My newest additions

Long time without adding new figures to my collection, hence adding posts to this thread. But this week I received a marvelous parcel from my friend [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. He and me are in similar stage, having both the feeling of completism and no need to enlarge anymore our collections. However, there is still some figures that I wanted like mad, even if my enthusiasm for collecting decreased considerably compared with years before.

As in previous occasions, we also did a figure swap this time. I ask certain figures and pay with other figures. In my case, homemade figures. They are not so perfect as branded ones, but they represent rarely made or unique taxa, that's why they succeed.

And that's what I send to him:
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A yellow sponge, Aplysina fistularis, my third time doing this sponge, because the second one resulted too small for my friend. I hope this time he likes the size.

Here the sponge with companions:
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A common stilt, Himantopus himantopus. Having done an avocet as surprise for him, he requested me for an stilt as he saw both species together often during his childhood. He added a base to the avocet fearing fragility, so this time I did directly the stilt with a base. I used a novelty technique for me, silicone for imitate the transparent surface of running water. Not sure if I'm pleased with the result.

Here the stilt with companions:
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And by last, a sea lamprey, Petromyzon marinus, as a whole Class of vertebrates that my friend had unrepresented in his collection. I used, as in my Old Wife, transparent plastic for the fins, painted over. The mouth is not very detailed but is still recognizable as the sucker of a lamprey.

Here the lamprey with companions:
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And here, with a victim:
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But these are not "my newest additions" (will be his once the parcel arrives), so what acquisitions must I put here in this thread? That's what he sent me in exchange:

1. The Kaiyodo "Reptiles lounge" Marine iguana. Not many reptile options for scale-conciousness collectors fitting more or less with large mammals, but this is one of them. The figure is nearly perfect and shows the vivid colours of a courting male (only some subspecies have this feature, most of the 7 subespecies doesn't change or have minimal changes from the normal black colour when breeding season arrives). The tail must be assembled, but the joint is completely unobtrusive. Of course, once finished the photographic session I cut the pegs under each feet and repainted over the cuts, as I did with the Galapagos land iguana before.

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Here is released in the volcanic shores of the Galapagos where it will feast on seaweeds.
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Sizewise it fits perfectly with my other two iguana species:
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A giant tortoise looks with curiosity at the iguana. The tortoise do not visit the shores often, so it find marine iguanas a bit fascinating.
The iguana don't care at all, as far as the tortoise don't decide to step in it.
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Then, a land iguana that observed the scene appear. My dear cousin, these seaweeds that you're eating looks tasty... I wonder if they're better than the prickly pear fruits I'm used to. Let me enjoy with you!
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Are you kidding me? These are MY seaweeds and this is MY territory! Gett outta there bastard lizard!
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(Territorial bloody disputes are common amongst male iguanas, including Galapagos land iguana, but I'm not sure if marine iguanas do the same, they seems quite sociable. So maybe the last scene is surrealistic. But at least is very iguana-like behaviour)

And that is not all. The other figure that came in the package is... nothing less that the Holy Grail of my collection. This is a figure that I discovered for sale at an online shop, I think [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and I planned to add it some day to my collection, but at this time my collection was small and still many figures was pending to add, so with the big purchases to the shop for my birthday and Epiphany I chosed other models instead. By the time I was about to select the tapir, it has disappeared from the shop. I had the hope of find it in any other online shop, but failed to do. Then, somebody offered the tapir for trade in the forums, but being from North America the shipping costs were excessive to me. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] started a deal with me, planning to exchange the tapir and the Yowies fossa for another figures. All was settled nicely and I ended giving him my adress but he never gave me his adress, the replies became more and more sporadic and sometimes lasting months (this coincided with his disappareance from forums), and meanwhile, my friend Rtas discovered the mythical tapir for sale at an Italian online shop. I replied that I was pending from Adam's sending, but having passed almost two years since the start of our deal I had little hope for the tapir to materialize but as every time we talked he kept the promise to send me I was unsure about to buy the Italian one or not. Finally I decided that the Adam's tapir never will arrive and accepted from Rtas that he buy the tapir in the Italian shop. It's a shopt where he already bought once and he had bad experiences, and this time, it was even worst. The shop dealer treated him very badly, from accousing him to have a false phone number (which is untrue) to insulting and threatening him. What a marvelous way to keep your customs! I will not link the website here because they don't deserve any publicity, but there are not many Italian animal figurine shops so it's easy to know what I'm talking about. Despite all this, the tapir finally arrived to Rtas's home (he bought two, one for him and one for me), and I finally can have the mythical SAFARI MALAYAN TAPIR in my collection!!!

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The tag doesn't include a "quick fact" about the animal as other Safari figures does. Maybe that is related with the year of production, being a feature added later.

The Safari tapir is, in my opinion, undoubtely the best Malayan tapir figurine ever done. The facial expression is perfect and the leg proportions are superb, the white lines around hooves added a lot of realism. The available Malayans currently are all disappointing: the CollectA is just a Baird's tapir with a new coat, the new Schleich is tiny and the old Schleich is a bit ugly, slim, long-faced and have white feet. The old Papo tapir is also retired and was quite good, but the Safari is even better.

Here released into the wild:
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Notice the tiny crab spider (almost in scale with the tapir haha) that got out of the flower, frightened by the passing of the hooved beast.
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Perissodactyl meeting in Sumatra! And both from Safari LTD!
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Be cautious, not all Sumatran animals are so friendly! (I'm not proud of this photo, visually is a bit ugly and the tiger looks as tiny as a domestic cat)
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And here, my TTT (three tapirs together) showing that the Safari Malayan tapir is absolutely PERFECT sizewise, much more bulkier and chunky than the Brazilian tapir and slightly bigger than the Baird's as it happens in real life! In fact, the idea of purchasing in the future the Safari Malayan tapir is what led me to buy the Mojo Brazilian one in first place, thinking that I could easily add the other after

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Congrats on finally getting that tapir! It looks right at home.

I am so glad you've found the Safari tapir. It is such a good figure and also my favorite Malayan tapir. I am also not sure the CollectA Malayan tapir is a Baird's repainted or the Baird's was a repainted version of what was supposed to be a Malayan.
I think marine iguanas are territorialist during the breeding season but they're not bloody at all.
A collection is never complete or you'll not be a collector anymore. Maybe you can keep the size but you will always find some better representations of some species being released. I just hope you keep active in this hobby and please don't forget you're a talented guy.

And again and again and again - phantastic newcomers :)

Fantastic array of new models! I love how you are so selective with your collection, so that each model that you buy is very special and a beautiful representation of the real animal!

More beautiful animals, especially the iguana.

Many thanks everybody for your lovely comments :-)

Congratulations on finding the tapir. The marine iguana is so beautiful. I have the Komodo dragon from the same series and it is fantastic too. And the stilt you made is a masterpiece too. I don't think a toy company would have made it as well: they wouldn't have made such thin legs and bill.

Very interesting newcomers and what a tale about the tapîr!

I really like the delicate stilt with the wonderful base, I think that is very well done. And the lamprey is super - great expression it has. You are very talented in making sculptures!
The iguanas are all fantastic, I like their bright colours and poses. Congratulations!
And the tapir family looks wonderful together. I am glad you were able to add a model so desired to your collection.
Perhaps you are at the collecting stage of 'refining' what you have even more and adding in very selected pieces now.
As Roger says - a collection is never truly complete
something exceptional is always around the corner

I've always been fascinated with Galapagos wildlife. That marine iguana is stunning! I love how it looks like its eating algae on the rocks.

Congrats on the Safari tapir! This figure eluded me for quite awhile, I was so happy to get it, definitely the best tapir model period. I can imagine your excitement

After very long pause, I acquired two more figures for my collection. I was visiting the Luxembourg natural history museum and saw these two, I took it as a chance for getting these species. Both are Bullyland. This brand is still strong in France and Luxembourg, I saw two shops selling various Bully's.

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First one is the African elephant, Loxodonta africana. The finish and sculpt is not as perfect as another models, but what made me buy it is the size. It's much bigger than the usual Schleich or CollectA elephants.

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Sizewise it fits perfectly with some other African savannah giants such as giraffes and rhinos. The visualization of the elephant near my CollectA giraffe is what decided me to buy it.
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But with any animal figure that is not from a giant species, quickly the elephant looks like still too small...
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And second one is the western roe deer, Capreolus capreolus. Again, a not very sharp finish in the fur texture, thick legs, etc. But a passable model from a species always interesting and not so very often made.
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I compared mentally the size with some of my gazelles and antelopes and tought it's adequate. However, when compared with other European deer figures, the Bully's roe deer is strickingly too big.
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But is of perfect size when compared with smaller species of European forest animals!
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Congratulations. The german brand Bullyland is more available in other coutries as in Germany himself.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]: Congratulations to you for the elusive Safari Ltd tapir. One Q: Was the Italian shop E***** P*****?

Great additions! I really love that elephant for the size!

In my opinion, the sculpt of the Bullyland elephant is pretty good. What do you not like about it?

If you are looking for a zebra that is to scale with the elephant, then the Kaiyodo Wildrush is a very good one (though it doesn't scale well with your giraffe and rhino).

I have those two figures too and I love them. I don't know if my elephant is this one or the slightly smaller version. I don't think that size is the only good attribute of this elephant, the sculpt is also very good and proportions are more realistic than its competitors at the time it was available. I only agree the finish is not top quality. The deer is also very good, surely the legs are thick for a realistic one but not when compared with similar models, actually, legs and antlers are more delicate than those of the Schleich model.

Is this the larger version of the Bullyland elephant? In that case I need to take back my comment about the Kaiyodo zebra.

Thanks everybody!

Widukind: I tought Bullyland struggle to survive against the much stronger Schleich, and here in Spain is only Schleich what you see in toy shops.

Jarda: I doubt there is more than one Italian online animal figurine shop. I don't know or don't remember the name of the shop (it was not me who bought here directly), but for sure must be the same you think about.

Rogerpgvg: What I don't like is the wrinkles, too much ordered giving a regular reticulated pattern, also the position of the wrinkles is not good around eyes, and are too deep and spaced on head. The eyes are excessively big (not noticeable because only a dot on each eye is painted, so it looks like much smaller), and the tusks are also too thick. However the proportions and general shape of the elephant is perfect (other brands tend to do short-legged and big-headed elephants, such as Schleich), the dynamic position is fantastic and the size is satisfactory.

I for sure do not want a zebra in scale with this elephant, what I would wish is a bigger elephant but this is unrealistic to acquire. From Kaiyodo Wild Rush I already have the serval, and the shoebill went recently into my wishlist.

Roger: I didn't knew that there are two size versions, and I'm glad to having the larger one :) Yes probably this roe deer are better in appareance than the Schleich one. But I already customized it, making the antler branches sharper and longer and adding the black lip mark without which a roe deer is not a roe deer. Another think that disturbe me slightly is that the figure have a tail, while roe deers should not have tail, not even a stump.

That's true, Bullyland roedeer has a tiny tail actually.

Pardofelis wrote:

Thanks everybody!

Rogerpgvg: What I don't like is the wrinkles, too much ordered giving a regular reticulated pattern, also the position of the wrinkles is not good around eyes, and are too deep and spaced on head. The eyes are excessively big (not noticeable because only a dot on each eye is painted, so it looks like much smaller), and the tusks are also too thick. However the proportions and general shape of the elephant is perfect (other brands tend to do short-legged and big-headed elephants, such as Schleich), the dynamic position is fantastic and the size is satisfactory.

Yes, you are right. For me, they are fairly minor issues. I don't pay so much attention to the details , the overall impression is most important.