in other parts of the country, most notably Lake Chūzenji in Tochigi prefecture and eastern Shizuoka prefecture. It is sometimes difficult to determine the full extent of its introduced range, as well as its effect on the native loaches where it's been introduced, due to strong morphologic similarities with other species.

[sbell]

Definitely second release. The saddles on the back are the giveaway!

Although from what I can tell, many Cobitis species have the complicated squiggles on the back, and most including C. biwae don't have much for saddles. But every individual tends to be pretty variable.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Eupatorus gracilicornis Arrow, 1908
Common name(s): five-horned rhinoceros beetle

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Colorata
Series: Tropical Rain Forest Rhinoceros Beetles
Year of Release: 2005
Size/Scale: Body length (including cephalic horn) approximately 6.5 cm, within scale 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the fifth time we've seen E. gracilicornis in the Museum, and the second in less than a week. Gotta love randomness! Minimal assembly is required (the legs need to be attached) and the beetle is removable from its base.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Southeast Asia (China, India, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia)
Habitat: Rainforests
Diet: Larvae feed in rotting wood; adults feed on nectar, plant sap, and overripe fruit
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: In some parts of the world, including Thailand and Laos, E. gracilicornis is eaten by local peoples.

[bmathison1972]

Species: †Redlichia rex Holmes et al., 2019

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: CollectA
Series: Prehistoric World
Year of Production: 2020
Size/Scale: Body length (exclusive of appendages) approximately 8.2 cm for a scale of 1:3 for a maximum-sized specimen
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: This figure, along with Nautilus, Orthoceras, Pleuroceras, Limulus, and Passaloteuthis, launched a new direction for CollectA in large, high-quality prehistoric (or related) invertebrates! It would be followed up by a few others since then. Let's hope it continues!

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Lower Cambrian of present-day Australia
Habitat: Marine, benthopelagic
Diet: Hard-bodied benthic invertebrates, including possibly its own species (see below)
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A [prehistoric]
Miscellaneous Notes: Potential bite marks found on some fossils of R. rex suggest that larger individuals of the species fed on smaller individuals of its own species. Redlichia rex also fed on smaller trilobites of other species, such as its congener, R. takooensis.

[bmathison1972]

Species: Chaunax abei Le Danois, 1978
Common name(s): coffinfish

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Aquarium Figure Collection - Deep Sea Creatures 1
Year of Production: 2016
Size/Scale: Base 4.5 cm wide. Body length approximately 5.7 cm for a scale of 1:5.3 for a maximum-sized specimen
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: To the best of my knowledge, this figure is unique for its species. The fish sits loosely on its base.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Northwest Pacific (Japan to southern Taiwan and South China Sea)
Habitat: Demersal; at depths of 90-500 meters
Diet: Other fish, marine invertebrates
IUCN Status (at time of posting):
Miscellaneous Notes: Chaunax abei is an ambush predator on the sea floor, snatching up any prey it encounters that will fit in its large mouth.