A new collecting project - book characters

I didn't need another one, but I have started two new "projects" this week, whoops!! This is me looking for help with one of them. :) And also just keeping track of things for my own sake, so don't feel bad if this is boring, ha!

I consider my collection to fall into four basic categories: sets, random one-offs, projects, and brand. Sets are obvious, that's me trying to complete sets like Play Visions or Kid Kore. The random one-offs are also self-explanatory, just any figure that I like that doesn't have to belong to any other figure to be in the collection, like the Schleich okapi. And of course brand is clear, like Breyer. But projects are figures that don't go together except in my head, like my dingo collection where I would like to get all possible dingo figures. Many people do this, I think--whether it's by scale, by species, by region, or by some other arbitrary link. So that's what this thread is about, yet another "project"!

I'm currently writing a book. It's a fantasy/sci-fi and I've committed to finishing the first draft this year (I have 15 chapters written so far, but they are very ugly, haha. I write about 1000-2000 words a week, so we'll see!). Many of the characters in this book are animals, and so it obviously occurred to me to represent them as figures. I thought it would be especially cool if those figures were in (very rough) scale to each other (I'm not too picky). But I don't really know where to start! I think it would be neat if I could get them in "tube" sized minis, since that's my favorite size, but I don't know if I could find everything, and the styles in that size often clash. I'm open to suggestions for really good examples of the species, though I am also browsing TAW. The sex of each is not super important except where the deer is concerned.

The species I am looking for (and their name in the novel):

Virginia Opossum, female but not with joeys (name: My toes are Pink)  
Considering:
- Archie McPhee Itty Bitty City Critters is I think my only option. If it is, then I guess that determines that I will be going with tube sized!

White-tailed deer, two to three year old buck so not looking for a huge rack of antlers or thick neck (name: Running Cedar)
Considering:
- I love the AAA buck but he looks huge!! Probably way too large for find the rest to scale. Otherwise, he would be perfect.
- K&M North America Adventure Tube buck. He's not painted great and for this project I'd like slightly more realism than I usually worry about. Also how hard is this guy to find? I know the K&M figures can be pretty rare.
- K&M River Otter Tube buck. This one seems really good if I went for tube sized! Even his antlers are good! But is he very hard to find?
- Safari Powhatan Indians tube buck. Looks like he is possibly still in production so that would be a win. I also like his overall look, even though is not very realistic. The antlers are a bit weird, though.

Black Bear, male (name: Rain Instead of Snow)
Considering:
- I already have the Play Visions bear, which might work if it turns out not to be too big for any other deer.
- K&M North American Forest Bulk bear. I really like this one the most. Is this a very hard set to find? I notice it is still missing some photos on TAW.
- Safari Ltd Everglades Toob bear, whenever it finally releases! I will be getting this set anyway, so maybe this bear will work.
- The bear limits me a little just like the opossum because I like very few of the large bears and since this is the largest animal in the project, if it's small, everything else has to be pretty dang small too . . .

Eastern Box Turtle, female (name: Dawnback)
Considering:
- I don't love any of them from an "actually looks like a box turtle" perspective, nor do I see any that are truly small enough to scale to the other animals. Any ideas??

Mountain Lion, female. I'd like some with some drama to it because the character is feisty, but that's not necessary. (name: Blaze)
Considering:
- Eikoh Miniature Planet cougar. I like this one a lot. Again, curious if it is hard to find and also how big it really is.
- Play Visions mini puma. I have this one, and while I like the pose, the color is pretty wrong, so not sure how I feel about it.
- Play Visions mountain lion. I also have this one, but it doesn't have the right personality to it and to me it has always looked a little more like an African lion than a mountain lion . . .
- Safari Ltd North American Wildlife cougar. Not painted great but I like the sculpt. How big is this one?
- Papo puma. If I went larger, I think this might be my choice. I almost could try to scale everything to this one because it is really good, but then I don't think I have a opossum or crow options.

American Crows, male and female (names: Hassle and Marrow)
Considering:
- Archie McPhee crows. Probably my best bet I think? I didn't see any American Crows on TAW.

Salamander species native to the southeast Appalachian mountains, I haven't determined which species yet. (name: Salamander)
Considering:
- Are there any tiny enough salamanders?? I know there are some beautiful Japanese brand salamanders but I could never get all the other animals to scale with them. Maybe there is no option for this one but to make something myself.  

Coyote, female (name: Rattlenails)
Considering:
- Play Visions coyote. I have this one, but it seems probably too big? I also would love one in a lighter color.
- K&M North American Adventure coyote. I really just need to find this whole set I think!
- Safari Ltd Desert coyote. I like this one pretty well, I wasn't aiming for howling but if I could get one I'd be okay with it.
- Noah's Pals coyotes[/ur]. I really like these, but hard large are they? And how difficult to find?
- Wild Republic polybag coyote. Love the personality of this one, but I think it's a large figure?

American Alligator, male (name: Weight)
Considering:
- I have pretty many little gators to pick from already, including the Play Visions and most of the Alligators Alive toob
- But I also like the looks of the Collecta mini alligator. I believe that is still in production?

Spotted Hyena, female (name: Jawbone)
Considering:
- K&M African Predators bulk hyena. I have this one and I like it. Not sure how it scales, though, and its more stylized look will likely clash. I'm not sure how a hyena looks never to a white tailed deer to be honest.  
- Play Visions hyena. Of course I'd love to find this one, who wouldn't? I know this is too much of a long shot to really consider, but I do think it would be a good one.
- Safari South African toob. I have this one and will probably go with it, but it's probably very big compared to the deer options too??
- I actually like the safari, schleich, and papo larger figures but I don't think I stand much chance of getting all the other animals to scale to them.

We'll see if this project gets off the ground and how long it takes to complete--my dingo project after all is moving so slowly as to be not moving at all. I get too easily distracted!

Congratulations on your new project Jill!
Why don't you gather up all the figures you've mentioned that you do have.
Take a photo of them and see which ones are the best options for blending in at scale.

And then you just have to keep eyes out for the ones you're keen on.

The Safari Everglades toob is filled with beauties! I love the bear in it, a beautiful pose.

I'm pretty good at judging scale, being a 1/32nd scale collector mainly.
So I can suggest models in that size, but most of them are out of your particular tastes I think, so probably wouldn't really fit in.

I'd be happy to try and make a box turtle for you if needed?

sunny wrote:

Congratulations on your new project Jill!
Why don't you gather up all the figures you've mentioned that you do have.
Take a photo of them and see which ones are the best options for blending in at scale.

The most obvious first step that somehow did not occur to me!

Quote :

I'm pretty good at judging scale, being a 1/32nd scale collector mainly.
So I can suggest models in that size, but most of them are out of your particular tastes I think, so probably wouldn't really fit in.

Perhaps with a photo like you suggest, I can get an idea of what scale I am looking in mainly. Scale is very hard for me, because it's math, and when number appear, my brain plans its escape.

Quote :

I'd be happy to try and make a box turtle for you if needed?

Oh, I know you have many artistic talents, is making a tiny turtle one of them? It has been many, many years since I tried to make anything with sculpey, I am sure yours would look far better than mine.

This is looking like my projects and it explains why I am so confused now.
There are so many questions to answer but I think the first step is to determine the size question.
If you want them precisely at a certain scale, you have on forum a wonderful 1:32 scale topic where several of these species are covered. I can give you direct links to the exact posts.
Though, I don't think it is your goal. You love tube sized figures but you won't get a scale feeling since most of these have all a similar size regardless of the animal real size.
Let's go then for the illusive scale. What is it? It is what most major brands do. Figures are not at scale but normally, a larger animal has a larger figure than a smaller animal. Schleich does it relatively well.
So you have from salamanders to bears. If you get a tube sized bear, most of your other figures will need to be very small.
For this stage I have two recomendations. Use a Schleich sized method or if you find those too large, use your favorite size for a medium sized animal and start working around it.
About specific models being hard to find, all these K&M bulk figures are not easy to find what is a pity since they're the nicer of the company.
Noah's Pals are still possible to find from these Chinese websites.They're 1:24 scale, a good one for you if you accept a few vintage figures.

Virginia Opossum: Since you start with a Virginia opossum, you are in troubles. I don't even know the one you linked. Maybe you will have to remove one of the babies of the Safari model.

White-tailed deer: Yes, the AAA is huge, there's no plan where you can use it. The 1994 model is defintely not realistic and something hard to locate.The River tube I believe is much easier but do you think it is realistic? I like the Noah's Pals buck but I don't know its size. Probably larger than a tube figure but not that much.

American black bear: Yes, the K&M bulk is hard to find. Much easier to get the Everglades one which looks great and you have an American alligator and a walking cougar on it.

Easter box turtle: This one you won't find small enough, unless you catch a ladybug and customize it. Annette's offer is the kindest help you can get. There is the Nayab model it is tube sized or smaller and you're very good finding this kind of figures.

Mountain lion: Eikoh are not hard to find, just hard to pay. You can get it via @Brettjn but it is something that needs to be bought from Japan and paying for a single Eikoh figure is painful. Don't go for the PV mini, it won't work. I agree the PV model looks like a lioness, the tip of the tail pointed upwards almost looks like the brush at a lion's tail. Papo model is too large when compared with the others. It is just a ood option if you decide to go for a Schleich sized project. Then you can use it Schleich hyena, Papo
jackal as a coyote and Safari white-tail and black bear.

American crow: This one will be a challenge. You get the one you pointed or you use another species. The Kaiyodo large-billed crow, the Golden compass raven or so.

Salamander: It doesn't matter the species or scale you will use, this one will always be too big. Though, I don't even know the species.

Coyote: I like the howling one, the Polybag model is very large. If you go for a Schleich sized project, consider my suggestion of using the Papo jackal.

American alligator: You have the one of the Everglades Toob, likely the CollectA mini is still in production but you have to get the whole set. I think at that size you already have enough figures. If you go for a larger sized one, Papo is very good or any other the current ones from the major brands.

Spotted hyena: The one you already have, for a tube sized project, is good enough, most of the other animals have no idea how a hyena looks like. If you go for larger figures, Safari's is too large, Papo is very inaccurate. Try Schleich or Mojö Fun.

Thank you so much for taking the time to make all these recommendations! Really good advice about the scale, I think I probably will go with the more general "big animals are bigger and small animals are smaller" approach rather than a strict scale adherence, but this conversation also shows me that I will have to bend a little for some. I also appreciate the suggestions for other species to look at as substitutes for some of them, and also other figures I hadn't seen. I do like the Noah's Pals buck. I like the idea of picking a middle sized favorite figure and working in the other directions from there. This gives me a lot to start working from and also a better idea of what is reasonably available. It will be fun to try to build a final list. :)

Here is a draft using a few of my own figures.
You can see CollectA white-tailed buck, Mojö Fun spotted hyena, Papo American black bear;
Kaiyodo spotted nutcracker, Papo golden jackal, CollectA American alligator and Papo cougar.

I know, the nutcracker is too much cheating but my ravens are larger and I don't have an American crow. Also, the golden jackal is not a coyote but nobody will notice.
I don't have the turtle and my salamanders are too large. Though, for those you can use minis.
My opossum is also too large but I can include it to show you the size.
I have a few alternatives for a few of them, larger or smaller coyote, larger or smaller puma, etc.
Let me know if you want an alternative picture or assortment.

An exciting project! I agree that it is probably impossible to get your animals exactly to scale. It certainly isn't possible in 1/32 scale because several of your species don't exist in that scale. As Rogério already mentioned, best to go for relative scale.

I'd start by having a look a Wikipedia for the size of the animals. Then I'd rank them from small to large and then find figures that correspond to this ranking, taking into account that animals have a size range that allows you to be a bit flexible. In my experience, small figures are the hardest to find, so I'd start with the smallest animal (depending on the species, probably the salamander followed by the Eastern box turtle and American crow) and then work your way up.

I am looking forward to your novel!

Roger wrote:

Here is a draft using a few of my own figures.
You can see CollectA white-tailed buck, Mojö Fun spotted hyena, Papo American black bear;
Kaiyodo spotted nutcracker, Papo golden jackal, CollectA American alligator and Papo cougar.

I know, the nutcracker is too much cheating but my ravens are larger and I don't have an American crow. Also, the golden jackal is not a coyote but nobody will notice.
I don't have the turtle and my salamanders are too large. Though, for those you can use minis.
My opossum is also too large but I can include it to show you the size.
I have a few alternatives for a few of them, larger or smaller coyote, larger or smaller puma, etc.
Let me know if you want an alternative picture or assortment.

Thank you, that picture is great! It gives a good idea of what a larger version of the set would look like, for sure. If you have the opossum it would be good to see it, I just wish it didn't have joeys. If she didn't, it would be the perfect figure to start with since it's the only one except the tiny tiny one. I like the jackal, puma, and the gator a lot. I would need to find a more peaceful bear in a similar size, and the deer also is too mature looking, but maybe there are so other alternatives to a full mature buck.

rogerpgvg wrote:

An exciting project! I agree that it is probably impossible to get your animals exactly to scale. It certainly isn't possible in 1/32 scale because several of your species don't exist in that scale. As Rogério already mentioned, best to go for relative scale.

My first question should have been, is there any scale where all these animals exist? Since the answer seems to be no, I can decide instead which ones I definitely want to represent or which I could possibly customize from something else.

Quote :

I'd start by having a look a Wikipedia for the size of the animals. Then I'd rank them from small to large and then find figures that correspond to this ranking, taking into account that animals have a size range that allows you to be a bit flexible. In my experience, small figures are the hardest to find, so I'd start with the smallest animal (depending on the species, probably the salamander followed by the Eastern box turtle and American crow) and then work your way up.

It's a good idea. The turtle, crow, salamander, and opossum are proving the hardest. I think the Safari good luck mini salamanders, if painted, could work with larger figures . . .

Quote :

I am looking forward to your novel!

Thanks, I hope it exists someday!

So I remembered I have a glass opossum figure and I think I might begin here, because it is the only opossum figure I can find that works. It will clash stylistically since it is so glossy, but maybe not terribly since it is small.




I also found these 1" crows. Given that the Wikipedia sizes of opossums is 13-22 inches and crows is 12-20 inches, I think they can look okay next to each other. It's a young opossum. Crows! Though possibly these tinier ones would be even better at 7/8 inches. It's so hard for me to visualize these things, even with a ruler.

Which means I am probably going for the larger figures route. I am going to look into bears next, since that will be the biggest of the bunch. EDIT: Just kidding, forgot about the alligator, that will be the biggest! I'm looking for a really massive old male alligator representative, and I'm not really seeing anything as big as I'm hoping for. The nicest looking one in my opinion is the ToyMany one, but that's pretty small, sadly . . .

OK, if your project takes the standard size and the relative scale similar to what my pictures show. My suggestion is that you use the Papo white-tailed deer instead. It is larger than that CollectA and this Schleich and full of character.
I'm showing here the Papo Alligator but the Alligatorish pose of the CollectA is better for you. Papo puma is a good choice, it looks somehow happy. I prefer the Papo Jackal over the somewhat larger Safari coyote in this picture but at least it is a coyote. You can see the opossum is huge, it is something you won't find easily and a candidat for a homemade project. Sorry for such a large salamander, I think I could choose a different one.  Here is also my Safari common raven, also too big and not so similar to an American crow.
This American black bear is Mojo's model. It is larger than Papo's but far more peaceful, you should also consider the Safari ones, either you want it standing up or just walking. You might even need a larger bear, unfortunately the Wildlife Wonders is too big.

Roger wrote:

OK, if your project takes the standard size and the relative scale similar to what my pictures show. My suggestion is that you use the Papo white-tailed deer instead. It is larger than that CollectA and this Schleich and full of character.
I'm showing here the Papo Alligator but the Alligatorish pose of the CollectA is better for you. Papo puma is a good choice, it looks somehow happy. I prefer the Papo Jackal over the somewhat larger Safari coyote in this picture but at least it is a coyote. You can see the opossum is huge, it is something you won't find easily and a candidat for a homemade project. Sorry for such a large salamander, I think I could choose a different one.  Here is also my Safari common raven, also too big and not so similar to an American crow.
This American black bear is Mojo's model. It is larger than Papo's but far more peaceful, you should also consider the Safari ones, either you want it standing up or just walking. You might even need a larger bear, unfortunately the Wildlife Wonders is too big.

Thank you! That's very helpful, I am struggling a lot to picture sizes. I was really looking at that Wildlife Wonders bear because its look and personality are perfect, but I was afraid it was much too large, especially to get a good alligator with it. I guess the same is for the Wildlife Wonders deer, which is also beautiful!

Yes that opossum is way too large, but so nice looking. I will stick to my little porcelain figure for now. Maybe someday another will be released! (The salamander would be the star of the novel at that size )

Wait, if you consider even larger figures you have a good basis using Wildlife Wonders figures. If the provided scales are correct, you have a black bear at 1:10, a coyote at the same scale, the buck is 1:12 which is probably not a problem for a non completely mature. The alligator is 1:15 which is also not a problem since it puts the alligator to an average size and I can check the scale of this opossum although these babies can't be removed. I don't know the scale of the Safari WS spotted hyena, it is probably small for this coyote but I know it is much larger than Mojo's hyena. Though, I know a few very ugly looking large hyena figures. With 1:10 scale, you don't need tiny crows or salamanders anymore. Just very small. I hope Christophe finds this topic, he has a few models at this scale.

I like the bear, deer, and coyote in the Wildlife Wonders series a lot. The alligator is also not bad at all. But I don't like the puma at all, and I feel like if I went that large I would be limited in my choices more there. I do have one large hyena figure by Nayab I think that is not at all right for this project. I think despite how much I like those three figures, I should probably stick to smaller so the crow and opossum work and I don't have to get a puma I don't like at all. But I would gladly see picture size comparisons if someone had those. I won't be deciding immediately, especially since those are kind of expensive. I will be pondering!

Hello Jill,
please excuse when I use your search for animals to illustrate a book.
I thought we can make a casting show to find the right animals.
See what I found in my boxes.


1 = unknown Hong Kong/China not marked.
2 = copy of PAPO?.
3 = NEW RAY
4 = Hong Kong copy of BRITAINS?
5 = unknown vintage composit.
6 = NEW RAY.
7 = SCHLEICH mini.
8 = Heinerle/Manurba.
9 = SAFARI Ltd..
10= SCHLEICH mini.
11= SCHLEICH mini.
12= PLAYMOBIL

Benno.

Oh thank you so much! The tiny playmobile salamander is actually quite a good solution for this scale, and I didn't know there was a Schleich mini crow and turtle! Very good idea! It's very helpful to see all these options, thank you.

A small, and in this area living, salamander is the hellbender. A small figure is inside of a Wild Republic polybag. I can send a pic after work.

That is a good point. The hellbender is too large a species for me to use in the story, I am thinking more along the lines of a red-backed, three-lined, shovel-nosed, dusky, seal, etc. Small seepage and stream salamanders. But the polybag mini lizards ones doesn't look like a hellbender, either, so it could possibly work if it was a good size and I could find one.

I created a rough draft of a set based mostly on which mid-sized models I thought fit the characters best. Once I can get the Everglades toob, I might consider also building a tube-size set, but some species will have to be absent from that scale. This is mainly for my own use so I can see it easily all in one place and reference back to it, but also if anyone can tell me how to do the scale conversations so I can see what rough scale each of these figures is in, or how the differences in sizes between species compares to real life, I would appreciate it. My brain turns inside out when numbers get involved and I'm having a hard time even sorting if they are relatively okay looking beside each other. Or if anyone has any of these figures they can take photos of together that would be awesome (thank you so much Roger for already providing so many helpful photos of many of these figures!).

White Tailed Deer: Safari Ltd North American Wildlife
Size: 4.95 inches (12.45 cm) long and 4.17 inches (10.59 cm) tall
Actual deer size: ? I only found weights on Wikipedia
Pros: It's a nice looking figure, though I don't like it as well as the CollectA, but I think it is closer to the right look for the character
Cons: Like all the figures in existence, the antlers and general build are too large and mature, so I'm just going to have to accept that to complete this project. This one at least is not quite as mature looking at the CollectA. He's also really tall compared to the bear, which is probably not going to work!

Virginia Opossum: the Little Critters figure pictured above
Size: 0.75 inches (1.9 cm) tall, 1 inch (2.54 cm) long
Actual opossum size: 13–22 inches (33–55 cm) long from their snout to the base of the tail, with the tail adding another 9.8–21.3 inches (25–54 cm)
Pros: I already own it and it's fairly realistic
Cons: It's glass, and it's pretty small, but the character is a 6 month old opossum, so I am willing to work with it

American Black Bear: Safari Ltd Wild Safari North American Wildlife
Size: 4 inches (10.16 cm) tall
Actual bear size: 47 to 79 inches (120 to 200 cm) in head-and-body length, and 28 to 41 inches (70 to 105 cm) in shoulder height (I'd like to represent a large male, so on the larger side of these measurements)
Pros: It has the right demeanor to the face
Cons: It's so short?? Is it really shorter than the Safari deer and the Papo cougar? A standing bear should be much taller than either of those species, so I am still not sure abut this figure.

Eastern Box Turtle: Schleich mini tortoise
Size: ???
Actual box turtle size: 4.5 to 8 in (11 to 20 cm)
Pros: It's the only tiny turtle-like figure I'm aware of that is a little bit realistic
Cons: It's a tortoise, the colors are very plain compared to the other figures, and I think this series is hard to find

American Crow: Archie McPhee Murder of Crows
Size: 1 - 1.25 inches (2.54 - 3.18 cm) tall
Actual crow size: 16–21 inches (40–53 cm) in length
Pros: It has more than one sculpt, for two characters and there are actually two sizes. I'm not sure if this one or the smaller ones would be better.
Cons: None

Mountain Lion: Papo Wild Animals
Size: 4.75 inches (12 cm) long, 2.2 inches (5.6 cm) tall
Actual cougar size: 24 to 35 inches (60 to 90 cm) at the shoulder, females average 6 feet 9 inches (2.05 m) from nose to tail tip
Pros: This is my favorite cougar model, the rest do not have the right personality
Cons: None, except its size as compared to the bear and the deer

Coyote: Papo wild animals jackal
Size: 3.25 inches (8.26 cm) long, 2.1 inches (5.33 cm) tall
Actual coyote size: 3 feet 3 inches - 4 feet 5 inches long (1.0 - 1.35 m)
Pros: Matches the style of the other figures better than most coyote figures and has the right personality and color I am looking for
Cons: Well it has some really buggy yellow eyes but that's alright, haha. It's a bit big, especially against the biggest animals, the bear, the deer, and the cougar.

American Alligator: Papo Wild Animals
Size: 7.2 inches (18.2 cm) long, 1.1 (2.8 cm) inches tall
Actual alligator size: 11.2 - 15.1 feet (3.4 - 4.6 m) long
Pros: I like the look of this figure a lot, and I like that the mouth doesn't have to be open
Cons: I don't know that it's large enough to represent an old adult male  

Salamander: No concrete ideas yet. Haven't been able to locate the tiny Playmobile figure anywhere and the Safari minis I thought were salamanders are actually geckos, so even with paint they are textured wrong and have ear holes. Maybe this one will have to be homemade.

Spotted Hyena: Safari Ltd Wild Safari Wildlife
Size: 2.5 inches (6.35 cm) tall, 4.25 (10.79 cm) inches long
Actual hyena size: 37.4–65.3 inches (95–165.8 cm) long, 27.6–36.0 inches (70–91.5 cm) at the shoulder
Pros: I wanted a less peaceful model for this character, and this one and the Schleich had the better expressions, and of the two I liked this one more
Cons: None

Okay I totally missed this Safari Wildlife Wonders cougar (Florida Panther)! I only saw this one. Now I am torn because 5 out of 10 are really nicely represented by line, but they are far too large for the other figures I have as options. Oh no.

Your project draft is not so different from my draft.
I measured my Safari opossum and it is even large for a Wildlife Wonders based project since it is about 1:5 scale. Also, it would never work as a baby.
That newer WW Florida panther is much better than the older one but I don't know why they did it at such a large scale, 1:10 could be much better. The older one is a jaguar with puma colors.

So, the release of the Everglades tube prompted me to add my Safari figures from this list earlier than I expected to start getting them because I had a code for free shipping (very exciting mail day today!). I got the whitetail and the hyena, but not the black bear because I am convinced it will be too small. I really love both of these, though, especially the hyena. I am pleased with how they look together, they seem to be a good general size. And while the deer does in fact look too old and his color is . . . really oranger than I expected, the face is really good. I wish he didn't have such wide set legs, but I guess I have to blame the fact that he is a plastic model with thin legs for that and not the figure itself. It's also really annoying that they printed both model numbers on the outside of legs on the display side, especially with the hyena since it's in bright silver! Bah!

I was trying to think of a good way to "display" this project as I get them in this thread. I'm going with as good a photo as I can get of their best angle (and some photo editing to get rid of too obvious model numbers) and a selection from the book itself about the character. It's worth noting that the hyena character is somewhat supernatural.

----

Running Cedar

"Running Cedar did not know he had a name. He knew himself as hunger and sleep, as thirst and impulse and fear. He was warm sun on his back and cool moss under his hooves. He was that for only a moment, and then it was behind him. He did not ask himself why he ran when the pheasant burst out of the underbrush. He never marveled at the speed his kindling legs could carry him over the open farmland. When he fought the young sapling with his velveteen tines, he knew himself as the hot desire to win, even though he did not yet know for what he fought, or against whom he was pitted. 
By the time the little stream that forked around the poplar grove was choked with yellow leaves, Running Cedar understood his fight a little better. Velvet had peeled away, leaving the pale pointed antler bone exposed. Now when he sparred with the trees, he left bare patches where his young antlers chipped away at the bark. Soon, those fairy scars would be obliterated by the chaffing of mature bucks with many pointed crowns carried by their thick necks. It was autumn, and the two year old bucks were coming into their first rut."




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Jawbone

"Under the seven foot span from the gravel to the corrugated tin roof, she loomed like a prophecy yet to be spoken. Even though the word hyena had come to him to describe her, he did not feel it fit as the others had. She felt as if a turtle had left her shell, grown planetary in her scope, and tried to crawl back inside. Hyena, yes, that word tried to stretch across the suggestion of a thing that watched through the dawn, wide ears forward, but it whistled like wind over an empty crevice."

"They saw her standing under the moon. She was at once the thick jawed animal with blood on her face and the night sky that framed her. She was the sloped back and bandy legs, and the sallow light between every long blade of elephant grass. She was the hilt and blade of the dagger, both sides of the coin, the cinder and the ash. "

I nearly forgot the figure I already had, that I am building this around!

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My Toes are Pink

"Running Cedar, who had been looking out through the trees for any movement that would mean he should run, looked back at the opossum. She was small and silver and white. Her tail was long and naked, pink like her nose and her toes except for the black patch halfway down. She smelled like wet earth under logs and duff. Some of her pointed teeth showed when her mouth was closed. Running Cedar felt as if sun had broken through the haze, though the cold rain continued. 'Do you want to come with me?'"  

Oh, it has started and I think those are great choices. Safari's hyena is the one which shows more the typical look of these animals. It is so perfect for a character. I also think the orange color of your white-tail works nicely to this project. Your writting sounds sophisticated to me, I ahve to read it twwice.

Thank you, it is kind of you to say sophisticated instead of too long winded and weird, which is what it is actually. I agree, these figures look good together and I appreciate all the help picking some out! Not sure which ones will come next . . .

Your writing is great. A style between prose and poetry. Very unique, and I mean that it a good way.

The figures are great too. I love the oppossum! Running cedar is a beautiful name for a stag.