Comparison of TEN butterfly-centric sets. I am doing this for two reasons. One, to keep all these together in one place and two, for my Bin Sets post (essentially, I am using this forum to organize my collection, LOL, but it gives forum members a resource they may be interested in).
For several of these sets, identifications were made by me or other forum members.
I suggest you go to the original posts to see discussions and justifications.
A. Bullyland Butterflies
This is one of at least two sets of butterflies by Bullyland. These figures came with strings in their backs to be suspended in the air (hence the ugly screw holes in their backs). They were sold by their common English names.
Left to right, top to bottom:
1. common brimstone,
Gonepteryx rhamni2. common morpho,
Morpho peleides3. red admiral,
Vanessa atalanta4. Old World swallowtail,
Papilio machaon5. painted lady,
Vanessa cardui6. Eros blue,
Polyommatus eros7. European peacock,
Aglais io8. small tortoiseshell,
Aglais urticae[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]B. Unknown manufacturer (Club Earth Knockoffs)
This set is definitely a knock off of the Butterflies To Go set by Club Earth (a set for which I only have four figures). I am not sure my set is complete either, as I have 11 figures when the original CE set had 12 (plus they are stamped on the bottom and I am missing number 4). Identifications are based on their CE counterparts, which were marketed with English common names.
Left to right, top to bottom:
1. purple emperor,
Apatura iris2. monarch,
Danaus plexippus3. great orange tip,
Hebomoia glaucippe formosana4. Union Jack,
Delius mysis5. Cairns birdwing,
Ornithoptera euphorion6. Cramer’s mesene,
Mesene phareus7. Cypris morpho,
Morpho cypris8. Genoveva azure,
Ogyris genoveva9. eastern tiger swallowtail,
Papilio glaucus10. crowned hairstreak,
Evenus coronata11. purple-spotted swallowtail,
Graphium weiskei[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]C. K&M Butterflies Nature Tube
This is a set of 12 butterflies by K&M International. Some were clearly modeled after actual species, some it was hard to say and difficult to confidently identify. Again, I refer you to the main discussion on the forum for justifications of identifications.
Left to right, top to bottom:
1. paradise birdwing,
Ornithoptera paradisea2. batwing butterfly,
Atrophaneura semperi3. yellow zebra,
Graphium deucalion4. Andromeda satyr,
Cithaerias andromeda5. monarch,
Danaus plexippus6. broad-banded page,
Siproeta superba7. crowned hairstreak,
Evenus coronata8. European peacock,
Aglais io9. southern dogface,
Zerene cesonia10. common green birdwing,
Ornithoptera priamus11. paper kite
Idea leuconoe12. silver-bordered fritillary,
Boloria selene[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]D. Butterflies Mini Polybag
A set of 12 very small butterflies by K&M International. Four of them I am still baffled by.
Left to right, top to bottom:
1. great orangetip,
Hebomoia glaucippe formosana2. unknown
3. eastern tiger swallowtail,
Papilio glaucus4. Diana morpho,
Morpho diana5. European peacock,
Aglais io6. swallowtail,
Papilio sp.
7. unknown
8. Genoveva azure,
Ogyris genoveva9. Menelaus morpho,
Morpho menelaus10. unknown
11. black swallowtail,
Papilio polyxenes12. unknown [I had previously considered this the paper kite,
Idea leuconoe, based on Safari and larger K&M figures but I am taking it back]
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]E. Butterflies Authentics Collection (1997)
The Butterflies Authentics collection by Safari LTD. These figures were marketed with common names.
Left to right, top to bottom:
1. paper kite,
Idea leuconoe2. common morpho,
Morpho peleides3. tailed jay,
Graphium agememnon4. scarlet leafwing,
Siderone galanthis5. orange-barred sulfur,
Phoebis philea6. [green] swallowtail,
Papilio blumei[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]F. Butterflies TOOB
The Butterflies TOOB by Safari LTD. Figures were marketed at the species level. There are four sculpts with two paint jobs each.
Left to right, top to bottom:
1. green swallowtail,
Papilio blumei2. white-angled sulfur,
Anteos clorinde3. regal hairstreak,
Evenus regalis4. Garlepp’s swallowtail,
Papilio graleppi5. orange-barred sulfur,
Phoebis philea6. jazzy leafwing,
Hypna clytemnestrata7. red glider,
Cymothoe sangris8. Menelaus morpho,
Morpho Menelaus[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]G. Butterflies of the World Collectors Case
The Butterflies of the World Collectors Case, by Safari LTD (2001). It consists of 12 figures, that were marketed at the species level in French, German, Spanish, Italian, and English.
From left to right, top to bottom:
1. orange-barred sulfur,
Phoebis philea2. broad-bordered grass yellow,
Eurema brigitta3. purple emperor,
Apatura iris4. paper kite,
Idea leuconoe5. great orangetip,
Hebomoia glaucippe formosana6. tailed jay,
Graphium agememnon7. common morpho,
Morpho peleides8. scarlet leafwing,
Siderone galanthis9. large oakblue,
Arhopala amantes10. orange albatross,
Appias nero11. eastern tiger swallowtail,
Papilio glaucus12. green swallowtail,
Papilio blumei[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]H. Toy Major
The butterflies by Toy Major. No one is sure how many there are. They have been marketed many ways. All are stamped 1996 but have surely been re-released several times since. Sculpts have been reused for different paint jobs. The vast majority of them were clearly modeled after real species, although sometimes they have been hard to identify. Again, I refer you to the main posts for discussions and justification of names. I have 32 at the initial time of this writing, so they will be divided into two images.
Left to right, top to bottom
1.
Ancyluris formosissima2. Graecian shoemaker,
Catonephele numilia3. Menelaus morpho,
Morpho menelaus4. purple-spotted hairstreak,
Graphium weiskei5. crowned hairstreak,
Evenus coronata6. red admiral,
Vanessa atalanta7. large tortoiseshell,
Nymphalis polychloros [doubtful ID]
8. red glider
Cymothoe sangaris9. pipevine swallowtail,
Battus philenor [markings depict ventral side]
10. Wallace’s golden birdwing,
Ornithoptera croesus11. Claudina agrias,
Agrias claudina12. mourning cloak,
Nymphalis antiopa13. California dogface,
Zerene eurydice14. star sapphire,
Asterope sapphira15. anise swallowtail,
Papilio zelicaon16. noble swallowtail,
Papilio nobilis [doubtful ID]
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Left to right, top to bottom:
17. coral jewel,
Hypochrysops miskini18. Cramer’s mesene,
Mesene phareus19. Genoveva azure,
Ogyris genoveva20. monarch,
Danaus plexippus21. unknown (color variant of
Graphium weiskei22. unknown
23. purple emperor,
Apatura iris24. small copper,
Lycaena phlaeus var.
schmedtii25. large true forester,
Euphaedra sarcoptera [marking depict ventral side]
26. Paris swallowtail,
Papilio paris27. Cairns birdwing,
Ornithoptera euphorion28. southern dogface,
Zerene cesonia29. eastern tiger swallowtail,
Papilio glaucus30. lesser purple emperor,
Apatura ilia31. common buckeye,
Junonia coenia32. queen,
Danaus gilippus[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]I. US Toys
A generic set of eight butterflies by US Toys. Clearly influenced by better-known companies. US Toys figures are released in various sets with different numbers of figures and species. I am pretty sure the set of eight I have was bought at a dollar store back in Arizona.
Left to right, top to bottom:
1. eastern tiger swallowtail,
Papilio glaucus2. unknown [painted like a morpho, but with tails]
3. unknown [painted like a morpho but with tails]
4. monarch,
Danaus plexippus5. great orangetip,
Hebomoia glaucippe formosana6. Cramer’s mesene,
Mesene phareus7. unknown [painted like a morpho]
8. Cairns birdwing,
Ornithoptera euphorion[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]J. Big Bunch-O Butterflies
A tube set by Insect Lore, this is the Big Bunch-O Butterflies, released in 2013. This set has not been previously reviewed on the forum by me, so the identifications are new here. Frankly this is a disappointing set. After all the cool life cycles Insect Lore produced with unique figures, along came this set in which the figures are of the exact same sculpt (and in many cases color) of the Nature Tube and Mini Polybag figures by K&M International (see above).
Left to right, top to bottom:
1. luna moth,
Actias luns [this ID is based on the similarly-colored TM figure]
2. unknown
3. unknown [but could be something if we snoop around]
4. milkweed butterfly,
Danaus sp. It is probably meant to be the monarch, but I think the common tiger
D. genutia is a better fit with this color pattern.
5. Diana morpho,
Morpho diana6. Old World swallowtail,
Papilio machaon (looks dark, maybe the subspecies
P. m. hippocrates)
7. European peacock,
Aglais io8. unknown
9. swallowtail,
Papilio sp.
10. swallowtail,
Papilio sp.
11. unknown
12. black swallowtail,
Papilio polyxenes13. great orangetip,
Hebomoia glaucippe formosana14. Genoveva azure,
Ogyris genoveva15. Diana morpho,
Morpho diana16. Menelaus morpho,
Morpho menelaus17. unknown
18. unknown
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]