Blaine's Synoptic Animal Collection

You could do something together, You would only missed nearly 65 millions years

Kikimalou wrote:

bmathison1972 wrote:

Kikimalou wrote:

Great batch again, I'm pleased we chose the same common octopus.

Yes, the Papo one is probably better in general form, but it has an obvious anatomical error (2 siphons)

The same for me

Because of the large size, the colour and the skin structure, I always thought the Papo model could also be a Giant Pacific Octopus...
I know that Schleich once released a Giant Pacific Octopus and I've replaced it with the one from Papo.

Megaptera wrote:

Kikimalou wrote:

bmathison1972 wrote:

Kikimalou wrote:

Great batch again, I'm pleased we chose the same common octopus.

Yes, the Papo one is probably better in general form, but it has an obvious anatomical error (2 siphons)

The same for me

Because of the large size, the colour and the skin structure, I always thought the Papo model could also be a Giant Pacific Octopus...
I know that Schleich once released a Giant Pacific Octopus and I've replaced it with the one from Papo.

The current Papo, CollectA, and Mojo (the current Mojo is an older M&B model that was also released by Schleich) are all common octopus. TAI currently has the Papo and Mojo/M&B/Scleich figures as Giant Pacific but those are incorrect.
The only figures by major companies reliably identifiable as the Giant Pacific is the Safari IC figure and maybe the Wild Safari blue and orange figures.

Ok, I have identified it as a Giant Pacific one, because of its size. Also in rel life it is only clearly identifiable because of the size and the geographic habitat.
Do you know some remarkable differences between the Common one and the Pacific one?

Megaptera wrote:

Ok, I have identified it as a Giant Pacific one, because of its size. Also in rel life it is only clearly identifiable because of the size and the geographic habitat.
Do you know some remarkable differences between the Common one and the Pacific one?

The identifications were made a while back by brontodocus, a professional zoologist on the ATF forum that specializes in marine invertebrates. I don't remember the nuances off-hand.

Ok, then I have to search for it at the ATF. Thank you for your help.

bmathison1972 wrote:

a professional zoologist on the ATF forum that specializes in marine invertebrates

Oh, I didn't knew that! Do you think that he could be able to identify a photo that I've took of a marine shrimp in an aquarium?

Is the Giant Squid bendable?

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Megaptera wrote:

Is the Giant Squid bendable?

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Hi, Megaptera. No it is not. I think the Monterey Bay Aquarium figure has bendable arms/tentacles (it looks nearly the same but is bigger). I had the MBA figure years ago but I cannot remember. But the one showed here, the WS Sealife figure, is not.

Ok, thank you for the information
I will add this model to my collection. I think it has nearly the same size like the Sperm Whale from CollectA...

The pancake devilfish is very interesting. I think i will hunt him

Very nice group displays. The mockingbird fits nicely with its relatives. The nudibranchs are beautiful. It would be great if the NTC set could be reissued. The wallaby is intriguing- good proportions and colors for a colorful species.

Cephalopods are a group of special interest to me, so it's exciting to see your selections. Their natural changeability allows for figures to be aesthetically varied but still realistic. The latest must-have is the Yowie cuttlefish (maybe I should get it online rather than leave it to chance). I should share my cephalopod collection- some remaining pictures will be my next photo priority.

Was your choice of the darker NTC Opisthoteuthis intentional or based on availability?

Also, I may be out of the loop- what are those exquisite Arboreum Artwork models?

A.R.Garcia wrote:

Was your choice of the darker NTC Opisthoteuthis intentional or based on availability?

Also, I may be out of the loop- what are those exquisite Arboreum Artwork models?

Hi, Andy!!!

1. The Opisthoteuthis was based on availability, yes. I just ordered yesterday a Bennett's nudibranch (Yowie)

2. Arboreum Artwork are models made by forum member Zulkaisar (https://sts-forum.forumieren.de/t16523-zulchat-sculpt-paint). Also goes by Panji zulkaisar on the ATF (http://animaltoyforum.com/index.php?topic=2427.0). I won't lie, the figures are rather expensive, but it gives you an opportunity to get rarely/never made species from Indonesia.

Thanks for the links. I completely missed those great subjects/pictures.   I love the paintwork on the colugo.

OK, as we reach the end of the year, I am winding down these initial groups of animals For November, we are looking at miscellaneous carnivores. In other words, Carnivora other than Canidae, Ursidae, and Felidae. Like the last couple months, I will do a group or few periodically throughout the month.

Today we are looking at the remaining Feliformia:

First up, the hyenas (Hyaenidae):

1. spotted hyena, Crocuta crocuta (Safari Ltd.)
2. striped hyena, Hyaena hyena (CollectA)
3. short-faced hyena, †Pachycrocuta brevirostris (Paleo-Creatures)

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Next, the families Prionodontidae (Asiatic linsangs), Viverridae (civets), Eupleridae (Malagasy carnivorans), and Herpestidae (mongooses).
1. meerkat, Suricata suricatta (Papo)
2. fossa, Cryptoprocta feroz (Yowie Group)
3. spotted linsang, Prionodon pardicolor (Play Visions)
4. African civet, Civettictis civetta (CollectA)
5. Abyssinian genet, Genetta abyssinica (Play Visions)
6. banded palm civet, Hemigalus derbyanus (Play Visions)
7. masked palm civet, Paguma larvata (Kaiyodo)

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Finally, while technically not a member of the order Carnivora, but this is as good as place as any to show the Safari Ltd. †Hyaenodon gigas.

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very good acquisitions!.. I did'nt know this Pachycrocuta brevirostris version and hope you will make more pictures!..

Caracal wrote:

very good acquisitions!.. I did'nt know this Pachycrocuta brevirostris version and hope you will make more pictures!..

Paleo-Creatures are custom figures made by Jetoar (http://animaltoyforum.com/index.php?topic=1477.0). If you navigate to later pages, you will see his newer stuff. If something is not immediately available, he can reproduce it easily.

Thanks for showing the Spotted Hyena from Safari. It's really well made. Maybe, I will also add this one to my collection. Safari has a lot of true gems in its program

thank you for the address Blaine! :)

Continuing the miscellaneous carnivores with the families Ailuridae (red panda), Mephitidae (skunks and stink badgers), and Procyonidae (raccoons):
1. striped skunk, Mephitis mephitis (CollectA)
Timing is everything. I was considering the 2020 Safari Ltd figure, but after going back and forth, decided this CollectA one is better. Unfortunately, mine has rather poorly-applied paint to the head.
2. Sunda stink badger, Mydaus javanensis (Arboreum Artwork)
3. red panda, Ailurus fulgens (Bullyland)
One of the few Bullyland figures in my collection that is not an arachnid! As Bullyland continue to fade over recent years, this gem came out in 2016!
4. raccoon, Procyon lotor (Kaiyodo)
It was tough finding a good raccoon that was not to big. The Papo one would have been nice, but not readily available. This Kaiyodo one is perfect, albeit a bit small next to other miscellaneous carnivorans of mine.

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Wonderful. I also have the Red Panda from Bullyland. It is one of the last masterpieces of Bullyland.

My red panda is also the Bullyland, very good figure. I have a few striped skunks, including the rare Safari from 2000 and the CollectA but my favorite is Mojö's. I think the Papo racoon is quite nice but a little large.

I looked into the Mojo skunk; very nice indeed. I am quite happy with this CollectA one, I just got one with a bad paint job. I had the 2000 Safari skunk years ago when I was a generalist prior to 2007 and honestly I didn't like it, even back then. It reminded me of bin-style 'chinamal' skunk toys I had as a child.

The old Safari is not as nice as Mojö's or CollectA's. My collection is not synoptic as yours because some animals I tend to have more than a single representative. Skunks I have a few, the Safari, the rare Bullyland, Mojö's, CollectA's and the Play Visions that is a different species. I also had the Schleich 2012 but I don't have it anymore. Papo never released one, let's hope they release one with Papo top quality.