Crocodilia - crocodiles, alligators, caimans & gharials

[Gwangi]

The only ones I have is the Schleich Saltwater Crocodile from years past and the Safari Ltd. Black Caiman.

So pretty scarce in that regard.
Interested in getting an American Alligator but I am having trouble finding one I like.

I had the same problem, until I found this one. Not sure if you're aware of it yet.

http://animaltoyforum.com/blog/2021/07/31/american-alligator-wild-wildlife-by-safari-ltd/

[EpicRaptorMan]

@Gwangi yeah I made that purchase a little after I made that post. Got me thinking about it.

I initially avoided that American Alligator bc in some photos the yellowish underbelly appeared too yellow. And I still feel the snout is too small/short or the feet too large...idk something, but I bought it anyway.

Edit: Just realized it's 11" long! Wish I knew that before purchasing lol. That'll make it larger than most of my whales.

[FlaffyRaptors]

The only ones I have is the Schleich Saltwater Crocodile from years past and the Safari Ltd. Black Caiman.

So pretty scarce in that regard.
Interested in getting an American Alligator but I am having trouble finding one I like.

I had the same problem, until I found this one. Not sure if you're aware of it yet.

http://animaltoyforum.com/blog/2021/07/31/american-alligator-wild-wildlife-by-safari-ltd/

Can vouch for Doug's American Alligator. One of the best I've seen on the market, and blows all major brands out of the water.

[dinoguy2]

I've looked for another one for years to no avail. I've also never seen anyone else post images of one, so I wonder how many were made and how many are still out there. If it wasn't stamped "GIANT ALLIGATOR 1996 SAFARI" on the bottom, I'd have thought it was just a one-off promotional item that my parents had somehow snagged for me as a child.

Does anyone have a scan of the Safari catalogs from 1996/1997ish? I'd be curious to see what it retailed for, even back then.

I have the 1998 Safari catalog, and it is featured on page 48-49. I'll see if I can post a scan later. It's part of the Incredible Creatures line, number 2584-29 "Great Big Gator". Unfortunately this is a dealer catalog not a consumer one and there are no prices listed. I'll check some of my later ones and see if I can find a price, if it was still in production.

[EpicRaptorMan]

I'll wait for the Doug's American Alligator for when it comes in the mail and from there I'll make my final decision.

May go with this smaller one

[Ikessauro]

NOW I REALLY REGRET NOT BUYING ONE (GIANT ALLIGATOR) WHEN I HAD THE CHANCE! I saw it on eBay a year ago or a bit more, was a bit expensive, made an offer for the seller. He refused. I didn't have enough funds to buy it that day. A few days later I had the funds, but kept reluctant to buy it. When i went to check on it a bit later, it was sold. I didn't know it was THAT big! I guess I'll have to hunt one down.

[Spinosaurus]

Does any of y'all know of a 1:30-1:50 crocodilian? I can't find any thing.

[bmathison1972]

Does any of y'all know of a 1:30-1:50 crocodilian? I can't find any thing.

what would that come to in inches/centimeters?

Sounds like something larger than gashapon, but smaller than 'standard'; I wonder if the Takara or Colorara saltwater croc would suffice?

https://toyanimal.info/wiki/Saltwater_crocodile

[EpicRaptorMan]

I'll wait for the Doug's American Alligator for when it comes in the mail and from there I'll make my final decision.

May go with this smaller one

Lol so update to my previous post.
It did come in. Hooray. But it was MUCH larger than I expected. So I ended up choosing a different American Alligator to represent. :0

[Elephas Maximus]

Since I haven't seen anyone post it here on the forum, here's my addition to the Crocodilia thread: the 1996 Safari "Giant Alligator," which appears to have been cast from a real specimen.
 


"Giant" sure is correct. At 3 feet/almost a meter long (even longer if you stretch out the tail), this has got to be the biggest plastic animal toy that Safari has produced, and possibly one of the largest hard plastic animal toys anyone's made. Here's me in my best Steve Irwin outfit for scale:



Its size makes it inconvenient to display, but I've had it since 1996. Truly a magnificent beast.

This is actually not gator but caiman, probably Spectacled.
Taxidermy for comparison (2,5 ft long from nose to tail tip)

[stargatedalek]

Damn, I want one of those so bad!

[Fembrogon]

That is a spectacular hunk of plastic; truly a "glory days" moment for Safari Ltd.!

[Sim]

Small crocs by an unknown maker.  Knockoffs are solid in color.  Identified as (Left - Right): Crocodile (Nile?), Crocodile (Freshwater), Gharial, Caiman (Spectacled?), Alligator (American), Crocodile (Saltwater?).

Hello everybody! I'm new at the forum...

Hey, Varanus! Have you discover the maker of these crocs? I'm asking because I had these when I was a child and they were very detailed and nice figures...I'm looking for them but I can't find it and I think that if I knew the manufacturer it will become easier.

Sorry for the poor English...I'm really bad to write in English...haha

I had these crocodilian figures when I was little too, they were very good.  I too don't know who made them and have tried finding them with no success.  There's a few lines of animal figures I knew about when I was little that I've not found anything about now.  In addition to the aforementioned crocodilians, there was also some small very well painted sealife figures from the London Aquarium, and some large high-quality arthropod toys that came in two colourations for each species.

[Shane]

I had these crocodilian figures when I was little too, they were very good.  I too don't know who made them and have tried finding them with no success.  There's a few lines of animal figures I knew about when I was little that I've not found anything about now.  In addition to the aforementioned crocodilians, there was also some small very well painted sealife figures from the London Aquarium, and some large high-quality arthropod toys that came in two colourations for each species.

I'm pretty sure I had that small gharial figure, I remember getting it from a basket of small croc toys in a gift shop in the Everglades National Park.

Though I think mine was brown in color.

The gharial looks to be a match for this figurine by a company called "Innovative Kids" though it's likely not the originator of the sculpt. https://toyanimalwiki.mywikis.wiki/wiki/Innovative_Kids_Gharial

Can't find a match for the others.

[Sim]

Thanks Shane, yes it does look like the innovative kids figure.  I wonder what the story behind these crocodilian figures is.

Wow, I never thought there was a Mecistops cataphractus figure! And, yes, the armor scutes behind the head and on the neck are key characters in identifying crocodile species (which is why I do not regard the Safari Ltd IC "Walking Crocodile" or "Saltwater Crocodile" as representing C. porosus).

Then what would it be?

Aw, sorry to be late... The arrangement of osteoderms is not really accurate. Instead of the six nuchal osteoderms and a transverse row of four just behind the head (which is present in all Crocodylus species except for C. porosus) the figure shows two transverse rows of four osteoderms. My interpretation is that the first of these two rows represents the four scutes behind the head present in the other Crocodylus species. It is not a 100% exact match, but I find C. niloticus looks most similar. Other than the neck scute issue the figure does look like C. porosus, though. However, in this respect the Colorata Saltwater Crocodile is much more accurate, it has the pack of six nuchal osteoderms and there is no additional row of four.

Interesting.  I'm not bothered by the armour configuration being slightly off, the figure looks close enough to a saltwater crocodile for me.  It's good to know it looks like a saltwater crocodile otherwise, the head looks more like C. porosus than C. niloticus in my non-expert opinion.

[Sim]

I've been reading and thinking about crocodilians recently.  I have three figures of them: the Mojo Nile crocodile, Mojo American alligator and Toymany black caiman.  I'm happy with all three and I'm eagerly looking forward to getting the Papo spectacled caiman!  I hope Papo reissues their gharial or another company makes one as I'd like to have a figure of it.  Additionally, someone needs to make a good saltwater crocodile, I find it shocking that there's no accurate figure of it.  Those two are my most wanted extant species, but I think a good figure of tomistoma would be awesome as well.  It's a fascinating species... and intimidating too!

[EpicRaptorMan]

I hope Papo reissues their gharial or another company makes one as I'd like to have a figure of it.

There used to be plenty of knock offs of this figure.
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mtrOoeg
I had this one and a genuine Papo figure and to be honest, the differences in quality were so minimal that it's totally worth the knock off

[sbell]

I've been reading and thinking about crocodilians recently.  I have three figures of them: the Mojo Nile crocodile, Mojo American alligator and Toymany black caiman.  I'm happy with all three and I'm eagerly looking forward to getting the Papo spectacled caiman!  I hope Papo reissues their gharial or another company makes one as I'd like to have a figure of it.  Additionally, someone needs to make a good saltwater crocodile, I find it shocking that there's no accurate figure of it.  Those two are my most wanted extant species, but I think a good figure of tomistoma would be awesome as well.  It's a fascinating species... and intimidating too!

Has anyone made the suggestion to @Kenc ? Toymany might consider any one of the species.

A good gharial or tomistoma would be awesome

[Sim]

I expressed my interest in a gharial and saltwater crocodile to Toymany.  If Papo reissues their gharial I might have to cut off its extra toes, I'd prefer to have a figure that has the correct number of toes so I don't have to do that.  Even the Safari toob gharial has one toe too many on both feet.

[bmathison1972]

Papo 2024 spectacled caiman. The upper jaw is articulated (but displaying mine with the mouth closed):



With the Kaiyodo Wild Rush figure it replaces (for size considerations):



Slightly smaller than Toymany's black caiman:



And with Safari's Yacare caiman: