Safari Orca Calf Comparison/Walkaround

Hello friends!
Here we have a big reveal, 2 different versions of Safari's old orca calf. I thought they were the same figure at first, and I almost put the extra up for trade! But at the last moment I realized that these were in fact 2 distinct versions. And without further ado, the models themselves!
On the left is the 2006 updated version (a more slender body, a higher degree bend to the tail, squarer eye patches, shinier black finish) and the older 1996 version on the right (thicker bodied, tail lowered, rounded eye patches, matte black finish).

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Newer version has a slightly more open mouth.
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Here you can see the body shape difference.
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Underbellies and stamps
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Older on top, newer on the bottom.
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WOW ! Thankyou

They are so alike ! I am sure I do not even have no 2 either, because I didn't know they are different
This is surely helpful, and I can see Roger already updated TAW

Interesting to see the differences

Many thanks Paige for opening this topic! Incredible how the old orca calf illuded us during all these years. Despite all the effort on TAW to make Safari section as accurate as possible, some models are still missing and not all information is precise. Safari is the widest range of all companies listed on TAW. I suspect there are a few more like these to be found.

SUSANNE wrote:

WOW ! Thankyou

They are so alike ! I am sure I do not even have no 2 either, because I didn't know they are different
This is surely helpful, and I can see Roger already updated TAW  

I updated thanks to Paige, I never noticed it before. Though, Paige also informed me that your version is actually no 2 and I am fixing it too. Paige will provide pictures of no 1.

Roger wrote:

Many thanks Paige for opening this topic! Incredible how the old orca calf illuded us during all these years. Despite all the effort on TAW to make Safari section as accurate as possible, some models are still missing and not all information is precise. Safari is the widest range of all companies listed on TAW. I suspect there are a few more like these to be found.

SUSANNE wrote:

WOW ! Thankyou

They are so alike ! I am sure I do not even have no 2 either, because I didn't know they are different
This is surely helpful, and I can see Roger already updated TAW  

I updated thanks to Paige, I never noticed it before. Though, Paige also informed me that your version is actually no 2 and I am fixing it too. Paige will provide pictures of no 1.

Great !!!
Thanks a lot again

Yes, Safari is always full of surprises, - and as they have often re-used item numbers, it good to have a whole flock of super-detectives round the world

Interesting info, and figures

Thanks everyone! It is a bit frustrating that Safari's past is so entangled by multiple rereleases, remodeled moulds, and recycling of ID numbers. But then again, it gives me a hobby. Perhaps it is just because there are so few characteristics on this species that makes it hard to differntiate but in the end, these are both still scarily similar to each other.

Saarlooswolfhound wrote:

Thanks everyone! It is a bit frustrating that Safari's past is so entangled by multiple rereleases, remodeled moulds, and recycling of ID numbers. But then again, it gives me a hobby. Perhaps it is just because there are so few characteristics on this species that makes it hard to differntiate but in the end, these are both still scarily similar to each other.

And...do you remember, that before the birth of TAW there was nowhere on the net to find info
It is not so many years since they began to make consumer's catalogues, and only since 2016 they are marked with with year of publishing.
At least the last years they have marked which are new models

Oh of course! I have a few of the older Safari catalgoues and they drive me crazy for that reason. I remember my first Schleich catalog that had *new* marked next to figures and I was so excited for something so simple...

Saarlooswolfhound wrote:

Oh of course! I have a few of the older Safari catalgoues and they drive me crazy for that reason. ........

That reminds me : We I need to make a page on TAW, showing the front pages of the Safari catalogues with year

This is such an interesting revelation! Though what I think has happened here, is that they used the mould of the Monterey Bay Aquarium collection orca baby and rereleased it in 2006. It is shaped more realistically, proportions are more accurate. It also seems like they remodeled the 1992 model by making its mouth open, as opposed to closed (which I actually prefer: I rarely see accurately modeled mouths on orca figures. Often they’re made to look more dramatic with too much red and the teeth in the upper jaw visible, when these are obscured by the upper lips and only visible when you look up into the mouth... (okay, end of rant ))

Here’s the TAW page of the MBAQ orca calf for reference: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

What do you think?

Undoubtfully the MB figure is quite similar to the 2006 model.