Capsule Aquarium Series 1 Banded Archerfish Walkaround

So this has been another one I've chased for some time (Thanks Brett!). It is the Banded Archerfish, Toxotes jaculatorix, from the Capsule Aquarium series 1, figure #02. The figure itself is about 4cm long. Assuming an average length of 20cm, this puts the scale at 1:5 (easy math)!

Unlike some of the fish, this archer is pretty meaningful to me--I kept a pair for quite a while in a very cool half-full (mostly) brackish tank along with mudskippers and ropefish. And yes, we got to see them do what they do best--adding crickets for the mudskippers gave the archers opportunity to shoot at them, and they did. Didn't always get the bugs (there were other fish, I think) but it was fun to watch.

Recently, studies were done on these fish and it turns out that they don't just aim (from below the water) and shoot a drop of water; they shift their mouth to adjust and alter the water flow depending on situation. In other words, they are amazing little snipers.

As for the figure itself, it is incredible, an entire scene in one capsule figure. Too bad they couldn't put a bug above the water shot, but I'm not complaining.

I'm also not complaining about extra pieces because this figure may have been one of the most awkward to assemble that I've ever dealt with, and I have several hundred various Kaiyodo figures to draw experience from. Especially the mouth; the lower jaw is a separate piece with the water and it fits in an odd way. I was hoping that the water droplet would be somehow removable for some photos, but the fish would be incomplete then.

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Above-the-water views:
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Look out, tiny New-Ray fisherman!
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So now the question--are these easily available? Unlike some Capsule figures, no, and they never have been. The set they are part of always sells for way of 10000Yen (>$100) on Yahoo Japan Auctions, and I can't recall the last time I saw this figure on ebay--probably when it was first released back in the UTF days (if you know what that means, you know how long ago that was; if you don't know, get off-a my lawn, whippersnapper!). And even then I passed because it was one of the few that always demanded very high (at the time) prices; where most were $5-$10, this one was always >$25.

Another odd note--notice the aquarium. It is not the Enoshima, as I expected. I have the sturgeon form the same series, and it is an Enoshima figure, with the aquaiurm stamped on the bottlecap. But just like my recent Redtail catfish, we appear to have yet another public aquarium, once again re-branding an existing series. It makes me think that this set was recently reintroduced there, if only because of the frequency of auctions in Japan (again, for ridiculous prices...).

Fantastic figure

I can't stop scrolling up and down, - it is SO awesome

Congratulations, - and hurray for the hunter, Brett

Thanks for this wonderful pics!! It is a very beautieful fish figurine!!

Thanks. It's so much more incredible in person than I expected. Every angle is great--they didn't pull out any stops with making it look as impressive as possible!

Originally this figure was part of the Shinagawa Aquarium set. I got a set recently and it has the same aquarium name as on your figure. 10000 or so yen works out at £3-4 a figure which is reasonable in my view (there are 15 figures in the set) but they don't tend to be seen for sale as separate items in my experience.

sabulia wrote:

Originally this figure was part of the Shinagawa Aquarium set. I got a set recently and it has the same aquarium name as on your figure. 10000 or so yen works out at £3-4 a figure which is reasonable in my view (there are 15 figures in the set) but they don't tend to be seen for sale as separate items in my experience.

It's not bad per figure but I wasn't eager to get the whole set, so the extra money for extra figures seemed too much.

I don't have anything marked 'Shinagawa'; even my sturgeon from earlier is 'Enoshima'.

One other thing I should have mentioned--both of the Marinepia figures I got came with mini King Penguin figures--apparently there are three (standing adult, brooding adult and chick) and the all come with inter-locking bases. Not sure what that is about (I got two standing adults). There is a Rockhopper penguin in the set but I don't otherwise see a connection.

I think the figures are sold at other aquaria - especially Enoshima it seems. I have Capsule Aquarium that are also Enoshima. It makes collecting a bit confusing. Yes I have 15 mini penguins

sabulia wrote:

I think the figures are sold at other aquaria - especially Enoshima it seems. I have Capsule Aquarium that are also Enoshima. It makes collecting a bit confusing. Yes I have 15 mini penguins

All the same or a variety?

15 of 3 varieties

Interesting figure. Kaiyodo have many variety .

I didn't know this model, and I love it!

Joan Milelire wrote:

I didn't know this model, and I love it!

It's a great little figure and had been on 'the list' for years. It's fish like these that make me so disappointed in how most companies, save Japanese Gashapons, pretty much ignore freshwater fish when the variety and range is endless.

Wow that's so cool! Thank you for the walkaround

I like it very much, I'm not a Fresh fish's collector but I always love how Kaiyodo pinpoint wildlife situation

I used the chance through watching your excellent Yujin topic, to check your older topics. As usual, I missed some and this is one of them.
I really love all detail in this figure and concept turns it really impressive.

Roger wrote:

I used the chance through watching your excellent Yujin topic, to check your older topics. As usual, I missed some and this is one of them.
I really love all detail in this figure and concept turns it really impressive.

Thanks--it was a tough find for me; overall, the set (from either aquarium) is still not very common. Which is too bad, because it's a really unique bunch!

I like this model and very interesting hunting method this fish is using.
Thank you for walk around, really good! And the small fisherman is funny