Go Jump in a Lake! Freshwater Fish!

[Beetle guy]

All these fishes look beautiful!

[AcroSauroTaurus]

I love Snakehead fish. Awesome figure!

[sbell]

I love Snakehead fish. Awesome figure!

Of the First & Second releases, getting both snakeheads was a plus for me--snakeheads don't otherwise get made as figures.

[Newt]

Thanks for this review! That's a very nice little figure. I like to see these "ordinary" species represented; the world has enough lion and elephant figures. Plus, I have a warm place in my heart for cypriniforms of all sorts. You mentioned YAJ; is that the best place to order Yujin figures?


I'm guessing biwae refers to Biwa, Japan's largest lake. I visited Biwa on my sole trip to Japan, reaching it near sunset after a long walk among rice paddies teaming with Hyla japonica metamorphs. Unfortunately I saw no loaches, or fish of any sort, at the lake.

[sbell]

Thanks for this review! That's a very nice little figure. I like to see these "ordinary" species represented; the world has enough lion and elephant figures. Plus, I have a warm place in my heart for cypriniforms of all sorts. You mentioned YAJ; is that the best place to order Yujin figures?


I'm guessing biwae refers to Biwa, Japan's largest lake. I visited Biwa on my sole trip to Japan, reaching it near sunset after a long walk among rice paddies teaming with Hyla japonica metamorphs. Unfortunately I saw no loaches, or fish of any sort, at the lake.

That is one of my favorite parts of the series--it isn't all 'famous, sport, or food fish. Well, most of them are, but it does also bring in the minnows, the stickleback, the smaller salmonids, etc. We need more of those overall--good for education and collections. The loach is a good example--it was one of my first Yujin fish (after the snakehead).

I would say YAJ is definitely the best spot for Yujin, in all series. Talk to Brett.

I do know that, if I hadn't already gotten a bunch many years ago, followed by a few last figures, it's a good way to get a complete set of the fishes. And if someone is willing, it's even possible to get a full set including all of the variants (including albino eels, hybrids patterns, multiple fancy koi varieties, etc). Expensive all at once--but complete!

[brontodocus]

And the Japanese Huchen walk-around is the next thread to get its pictures back!

[brontodocus]

IC Largemouth Bass photos are back!

[sbell]

So it's been a while since I had one to add to this series!

This figure is the Japanese Dolly Varden (also known as Miyabeiwana in Japan), Salvelinus malma miyabei, a Secret Figure from the first series. This particular subspecies is a char found in Japan, although Dolly Varden as a species is found in Arctic and Pacific drainages in Russia and North America (there is even a relict population in my home province!) As with many Japanese fish models (though not all) it is widely fished for. Maximum TL of the Dolly Varden is 120cm according to Fishbase, but most references say 60cm or smaller. The figure, like the Char, is about 1:10 scale.

Being a repainted figure, I don't need to go into much detail on the model itself—it is a remade White-spotted Char, although there are some differences in the bend of the figure. This is most likely a manufacturing issue, although it may also have been a purposeful difference created to differentiate the fish. Of course, the paint job is what really distinguishes the two models. In short, the Dolly Varden is an overall green, with light vermiculations on the dorsal surface, a scattering of red and gold spots along the sides, and a bright orange belly (the char is mostly brown, darker on the dorsal and fading to cream on the belly). The Dolly Varden fins are also lighter, with only subtle orange (compared to the dark orange tail of the Char).
But pictures speak louder than words, so:

Pictures:









And the bottom, where it's easy to see the detail that Yujin puts into every side of the models (and can often see the numbers in the photos—that's how we know the Dolly Varden is based on the Char—same number). It's also easy to see how bright red the belly is!


And then some comparisons. Again, while the Dolly Varden was a Secret Special figure, it was not listed or available like some of the others (like the variants of the Arowana or koi, or the albino char or eel that were with the box set). Perhaps it was a special mail-out like the Masou x Char, but not as fancy—and definitely not as expensive (as any of the other specials, honestly)! And the paper didn't help—it was part of the Series I revised, but didn't offer any clues about why the Secret figure existed.

(Dolly Varden on the left, White-spotted Char on the right)

[brontodocus]

Ah, what a wonderful model, congrats, Sean. Even though it may be the slightly altered sculpt of the White-spotted Char the colours on this one are awesome. I once had a Dolly Varden Paper model but must have lost it.

[Halichoeres]

Bandai's tropical fish set consists of 15 varieties, but only 3 sculpts. This thread is for the characin sculpt, which represents 4 species (and one domestic strain) by changing the paint job.

First up: Tucanoichthys tucanoi, a truly minute tetra species endemic to Uaupés River in Brazil. It's named after a group of indigenous tribes, the Tucano. I don't think the species has a standardized common name, but most people I know call it the Tucano tetra.







The maximum recorded length is 1.7 cm, so these figures, despite being only 2.8 cm long, are almost twice life size. Annoyingly, they're missing the adipose fin. Every tetra species in this set should have one. Sure, it's going to be small on these tiny characids, but it should still be visible.

I'll do the other characid species soon. I mostly collect prehistoric figures, and I would find it pretty annoying in that context if a company simply repainted a figure and called it a new species. But the truth it a lot of freshwater fish differ in extremely minor ways externally, apart from their coloration. You'd need geometric morphometrics (or tooth or fin ray counts, depending) to tell them apart with all color information removed. So I don't bedgrudge Bandai the re-use of this mold, but I still begrudge them the missing adipose fin.

[bmathison1972]

Yeah, Tim! So glad you are contributing to reviews here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sbell]

Knowing that this is an unusual species makes it more interesting for me...but knowing that such an important physical feature was left off kind of makes it lower priority. Too bad, since Bandai is usually so good at this sort of thing!

[Halichoeres]

Yeah, Tim! So glad you are contributing to reviews here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ha ha, well thanks for the enthusiastic welcome!

Knowing that this is an unusual species makes it more interesting for me...but knowing that such an important physical feature was left off kind of makes it lower priority. Too bad, since Bandai is usually so good at this sort of thing!

At least it's not a really prominent appendage like the anal fin [cough cough CollectA Leedsicthys cough].

[sbell]

Knowing that this is an unusual species makes it more interesting for me...but knowing that such an important physical feature was left off kind of makes it lower priority. Too bad, since Bandai is usually so good at this sort of thing!

At least it's not a really prominent appendage like the anal fin [cough cough CollectA Leedsicthys cough].

WHAAAAAAA!? I didn't even notice! To be fair, I haven't done much with it; I've been emptying and resetting my shelves, so it's just been kind of sittig around while I decide how to organize.

I guess I'll just stare at my giant 1/40 model Leedsichthys instead!

[Halichoeres]

Knowing that this is an unusual species makes it more interesting for me...but knowing that such an important physical feature was left off kind of makes it lower priority. Too bad, since Bandai is usually so good at this sort of thing!

At least it's not a really prominent appendage like the anal fin [cough cough CollectA Leedsicthys cough].

WHAAAAAAA!? I didn't even notice! To be fair, I haven't done much with it; I've been emptying and resetting my shelves, so it's just been kind of sittig around while I decide how to organize.

I guess I'll just stare at my giant 1/40 model Leedsichthys instead!

Stare a little longer and you'll see that it too is missing its anal fin, and instead has pelvic fins, which most pachycormids lacked. (Granted, that portion of Leedischthys in particular is not preserved, to my knowledge.)

[sbell]

Knowing that this is an unusual species makes it more interesting for me...but knowing that such an important physical feature was left off kind of makes it lower priority. Too bad, since Bandai is usually so good at this sort of thing!

At least it's not a really prominent appendage like the anal fin [cough cough CollectA Leedsicthys cough].

WHAAAAAAA!? I didn't even notice! To be fair, I haven't done much with it; I've been emptying and resetting my shelves, so it's just been kind of sittig around while I decide how to organize.

I guess I'll just stare at my giant 1/40 model Leedsichthys instead!

Stare a little longer and you'll see that it too is missing its anal fin, and instead has pelvic fins, which most pachycormids lacked. (Granted, that portion of Leedischthys in particular is not preserved, to my knowledge.)

So it is...but it's still fun to stare at!

[Halichoeres]

Here's the next version of the Bandai characin, Paracheirodon innesi, the neon tetra. This wild-type version is number 3 in the series, but I'm posting it second because I'm a rebel.



Not sure it's really possible to capture the electric glow of a neon, but these figures at least have the overall color distribution about right.



The acrylic rods they come with are ball-jointed at the base, so you can adjust each fish's angle of attack. Maybe the left one is going after a tasty chironomid larva.



The gravel base is very nicely done but it says "home aquarium" a little too loudly for my taste.

[Beetle guy]

really realy nice models! I think the Japanese fish figurines are te best. Takara just has released a new set of fish, I am sure you willl heve seen. :-)

[Halichoeres]

really realy nice models! I think the Japanese fish figurines are te best. Takara just has released a new set of fish, I am sure you willl heve seen. :-)

Actually, I don't think I am familiar with it! I'd be interested in learning more.

[bmathison1972]

really realy nice models! I think the Japanese fish figurines are te best. Takara just has released a new set of fish, I am sure you willl heve seen. :-)

Actually, I don't think I am familiar with it! I'd be interested in learning more.

this Takara set (all marine) looks like a re-release, but Sean will know for sure:

http://toypara.com/catalog.cgi?products/gasya/zukan/kaisui2008.html