Blaine's Synoptic Animal Collection

The Kaiyodo raccoon is officially one of the two last raccoons on my shelves, the other one is the Papo

I missed the Bullyland Red panda. I thought about adding it but now I will wait to have pics of the 2020 WW Safari ltd one.

A fewyears ago I starte, with Ana's help a Sunda stink badger modeling. I never finished it,afew days ago I discovered the Arboreum one. Expensive but marvellous. Now I don't know if I will save money to buy or take time and energy to finish mine.

Continuing the miscellaneous carnivores with the family Mustelidae (otters, weasels, badgers, etc.). Given the large number of species in this group in toy/figure form, let's break them into additional taxa:

Subfamilies Taxidiinae, Mellivorinae, and Melinae (badgers)
1. American badger, Taxidea taxus (Safari Ltd.)
2. honey badger, Mellivora capensis (Mojo Fun)
I had bought the Safari figure late last year when it first came out, but after much deliberation I decided it was too big (compared to other miscellaneous carnivorans). So, I recently replaced it with the Mojo male figure. I might get his mate someday.
3. European badger, Meles meles (Schleich)
I was lucky to find this on eBay in the US; it is the better than others still readily available!

Note: The Kaiyodo Japanese badger (Meles anakuma) was available, but it just didn't grab me. Normally a Kaiyodo figure is a given if it is in a good size for my needs, but something about this figure came across as a little too cartoony for me. Maybe it was a bad publicity photo. I still may end up getting in later some day.

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Subfamily Guloninae (martens and wolverine)
1. wolverine, Gulo gulo (Safari Ltd.)
At first I had planned to get the Mojo Fun figure, but when I went to buy this species, it was no longer available from my go-to sources. I bought the Safari one instead and now that I have it, I really really like it!
2. Japanese marten, Martes melampus (Kaiyodo)
3. sable, Martes zibellina (Kaiyodo)

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Subfamily Lutrinae (otters)
1. sea otter, Enhydra lutris (Kaiyodo)
I wish one of the Safari MBA figures was readily available. Finding a good sea otter at a decent size is surprisingly challenging. This Kaiyodo figure is nice, just wish it didn't have the false-flat bottom.
2. North American river otter, Lontra canadensis (Safari Ltd.)
I almost passed on this figure, due to its size, but there just are not really any other good options readily available for the North American species.
3. Eurasian otter, Lutra lutra (Kaiyodo)
This figure undoubtedly represents the extinct Japanese subspecies, †L. l. whiteleyi, but because the status of that taxon is still a matter of debate, I will use this figure as a stand-in for the species overall. If I end up getting the type subspecies some day, there are plenty of options (the recent Papo one is nice).
4. giant otter, Pteronura brasiliensis (Yowie Group)
Wish it was a little bigger, but Yowies are small figures.

Note: I have the Kaiyodo Wild Rush 04 Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinerea) on reserve!

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Subfamily Mustelinae (weasels and minks). As I researched this group, I was suprised to come up with six species of Mustela (and I am sure there are more to get!).
1. ermine, Mustela erminea (Mojo Fun)
Mojo produced this figure in both the winter (ermine) and summer (stoat) forms. I decided to just get the winter form, to add variety to my figures! The repaint of the 'stoat' form that is generally available now is not as good as the original...
2. long-tailed weasel, Mustela fraterna (Safari Ltd)
I am happy this figure was announced and released just in time for me to cover this group! It might be a bit big next to its cousins here, but not overwhelmingly so (and besides, it is a unique species!).
3. Japanese weasel, Mustela itatsi (Kaiyodo)
4. black-footed ferret, Mustela nigripes (Yowie Group)
5. least weasel, Mustela nivalis (Kaiyodo)
This is another figure that was released in both summer and winter forms. I actually did not buy this figure. It was thrown in as a 'freebie' in a small lot I bought on Mercari (much to my suprise, as it was not in the seller's pics). The figure was intended to have its left front foot on a rock and as such, has a small peg under its foot. Mine came without the rock (probably why it was included for free) but luckily I was able to easily cut off the small peg and the figure stands just fine! The sculpt is nice, so while my figure is not 'complete', I nevertheless now have a nice least weasel figure! Had I not received this figure, I would have hunted down the summer version of the same sculpt. So, I still got what I wanted, just the winter form without a rock (which is fine). Who knows, maybe someday I will hunt down a complete figure, but this serves my needs for now.
6. domestic ferret, Mustela putorius furo (Kaiyodo)
This was sold in a pair, the other being the albino form. I retained only this figure, which exhibits the wild type color of the European polecat (M. p. putorius). If someone wanted, they could keep both and have this figure represent the wild type and the albino figure the domestic type. However, since this figure was sold as part of the Chocoegg Pet series, I will assume it is to represent the domestic subspecies. Besides, I never liked albino animals for some reason.

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I am eager to see the Wild Rush figure. It is probably solide as my Arctic Fox and surely very detailed. I really want to know how it works in size with the other otters.
Mojö wolverine is really an excellent figure but Safari's is equally good. I have both and it could be a difficult choice if I only wanted one.
European badgers I also have a few and my favorite is the Schleich 2nd generation as yours pictured. Again Mojö made a very beautiful one too.
Still in Mojö, my choice for a ratel is also Anna's sculpt. I have both male and female with cub and I will pass on the Safari figure.

Wonderful Mustelidae. The Wolverine and the American Otter from Safari look brilliant. Maybe, I will also add them to my collection :)

Beautiful figurines

Megaptera wrote:

Wonderful Mustelidae. The Wolverine and the American Otter from Safari look brilliant. Maybe, I will also add them to my collection :)

I highly recommend at least the wolverine.

The Yowie Giant otter is surprisingly good, too bad overseas shipping fees are really painful those days.

We'll finish the rest of the carnivores next weekend, but here are some miscellaneous mammals I picked up:

1. domestic (Merino) sheep, Ovis aries (Papo)
When promotional pics were released, I knew this is what I wanted to represent the domestic sheep in my collection (although I might get others, such as the CollectA Jacob sheep)
2. spectral tarsier, Tarsius spectrum (Furuta)
3. Reeve's muntjac, Muntiacus reevesi (Kaiyodo)
Luckily this is such a small species, that a gashapon figure scales well with other cervids!

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Three interesting figures, especially the tarsier.

the tarsier and the muntjac are great!

Caracal wrote:

the tarsier and the muntjac are great!

I agree

Simply wonderful mustelids! I think the marten and sable are my favorites. And the merino is truly a model to behold, not many like that in farm series from the popular brands. And of course the tarsier and muntjac are lovely as well!

Nice batch !

OK, finishing up the miscellaenous carnivores on November with the Pinnipedia (seals, sealions, walrus). Among these carnivorans, this group seems to represent the most diversity among manufacturers!!!

1. bearded seal, Erignathus barbatus (Kaiyodo)
2. grey seal, Halichoerus grypus (Mojo Fun)
3. leopard seal, Hydrurga leptonyx (Papo)
4. southern elephant seal, Mirounga leonina (Papo) [edite: changed per discussion below and further review]
5. Australian sealion, Neophoca cinerea (Science & Nature)
6. walrus, Odobenus rosmarus (Safari Ltd.)
7. harp seal, Pagophilus groenlandicus (Safari Ltd.)
8. spotted seal, Phoca largha (Papo)
9. common (harbor) seal, Phoca vitulina (Schleich)
10. Saimma ringed seal, Pusa hispida saimensis (Yowie Group)
11. California sealion Zalophus californianus (CollectA)

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Isn't it more a Southern Sea Elephant?

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The one from Schleich (Mais & Borges) is a Northern one.

Megaptera wrote:

Isn't it more a Southern Sea Elephant?

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The one from Schleich (Mais & Borges) is a Northern one.

I don't know. I got that ID from somewhere, but now I cannot remember where. Maybe [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] knows.

Your method shows clearly that my pseudo-synoptic collection is a mess.
During a long time I decided to not collect seals. Later I started collecting them and a little time after, I reduced the number of seals in my collection.
However, I always wanted a leopard seal and only in these last years, major companies have been releasing it. Conclusion, I have four elephant seals but no leopard seal yet.
About the species of the Papo figure, it is not consensual. Some collectors use it as a Northern because of its small size while others use it as a Southern due to its relatively short trunk. Papo doesn't identify it to the level species.
As these figures are not made at a certain scale, I think the size is not relevant to determine the species and I tend to believe it is a Southern elephant seal.
Curiously, all elephant seals are in the same page at Toy Animal wiki and it happens exactly because it is not easy to determine the species of the most part of them.

Thank you Roger and Megaptera. If the general consensus is southern, than I will change it in my database (I see now on Susanne's walkaround, the consensus was also southern). Again, not sure where I came up with the ID of a northern, but I am OK with calling it a southern! Honestly, the morphologic features separating the two would probably never be apparent in a toy, so unless a company markets it as such, it is anyone's guess!

Thanks all!

Nice seals

Some miscellaneous fillers from November. Most of these are original Australian Yowies of fish and birds. While many Yowies can be cartoony, their small birds, fish, and invertebrates can be quite nice, and represent species not commonly made (if otherwise made at all!). Also included are four figures from the Gulf Coast collection by Toy Fish Factory (I didn't retain the great barracuda since I like my Kaiyodo version better). I was waiting to post these until sbell did his Blog review.

Yowies birds:
1. red-necked advocet, Recurvirostra novaehollandiae
2. spinifex pigeon, Geophaps plumifera
3. regent bowerbird, Sericulus chrysocephalus

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Yowies fish:
1. eastern spiny gurnard, Lepidotrigla pleuracanthica
2. dog-faced puffer, Arothron nigropunctatus
3. banded pipefish, Dunckerocampus dactyliophorus
4. Murray cod, Maccullochella peelii
5. potato cod, Epinephelus tukula

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Toy Fish Factory:
1. common snook, Centropomus undecimalis
2. Atlantic tarpon, Megalops atlanticus
3. speckled trout, Cynoscion nebulosus
4. red drum, Sciaenops ocellatus

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Wonderful fish and bird models

Very nice fishes. congratulations.

Lovely figures! I love toy fish factory, they offer something no one else has.