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 Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado

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Pardofelis

Pardofelis


Country/State : Spain
Age : 40
Joined : 2019-01-12
Posts : 2144

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PostSubject: Re: Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado   Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado - Page 11 EmptySat May 01, 2021 7:51 pm

Good to see that finally the Japanese fever, that I induced to your friend Andrés, reached you too. These figures are real masterpieces, and as you know, the Japanese macaque is in my wishlist since eons ago. Very probably he will join my next Japanese purchase along with the Colorata "fossil fish" set and certain crab, plus some more figures I still have to choose. This level of perfectionism is what I look for in a figure, together with a size that even if not consistent, at least is not too striking. So I will have the macaque (correct-sized) for join my chimp-sized Sulawesi pal. I also, as you, decided finally to delete the Safari snub-nosed from my wishlist due to size, seams and paintjob.

About the owl, is pretty good. I have the Striped owl, that as a species is more wished for me because is my favourite species of the owl family, still never saw one in captivity, while the spectacled owl, despite being more attractive and colorful, is a bit more too banal, being very common in zoos. The shame is that all these owls are of the size of a Snowy Owl and have a very, very noticeable seam in the neck. Still I wanted my Kaiyodo striped owl that arrived with other two Japanese delicatessen in an eBay purchase long time ago.

About the ibis, I agree the figure is so perfectly done, but being of the size of a white stork (maybe even a jabiru) I never would purchase it. I'm happy with my Takara Tomy one despite being less detailed, but enough Very Happy Now I have two ibis in my collection, the Japanese crested one (favourite since my childhood due to its rarity and being very little known, together with the Giant ibis), and the Scarlet one (that by the contrary is the most well known one, but so vibrant that I needed one in my shelves!). Probably I will try (again) to made a Giant ibis for complete my group.

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Roger
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PostSubject: Re: Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado   Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado - Page 11 EmptySun May 02, 2021 1:35 am

Your collecting tastes continue expanding, I almost do not remember anymore what kind of collector you were when you started. Laughing Actually, you preserve the same concept where the figures look reasonably nice together. These delicate creatures, like the ibis, they don't have corresponding among major brands, they can't do it but recent releases are not as chubby as in the past. I also love these owls, it was a kind of Japanese fever, I felt tempted to collect them but I still remain a non addict of Japanese models even if I like them and I have a few in my collection.
Thanks for your detailed descriptions and it is nice to know all bthe background behind each of any of your additions.

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widukind

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PostSubject: Re: Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado   Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado - Page 11 EmptySun May 02, 2021 1:44 am

Too late, you will never recovery from the japanese fever Crocodile Crocodile Crocodile Crocodile

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RtasVadumee

RtasVadumee


Country/State : France
Age : 32
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Posts : 1375

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PostSubject: Re: Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado   Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado - Page 11 EmptyWed May 05, 2021 5:09 am

Thanks for your comments !

Pardofelis wrote:
This level of perfectionism is what I look for in a figure, together with a size that even if not consistent, at least is not too striking.

Why do you think the size is not consistent ? Isn't this macaque perfectly sized next to the mandrill and Diana monkey. I do think it is.

Pardofelis wrote:
The shame is that all these owls are of the size of a Snowy Owl and have a very, very noticeable seam in the neck.

The neck seam is not so obvious IMO but indeed, you will have a hard time finding decently sized owls for your collection since you want all your figures to be in the same scale and don't accept a larger scale for birds. Kaiyodo actually does have a snowy owl which would be correctly sized for you but I'm pretty sure you won't be excited by this species.

Pardofelis wrote:
About the ibis, I agree the figure is so perfectly done, but being of the size of a white stork (maybe even a jabiru) I never would purchase it.

Hahaha, let's wait to see the size of my new stork Razz Razz Razz I would love to see a giant ibis from you, maybe I missed a few things but I don't remember any new release since the 100th "lophophore".

Roger wrote:
Your collecting tastes continue expanding, I almost do not remember anymore what kind of collector you were when you started. Laughing

Is it an euphemism for "Schleich fundamentalist" ? Laughing

Roger wrote:
Actually, you preserve the same concept where the figures look reasonably nice together. These delicate creatures, like the ibis, they don't have corresponding among major brands, they can't do it but recent releases are not as chubby as in the past. I also love these owls, it was a kind of Japanese fever, I felt tempted to collect them but I still remain a non addict of Japanese models even if I like them and I have a few in my collection.

I also remain a non addict of them, you'll notice that I'm very picky about my choices. For example, a Kaiyodo muntjac, even if I deeply love the species (there is a story behind that too) is a no way for me because I will never ever accept ostentatious seams on mammals. The Japanese style fits better on fishes and reptiles IMO, and I can accept a few birds exceptions too.

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Schleich 370
CollectA 76
Papo 61
Safari 24
Yujin 15
Southlands 12
Mojo 14
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Bullyland 1
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Saarlooswolfhound
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Saarlooswolfhound


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PostSubject: Re: Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado   Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado - Page 11 EmptyWed May 05, 2021 5:21 am

Congrats on all the new additions! They are all very handsome models.

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lucky luke

lucky luke


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PostSubject: Re: Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado   Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado - Page 11 EmptyWed May 05, 2021 8:12 pm

Very Happy Applause cheers study Cool
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Pardofelis

Pardofelis


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PostSubject: Re: Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado   Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado - Page 11 EmptyWed May 05, 2021 8:47 pm

RtasVadumee wrote:
Why do you think the size is not consistent ? Isn't this macaque perfectly sized next to the mandrill and Diana monkey. I do think it is.

I was talking about that this level of perfectionism together with a not too striking size differences is what I search in figures for my collection. I was not talking about a particular figure like this macaque.

RtasVadumee wrote:
The neck seam is not so obvious IMO but indeed, you will have a hard time finding decently sized owls for your collection since you want all your figures to be in the same scale and don't accept a larger scale for birds. Kaiyodo actually does have a snowy owl which would be correctly sized for you but I'm pretty sure you won't be excited by this species.

Yes the seam is pretty obvious, at least from behind (I have one of these owls). Maybe in the spectacled owl is not noticeable because of the darker colour of plumage that hiddens the seam a lot.
I know the Kaiyodo snowy, and it's a figure that actually I like a lot and want for my collection. I like snowy owls, I don't mind if they're common as dirt in captivity: they're so unique and distinctive and beautiful. But the reason from I want the Kaiyodo snowy owl in my collection is not other than the fantastifabulous pose. Landing with the legs about to reach soil and the body inclined but the head horizontal: just the perfect rendition of how actual living owls are used to fly and land.

RtasVadumee wrote:
Hahaha, let's wait to see the size of my new stork Razz Razz Razz I would love to see a giant ibis from you, maybe I missed a few things but I don't remember any new release since the 100th "lophophore".

The giant ibis was one of my very older and first models. I discarded it from my collection because I made it "too giant", and sold it to a collector friend (the same friend that made me taking interest in collecting figures, I would not be here in this forum if I didn't saw his CollectA antelope!)

You can see it here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] (go near the end of the page for see it).

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Roger
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PostSubject: Re: Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado   Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado - Page 11 EmptyWed May 05, 2021 9:52 pm

RtasVadumee wrote:
Roger wrote:
Your collecting tastes continue expanding, I almost do not remember anymore what kind of collector you were when you started. Laughing

Is it an euphemism for "Schleich fundamentalist" ? Laughing


:lol!.

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RtasVadumee

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PostSubject: Re: Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado   Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado - Page 11 EmptyMon May 10, 2021 8:01 am

We all collect with a certain methodology. Compulsive collectors who buy everything that is released without discrimination are rare. We all put limits, boundaries to our purchases and not only to spare our wallet. We all have our little ideas about what should be and shouldn't be in our collection, our little plans about each species. How many individuals ? A loner, a couple, a family or a herd ? If it's a synoptic collection which model to choose ? Which size and which other figures it should scale with in priority ? All of these considerations lead to choices and rejections of certain models. But sometimes (often), our plans, our ideas about what should be change and we regret missing out on an opportunity. Because now the figure is retired and it's gonna be a pain in the ass to find it at a decent price.

That's what happened to me with several models and, lately, with the most recent Schleich stork. At first, I was very attached to the vintage stork from my childhood and wanted to keep it as the representative of those elegant baby carriers from the tale. It was, furthermore, exactly the size I wanted for a stork, as it fitted well with my flamingoes I assumed to be greater ones and my pelicans. Although all my raptors were already at a much larger scale, I wanted to keep my stork at the standard "mammal size". When I got the Papo marabu I couldn't refuse, I found it a bit too massive compared with my white stork but those scavengers being huge waders after all, the size discrepancy was not so disturbing to me. Here is the original picture of my wading birds to illustrate my description :
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In reality, that stork was really perfect to go with the Papo marabu, at least according to that Ciconiiformes chart :
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

So I had every reason to be satisfied about it. That was before the Papo grey heron was first shown on forum by Taos or LuckyLuke if I remember well.

That guy is huge. Too big for my tastes certainly BUT... that's a species I just couldn't pass on ! I had been waiting for a good rendition of this so usual, so familiar, almost daily seen bird for so long that oversizing, in that particular case, could not, in any way, be a sufficient reason to reject it.

That heron changed everything in my birds' scale. It was the one model to definitely convince me to bring my wading birds into line with my raptors' scale and, actually, most of my other birds'.

Belonging to another order (Pelicaniforme) than the white stork (Ciconiiforme), both didn't have to fit necessarily together. However, when I was a child and learnt ornithology, Ardeidae was included in the Ciconiiforme order, that's why it was important to me to have both at the same average scale. The old Schleich, despite being very nice, would have been tiny next to the giant grey heron from Papo, so I had to find a larger rendition and I knew the 14674 model from 2012 was exactly what I needed.

I knew it because I encountered that stork three or four times during my numerous "figure hunts". Yet, never even considered the purchase. By chance a model worth 3€ was available on Leboncoin, the main French second-hand website. I thus contacted the seller who taught me that the stork had been sold in the morning and he just didn't have time to delete the ad. Damn it !

Then, I only found Ebay offers at more than 20€ and quickly understood how a fool I had been to ignore that model for so long. But I remembered the badger story and decided that patience was her the key again.

Several weeks later, Andrés found and bought a sample in perfect condition from the Spanish "Leboncoin". But that son of a respectable woman decided to keep it and transform it into an oriental stork Mad He was using the old Schleich as his white stork like me and since he doesn't care about size compatibility with the grey heron, his idea was actually a clever one, both sizewise and considering the likeliness to the real bird, especially the long and strong beak and the fluffy neck :
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Here is the brilliant result, catching especially well the very unfriendly eyes of the oriental species :
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As for me, I finally found another sample on Leboncoin a week ago. The ad was put online at 11 am, the seller was contacted at 12 and the bird bought at 9 pm. That's what I call, EFFICIENCY Cool

However, I negociated poorly in that deal. The seller was selling it as part of a lot including an unicorn and several rabbits for 18€. I offered 10 for the stork straightaway and she accepted without further negociation. Perhaps I could have got one additional rabbit or two for that price as it was quite obvious she was unaware of the real rarity of the figure.

So, today, when I returned from my first day back to slavery, a beautiful stork had landed on my balcony. It would have been a nightmare if it was bringing a brat or even a judge's order claiming child support but it wasn't so everything is fine.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Obviously, despite that mould being very plausible as an oriental stork, I will keep it as a white one to go with my future heron. It's actually an amazing figure, much better than my old model from an objective point of view freed from any emotional attachment. Schleich actually deserves to be praised for it because it is quite obvious that the brand of beautiful and kind animals decided, for once, to favour realism over cuteness and aesthetical pleasantness. That stork definitely does not look kind, it is not as anthropomorphized as the old model but looks strikingly to a real one, especially thanks to the perfectly painted slanted-looking eyes, so typical of white storks. The bill's lenght is also more accurate than on the old model even if its thickness, as already mentionned, is rather that of an oriental stork.

The only figures I have with me to compare it with are my Threskiornithidae which are pelicaniforms like herons but still ciconiiforms in my child's mind. The following pic shows, once more, how humongous the Safari roseate spoonbill is, even for the birds' larger scale, while the Kitan crested ibis fits nicely.
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Unfortunately, I don't have my marabu with me but here is a comparison from someone else :
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With the marabu stork, that new white certainly scales better as an oriental one. But it was the only way for me to respect size hierarchy with the upcoming grey heron so I definitely don't regret my choice.

That proud male is certainly going to find a family with the Papo stork with chick model I shoud receive one day or another from another Leboncoin seller if that bloody fool manages to learn how to send a package (the guy has been more than one week without sending it since I paid him, he said he didn't know how to do so I had to explain him but he still does not send it. I may kick his backside a bit on the phone tonight, he's starting to annoy me prodigiously and I would have cancelled the transaction a long time ago and got my money back if he didn't have the rare Papo hippo female too... and was unaware of its value of course Twisted Evil ). With its very thick legs, the Papo stork is definitely not as good as the Schleich one but from Paige's pic, I think they will work nicely together. Moreover, who can resist a stork chick ! Very Happy

With that stork, I now have every single Schleich I need cheers Maybe the meerkat pups will come soon but that's all. That's the end of a long journey which started in 2018 Sad

However, as a wise cybernetic super soldier once said...
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Schleich 370
CollectA 76
Papo 61
Safari 24
Yujin 15
Southlands 12
Mojo 14
Maia&Borges 5
Bullyland 1
Recur 1
Homemade 3
Bootleg 1
Total 582


Last edited by RtasVadumee on Mon May 10, 2021 8:14 am; edited 1 time in total
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Saarlooswolfhound
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Saarlooswolfhound


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PostSubject: Re: Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado   Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado - Page 11 EmptyMon May 10, 2021 8:06 am

Lovely storks! Some of my favorite models. :)

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Bonnie

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PostSubject: Re: Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado   Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado - Page 11 EmptyMon May 10, 2021 8:15 am

Beautiful models! cheers
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spacelab

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PostSubject: Re: Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado   Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado - Page 11 EmptyMon May 10, 2021 8:26 am

yes, this schleich White Stork is a wonderful model. Great you found it! Never mind the size, I'm giving up with size as far as birds are concerned. It's almost impossible to find a good balance.
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lucky luke

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PostSubject: Re: Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado   Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado - Page 11 EmptyMon May 10, 2021 8:52 am

Very Happy Applause cheers Cool study Wink
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Pardofelis

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PostSubject: Re: Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado   Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado - Page 11 EmptyMon May 10, 2021 9:26 am

Very nice! All the models shown in this last post of you are Ciconiiformes without discussion. I'm surprised that oriental white stork is so much bigger than common white stork, when I was young they was considered the same species! That size chart is very useful, because I did a jabiru, so if I decide to do any other stork (some are pending in my "to do" list), I can use the chart for doing it at same scale :)

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RtasVadumee

RtasVadumee


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PostSubject: Re: Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado   Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado - Page 11 EmptyMon May 10, 2021 9:57 am

Ah ! I enjoy that you very often share the old taxonomy of my childhood ! Very Happy It's difficult for me to accept herons, spoonbills and ibis within Pelicaniforme.

I'm also surprised about the alleged size of the oriental stork, especially as it is shown as big or even slightly bigger than the marabou Shocked

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Schleich 370
CollectA 76
Papo 61
Safari 24
Yujin 15
Southlands 12
Mojo 14
Maia&Borges 5
Bullyland 1
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Homemade 3
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PostSubject: Re: Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado   Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado - Page 11 EmptyMon May 10, 2021 11:22 am

Storks are one of the symbols of my homeland and I grew with them. Anytime I go there, I love to go for a big walk and watch their nests. I remember, when I was just 4 years old, I met a stork standing just in front of me and the animal allowed me to go very close to it. Maybe because I was smaller than the bird, I don't know, I never had the chance of getting so close after it. I got impressed, a little scared but most of all, I was fascinated. I also lived for around two years in a room with a little window exactly straight to an old factory cheminee with a nest were I could see often a pair of storks feeding their chicks. I have a few stork figures but without any criteria, just those that eventually appeared in my collection. I must find a good representative of it and I will remember to revisit this thread.

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RtasVadumee

RtasVadumee


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PostSubject: Re: Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado   Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado - Page 11 EmptyMon May 10, 2021 11:31 am

You'll have a comparison with the Papo with chick but not as soon as expected as that silly guy didn't send the package fast enough so I was automatically refunded...

The experience you describe is exactly what a wildlife photographer like me would dream of ! The only wild stork I ever managed to photograph was flying far away.
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Schleich 370
CollectA 76
Papo 61
Safari 24
Yujin 15
Southlands 12
Mojo 14
Maia&Borges 5
Bullyland 1
Recur 1
Homemade 3
Bootleg 1
Total 582
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PostSubject: Re: Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado   Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado - Page 11 EmptyMon May 10, 2021 7:21 pm

Congratulations

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PostSubject: Re: Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado   Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado - Page 11 EmptyTue May 11, 2021 12:36 pm

In my homeland you can get easily close to storks. Not as it happened with me when I was a kid but definitely closer than what you got in that beautiful picture.

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RtasVadumee

RtasVadumee


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PostSubject: Re: Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado   Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado - Page 11 EmptyTue May 18, 2021 9:22 pm

Hi there,

The first parcel of May was faster than expected to arrive from Japan and, as a consequence, I was able to receive it and photograph its jewels before starting work again today cheers

As planned on my purchase schedule, a new Colorata box came to expand my bony fish collection started last month with the "Fossil Fish" set. The later only included highly charismatic and spectacular species, this one is more about common commercial salwater fishes from cold seas. I'm not especially familiar with fisheries as already mentionned on Isidro's addition topic Laughing and despite having visited many aquariums (and always preferring coldwater sections than tropical ones in them), it's still somewhat difficult for me to tell all that whitebait apart and, as a result, I may have less to say than usual. Moreover, I have now less free time so I'll also try to be more concise.

After studying the species catalogue of that set, I concluded that it was a good starter for my saltwater fish collection, a good way to get a nice array of well-known commercial fishes in a single purchase. The box, similar to that of the fossil fishes, includes as much as twice more figures but they are, overall, much smaller.
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As usual, I won't beat around the bush : that set is nothing as exciting as the fossil fish's one. The later was exclusively composed of masterpieces, that one includes very nice figures but none as tremendous as any of the previous "river monsters". That's not a surprise, I already knew the quality was slightly lower, so I'm not disappointed and still much satisfied with it. As strange as it might sound, I have always been more attracted to coldwater pelagic fishes than pretty colourful reef ones in aquariums, maybe that's because I didn't as a child and still don't eat much fish that I enjoy so much seeing in real those famous names I have heard so many times : mackerel, plichard, sea bream... Thus, that set was definitely necessary to my collection. It's always quite discouraging to collect from scratches so those fifteen models provide me a good starting point. They may be not as good as their Yujin counterparts (and I will further discuss my focus shift from Colorata to Yujin later) but easier to get and definitely more affordable. And I will still be able to fill the gaps with individual Yujin picks later.
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As the aparaïma was the one to motivate the purchase of the fossil fish set, the sunfish was my most wished figure from that one. Heaviest bony fish in the world, one of the weirdest-looking one too and definitely among the most iconic of all, it was, surprisingly, quite rarely represented in toy form with only six entries on TAI. The decent renditions are even rarer and I would even go as far as saying that the Colorata figure is the only pleasant one from an aesthetic point of view (I rejected the Safari model because of its base which is the perfect illustration of uglyness). I especially enjoy how smooth and rought at the same time the skin looks.

Despite seeing photos and videos of it, I'm still having a hard time imagining the size of that behemoth which can weigh up to two tons. Actually, we were supposed to go to Lisbon with my father JUST to see the specimens kept at Oceanário (of course, we would have taken advantage of the opportunity to do some urban tourism too) but we never went because of domestic issues, and now the pandemia. So I count on Roger to tell us what the feeling of seeing a "môle" in real is.

The size of this model is probably the main reason why I don't love it as much as I should. It's certainly reasonable and I'm sure most of you enjoy it but the zoology redneck I am would have preferred a Guinness World Records-specimen to represent that species in my collection. Not to mention it's too small for my Goliath grouper I will die still refusing to acknowledge the oversizing of Razz
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Yet, even not taking the Safari grouper into account and compared with the other fishes from the set, it's obvious that this figure does represent an average individual and not a giant one.

The sunfish's main source of food are jellyfishes so one was included in the set as an unofficial sixteenth figure. That tiny detail is nothing but W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L as I lack a jellyfish in my collection and there was hardly any chance I would have managed to find such a small one. Actually, I just bought an ermit crab for the same exact reason, ie for the anemone on its shell Razz
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I already had the blue marlin from Schleich so the Colorata model was definitely not my priority. However, that one is wonderful and turns my Schleich marlin and even the Papo sailfish desperately outdated.
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Apparently, this is a striped marlin, so another species than the Schleich model which is tagged as a blue one. So I guess I "have to" keep both, even if the Schleich has become quite expensive and would bring a very wished cash infusion to my bank account in those hard times of collecting frenzy. There is definitely no size incompatibility (the Colorata rendition is clearly more massive but considering the huge size gap between smaller males and larger females, I only have to pretend it is a striped female while the two others are respectively blue marlin and sailfish males), the issue is more aesthetic.
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Despite the sunfish was the initial main target, that big tuna ends up being my favourite. Because it matches perfectly the general idea I have about what a tuna is supposed to look like and because it's huge and embodies the whole overfishing issue on its own Razz I mean, that fat dude is the prototype of the commercial giant fish which companies expect to make big money on. I'm having a laugh at it but it's actually a serious issue and most tunas nowadays don't have a chance to grow so large because they are catched way before reaching that size, often even before having a chance to breed, which is dramatic. That one is a bluefin tuna, a large species which can grow up to 3 m and 650 kg so basically more than a giant Goliath grouper. I'm a honest guy so I will show the comparison with my Safari grouper Laughing
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But again, compared with a Papo blacktip shark, that tuna would look small while the grouper would look just average. And both would look small compared with a Safari leopard shark. So, scale being inconsistent as far as sealife, even within a same brand, is concerned, I'm bothered by neither of them.
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Another tuna goes with the bluefin monster. That's a skipjack tuna and it's very similar to the other one, yet much smaller. I read in the handbook that this species enjoys swimming along with large sharks and whales.

Other pelagic fishes include several "whitebait" species.
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A mackerel first, which is as good as Andrés' Yujin "little earners" I guess, even if I wouldn't bet on it.
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A horse mackerel, whose French name doesn't evoke anything to me while the general look matches the erroneous idea I had about anchovies...
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A saury, whose French name, again, is unfamiliar to me while the appearance makes me think about the French word for "haddock" (I know I'm very bad on fishes, don't laugh at me please Sad ).
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And finally, a plichard which is, that time, known from me both by name and look as this is definitely one I do eat (sardines are great bounce )

All those tiny fishes are nice in my opinion. It's impossible to create masterpiece figures from such insignificant critters but Colorata just did well in making them look like true whitebait, with those moon eyes so "fishy", that slightly glossy finish and most of all, those translucent fins. Colorata definitely knows how to make fins, that's something I had already noticed on their "fossil fishes".
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The flying fish was definitely, like the sunfish, another ABC I was after when I decided to buy that set. The widespread wings seem in a "flying position" and that pose makes the figure instantly recognizable, it speaks to our collective imaginary about that family of jumping fishes. As on every other figure in that box (maybe I forgot to mention it), the fins come separately and have to be assembled to the body. The pelvic fins of my flying fish were constantly falling down so I had to glue them.
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The dolphine fish is a species I'm familiar with from a documentary in which they ate baby turtles. These are indeed formidable hunters capable of moving very fast. They are predators of flying fishes and are actually able to predict their trajectory when they are "flying", and catch them at the moment they are back into water. The Colorata model looks perfect to me, with its prominent forehead, elongated body and greenish skin, that's a fish with a lot of personality and the figure renders it well. Please, check that captivating video about a flying fish hunt by dorados.

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The sea bream is another fish I knew from its name but didn't identify the figure at first. I googled it and instantly recognized it, having already seen similar species in fisheries. Yet the figure, despite being a very decent replica, is not a perfect one as it is too smooth and lacks the very scally-looking skin of true sea breams. In Asia, the red sea bream is an important fish prized both for its flavor and its traditional use as an auspicious food, often served at New Year's and at festive occasions such as weddings. Successful sumo wrestlers are often photographed holding the fish too and in Taiwan, it's the most commonly eaten fish. I am inventing nothing, I pasted it from wikipedia word for word Razz
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Generally speaking, I would say that the very smooth texture of Colorata figures does not work so well with scorpionfishes either, such as this sea ruffe. Scorpionfishes are very charismatic creatures, as much for their venom than for their craggy face, and that model, albeit beautiful, just looks like a generic colourful fish in my opinion. Never mind, I have other scorpionfishes in mind, especially a stonefish and a lionfish, and I didn't buy that set for it. Moreover, that model if far from being a duckling.
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Ah, here is certainly an exciting species to me ! I love gurnards, I previously said that I had a hard time remembering which name correspond to which fish but this is one I always remember and always recognize in aquariums. I have always been fascinated by fishes capable of breathing and walking inland and the mudskipper is actually my favourite. So a fish capable of "walking" on the ocean floor may be not as much a turn-on but still remains quite stimulating. Gurnards are called so because they are among the few fishes able to produce sounds but what amuses me about them are their six spines supporting their pectoral fins and allowing them to move more easily on the floor and find their crustacean and mollusk preys in the sand. However, I do believe that this gurnard model is among the weakest of the set, very plain and... "untasty", which is quite ironic as they are used to cook a famous French fish soup from the Southern city of Marseille called the Bouillabaisse. Again, the smooth texture and comic book-like painting of Colorata does not fit more "complex" fishes and makes them look like bad Safari. Yet, no alternative exists, neither on the Japanese nor on the Western market so that rather "meh" figure remains a must-have anyway.
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The "fugu" is not a fish I expected to find in that set but I am extremely happy to have one. That legendary highly toxic piece of seafood only skilled and specially licensed Japanese chefs are allowed to prepare had to be featured in my collection. Indeed the tetrodotoxin contained in several organs, especially the liver, ovaries and testes, but also in the skin, have to be carefully removed and, up to date, only Homer Simpson is recorded to have survived the consuption of fugu's flesh without the appropriate preparation.
I do like the figure actually. It suffers from the same lack of texture and cartoonish paintjob as the two previous ones but both work much better on that species. The facial expression and especially the mouth are quite perfect and makes that model faithful to the general look of puffers.
A grass puffer from Yujin exists and it's even better ,as most Yujin fishes are. Considering my love for that genus, I will surely add it to the collection sooner or later. I also absolutely need a diodon cousin, I should have a look at the possible candidates study
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Let's end with another compulsory addition to my collection : a flatfish. With their flattened face and both eyes on the same side, they are the comic relief of aquariums ! Razz Actually, it took me some time to figure out they were nothing as rays and were basically flattened normal fishes, with normal eyes and a normal mouth ! That one is a bastard halibut, a quite large species which is able to reach one metre and 9 kg. Other halibuts from the genus Hippoglossus can even weigh up to 200 kg and I didn't know such large flatfishes existed. Again, the paintjob may lack of subtelty but the figure is satisfactory overall and the undulating swimming movement of the pose is especially appreciable (see first group pic). I know a better Yujin halibut is also available but again, that's another species and I don't mind having two.

As a conclusion, this saltwater set is definitely worthwhile but is nothing comparable to the amazing fossil fishes. It provides a good array of species to anyone willing to start a saltwater fish collection, is readily available and quite affordable but remains more interesting for pelagic species than coastal and benthic ones. It is, according to Andrés and to my own studies, more representative of the average quality of Colorata models than the fossil fish set which is almost too good for Colorata. Lately, I had a quite deep look at what the different Japanese companies were offering and realized that the turtle set from Yujin/Takara was not representative of that company's skill either and that these guys were actually the reference as far as fishes, but also crustaceans and cephalopods were concerned. Unfortunately, Yujin does no longer exist since it was bought by Takara and Takara did not re-release all of their previous sets. As a consequence most are difficult to find and expensive. But I like challenges and am not willing to accept compromises based on price. I already bought the crustacean set from Takara, the ultimate starter for a marine arthropod collection and, when I'll be able to afford them, my next targets will be the cephalopods and both freshwater sets from that same brand. As a consequence, my love story with Colorata is likely to be more ephemeral than expected as its freshwater and reef sets are way less qualitative than Yujin's counterparts. Nevertheless, I still think that this saltwater box is the second best one from Colorata and I'm not sure at all that Yujin's is better. So, I advise it to new collectors starting in the Japanese game. I will maybe buy the deep sea fish set too, unless I choose Takara again. All will depend on my oarfish choice I guess.

That set was the core of my May Japanese purchase but a few other figurine sweets came along. Actually, the order was triggered and speeded up by a nice opportunity I will present you later this week so stay tuned Wink

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Birdsage

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PostSubject: Re: Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado   Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado - Page 11 EmptyWed May 19, 2021 1:14 am

Very nice fishes! I like the marlin and tuna the best.
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widukind

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PostSubject: Re: Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado   Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado - Page 11 EmptyWed May 19, 2021 4:59 am

So cool fishes

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PostSubject: Re: Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado   Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado - Page 11 EmptyWed May 19, 2021 5:14 am

Wonderful fishes collection! cheers cheers Applause
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Advicot

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PostSubject: Re: Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado   Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado - Page 11 EmptyWed May 19, 2021 5:21 am

Great additions, I love this set! Very Happy

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PostSubject: Re: Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado   Rtas' additions - Birthday gift from El Desperado - Page 11 EmptyWed May 19, 2021 5:23 am

I love that mahi mahi, great new additions!

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