Saarlooswolfhounds New Additions! 8/1

[sbell]

I love the Prior line. So many great freshwater fish.

Just don't trust the given names from the company, they're mostly insane. But the fish can usually be identified eventually.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

I am really impressed with the Prior fish- would like to find more of them. These are partly what I was talking about a while backn in IDing some species as I have a general idea of what type of fish but no idea on species directly.

The COG Ltd. are my first from the company. Of course I do love dinosaurs- but I REALLY love anything earlier or immediately after as they get less attention. Cambrian stuff is super weird to boot! I just think they are fun to have in a collection.

But for me the stars are the canines of the bunch. The dingo I have been looking for for a looooooooong time! And the Preiser is really attractive- in fact a lot of the vintage era wolves are attractive to me as they have something about them that catches that "wolfiness" more than many modern day examples. I plan on adding lots more "oldies but goodies" canines to my shelves.

[sbell]

I can try to help with the Prior. Many years back there was a thread on the STS. There were links, but the vast majority of the IDs from the company were wrong.

I managed to get most of them to at least family... some are wild colours that match nothing

EDIT- there's a few listed here https://www.mokarex.fr/priorfish.html#

But again, weird names in many cases (none moreso than the 'Balentio', which is supposed to be a bala shark.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

I have two batches to present, but broken up into a few pics.

First up are things I found/bought on my own searches. To start, I have two new horses courtesy of HHT and I will be reviewing soon. I found 2 stablemates from the Tractor Supply's latest blind bags. I took a gamble on some dog figures made by a brand called Pedigree- at one time they made dog food and treats etc. and apparently made a few show dog figures. I did not expect them to be so big! They aren't the most skillfully sculpted, but I like them a lot anyway and have admired the cocker spaniel for years. I won a cheap auction for the TM moutain goat, grabbed the gray cane corso to pair with my black one, bought some mystery pigs, and found some K&M and knock off figures at a thrift store.


And now for the real treat! I am absolutely privileged and thankful for my dear friends and relationships I have cultivated in the forum communities I am a part of. It has not only lead to a richer community experience here for me but also has benefited my curation. All the way from Bulgaria, I got some treasures!

Several Nayab mini models- some completed sets for me like the macaque, others were sought after for some time such as the maned wolf, some are brand new treasures like the antelope and goat/sheep set, and the remainder will likely become repaint projects for myself.


I snapped up a few Nayab larger figures, a few AAA frogs, some Kaiyodo Ural owl chicks too cute to be believed, the mysterious little plastic quail I have seen around a few times, and the highly sought after Kaiyodo NT wolf! And even better- it was so reasonably priced it didn't bankrupt me!


Eikoh has been a brand a little on the backburner for me... I have obtained a scant few (like... 3?) over the years but unfortunately they just weren't too easily available to me. I feel fortunate to have snagged several that I really just love!

And perhaps most excitingly, my dear friend was so kind as to include a completely shocking gift- a full set of the WingMau "Dangerous Dogs" set! A rottweiler, American Pitbull Terrier, Neapolitan Mastiff, Dogo Argentino, Caucasian Shepherd/Ovcharka, Tibetan Mastiff, Tosa Inu, and Fila Brasileiro! At this scale they are really well done and I am so eternally in adoration of these tiny figurine treasures!


ENORMOUS THANKYOU to my dear friend Maria over on STS Forum for this splendid package! It came at the perfect time when I could use some cheer- poor Flynn, my 16 year old rescued cocker spaniel suddenly began having seizures two weeks ago. They have been frightening and very alarming to try and deal with, luckily they have not yet crossed into the dangerous territory where they last so long they cause neurological damage. Its been a bit expensive and taxing trying to care for him and figure out what can be done. Luckily just tonight he started a new daily medication that will hopefully reduce the frequency of these events and allow him to stay with me a bit longer. So this parcel was just what I needed to bring a little joy back to me after some long and hard days!

[bmathison1972]

That Wing Mau set is neat. Wing Mau produced some really interesting sets under their own name! I love these small sets of Japanese miniatures!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

They really did do some incredible figures, and yes I took the opportunity to grab some Eikoh minis while I could!

These are likely my last new additions for the year unless a grail just so happens to pop up.

I bought a few Schleich horses to take advantage of some "black friday" deals nearby. I settled on the oldenburger stallion, holstein foal, the criollo foal I have struggled to find though his mother is literally everywhere in stores, the friesian foal to match my HHT review sample, and the Arabian family. All are actually quite nice models (the Schleich style just before this introduction of Brave Dog Customs doing their sculpting, actually suited foals fine, just not the adult horses). I was able to snag the Papo red and green macaw all the way from France for a decent price! Now I can quit kicking myself for missing it while it was being sold retail. I found a small set of collies and sheep by New Ray while visiting one of my sisters for Thanksgiving. The paint work isn't great, and the adult sheep were hollow cheap hard plastic like a knock off barbie set, but the lamb is quite nice!

And lastly, I did manage go grab a rarity in the Safari arsinoitherium. I think I have all the mammals now from them! Quite please and this is considered my Christmas gift to myself.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Oh! And for anyone interested, the macaw's foot is NOT SCULPTED onto the log! There is a long peg underneath the foot that slides into the log (I know because my macaw worked his foot free on his journey). So if you don't want the log you should be able to pull the model off it, cut off the peg, and maybe hot water trick the feet to lay fown flat instead...?

[bmathison1972]

Congrats!

Especially for the Safari Arsiniotherium! That's on my 'hunting' list too! CollectA's is just too large for me (but isn't TNG releasing one soon, I can't remember?).

For the red-and-green macaw, I went with Mojo mainly because it's one of the only figures of that species that shows the red facial lines. In promo pics it looks like the Papo also has lines of some kind? Also, I have the Papo blue-and-gold macaw and I didn't want the same sculpt for both 

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Thanks Blaine! I think TNG is supposed to have one released soon but the retail stock for their products is hit and miss for me. No one (that I have found) sells a selection of their items or keeps them in stock for long. It was a nightmare to get the prehistoric mammals I have and LaNaTimeShop doesn't have an ebay store anymore (I know they have a website now but I haven't ordered from them directly yet). Anyway, I hope you can get one sometime soon! The Safari is a little on the small side but its nice.

This Papo indeed doesn't have the facial marks, but it sounds like you ended up with good models for your collection. This was a figure that for me, I didn't realize retired and by the time I did it was basically gone from the shopping scene! I have looked everywhere for it but most places were listing scalping prices I refused to fall for. It took about 2ish years of waiting and finally one from France popped up for a reasonable price and shipping wasn't terrible. So I am happy with these two additions in particular!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

This photo straddles 2 years of new additions- the very last week of 2024 and the first 2 days of 2025! While visiting some family a few hours north I made it to some thrift stores and found some treasures-

Everything on the bottom row excepting the dalmatian were thrift store finds. I was VERY surprised to see the CollectA longhorn's horns are so very soft plastic (will still need to buy a new one sometime as this one's nose has been roughed up by play and the reddish plastic is bared. this one will then become a fun repaint project). The Safari pachycephalosaurus is notable even despite the wear as I had this figure once (also via thrift) very early on in my career on the STS forum but I traded it when I had the misfortune of thinking I wanted to be a Schleich only collector; I have long been cured and happy to see this guy back despite his rough life. The dalmatian is Breyer and came cheap from ebay. With some Christmas card money I snapped up Shariff (finally!) and Erren (puts the Schleich Criollos to shame) and of course they are gorgeous! And lo did my email notifications behold... the last 2 dogs from the K&M tube set showed thenselves! So although these Wia horses and K&M dogs came a bit late for '24, they kicked off my '25 with a bang. And I splurged a smidge more on one more WIA... yet to land here with me.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

(Belated) Thank you everyone!

2025 has been a great start so far. I got a recent package from my good friend Taylor on STS, but I have also found a few things that I think are exciting! But perhaps the most exciting- my old laptop was dying and struggling to function for even the most basic of tasks which made posting here and working on my website a real struggle. I was fortunate to be able to invest in a new desktop at the end of 2024 and its all set up and running like a dream! It won't be visible really in my posts (as I will likely still use my phone a lot still just out of convenience) but I am thrilled to have the ease of a more powerful computer for my website management!

Anyhow- enough of that. Let's get into it. Below is the first traditional Breyer I have bought in something like 7+ years! I made the mistake of stopping at Tractor Supply to find some things for my Sister's new dog but I found Mojave on a post Christmas sale price! I don't think I have ever really seen Breyers go on sale before in brick and mortar stores. I love him already. I also found a set of heavily stylized figures from the newer Disney The Little Mermaid movie and it just so happened to have Scuttle and Flounder in a much less stylized form so I sprung for it too (the other character figures and Sebastian will be going off to one of my nieces). Turns out Flounder is a Sergeant Major reef fish and of course Scuttle is a Gannet. While visiting one of my siblings just over the last few days I stopped a toy store in Boise, Idaho and bought a Safari Ltd. stegosaurus and found the great grey owl and African gray parrot; which were pleasant surprises. Then off of Walmart.com I managed to find a new water buffalo figure by some brand called Vekome, and off of ebay I came across the perlino WIA andalusian (very interested in the gray version if anyone knows of one), the Noah's Pals pair of dodos for a very reasonable price, and a mysterious serval figure (no brand stamped but it has 1994 China Cat and the letter L).


Then my wonderful package from my very dear friend! SO many great figures to unpack here. First off, lots of branded models. Papo is really kicking it off with their bird models and they are so wonderful to have in hand. I also got my first bay spotted gypsy vanner and their appaloosa, their new capuchin, the flying squirrel, and the Papo wolf will end up as a repaint project. I also got an early Procon (CollectA) rhino, goblin shark, and new anglerfish (much bigger than I expected it to be). He so kindly keeps an eye out for DQube for me (this is my fourth trotting bull), a pair of Takara owls and M.E.G. mother dogs. During all my recent moves over the last 2 years I somehow seem to have lost my original Schleich anaconda that was released a few years back... I found a reasonably priced one in the UK and he was able to receive it and forward it on to me.


Next up I found a lot of AAA sea animals figures I bought from the UK and had shipped to him- I am thrilled to have gotten several sought after figures like the mantis shrimp and blue ring octopus. Taylor also traded the AAA/ELC mammoth, phoenix, adder, and bat along as well! A mysterious Irish setter, Nayab Spanish bull, several Invicta figures, a Chap Mei plesiosaur, British Natural History Museum ankylosaurus, Terra Battat Cryolophosaurus, and some unbranded figures.


And the last photo: He sent a lovely Schleich based greeting card, several company catalogues I was missing, lots of fun Kinder figures (I don't keep these as part of my main collection but I really do enjoy them and have a small box of them now!), and an unbranded set of little ducklings. And now for the grails... the Favorite company protoceratops vs. velociraptor fighting set, the Wild Past Scutosaurus and Kotlassia pair, and the retired Papo Boer goat! The Boer did suffer a little in transit in one of his front legs snapped off- but it was a clean break and the figure was still in the box so I was able to restore very easily. SO excited!!!


Needless to say- January has been a great start to the year for my collection.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

A few additions for me recently.




I got a notification that the Bullyland blue sea dragon was in stock at MiniZoo so that was all the excuse I needed. It had lots of friends from Mojo and Bullyland and Papo to keep him company. The Mojo hereford and giraffe cows complete my families, while I was just straight up sleeping on that adorable rhino calf sculpted by a forum friend for Mojo years ago. I am a coelacanth fan so he had to come along! The Bullyland tiger is rather nice in person though the muzzle was a little scuffed on my sample, the highland bull is a very unique style but very cute, just like that hippo calf and the Papo seal pup. Then there were a couple of Breyer dogs and a stablemate as well as an older Blip toys paint horse that came home with me off ebay.

The dragon from Toy Major is one of those "so ugly its cute" thrift finds, I made an order from @toymany_official to get the set of "normal" jaguars for my collection and had to send some friends for company. The shark gives me a display version of this figure as my first one had a small paint defect, the lynx is an updated paint scheme, and the wolf, puppy, and lemmings are for a later repaint project.

The most exciting of all this though is a paint variation of the Kaiyodo Natural Treasures Japanese wolf! I never knew this one existed so I had to snap it up and its a wonderful little piece.

Lots of comparison photos incoming over the next few days! Stay tuned.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Once again, I revel in having amazing friends that share this hobby! Two of them, some of my oldest friends I made when I joined the STS forum so many years ago- and to this day they are a joy to have discussions with.

I now am  the lucky owner of the recently retired WIA Vincenzo in gray (he is simply gorgeous! I thought the perlino was lovely but he is stunning in gray). I have quite the "conga line" going of Wenno howling wolves. I'll try to feature them soon. The Papo french bull dog in his black tuxedo is finally here! I haven't found one for under 60$ USD which I just couldn't rationalize. Until recently, Yowies was the only Takahe on the market! A rare Nayab fox has joined the throng, as has a Toymajor red fox kit, and a gorgeous rooster and starfish.

It was splendid small package from two very old friends of mine and it made my day!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

This weekend I got to travel a little to visit family for an event. While the weekend was very busy I was able to drop into a D&B Supply store (a farm and ranch store similar to Cal-Ranch and Murdoch's stores) and then to my local toy shop on my drive home- I found most of the new Schleich models +two sheep I have been dragging my heels on. A lot of these are much nicer in person than their promo photos but I am still waiting on getting the rough collie and the horses (the latter as I will probably use them as review items from Happy Hen Toys). I couldn't resist the mule as he is gorgeous, but since I wanted to use him as a review on my next selection I opted to adopt a figure with some unfortunate scuffs for repainting and my "display" model will come to the fold later on. Anyway...

[bmathison1972]

I got the Indri and the tree frog and am very pleased with both of them.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

The frog surprised me with its size as Schleichs previous ones are all much smaller- this one is closer to the Papo size. But seeing these in person most of them look much nicer- except the wolves... they still disappoint me immensely. But that's just how it goes sometimes.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

I am too tired to write much about these tonight but I will circle back tomorrow to do so. But I thought I'd share now as I am excited to receive many of them!

[sbell]

You got three of the Gone Extinct figures!

And the big AAA gecko! I had one of those in my school locker!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

I did! I have nearly all the ones I want from the series now- just missing the thylacine and quagga. And thats hilarious! Any particular reason you kept the AAA gecko in your locker?

Ok, I have a minute to articulate my thoughts on these additions and I got a pretty good nights' sleep! So here we go:

Firstly, the Safari Ltd. Ichthyosaurus and Tylosaurus I vividly remember seeing as a kid in the "wild" (a toy store near me) right when I first started collecting seriously. But because I was about 12 or 13 at the time and I didn't have my own money nor much space, I had to limit my collecting and prehistorics weren't on that list. I have regretted that ever since with the Icthyosaurus especially, but I finally got my hands on one! And while I love the figure itself and will treasure it always, I found this interesting; Until now I never noticed quite how detailed this little figure is. The ichthyosaur itself has a nice paint scheme and all but its a smooth surface and relatively uninteresting to look at or hold. But this little nautilus in its rostrum has small pale blue tentacles wrapped around the beak, a teenie little eye on either side, and our marine reptile friend even has fine sculpted teeth! Not things I ever noticed from photos I have been drooling over for years now! It is quite a small marvel.

The WIAs pictured are what finally got me to break my resistance with these models. They are simply goegeous! The two CollectA horses are review samples from HHT that will come soon. There's a few thrift items I came across and another Ebay score of the Safari velociraptor (now I just need the elusive feathered version) and a AAA elasmosaurus. But a friend from STS reached out to me with some marvellous models to offer including the K&M pictured here (the cats set is finally complete!), a few PV dogs, Innovative kids extinct animals, and other gems.

I was very fortunate to grab these models and once again, its great to have friends in this hobby.

[sbell]

My locker had a bunch of figures on the door attached by magnets including the Boston Museum dart frogs, the gecko, the Carnegie Elasmosaurus and Mosasaurus, and the big AAA tiger shark and Monterey white shark hanging from chains.
Probably other things too.

Just for fun.


Still have the Carnegie figures and the white shark. Regret losing track of the rarest frog series...