Yujin Freshwater Fishes (Mostly second releases)--walkarounds

sbell wrote:

Roger wrote:

That's another fabulous arowana, these fish are magnificent!
It took more time than usual to your pictures upload and I hope they stay here for a long time once it is a honour to visit this thread with all these figures and pictures.
I would also be great to see all your arowanas actually.

I will try and do that--I received a few different ones in the last week, so this would be a good time to do it!

And I think the time issue may be with the image host (Dropbox)--the site appeared to be down earlier, and things weren't syncing correctly. Fortunately, I have them saved myself! SO if they get lost, I will always have them somewhere!

I am glad for it! Pics keep taking long to upload. :)

Like the previous Se-Kin Dragon Arowana, this model is a re-paint of a previous sculpt.

The difference here is that it is being used as a representation of a completely different species! It turns out, this is not uncommon among the Yujin Freshwater fish—although most represent at least hybrids of one of the original species of the figure (and I’ve only seen pictures of a few; they are pretty cool, but very rare and expensive, so that’s a big nope. I thought the Gold Arowana was a tough find!).

This figure is represents a breeding colour Cherry Salmon (or Masu Salmon), Oncorhynchus masou masou . It is stamped with a number 5—meaning that while this figure may share the name of figure 03 (the ‘normal’ cherry salmon) it is a re-paint of the Chum Salmon figure. But what a difference the paint job made!

Many people are at least somewhat familiar with the morphological changes in male salmon when they head upstream to breed (and then die—altering your skull and colouration, plus fighting rivers and predators all the way along the river, is exhausting!). For me, I was most familiar with the changes to Sockeye salmon, with the red body and bright green face, plus a large, fanged, hooked mouth. The Masu Salmon has a similar change to the skull, with a hooked face, but the colours are, literally, out of a Star Wars movie (sadly, Phantom Menace, but the best part…).

The figure captures this colour in fantastic detail. The base colour of the figure is black or very dark olive green (depends on lighting) with bright red irregular bands up both sides of the body, extending from the belly to just below the dorsal margin. The fins are dark and yellowish, with small black spots over all of them.  The eyes are large, and yellow, with black pupils, and the mouth is painted a solid pink. The belly is very light pink. When I first saw this figure in an auction, I thought that Yujin had gone mad—but a little research, and it turns out that they perfectly captured the almost monster-ish colouration of a full breeding-state male Masu salmon. The one thing I cannot find out, is if the hooked jaw has large teeth in it—these are not present in the model, but this is not surprising as the original model is based on a Chum Salmon, which doesn’t have the teeth.

The breeding-age size that I could find for the Cherry Salmon is about 79cm TL; given the 6cm length of the figure, that gives it a scale of 1:13, also like the Chum Salmon.

Like the original mold, the Breeding Colour Cherry Salmon is a two-part one, with the head separating behind the operculum.

The figure I have is on a plain grey river back base—from what little I can find, I think it should have been on one of the painted bases (most of the Yujin Secrets & Specials were) but the seller may have had them jumbled up. No worries though—I just wanted the fish!

PICTURES:
I have a few different ones—the model, of course, followed by a few companion shots with the other Cherry salmon, and with the Chum Salmon. Plus, a picture with the unique paper that it came with!

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With the other Cherry Salmon figure—combine these two with the Alevin & Egg model (wrong species, but most salmonids at that size look similar) and we almost have the life cycle; just need a juvenile headed to sea!
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Compared to the Chum Salmon, which is the original mold:
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With the fancy paper—note that there are 3 blacked out figures—tis figure, the Asian arowana, and a third one. These appear to be the Cherry salmon figure, repainted to represent various colour variations and hybrids. I think there are at least 3 or four of them. I doubt I will ever get my hands on one of those (the Carp/Koi have proven hard enough!)
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Ohhh! I love them !!!

I never heard of this species of salmon before, - amazing as he is so enormously beautyful in his wedding outfit

Fantastic Sean and again very informative!

Thanks for the kind words everyone--and for now, I have one last one! Until I can track down a carp and/or an overpriced variant...

This is my second First-release Yujin Freshwater fish model; the first was the Willow Shiner. As with the shiner, if it is representative, Yujin made some significant, positive changes for the second release. The molds are the same, but the paint schemes are generally stronger and more detailed. Between this figure and the Willow Shiner, it has helped me decide that my collection will be complete if I don’t have a complete run of both First and Second releases. There are a few that, if I get, I would be okay with because of the different paint schemes (the mudskipper is one of the most different, and eventually I may find an eel or snakehead) but for the most part the differences (based on the papers) don’t vary enough to go through the struggle!

This figure is the first release of the Barred Mudkskipper, Periophthalmus argentilineatus . As with the second release, it is number 29.

The overall colour of the Release 1 mudskipper is a light brown with irregular dark brown saddles and stripes on the sides—the markings do not match in any way on the two sides of the fish. The body is then overlain with numerous white dots along the dorsal margin and across the entire head. The sides have thin white vertical stripes from behind the gills to the base of the tail. All of the fins are translucent yellow-orange, except the dorsal fins, which are folded onto the body, and coloured like the body. The face and head is uniformly olive-brown, with the aforementioned white spots. The pupil of the eye is a dark red circle, ringed by black. The belly is a light yellow to white; the pelvic fins are white like the body.

The most notable colouration in this figure is in what it is missing—it does not have the prominent, dark black bars along the sides (as seen in the Release 2 version). This is odd, as the black bars are what gives the fish its common name!

Still overall a nice fish figure, and different enough from the Release 2 that it could be seen as a unique individual.

Like the Release 2 Mudskipper, this is one of the few figures with no base at all.

PICTURES:
I have a few different ones—the model, of course, followed by a few companion shots with the Release 2 Mudskipper!

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The major difference between the Release 1 and 2 figure is that the second release has a lot more detail in the paint job—more colours, more defined paint schemes, and a higher degree of sophistication in the paint application. Even the eyes are painted differently, with the Release 2 having a more complex pupil and colouring. Although I have only seen the other Release 1 figures in pictures, many of them seem to reflect the same differences in paint jobs compared to the 2nd releases.

Comparison between the Barred Mudskipper Release 1 and 2 (Release 2 on the right in the first 3, on the left in the last one--it's pretty clear which one is which):
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Congrats and thank you again for such nice walk arounds.

Your yujin fishes collection is growing more. Are very detailed.

I don't have a lot of fishes in my collection but I have this one, I don't know why but I have some bias for mudskippers and for Yujin too

sbell wrote:

And yes, at one point I was asked to compare all of the arowana figures that I have together—now that I have this one too, I will possibly try and do that sooner rather than later.

Great

Kikimalou wrote:

I don't have a lot of fishes in my collection but I have this one, I don't why but I have some bias for mudskippers and for Yujin too

sbell wrote:

And yes, at one point I was asked to compare all of the arowana figures that I have together—now that I have this one too, I will possibly try and do that sooner rather than later.

Great

I'm sort of the same way--I've kept pet 'skippers before and they are great, if odd, little fish.

This figure is unusual in that the dorsal fins are all laying flat, making the fish look less 'impressive' but probably more natural.

As for the arowanas, I will get to it...I have my eye on another, maybe...it never really ends!

Absolutely amazing model of this interesting fish

Beautieful mudskipper :)

Fantastic collection, and specially for me, something which i MUST have. In modelling there are always flaws in scientific names and colouration, but besides that, Japanese models stand out here! I would easily pay that amount of money for those series, but my problem is to get it without paypal. I found some other models also, which are goldfish variations.

I have seen the goldfish figures. And to be honest, I don't do much with domestic animals, including goldfish--but I really like the bases on those!

Speaking of which, I found out throgh some randome auctions that, apparently, the Freshwater Fishes series had 6 different coloured bases in each style--grey, tan, green, multicolour...others? I guess a true collector would want every fish with every colour base? Because that's a lot of figures if you pulled it off. I'd rather save up and ocassionally splurge on one of the rare hybrid models.

Hi, Willy !!! Good to see you, and good to see that you are still collecting

So the fishes here could get you back

Well Sbell, i am deep into the aquariumhobby on many fields, so for me those are great also, although goldfish are not my thing either.
But there are several nice models from other Japanese companies also, specialy aquariumfish, i would like to own all of them!

Thanks Susanne, well, a little bit haha, i still try to get rid of parts of my collection, like the dogs and cats...this makes room for many fishspecies!

Nice fishes Willy :)

thank you Andreas, but also not in my possesion, also wannahaves...

So, with the Wild Carp figure I recently did as a walkaround I mentioned that I had now collected and posted at least one of every fish in the series, but with this one, I kind of hit a grey area on how true that is.

When I did a walkaround for the Lates calcarifer [/url] the first time I discovered that I actually had the juvenile figure—in the Second Release of series I, it was a secret figure, so I didn’t know that there was a different one!

But in the same lot as the carp, I was surprised to discover that I also received an adult Lates calcarifer!

I won’t do a full intro like I did the juvenile since the figure is exactly the same as the juvenile one, just painted differently to reflect the unstriped adult coloration. I’ll just include the photos, and some comparisons.

It is also a First Release version, so the paint is a little rougher, especially around the mouth. Interestingly, the juvenile Lates was not a secret figure in release I (based on photos, the eyes also weren't as deeply red).

Walkaround Pictures:
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This is the figure in two parts. The figure number of 13 can be seen—same as the juvenile one:

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And to compare with the juvenile paint job—it is subtle, but the ‘adult’ is clearly painted darker on the dorsal surface, with no striping. And, of course, the eyes aren’t red!

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Until the next one (just one more variant, and some release & 2 comparisons…!).

(I realized that I accidentally made a whole, separate thread for just this figure! So to be complete, I'm adding it here too...!)

I have now done it! I have at least one figure of every fish in the Yujin Freshwater Fishes series! Interestingly, the carp may be the hardest one to get (at a reasonable price)—especially on its own. If you are starting a collection of them, there are large lots of them that sometimes include the carp—and they always seem to go for fairly high prices. And if the carp is one of the 3 domestic varieties (tricolor, silver, gold) then the individuals alone are really expensive. But I eventually came across a lot where the carp wasn’t obvious, and it snuck through.

Now, I just need to find the variants! A task which, to be fair, I could do if I were willing to spend a year’s worth of figure collecting on 8 figures…!

So, the figure—this is the Common Carp, Cyrpinus carpio, number 20 from the second series, in the first releases. This is one of several cyprinids, including the goldfish, Langsdorff’s goldfish and a few other dace and shiners in the Yujin collection. Carp are originally from freshwaters of Europe and Asia—and are apparently vulnerable to threatened in much of their original range. But, they have been domesticated for centuries, which has led to the species being introduced throughout most of the world, where it can become a very notable invasive pest. But, as a domestic animal, they are notable for their varied and distinct colours and scale morphologies (for example, the three special variants of this figure!), and are popular in ponds and fish tanks as Koi. But those tanks need to be large--the Yujin model gives a length of 80cm; Fishbase gives a maximum length of 120cm, with a common length of 31cm.

This model is about 6.2 cm long, making the figure roughly 1:13 using the Yujin length (If using the Fishbase lengths, the figure is as big as 1:5 or as small as 1:19). The colour is based on a wild colouration. The back of the fish is a dark olive-brown, fading down the sides into a lighter yellowish-olive, and finally to a white on the belly.  The scales are large and distinct, but do not carry all the way to the belly. The pose is overall basic, with the fish in a straight line, the tail bending somewhat. All of the fins are a uniform translucent olive. The head is primarily olive-yellow, fading to darker olive on the top. The eyes are large and gold, while the characteristic barbels on the side of the mouth are sculpted against the mouth rather than protruding out. The base for this one is a grey version of the mud & sticks. Unlike many of the fish in this series, there are plenty of carp figures, from Japan and elsewhere. New Ray in notable for including one, as well as a number of Kaiyodo figures, plus the occasional toy of carp-like fish. They are also a fish most likely to be seen in more artistic models and statues, usually as the Koi variants.

Pictures:
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And some scale versions—

At 1:13 (an 80cm animal)
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At 1:19 (120cm)
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For 1:5 (a 31cm animal—I still don’t have a 1:5 human, so here it is with other 1:5 fish)
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So that’s all of the species in the Yujin series. I do have a few other variants and First-Release/Second-Release comparisons to do, but that covers the 31 figures in the set!

What a precious topc

A very nice topic for me also of course as the fishman here.
That those Lates were no carps was obvious for me of course, the have a perch-like bodyshape, and a big predatory mouth. it is the Barramundi from Australia, the cousin of the maybe more famous Nile-perch from Africa.
The common carps in Europe originate all from Asia in fact.
The only real original carps from (western-)Europe are the Carassius carassius(the ancestor of the goldfish, the Asian version of course) and the Carassius gibelio.
As you mentioned, the now so famous koi-carps are no other fish then a colour-variation of the common carps.(Cyprinus carpio).
The rice-farmers in Japan kept these as an extra food-source in their ricefields, and as variations occured, they found them to nice to eat, and started breeding them in all kinds of colour-variations, which was pretty much the same with the variations of the gldfish, although they were no consumption fish in that case so much, because of the much smaller size. Common carps, domesticated and wild, and their variations grow up to 1 meter on average when adult, sometimes a little bit bigger, but heavier every year.

WILLYBACOMAN wrote:

A very nice topic for me also of course as the fishman here.
That those Lates were no carps was obvious for me of course, the have a perch-like bodyshape, and a big predatory mouth. it is the Barramundi from Australia, the cousin of the maybe more famous Nile-perch from Africa.
The common carps in Europe originate all from Asia in fact.
The only real original carps from (western-)Europe are the Carassius carassius(the ancestor of the goldfish, the Asian version of course) and the Carassius gibelio.
As you mentioned, the now so famous koi-carps are no other fish then a colour-variation of the common carps.(Cyprinus carpio).
The rice-farmers in Japan kept these as an extra food-source in their ricefields, and as variations occured, they found them to nice to eat, and started breeding them in all kinds of colour-variations, which was pretty much the same with the variations of the gldfish, although they were no consumption fish in that case so much, because of the much smaller size. Common carps, domesticated and wild, and their variations grow up to 1 meter  on average when adult, sometimes a little bit bigger, but heavier every year.

Well, I never said the Lates was a carp--it's supposed to be the Pacific species!

And yeah, carp as a group extend across Eurasia (or did?) but this specific species is Asian.

That said, they were kept by the Romans, so Koi have been visiting Europe for a long time!