Club Earth? - Micro Minis

The Animal World models weren't the only things that came in the mail this week! I also got my lot of micro-minis that I only knew about thanks to this thread! I was most excited about this lot, I think, because I love a tiny model, and I also love a mystery, and here's both.

I got many, many duplicates of some of them, and just one or two of others. I wish there had been fewer duplicates and more variety, but I won't complain about my luck!  

These are a nice clue to origins, possibly, because they feature not only the Club Earth-style series from the Play Visions catalogue, but also some specifically Club Earth To Go sets.

These, like their parents, have CHINA printed on them. Some sets have numbers, some do not. Not enough room I think for a breed or species.

They are not the same molds shrunken down, but brand new sculpts made to resemble the larger ones.

I would love to know anything else you know about them! What they are called, how they were marketed, how many of the To Go sets they mimicked . . . so many questions! And SO many pictures, so buckle up. Sorry, TAW editors. No rush getting to these . . .

Animal World

Hippo



Camel



Puma



Black Panther



Lion



Monkey



Gorilla



Musk Ox



Sea Otter or Mongoose? (I was thinking otter because of color, but seeing them up close like this, I'm leaning toward mongoose)




Kangaroo



Hog Boar



Antelope



Anteater



Scaly Ant-Eater



Badger



Wolf



Fox



Missing Giraffe, Zebra, Elephant, Tiger, Mongoose or Sea Otter, Polar Bear, and Panda. I think it's odd that the badger was cast in orange and the fox in grey when switched colors would have matched the parent model best!


Dogs

Maltese



Pug



Yorkshire Terrier



Scottish Terrier



Pomeranian



West Highland White Terrier



Collie



Poodle



Alaskan Malamute - just noticed that it is spelled Alaskan Mulamute on the model



Brittany Spaniel



Dachshund



Shih Tzu/Lhaso Apso



Cats

I don't have the full set the micros are mimicking, so some of the parent models do not match the micros in color.

Domestic Shorthair



Burmese



Siamese



Manx



Abyssinian



Birman



Somali



Unknown


Unknown


Unknown


Unknown


Unknown



Horses

7 - Haflinger



20 - Shetland



Missing Lipizzaner, Appaloosa, Arab, Standardbred, Thoroughbred, Welsh Section B, Shire, Exmoor, Fjord, and Coloured Horse (I have all these parent models, and will make a thread for them next)


Farm Animals

There is a cat, dog, and horse in this set that are different molds from the other sets. Though the horse has a number just like the other horse set, he does not match any parent horse. And the cat and dog sets do not have numbers, while these do, nor do they match any parent model. Because of these reasons, I put them in this set. We know there is a cat in the larger farm set, and there might be a dog as well, since not all models are pictured.

4 - Rooster


5 - Calf or Cow A


6 - Goat


7 - Cat


8 - Rabbit


9 - Ram


10 - Ewe


11 - Calf or Cow B


13 - Turkey


14 - Quail


16 - Goose


17 - Grazing cow


19 - Horse


21 - Donkey


22 - Bull


24 - Dog



Frogs to Go

Common names were pulled from TAW

7 - Red-Headed Poison Frog



10 - Splash Back Poison Frog




Lizards to Go

This one is more of an assumption. He is from my childhood and not this lot, but he matches all the criteria.

1 - I don't have the set, but I imagine it goes with the one pictured below




Turtles to Go

There is no Turtles to Go set on TAW, but the existence of these micros implies there might be one. I didn't want to assume species with these little models, so I gave them general names. The numbers are printed backward on these.

1 - Tortoise


2 - Sea Turtle


3 - Snapping Turtle


4 - Map Turtle

Oh wow, you are bringing all sorts of crazy new things to the collecting table! I have a few of these and had no idea what they were. Here are mine shown in a group shot. Thanks for sharing!

Gasp, tiny lizard and snakes!! And that little brown horse in the middle on top looks like the thoroughbred, except he looks a little bit large to be one of the micros . . .

I think the micros in my photo are the cougar, wolf, brown cow/calf, and maybe the ground sloth looking thing on the right hand side. The others (I think) are from other sets or brands.

Ground sloth would open up even more possibilities . . . either implying a prehistoric animals to go, or that they made micros of more than just the to go/that one catalogue page sets maybe. If that were the case, I would be living my life hoping to find a teeny tiny version of the quagga.  

That wolf is also interesting because he's neither the wolf from this set nor the dog from the farm set he kind of resembles. Do you know what's stamped on either one of them by any chance, if anything?

(Little brown horse must be a reuse of the mold then, those are giving me enormous grief on ebay trying to ID them out from a distance. )

I think I found your canine on ebay. Looks to be in a lot with a bunch of these same molds, unpainted. Perhaps part of a larger set of tiny farm animals that Club Earth or Play Visions used as well? I am missing a few numbers in my farm line up, it might be that there is a second dog.

Thanks for opening this topic. There's a lot to be sorted here.
Regarding TAW, it is better to check if there is a pattern to identify these as Club Earth or any other brand. I think the moulds were used for different companies but markings and painting are sometimes different and it may be enough to determine what they are. Even the fact they messed the color of the fox and badger is an indicator. These micros with corresponding minis seems to be a Club Earth habit. If we do not get a definitive identification, those will be listed as Club Earth as long as there are no evidences that they were sold by another company. What is complicating it is that we find many minis on 1998 Play Visions catalogue.
I am looking forward to see your topic about the horses, I see the Shire as a question mark on TAW so it probably is not marked with breed but that's a story for another thread.

Oh, I forgot, if you have extras of the foxes, anteaters and pangolins, I may be interested.

Roger wrote:

Thanks for opening this topic. There's a lot to be sorted here.
Regarding TAW, it is better to check if there is a pattern to identify these as Club Earth or any other brand. I think the moulds were used for different companies but markings and painting are sometimes different and it may be enough to determine what they are. Even the fact they messed the color of the fox and badger is an indicator. These micros with corresponding minis seems to be a Club Earth habit. If we do not get a definitive identification, those will be listed as Club Earth as long as there are no evidences that they were sold by another company. What is complicating it is that we find many minis on 1998 Play Visions catalogue.

Interesting, are there other pictures of the 1998 catalouge with these minis in it? And I can see where some of these might not necessarily be part of the same release or from the same company, especially seeing the other wolf/dog along with the cows!

Quote :

I am looking forward to see your topic about the horses, I see the Shire as a question mark on TAW so it probably is not marked with breed but that's a story for another thread.

The horses are my favorite, saving the best for last! Or actually, still waiting for the last ones to arrive!

Quote :

Oh, I forgot, if you have extras of the foxes, anteaters and pangolins, I may be interested.

I believe I have duplicates of all of those, possibly in both sizes, I will double check and message you. :)

The 1998 catalogue is in this link. you can find other catalogues on their section on forum. I recomend you to check the 2004 Wild Republic catalogue too.
Thanks for checking these figures for me, I will check my inbox meanwhile.

Nice catches. There are any interesting micro figures like that

Thank you Andreas! I love these tiny ones, I hope I find many more.

Roger wrote:

The 1998 catalogue is in this link. you can find other catalogues on their section on forum. I recomend you to check the 2004 Wild Republic catalogue too.  

I hadn't made it to that board yet, now I have many many days of study ahead! Exciting research!

Ohhh these micros minis are absolutely gorgeous!!!
The dogs especially, I just love how there are smaller versions of the already wonderful larger dogs- so so sweet! And they really are tiny!
I believe although I am not sure that the moulds for these mini dogs (And maybe other animals too) may have been used across a few brands, starting with Club Earth. The reason I say this is because I know these dogs were sold as surprise toys in eggs in the 90's, made by Hau and Mau- and possibly by other brands too!

Marvellous miniature animals....

K&M / Wild Republic also had some of these minis. (Only painted nicer) I have the nicely painted versions of the fox and wolf and they match the paint work of the fox & wolf from K&M's bulk set animals.

Here's a link to them:
http://toyanimal.mywikis.net/wiki/Wild_Republic_Minis

WhiteLightning Wolf wrote:

K&M / Wild Republic also had some of these minis. (Only painted nicer) I have the nicely painted versions of the fox and wolf and they match the paint work of the fox & wolf from K&M's bulk set animals.

Here's a link to them:
http://toyanimal.mywikis.net/wiki/Wild_Republic_Minis

Oooh, thank you so much, I love those! That explains why the puma has spots carved into the model. I will definitely need to be looking out for those . . .

So why did Wild Republic make minis that match K&M? Are they connected, or is that something that's normal enough?

Bonnie wrote:

Ohhh these micros minis are absolutely gorgeous!!!
The dogs especially, I just love how there are smaller versions of the already wonderful larger dogs- so so sweet! And they really are tiny!
I believe although I am not sure that the moulds for these mini dogs (And maybe other animals too) may have been used across a few brands, starting with Club Earth. The reason I say this is because I know these dogs were sold as surprise toys in eggs in the 90's, made by Hau and Mau- and possibly by other brands too!

Thank you Bonnie, that's really interesting! I'd love to find those egg dogs somewhere. I assume they were painted differently? Thank you for that information!

landrover wrote:

Marvellous miniature animals....

Thank you! :)

Jill wrote:

WhiteLightning Wolf wrote:

K&M / Wild Republic also had some of these minis. (Only painted nicer) I have the nicely painted versions of the fox and wolf and they match the paint work of the fox & wolf from K&M's bulk set animals.

Here's a link to them:
http://toyanimal.mywikis.net/wiki/Wild_Republic_Minis

Oooh, thank you so much, I love those! That explains why the puma has spots carved into the model. I will definitely need to be looking out for those . . .

So why did Wild Republic make minis that match K&M? Are they connected, or is that something that's normal enough?

It is really great your interest in all these questions and STS is surely the place for a collector like you.
In collecting terms, Wild Republic and K&M are the same.
It is all really confuse but the first step is to understand what is a manufacturer, a company and a brand.
OK, a manufacturer is also a company but let's keep things simple.
A manufacturer is the company that really manufactures the models to be sold by other brands.
Wing Mau is a manufacturer from Hong Kong and they manufacture these and other figures to Wild Republic, Club Earth, Yujin, Play Visions, etc.
K&M International is a North American company. They develope many products and their animal themed products are branded Wild Republic.
Thus, Wild Republic is a brand that belongs to K&M International.
K&M International is the company who dealed with Wing Mau to produce figures to be sold as Wild Republic.

So what is Club Earth? Club Earth is a trademark that is more or less the same as a brand, the company who created this brand is called Easy Aces, Inc.
Are they the same as K&M International/Wild Republic?
No, they are not the same but the manufacturer, Wing Mau, also manufactured figures to Club Earth.
Why are these figures the same moulds?
Because these moulds are designs of Wing Mau, from their portfolium, then the company that deals with them can choose their material, colors and even the way they are marked, as long as the manufacturer offers these options.

Obviously it does not always work like that. Some brands have their own manufacturing facilities and some brands have their own designs but another company manufactures them.

For instance, Schleich is a brand, a company and a manufacturer. Though, they also sell figures from other manufacturers. For example, the entire 1/32 Sea Animals series was manufactured by Maia & Borges, a Portuguese company. We love to give the example of the Schleich 1998 sea elephant that was also available in 2017 as a Papo model and in 2018 as a Mojö Fun model. Their manufacturer was always Maia & Borges, what changes is their brand. Though, we can identify easily all these sea elephants for collecting purposes because they are marked with the brand names.
When we are talking about these minis, it is very hard to know to which brand they belong. Sometimes, it is not even possible when comparing with the few catalogues we have. So, we try to group them using the few markings they have, as numbers, lettering, painting style or so. Often those are only guesses until we find some evidence. We don't intend to list every variation in this planet but I think it is interesting to try to get what was available among these brands that are more popular in this hobby as it is Wild Republic, Club Earth or Play Visions. I think it is also fun to find these different uses to the same mould as you mentioned about the puma.

Sorry for my long post and I hope you don't feel like I am talking like you are an ignorant. I took myself a long time to understand many things and I am convinced that now everything is more confuse than it was when I started collecting.

Very interesting! They aren't the highest quality, but despite this, many are very charming, like the otter, cats and dogs. Because they are so small, quite a few should be good for 1/32 scale. I need to look out for them. Thanks for showing these!

Roger wrote:

Sorry for my long post and I hope you don't feel like I am talking like you are an ignorant. I took myself a long time to understand many things and I am convinced that now everything is more confuse than it was when I started collecting.

No worries at all, thank you so much for taking the time to explain, that's great and very helpful! It's definitely confusing, but also really interesting. I'm much better versed in collecting things all under the same umbrella name, but I'll ask about Breyer. Breyer is owned by Reeves International, so does that make Breyer a brand . . . or because they make their own molds and produce their own product, are they a manufacturer, just part of a larger manufacturer? Just trying to place things I am already familiar with into the framework, to better understand it.

I am more of a set or type collector than anything, so knowing how and why things are divided is very useful (or why we can't know exactly how they are divided). It is far more complex to collect "Club Earth" I am learning than it is to collect "Breyer"!

rogerpgvg wrote:

Very interesting! They aren't the highest quality, but despite this, many are very charming, like the otter, cats and dogs. Because they are so small, quite a few should be good for 1/32 scale. I need to look out for them. Thanks for showing these!

If you are interested in any specific ones, there's a good chance I have a duplicate of it!

Breyer, as Breyer Molding Company, started as a manufacturer.
Later they turned into Breyer Animal Creations company that created the brand Breyer Animal Creations .
Thus, Breyer is everything.

Reeves International, Inc was essentially a distributor and representative of brands. They turned into a proprietary of brands that is more than being just a distributor.
They are since 1986 the owners of Breyer Animal Creations . Simplifying, Reeves is the owner of the Breyer brand.

For us collectors, the most important is the name of the brands. Reeves is meaningless. These figures will always be Breyer to us.

As Easy Aces is also meaningless, their figures will always be Club Earth to us.

Those we know as K&M international, should be known just as Wild Republic, though, here we have the collecting culture. As we knew these models marked K&M only like that, the name of the company gained more meaning in our lexic than the name of the brand.
When we are talking about manufacturers like AAA or Wing Mau, their figures were sold by so many different brands that when they are marked with the name of the manufacturer, they are known among us with their manufacturer names and not their brands.

So much knowledge, how do you keep it all in your head! This begins to make sense.

So the micro mini molds "match" (or clearly are meant to mirror) the slightly larger molds because Wing Mau made made them both, but it is up to the brand or company whether they market both sizes and how? So while I feel like, color-wise, these minis seem to pretty clearly "go with" the Animal World set, that's really the only clue we currently have - how it's painted, right?

This will be a better conversation for the horses, maybe, because I have three distinct sets - a Club Earth to Go (definitively, sealed new in package), the Play Visions catalogue set of Mini Horses (matches the photo horse for horse) and then a complete set of unidentified horses that now I wonder if they aren't the same molds but used by someone else altogether. But! We can save that for the next thread, and I look forward to hearing what people think about them!

Thank you again! I feel like the collectors here could write a book about the history of plastic animal models!

I'm not even IN this conversation and I'm finding it fascinating reading!

Only to help us sorting things set by set, here is the Wing Mau (manufacturer) picture.

24 Styles Mini Farm Animal WM-0894HP

Jill wrote:

Farm Animals

There is a cat, dog, and horse in this set that are different molds from the other sets. Though the horse has a number just like the other horse set, he does not match any parent horse. And the cat and dog sets do not have numbers, while these do, nor do they match any parent model. Because of these reasons, I put them in this set. We know there is a cat in the larger farm set, and there might be a dog as well, since not all models are pictured.

4 - Rooster


5 - Calf or Cow A


6 - Goat


7 - Cat


8 - Rabbit


9 - Ram


10 - Ewe


11 - Calf or Cow B


13 - Turkey


14 - Quail


16 - Goose


17 - Grazing cow


19 - Horse


21 - Donkey


22 - Bull


24 - Dog

Hello,
thank you for the information about the different scales. I have also micro, mini, standard or big figures and sometimes they look nearly equal.
Benno.