Tarantula (Mojo Fun)

Walkaround of the Mexican red-kneed tarantula, Brachypelma smithi (P-Cambridge, 1897) by Mojo Fun, new for 2019. I am going to start with a little taxonomic disclaimer. There is confusion to the identity of spiders referred to as Mexican red-knees, since the description of a cryptic sibling species, B. hamorii Cleton and Verdez, 1997. The two species are indistinguishable morpholoically and can only be separated by DNA barcoding and strict geographic distribution. In the absence of a figure being specifically ascribed to a given species, I am referring to all figures as the classic B. smithi.

Just like my recent review of the Schleich tarantula, this is new, uncharted territory for Mojo Fun. Interesting that two major western companies are introducing arthropods to their standard animal lines and both are starting with B. smithi. I guess if you are going to experiment, do it with something familiar. It now means all major western companies have made this species, except for Papo! See also the last image.

This Mojo figure is similar in size to the Schleich figure, but a little better. The body length is about 4.5 cm, making it just under 1:1 for a small female (or 1:1 for an immature one). The maximum width between the legs in 8.0 cm. The plastic is firm and solid, good quality. The paint job is more matte, which I prefer. The arrangement of the eyes, while not perfect, is still better than the Schleich figure. The mouthparts are consistent with a mygalomorph.

Overall, for people that are generalists and just want a representative or two tarantulas in their collection, this is my recommendation (unless you want to hunt down retired or Japanese figures on eBay). It's a good quality and a good size. If Mojo Fun continues this trend, they are off to a good start!













A collection of Brachypelma smithi made by major western (non-Japanese) manufacturers:
1. Safari LTD (Smithsonian Insects)
2. Safari LTD (Hidden Kingdom Insects)
3. CollectA
4. Mojo Fun
5. Schleich
6. Bullyland

Perfect and very informative walk around! Being you an expert in this area, your formulations about the Mojö Fun figure are generally very positive and you even recomend it when compared with the counterparts. As a layperson in this matter, I am quite happy with what you are showing and the figure exhales good feelings to me.
I know we are talking about different species and I confess the excitment does not equal when I've seen the Papo tarantula but I may consider getting this one too.

Roger wrote:

Perfect and very informative walk around! Being you an expert in this area, your formulations about the Mojö Fun figure are generally very positive and you even recomend it when compared with the counterparts. As a layperson in this matter, I am quite happy with what you are showing and the figure exhales good feelings to me.
I know we are talking about different species and I confess the excitment does not equal when I've seen the Papo tarantula but I may consider getting this one too.

The Papo 'tarantula' (wolf spider is a more appropriate term in English) is the BEST spider figure, period! :)

bmathison1972 wrote:

The Papo 'tarantula' (wolf spider is a more appropriate term in English) is the BEST spider figure, period! :)

Tarantula is not the appropiate term nowadays for lycosids, however, this is the TRUE tarantula and what everybody calls tarantulas (the mygalomorphs) are not tarantulas in fact

Pardofelis wrote:

bmathison1972 wrote:

The Papo 'tarantula' (wolf spider is a more appropriate term in English) is the BEST spider figure, period! :)

Tarantula is not the appropiate term nowadays for lycosids, however, this is the TRUE tarantula and what everybody calls tarantulas (the mygalomorphs) are not tarantulas in fact

exactly. We don't call the true tarantula a true tarantula because we call the hairy mygalomorphs as tarantulas. Solution? Avoid common names

thanks to you all, I think I am going to get the Papo one!.. :)

Congratulations

Would you mind posting a picture of the PV “red knee” or other small tarantula figures next to the Mojo one? I want to see how they compare in size.

here you go, quick and dirty:

bmathison1972 wrote:

here you go, quick and dirty:

Thanks! Little big. Do you have any recommendations for a red knee figure that is about the same size as PV, etc?

This Mojo one is good, as is the Kaiyodo Toxic Capsule Q figure: https://toyanimal.info/wiki/Kaiyodo_CapsuleQ_Toxic_and_Dangerous_Animals

By the way, were you the one who proposed B. emilia for the PV redknee? If so, I have done more research and agree with that assessment.

bmathison1972 wrote:

This Mojo one is good, as is the Kaiyodo Toxic Capsule Q figure: https://toyanimal.info/wiki/Kaiyodo_CapsuleQ_Toxic_and_Dangerous_Animals

By the way, were you the one who proposed B. emilia for the PV redknee? If so, I have done more research and agree with that assessment.

Yes! I own a real B. Emilia and purposely bought the PV figure because it looked exactly like her.

I currently own four tarantulas. A. Hentzi, A. Chalcodes, B. Emilia, and B. Hamorii. I have been slowly collecting tarantula figures that are the same species as the ones I own in the flesh. I adopted the Hamorii yesterday, and would like to have a nice Smithi/Hamorii figure to own that is “toob” sized. I have the Safari toob tarantula representing my A. Hentzi and the Play Visions “red knee” representing my B. Emilia. The small CollectA “red knee” from the box set looks more like my Chalcodes than my Hamorii, so suffice to say that I will be tracking that one down to represent an AZ Blonde / A. Chalcodes.

I grew up with A. chalcodes in Arizona so I have a special fondness for that one.

The old tan Bullyland tarantula is a good stand-in for A. chalcodes, but it is large, life sized ;-)

...and I have always called the brown Safar VC TOOB figure A hentzi as well!