Leopard seals - Comparison between Papo, Safari and Collecta

This topic is to help some collectors, who want to have only one leopard seal model , to deside which one is their model.

But also, for all of us, maybe will be interesting to discuss the positive and negative details about every one of them..
What and why we like or don`t like on them.

Here they are :

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I have all 3 of them, because personally, I find good things on every one of them.
That`s why they are all welcome in my collection :)

But I will let the photos to speak more than me

Please, prepare your self for many photos, because there will be also a walkarounds

Here comes the first model, which came on the market..
The CollectA one :

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Next model , which came not long after Collecta, was Safari one :

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And then, Papo made his version of Leopard seal :

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Time for comparisons ...

3...2...1... Start !

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Final , smily selfie ... Mr. Safari is a bit shy, so he gives a bit ''Mona Lisa'' smile :

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So, my thoughts :
I find good things in every model, but also some flaws ...
The Collecta one has nice paint job on it and also a lot of details , especially with this open mouth.
But the neck is too thin. The body also can be more massive... Something with the profile of the head is not right..
I like the Safari one very much , but it has too simple paint job.
The Papo one has good, thick neck, open mouth, which makes it more expressive ... but something on the muzzle is a bit strange.
Also the body could be a bit longer and the paint job - more rich..

To me, no one of them is perfect, but I like all 3 of them

And still, my favorite Leopard seal model is this little beauty :

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This Kitan diorama is a masterpiece. It has everything ... : dynamics, expression, drama , action..
and the most importantly : a wonderful made it Leopard seal :)

So why not we enjoy also a small walkaround of it ? :

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.. And yeah .. it is really small :

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Thank`s for your patience, watching all these photos I am finally done !

This is exactly what I needed! I was so excited for the papo to create a trio, but for me, the promo photos looked better. I love leopard seals, probably my favorite seal though some real life photographs give me the creeps (they have such absurdly predatory faces that is opposite of all other seals, I love that unique factor).

Anyway, the only one I have is the safari mostly because that brand is very available to me. And for me, its the only model that pulls off their odd awkward face shape (I love its silly smile). The other two, the papo has the best kinetic energy, just a weird body shape, a bit too small of scale, and poor painting in my opinion. Might be a good candidate for a makeover though. The CollectA is a nice figure, but its flippers are odd to me, and its dental arch is off for this predator, so this figure doesn't quite speak to me as much as the safari does.

Still, I appreciate all three figures of a species very little represented to the public otherwise. Thank you so much for this walk-around/comparison set!!!

Very nice. CollectA leopard seal was one of the first figures of my collection and one of the detonants that made me start an animal figurine collection. I was excited when I saw it at a local stationery because... it's a leopard seal, wooow! So I bought it together with the exquisite African wild ass from same brand. I love this model a lot, despite it's only flaw: a too thin neck, a thing that I always disliked but that is not enough for dislike mi figure, otherwise perfect. I especially love the extremely well done dentition and inside of the mouth, with the big tongue occupying all the mouth and throat for avoid the entry of water, just as in the real leopard seal. After I bought it, my collection grew, I started to participate in this forum, etc etc... and then the other brands released their leopard seals. During some time I even tought in replace my CollectA leopard seal by the Safari one (I wrote about that somewhere in the forum, looong time ago), as it have much better thick neck. But I love too much my CollectA one for doing that and I also acquired the (not firm) determination of not replace figures because they would affect my database of data of acquisition for each species. Anyway, the Safari is maybe even better than the CollectA. The closed mouth is absolutely wonderful and realistic and better than the open one. Also this is the only leopard seal that we can choose if we want one resting on land instead swimming, something important for dioramas for example. Painjtob is near perfect (at least as much as the CollectA), texture is even better than the Collecta. Tought flippers are different. Collecta have more detailed fore fins, with nails in the toes. Rear fins have a different shape and appareance in both figures. I wonder which of the two are more realistic. Anyway, it's very difficult to choose between both models. I would give it a tie. And finally, we have the ugly duckling, the Papo one. Worst than the other two in almost every aspect. Paintjob is almost awful, texture lacking detail, eyes wrongly painted, dentition is not as goo as in CollectA, nostrils are much worst, fore fins are too big, and while the neck is not as thin as in the CollectA is too "giraffish". There is an obvious seam in the lower mandible connection with the head, and in profile the muzzle have a wrong piggish shape. I only would buy Papo leopard seal for non-synoptic collections. The only advantage of Papo is that its scale fits much better with the Papo elephant seal (that, contrarily to leopard seals, is the best from all brands). So I have a CollectA leopard seal bigger than my Papo elephant seal, but who cares, one can't be obsessed with scales or otherwise the collection would be very small.

None of the 3 models is perfect, but this comparison / walkaround IS! Very useful and quite professional.
Thank you Kosta! The Kitan is really wonderful!!

spacelab wrote:

None of the 3 models is perfect, but this comparison / walkaround IS! Very useful and quite professional.
Thank you Kosta! The Kitan is really wonderful!!

So true !!!!
I will have to come back and enjoy this again later today, - right now I have to go get some dog food, or I will get the Medusa-look from two little friends

This is nice. All three have very good features about them, and honestly I think you could not go wrong with any of them. Me, I went with Papo. From anatomical stand point, the Safari figure is probably the most realistic, but the Papo one just appealed to me more (although I am considering replacing it with the Safari one).

Nice pictures, great information

Just as Paige, it was just what I was needing! What a big excitment when I've read the title and the content is much more useful than in my best expectations! Also very interesting comments. Forgeting a little the Kitan masterpiece, now I believe I can take a decision, I just need to revisit this topic more 10 times or so.
Without suspense from my part, I think the most accurate model is Safari's, I also love the pose and the painting looks decent to me. It is the best shaped figure, head included although it is always easier when the mouth is closed. Though, Safari's model lacks the predatory character of this animal and it is something that I will miss. CollectA's model is the best finished of them all, both in painting and detailing, that mouth is superb. Though, the neck is really distracting to me and I also believe the head is too wide, maybe not just an illusion caused by the thin neck. It looks almost like an elasmosaurus to me. Papo model is nice, but the painting is really unappealing to me and finish is not as good as in other two models. I also noticed immediately the excessively large forefins and the wrong shaped mandibular area. I may go for Safari model but as I told, I still need to revisit this topic a few times before.
Thanks Kosta, topics like these make STS a very special forum. Now just a little secret, some years ago, Mojö Fun considered to release a leopard seal female with a pup. They never released it and lots of things changed meanwhile so I conclude it is not a secret anymore. If it is,, I am available to receive a punishment.

Thank you everybody for your comments here. I appreciate them :)
And like I see , we have similar feelings about these models :)

SUSANNE wrote:

right now I have to go get some dog food, or I will get the Medusa-look from two little friends

Oh, I am sure, they can never give you that '' Medusa-look " ... maybe only the ''Mona Lisa - look" of Mr. Safari leopard seal

Roger wrote:

Just as Paige, it was just what I was needing! What a big excitment when I've read the title and the content is much more useful than in my best expectations! Also very interesting comments. Forgeting a little the Kitan masterpiece, now I believe I can take a decision, I just need to revisit this topic more 10 times or so.

Roger, actually your comment on other topic, two days ago, made me do this topic :)
And I am in 100% with the same feelings like yours, for every model presented here.

If now, I had to choose only one model from these 3, it will be the Safari one.
But then, knowing my self ... because exactly like you Roger, I will miss the predatory character of this animal ... I will get the Collecta one..
And then, just because I love Papo... I will get that one too

Roger wrote:

. Now just a little secret, some years ago, Mojö Fun considered to release a leopard seal female with a pup. They never released it and lots of things changed meanwhile so I conclude it is not a secret anymore. If it is,, I am available to receive a punishment.

Oh Roger, please, please, do your best to convince Mojo, to release these two models Female with pup will be wonderful

I feel really happy and honoured that you made such a fantastic topic over my post. It is a topic that shows a huge effort from your part with more than 50 pictures, all fantastic, 4 walk arounds in a row, it is like visiting a sumptuous castle in a small village.
Well, I am not sure I can convince Mojö these days, however, I've sent the suggestion of the black Highland cattle as I have promised.

Thank you Roger

I want to share also this video , not only because it look`s like the Kitan model is made based on this video... , but also because if we watch carefully, we can see , that on some specific mooves, the seal, has more thin neck . Well, not as thin as the Collecta one , but still this gives a good point on the Collecta model.

Here it is :



Also, last night I watched many videos of leopard seals and I saw that on the Safari model, the muzzle ( the nose part) is too sharp.
And this means, one more good point goes to the Collecta model ( my opinion )

Example :

I think you are observing correctly regarding the muzzle of the Safari model. I don't know how it is about sexual dimorphism on leopard seals but, surprisingly, females are larger what contrasts clearly with many species of seals. I also don't know if the neck is stronger on males as it happens with other species but I don't see any reason for that. They look really slender under water and when they lift their heads, the neck looks really not so thick but it also happens with the penguin. By the way, it is a Gentoo penguin as on Kitan figure although I suspect the figure was based on another documentary, I will share it if I find it.
I love the moment of the first video when camera is filming from above and we see the leopard seal, approaching slowly in a crescent shaped pose and starts straightening the body in a gentle way. The windy music also helps to give some suspense to the moment. Then, the leopard seal asks for a cigarret and the penguin responds proudly. - Sorry, it is the last one and it is for me... give me a break! - then the seal leaves the island completely disappointed.

Ahh yes a topic we've been missing and I've very much enjoyed reading your thoughts. It is possible I am the person to thank for all the major brand leopard seals as I suggested to the three to make one as well as asking Schleich. Currently my collection has the Papo & CollectA and soon the Safari as I like to have 3 of each seal species in my menagerie.

Thank you Adam :)

Roger wrote:

I love the moment of the first video when camera is filming from above and we see the leopard seal, approaching slowly in a crescent shaped pose and starts straightening the body in a gentle way. The windy music also helps to give some suspense to the moment. Then, the leopard seal asks for a cigarret and the penguin responds proudly. - Sorry, it is the last one and it is for me... give me a break! - then the seal leaves the island completely disappointed.

Ah, so that is the real story of the video .. hmm ..

Thank you Kosta a wonderful post. Amazing how different manufacturers interpret an animal in various ways.

Like you I think the Kitan diorama is a masterpiece of 'suspended' animation.

costicuba wrote:

Thank you Adam :)

Roger wrote:

I love the moment of the first video when camera is filming from above and we see the leopard seal, approaching slowly in a crescent shaped pose and starts straightening the body in a gentle way. The windy music also helps to give some suspense to the moment. Then, the leopard seal asks for a cigarret and the penguin responds proudly. - Sorry, it is the last one and it is for me... give me a break! - then the seal leaves the island completely disappointed.

Ah, so that is the real story of the video .. hmm ..

Seriously, we never know the real stories of these videos, I think mine is as real as the one told by Sir David. They just compile short scenes and made the story just as they think it will be more attractive to the public. I also shouldn't use cigarrets in my stories once contrarily to Sir David, I don't smoke. I actually don't understand the last phrase of the video when Sir David says: - "Perhaps it is a (...) afterall." ... so I don't understand completely the video even if I loved to watch it.