Megaptera's Collection

It is great that they sell these individually. My problem with tubes is that often I only want or two figures from a certain tube. I also hope you have enjoyed the zoo.

I hope to find some beauties (especially Wild Republic) in the week after Easter in Vienna, especially in the Zoo of Schönbrunn.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]: yes, the Zoo Hellabrunn has some very special species like the Lowland Nyala, Columbia Brown-headed Spider Monkeys or Persian Fallow Deers. And they have Papo, Safari, CollectA and others.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]: and you have to visit the Natural History Museum. They have all models of different brands in their shop.

Megaptera wrote:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]: yes, the Zoo Hellabrunn has some very special species like the Lowland Nyala, Columbia Brown-headed Spider Monkeys or Persian Fallow Deers. And they have Papo, Safari, CollectA and others.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]: and you have to visit the Natural History Museum. They have all models of different brands in their shop.

Small or major brands?

Nearly all major brands and some of the small ones.

Megaptera wrote:

Nearly all major brands and some of the small ones.

Thank you :)

My newcomer: the Safari Aardvark:

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

here is a species scarcely edited by european common brands, I only knew the old prime Prior one!.. this Safari one seems accurate.. :)

A nice but a very huge aardvaark

Thanks to both of you. Yes, it's really an aardvark monster

I also have this aardvark, despite having a few other smaller ones, this is the one I like best. I remember some collectors not wanting it because of its size and later, regreting their decision once it got retired. Fortunately Safari re-released it. Aardvarks are never too many and I hope other major brands are brave enough to release it.

Yes, I also wasn't sure if I add it to my collection, because of its size. But it really is a wonderful model, so I add it.

My newcomer: the Papo Somali Hedgehog

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

I always find interesting your species identifications. Why do you think it is a Somali hedgehog and not a four-toed hedgehog or even a common hedgehog? Papo website does not make any reference to species and it is strange that they make an unusual species without any reference to it. I really hope you are right.

It's because of the colouration. The snout is much darker and this colour goes on to the eyes. The toes are also quite dark and not that light in colour like the four-toed hedgehog. And also the ears are quite similar.

Very convincent but also very surprising!

Yes, first I was also thinking it would be a common hedgehog. But then I found remarkable hints, that this one is a Somali Hedgehog.

there is nothing to suggest this isn't just a four-toed (domestic) hedgehog, especially since it was released as a 'Farm' animal (or so someone on the forum indicated).

BUT, it's a figure in your collection so you can call it whatevre you want (just like my butterflies :-).

No, it's part of the wild life range.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]


And the overall look is more a Somali Hedgehog:)
But as always, it is a toy figurine. On the picture above is a Somali Hedgehog. I think it looks like quite similar.

The catalogue is one of the reasons why I'd never guess it could be a Somali hedgehog. It is clearly presented among other Forest animals, mostly based on European fauna as it is traditional with Papo. I know it is not a rule, we can see pandas around but once Papo is often very inaccurate with generic animals, I am afraid it is just a common hedgehog and the painter used a few four-toed hedgehog pictures as reference once they are very popular as pets. The result was a kind of hybrid that surely looks like a Somali but in a kind of coincidence. In that picture we can see the infamous badger, it is much probably just an European badger but we could easily approach it to other badger species. Just a bad...ger in my opinion.

Yes, with its short snout it also could be a Caucasian Badger:)
Papo wanted to create a typical European Hedgehog, but they used a bit the colouration of the Four-toed hedgehog. In this case, they created a Somali Hedgehog just for us:)
It is like the older crocodile from Schleich. They tried to create a Nile Crocodile, but the shape and the colouration was more like a Mugger Crocodile. In the end, also Schleich said that it's a Mugger Crocodile.

As a collector, I just think like you and I feel happy that the figure looks somewhat like a Somali hedgehog. A company do what they want and a collector uses the figure in his own way. My life as a TAW editor is not that easy and when there is no official source and the figure is ambiguous, we have to read brand manager's minds.
I didn't recall that story about the Schleich crocodile. What I remember is the previous croc being identifyied as a dwarf crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis) in their website. Actually, you have the newer Schleich black panther listed as a leopard and isn't it more like a jaguar? The most embarrassing of ever were the emperor penguin chicks identifyied as king penguins and with a king penguin as a parent. It was wrong even in catalogues. Fortunately they fixed it one year after the release of the figure.
Back to Papo, we have the new hyena but we still need to check the real thing. It seems sculpted like a brown hyena but painted as a spotted hyena.

Yes, first Schleich names it Dwarf Crocodile but later it became a Mugger Crocodile. Because in german the Dwarf one is the Stumpfkrokodil and the Mugger one the Sumpfkrokodil
Yes, I will also check that hyena:)

You're right Roger, as soon as I discovered the new Papo hyena project, I sent a mail to their website to supplie them to change the painting and replace spots by stripes but as usually, they never replied.. I shall have to do it by myself.. and about the Schleich black panther, it's exactly the same mold as the jaguar one, so it's a black jaguar and nothing else!.. another exemple with Papo last wonderful gorilla, presented as a mountain gorilla although it's a very accurate western one.. understands who can!..    :)