CollectA 2014: WILDLIFE - Green Anaconda (88688)

Beautiful and the pose is great too!!

This is one angry snake! Love the pose, didn't ever say a detailed open mouth like that.

Although I'm a fan of monkey figures, this anaconda is No.1 for me among 2014 Collecta animals.
A real gem and must-have for any S.American wildlife collection. And what a pose !..

This is a great piece to have, as long as the appearance and anatomy proportions are accurate I wouldn't mind the pose as I presume it is a 'marketing' image so to make it more appealing to the general market aside from us collectors.

Here are some more photos of the Anaconda prototype for reference.  The size is large and will shrink by 5% approx.  

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

Great    

I like it alot     

The pose is a really great choice.

Dear Numaan,
I am a trully Collecta enthusiast - as I said before, it is my favorite brand - but I really don't like this model, and I got a couple of reasons not to:
1. Anacondas (sucuris in portuguese and spanish) do not behave like that. They are heavy, generally slow animals, more at home in water than on dry land. They only put their heads up when trying to climb something.
2. This pose is, for some of us, brazilians, a bit distressing: during Military Dictatorship, this was a symbol of the army (up right alone, like yours, or killing a cayman with its coils). The moment I set eyes on that it brought me bad memories.
Anyway, 2014 collection is superb, I'm in love with many models, but I couldn't not to say something about the anaconda, I'm sorry.

Numaan wrote:

I also had reservations about this model for the main reason that the pose is not as natural as I had wanted it to be but this model was produced by special request from a supplier from an image they supplied so I couldn't change it.  However it is in an unusual pose and the model has drama and character.  The head was a little too big and not in proportion with the body and so the head size will be reduced just a little to give it better proportions

In the new pictures,it looks even less like a naturally behaving anaconda. The best thing i can see is a fresh born before it's first meal, stressed to the max,.....But nice paintjob

ze_neto wrote:

2. This pose is, for some of us, brazilians, a bit distressing: during Military Dictatorship, this was a symbol of the army (up right alone, like yours, or killing a cayman with its coils). The moment I set eyes on that  it brought me bad memories.

Uhh, that must be horrible memories, - even if I suppose you were very young then   

Oh yes, Susanne. I was born in 1975 and the Military Dictatorship lasted from 1964 to 1985, but you're aware that we inherit memories from our parents and family. The snake is one of them.

SUSANNE wrote:

ze_neto wrote:

2. This pose is, for some of us, brazilians, a bit distressing: during Military Dictatorship, this was a symbol of the army (up right alone, like yours, or killing a cayman with its coils). The moment I set eyes on that  it brought me bad memories.

Uhh, that must be horrible memories, - even if I suppose you were very young then   

Yes, I surely know ! I could mention a few of those symbols.
And we must never forget. We must try to learn from the past.
But remember not to blame the people who were born later, and had no part of it, - I am sure we can all agree.

I'm a History professor, and I totally agree with you... we cannot become some fanatic whose memories never change.

SUSANNE wrote:

Yes, I surely know ! I could mention a few of those symbols.
And we must never forget. We must try to learn from the past.
But remember not to blame the people who were born later, and had no part of it, - I am sure we can all agree.

Hi all

This model was a special request from a supplier, however instead of leaving it to us to decide the pose, this supplier provided CollectA with a drawing of this snake and insisted it on being made exactly as the picture. This is the story behind the pose of this snake.   

scot(t) wrote:

Very cool.

I'm pretty sure all snakes will threaten to bite when feeling threatened. And pythons and anacondas will ball up like that to protect themselves. So this looks like a big snake that is in a defensive posture.

(But I'm no expert, not by a long shot. Just my first reaction.)

Green anaconda strike from a prone pose, and do not ball up.  Most large snakes only ball up to kill prey, not for protection.  Anacondas  as an adult are almost exclusively aquatic because the weight is hard to support, especially in females which can be 35% heavier then males.  They just don't have the muscle or skeletal structure to support anything close to this type of pose. Also, there are no snakes they threaten with the mouth open, when the mouth is open they can not tongue flick which is one of the most effective ways snakes collect information on the situation they are facing, weather hunting, searching for a mate, or identifying danger.

So this one is more like a Chap Mei-model   

Philter4 wrote:

scot(t) wrote:

Very cool.

I'm pretty sure all snakes will threaten to bite when feeling threatened. And pythons and anacondas will ball up like that to protect themselves. So this looks like a big snake that is in a defensive posture.

(But I'm no expert, not by a long shot. Just my first reaction.)

Green anaconda strike from a prone pose, and do not ball up.  Most large snakes only ball up to kill prey, not for protection.  Anacondas  as an adult are almost exclusively aquatic because the weight is hard to support, especially in females which can be 35% heavier then males.  They just don't have the muscle or skeletal structure to support anything close to this type of pose. Also, there are no snakes they threaten with the mouth open, when the mouth is open they can not tongue flick which is one of the most effective ways snakes collect information on the situation they are facing, weather hunting, searching for a mate, or identifying danger.

Thank Phil! That's very interesting about the poses an Anaconda can take. As I said, I really have no idea.

Regarding threatening with the mouth open, perhaps I'm misunderstanding you, but what you say does not fit with my own experiences. Snakes (including Boas and Pythons) will open their mouths when pissed off. You are of course correct that they flick their tongue to collect information, but I've seen (many) snakes feel threatened and open their mouths wide. I wonder if we're just talking about different things here, neither of which is inconsistent with each other.

scot(t) wrote:

Regarding threatening with the mouth open, perhaps I'm misunderstanding you, but what you say does not fit with my own experiences. Snakes (including Boas and Pythons) will open their mouths when pissed off. You are of course correct that they flick their tongue to collect information, but I've seen (many) snakes feel threatened and open their mouths wide. I wonder if we're just talking about different things here, neither of which is inconsistent with each other.

I should never say "never". They will open their mouths to hiss, but not normally as a threat.  If you watch in the future, when a snake is going to strike it will slowly extend its tongue and draw it back in several times, if the situation escalates into a threatening one the snake may or may not hiss, but it will not show its teeth, open mouthed, as a threat, if there is time it may yawn, but this is not a display to the enemy, it is a boost to get extra oxygen to the snakes muscles.

Well, I guess I could use my imagination and pretend that this anaconda is underwater?

Scary but pretty nice  

Conclusion: the supplier ruined the chance to get a nice model of an interesting species, made by a very good brand. Thanks.