Kaiyodo Birdtales 3

Just received my 16 figurines of Kaiyodo's Birdtales 3.
Seems there were two sets of 12 with 8 items the same in each set.

The blue set -

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and the green set -

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Here are my photos -

01 rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) winter plumage
02 rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) summer plumage
03 goldcrest (Regulus regulus)
04 Japanese robin (Larvivora akahige, formerly Erithacus akahige)

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05 spotted nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes)
06 stoat or short-tailed weasel (Mustela erminea) winter fur
07 Japanese serow (Capricornis crispus)
08 whitespotted char (Salvelinus leucomaenis) with red spots

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09 orange tip butterfly (Anthocharis cardamines)
10 komakusa (Dicentra peregrina) white form
11 female hiker
12 lantern

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and the 4 different ones -

06a stoat or short-tailed weasel (Mustela erminea) summer fur
08a whitespotted char (Salvelinus leucomaenis) with white spots
10a komakusa (Dicentra peregrina) rose-purple form
12a horse (Aso no Uma) an extinct Japanese horse breed?

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This is very interesting

Congratulations with these adoreable models

Thanks for info and photos !!

Ps, about the  horse Aso no Uma , look how many Japanese breeds of horses that have become extinct :  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinct_native_Japanese_horse_breeds

It is a wonderful serie that i own too :)

Those are great figures, Japanese promote very well their fauna for home market but they never made a real atempt of divulging their fauna internationally. Obviously Japanese fauna is not as alternative and unusual as Australian fauna for example but they should use their good tradition in designing and conceiving miniatures to expand their concepts widely. It is time to Japan start a company with a manufacturing style similar to Western companies but widely available and dedicated to Japanese fauna.

Roger wrote:

Those are great figures, Japanese promote very well their fauna for home market but they never made a real atempt of divulging their fauna internationally. Obviously Japanese fauna is not as alternative and unusual as Australian fauna for example but they should use their good tradition in designing and conceiving miniatures to expand their concepts widely. It is time to Japan start a company with a manufacturing style similar to Western companies but widely available and dedicated to Japanese fauna.

Agreed meh!

Stu wrote:

Just received my 16 figurines of Kaiyodo's Birdtales 3.
Seems there were two sets of 12 with 8 items the same in each set.

The blue set -

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

and the green set -

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

Here are my photos -

01 rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) winter plumage
02 rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta) summer plumage
03 goldcrest (Regulus regulus)
04 Japanese robin (Larvivora akahige, formerly Erithacus akahige)

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

05 spotted nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes)
06 stoat or short-tailed weasel (Mustela erminea) winter fur
07 Japanese serow (Capricornis crispus)
08 whitespotted char (Salvelinus leucomaenis) with red spots

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

09 orange tip butterfly (Anthocharis cardamines)
10 komakusa (Dicentra peregrina) white form
11 female hiker
12 lantern

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

and the 4 different ones -

06a stoat or short-tailed weasel (Mustela erminea) summer fur
08a whitespotted char (Salvelinus leucomaenis) with white spots
10a komakusa (Dicentra peregrina) rose-purple form
12a horse (Aso no Uma) an extinct Japanese horse breed?

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

Stu, this is the best set from the Bird Tales line, congratulations!

Roger wrote:

Those are great figures, Japanese promote very well their fauna for home market but they never made a real atempt of divulging their fauna internationally. Obviously Japanese fauna is not as alternative and unusual as Australian fauna for example but they should use their good tradition in designing and conceiving miniatures to expand their concepts widely. It is time to Japan start a company with a manufacturing style similar to Western companies but widely available and dedicated to Japanese fauna.

I do not share such idea, Roger. Japanese style is much more realistic with ultimate focus on details while the Western style is limited with numerous safety/security/import/export restrictions etc. This is why the average figure made in Western style looks so odd in comparison with their Japanese counterparts. As you wrote, Japanese fauna is not so exceptional as e. g. Australian or African, so Japanese manufacturers have only small chance with Japanese fauna figures on the worldwide market. I am happy that the pure Japanese style still exists (Kaiyodo, KC, Yujin, Bandai...) as perfect option for advanced/avid collectors. Others collectors are usually happy with these entry-level models (toys) as produced Schleich, Safari Ltd. etc... When I see CollectA or Papo figures from the last years, I am in hope they will be as perfect as the Japanese models one day... I don´t need another Japanese company producing figures in Western style - if you need such one, look for Eikoh and their Miniature Planet - flood of cheap looking figures, less detailed, sloppy painted, often with stability issues... Another tigers, polar bears, elephants... from Japan - who cares? This is straight way to hell for such company and definitely no bonus for collectors.

jarda wrote:

Roger wrote:

Those are great figures, Japanese promote very well their fauna for home market but they never made a real atempt of divulging their fauna internationally. Obviously Japanese fauna is not as alternative and unusual as Australian fauna for example but they should use their good tradition in designing and conceiving miniatures to expand their concepts widely. It is time to Japan start a company with a manufacturing style similar to Western companies but widely available and dedicated to Japanese fauna.

I do not share such idea, Roger. Japanese style is much more realistic with ultimate focus on details while the Western style is limited with numerous safety/security/import/export restrictions etc. This is why the average figure made in Western style looks so odd in comparison with their Japanese counterparts. As you wrote, Japanese fauna is not so exceptional as e. g. Australian or African, so Japanese manufacturers have only small chance with Japanese fauna figures on the worldwide market. I am happy that the pure Japanese style still exists (Kaiyodo, KC, Yujin, Bandai...) as perfect option for advanced/avid collectors. Others collectors are usually happy with these entry-level models (toys) as produced Schleich, Safari Ltd. etc... When I see CollectA or Papo figures from the last years, I am in hope they will be as perfect as the Japanese models one day... I don´t need another Japanese company producing figures in Western style - if you need such one, look for Eikoh and their Miniature Planet - flood of cheap looking figures, less detailed, sloppy painted, often with stability issues... Another tigers, polar bears, elephants... from Japan - who cares? This is straight way to hell for such company and definitely no bonus for collectors.

Your observations are very interesting and surely more adjusted than my personal wish, mainly when we think about it in a more global perspective. One thing is for sure, I was not suggesting any kind of replacement of style but just an additional range adjusted to Western taste. All other traditional Japanese concepts should remain untouched.
However, I still would love to see these Japanese sculpts, even if less accurate and delicate due to safety, in similar sizes to western companies and especially as non assemblable pieces. Commercially it is not as risky as we may think at first, a Japanese fox work to the general market as any other red fox and I could give several examples like this one once most of Japanese animals are basically subspecies of known animals. A clever strategy could solve this problem. They don't need our market? That may be a fact but it doesn't change my wish. About Eikoh, I am a proud owner of some of them, actually these figures please me a lot even it is evident that their quality is far from what other Japanese brands are doing.