1/32 scale animals

Kikimalou, congrats for your beautiful pictures!

Kikimalou wrote:

The Schleich man is 1:40, nearly 45mm tall.  The cowboy is 1:32, 54mm tall.

I will add more pics as soon as my garden shed is repaired

The Schleich man is the unpainted man isn't it? I meant the guy with sunglasses in your earlier Bandai post. Good luck with your shed, it can be a lot of work.

Inspired by the photos in this topic, I have been scouring the web for 1:32 size animals. I haven’t found Hausser Elastolins for a decent price yet, but I came across these 1:32 animals:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The packaging and the animals don’t have a brand name, they just say “Made in China”.

The African bull elephant is 9.2/294 cm at the shoulder. Reports of elephants’ size vary, with Wikipedia saying they are 320-400 cm, Wildpro multimedia 300-400 cm with an average of 320 cm, WWF 335 cm, National Geographic 200-300 cm, Encyclopaedia Britannica 300-400 cm. A more reliable source is probably a scientific article by Della Rocca (2007), who measured 352 elephants in Chad and found that the largest was 323 cm: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] This observation seems to correspond to those in other studies, where the largest elephant is generally between 300 and 340 cm. Perhaps 400 cm African bull elephants exist, but this research suggests that sizes over 340 cm must be very rare. An interesting finding is that elephants do not stop growing during adulthood and that their size can actually be used as an indicator of their age. I hope you aren’t getting bored, but the conclusion is that 294 cm is quite typical for a 35-50 year old male elephant. Here it is next to the Britains bull elephant (9.6/307 cm):
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The Britains elephant is slightly taller, but the unbranded elephant seems much bigger, because it is bulkier and heavier. A bit overdone, I’d say.

The giraffe is about 16.8/538 cm (measured along the bend of its neck). It’s a female (it has udders), but a bit hard to identify which subspecies it is. Perhaps a West African/Nigerian giraffe (subspecies of Northern giraffe), because the spots are orange with a fair amount of space between them. Giraffeworlds says that it is 490-580 cm (the females are probably on the smaller side). Here it is next to two Britains giraffes (15.6/499 cm):
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Perhaps we could consider the Britains giraffe with the large spots to be a West African giraffe too and the other one perhaps a Rothschild (490-580 cm, Giraffeworlds) or Angolan giraffe (500-600 cm Wild about you), because it has darker spots.

Surprise (for me, but probably not for you): The elephant and giraffe are copies of retired Schleich animals. I discovered this later, when I was checking the ToyAnimalWiki to see whether Schleich has 1:32 animals. Indeed, some of their elephants and giraffes are 1:32, so I went to my local toy shop to see what they had and bought an Asian elephant, here next to two Britains Indian elephants:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The Schleich elephant is 8.0/256 cm at the shoulder, the older Britains 7.7/246 cm and the younger Britains 8.3/266 cm. Wikipedia says that adult males have an average height of 275 cm and females 240 cm. National Geographic says 200-300cm and International elephant foundation 215-365.

Although they have the right size, the Schleichs and Schleich copies don’t seem to fit particularly well with Britains, as they have a bulkier style and their body proportions seem different (larger head and legs). I also bought a rhino and another giraffe, but they don’t make the 1:32 criterion, so I am afraid they are out.

I like the marine animals better, because they don’t invite a comparison with Britains. I bought three:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The orca is 19.5/624 cm. Wikipedia says that females are 500-700 cm and males are 600-800 cm, National Geographic says 700-975 and Seaworld Parks 490-920. Here it is with some of its Britains prey (yes, orcas have been seen to catch moose swimming between islands):
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The great white shark is 17.5/560 cm. According to Wikipedia, males measure 340-400, and females measure 460-490 on average, but they can grow up to 610 cm. The Schleich shark is rather large, but still acceptable as 1:32.

Finally (hope you are still with me), the bottlenose dolphin is 10.7/342 cm. Wikipedia says 200-400 cm (National Geographic: 300-425). It’s probably a fairly large dolphin, but within 1:32 range. Probably an offshore ecotype, which is larger (370 cm) according to Seaworld Parks.

It is interesting to see a size comparison with a few land predators:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I have ordered some Colorata and Kaiyodo animals (thanks for the suggestions), so hopefully more soon ...

Great contribution Rogerpgvg

I agree with you, Schleich giraffes and elephants could be 1:32 but they are too chubby to fit with a vintage series like Britains. Heads are too big, they are made to look more 1/20 with a smaller and cheaper size I think.

The Safari Ltd and the two Papo below are a better choice for a 1:32 African bush elephant herd.


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

rogerpgvg wrote:

Kikimalou wrote:

The Schleich man is 1:40, nearly 45mm tall.  The cowboy is 1/42, 54mm tall.

I will add more pics as soon as my garden shed is repaired

The Schleich man is the unpainted man isn't it? I meant the guy with sunglasses in your earlier Bandai post. Good luck with your shed, it can be a lot of work.

The guy with the sunglasses is a painted Schleich man   Thank you for your support, the shed will loose the war

Kikimalou wrote:

The guy with the sunglasses is a painted Schleich man  

Ah yes, they are the same; I hadn't noticed. You are right, these elephants fit better with Britains, both style and colour.

In the last few months, I have spent quite a bit of time measuring photos of animal figures on the web to try and find out which are 1:32 scale. The Toy Animal Wiki has been very helpful for this, especially the photos with a Schleich man or Lego block. I started looking into Japanese companies first, because the figures are relatively small and not too difficult to get (thanks to Brettnj). Today, I’ll introduce the 1:32 animals in the Colorata Endangered Animals Ethiopian Region set. There is a picture of the whole set here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Four animals are 1:32 scale: The Thomson’s gazelle, warthog, African wild dog and spotted hyena. Apart from the gazelle, I don’t think they are normally the prettiest animals, but Colorata has managed to make them look their best. Even the warthog is cute!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Wikipedia says that Thomson’s gazelles have a shoulder height of 55-82 cm, and other websites mostly give similar sizes. The Colorata is 2.2 cm/70 cm, so quite an average-sized Tommy. The warthog has exactly the same shoulder height, which also makes it quite a typical warthog (Wikipedia says 63.5-85 cm shoulder height). The shoulder height of the wild dog is 2.1/67 cm; Wikipedia says they are 60-75 cm. Finally, the spotted hyena is 2.8/90 cm at the shoulder. Quite a large hyena at 1:32 scale: Wikipedia says they are 70-91.5 cm.

Here they are with a few Britains animals for size comparison. The gazelle-like animal is a springbok; the colours aren’t quite right, so probably not so clear, but it’s very similar in size to a Thomson’s gazelle.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I think it was a fortunate acquisition when 4 of the figures of the set fit perfectly with the desired scale. I was getting ready to ask you to take a comparison of the gazelle with the springbok and here it is even before I ask. The warthog conformation ressembles slightly a domestic pig but there is a very appealing piggy look on it. I think the wild dog and hyena works perfectly with the lion. Some alpha female spottted hyenas are really massive animals.
It is good to know Toy Animal wiki is useful for you and maybe, as your pictures are quite nice, you could provide individual pictures of these sets to put there? TAW doesn't have a dhole yet.

You are right, Rogério, 4 out of 12 is indeed a good score. The score is lower with the Oriental region set. I think the only one that is truly 1:32 scale is the axis (or chital) deer. Its shoulder height is 3.0 cm/96 cm. Animal Diversity Web says that it can have a height between 60 and 100 cm, which is quite a wide range, making it easy to get a figure of the right scale (though other websites mention somewhat smaller ranges).
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The clouded leopard is partly 1:32 size. It has a shoulder height of 1.7/54 cm. Clouded leopards’ front legs are shorter than their hind legs, so it’s a bit higher at its rear. Wikipedia and most other websites say that they have a shoulder height of 50-55 cm (very small range), so that makes it 1:32, but the Colorata leopard is rather long: Body length (minus tail) is 3.8/122 cm, whereas Wikipedia tells me their real length is 69-108 cm (the Colorata booklet says 62-110 cm, unfortunately it doesn’t give shoulder heights).

The blackbuck and sun bear are just a bit too large for 1:32 scale, but Colorata hasn’t made them look too big, so I find that they are acceptable for display with other 1:32 animals. Wikipedia says that blackbucks have a shoulder height of 74-84 cm; the Colorata blackbuck is 2.8/90 cm, so about 2 mm too large. But I estimate its length as 4.3/138 cm, which is shorter than the maximum length of 140 cm that the Colorata guide mentions.

The sun bear is 2.5/80 cm at the shoulder. The average shoulder height of sun bears is 70 cm. Harder to find a size range, but Facts and Details says 60-78 cm, so it just misses 1:32 scale.

Here they are with some Britains animals for size comparion:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Oh, and you wondered about the tiger, Rogério. It’s 2.6/83 cm, so a bit too small for a Bengal tiger (though not much and lengthwise, it may be OK).

Colorata will come out with two further Endangered Animals sets, one for Australia + South America and one for Europe, North Asia and North America. Hopefully they will contain more animals in 1:32 scale.

Lots of useful informations in your post, Roger.
I think through observation, they look all great. The clouded leopard looks big when compared with the leopard but I think the Britains leopard do really not represent a large specimen. The blackbuck may look also a little large but just a little as you pointed through your measurments. It is always almost impossible to get them completely in scale but all of these are very good approaches. When they are somewhat smaller, they can always be used as immature specimens. So, I think you can use also the tiger.
Observing some of the figures of the future sets, I believe you will find a few matching with your desired scale.

Next, three wild cats from Mojö Minis. I mainly bought them for the Cheetah because it’s one of my favourite animals and Britains never made one, but because I could get three cats as part of a special deal, I couldn’t resist.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Unfortunately, the cheetah isn’t 1:32 scale . It has a shoulder height of 2.9/93 cm. Some websites say that cheetahs can have a height of up to 94 cm, but I am fairly sure that this number is based on studies in the seventies that measured from the tip of the toes over the heel to the top of the shoulder. I think the best information about cheetah sizes comes from an article by Marker and Dickman (2003), who measured of 38 cheetahs and found that the mean shoulder height for males was 77.0 cm (71-86 cm) and for females 73.6 cm (62-80 cm). Disappointing   , especially because the cheetah looks really good.

The lion and tiger have the same shoulder height as the cheetah. There is a long discussion about the size of lions and tigers here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] The conclusion seems to be that lions are between 81 and 112 cm, but males are bigger than females. I haven’t been able to find a range for males, but based on my own calculations (I won’t bore you, but I can provide them on request ), I come to the conclusion that the minimum height of male lions is 92 cm. So the Mojö just makes the 1:32 criterion. It looks rather thin so I think it’s believable that it is a rather underfed, small lion. Here it is with the much bigger Britains lion (3.4/109 cm hip height).
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Bengal tigers appear to be between 86 and 118 cm, though the top end size would be truly exceptional, and the Amur tiger 82 – 106 cm. Not sure which tiger it is, does anyone know? In any case, with 2.9/93 cm, it’s in the range of both tiger subspecies. The Mojö tiger is well sculpted (like the cheetah and lion, it’s a copy of the larger, “regular” Mojös), but I wish they had given it some more stripes. Here it is with one of the Britains tigers (which again, is larger: 3.2/102 cm).
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I believe that among tube sized figures you will find a 1:32 cheetah. Though, I doubt they are as nice as Mojö's. The lion sculpt is quite contrasting witht the Britains. Even if they can fit reasonably based on shoulder's height, they hardly fit in terms of design. Mojö's is quite narrower and with a much more moderate-sized head.
The tiger from Mojö is a Bengal tiger.

Safari has a big cat toob with a cheetah, but it isn't painted very well, so not so high on my wish list. And there is a Bandai cheetah, which I have on order. You are right, the Britains and Mojö lions are very different, they almost look like different species, even though both are very well made; they have very different colours too,

I have been having a lot of fun collecting 1:32 scale animals lately. Collecting has been faster than taking photos and looking up all the size information; it will take me some time to show everything here.
 
First, some of the very best figures I have collected, five from the Kaiyodo Wild Rush sets. They are really superb.
 
Wild Rush I (Africa) has two 1:32 animals, a zebra and a lion. The zebra (a Grant’s zebra) is amazing, especially the painting is very detailed. Here it is together with the Britains (late version) zebra: 
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
 
Even though I am a Britains lover, I have to admit that the Kaiyodo is clearly better. They have the same shoulder height (3.8/122 cm), but the Kaiyodo zebra is a bit shorter. Wikipedia says that Grant’s zebras are 120-140 cm and Out of Africa Wildlife Park gives a similar height of 4 – 4.5 feet (122 – 137 cm). So both the Kaiyodo and Britains zebras are quite small. Another picture because it is so good:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
 
The lion is probably least good of all the Wild Rush figures I got (still nice though). It is well sculpted and painted, but he came with separate legs that I had to fit. Unfortunately, they don’t fit very tightly and you can clearly see the gap. I think it would have been better if his head had been separate, because the gap would have been less visible around the mane. Here he is with the Britains lion: 
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
 
The Kaiyodo lion is 3.1 cm at the hip, within the 1:32 range.
 
Wild Rush II does not have any 1:32 scale figures (as far as I can tell; perhaps the alligator is?)
 
Wild Rush III has three figures in “my” scale, a polar bear, reindeer and musk ox, all very beautiful. Here is the polar bear:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
 
You can see that the head is separate from the body. In this case, it isn’t so visible because the fit is very tight, so it doesn’t really bother me. You can also see a seam on one of its legs, but the leg was prefitted.
 
As so often, the heights on websites vary, with Livescience saying 100-150 cm and Wikipedia saying 122-160 cm with a 180-240 cm length (including tail) for females and 240-300 cm for males. The Kaiyodo polar bear has a shoulder height of 3.6 cm (115 cm) and a length of about 7.2/230 cm, so I think it’s 1:32 scale (presumably a female). Here she is with her Britains friends: 
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
 
The Britains walking polar bears are smaller (3.1/99 cm at shoulder) and it’s a bit questionable whether they are really 1:32 scale. But the difference in size isn’t so obvious, because they have a similar length and the Britains bears are fatter.
 
Reindeer (or caribou, they are the same species) have a large size range: Wikipedia says 85-150 cm and Livescience 70-135 cm at the shoulder. The Kaiyodo is 3.5/112 cm. Britains never made a reindeer so this is a new species in my collection. Here it is with two Britains relatives: 
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] 

Finally, the musk ox, another very beautiful figure. Look at his face:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The musk ox’s shoulder hump is really part of its skeleton; the Kaiyodo has a height of 4.1/131 cm here. Again, quite wide-ranging differences in shoulder height on the web (Wikipedia 110-150 cm, Tundra Animals 120-150 cm, Ranua Zoo 91-152 cm and State of Alaska musk ox guide average female height is 120 cm, average male 150 cm). The Kaiyodo is a male, which you can see from his horns, which touch each other at the centre of his head (female horns are further apart). It’s quite small for a male, but roughly within the sizes I found on the web.
 
Here he is with some Britains animals: 
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
 
Musk oxen are fairly small. Much smaller than bison and also not particularly large compared to domesticated cattle. But it isn’t closely related to bovines, rather, it is a close relative of sheep. It is a big sheep.
 
I like the Coloratos I showed before, but the Kaiyodos go particularly well with the Britains I have. The style is similar (realistic, not too cute) and the material too (I think Kaiyodo uses PVC, like Britains). But they are painted better than Britains, so they feel like 20^th century Britains. I really like them.

these Kaiyodo are very accurate at these little scale!

What a joy to read your explanations and watch these pictures with comparisons!
Let me tell you that all these choices to complement your Britains collection seem to result very well and most are very good sculpt with a great level of realism.
I think it is always acceptable some tolerance in terms of size. When you compare both Britains red deers, you will find their sizes somewhat different and the styles are quite contrasting. However, they work very well to me once it also happens in reality. Some red deers subspecies show very distinct sizes.
I also love the zebra, it is nicer than Britains, I agree but Britains zebra keeps being a very good figure to me.

Thanks, Caracal and Rogério. Yes, I agree that the Britains zebra is also good, in particular the sculpting. I need to investigate what kind of deer the Britains early version is. Red deer don't really have a white neck and head. Britains should have known, because red deer live in the British Isles.

Two other stunning figures: The Kitan Nature Technicolor brown bear and the Kaiyodo lying panda from the CapsuleQ unique animal zoo.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
 
I love the way that the Kitan brown bear exudes strength, while at the same time, Kitan has not overdone it. It gives the impression of a bear that is in complete control and not to be messed with. It has a shoulder height of 4.1/131 cm. Brown bears can vary a lot in size (dependent on the region they live in, as well as individual and gender variability). Wikipedia says they can have shoulder heights between 70 and 153 cm. This Kitan is part of the Nature of Japan series, so it is an Ussuri bear that lives in Hokkaido, Northern Japan. They can be very large indeed; Wikipedia says they can sometimes be larger than Kamchatka bears and according to Bearsoftheworld.net, male Kamchatka bears can reach a shoulder height of 50-53 inch (127-135 cm). Here is the Ussuri bear with the much smaller Britains brown bear:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
 
The Britains bear is 3.0/96 cm at the shoulder. I like to think of this bear as a European brown bear, which are generally fairly small. The Britains brown bear is impressive in its own right: I think it is probably one of the longest lasting animal figures ever produced, between 1931 and 1998 (first in led, then in plastic from 1960). She doesn’t look bad for an 88 year old!
 
Here some more photos of the Kitan brown bear:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
 
And here together with the Britains brown bear cubs.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
 

The Kaiyodo lying panda is also extremely well made.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
 
The painting is very detailed. Look at a close-up of his face (remember, it's small, only about 1.5 cm across):
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
 
It’s difficult to determine the shoulder height, but I am estimating it as 2.7/86 cm or so. Wikipedia, WWF.panda.org and a few other websites say they are 60-90 cm, though a few others such as Livescience say up to 80 cm. So it’s quite a large panda, certainly larger than the Britains panda (but this one is slouching):
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
 
Just a final photo of this wonderful bear:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The model of the polar and brown bear cub(?) standing on a base is very funny/odd! It looks like a person wearing g a bear costume.

Excellent additions These two models are indeed must have !

Wonderful photos!  Thanks for posting!  I'm very glad to be learning about more 1/32 animals, as I too really love that scale.  I especially like that Kitan brown bear.

I have one of the Britains brown bears, and it remains one of my favorites.  I have wondered before (and you probably have a better idea than I do) whether it might have been sculpted after an Asiatic black bear.  Though it's about the size (and, of course, color!) of a European brown bear, I've often thought that its posture, the shape of its muzzle, and the way its ruff/main thing forms around its ears reminded me more of the Himalayan bears I used to see at the zoo when I was little.  I've heard that Britains also made a separate figure of an Asiatic black bear (which I've never seen), so I imagine my theory is unlikely.

(I've been thinking about this more lately after seeing the new Papo spotted hyena, which looks like it may have been sculpted to look like a striped hyena.)

The Britains brown bear was also produced as a Panda (https://toyanimalwiki.mywikis.net/wiki/Britains_Lead_The_Panda_Family_Boxed_Set), but I haven't seen it as a black bear in my (quite extensive) searches for Britains animals, either in led or plastic. But who knows, they may have modelled it after a Himalayan bear. Here is the led Himalayan bear:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

And yes, the standing bear cub is quite funny. I grew up with the polar bear version and it's only more recently that I realised that this isn't what bear cubs look like. I wonder whether Britains perhaps wasn't entirely happy with it either. The brown bear cub apparently lasted only one year (1964); after that, it became a polar bear, although that one lasted longer, until 1976. I suppose it is indeed slightly better as a polar bear, because they have a longer body.

Kaiyodo and Hausser Elastolin made interresting brown bears too.

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


and this Colorata is also a very decent 5,65m Saltwater Crocodile.

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

The Elastolin bear cubs are especially lovely. I recently bought the Kaiyodo sitting bear, and it is indeed very nice, especially its pose. And thanks for the saltwater crocodile, it looks better in your photo than I thought it did. Let's see whether I can find it ...

The Schleich Minke whale could be a big male or a small female with 23,5cm/ 7,52m.

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

The Schleich reef manta ray with 15cm/4,80m is also a very decent 1/32 figure

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