Various AAA Animals for Documentation

Since I've been providing photos for TAW, I wanted to go ahead and throw all of the currently undocumented AAA figures in one post to make things simpler. AAA is a bit of an enigmatic and frankly kind of confusing company. Their figures are all over the map, from size to quality to even what they're made of. I swear I have some that are hard plastic and others that are soft rubber. I have a tiger cub that's the same size as an adult tiger from the same company. It is beyond bizarre, but I still find myself loving a lot of their figures, and wanted to do my part to get these documented. These aren't all the AAA figures I own, just the ones that don't currently have photos on the wiki.

Figures from my collection. Not for sale, though I'll mark underneath the ones I have doubles of.

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I have a double of the sitting version of this figure for sale or trade. Comment below if you're interested.
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I have a double of this figure for sale or trade. Comment below if you're interested.
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Figures for sale, with listing links under the photos. I'm also open to trading if you have something on my wish lists [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

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Nice figurines.

Very interesting AAA animals.

Thanks for sharing.

Dear Vexvamp,

Could you tell me, as a blind collector of AAA, what figures you have photographed, since I can't see the pictures myself? It would be much appreciated if you could. Try to be as specific as you can when describing the figures. I need all the information I can get on this brand, and also to take notes for AAA figures that I don't have yet. Right now I have a little over 100 AAA figures in my collection, but I am always looking for more, depending on what animals they are. For example, I do not collect giraffes, elephants, orangutans, chimps, or gazelles, to name a few. Anyway, if you could help me with all this it would be great. Thanks,

Aschuck.

P.S. If you have any more info regarding AAA, then let me know.

Well, I will do it for you Anna but it is always ahrd for me to find the correct words in English.

1. Lion male stalking. It is in a lowered position, with the front legs firmly in the ground. The back legs are spread but as it was in a slow and intermittent move. The mouth is open as it is angry and roaring and the tail is held horizontally with the tip of the tail curled up.

2. Lion male in a similar pose to the previous but not roaring.

3. Lion cub sitting. The tail is curled to the left of the animal with the tuft over the back left paw.

4. Lioness lying. She looks nervous, with the mouth open in an agressive way and the tail is curled up.

5. Tiger standing and roaring. I believe this figure intends to represent a tigress.The tail has its tip curled to the left.

6. Tiger cub standing. Looks in a fragile stance with the tail held horizontally.

7. Tiger cub Sitting. It is looking back and the tail is curled over the right flank of the animal. I believe it belongs to a group of four large tiger cubs.

8. White tiger walking. It has the mout open, ears lowered and the front right paw is touching slightly the ground. The tail is curled downwards. I suspect it is a jumbo figure.

9. White tiger cub standing. Similar to number 6.

10. Leopard walking on long steps.

11. Leopard cub standing. It has large dots more like a cheetah but the mould is maybe for a leopard or jaguar cub. The tail is tilted down in an oblique position.

12. The same as number 10 but with a much lighter base color. Maybe AAA intends to turn it into a snow leopard.

13. Same cub as 11 but again in lighter color.

14, 15 and 16. Wolf howling with different colors. First is grizzled, second is white and the third is grey with the ventral part and legs white.

17. Sea lion young in a traditional pose.

18. Zebra standing. Not the grevy's, a common one. Wonderful mould for a donkey.

19. Gorilla baby sitting with banana.

20. Gorilla baby with banana crat.

Only a few were already on TAW, and you know the gorillas babies.

Sorry for double post but I have to thanks [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] for providing these wonderful pictures. I will need some time to upload them on TAW but they will be of great help.
I am having a big trouble with the sizes of these figures. Could you please take a picture with your tigers together with a famous tiger figure?
I'd love the same with all lions.

Roger wrote:

Sorry for double post but I have to thanks [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]  for providing these wonderful pictures. I will need some time to upload them on TAW but they will be of great help.
I am having a big trouble with the sizes of these figures. Could you please take a picture with your tigers together with a famous tiger figure?
I'd love the same with all lions.

I'm glad I could help! Do you just want me to do that with the lions and tigers? Or with all of the animals?

Roger wrote:

17. Sea lion young in a traditional pose.
19. Gorilla baby sitting with banana.
20. Gorilla baby with banana crat.

I thinks this is an adult fur seal with the thick mane and body proportions, and two adult chimpanzees

VexVamp wrote:

Roger wrote:

Sorry for double post but I have to thanks [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] for providing these wonderful pictures. I will need some time to upload them on TAW but they will be of great help.
I am having a big trouble with the sizes of these figures. Could you please take a picture with your tigers together with a famous tiger figure?
I'd love the same with all lions.

I'm glad I could help! Do you just want me to do that with the lions and tigers? Or with all of the animals?

For now, once it is very confuse to get everything at once, I'd love only the tigers and lions. Later I will need other groups of animals.
Though, if it is easier for you to do everything in a row, it will be fine for me too.

Pardofelis wrote:

Roger wrote:

17. Sea lion young in a traditional pose.
19. Gorilla baby sitting with banana.
20. Gorilla baby with banana crat.

I thinks this is an adult fur seal with the thick mane and body proportions, and two adult chimpanzees

I am glad you've read it and I have myself debated in the past about the correct identifications to such common species.
About these gorillas, due to their ambiguousness, before listing them on TAW, I tried to find other sources to check what these really are. To be fair, they don't look like gorilla babies neither chimps, they are funny but quite far from the real thing.
One of the sources I used was the website of the founder of this forum and you can see there that they are listed as gorillas. I was also told they are marked as gorillas but I am not sure, maybe [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] can confirm.
The fur seal question was already debated and it is very interesting.
When sorting the AAA pinnipeds on TAW, I've found these figures introduced twice and I contributed to that mistake.
I don't have these figures and in my opinion, they are fur seals. Though, I don't use to edit according with my personal faith but I try to use as many sources as possible.
Our founder lists them as Northern fur seals. and scrolling a little, we find those he describes as sea lions.
ATF community identifies it as a Steller's sea lion.
The only catalogue picture I own calls it a sea lion too.
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Notice also that the figure our founder is listing as a sea lion, is labeled as seal in that catalogue page.
It is not easy in fact. At first, I also tend to think that the figure labeled as foca is a California sea lion in its traditional pose. The stretched neck and pointy snouth makes me think of it as well as the way the black flippers of the larger version are posed, but the flippers are too short and reminds clearly the flippers of a seal. The smaller version looks more like a true seal than like a sea lion. My vision is not sharp enough to see if the ear is sculpted or it is just a hole.
As there are other seals, it is easy to think in that figure as a sea lion and the one with the mane as a fur seal and we have a very coerent range of speecies. Though, if the sea lion is a seal and the maned one is a fur seal, there is no sea lion in AAA range. I doubt AAA didn't want a sea lion in their range once it is the most popular pinniped. Again, it may be useful to know what are marked in these figures.
Another complex question is about the smaller versions being youngsters or just small versions of the adults.
Our founder is also not conclusive about it and again my personal thought is that the smaller versions intend to be youngsters. I think like that because some of them are clearly youngsters and doesn't make sense to me some having youngs and not smaller adults while some other have smaller adults but not youngs.
Take a look at the smaller walrus, it is a youngster with short tusks, I think it is obvious it is not a pup neither an adult.The fur seal really looks like an adult but male fur seals develop their manes quite early, so it may be a youngster.
There is also another explanation, AAA is very negligent with their youngsters, they lack really some good research, we can see it in lots of figures, namely cheetahs. So, they tend to make the youngsters based in the corresponding adult. Sometimes it is lack of research but it is also commercially beneficial. First, because children can identify better which is the corresponding baby to each adult. Then, because these youngsters, can also be marketed as smaller adults whenever needed. Have you ever thought why puma babies, being so beautiful, are rarely made as toys? Yes, they're so different from their parents that they are commercially uninteresting.

widukind wrote:

Nice figurines.

Thank you!

landrover wrote:

Very interesting AAA animals.

 Thanks for sharing.

Thanks, I'm glad you like them!

aschuck wrote:

Dear Vexvamp,

Could you tell me, as a blind collector of AAA, what figures you have photographed, since I can't see the pictures myself?  It would be much appreciated if you could.  Try to be as specific as you can when describing the figures.  I need all the information I can get on this brand, and also to take notes for AAA figures that I don't have yet.  Right now I have a little over 100 AAA figures in my collection, but I am always looking for more, depending on what animals they are.  For example, I do not collect giraffes, elephants, orangutans, chimps, or gazelles, to name a few.  Anyway, if you could help me with all this it would be great.  Thanks,

Aschuck.

P.S.  If you have any more info regarding AAA, then let me know.

Roger did such a good job I don't have much to add, but I will say the number eight and nine white tigers are more rubbery and flexible, as opposed to the hard plastic of the other AAA big cats. They're so different I was surprised to find they were AAA when I first bought them.

whatever their names on AAA catalog, according to me, these young gorillas look like adults chimp and they just are marqued "made in China"..

Pardofelis wrote:

Roger wrote:

17. Sea lion young in a traditional pose.
19. Gorilla baby sitting with banana.
20. Gorilla baby with banana crat.

I thinks this is an adult fur seal with the thick mane and body proportions, and two adult chimpanzees

It definitely does more closely resemble a fur seal, but is marked 'sea lion' on the underside. I thought that they were chimpanzees too, but kind of had to take everyone's word for it that they were gorillas. Unfortunately neither is labeled, so I can't say for sure.

Roger wrote:

VexVamp wrote:

Roger wrote:

Sorry for double post but I have to thanks [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]  for providing these wonderful pictures. I will need some time to upload them on TAW but they will be of great help.
I am having a big trouble with the sizes of these figures. Could you please take a picture with your tigers together with a famous tiger figure?
I'd love the same with all lions.

I'm glad I could help! Do you just want me to do that with the lions and tigers? Or with all of the animals?

For now, once it is very confuse to get everything at once, I'd love only the tigers and lions. Later I will need  other groups of animals.
Though, if it is easier for you to do everything in a row, it will be fine for me too.

Pardofelis wrote:

Roger wrote:

17. Sea lion young in a traditional pose.
19. Gorilla baby sitting with banana.
20. Gorilla baby with banana crat.

I thinks this is an adult fur seal with the thick mane and body proportions, and two adult chimpanzees

I am glad you've read it and I have myself debated in the past about the correct identifications to such common species.
About these gorillas, due to their ambiguousness, before listing them on TAW, I tried to find other sources to check what these really are. To be fair, they don't look like gorilla babies neither chimps, they are funny but quite far from the real thing.
One of the sources I used was the website of the founder of this forum and you can see there that they are listed as gorillas. I was also told they are marked as gorillas but I am not sure, maybe [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] can confirm.
The fur seal question was already debated and it is very interesting.
When sorting the AAA pinnipeds on TAW, I've found these figures introduced twice and I contributed to that mistake.
I don't have these figures and in my opinion, they are fur seals. Though, I don't use to edit according with my personal faith but I try to use as many sources as possible.
Our founder lists them as Northern fur seals. and scrolling a little, we find those he describes as sea lions.
ATF community identifies it as a Steller's sea lion.
The only catalogue picture I own calls it a sea lion too.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Notice also that the figure our founder is listing as a sea lion, is labeled as seal in that catalogue page.
It is not easy in fact. At first, I also tend to think that the figure labeled as foca is a California sea lion in its traditional pose. The stretched neck and pointy snouth makes me think of it as well as the way the black flippers of the larger version are posed, but the flippers are too short and reminds clearly the flippers of a seal. The smaller version looks more like a true seal than like a sea lion. My vision is not sharp enough to see if the ear is sculpted or it is just a hole.
As there are other seals, it is easy to think in that figure as a sea lion and the one with the mane as a fur seal and we have a very coerent range of speecies. Though, if the sea lion is a seal and the maned one is a fur seal, there is no sea lion in AAA range. I doubt AAA didn't want a sea lion in their range once it is the most popular pinniped. Again, it may be useful to know what are marked in these figures.
Another complex question is about the smaller versions being youngsters or just small versions of the adults.
Our founder is also not conclusive about it and again my personal thought is that the smaller versions intend to be youngsters. I think like that because some of them are clearly youngsters and doesn't make sense to me some having youngs and not smaller adults while some other have smaller adults but not youngs.
Take a look at the smaller walrus, it is a youngster with short tusks, I think it is obvious it is not a pup neither an adult.The fur seal really looks like an adult but male fur seals develop their manes quite early, so it may be a youngster.
There is also another explanation, AAA is very negligent with their youngsters, they lack really some good research, we can see it in lots of figures, namely cheetahs. So, they tend to make the youngsters based in the corresponding adult. Sometimes it is lack of research but it is also commercially beneficial. First, because children can identify better which is the corresponding baby to each adult. Then, because these youngsters, can also be marketed as smaller adults whenever needed. Have you ever thought why puma babies, being so beautiful, are rarely made as toys? Yes, they're so different from their parents that they are commercially uninteresting.

Okay, I added the size comparisons after the end of each species group, so if you scroll down you'll see them. The AAA sea lion is marked 'sea lion' underneath, but neither of the primates have their species name listed.

VexVamp wrote:

Okay, I added the size comparisons after the end of each species group, so if you scroll down you'll see them. The AAA sea lion is marked 'sea lion' underneath, but neither of the primates have their species name listed.

Thanks a lot for adding the comparison pictures, they will be very useful to me.
It is also useful to know what is marked or not in some ambiguous figures. I will add to the wiki that the otariid is marked "Sea lion". When it is marked like that and I also have the catalogue telling it is a sea lion, how can I be sure it is a fur leopard even if I am almost 100% positive about that?
Yes, and the primates show really how hard is the life of a TAW editor. They are marketed everywhere online as gorilla babies. Their product numbers are 96642Eat and 96642Sit. Their official names are gorilla baby eating and gorilla baby sitting. I often use the numbering to try to understanding the logics when it exist. 96652Sit and 96652Sta are grizzly bear cubs from the same batch of releases. It may reinforce the idea that these primates are babies. They're not marked what doesn't help and I will try to see if there is a corresponding adult once those are easier to identify. There are some AAA chimpanzee figures and they are much more identifiable then those ones. They are definitely not convincing to me as chimps neither gorillas. So what I do?
By the way, could you please tell me what is marked in your leopard? Panther perhaps?

Roger wrote:

VexVamp wrote:

Okay, I added the size comparisons after the end of each species group, so if you scroll down you'll see them. The AAA sea lion is marked 'sea lion' underneath, but neither of the primates have their species name listed.

Thanks a lot for adding the comparison pictures, they will be very useful to me.
It is also useful to know what is marked or not in some ambiguous figures. I will add to the wiki that the otariid is marked "Sea lion". When it is marked like that and I also have the catalogue telling it is a sea lion, how can I be sure it is a fur leopard even if I am almost 100% positive about that?
Yes, and the primates show really how hard is the life of a TAW editor. They are marketed everywhere online as gorilla babies. Their product numbers are 96642Eat and 96642Sit. Their official names are gorilla baby eating and gorilla baby sitting. I often use the numbering to try to understanding the logics when it exist. 96652Sit and 96652Sta are grizzly bear cubs from the same batch of releases. It may reinforce the idea that these primates are babies. They're not marked what doesn't help and I will try to see if there is a corresponding adult once those are easier to identify. There are some AAA chimpanzee figures and they are much more identifiable then those ones. They are definitely not convincing to me as chimps neither gorillas. So what I do?
By the way, could you please tell me what is marked in your leopard? Panther perhaps?

It's definitely interesting, and makes me wish AAA had thought to mark their figures better. None of the leopard or snow leopard figures have species names on them. The stalking figures both have the general 'Made in China, CE, AAA, and (R) markings, as well as a number 2. The leopard/cheetah cub is marked 'CE, AAA, and Made in China' with another small, hard to make out 'Made in China' underneath that. The snow leopard cub only has 'AAA and Made in China' with nothing else, but I have a double of that same figure which has the same markings as the leopard/cheetah. Very strange.

I updated the lions on TAW

VexVamp wrote:

Roger wrote:

VexVamp wrote:

Okay, I added the size comparisons after the end of each species group, so if you scroll down you'll see them. The AAA sea lion is marked 'sea lion' underneath, but neither of the primates have their species name listed.

Thanks a lot for adding the comparison pictures, they will be very useful to me.
It is also useful to know what is marked or not in some ambiguous figures. I will add to the wiki that the otariid is marked "Sea lion". When it is marked like that and I also have the catalogue telling it is a sea lion, how can I be sure it is a fur leopard even if I am almost 100% positive about that?
Yes, and the primates show really how hard is the life of a TAW editor. They are marketed everywhere online as gorilla babies. Their product numbers are 96642Eat and 96642Sit. Their official names are gorilla baby eating and gorilla baby sitting. I often use the numbering to try to understanding the logics when it exist. 96652Sit and 96652Sta are grizzly bear cubs from the same batch of releases. It may reinforce the idea that these primates are babies. They're not marked what doesn't help and I will try to see if there is a corresponding adult once those are easier to identify. There are some AAA chimpanzee figures and they are much more identifiable then those ones. They are definitely not convincing to me as chimps neither gorillas. So what I do?
By the way, could you please tell me what is marked in your leopard? Panther perhaps?

It's definitely interesting, and makes me wish AAA had thought to mark their figures better. None of the leopard or snow leopard figures have species names on them. The stalking figures both have the general 'Made in China, CE, AAA, and (R) markings, as well as a number 2. The leopard/cheetah cub is marked 'CE, AAA, and Made in China' with another small, hard to make out 'Made in China' underneath that. The snow leopard cub only has 'AAA and Made in China' with nothing else, but I have a double of that same figure which has the same markings as the leopard/cheetah. Very strange.

AAA is a manufacturer and they make the products according with what other brands determine. That may explain why markings, material and painting are so variable.
Interesting information about your panthers, I wasn't expecting it to not be marked with species. Let's be fair, the mould is quite decent for a leopard, quite acceptable for a jaguar but really not good for a snow leopard.
I've found something to turn everything more confuse. Have I told that these sea lions are fur seals to me?Yes, currently the large figure is being sold on Ebay and we can see it is marked "fur seal". Great, it makes sense to me.
Yours is the small version and it is marked "sea lion", OK, it also looks a fur seal to me but it may mean I am wrong when I think smaller versions are all youngsters. Consequently, your figure is not a smaller version of the large fur seal once those are not the same species. Unless we find a large one marked "sea lion".

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Kikimalou wrote:

I updated the lions on TAW

Thanks Kiki!

I wanted to help submit pictures to the TAW, but the email address provided returned a not-found error for me when I tried to contact them.

Seijun wrote:

I wanted to help submit pictures to the TAW, but the email address provided returned a not-found error for me when I tried to contact them.

You can contact me and I can create an account for you.

Thanks so much for sharing those photos, what a nostalgia rush! AAA was the brand of the animal models I had when my sister and I were very young. <3 We received the two white tiger cubs as party favors from a friend's birthday party and loved them so much our mom continued to give them to us as gifts over the years. We amassed quite a zoo.

I do recall we'd add to our collection from our trips to the real zoo (where they sold a wide selection of AAA animals in the gift shop), as well as from a magazine that sold a multitude of little trinkets and knick knacks quite cheaply (Oriental Trading Company). Oddly enough, a handful of the smaller African species were also carded and sold as Disney merchandise when The Lion King came out in 1994. Wonder where else this varied toy brand would show up for sale...

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], after working a long time on wild cats section with almost 100 different figures identifyied, I got tired and now I am working on Wild Dogs section.
This one is much easier once wolves seem to exist only as variants of five different moulds: Howling large, holwing medium, howling small sitting, lying and pup sitting. I risk always to fail and find many more in the future.
I assume these 3 you show here are the exact same mould only in different colours.
They seem to be also the howling large version.
Could you please take a comparison picture of the trio with a famous friend as you did with the others? I suspect the figure measures 7 inches, more or less 18 cm long.

The-Toy-Chest wrote:

Thanks so much for sharing those photos, what a nostalgia rush! AAA was the brand of the animal models I had when my sister and I were very young. <3 We received the two white tiger cubs as party favors from a friend's birthday party and loved them so much our mom continued to give them to us as gifts over the years. We amassed quite a zoo.

I do recall we'd add to our collection from our trips to the real zoo (where they sold a wide selection of AAA animals in the gift shop), as well as from a magazine that sold a multitude of little trinkets and knick knacks quite cheaply (Oriental Trading Company). Oddly enough, a handful of the smaller African species were also carded and sold as Disney merchandise when The Lion King came out in 1994. Wonder where else this varied toy brand would show up for sale...

Sorry for the late reply, and I'm so glad to hear that you enjoyed my photos. A zoo was actually where I found my first AAA models as well, so they must have been commonly sold in places like that for awhile.

Roger wrote:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], after working a long time on wild cats section with almost 100 different figures identifyied, I got tired and now I am working on Wild Dogs section.
This one is much easier once wolves seem to exist only as variants of five different moulds: Howling large, holwing medium, howling small sitting, lying and pup sitting. I risk always to fail and find many more in the future.
I assume these 3 you show here are the exact same mould only in different colours.
They seem to be also the howling large version.
Could you please take a comparison picture of the trio with a famous friend as you did with the others? I suspect the figure measures 7 inches, more or less 18 cm long.

Just added the photo, and sent a message with the exact dimensions.