Common Carp (Yujin - Freshwater Fishes Series 2, first release)

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 wonderful fish !  

Thankyou for all the great information and a wonderful walkaround  

sbell wrote:

At 1:19 (120cm)
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That guy surely got a fine catch

Beautieful fish model again :)

It is a pleasure to read again your very interesting reviews of very beautiful fish figures! Love these comparison pictures as well as the figure is very nice. It is exciting to know that there are more to come but please no hurries, just take the time you need.

Thanks everyone--it's fun to get back to doing these! And completing a basic set, there is that!

Roger wrote:

It is a pleasure to read again your very interesting reviews of very beautiful fish figures! Love these comparison pictures as well as the figure is very nice. It is exciting to know that there are more to come but please no hurries, just take the time you need.

It's not too bad interms of time--I think it takes longer to format than take pictures!

Plus, with the species out of the way, I just have variant and comparision walkarounds left, which take less time!