New KINTO FAVORITE 2016 Saddled Bichir Walkaround

Here I present one of the 4 new Soft Models from Favorite (Kinto) in the Ancient Fishes line. I will present all four--but this one is the most important (to me).

Polypterus endlicheri, the saddled bichir. A large (>60cm) very primitive fish from the rivers of West and central Africa, and a member of my favorite family of fishes OF ALL TIME. Just saying.

They are also very popular in Japan as pet and display animals (hence, this is the third tim this species has been made--Colorata and Kaiyodo are the other 2). They have a wide diversity in colours and patterns, and can be bred in captivity (at least by the Japanese) with some regularity.

The figure itself is about 18cm long, giving a scale of roughly 1:3. I have personally kept bichirs that were larger than this figure; I have one now (different species) that is close in size!

Like the rest of the Ancient Fishes, and other FAVORITE Soft Models, the figure is heavy, and came packaged on a card. There is a base, and the figure has a large hole where the base fits. They are not interchangable between figures. The models can sit/display without them, but the hole is fairly big and, really, it looks better with the stand.

Pictures:

















And, for comparison--a 1:3 scale Yujin goldfish (finding a 1:3 human scale is...awkward). I have seen this comparison myself in real life many times. The goldfish (or crayfish, or minnow, or dwarf frogs, or guppies, or shrimp, khuli loaches...) did not last very long...!



If you don't have one, you should get them (the figures...or, if you have the room, a real one)!

Another beautyful fish

WOW !
You must have huge aquariums

SUSANNE wrote:

Another beautyful fish

WOW !
You must have huge aquariums

I have a 200l (54 gal) now. To me, it's about as small as a fish tank should be. Back when I kept the big fish, I had a 120 gallon, with two filters; then I moved to a 160 gallon indoor pond (didn't have the arowana by that time though)!

Beautieful fish

Bichir, of course, which other animal can make Sean happier? Curiously, the only bichir on TAi is your FFF Senegal bichir.
Thanks once more for showing such a nice figure!

Roger wrote:

Bichir, of course, which other animal can make Sean happier? Curiously, the only bichir on TAi is your FFF Senegal bichir.
Thanks once more for showing such a nice figure!

It was just a start...I didn't want to make just a series of all 12 species, plus a few subspecies!

Well, okay, I'm lying. I do want to do that. But not everyone would be as into it! At least it wasn't another P. endlicheri!

And I will have other ones eventually

sbell wrote:

Roger wrote:

Bichir, of course, which other animal can make Sean happier? Curiously, the only bichir on TAi is your FFF Senegal bichir.
Thanks once more for showing such a nice figure!

It was just a start...I didn't want to make just a series of all 12 species, plus a few subspecies!

Well, okay, I'm lying. I do want to do that. But not everyone would be as into it! At least it wasn't another P. endlicheri!

And I will have other ones eventually

I think that if you keep consolidating your range of figures, with a diversified selection of species, you can gradually introduce other bichir species without adulterating the original concept. :)

Roger wrote:

sbell wrote:

Roger wrote:

Bichir, of course, which other animal can make Sean happier? Curiously, the only bichir on TAi is your FFF Senegal bichir.
Thanks once more for showing such a nice figure!

It was just a start...I didn't want to make just a series of all 12 species, plus a few subspecies!

Well, okay, I'm lying. I do want to do that. But not everyone would be as into it! At least it wasn't another P. endlicheri!

And I will have other ones eventually

I think that if you keep consolidating your range of figures, with a diversified selection of species, you can gradually introduce other bichir species without adulterating the original concept. :)

That is certainly my hope--I will at least try to make ones with distinct body shapes so they look different; eventually, some of them will be pretty much the same sculpt but different paint (like that marbled lungfish!).

Wow, this model is really stunning. I love very much the far smaller Colorata one and teh size fits better with my shelves but I must admit this giant is very very tempting: Detaisl, colors, everything is fantastic here