Monterey Bay Aquarium Collection tags

[callmejoe3]

So whenever it's within fiscal reason, I try to avoid buying Monterey Bay Aquarium figures that are still in production brand new, because secondhand sellers can often offer figures that still have one of the older tags. The older ones were more interesting with more taxonomic info and the intended scale of the figure. From what I can tell, there were at least 3 different editions of these tags. The first edition (just the MBA logo) and the second edition (has a photo of the animal replica itself) both have more detailed descriptions. The modern ones just have the name of the animal and that's it. Picked up these photos off of worthpoint. Feel free to add to this thread if you have any of the other older tags to any of the MBA figures you own or want to replace w/ better quality photos.

[bmathison1972]

very nice Joe, thanks for sharing!

[callmejoe3]

So one of my Christmas presents was a vintage marine life toy lot that even had a little booklet for the Safari Ltd Monterey Bay Aquarium collection. The front page is missing, but that was the only part that was missing.































Not all of the collection is presented here. The Sawfish, Narwhal, Giant Squid, Pacific White-sided Dolphin, and the Thresher Shark are all absent, and likely because they were all later additions to the series. The oldest one of these 5 is the Sawfish, released in 1995. The newest figure in this booklet is the Blue Shark, a 1994 release. This most likely means this booklet was released in 1994. I wonder if there's a ''Volume 2'' booklet or an updated catalog somewhere.

[JimoAi]

So whenever it's within fiscal reason, I try to avoid buying Monterey Bay Aquarium figures that are still in production brand new, because secondhand sellers can often offer figures that still have one of the older tags. The older ones were more interesting with more taxonomic info and the intended scale of the figure. From what I can tell, there were at least 3 different editions of these tags. The first edition (just the MBA logo) and the second edition (has a photo of the animal replica itself) both have more detailed descriptions. The modern ones just have the name of the animal and that's it. Picked up these photos off of worthpoint. Feel free to add to this thread if you have any of the other older tags to any of the MBA figures you own or want to replace w/ better quality photos.

Wait, the older monterey bay orca is larger than the new one??

[callmejoe3]

@JimoAi

No, they're both the same size. Not all of the figures scale up to the average size reported on the tag. 25 feet/7.1 meters would be representative of a male killer whale. Since the one they produced is a female, it's a bit smaller. It's 162mm, corresponding to a 21 ft individual.

[callmejoe3]

@JimoAi

I think I'm starting to see what you were referring to, I think you meant to quote the booklet page where it says the figure measures 19.1cm. I measured my figure and realized the booklet is reporting the top-side length measurement. That's unreliable because the curves cause the body length to be overestimated. Measuring along the lower body is more accurate, it still measures the same as the current figure.

[JimoAi]

What do you mean by the bottom length being same as the top? Which one is the collect size? 16.2cm or 19.1cm

[callmejoe3]

What do you mean by the bottom length being same as the top? Which one is the collect size? 16.2cm or 19.1cm

Correct size is 162mm. When measuring length of a figure, you need to account for the curve. With the way the figure is arched, the top side (The outside of the curve) will measure differently than the bottom side of the body ( The inside of the curve). The outside curve will be longer than the true total length of the animal if it were posed in a straight line, the bottom curve will measure about the same.

When I said ''both are the same'' earlier, I was comparing to the older and newer figures in response to your question, not the sides.

[callmejoe3]

Updating this post with proper scans from the booklet.