2024 Safari Everglades Toob

I was SO excited to finally get the email that the Everglades toob was in stock, and I bought it immediately (as well as a few other things!), and it arrived today, so I've got to show it off. I couldn't find it anywhere else yet, but if you also get this set and you have a better photography set up than mine (easy to achieve), then by all means please share some nice pictures, mine are frustratingly not excellent. I wasn't sure how invested anyone was in seeing a true walkaround for toob size figures, so I did not get that extensive, but if there is anything you want to see before you buy a set yourself, let me know!

All in all, I really like it. The reptiles, which was why I got it mainly, are really nicely sculpted. The species selected are of course really cool, some must haves in my opinion (especially the indigo snake and American crocodile). The crocodilians leave a lot to be desired in the paint work (mostly just solid color with some variation on the underside), but every reptile has every scale, even on the bellies, and they are pretty accurate scales as well (to the degree they can be on this size). The indigo snake is not colored at all like an indigo, more like a Baird's ratsnake with the shiny silver. The softshell has mediocre painting like all the reptiles but I just love the detail in his head. The mammals are all done in a somewhat stylized approach, but I like it, especially the otter and the manatee. They all have kind of little heads and lots of slopes, but they are nice and cohesive together. The gar is good, I really like it, but the birds--eugh! I did not buy the set for the birds and thank goodness. They're okay I suppose. The feathers are nicely detailed in sculpt (not in paint), but overall less impressed with the presence of these two. But overall the biggest disappointment was that several arrived pretty banged up, which isn't terribly unusual for toob figures all crammed together. I love the set, though. I would have loved to see more detailed paint work (which was one reason I wanted to get as early a set as possible), but compared to old safari pieces of the same size, these are exceptional!!

Later I will try to dig out some comparisons from other toobs.

Florida Black Bear
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Florida Panther
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North American River Otter
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Manatee
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American Alligator
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American Crocodile
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Indigo Snake
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Florida Softshell
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Florida Gar
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Snail Kite
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Wood Stork
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Wow!! You got these quick Mine are still on their way.

I was very excited for this Toob! A shame some seem to be pretty banged up, I don't usually see them scuffed up like that (especially since they added plastic on the inside to separate them a bit better. I guess I'll see how mine turn out when they come.

I was mostly excited for the birds, fish, and reptiles. The birds I think would be really great if they had some paint touch ups (especially the kite).

I think my favorites are the otter (it is so detailed!) and the gar!

I'm very excited to add these to my Florida Everglades display I already have

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Thank you for the photos!

Please share photos when yours arrive, your photography is beautiful and will surely do them better justice! That display is so incredible, I can't wait to see how they fit into it!

I've never been a "bird nerd" so take my opinion of the birds with a grain of salt for sure, I am more hyper focused on the reptiles. They would no doubt be improved immensely by better paint work and also by standing a little straighter (going to work on the stork to see if I can get him upright).

This set had no plastic between them unfortunately. The stork had plastic between his legs but otherwise they were just bumping around into each other. However, the laws mine have might actually me from manufacturing rather than abrasion. Hopefully yours will arrive pristine!

Honestly, this was a cool choice from Safari!

Something peculiar I want to mention is that the Florida panther is in fact a subspecies of the cougar or puma, even though some people in the South-Eastern US mistakenly believe that Florida panthers are a separate feline species. I also liked the Floridian Black Bear. :)

I personally find these figures very good, especially when we are talking about TOOB figures. Also, the species/subspecies assortment is fantastic. At this moment, I'm getting convinced that they are too good to be sold in tubes where they get easily banged. These deserved a different packaging. Thanks for sharing, I hope Safari continues releasing this kind of regional subjects.

Mine are also en route. I think six of these will go into my main reference collecction: Florida gar, Florida softshell turtle, snail kite, wood stork (probably), indigo snake, and river otter (the otter will replace the Safari NAW version).

I was birding in Florida a couple weeks ago and accidentally stumbled on Safari's headquarters LOL. Right outside their building in a holding pond was a wood stork!

Thank you so much, my most wanted from 2024

Congrats!great selection of species!

Very good sculptings at this scale, I love the otter! 

I'mnot a toob collector but I know this one will reach my shelves. As with the European fauna toob I can see a big improvement on realism and beauty too. Thank you for sharing Jill

Thanks for showing this toob. The otter and gar are my favourites, and I like the reptiles too. Especially the American crocodile will be very useful for my 1/32 scale reserve. The alligator is also much better than previous Safari toob alligators. Sorry that you got such bashed up figures, Safari should be able to package them better. Did you think of complaining to the seller or Safari about it?

I am usually in two minds about the Safari toobs. On the one hand, they include interesting species and the sculpts are reasonable to good, but on the other hand, the painting could be better. Perhaps Safari should have a look at the CollectA and Papo tubes, which show that good painting can be done on small figures (not to speak of the painting quality by Japanese companies). Collectors of small figures want high quality painting too.

the 'bashing and rubbing' probably occurred at production, before the TOOBs were assembled.

If Safari has one downside, it's sloppy painting, even on larger figures. Generally, first release are better, though. I'll have to see how mine look when they arrive later this week.

Thank you and you're welcome everyone!

bmathison1972 wrote:

I was birding in Florida a couple weeks ago and accidentally stumbled on Safari's headquarters LOL. Right outside their building in a holding pond was a wood stork!

Oh that's cool! That's probably why I got mine in a couple days, stuff from Florida gets here fast. Was the wood stork a visitor or do they keep live animals there?

rogerpgvg wrote:

Sorry that you got such bashed up figures, Safari should be able to package them better. Did you think of complaining to the seller or Safari about it?

I did not, for me it is not a big deal and I am extremely anxious about contacting for that sort of thing. So hopefully everyone else's will arrive in good shape!

Quote :

I am usually in two minds about the Safari toobs. On the one hand, they include interesting species and the sculpts are reasonable to good, but on the other hand, the painting could be better. Perhaps Safari should have a look at the CollectA and Papo tubes, which show that good painting can be done on small figures (not to speak of the painting quality by Japanese companies). Collectors of small figures want high quality painting too.

It would be amazing to see Safari's tubes get anywhere near the Japanese small figure level of paint work! But something that at least complimented the much improved sculpt work would be nice.

bmathison1972 wrote:

the 'bashing and rubbing' probably occurred at production, before the TOOBs were assembled.

That makes sense based on the kind of 'injuries' mine have, which seem to be too abrasive for just rubbing (the kite has a chunk of his beak dislodged).

Wood Storks are normal in that area. They are wild and expected.

...and my TOOB came in today and I think the scuffing is from packaging! Lately, Safari TOOBs have had a folding plastic liner between the figures but not this time. Also, paint scuffs can be seen on the inside of the 'toob'.

Oh dang, I'm sorry to hear yours suffered, too. Yeah mine had no dividers between them. Hopefully it wasn't any of the figures you wanted for your main collection.

Jill wrote:

Oh dang, I'm sorry to hear yours suffered, too. Yeah mine had no dividers between them. Hopefully it wasn't any of the figures you wanted for your main collection.

they seamed to have faired well. Here are the four I have photographed so far:

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I'll do the birds tomorrow. I think the birds overall are just sloppily done. I wonder if different species were produced in different factories(?)

Well it's not a good news for the birds I wanted... Your pics are delicious

Those pictures are great and really showcase them well! Thanks for sharing!

Mine arrived today! The birds and puma suffered the worst in terms of scuffing. Not sure why they didn't include the plastic insert to separate them. They started doing that with recent toobs and that really helped solve this issue.

The rest look fine though and I'm really happy with this Toob! Most now reside in my Everglades diorama.

I think the otter & gar are my favorites. I'd love to see a wood stork come to their Wings of the World line Been waiting very long for an osprey too

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Maybe it is not a bad idea to report these issues to Safari Ltd even if they are just minor. Something mentioning that it is a pity that such great figures, with interest for collectors and not only for kids, get scuffed just because they're pakcaged together, Safari won't change this very traditional product radically but maybe they can think in a method to protect the figures while it is sealed.
I also like so much that otter and apparently it has a generous size which is great.

Great photos, I love seeing them in your diorama! Interesting that it is also the birds and panther for you. Those are the damaged ones for me as well. Maybe there is something happening in production? Especially since it's in a similar area on each.

I have bought several recent Safari Toobs but none of them had a plastic separator. When my most recent toob arrived, I got a scare when my postman handed it to me because I could hear the animals jumping around in the toob. I opened the toob, and yes, the boto, one of the animals I had bought the toob for, was scratched by an evil anteater . The toob was very well packaged with bubble wrap by the seller, but of course that didn't prevent the figures from getting scratched inside the toob. It made me feel too sorry to complain to the seller.