Sorting Wild Republic Dog figures, who can help?

With the help of Paige and Liliias, I am trying to sort Wild Republic/K&M dog themed tubes. Since [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] website went down, sorting dogs are being a nightmare for me.

We know for a long time that at least 3 generations of these tubes exist, though, they're packaged and repackaged in many different ways what turns it somewhat confuse.
Also, from more than 30 dog figures, we only had a single one listed on TAW until yesterday. Now we have 8 of 12 of the 2005 tube. However, besides the 4 missing from this tube (Chihuahua, Grey hound, Jack Russel and Pug), we are missing pictures of all other tubes' models. Early and current tubes and even the dog of the Farm tube is missing.

The early set is known from the 2004 Wild Republic catalogue (1st tube).
We don't know its content although the little picture allows us to identify a few figures.
The release date is also unknown, it is for now questionably assumed it is from 1998 but it may be even earlier.

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

Apparently we located the Boxer in Paige's collection.
This figure is just marked China what is consistent wit the earlier K&M tubes.

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


The 2nd tube is almost complete, as mentioned above and these figures are easier to identify once we know the whole content of the tube and figures are marked 2005.
Chihuahua, Grey hound, Jack Russel and Pug are the models we are missing pictures.
It is believed that this set is known as being sold as Paws & Claws because it was released together with the corresponding Cats tube but when googling, this designatiion goes to a 3rd tube countaining only 8 figures.

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

The 3rd tube, was available in several ways and it was also marketed as Wild Republic Dog Nature Tube. The date release of 2011 we see on TAW was found from an official Wild Republic source but it might be the release of a specific tube style, these dogs are much probably available for a longer time.
They're 8 and we know all breeds and even how they look like. Their markings are unknown and we don't have a single one pictured on TAW yet.

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

So, I decided to open this topic to see if we can find more pictures of these little dogs and also it will serve for collecting and TAW editing reference.

It can be extremely hard to guess what kind of dog these kind of models are , - like the STRIPED one in the last picture

I admire you enormously for taking this challenge, - good luck, dear friend

I love this topic!!
I'm so glad I could help a bit with these dogs- and thank you so much for introducing the first set on this list to me, those dogs are so interesting and it's also fun to see how they have evolved over time! The second set has to be my favourite, such lovely dogs and choices of breeds!
I'll definitely remember this topic, and post photos here if I ever find any more by this brand- it's so useful, especially with all the dates!

SUSANNE wrote:

It can be extremely hard to guess what kind of dog these kind of models are , - like the STRIPED one in the last picture

I admire you enormously for taking this challenge, - good luck, dear friend

:lool: Thanks Susanne, it is a German tiger shepherd.

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

Bonnie wrote:

I love this topic!!
I'm so glad I could help a bit with these dogs- and thank you so much for introducing the first set on this list to me, those dogs are so interesting and it's also fun to see how they have evolved over time! The second set has to be my favourite, such lovely dogs and choices of breeds!
I'll definitely remember this topic, and post photos here if I ever find any more by this brand- it's so useful, especially with all the dates!

Yes, at least as long as they're not on TAW, you could use this topic to find which dogs you are missing. Surely the 2005 set deserves an effort. Your help is surely useful.
Oh, a secret dog told me you have a Boxer that reminds the earlier model, could you show it in this topic? Maybe we will find a place to put it on TAW.

By the way, here is the Farm Tube.

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

So glad I could assist with this mystery! I have seen the last set before and if I see it again I will sacrifice my finances to aid this mystery. I hope to find the last few models of set 2 some day, and this helps me identify my little boxer! Great work everyone.

That's so interesting to see the farm tube, with a lovely Border Collie to search for there!
Here is the Boxer, I've just realised that the mould looks slightly different to Paige's, but he's still quite similar!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

My local toy shop has many of the models from the 1st picture for sale as single models.The same goes for the farm animals in the last picture.

Oh, I see my English friends are more interested in cooperating with me than with their football team.
Bonnie, it really does not look the same but it will stay here until we find a place to put your Boxer.
Taylor, do you think you can tell the breeds you know as being part of the first set?
... and one more dog, this time from the Pets Tube... where have I seen it before?

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

I recently bought this tube. Is it needed for TAW? If so I can provide photos.

Roger wrote:

Oh, I see my English friends are more interested in cooperating with me than with their football team.
Bonnie, it really does not look the same but it will stay here until we find a place to put your Boxer.
Taylor, do you think you can tell the breeds you know as being part of the first set?
... and one more dog, this time from the Pets Tube... where have I seen it before?

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

Thats the only K&M Dog that i have

Saarlooswolfhound wrote:

I recently bought this tube. Is it needed for TAW? If so I can provide photos.

Yes, please. It was not even mentioned on TAW until yesterday. Maybe, if you still have the tube, you can check the exact date of release too.
Andreas also seems to have it and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] lists the ferret in her website. Some sites mention these as soft models. Are these made of a softer material than usual?

I have this little dog too! I would definitely say they are more soft and more bendy than most models- it's a lovely little dog!

These are the dogs that I bought form my local shop.They are as Bonnie mention made of slightly bendy material.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Also not sure if this is one of the models as well,only different colouring?
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

So many lovely dogs Taylor!
I also know that Nayab made some copies of these Wild Republic dogs- I'm not sure whether they used different material but they are painted very similarly! So this might cause some confusion!

Yes,I think its getting more and more bewildering!

Yes, everything that envolves Nayab is very misterious to me. I assumed for a long time they produced to these companies but while studying these models, I suspect the story is completely different. Notice how ambiguous are these words I am quoting from their offficial website.

"NAYAB has the flexibility to produce any items based on existing designs and create new items tailored to your exact specifications."

I know they are refering to their ODM (original design manufacturing) offer and not assuming that they copy from others.
But what is ODM?
Quoting from another source:

"This is where an importer selects an already-existing product design from a factory catalog, makes a few small changes and sells it under their own brand name."

It could be read in both directions and support any theory. In any case, considering these models are not marked, the only way to be sure to which brand they belong, is when we find them with the original package, a tube in this particular case.

Roger wrote:

Yes, everything that envolves Nayab is very misterious to me. I assumed for a long time they produced to these companies but while studying these models, I suspect the story is completely different. Notice how ambiguous are these words I am quoting from their offficial website.

"NAYAB has the flexibility to produce any items based on existing designs and create new items tailored to your exact specifications."

I know they are refering to their ODM  (original design manufacturing) offer and not assuming that they copy from others.
But what is ODM?
Quoting from another source:

"This is where an importer selects an already-existing product design from a factory catalog, makes a few small changes and sells it under their own brand name."

It could be read in both directions and support any theory. In any case, considering these models are not marked, the only way to be sure to which brand they belong, is when we find them with the original package, a tube in this particular case.

This is so interesting!
I definitely agree that it's a confusing topic but it's so useful to read this and see that Nayab even admit to using other models!

I do have dogs from this set, and I will get pictures, but FIRST . . . [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], this is the tube with the unidentified "club earth" horses, the ones painted in just a few colors!!

The complete set is in that thread, and I can recognize them in this photo, I am sure it's the same set. I can even see half the Shire in the tube, and the front of the Lippizaner.

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

And look at THIS, these cats match the PV cat set. Based on this photo, they must be very similar. The somali and the manx pictured at least are the same color, but the siamese I can see in the tube is not, so that's very confusing . . . and also adds another set for me to look for.

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

Thanks for sharing that catalogue photo, I'm so excited.

These dogs came with 5 that match the PV dog molds, but I am not sure they are actually part of the same set. Unfortunately I can't recognize any of them inside the tube itself, so for now I would assume they are not and the seller just had them all together.

Here are the five I have that match this tube. The each have the breed and China, but the numbers are a problem:

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

? Schnauzer (couldn't see a number) - sorry he is the only one facing the other way, oops.  
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

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

? Boxer (possibly a number, but very hard to see)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

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

Seems only the Great Dane's number wasn't messed up or forgotten.

That Alaskan Dog is a decent German shepherd, they should have though about it. (is the Dane supposed to be a harlequin?)
I've had the Saint Bernard, but not the other 4 that I remember.

pipsxlch wrote:

That Alaskan Dog is a decent German shepherd, they should have though about it. (is the Dane supposed to be a harlequin?)
I've had the Saint Bernard, but not the other 4 that I remember.

I thought it was a german shepherd. It certainly doesn't look much like a malamute, but then, neither does the other "malamute" I have!

I think the Dane is indeed Harlequin, or they wanted a Dalmatian and ignored the fact that they stamped Great Dane on it.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], I really need eyes like yours to help me. I was planning to open a similar topic about these horses more the newer tube that I believe nobody will get it but you already spotted what they are and I opened a page on TAW using your set 3 pictures on Clube Earth topic.
I don't remember Wild Republic tubes having numbered figures. If you check your horses and if they're not numbered, maybe it could work as an identifying tool. I will try to not forget uploading your dogs on TAW too.

Roger wrote:

I don't remember Wild Republic tubes having numbered figures. If you check your horses and if they're not numbered, maybe it could work as an identifying tool. I will try to not forget uploading your dogs on TAW too.

The horses are indeed numbered, they match the other horse sets exactly, so maybe they just didn't change that when they used the molds?

Hurray, I'm so glad you found these wonderful dogs to help with this Wild Republic mystery!