Mojo Fun 2012 Bottlenose Dolphin (and 2012 Sea Lion too)

I recently ordered the 2012 Mojo Fun models of the Dolphin and the Sea Lion. These figures, along with the Great White Shark and the Orca, finally became briefly available at H&H Winners Circle. (And then they were gone.) I don't know why these are so hard to find. But I quite like the two models that I received. In Bojan's discussion of the Great White Shark, he noted that the surfaces of these aquatic models are quite smooth and easily scratched. I think that's right, although I don't think I mind as much as some others seem to mind. I really love the rich matte finish.

Here's the excellent Bottlenose Dolphin, along with some comparison pictures.



Schleich Dolphin (16088) with Mojo


Mojo with the Schleich Dolphin (14554)


Mojo with the Papo Playing Dolphin:


I like the Mojo a lot. But think my favorite is still the older Schleich.

Thanks for such an interesting topic with great comparison pictures!
I like the not plastic looking of the figure. The light looks very natural on it.
I am not able of discussing which one is best but the old Schleich also pleases me a lot. Great looking figure.
The Papo is funny but in opposition to the Mojo figure has a very plastic looking. Honestly, I like all dolphins here presented. Won't you get the pair from Maia & Borges?

I allways think we somehow like matte finishes on a figure more than a shiny surfaces.
Why?
Because shiny looks plastic and therefore cheap...

However, for sea creatures I kind of like the shiny look since they are underwater and all.
And to top it off, Papo has captured the "Flipper" look quite well.

I would look no further.

I like them all, thank You for great photos and comparison :)

Very lovely model, and GREAR pictures !!!!
Thankyou very much, Scott, and congratulations with this new beauty

I ordered one last week at MPV, and hope to get it soon. Now I just can`t wait

Congratulations! (o)): I also have it and I like it very much, probably more than any other dolphin (except the Maia&Borges Common Dolphin)!

I like dolphins and all this figurines are wonderful

I hope with my daughter we can see a few dolphins in one of our next holidays

Very nice dolphin I especially like the mouth's shape.

Your pink pictures are very nice too, thank you Scott

My only question is about the eyes, could you share more pics ? It seems they are just black spots and lack a few details.

Thanks for the pictures! From what I was told by James is that there was a problem in the moulding process and that's why they were released so late but I have no idea as to why only a few online stores have them. It might be because Mojo is a fairly new company and not many people have heard of them?

Thanks for the comments everybody! It's nice to get all your feedback and thoughts.

Roger wrote:

Won't you get the pair from Maia & Borges?

That's a great idea Roger; I do want that Common Dolphin especially. It's hard to find the Maia and Borges in the US, but at some point, I hope to get them.

Kikimalou wrote:

My only question is about the eyes, could you share more pics ? It seems they are just black spots and lack a few details.

Here is a close up picture Christophe. I hope it helps. They really are not the best eyes. The overall shape of the Mojo is wonderful, but the details are not extremely strong.

scot(t) wrote:

Here is a close up picture Christophe. I hope it helps. They really are not the best eyes. The overall shape of the Mojo is wonderful, but the details are not extremely strong.

Thank you for the picture Scott Alas I agree with you for the details

Additionally, here is a picture of the newish 2012 Mojo Fun Sea Lion. I really like it, although I think I'm still partial with to the Schleich Sea Lion, which I've always loved. Here is the Mojo by itself, and then here it is pictured with the Schleich and then the CollectA.







You can see in the first picture something that others have mentioned in the thread on the 2012 mojo great white shark: the matte surface is very nice, but it also is highly disposed to reveal blemishes. I don't mind, but it's worth mentioning.

Kikimalou wrote:

Thank you for the picture Scott

My pleasure Christophe!

Thank you again for the new pics Scott And congratulation

I'm waiting for my sea lion and I will make walkaround and comparison topics asap. It is a model I wanted for so long now... Too bad to heard about the paintings.

I'm really looking forward to your walkaround of the Mojo Sea Lion, Christophe!! I really like it, paint and all. I think it's a trade-off. Some of the Mojo models have very delicate paintwork (the Hippo is like that too, one of my favorites), but especially in the case of these aquatic animals, it gives the models such a lovely finish. I'll be interested to hear more of your opinions when your model arrives and you do a walkaround!

Thank you Scott the more I look at your pics, the more I feel in a hurrry

congrats. the sealion is available with orca, dolphin and great white here in a shop. All have the same finish-problems. I bought the Tursiops as i like the scultp, from time to time, i see more of a Tursiops truncatus ponticus sculpted. The paintwork is boring of course, especially the "Bullyland-eyes",....The pose isn't very dynamic, maybe this model somehow crossed witnthe Papo one might be a nice alternative to the safari monterey bay Tursiops sculpt. For the californian sealion: i don't like the species, i see them too often using space in zoos rarer pinnipeds could inhabit, but they're popular show animals so that wide range of figurines is comprehendible.

Thanks again for the photos! He doesn't look bad, I really like how they put the lighter brown shading on his mouth and eyes. A few of Safari Ltd's marine animals also have a matte finish. I have an orca adult, beluga adult and a bottlenose dolphin adult from the Wild Safari Sealife range that do not have the shine like they did when they were first released. I also have a gray whale adult and humpback whale adult from the Monterey Bay range that also have the matte finish.

Thanks Scott for comparison pictures of the Mojo sea lion with lovely partners.
The discussion about matte finish is also interesting. One thing I've learned while collecting is that rules don't work. First it was birds, I didn't want them with grass, bases or trees. So why I love so much the way Bullyland made the toucan with the trunk?
Then it was the shiny surfaces, I usually don't like them, however, I like the shiny looking of my CollectA otter but I like best llama in matte finish. I like also best the sparkle on Schleich China Arctic fox best than the matte white of German version. In opposition, I like the matte finish of Chinese Schleich yak but not the German. With Mojo figures it is the same, usually I like them all matte but the effect is not so pleasant in sea lion than it is in hmpback whale where I find it spectacular! Rules doesn't work indeed. :)
About M&B dophin maybe I can help you?

Beautiful pics and interesting inrfomation!

I like the new Mojö dolphin, but I agree with you - I too prefer the old Schleich one. The colour is more realistic.

Roger wrote:

Thanks Scott for comparison pictures of the Mojo sea lion with lovely partners.
The discussion about matte finish is also interesting. One thing I've learned while collecting is that rules don't work. First it was birds, I didn't want them with grass, bases or trees. So why I love so much the way Bullyland made the toucan with the trunk?
Then it was the shiny surfaces, I usually don't like them, however, I like the shiny looking of my CollectA otter but I like best llama in matte finish. I like also best the sparkle on Schleich China Arctic fox best than the matte white of German version. In opposition, I like the matte finish of Chinese Schleich yak but not the German. With Mojo figures it is the same, usually I like them all matte but the effect is not so pleasant in sea lion...

I got Mojo sea lion recently (thank You James!!!!) and I just LOVE this figure.
It's beautifully sculpted and I love paint job also :) About matt finish however, I realized few shiny lines on the matte surface first, that was little bit strange for me. I thought, it would look good if it's all more shiny also, so I took towel and I polished the surface, what took me about 3 minutes. So now I have more shiny beautiful sea lion and I left the area on his face matte and I think it looks very interesting now :) And there are no strange looking lines on the skin of sea lion now

Roger wrote:

About M&B dophin maybe I can help you?

That is really really kind of you to offer Roger! I actually just ordered one (the common dolphin by M & B) from an eBay seller in Germany. It wasn't so bad and hopefully I'm all set with that figure. (If I run into any problems, though, and that doesn't pan out, I may well come to you for some assistance in acquiring the model. Again, I really appreciate your offer to help out!)

Ana wrote:

so I took towel and I polished the surface, what took me about 3 minutes. So now I have more shiny beautiful sea lion and I left the area on his face matte and I think it looks very interesting now :) And there are no strange looking lines on the skin of sea lion now

That's really interesting Anna! Thank you for mentioning that. I may try it myself.

Ana wrote:

I got Mojo sea lion recently (thank You James!!!!) and I just LOVE this figure.
It's beautifully sculpted and I love paint job also :) About matt finish however, I realized few shiny lines on the matte surface first, that was little bit strange for me. I thought, it would look good if it's all more shiny also, so I took towel and I polished the surface, what took me about 3 minutes. So now I have more shiny beautiful sea lion and I left the area on his face matte and I think it looks very interesting now :) And there are no strange looking lines on the skin of sea lion now

Very interesting tip Anna

Ana wrote:

so I took towel and I polished the surface, what took me about 3 minutes. So now I have more shiny beautiful sea lion and I left the area on his face matte and I think it looks very interesting now :) And there are no strange looking lines on the skin of sea lion now

Interesting! Ana, could you please show us your Polish polish?

scot(t) wrote:

Roger wrote:

About M&B dophin maybe I can help you?

That is really really kind of you to offer Roger! I actually just ordered one (the common dolphin by M & B) from an eBay seller in Germany. It wasn't so bad and hopefully I'm all set with that figure. (If I run into any problems, though, and that doesn't pan out, I may well come to you for some assistance in acquiring the model. Again, I really appreciate your offer to help out!)

You're welcome Scott! If you feel I can help you, please pm me whenever you want. It would be a pleasure.

Great additions and great comparison pictures. Thanks so much.