Blaine's Synoptic Animal Collection

I have few fishes (only some sharks) because the main european brands don't produce them (except Bullyland in the past) and I am very curious and anthousiast to see so many fishes thanks to japanese brands!

Yes, most of my fish are also made by Bullyland.

Time for the second of the four groupings of birds. This time, it's the 'Birds of Prey': Accipitriformes (vultures, hawks, eagles), Falconiformes (falcons and kestrels), and Strigiformes (owls). And yes, I know these groups do not form a monophyletic clade. They are grouped more for convenience ;-).

Order Accipitriformes, family Accipitridae (hawks, eagles, Old World vultures).

1. northern goshawk, Accipiter gentilis (Furuta)
2. cinereous vulture, Aegypius monachus (Likaon Models - Signatus Studio)
3. golden eagle, Aquila chryseatos (Kaiyodo - Natural Monuments of Japan)
I almost bought the Colorata version, which was noticeably cheaper, but couldn't resist this figure.
4. red-tailed hawk, Buteo jamaicensis (Safari LTD)
A bit bigger than I would have liked, but nice overall
5. griffon vulture, Gyps fulvus (Papo)
6. bald eagle, Hailaeetus leucocephalus (Safari LTD)
This figure was a given!
7. Steller's sea eagle, Haliaeetus pelagicus (Kaiyodo - Natural Monuments of Japan)
8. harpy eagle, Harpia harpyja (Safari LTD)
The Colorata figure was available, and as much as I normally prefer dynamic figures, I decided to settle on the more conservative Safari figure. I don't regret my choice.
9. Philippine (monkey-eating) eagle, Pithecophaga jefferyi (Colorata)
10. crested serpent eagle, Spilornis cheela (Kaiyodo)
11. ornate hawk eagle, Spizaetus ornatus (Colorata)

Note: I have decided to hold off on buying Southland Replicas's Australian eagle until the one from Science and Nature releases later this year.

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Order Accipitriformes, family Sagittariidae (secretary bird).
The secretary bird, Sagittarius serpentarius (CollectA)

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Order Accipitriformes, family Cathartidae (New World Vultures)
1. California condor, Gymnogyps californianus (Kaiyodo - Red Data Animals)
2. king vulture, Sarcorhampus papa (Safari LTD)
This was one of the figures that finally pushed me to building a synoptic non-arthropod collection ;-)

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Order Falconiformes (falcons and kestrels)
1. peregrine falcon, Falco peregrinus (CollectA)
I was disappointed with the paint on this figure compared to publicity photos. The chest should be more white and the beak should have yellow. The sculpt is very nice and I like the pose, but the paint (on my figure) left something to be desired.
2. common kestrel, Falco tinnunculus (male and female, both by Kaiyodo)

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Order Strigiformes (owls)
1. long-eared owl, Asio otus (Safari LTD)
2. Blakiston's fish owl, Bubo blakistoni (Kaiyodo - Natural Monuments of Japan)
3. snowy owl, Bubo scandiacus (Schleich)
This was a tough choice as there are 3 very good snowy owls from non-Japanese manufacturers. I always thought I'd get the Safari one, but in the end, settled with Schleich!!!
4. great-horned owl, Bubo virginiensis (Safari LTD)
5. Australian boobook owl, Nonox boobook (Science and Nature)
6. Oriental Scops owl, Otus sunia (Kaiyodo)
7. Ural owl, Strix uralensis (Kaiyodo)
8. barn owl, Tyto alba (Papo)
A bit big (compared to the other owls), but very nice.
9. African grass owl, Tyto capensis (Yowie USA)

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Beautieful birds

Wonderful birds of prey and falcons.

Very refined taste with some of your eagles, especially the Japanese and homemade.
I believe you won't regret getting the Southlands wedge-tailed eagle before seeing what S&N is conjuring. It is a fabulous figure and it brings a brown snake.
I also have the Schleich snowy owl as my favorite even if the Safari is in my collection too.
About the barn owl, surely the Papo figure is a beautiful piece but the little miracle from CollectA would certainly display very well with all others, it is a very good figure and noticiably smaller than Papo's.
I understand why Safari king vulture influenced you, it is a superb model.

Miscellaneous Mammals!

These are mammals from groups that I have already covered, but have received since I covered those groups! I was motivated to do this after the release of the remaining CollectA 2019 figures! Some of these may have been shown already (e.g., a walkaround) but not in this thread.

Remember, dephth of field in the images might affect how the scales compare.

Order Marsupialia
1. Goodfellow's tree kangaroo, Dendrolagus goodfellowi (PNSO - Oceania Animals)
2. red-necked (Bennett's) wallaby, Macropus rufogriseus (Safari LTD)

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Order Carnivora
1. African leopard, Panthera pardus pardus (CollectA)
2. Pallas cat, Otocolobus manul (Natural History - Naturally Adorkable)
3. Tibetan sand fox, Vulpes ferrilata (Natural History - Naturaly Adorkable)

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Order Primates
1. gelada, Theropithecus gelada (Likaon Models - Signatus Studio)
2. siamang, Symphalangus syndactylus (Likaon Models - Joan Bestiari)
This figure is a bit small but lovely. The figure is sold solo; the branch is an actual twig and the base was stolen from one of the Colorata stag beetles :-)
3. Panamanian white-faced capuchin, Cebus imitator (National Entertainment Collectibles Association)
4. lesser bushbaby, Galago senegalensis (Nayab)
Nayab attempted to make a lot of interesting primate species. Unfortunately, many of them are not good examples of the species they were intended to represent. This letter bushbaby is one of the better ones.
5. Sunda slow loris, Nycticebus coucang (Natural History - Naturally Adorkable)

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Orders Rodentia, Lagomorpha, Chiroptera
1. naked mole rat, Heterocephalus glaber (Kitan Klub - Nature Techni Colour)
2. Indian crested porcupine, Hystrix indica (CollectA)
Several have pointed out that the white crest is more in line with a Cape porcupine, but apparently the Indian species can have it too. It is not like CollectA to misapply names.
3. northern pika, Ochotoma hyperborea (Kaiyodo)
4. wrinkle-faced bat, Centurio senex (Play Visions)

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The 'hoofed' mammals, orders Artiodactyla (including Cetacea) and Perissodactyla
1. kiang, Equus kiang (Likaon Models - José Miguel Aparicio)
2. common warthog, Phacochoerus africanus (PNSO - African Animals)
This figure replaces the Papo one. I am surprised I am replacing figures already, but the sculpt on this one is nicer and more dynamic!
3. northern minke whale, Balaenoptera acutorostrata (CollectA)

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Finally you have the mythical Natural History tibetan fox, a must have!
I wish I had the money for but the ultraexpensive Likaon models figures, as they have tons of very wished species in perfect models for my collection (correct scale and correct acurateness). This kiang is precisely one of my wishlist ones from this site.

Wonderful

Wonderful, especially the ones from CollectA

I hope also to get the CollectA leopard and the porcupine. I agree it is surprising that you are already replacing figures, especially when it is a PNSO taking the place of a Papo. I defintely agree the pose of the PNSO got perfectly the warthog spirit and I also like it a lot. However, I will keep for now my Schleich warthog boar. It is not that spirituous but quite nice.

I also replaced many older and also newer Schleich models. And the CollectA Leopard will also replace my old Schleich one.

wonderful kiang!

DISCLAIMER: I have had these figures for a little while; I have been traveling a lot and never got around to photographing them... Also, I had trouble positioning them to show good features and get them in good focus...

Time for the amphibians. Historically, amphibians didn't interest me as much as reptiles, but as I acquired more figures, especially the Japanese/gashapon-style figures, I developed a better appreciation of them. I have become especially fond of the Caudata!

Like with reptiles, fish, and rodents, the small size of most amphibians means I am focusing heavily on Japanese companies, with a few scattered exceptions. Like with other groups there are others to collect but this is a start.

Familes are grouped for convenience and do not infer any phylogenetic relationships.

Order Anura (frogs and toads), family Bufonidae (true toads).
This is one of my favorite groups of amphibians, mainly because I grew up with several species in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona!
1. eastern Japanese toad, Bugo japonicus formosus (Yujin)
2. golden toad, †Incilius periglenes (Takara Tomy A.R.T.S.)
3. Kihansi spray toad, Nectophrynoides asperginis (Yowie USA)
4. cane toad, Rhinella marina (Safari LTD - Venomous Creatures TOOB)

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Order Anura, family Dendrobatidae (poison dart frogs)
There are a lot of nice examples of these that are not readily available (especially those by Kitan Club/Ikimon) or not so nice (e.g., Safari LTD TOOB) that are readily available. So, for starters I only have a few examples, a mix of Japanese and Western companies.
1. dyeing dart frog, Dendrobates tinctorius (Yujin)
2. phantasmal poison frog, Epipedobates tricolor (Yowie USA)
3. strawberry poison dart frog, Oophaga pumilio (Papo)
4. golden poison arrow frog, Phyllobates terribilis (Papo)

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Order Anura, families Hylidae (tree frogs), Rhacaphoridae (shrub frogs), and Hyperolidae (reed frogs)
1. Japanese tree frog, Hyla japonica (Ikimon - Nature Techni Colour)
I have the Yujin version, but I really wanted one of the figures sitting on a mushroom :-)
2. red-eyed tree frog, Agalychnis callidryas (Yujin)
3. common (African) reed frog, Hypervolius viridiflavus (Schleich)
I don't have a lot of Schleich, but this one is a winner!
4. kajika frog, Buergeria buergeri (Kaiyodo - Natural Monuments of Japan)
5. Ryukyu kajika frog, Buergeria japonicus (Yujin)
6. forest freen tree frog, Rhacophorus arboreus (Yujin)

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Order Anura, family Ranidae (true frogs)
1. American bullfrog, Lithobates catesbeianus (Yujin)
2. Ishikawa's frog, Odorrana ishikawae (Yujin)
3. black-spotted pond frong, Pelophylax nigromaculatus (Yujin)
4. Nagoya Daruma pond frog, Pelophylax porosus brevipodus (Yujin)
5. Japanese brown frog, Rana japonica (Yujin)
6. stream brown frog, Rana sakuraii (Yujin)
7. Tago's brown frog, Rana tagoi tagoi (Kaiyodo - Birdtales)

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Order Anura, miscellaneous families Ceratophryidae (common horned frogs), Megophryidae (litter frogs), Microhylidae (narrow-mouthed frogs), Myobatrachidae (Australian ground frogs), and Pipidae (tongueless frogs).
1. Argentine horned frog, Ceratophrys ornata (Yujin)
2. Budgett's frog, Lepidobatrachus laevis (Ikimon - Nature Techni Colour)
3. Malayan leaf frog, Megophrys nasuta (Yujin)
4. ornate narrow-mouthed frog, Microhyla ornata (Yujin)
5. Corroboree frog, Pseudophryne corroboree (Science and Nature - Animals of Australia)
6. common Suriname toad, Pipa pipa (Agatsuma Entertainment)

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Order Urodela (newts and salamanders), familes Ambystomidae (mole salamanders) and Cryptobranchidae (giant salamanders)
1. California tiger salamander, Ambystoma californiense (Yowie USA)
2. axolotl, Ambystoma mexicanum (Kaiyodo)
While the albino form is common and familiar, I was happy to find a 'wild type' color morph!
3. Japanese giant salamander, Andrias japonicus (Kitan Club - Nature Techni Colour)
I have seen beatiful figures of this species postes on these forums for years, no I am happy to finally have one! :)

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Order Urodela, family Salamandridae (newts and true salamanders)
1. sword-tailed newt, Cynops ensicauda (Kaiyodo)
2. Anderson's crocodile newt, Echinotriton andersoni (Kaiyodo)

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Order Urodela, family Hynobiidae (Asiatic salamanders)
1. Odaigahara salamander, Hynobius boulengeri (Kaiyodo)
2. Tohoku salamander, Hynobius lichenatus (Kaiyodo)
3. Japanese clouded salamander, Hynobius nebulosus (Kaiyodo)
4. Japanese clawed salamander, Onychodactylus japonicus (Kaiyodo)

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Great selection! Funny that the amphibians would be harder to photograph than, say, mammals--kind of the reverse of photographing the real animals.

Phantastic :)

It was expectable your choice for smaller sized figures. They are really good representatives. Curiously, I like the large versions in this particular group, though I have just a few, namely some Safari salamanders at 1/1 scale that you already know from Tennessee Aquarium and similar.

Wonderful frogs. The Corroboree Frog also looks good. Maybe, I will add this one to my collection :)

Holy, hopping critter ! What a beautyful, wonderful bunch of models !!!!

And gorgeous photos as always, of course

Time to cover the third grouping of birds! This time we are looking at flightless birds, gallinaceous birds, and waterfowl.

First, the 'flightless' birds. These taxa are organized more for convenince rather than hypothesized phylogenetic relationships. Here we have the orders Apterygiformes (kiwi), Casuariformes (cassowaries and emus), Struthioniformes (ostrich), and the extinct Gastornithiformes.

1. Okarito kiwi, Apteryx rowi (CollectA)
2. southern cassowary, Casuarius casuarius (CollectA)
3. emu, Dromaius novaehollandiae (Southland Replicas)
4. ostrich, Struthio camelus (adult and chick, both by CollectA)
5. gastornis, †Gastornis parisiensis (Safari LTD)

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Order Galliformes (pheasants, turkeys, chickens, peafowl, etc.)
1. horned guan, Oreophasis derbianus (Yowie USA)
2. domestic chicken, Gallus gallus (hen by Papo; rooster by Schleich)
Since farm animals are so commonly made, there were a lot of options for these two. I am very happy with what I decided on. I wanted classic 'barnyard' examples, and not exotic or fancy breeds...for now ;-)
3. rock ptarmigan, Lagopus muta (male and female, both by Takara Tomy A.R.T.S.)
4. turkey, Meleagris gallopavo (Breyer/CollectA).
When this figure was announced, it was debated on whether it meant to represent a wild or domestic turkey. This figure is marketed as the 'Bronze' breed, indicating it was intended to be domestic. The detail on this figure is absolutely incredible! The features are individually sculpted and the feet are free.
5. peafowl, Pavo cristatus (Papo)
I really wanted one with the tail down, but all figures are made spread like this. Still, I think I made a wise choice with the Papo figure.
6. copper pheasant, Symaticus soemmerringii (Kaiyodo)
7. Attwater's prairie chicken, Tympanuchus cupido attwateri (Yowie USA)

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Order Anseriformes (ducks, geese, swans)
1. Mandarin duck, Aix galericulata (Kaiyodo)
2. chestnut teal Anas castanea (Cadbury - Yowies)
3. mallard, Anas platyrhynchos (Schleich)
This is another species with a lot of options, but I chose this recently-retired Schleich model. I think I made a good choice! My original intention was to get the 2019 Mojo figure, but I think I made the better decision.
4. domestic goose, Anser anser domesticus (Papo)
5. blue-winged goose, Cyanochen cyanoptera (Yowie USA)
6. black swan, Cygnus atratus (Science and Nature)
7. mute swan, Cygnus olor (Breyer/CollectA)
8. smew, Mergellus albellus (Kaiyodo)

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The Galliformes and Anseriformes are two of my favorite groups of birds. Despite the assortment above, there are so many more desired species, some of which have been made (just not readily available) and others I have never seen. I would love a nice, standard-sized ring-necked pheasant, and some North American quail. How about a chukar??? Plus, all the tropical galliform birds. Also, there are so many interesting duck species to make. Are there no standard Canada goose figures???

Wonderful bird models. But you need the duck and water bird models from Maia and Borges. They really are masterpieces:)

Phantastic birds

Fortunately we have a good diversity of animals with good quality. It means that a good choice is not only valid for a single model. For instance, your choices for cassowary and emu are defintely good. Though, if it was Safari and Mojö Fun instead, the choices were equally good.
I am also surprised that you haven't acquired the Maia & Borges River and Lake Birds, they are wonderful Maybe they're not so easily available and they may turn slightly overpriced. You have also some AAA ducks but they are not as nice as Maia & Borges although they do not represent the exact same species.
You have a few Canada geese but their quality are slightly inferior when compared with the average of your model choices.
A last not to the CollectA mute swan. It is really a masterpiece and after all htese years it continues being the most sumptuous representative of this animal.

A couple people have noted these M&B waterfowl. I did a search and there are some amazing ones. I found two on eBay from Germany but nothing from the US. I will definitely pursue some of these in the figure once I get a baseline established. Thanks for the heads up!