Mojo Fun - New for 2024

[bmathison1972]

Mojo has started some reveals:

Hare (European?):



American bison:



Atlantic puffin:



Emperor penguin with chick:



Lion:



Lioness:



Hereford Cattle:







Pot-bellied Pigs:





Clydesdale Horses:





Day Gecko:



Leopard Gecko:



Stegosaurus:



Parasaurolophus (two versions):





Baryonyx:



Troodon:



Tubes!

[Gwangi]

Wasn't expecting this today! I actually like the hare and puffin.

[SerAndrew]

Nothing for me but, does it seem like the quality is down again?
I mean, that bison... looks more like a toob figure.

I have the feeling that 2021 was a great year (kangaroo, elephant and warthog are superb in terms of quality and manufacturing), 2022 decreased quality again, 2023 up, 2024 down (so far)...

Anyway, the hare mold is good

[EpicRaptorMan]

@SerAndrew I wouldn't say down on quality as it is in line with what they usually have. Mojo isn't the highest quality out of the big 5 imo.

[Gwangi]

Mojo has always been hit and miss.

[bmathison1972]

Other than the English Bulldog last year (which a friend who has pure breeds swears is an amazing likeness of the breed) and their last arthropod (which may have been 3-4 years ago, I can't remember), I don't think I have bought anything of Mojo in 5+ years.

I've never been a huge fan of their 'look' and they are often too simply painted.

One must remember, toy animals are essentially works of art (sculpt and paint) and a lot of what draws us to them is innate aesthetics. And Mojo just doesn't draw me in.

That being said, the puffin here ain't bad, but not worth replacing the one I have.

[EpicRaptorMan]

What is Mojo's release schedule like? Weekly?

[bmathison1972]

What is Mojo's release schedule like? Weekly?

the last couple years it was random, like one a day, 5-6 days a week, or so, until all are revealed. These four images were announced at a recent toy fair, so who knows how long it will take to reveal others.

[suspsy]

The emperor penguins look like a cheap knockoff of the Papo pair I reviewed for the blog.

[EpicRaptorMan]

The emperor penguins look like a cheap knockoff of the Papo pair I reviewed for the blog.

Most emperor penguin figures share same position/posture as others

[bmathison1972]

Two more announcements, lion and lioness:

[BlueKrono]

Looks like typical Mojo quality. Couldn't even give the male's ears a dab of paint.

[EpicRaptorMan]

The lioness looks okay. But I don't think it'll be a strong year for Mojo

[Saarlooswolfhound]

This is a slightly edited response to a comment on STS I thought might be useful here also.

I understand that Mojo isn't everyone's cup of tea and that is totally fine! Everyone has their own tastes and opinions. But here are some stats to consider for the releases revealed so far.

Response to criticism of even releasing African lions as a species this year:
"Brands HAVE to release common "ABC" animals (as we call them) to support their business. An African lion or generic Holstein cow will always outsell more exotic items. These form the base and core of company sales to the average consumer. Then based off of those sales is where the niche collector can hope to see a unique item every once in a while. To boot, these common species have to be revived every once in a while in order to stay competitive. Their last lion pair was released in 2014, 10 years ago! It is high time they got redone. Before that it was 2011 and those needed replaced after 3 years to increase in the quality and detailing of the sculpts/product.

To boot, their last bison was a 2011 release. And this is a very young company compared to the others and they haven't released a penguin yet. And while puffins or jack rabbits might be common for some people in real life, they are very exotic in toy form given that so few are made. I would say they have a great line up so far."

Also, I agree its disheartening to see the ears splashed black but hopefully this is an early prototype and the final product won't miss this detail. My concern is that the neck/mane look a bit odd to me... but I really appreciate the dark mane.

[SerAndrew]

It is ok to release a lion par, but this quality!?

I mean, some people say "typical Mojo quality", but that's not true.

Mojo is capable of the best. Look the last kangaroo, aardvark, and warthog, for example. So I really dont understand!

[Sim]

I agree with @SerAndrew that Mojo is capable of the best.  Out of all extant animal figures I chose Mojo's alligator to be my forum avatar, that shows how much I like that figure.  The new female lion looks fine to me, but the male one doesn't.  It looks like the evil lion from The Lion King.

It would be nice if Mojo made something that interests me for 2024, after CollectA's very unappealing (to me) lineup for the same year.  I'm not getting my hopes up though.  Also, I don't understand why Mojo's prehistoric figures are so poor, mammals excluded.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

I think criticism is valid, especially for the male lion. My commentary was mostly just to validate that so far the species choices, while not exciting for some, are still new for this young brand. It seems they have gone back to some basics the last few years to make their core basic species/sellers line up more robust (gorilla, kangaroo, elephant, etc.).

That being said, I think the issue I have is the neck on both look a bit more skinny and this makes them look longer than they should be. And it could just be the angle. Here is a very poor quick edit on my phone's editor to present what I mean. I think its easier to see on the male as I couldn't color match well for the female but I think it gets the idea across...

[SerAndrew]

I think criticism is valid, especially for the male lion. My commentary was mostly just to validate that so far the species choices, while not exciting for some, are still new for this young brand. It seems they have gone back to some basics the last few years to make their core basic species/sellers line up more robust (gorilla, kangaroo, elephant, etc.).

That being said, I think the issue I have is the neck on both look a bit more skinny and this makes them look longer than they should be. And it could just be the angle. Here is a very poor quick edit on my phone's editor to present what I mean. I think its easier to see on the male as I couldn't color match well for the female but I think it gets the idea across...

Definitely, you are totally right

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Its like the orangutan. It looked off to me when it was announced but then I got to trying to pin it down and it was the eyes. Too much sclera (the white part of your eye) was showing and that is a uniquely human trait used for interpersonal body language communication. When I made it more black (just like what I did for the lions) as you see in most other animals, most especially primates, it looked 1000X better.

Anyway I am curious to see the lions in person.

[bmathison1972]

I normally don't like to be too critical, as every company has different artists with different styles. That's right; remember, at the end of the day, 'toy animals' are pieces of art, sculpted and painted from an individual (or individuals, sculpt and paint) perspective. A lot of us like to drone on about 'accuracy' (as if we're all a bunch of tetrapod anatomists) but often what guides us to a figure is the aesthetics of the art!

I thought Mojo's 2023 line-up was fantastic, and I would have pursued several of them if I didn't already have good representation (as I have said previously, I don't 'drop and replace' everything something slightly more appealing comes along).

That being said, these so far this year look radically different from last year's. Maybe they had to get a new sculptor? I also suspect these are prototypes and the final product will look different.

That said, nothing so far interests me this year, and if I didn't already have these species, I probably wouldn't get any of these. Honestly, Mojo has always been my least favorite, even though I have several absolute stand-outs by them (Indian elephant, quagga, honey badger, guar) and there are some I'd consider if I needed the species (llama, anaconda, platypus, aardvark). But nothing has really caught my eye in several years. I only got the recent bulldog because a friend who has purebreds said it was a very good likeness for the breed!