Spacelab's Collection FINAL PART.

The sealife and equids are all great choices! The orcas specifically I have always found to be so charming, need to track them down some day.

Part 37: Whales

My collection of Whales is limited to just 4 models (+1 to be used as an offspring**) and it's unlikely I will ever get more. Maybe just one or two, if I ever decide for a Blue adult or a Sperm. Still, my space is limited for such large models and I try to avoid having models in boxes.
My favourite is the iconic Schleich Humpback from the M+B plant, such a heavy and detailed beast! Photos:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

PHOTO 1
Humpback Whale (Schleich 2001)
Bowhead Whale (Collecta 2014)

PHOTO 2
Narwhal (Collecta 2013)
Beluga Whale (Collecta 2012)

The first photo cheats somehow, as the Humpback is much bigger than the Bowhead in real. The size difference shown in my photo represents better the real life though..
** Another model I have is a Schleich Blue Whale, I thought of retiring it, but I might use it as an offspring if I ever buy a very big adult. Here it is, the 2005 model from Schleich:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

-----

A song with a clear message, from Jarvis Cocker, the leader of Pulp.

Jarv Is... - Save the Whale (2020)



---

For album artwork, it's a soundtrack written and performed by Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance for the film Whale Rider.

Lisa Gerrard - Whale Rider (original soundtrack, 2003)

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]




--

I can see why the Schleich humpback is your favourite, beautiful!

That is a beautiful humpback, so much detail in the sculpt, and I love the way the sides of the tail fluke are curving upwards, like it's pushing against the water.

I liked that Whale Rider film a lot, I've got the dvd but not the soundtrack cd

Lovely whale figures

Beautiful selection of whales! The Schleich humpback whale is my absolute favorite whale model. I remember saving up allowance money when I was little to pay for it in a gift shop Such a big and heavy beautifully painted whale, the Schleich whales always have a special place in my heart.

The CollectA whales you have I don't own but I've been meaning to get them and they are beautiful! I love the bowhead whale especially.

Great selection!

Maia & Borges (Schleich) humpback is one of the most fascinating figures of this hobby. I think the sperm whale of the same seris can be placed at a very close level.
Those unusual CollectA whales are all very beautiful and tempting too.
Ah, this song, musically, is surely not addicting for my personal taste, though, I like the cover you presented.

Here is an alternative plan to collect (standard sized) Cetaceans of most of the 12 extant families without being exaustive.
As there is no pygmy right whale, new-world river dolphin neither La Plata dolphin.
I "replaced" for other 3 remarkable species of families already represented: blue whale, orca and narwhal. 9 families, 12 figures.

Blue whale and Humpback whale for Rorqual family
gray whale
Bowhead whale
Sperm whale
Beluga and Narwhal for Monodontidae family
Pygmy sperm whale
Orca and common bottlenose dolphin for the family of Oceanic dolphins
Ganges river dolphin
Vaquita (Porpoise)

I think this is a good plan but I am not suggesting it to you, you're much better planning your collection that I am myself.

Wow, I hadn't seen that humpback, how beautiful! Makes my Carnegie pair look sick.

I've been eyeballing that bowhead whale for awhile now.

Lovely whales! I love that blue whale, I hope to find one someday.

lovely models   but same problem for me, I would like to get the Papo Blue and sperm whales but no more places on my shelves!

Nice small collection Kostas 

Finding a decent Blue whale without giving an arm for it is a real challenge indeed.

The first pic isn't so bad even if the Humpack whale is a bit too big. Humpack whales are just a bit smaller than Bowhead whales in real life 

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Yeah, I was talking about the real size difference of the models, in the photo they look close enough because the bowhead stands on the front, while they are not that much. But I can fake the humpback is a very large specimen, while the bowhead a medium.
In my "possible sizes" collection list the bowhead is a 15m specimen and the humpback 17.5m, so they look OK after all..hehe.

Part 38: FELIDS (Wild and domestic Cats)

I have already posted my pride of Lions, time for the rest of my cats. Photos are by continent

ASIA
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

PHOTO 1 L to R
Tiger (Schleich 2015)
Tiger (Schleich 2008)
Snow Leopard (Papo 2014)
Snow Leopard (Collecta 2011)

PHOTO 2 L to R
Indian Black Leopard (Papo 2004)
Clouded Leopard (Safari 2019)
Amur Leopard (Collecta 2015)

At the moment the current Schleich Tiger is used as a Siberian, but this can easily change if a future third Tiger I will get is a bigger sized Siberian, like Collecta's for example. Then the Schleich will be a Sumatran. A great and versatile model actually depending on the scale of your collection.
My papo Snow Leopard is from an early batch, but not the first. So, the painting is not perfect but still decent compared with the later ones. CollectA's needs an update or even better a new one.

I use the black panther as an Indian Leopard, that is a heavy one and quite common in this melanistic colour variant. Safari's clouded leopard is almost perfect, while the Amur is debatable. I think it's a good one but not excellent.


AFRICA
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

L to R
African Leopard (Schleich 2007)
Cheetah (Schleich 2016)
Cheetah young Cub (Safari 1998)

Two Schleich models I love and a Safari ready for retirement. A Caracal is my most wanted model to be made for African cats.

AMERICA
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

L to R
Jaguar (Schleich 2007)
Young Puma(Papo 2007)
Puma Cub (Papo 2016)

15 years after its release, I believe the Schleich Jaguar is still one of the very best. The smaller Papo puma will be replaced by the new Schleich, if it's as good as the photos show. So I can have one in North and one in South America. I've been unlucky with acquiring the Papo ocelot, so I still want one. A Canada Lynx would be nice too, but the Safari version is not satisfying enough for me.


EUROPE
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

L to R
Eurasian Lynx (Collecta 2012)
Eurasian Lynx cub(Schleich 2010)
Eurasian Lynx (Papo 2018)

It looks like a family, though I was never intended to have one. I think they look cool together, especially for a family made of 3 different brands.


DOMESTIC
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

L to R
Maine Coon Cat (Schleich 2019)
Tabby Cat(Schleich 2017)
Exotic Shorthair Cat (Collecta 2021)

"Meow!!"


----

After much thought (yes, I really put some thought on this) I decided to go with a much more commercial song than usual, almost as popular as the species. Not really the genre I usually enjoy in my home's speakers, but the electro-disco of Cat People was the most proper song for this post. Two pioneers got together in 1982 to make the main song for a movie and it was actually more popular than the movie itself.
The one and only David Bowie in singing and lyrics with Giorgio Moroder in music and production. The film was kind of an erotic horror output with Nastassja Kinski on the leading role, she was actually a sex symbol at that time. I've watched it, but can't remember if it was good or not. The song was one of the biggest hits for 1982 in Europe, especially in Scandinavia and the Mediterranean. Oddly enough, it didn't do that well in Bowie's homeland.

David Bowie (with Giorgio Moroder) - Cat People (putting out fire) 1982



---

This time I want to show two different record artworks. First it's the iconic cover of The Stranglers 7th studio album called "Feline". It's not obvious from my photo, but the panther is embossed on the sleeve. I also think this is the best Stranglers record along with their first one.
Then a more intimate to me, a beloved English band called Piano Magic with one of my favourite album sleeves. It shows a portion of "The Kittens' Tea Party", a diorama made by taxidermist Walter Potter in the 19th century. Here they are:

The Stranglers - Feline (1983)

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]



Piano Magic - Low Birth Weight (1999)

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]




--

Nice cats

and a another good song is "Love cats" by The Cure

If it was to post a Cure song, "All Cats Are Grey" would be a more welcomed choice for me. The Lovecats is a good pop song, but rather too poppy for The Cure.

Honestly a great selection of cats all around! That old Schleich jaguar in particular has always been my favorite and I feel that something about it (absent in other sculpts for me) just really screams "real jaguar" to me.

A fascinating selection, when the amount of figures out there is large, and can be bewildering - especially for the popular species, like african big cats - it's a really interesting insight to see which ones individual collectors are choosing.

Very good choice of models and beautiful pictures!
Did you repaint the Schleich leopard? it's so better than mine!

Great choice of cats, perhaps my favourite animal family. Your overview is fantastic, to give me an idea of what modern brands produce.

Thank you all!

Caracal wrote:

Did you repaint the Schleich leopard? it's so better than mine!

I wish I could, you are the expert on repainting leopards.
So no, but this model was 10 years in production, so there are variants with significant difference. I've seen 3, this was the best I could find in detail and coloration.

Well, after listening all these songs on your posts, I almost forgot which figures were presented. It is like when we watch a movie, we have no idea if it was good or not but we remember Nastassja Kinski was there.
I agree about the best jaguar, I will get the Safari soon or later but as long as I don't have it, that Schleich version will remain my favorite for sure. I also enjoy again the way you sort your collection, especially leopards. Yes, the Amur leopard is not a masterpiece but I really enjoy having it and I enjoy that you have it too.
No way, knowing your taste, I am sure you'll never enjoy the Safari Canada lynx, the problem is that I think nobody will release another one. I wished Safari could have updated the painting because the sculpt is quite decent. For a last note, I really hope you can find an ocelot. It is a very nice figure, you will enjoy it, it is also relatively small, quite decent, a rare species but also very hard to find.

Lovely felines! I have the CollectA Eurasian lynx coming in the mail and I'm glad to see its compatible with Schleich & Papo!

The old Schleich tiger, leopard, and jaguar are some of my favorites

Roger wrote:

It is like when we watch a movie, we have no idea if it was good or not but we remember Nastassja Kinski was there.

I think my problem is focused on the whole Kinski family. I remember Nastassja's dad did a great Nosferatu character in the late 70's, but again I can't recall how good or bad the film was... These German people have a talent in over-shading the whole picture.

spacelab wrote:

Thank you all!

Caracal wrote:

Did you repaint the Schleich leopard? it's so better than mine!

I wish I could, you are the expert on repainting leopards.
So no, but this model was 10 years in production, so there are variants with significant difference. I've seen 3, this was the best I could find in detail and coloration.

OK,  so you have a very good version, thank you Constantin! :)

always a real pleasure to follow you and excellent group photos!