Safari Ltd Turtles and Frogs

There appears to be 2 versions of the molds in the Safari Ltd Frogs and Turtles TOOB. The commonly available version has relatively plain figures (a Box Turtle and the Painted Turtle with plain green shells, a Golden Mantella frog that is entirely orange, entirely green sea turtles, etc.) I have some figures of the same molds that have slightly more detailed patterning ( a Box Turtle with an olive marbled shell like the turtle from the Pets set, a Mantella frog with black spots, and sea turtles with white undersides and brown (Hawksbill) and green (Green) shells, etc.) I do not own the Lily Pad, the Painted Turtle, and two of the Dendrobates frogs. I have tried to do some detective work on this, but all of the official TOOBs and Bulks of Frogs and Turtles are the less detailed ones. I have seen quite a few of the more detailed ones for sale without packaging (including the more detailed Painted Turtle shown on ToyAnimal.info. It was shown with the more detailed figures, meaning that it and the other photos of Frogs and Turtles figures are mismatched, paint-job wise) and I know of some official TOOBs (Feathered Dinos, Exotic Birds, Desert, Arctic, etc.) that have multiple versions with different paint jobs and sometimes omitted figures. Could any of you figure out the origin of the more detailed figures?
The official version:
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My more detailed figures:
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You are really good with these details. I was actually trying to figure out why the Safari turtles and Frogs toob is marketed as having a bullfrog when I can't see a bullfrog on TAW and in their official pictures. Then, I've found this topic and you show this picture with the more detailed versions. Do you still have these figures?

This toob was among the bunch that were launched round 2003, so there is probably several variations.

The "horses" toob , f. inst. ,has completely changed.

We see that in several toobs, how the paintwork gets worse and the content fewer

It would be ever so great to get examples of these various types in TAW.

Thankyou for pointing this out, Bird

Yes Susanne, it is hard to track all the subtle differences on Safari toobs and I believe we will not be able of listing those differences in quality.
Horses is about a completely new TOOB under the same subject.
This one is not just about quality difference but also not a completely different toob. Though, it is different enough to be listed on TAW as soon as we find the information since the similar figures are distinct enough and there's the bullfrog instead of a lehmann's frog among other little things.
My opinion is that the TOOB with the bullfrog is a previous version of the TOOB with the Lehmann's frog. At a certain point, they increased the number of figures to match the traditional number of figures in a TOOB but they simplified the painting.
When checking online shops I find often this official description with the newer TOOB:

"From bullfrogs to loggerhead turtles, each miniature in this Authentic Replica Collection offers amazing attention to detail. This set contains a range
of colorful tree frogs and various turtles of the land and sea.
• History: Leap around landing on lily pads or munch on some leaves while you explore the world of amphibians with our frogs & turtles TOOB. This array
of frogs and turtles will expose you to the many cold-blooded animals that spend part of their lives in water and the other on land.
• Characteristics: The frogs & turtles TOOB contains 12 toys, including the golden mantella, bull frog, Dendrobates azureus, red-eyed tree frog, Dendrobates
leucomels, green tree frog, loggerhead musk turtle, box turtle, and a green sea turtle.
• Size: Each TOOB measures 1.25 inches by 1.25 inches in diameter and is 12.8 inches tall. The figures within range between 1.25 and 3.75 inches long."

Some interesting points, it tells about 12 toys but lists 9 species, 6 frogs and 3 turtles. OK, maybe a few were duplicated, probably the turtles.
Though, they give a huge focus to the bullfrog and the figures shown are these... no bullfrog.

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My interpretation is that shops updated the picture but not the description. It is not so unusual.

Though, looking at Birdsage set, we see 5 turtles and 4 frogs, among them a bullfrog with a not very convincing mould. it doesn't match either the supposedly outdated description of the tube.

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About the Lily pad, apparently it was not introduced on the earlier tube and we can see on catalogues that in 2017 it was retired from the current tube.
It is important to notice that Frogs & Turtles were also sold in bucks with larger amounts of figures.

I am sure TAW is still missing a few other old Safari frog figures but these models are so alike that turns this task almost impossible without catalogues.

I completely overlooked the fact that the newer set and its associated photo is missing the Bullfrog and the Lily Pad. That’s another change worth noting. I do know that some of the other TOOBs that had their paint jobs downgraded also lost some of their figures. Notably, TOOBs with human figures later had them removed, such as in the Arctic, Desert, Alligators Alive, and Down Under TOOBs. It should be noted that some of the photos I can find have the downgraded colors and no Bullfrog, but there is a Lily Pad with a red flower. I’m pretty sure the original set had one with a yellow flower.

Birdsage wrote:

I completely overlooked the fact that the newer set and its associated photo is missing the Bullfrog and the Lily Pad. That’s another change worth noting. I do know that some of the other TOOBs that had their paint jobs downgraded also lost some of their figures. Notably, TOOBs with human figures later had them removed, such as in the Arctic, Desert, Alligators Alive, and Down Under TOOBs. It should be noted that some of the photos I can find have the downgraded colors and no Bullfrog, but there is a Lily Pad with a red flower. I’m pretty sure the original set had one with a yellow flower.

How did you get this set, in its original package, when? What do you can tell more about it?
Also, I believe the Pets TOOB was released in 2004 and it has a frog.
Can you check if the pet frog is the same as your Bull frog?

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The set was incomplete and the figures were in a large mixed lot containing over 200 figures, including many generic “Chinamals”, some Marvel Education marine animals, some figures from the K&M Animal Babies and Rainforest tubes, a K&M Monk Seal, and figures from other Safari TOOBs.

I believe this is the same frog. I know they reused the figure there. It also looks like they downgraded the colors on this one, possibly around the same time that they did so with the Frogs/Turtles set. This isn’t the only time a figure appeared in multiple TOOBs.

So the way you acquired it is not of a big help.
As far as I know, the frog&Turtles set in its current version was released more or less at the same time as the Pet TOOB so if this pet Frog, just marketed as FROG is the Bullfrog of the previous Frog&Turtle TOOB, it is not weird anymore that it was removed when the TOOB was updated. This pet frog was not identified on TAW, I will add it to the American bullfrog page even if I think it doesn't look like one at all but at least I believe it is what Safari wants to reppresent.
If your TOOB was retired in 2003, it will be very hard to find information about it so we have to play with the little info we can find.

Birdsage wrote:

I completely overlooked the fact that the newer set and its associated photo is missing the Bullfrog and the Lily Pad. That’s another change worth noting. I do know that some of the other TOOBs that had their paint jobs downgraded also lost some of their figures. Notably, TOOBs with human figures later had them removed, such as in the Arctic, Desert, Alligators Alive, and Down Under TOOBs. It should be noted that some of the photos I can find have the downgraded colors and no Bullfrog, but there is a Lily Pad with a red flower. I’m pretty sure the original set had one with a yellow flower.

I can't see if this flower is yellow, it looks orange to me but it is surely lighter than the one we know. Also, the other models for sale in this cheap lot are defintely the earlier color variations.
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