1/32 scale animals

Thanks, Leyster. I know little about dinosaurs, so very interesting to get this information.

Now, let's have a look at two sets of Japanese animals released by Colorata and Ikimon in the last two years. Let's see whether they include any 1:32 scale figures.

First up, the Colorata “Japanese animals” box. It was released in 2020 and contains 12 different species. Two, or depending on how much you allow me to cheat, perhaps three are 1:32 scale:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

One is the Japanese serow, a national symbol of Japan. It has a special place in my heart because I once met one! Quite a few years ago, my wife and I went on holiday in Japan and we went hiking in the Japanese Alps. It was one of the most beautiful hikes we have ever done; especially the flowers were amazing and the scenery was spectacular as well. During a break on the second day of our hike, we saw this creature:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

It seemed like an almost mythological creature because we had never seen this animal before and we didn’t know what it was. Apparently, they are normally very shy, but it stayed close to us for quite a while. A magical experience!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Here is the Colorata version:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Its shoulder height is 2.6/83 cm. Jass and Mead (2004, Mammalian Species) say that the average shoulder height of 2.5 year old males is 74 cm with a 5 cm standard deviation. I normally take the mean + 2 SD as the maximum height (assuming a normal distribution, 98% of individuals would be smaller). Doing this, the Colorata is just possible as a very large Japanese serow.

The Colorata serow looks fine, but an even better figure is the Kaiyodo from their Birdtales series from 2006:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

It is unclear why it was part of the Birdtales series, because it is clearly not a bird, but I am very happy that they made it.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I am normally not so keen on bases, but I like this one with the serow crossing a stream in the snow.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

This Japanese serow is 2.4/77 cm at the shoulder, so a more average size than the Colorata. Here they are together:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

During our Japanese hike, we were told that there were black bears that could be dangerous and we were quite scared to meet one. We didn’t see any, perhaps because we made a lot of noise to warn them so that they could run away. There is also an Asian black bear in the Colorata set:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

It has a shoulder height of 2.7/86 cm and a head+body length of 4.9/157 cm. Wikipedia says that the shoulder height of Asian black bears is 70-100 cm and ADW says that the head+body length of Asian black bears is 120-180 cm. However, the Japanese subspecies is generally smaller: Oi and Furusawa (2008) found that their straight-line head+body length was 103-159 cm, with males larger than females.

The box also includes a Japanese wolf, which became extinct in the early 20th century. The Japanese wolf was quite a small wolf, 56-58 cm at the shoulder according to Wikipedia. The Colorata is 2.3/74 cm. Too large for a Japanese wolf, but if you let me cheat, then I can use it as a grey wolf.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Here it is with the grey wolf from the Colorata “Palearctic and Nearctic Regions” box (shoulder height 2.5/80 cm):
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The Ikimon “Nature of Satoyama” set from last year contains four 1:32 scale animals:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Like the Colorata set, it has an Asian black bear. This one is smaller, with a 2.1/67 cm shoulder height and a 4.0/128 cm head+body length.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The Ikimon represents close to the minimum size of a Japanese black bear, whereas the Colorata shows almost the maximum size:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Japanese black bears are commonly made by Japanese brands. Here we have one by Eikoh standing on the far left and one by Kaiyodo second from the right:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Both are too large for Japanese black bears, but size-wise, they are OK for more generic Asian black bears. The 2015 Kaiyodo is still my favourite (2.9/93 cm shoulder height, 5.1/163 cm head+body length). It should be said that Japanese bears lack the thick neck fur that is typical of many other Asian black bear subspecies, as we can see in all these Japanese figures. However, photos of the largest subspecies, the Ussuri bear, suggest that they also have a less developed neck fur, so I don’t think I cheat too much if I use the Eikoh and Kaiyodo’s as Ussuri bears.

Two small sika deer that just reach 1:32 scale, one in a spotted summer coat and one in a winter coat:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

They are 2.0/64 cm at the shoulder. A graph in Yokohama (2009, Chapter 14 in McCullough, Takatsuki, & Kaji) shows that female sika deer are about 60-85 cm and Feldhamer (1980, Mammalian Species) reports that females are 64-75 cm. Males are slightly larger than females, but the Ikimons look like females because they lack antlers. The size depends a lot on the population. For example, Suzuki et al. (2001) found that stags in Hokkaido were up to 120 cm.

I thought that the Ikimons were my first 1:32 sika deer, but then I realised that I also have an old Kaiyodo (ChocoEgg 3B series from 2000). It shows that the first Kaiyodos weren’t as good as the later ones. It’s 3.3/106 cm at the shoulder.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The last one in 1:32 scale is the red fox. We saw it before, because it won the unofficial 1:32 scale figure of the year award. It has a shoulder height of 1.45/46 cm and a total length of 4.0/128 cm. According to Wikipedia, red foxes are 35-50 cm at the shoulder and the largest fox was 1.4 m in total length. Pagh et al. (2017, Zoology & Ecology) reported that male Danish foxes are on average 114 cm in total length and Cavallini (1995, Finnish Zoological and Botanical Publishing Board) reported that the largest foxes are found in Scotland, with males reaching an average total length of 115 cm. So the Ikimon is pretty large but probably possible.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I am surprised how many 1:32 scale foxes I have found. Here is the Ikimon with the 54 mm Hausser Elastolin foxes:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

And here with the Safari Good Luck Mini (1.4/45 cm shoulder height and 3.2/102 cm total length) and Britains lead fox (4.0/128 cm total length):
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The other animals in the Ikimon set aren’t 1:32 scale, but I’d like to mention the beautiful hares and raccoon dog, because they are not too far off in size.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

It’s clear that they are too large when put next to the fox:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

But not so obvious together with a larger animal:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

rogerpgvg wrote:

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

It seemed like an almost mythological creature because we had never seen this animal before and we didn’t know what it was. Apparently, they are normally very shy, but it stayed close to us for quite a while. A magical experience!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

what a wonderful encounter you had!! the photos are excellent, it looks like an alpine/tundra setting up there ?
It looks like the serow was checking you out on both sides ? or maybe you were going up a winding path :)

the little models are both very nice!
and I love the comparison shot of the hares and elephant

I really love your posts a lot. I've read it twice and I admire all the study and dedication behind each post. Your magical moment is something to remember forever. The Kaiyodo rendition of that caprid is extremly beautiful, I love the base too. The Colorata reminds me more something we could expect from Eikoh but it is very beautiful too although much simpler.
Oh, those rabbits look very big, even with the elephant but I am sure they won't be a problem for this little fox.

Wow, that serow encounter really is one of those magic moments to treasure, no wonder it's become a special species for you. I agree that the Kaiyodo 'bird' is by far the most beautiful (aside from the real one, naturally!), but lovely to have another for your collection, too.

The fox is a favourite we're familiar with already, thanks to his award-winning presence a few weeks ago, it's good to see the rest of the set. In fact, they're all very nice. What do you do with the non-32-scale animals in your collection, are they banished to stand on a different shelf for being too big? I'm intrigued whether you prefer to split sets or mix scales (as a collector of at least six different scales, I'm rather resigned to mismatched chaos )

These Japanese figures must be among the best at this scale, despite their size so beautifully and intricately detailed, I really love the fox!

Thanks you for all your comments!

Annette: We saw the serow at about 2500 m height, above the tree line, so yes, it was quite tundra-like there. We were having a break when we noticed it. It seemed somewhat curious about us. In the last photo, it decided it had had enough of us and walked away.

Rogério: It's probably what you meant to say, but they are not rabbits, but hares. Japanese hares to be precise, although they look very similar to the larger European hare. European hares can be quite large, not so much smaller than a fox. The Ikimon hares have a shoulder height of about 1.3/42 cm and a head+body length of 2.1/67 cm (though not really stretched out). Anatoliy (2020, Modern Environmental Science And Engineering) found that the largest hare was 68.5 cm in body length (presumably without tail, but that isn't entirely clear). [url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=k8o0HTqvwH0C&pg=PA583&lpg=PA583&dq=european+hare+"shoulder+height"&source=bl&ots=o7n_UHIUGS&sig=ACfU3U18yEjBjIF1eEZ5IIDxp-VWxhh18A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjNtrqXk7H2AhUFZMAKHVctB6cQ6AF6BAgrEAM#v=onepage&q=european hare "shoulder]Exploring Mammals, Vol. 10[/url] says that they are up to 76 cm in head+body length and 40 cm shoulder height. Perhaps I am too strict for excluding them from the 1:32 Wildlife Reserve and I should do some more research.

George: I don't have space to display my whole collection, it's a rotating display. I normally have one shelf that I try to organise well with all animals to scale and with the animals neatly positioned. And then I have several messy shelves where my animals have to share the space with books. Usually with my latest acquisitions, animals that I've taken out of their box for photographs and any that I'd like to see again. The Ikimon set in fact consists of 10 animals. You can see them all here.

Lilias: You are right, the Japanese figures are generally most detailed at this scale. The figures by vintage companies are generally less detailed, but lovely in their own right.

Incredible encounter story  What a gift !

I put the Hares on my 1/25 shelf, the fox and Raccoon dog on the 1/30 and the deers on the 1/35. 

rogerpgvg wrote:

Rogério: It's probably what you meant to say, but they are not rabbits, but hares. Japanese hares to be precise, although they look very similar to the larger European hare. European hares can be quite large, not so much smaller than a fox. The Ikimon hares have a shoulder height of about 1.3/42 cm and a head+body length of 2.1/67 cm (though not really stretched out). Anatoliy (2020, Modern Environmental Science And Engineering) found that the largest hare was 68.5 cm in body length (presumably without tail, but that isn't entirely clear). [url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=k8o0HTqvwH0C&pg=PA583&lpg=PA583&dq=european+hare+"shoulder+height"&source=bl&ots=o7n_UHIUGS&sig=ACfU3U18yEjBjIF1eEZ5IIDxp-VWxhh18A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjNtrqXk7H2AhUFZMAKHVctB6cQ6AF6BAgrEAM#v=onepage&q=european hare "shoulder]Exploring Mammals, Vol. 10[/url] says that they are up to 76 cm in head+body length and 40 cm shoulder height. Perhaps I am too strict for excluding them from the 1:32 Wildlife Reserve and I should do some more research.

I used a generic term and I shouldn't use it on forum. Sure they are hares. Hares are usually large animals, you're right and I often suggest you to accept figures that are not exactly at your favorite scale. I think they look somewhat large but more than acceptable. What is important is not the impression they give to me but the real measurements.

Kikimalou wrote:

I put the Hares on my 1/25 shelf, the fox and Raccoon dog on the 1/30 and the deers on the 1/35. 

That makes sense. When you don't have a 1/32 shelf, you need to find a way around that 

Roger wrote:

rogerpgvg wrote:

I used a generic term and I shouldn't use it on forum. Sure they are hares. Hares are usually large animals, you're right and I often suggest you to accept figures that are not exactly at your favorite scale. I think they look somewhat large but more than acceptable. What is important is not the impression they give to me but the real measurements.

No worries, I won't cheat and let them into the 1/32 reserve . Just the occasional visit.

rogerpgvg wrote:

Kikimalou wrote:

I put the Hares on my 1/25 shelf, the fox and Raccoon dog on the 1/30 and the deers on the 1/35. 

That makes sense. When you don't have a 1/32 shelf, you need to find a way around that 

Yes poor me 

rogerpgvg wrote:

Chris, most of us get our Japanese figures from Brettnj. If you are only looking for the fox and postage from Japan is prohibitive, I’d be happy to be an “intermediary” when I get my next batch from Brett.

Many thanks Roger for putting this forward for you to be an intermediary. Apologies as when you posted this I had issues with my laptop and was unable to reply in a timely fashion.

The PNSO Yutyrannus might be 1:32, but there are some issues with its proportions.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I don't know what the proportions should be, but it looks good. I guess this one is meant to be feathered, as I believe dinosaurs didn't have hair?

rogerpgvg wrote:

I don't know what the proportions should be, but it looks good. I guess this one is meant to be feathered, as I believe dinosaurs didn't have hair?

The head should be bigger, the fossil has an head longer than the femur while in the model is the other way, and there are some issues with the head shape.
Yes, they're feathers, quite simple ones like ratites have.

The old Carnegie Styracosaurus is 1:31, so more or less in this range

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

There are some great 1:32 figures about! very nice collections you all have.

Battat Carnotaurus is 1:31
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Thanks for showing your 1/32 scale dinos. If you have time one day, it would be interesting to see them together for size comparisons.

I thought carnotaurus was a strange name, but I read on Wikipedia that taurus refers to its bull-like horns.

rogerpgvg wrote:

Thanks for showing your 1/32 scale dinos. If you have time one day, it would be interesting to see them together for size comparisons.

I thought carnotaurus was a strange name, but I read on Wikipedia that taurus refers to its bull-like horns.

I'll do that one day or the other, I only have to find an appropriate space since it's not easy to picture them together

The easiest species to find in 1:32 scale are the elephants because all the major modern companies make them in this scale. We’ll have a look at some of these modern elephants in a later post, but let’s first have a look at the Britains elephants. Only their plastic elephants, because I don’t have the earlier lead elephants. Here they are:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

In my opinion, they are masterpieces. Although the material and the painting of elephants (and other animal models) improved at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century, in terms of realism of the sculpting, these more modern elephants were generally a step back. Only in the last couple of years, some modern companies have started to make elephants whose sculpting is on a par with the Britains.

The oldest plastic Britains elephant is the Asian elephant from 1961. Britains referred to it as an Indian rather than an Asian elephant. Probably not because they modelled this specific subspecies, but because the adjective “Indian” was often used for the whole species. The beauty of this beast is that it looks so unpretentious: quiet gait, small tusks, thin trunk, no exaggerated head. A great model, quite unlike the more pretentious 1:32 scale modern elephants.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Britains’ first plastic African elephant was not an adult but a calf. They released it in 1964. It has always been a favourite of mine; it’s very cute, even though I can’t quite work out how realistic it looks. Perhaps it looks more like an adult in a small size, but I have got so used to it over the years that I cannot imagine that real elephant calves look different.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

A year later, Britains introduced their first adult African elephant. Like most Britains animal figures, this elephant is ungendered, but it is often thought it is meant to represent a female. Perhaps that’s because of the calf or because several years later, Britains released an African elephant bull. I don’t think Britains ever referred to it as an elephant cow. It could certainly be a female, but I don’t think it is impossible as a male. In any case, I think it has a really classical look, perhaps because I’ve had it for as long as I remember. When I think of an African elephant, I think of the Britains.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The original plastic Indian elephant was retired in 1972 and replaced by a new one:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

It has a somewhat different style: bigger tusks and a thicker trunk, a more “cheerful” face and a wrinkled skin. In many ways, this elephant set a trend for later elephant models by other brands. It’s a good-looking model, but I prefer the realism of the older 1961 model.

Finally, in 1981, Britains introduced their African elephant bull. Sadly, this was also the very last wildlife model that Britains released. It has some similarities to the later version of the Indian elephant, with large tusks, a wrinkled skin and a more striking pose than the early Britains elephants. It was clearly made to impress, which again, set a trend for more modern elephants. I don’t think it quite has the classical appeal of the elephant cow, but it’s still a good model, better than most elephant models that followed it in the next 30 years or so.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The Britains elephants were produced until 1998, when Ertl bought Britains and discontinued the wildlife range.

They are a great grouping, I am on the lookout for the Lead Indian Elephant. I have the young and baby, there is also a plastic copy of the baby Indian elephant, one to look out for :)

I love your post about elephants and I can't agree more. Actually, this is a subject that has been discussed often since this forum started. When I entered the discussions, I was only aware of Schleich, Papo, and CollectA elephants and I didn't like them at all. I enjoyed best the Papo elephant sculpt but the finish quality was better on Schleich brown models but I never liked them. The problem was that they were excessively chubby with wrong proportions. Though, Schleich elephants were quite popular, I was just one of the few members not liking them that much. The other exception was our friend Christophe and he showed me the Britains models on forum that were obviously much better sculpted. So, my African was a Papo and my Asian was the very detailed CollectA which is badly proportioned. Fortunately with the help of a few forum friends I also could add a few Britains, not perfect ones but I am happy with them. Now it is the other way round since I'm starting having too many elephants with the addition of the Deluxe Bullyland, new Mojö Fun and the spectacular Lineol IV generation. What's fun is that I am very curious to see how good will be the new CollectA and I also still intend to get the Mojö Fun Asian cow.

thebritfarmer wrote:

They are a great grouping, I am on the lookout for the Lead Indian Elephant. I have the young and baby, there is also a plastic copy of the baby Indian elephant, one to look out for :)

The adult lead elephant would be great to have. I'll show you the plastic copy of the baby Indian elephant in a later post.

Which Papo African elephant do you have, Rogério? There are a few. I am looking forward to the new CollectA too, hopefully it isn't too large.

Very interesting read, I'm probably too young for having met Britains (and in the wrong country), even if I might have owned some (or knockoff of some) when I was very young.

Another 1:30 (so good for 1:32, cause individual variation etc) dinosaur, last year's Safari Baryonyx
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Looks good. Wikipedia says that the Baryonyx may have had a ridge or hump on its back, it's interesting that Safari chose not to model this.