My newest additions

Saving the endangered Southlands was surely a good decision. Then, you give them a predator as it is that oportunistic eagle. Very beautiful pictures and it is a pity that you cannot include the grey kangaroo in your collection. My model also tends to have a tension between legs forcing them inwards. Manufacturing a model is much more complex than what we think, Especially when they performe some complex poses and concepts as that one. I think the general quality is very good for a starting company, I can’t think in another known brand that had no problems with their first releases.
Let me tell you that your koala is not just one more koala, it represents the Northern population and it is a female. It is a fact that I ended getting the current Schleich koala, but the Southlands is equally beautiful in my opinion. Welcome to the Southlanders club!

very interesting and beautiful batch, I want to order this quoll too..

Mmmm... perhaps I should hurry up too if Southlands is going to disappear because of covid... I really want to acquire (almost) all of their figures.

Let me tell you that your dingo is BY FAR the best painted one I have seen on this forum. As most members here, I had mixed feelings about the face and especially the nose (but still liked the model very much, because of the sculpting and the very nice pose as you've hihlighted, always thinking that the Safari counterpart was absolutely awful in comparison) but your sample makes my opinion become completely eulogistic !

The koala is very nice and, as a family/group of animals collector, she would make a perfect second wife for my Schleich male.

The tiger quoll is of course, my "fan favourite". That's a must-have species, one just cannot miss a quoll in his/her marsupial collection. All the more so as I have seen a close species in the menagerie and especially enjoyed it (zootierliste reminds me it was the Eastern species).

Lumholtz's tree kangaroo is another great addition, even though I must confess that I am not so familiar with it and know much better Matschie's and Goodfellow's tree kangaroos which are both kept in Beauval. I wonder if you have or plan to get the Safari Matschie ? If so, do you thing both would fit correctly sizewise ? I have no idea what size a Lumholtz is supposed to be.

Finally, I don't like this grey kangaroo because of the base (I can accept it for birds but I really don't like it on mammals) and it's probably the only Southlands I don't want to buy (with the eagle too perhaps...). Such a shame it can't stand on its own, the pose is interesting...

Thank you all for your nice comments!! :) Roger, I think that the figures are safer with the eagle than with the own dingo that came together
I know Southlands have the sex stated for every figure as they put it in the tag, for that I wrote Miss Koala, but I didn't knew it was from the Northern population.

Rtas, your toughts are almost exactly same than mines in almost every one of your phrases. I love you!
I didn't knew that this model of dingo have variations in paintjob, and I feel fortunate for having received the best painted one! I don't see really a problem with the nose, but also I'm not used to see many dingos (only seen once, at Plzen zoo). Do you think muzzle is too thick? And yes I always disliked the simplistic appareance of the Safari dingo.

Lucky you for have seen quolls at Menagerie. It was one of the reasons that made me want to re-visit Menagerie some years ago, but finally I was unable to do the visit, and sadly now the Menagerie don't have quolls anymore. I've seen quolls at Faunia Madrid (again they don't have them anymore), but they're sleeping furballs in their den, seen very close but they're not quoll-shaped, they're just a mass of white-spotted brown fur so my photo shows only that (plus dirt and scratches on the viewing glass). So I still need a good photo of an active quoll. And yes Eastern quoll (D. viverrinus), with a spotless tail, are the only ones in European zoos.

I'm also very unfamiliar with Lumholtz's tree kangaroos and in fact I think I memorized the species just due to the Southlands model! Goodfellow's and Matschie's are the only ones kept in European and American zoos so they're the ones that I've seen too. And yes the Safari model is in my wishlist, sizewise it fit very well with the Southland one, despite the proportions are a bit odd in the Safari model, head is much more thick and paws are enormous in comparison. So I prefair much the Southlands model. But still the Safari one is good and I love very much the grooves on its fur!

You have the wonderful Southland's dingo!
I'll have to try and get him before Southlands closes down, and I agree with Rtas, your one is beautiful!
Amazing additions!

Wonderful models and photos Pardo!

Pardofelis wrote:

Do you think muzzle is too thick?

I think it's been discussed again somewhere, I completely disagree with the aspect that this Dingo has a thick muzzle. I think that it's just perfect. Like all dogs, Dingos can have thicker and thinner muzzles. Usually males have a thicker one. It's easy for anyone to see on the web. A couple of examples

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The visible seams in some models are a bit of a let down, it's more evident on the snake's head from the eagle model. Ι've seen a Schleich video explaining the way they hide all the seams, it's an important part of the process. But the overall quality of Southlands in sculpting and painting is far more important than this I guess.
I hadn't noticed that the grey kangaroo doesn't stand straight. Are they all like this? Such a shame, also what is the reason of having a removable base if the figure can't stand without it?

You have painted your red kangaroo's face very very nice! You also hide the joey like promo pics do, haha. A kangaroo with male genitals and a pouch, what were they thinking?

Lovely dingo photos!
And I do see now, they actually do have thick muzzles, and look very similar to the Southlands model!

I agree with Roger, hurry up to buy all the phantastic figures before they are lost for ever

spacelab wrote:

I hadn't noticed that the grey kangaroo doesn't stand straight. Are they all like this? Such a shame, also what is the reason of having a removable base if the figure can't stand without it?

You have painted your red kangaroo's face very very nice! You also hide the joey like promo pics do, haha. A kangaroo with male genitals and a pouch, what were they thinking?

I think the removable base is easy to explain. Southlands figures also toys and Jason couldn’t forget it. One of the funniest things of a kangaroo toy is using it pretending it is leaping. Kids love to do it with their kangoos and the Southlands model is perfect for that. Otherwize, a child needed to use it bouncing with a base attached what may result a little silly. Considering that the pose of the red kangaroo is not suitable for this kind of play, I think Jason made it perfect. Besides of that, a collector can use a kind of transparent base to display it as Southlands oportunely demonstrated.

Pardofelis wrote:

Rtas, your toughts are almost exactly same than mines in almost every one of your phrases. I love you!
I didn't knew that this model of dingo have variations in paintjob, and I feel fortunate for having received the best painted one! I don't see really a problem with the nose, but also I'm not used to see many dingos (only seen once, at Plzen zoo). Do you think muzzle is too thick? And yes I always disliked the simplistic appareance of the Safari dingo.

Well, not on you model. Actually, most dingoes I have seen had a bad painted nose with black painting going over the edges. That might be just a tiny detail but it can change the whole expression of the face.

Pardofelis wrote:

Lucky you for have seen quolls at Menagerie. It was one of the reasons that made me want to re-visit Menagerie some years ago, but finally I was unable to do the visit, and sadly now the Menagerie don't have quolls anymore. I've seen quolls at Faunia Madrid (again they don't have them anymore), but they're sleeping furballs in their den, seen very close but they're not quoll-shaped, they're just a mass of white-spotted brown fur so my photo shows only that (plus dirt and scratches on the viewing glass). So I still need a good photo of an active quoll. And yes Eastern quoll (D. viverrinus), with a spotless tail, are the only ones in European zoos.

Actually, I did not see them on my first visit, it was heavily raining and they were hidden in their den But then, the day after, we were supposed to visit the paleontology museum but it was closed so we came back to the menagerie and I saw them very active. So lucky me to having been unable to visit the museum, an alive quoll is even more excitement for me than dinosaur skeletons, even if I like both very much !

Pardofelis wrote:

I'm also very unfamiliar with Lumholtz's tree kangaroos and in fact I think I memorized the species just due to the Southlands model! Goodfellow's and Matschie's are the only ones kept in European and American zoos so they're the ones that I've seen too. And yes the Safari model is in my wishlist, sizewise it fit very well with the Southland one, despite the proportions are a bit odd in the Safari model, head is much more thick and paws are enormous in comparison. So I prefair much the Southlands model. But still the Safari one is good and I love very much the grooves on its fur!

Ok, that's what I thought !

Thanks everybody for your lovely comments

spacelab, Roger explained perfectly the reason of the removable base. About the PNSO red kangaro, I didn't just hid the joey like in the promo pics (and the apparent absence of a joey is what made me buy this figure!!!), but I cutted the joey and tried to sculpt the zone again with cutter scratches imitating fur, so it can pass as a male. All this was explained and illustrated in previous post of this thread :-)

Rtas, thanks for the explanation about black paint in nose. Yes I was fortunate to get the correct one - if I haven't, a bit of repaint would have solved the problem quickly :)

Pardofelis wrote:

I cutted the joey and tried to sculpt the zone again with cutter scratches imitating fur, so it can pass as a male. All this was explained and illustrated in previous post of this thread :-)

oh, I didn't know, I'll check!!

Good job!!

I passed near a toy shop where I bought other times. Incluenced by the positive feedback for this figure given at the animal toy blog ( [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ), especially about the presence of ear holes and the two bulges in throat, and after knowing how small can be these whales in real life (about a quarter of the lenght of a blue whale), I decided to purchase this realistic model: the minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) by CollectA.

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It's as magnific as the blog review says. Every detail in sculpt is exquisite, showing that CollectA is very meticulous not only with antelopes, and their cetaceans are marvelous too. I love the spiracle, the dorsal fin, the genital slits and the very well done throat sculpt. The general shape of the animal is also very well done.

However, the paintjob of one side is not equal than the other side.
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I don't know if this is intended or not. I know that some rorquals have assymetric coloration and one (I don't remember which species) is famous for have the baleens of one side black and the baleens of the other side white. Is this an error or is realistic? Should I repaint it?

Especially caught my attention an isolated diffuse blackish patch in one side, absent in the other side. Just now I realize that it's the same in other examples of the same model, such as the one reviewed in the blog.
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Also I noticed that the greyish pattern in the rear flanks is not hand-painted but printed with pixels. This is what made me to reject the otherwise magnific Schleich tiger shark. But in this case the pixels are much finer than in the shark and unnoticed except by close exam, so I can let it pass.
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For now I only have two baleen whales. They scale more or less well with each other, overall if we count the minke whale as one of the largest individuals and the bowhead whale as a somewhat young one.
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But... beware, there are whale killers in the ocean, and not only those in ships...! Minke whale have same approximate size than orca so they fit well with Collecta killer whale.
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The other figure I bought in the shop is the nilghai (Boselaphus tragocamelus) by CollectA. This figure is not entirely convincing for some people, but I love it and anyway it's the only nilghai figure in the trade. This Indian antelope is very distinctive and it's strange appareance is well reflected in it's funny scientific name, that literally means "ox-deer-goat-camel" because the antelope seems to have a mixture of features of all these animals. Incluenced by [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] comment about the eyes of this figures, I've repainted just the eyes as whole black, because originally they were bay with too distinct pupils.
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Sizewise, it fits very well with the larger Indian ungulates done by major brands, such as gaurs, rhinos or this buffalo:
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However, if put aside with smaller animals, like the blackbuck, it looks too small. In general I think that the size is good for fit in any not too strict collection.

Of course, I must present it with its closest living relative, the four-horned antelope:
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The nilghai is unaware of the danger behind it...
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And after a year and half without nothing to eat because gaurs are too dangerous and blackbucks are too quick (see [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ), I think our old tiger deserves something for calm its hunger!
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Amazing!

I am far from being a Cetacean or anything else expert but I am truly convinced that CollectA is developing a remarkable work in this particular area. I am also, despite the criticism, an enthusiast of this nilgai figure, I couldn’t have missed it and I am glad there is one also in my collection.
Love your presentation with wonderful pictures, stories and interaction with other models.

I would like to see your whole collection, Pardofelis.

Great choices Isidro, of two fab models

I especially love your four-horned antelope :)

I like the Nilgai, it arguably looks better than the real-life animal

Should you repaint the minke whale? I say no: It will lose its historical value for the future and no model is completely realistic anyway.

very beautiful and realistic whale! I have the Nilgai too..

Thanks everybody! I've learned in the other animal toy forum that the CollectA whale assymetrical paintjob is intended and realistic. Minke whales can be just as this model is! So I will left untouched :)

A new batch obtained thanks to my dearest French macaque!

1. Big-eyed thresher shark (Alopias superciliosus), Safari LTD Monterey Bay Aquarium. This is an old and long-time retired figure, substituted by the brand for a pelagic thresher shark in current production. I don't have any thresher shark and I find it a nice opportunity. However the figure once received was not as magnific as spected. The paintjob is very bright, glossy. Seams are more noticeable than I think. The mouth have no teeth, and it's white inside. And the gills are not sharply defined. But overall is a good figure. I think that I must repaint it.
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Here with other Safari sharks:
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2. Mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus), Schleich. Also an old and retired figure. This one is very special because it's the first time in the history of my collection that I substitute a figure. It replace my CollectA mountain goat, that I never liked. This disturb my chronological order or species acquired but that is not so important. The important thing is that Schleich represent the species infinitely better than CollectA. Especially the body shape. The CollectA goat is just a croquette with legs. The tall, humped, laterally compressed body of the goat is clearly well done in the Schleich model. The other improvement is the fur. CollectA goat is absolutely woolly with curly hair. While Schleich have straight hair as it happen in real mountain goats. However it's not perfect, Schleich goat have the fur not very sharply detailed, the mouth and nostrils also not sharp (however better shaped than in CollectA), and the horns blunter than the CollectA one. Also Schleich have thicker legs. I wonder if I should cut the horns and made thinner ones instead, then it would look more realistic. Or is that a sacrilege in an old retired figure?
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3. Wolverine, Gulo gulo, by Schleich. Just perfect in all senses.
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I think Mr. Wolverine that you're crazy if you think you can fight against a healthy big male reindeer like me...
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4. The spotted eagle ray, Aetobatus narinari, from Safari LTD. Obviously this one was bought just for repaint it, that I will do in next days.
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And the two better for the end:

5. Monkfish, probably Lophius litulon, by Eikoh. A new brand for my collection. This figure is perfect. It catches well the shape of the pectoral fins of an alive monkfish (very different from the folded fins of a dead monkfish as we see them in fisheries). The upperside is glossy (as in a dead monkfish, I think that a more matt paintjob would represent better an alive monkfish). The lure is sculpted and folded against the head (I didn't noticed before that the lure is represented in the figure)
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Monkfishes live in deep water but not "very" deep water. So it can match perfectly with other bathial fishes like these, even if monkfish is benthic and the others pelagic:
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And the best of all: the matamata turtle, Chelus fimbriatus, part of a turtle set by Yujin/Takara Tomy. It's absolutely amazing!!!! The sculpt is totally perfect both in carapace and head!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] you know I prefair to give hints instead reveal surprises, now you know which species I consider the best of the set and you devinated it
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Finally my only amazonian fully aquatic critter is not alone anymore:
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By the way, should I list it under Yujin or Takara Tomy? Yujin would be new brand for me while for Takara I already have a crested ibis...

Nice additions again