Penguins: When Colorata meets Kaiyodo by Kikimalou - Eudyptes day

Undoubtfully all these Kaiyodo are very good and each species features are respected but we can tell the same about the Colorata models, I guess. We need a good Galápagos. Actually, I miss those series like Schleich used to do, Birds of Prey, Cat Breeds, etc. One of the brands could make a Galápagos themed series with a Galápagos penguin on it. Maybe Maia & Borges could do it too but not with figures sized like their Magellanic penguin or puffin. I mean an assortment like a Safari TOOB but with standard sized figures. Then a Madagascar one, a New Zealand, A Patagonian, etc. Well, as I told in my penguins topic, I think it is not that difficult to transform a Schleich African penguin into a Galapagos.

Another wonderful penguin topic has born !
I think we can definitely call STS - ''PP'' - ''Penguin`s Party'' these days
Kiki you are doing a great job with this topic. The photos and infos are really nice as always.
Thank you for making it !  
I really love the japanese penguin models. For Colorata is sure, but Kaiyodo especially and also Kitan, made so wondeful models.
And for most of these showed here, I am happy to say, that thank`s to our Maria ( teardrop) , I am also a happy owner
But I especially like two models, which I still don`t have : The Emperor Kaiyodo Aqualand wich Chick (1990's) and Kaiyodo PL2 Emperor Penguin (2002).
I also still miss  the Kaiyodo Yellow-eyed penguin. It is really nice one.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Of course the Yellow-eyed penguin is a really special species in the Toy universe and Kaiyodo is the cherry on cake. Nevertheless both Colorata and Kaiyodo models stands out in the Penguin toys realm.  

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] I agree everything is fine with those models, texture, shape, so penguinish.  

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Obvious seam lines are often found on early 2000’s Chocoegg series. we must remember that these ones were Japanese equivalent  of Kinder. What was and still is really obvious is the very superior quality of these old Japanese products, even compared to current kinder  

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Of course we can tell the same about the Colorata models. I organised a meeting, not a match.  
Both of them are still far superior to today prods in my eyes. in 2001, 2002 and 2003, the Japanese produced accurate penguin toys, 20 years later they are still not surpassed, nor even equaled.
Of course one can change the Schleich Cape Penguin in Galapagos, it has really nothing of a Cape penguin except the name.
Nowadays ”western prods” have a lot of details, fur, feathers but often not the good details. What I like in a Penguin model is to recognise the species, good shape, good beak, good paintings and natural pose, nothing less and nothing more.
A good Galapagos penguin exists, it is a Bandai made in 2003 for the Galapagos ”set” you are dreaming of.
Maybe one day, a company will make another good Galapagos but I’m afraid it will come again from Japan.
Western brands are making toys for children, Japanese ones are making collecting items for children and adult. The philosophy of these series is much closer to Panini vignettes than Western "toobs", the quality and, I would dare say, the taste of luxury in addition.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Thank you Kosta for your kind words. Kitan club have indeed some beautiful penguins and I would be very happy if they decided to produce Penguin sets like they did for amphibians, turtles or reptiles.
The Emperor Aqualand with Chick is really special, this series is far from toys, it was collecting items series. They are now very rare and very expensive. I bought mine a long time ago when it was cheaper to hunt them but they were already rare at that time. For the Colorata I bought them as new items of the year then.
For me the Kaiyodo Yellow-eyed penguin is nearly as elusive as the King penguin sub-adult, if it appears somewhere, don’t think twice and take your chance immediately.
For the Kaiyodo PL2 Emperor Penguin, it is another matter. Outside of Japan I know a macaque who can help


Today is another lazy day, one of the smaller genus (Eudyptula) with only one species, the smallest Little penguin.

For the first time in this topic I can say that Colorata made more models than Kaiyodo. For the first time too we can see that they are at the same scale 1/9 to 1/10.

Lovely little penguins! It must be wonderful to be a penguin collector, to be able to buy all these little treasures!

What an adorable little blue

Let's see if we see a new wave of penguins on future releases. We are invading STS with them.
Here is a friendly looking and relatively popular species.
Yes, the 2003 Bandai Galapágos set is exactly what I mean. For more than I see these sets on TAW, it looks sometimes they are like dragons, everyone knows them but they do not exist. I believe the Colorata set I received from you will change my mind.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Penguins collectors would have a very small area to prospect compared to dogs collectors  

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Thank you for him... or her  

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] To tell the truth I owned most of the Bandaï Galapagos items in the past and I let most go away. I say most because my set was incomplete, no Galapagos penguin  

I think yo won't love most of them, they are puzzle like, except the penguin maybe  

The Colorata set is a friendly one for western majors collectors, size, material and, most important thing, they are very accurate

Today is a little punk day in this subject since we are going to spend it with the crested penguins (genus Eudyptes).


It is probably the largest family of penguins, with the exact number of species in the genus varying between four and seven according to authorities.
At the beginning, it was the group of penguins that interested Rogério the least. It is true that they are very different from other species, to such an extent that in France they are not called Manchots (Penguins)  but Gorfous.
While Colorata produced only three of the seven species (Macaroni, Erect-crested and Southern Rockhopper), Kaiyodo produced one more (Royal penguin).
A Northern rockhopper, a Snare penguin and a Fjordland penguin are still missing to be able to exhibit a complete collection.

But what are the differences between a Southern and a Northern rockhopper ? Dixit Wikipedia, they are distinguished by differences in the length of the tassels of the crests, the size and colour of the fleshy margin of the gape, colour pattern on the underside of the flipper and differences in the size of the superciliary stripe in front of the eye. Additionally, the Northern rockhopper penguin is larger than the Southern… well well well ! Another way that scientists were able to differentiate the different rockhoppers were in the parasites that fed off each separate rockhopper penguin species. Hard to show this on a toy indeed.

The Fjordland penguins can be distinguished from the similar erect-crested penguins (Eudyptes sclateri) and Snares penguins (Eudyptes robustus) in having no bare skin around the base of their bill.

And the Snares penguins can be distinguished from Fiordland penguins by a patch of skin at the base of their beaks.

Yess, I guess it is easy to understand why these three species are still missing.

So, in alphabetical order, let’s go for the Erect-crested penguins with two very different poses.  



And now, here are the Macaroni penguin, the Kaiyodo is trying to reach the Colorata’s size. No Macaroni in the Penguin lunch series but Kaiyodo made one for the Enoshima Aquarium Animal pictorial book 1.


The Royal penguin now, the white face Crested penguin There was a controversy to know if those are a distinct species or a subspecies of the Macaroni penguins, it seems Colorata decided that it was a subspecies and Kaiyodo disagreed.

So only one model to show you.


We will end this series with the Southern Rockhopper. It is a rather well represented penguin in the toy world with no less than 12 references on TAW. Colorata and kaiyodo produced only one each.
Kitan club made also a beautiful one, too bad the three Japanese companies chose to make Southern and zero Northern rockhopper

The Kaiyodo lost his keys, if someone can help  

Here they are ! One of my favorite groups - the crested penguins  
These so funny looking, punk lovers , or especially the case of the Erect-crested ones : Prodigy fans
Wonderful models and wonderful photos to present them  
And I laughed a lot on your comments about the models  

Thank you Kosta

I think this was my favorite posts considering all genera here presented.
That's the somewhat boring part of this genus, some species are too similar that it is not easy to put the differences into such small figures. So, a royal penguin, being or not a different species, they are easily recognizable thanks to their unusual white faces. Also, this taxon was and still is extremely debated what turns the task of releasing a crested penguin into a hard task.
Northern rockhoppers were not even recognized as a different species when the Colorata set was released and they are not actually so similar to their Southern counterparts once the size of their crests is considerably longer.
I like the searching for keys pose, it clearly intends to show the crest of the creature or it is just offering its head to someone check which kind of parasites it bears.
Thanks for this wonderful topic, Christophe, it gives a different approach from my topic in a very similar plan what turns everything more comprehensive.

More wonderful models! I love these crested penguins, they have so much character with those crests on their heads! Great variety of poses too- and I agree, collecting dogs is an endless hobby!

Indeed Northern rockhoppers were not even recognized as a different species when Kaiyodo and Colorata made their sets, nevertheless they chose to make Southern ones, I will send you the Colorata booklet in your next parcel, I forget it the last time

I suppose Northern rockhoppers with their longer crests are less easy to make.

This topic will be sleepy for a while but I will try to come back soon with family portraits at different scales.

Thank you Lilias and Rogério

Kikimalou wrote:

Indeed Northern rockhoppers were not even recognized as a different species when Kaiyodo and Colorata made their sets, nevertheless they chose to make Southern ones, I will send you the Colorata booklet in your next parcel, I forget it the last time

I suppose Northern rockhoppers with their longer crests are less easy to make.

This topic will be sleepy for a while but I will try to come back soon with family portraits at different scales.

Thank you Lilias and Rogério  

Don't worry, you sent the most important.
Surely brands will always avoid a Northern rockhopper, those long hanging feathers are a big trouble and if they are not long enough, they're Southern instead.

Maybe Kaiyodo made one for the 1990's Aqualand resin collection, it was sold as a Rockhopper but has very very long long crest. The problem is one have to spend more than 100€ to catch one

Kikimalou wrote:

Maybe Kaiyodo made one for the 1990's Aqualand resin collection, it was sold as a Rockhopper but has very very long long crest. The problem is one have to spend more than 100€ to catch one

That's a huge investment for a punk crest! Searching I only can find the Aquatales, do you have a link where I can see it?

It is available HERE

A few pics

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Thanks Christophe, I think the feathers are long enough and maybe they used indeed the Northern species as reference even if they were not still aware that they could turn into a different species.

It is just call Rockhopper