Saarlooswolfhounds collection display, close ups. Updated February 23rd! Papo arctic hare

Interesting figure, I like the shape of his neck.

WOW ! I think I have never seen this model before, - it is GREAT

I love the pictures too, - first he comes out the den where he has been sleeping, - then up on a large rock to get a good view, and then trotting along in the green, green grass to search for his brekfast

I dunno. AAA animals just do not appeal to me. They are overly textured, crudely painted, and often having glaring, usually red, eyes. I have some of their arthropods and invertebrates, but since they are usually cast from actual specimens, they naturally look realistic. But I never liked their birds and mammals. Not sure why, just no personal appeal I guess :)

bmathison1972 wrote:

I dunno. AAA animals just do not appeal to me. They are overly textured, crudely painted, and often having glaring, usually red, eyes. I have some of their arthropods and invertebrates, but since they are usually cast from actual specimens, they naturally look realistic. But I never liked their birds and mammals. Not sure why, just no personal appeal I guess :)

Many of them are quite old, style of ( action) toys in the '80 , I think.
I find them charming, but fortunately it is great that we all don't have the same taste

SUSANNE wrote:

bmathison1972 wrote:

I dunno. AAA animals just do not appeal to me. They are overly textured, crudely painted, and often having glaring, usually red, eyes. I have some of their arthropods and invertebrates, but since they are usually cast from actual specimens, they naturally look realistic. But I never liked their birds and mammals. Not sure why, just no personal appeal I guess :)

Many of them are quite old, style of  ( action) toys in the '80 , I think.
I find them charming, but fortunately it is great that we all don't have the same taste  

Yes, a lot of it is they are a product of the era they were made in.

I agree with Susanne, I think they are a product of the earlier years for this hobby. I also think for many of them, despite some cartoony qualities, they also have a sense of realism that I find missing in many modern brands (like many older Schleich or Safari). Though I can't quite place my finger on exactly what that is. Even the specimen cast figures can have unrealistic paint jobs though. Nonetheless, most of AAA figures are welcome to my shelves.

Although the mouth/face look a bit odd to me, I don't remember most brands getting the long neck and rounded ears- this does. While not a 'pretty' model, I find it an interesting one. Not one that's interchangeable with a crude wolf like so many are! It's immediately recognizable as a hyena.

I think Susanne's right, they reflect their era. And for then, they were good models. AAA often doesn't really appeal to me, but some models I do enjoy and they're not 'eww yuck' to me.

A nice hyena

Yes,I agree that AAA were of their time and for many of us-me included-who didn't have Schleich or Safari avaiable they were a lot better than the made in Hong Kong models and also relatively chaep which sadly at the time was a major factor!

Thanks again everyone.

Since this hyena spurred such discussion, I decided to share the others that I have. Another adult hyena.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Is he/she less scary surrounded by flowers?
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

This is the one that drives me crazy. It is labelled hyena pup on its belly, but I feel like its more of a wild dog pup at best... thoughts?
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The AAA "hyena" pup is supposed to be a baby African wild dog but it definitely doesn't look like one, and looks more like a domestic dog.

Great photos, in your glorious garden!

I have to admit, this second hyena looks better than the first, but it still has that AAA style I don't care for LOL ;-)

Now that hyena is a good one to me. It's immediately recognizable as a hyena, and a spotted one at that- even if it were unpainted.

That pup though... urgh. Looks like a domestic dog pup, and not a really good one at that. The nose looks weird.

Thank you everyone! You have seconded my thoughts. the pup I think was designed very similar to a domestic dog in most considerations, intended to be a wild dog pup (though a poor representation), but also has some hyena characteristics like its odd nose as Kelly mentioned (blunt, fleshy looking with nothing but slits in it which is more hyena like than canine). Overall, its an odd chimaera animal figure, but in my collection it has been adopted by the wild dogs.

So I think the AAA style works really not appealing with some animals but it works incredibly realistic with a few others. When they adopt the cute style they often fail, but when they represent creepy animals, they always give that special touch that makes them look somewhat more realistic. This last hyena is surely not perfect but we can't find many hyena figures with that "unarranged" lookAAA gave to it.About your pup, it is good to remember that AAA models were produced to many other companies, thus they range is quite modular. The African wild dog, here your picture
was sometimes marketed as a hyena and it is obviously an African wild dog sculpt.

AAA were some of the first figures I ever got in my collection, and as I hate to reject figures (and obviously the remembrance of many happy hours playing with them) they will be in my collection until the day I die

Wonderful models , presented with so beautiful photos.
I like your idea to show them like that
Thank you for doing it Paige

Thank you again everyone!

A day late but here we are! The old safari elk bull. One of the figures I have had since early childhood (I got my first figures when I was 3). I would LOVE for safari to make a cow and calf for the current bull, anybody second me?
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

King of the Tetons! (a "local" mountain range).
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

This was my first elk and I got mine when I was about three too, when a family member whom lives in Washington brought a big box of Safari when she came over.

It is a lovely figure and I believe mine has very slightly different painting. Regarding the current elk bull it would be nice to give him a family as I don't believe elk cows are made at all by any brand.

I also have this elk as the representative of the species in my collection although I confess I like best the newer version.
I think it is a good idea to release a doe, often does of several species look very similar but the elk doe has the advantage of being differently coloured. The problem is that deer are very hard to sell.

Thank you everyone! I know deer are hard to sell, but I still hope for a cow and calf for the elk bull nonetheless. Moose cows are rare, but elk ones are nonexistant. I will also hope for a mule deer family also!

Yes, I am totally with you on mule deer!