The Revenge of the Pangolins - 11th episode, a useful tail!

Your topic is really, really great , and it gets greater and greater
Thankyou very much for this interesting information

We can learn the strangest things in this hobby, - now we know why people have to buy so much toilet paper : Perhaps they are getting ready to give a good home to pangolins if they get more persecuted in the wild

The Schleich Giant pangolin is iconic !
That last photo ..

Also Pangolins have priorities. Seems to be similar to us humans.

It was 2014 and preceding this little pango fever we are seeing these last years, when Mojö Fun released what is the first pvc standard sized pangolin figure I know.
I insist in telling it but it was my personal choice. Believe me, for a collector of foxes, crazy for antelopes or wild cats, it was not an easy choice. It was brave from Mojö accepting a figure whose commercial success is very dubious.
Though, it turned completely viral among Chinese manufacturers, they were needing a pangolin figure to copy and that was their chance. It is still easy to find knock offs of the Mojö Fun pangolin being sold as unbranded. Remember, if you find them sold as Animal Planet, it is the original version.
It is an Indian pangolin Manis crassicaudata, My species choice was because this species do not usually climb trees and I hate when I have a pangolin stuck in a tree.
The sculpt is really accurate to the species with a very natural pose. Even the number of rows of scales is correct.

Mojö Fun Indian pangolin


I have one of the knock offs and it is quite similar. It is not marked but surprisingly it is made of a 15-20% heavier plastic.


Both together


... a real one!

Although similar, the mojo is beautiful and the other one just funny. The details make the difference. Cool topic!

For me, this model is THE pangolin

So here we have THE pangolin and his poor cousin

spacelab wrote:

Although similar, the mojo is beautiful and the other one just funny. The details make the difference. Cool topic!

That is so right !!!

Thanks, the knock-off is made of a dense material but the joints are poorly placed and the lack of detail is expecially evident on the limbs.
It shouldn't replace the original figure in any way.

costicuba wrote:

And the 3-th pangolin is great
And this trunk works very well
I wonder ... how many pangolins can be on it together ...

I will try to remember your challenge at the end of this presentation but the actor of the last episode will not participate.

Actually I was wrong with callling the Schleich one : Iconic
No, no this one : Mojo Pangolin, this is a real Iconic figure  
Like Susanne said : ''this model is THE pangolin''
A choise from Roger , creation by Mojo ..and our first  pvc standard sized pangolin figure.

Roger wrote:

costicuba wrote:

And the 3-th pangolin is great
And this trunk works very well
I wonder ... how many pangolins can be on it together ...

I will try to remember your challenge at the end of this presentation but the actor of the last episode will not participate.

 I can`t wait to see

Why I show such a "poor" figure in one of the chapters?
When we collect a certain kind of animal, these less spectacular renditions gain an extra interest and the details that turn it into an inaccurate figure, give a special charm to them.
We know it as a Nayab model from this lovely series of unusual animals. Species identification is impossible.
It is a small figure, simple, scales are just a grid and it has funny eyes. The most noticiable detail is that the ventral part of the animal is also covered by scales what isn't supposed.
As mentioned before, when females have newborns, they curl into a ball and protect the baby between the tail and the belly. so, a belly covered with scales could be fatal for the baby.
This defensive strategy, that is efficient against large lions or tigers, turn these animals very vulnerable to humans, namely poachers.
By the way, pangolin babies are called pangopups and Pangolin derives from the Malay word "Pengguling" meaning "rolling over"


A comparison picture where you can see the scales.

Social distance

I love this little, cute and humble critter

Thankyou for all the information, - I didn't know that mother Pangolins roll them selves round the pangopups

The "poor" version was my first pangolin :)

Wait what?! Nayab did a pangolin, I need to find one, as well as the lovely Yowie figure I also need to acquire. (If I'll ever find Yowies )

This adventure is close to its end, after these, I only have one more pangolin to show, any guesses?
Not much is known about these small figurines. One is marked "HONG KONG" and the other seems to be a copy of it.
They are probably from 1970's and likely sold in these bags of Hong Kong and Chinese figures featuring cheap copies of Britains and other vintage brands.
If it is true to these, I dont know which figures served as inspiration, I only can tell that the Hong Kong version is made of a harder plastic and is much better finished.


These figures are small, if the tail could be stretched, the total length of the figure could reach 8 cm. Hard to determine the species but surely not suitable for a 1:32 model.
It is tempting to identify it as a long-tailed pangolin, Phataginus tetradactyla, and maybe the tail is long enough to represent this interesting African animal.
Seems even more plausible once this is the only diurnal pangolin species.


Maybe a little older, 1960's, is this figure that share the same concept and size as the figures previously presented.
I don't think it served as inspiration to the other models, they are very different, though, the tail is also very narrow, long and pointy.
It was a common mistake that these figures had the tail flattened laterally, somewhat like crocodiles.
It was before the globalization of the Internet and the sculptors used some books with old illustrations, a single one of a lateral view was often the only available and the rest was artistic licence
Scales are sculpted on ventral area what we already know is not correct but the pose is great!


Here the Hong Kong and Prior compared and pictured from above.


Comparison with Angela, the 1/24 scale Noah's Pals female Aardvark, I renamed it to Dorothea. Both are ant-eaters and live in burrows

It doesn't seem easy to differentiate between some Prior models and ordinary "HONG KONG" figures. In Germany you can find these "HONG KONG" models very often on flea markets. Very nice pictures and Dorothea is very cute. Well, I would also have for sure renamed the aardvark by Noah's Pals.

These small models are often looked upon with contempt !
We should certainly not do that !
They have a history, and they have made children happy, so , Roger, Hurrray for a wise crocodile '

Not Angela, - hmmm, I seem to remamber that you know a beautyful little girl with that name ?
Of course your aardvark can not have the same name as her

Dorothy is also a nice name for a beautyful aarvark lady

very interesting topic, I learned a lot about pangolins and models!

Thank you Rogério!.. I 'll shoot my Starux ones very soon and maybe you will able to tell us their species..

I have one more pangolin for you to review Roger. Don't know what brand it is, I can send you pics tomorrow if you are interested.

This was an excellent topic. I thoroughly enjoyed going through it. Thank you

75senta75 wrote:

It doesn't seem easy to differentiate between some Prior models and ordinary "HONG KONG" figures. In Germany you can find these "HONG KONG" models very often on flea markets. Very nice pictures and Dorothea is very cute. Well, I would also have for sure renamed the aardvark by Noah's Pals.

I mention the word "Angela" and the two first persons posting immediately are from Germany. I believe the name Dorothea is not from your likings but better than the name given by Noah's Pals and marked on this figure.

SUSANNE wrote:

Not Angela, - hmmm, I seem to remamber that you know a beautyful little girl with that name ?
Of course your aardvark can not have the same name as her

Dorothy is also a nice name for a beautyful aarvark lady

Susanne, I have no problem of giving the name of my younger niece to this lovely aardvark. I love aardvarks. But my niece is Ândria instead.
Curiously, the Noah's Pals Mountain Nyala female has the name of my other niece.

Caracal wrote:

very interesting topic, I learned a lot about pangolins and models!

Thank you Rogério!.. I 'll shoot my Starux ones very soon and maybe you will able to tell us their species..

Thanks [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], I would love to see a topic about the Starlux pangolin, it is a figure with a wonderful artistic licence but with the traditional magic of the French brand.

RtasVadumee wrote:

I have one more pangolin for you to review Roger. Don't know what brand it is, I can send you pics tomorrow if you are interested.

I would love to see it!

Steve170 wrote:

This was an excellent topic. I thoroughly enjoyed going through it. Thank you

Thanks for your words, Steve!
It is not finished yet, I still have a very interesting figure to show.

That's the last episode but I will resume it as always as a new pangolin figure is added to my collection.
The last member is a composition figure, a Hausser Elastolin from 1938. It is a very wonderful piece, my most precious pangolin.
We must be resilient and it was what this figure has been for all these years, I wonder how many trips and collections this figure visited. Even in its short life with me, it already moved a few times.
I don't know if it is the first ever released pangolin figure, I know Pfeiffer also released one in composition material.
I recall a site dedicated to composition models selling it as a long-tailed pangolin but I have no idea if this information can be found in any official source.
The day I received it was really a special collecting day and this is one of my favorite figures in my collection. It is something I never expected to see in my hands but, when there are great people as the friends of this forum, everything is possible.

Pangolin are mammals and closest relatives are Carnivora what seems unbelievable. These animals do not have teeth, they have very long sticky tongues which are often longer than their body and tey are attached near its pelvis. They use their tongues to eat ants, termites, larvae and other insects. So, don't be surprised if you don't see Blaine here.


Comparison with Mojö Fun Indian pangolin, poses and sizes are similar but the vintage model hasn't served as inspiration.


Here the challenge that Kosta has proposed.
Something not recomendable during these days and that is one of the reasons why the Elastolin hasn't participated in this pangolin tree game.


That's a relatively small collection, more pangolin figures exist that I hope to find someday but I want to send a big thanks to Kosta, Yvette, Bojan, Susanne and I am sure I am forgeting someone,...
Also big thanks to all who accompanied me on this adventure!

Thank you fro such a lovely tour of your pangolins!

ROGER !!! Tell those pangolins to keep distance !!!


The pangolin from Elastolin ( almost rimes   ) is indeed a true, wonderful, beautyful gem in any collection  

You know, I took mine to the computer to show him how well his twin carries his age, and then !!!
I dropped him down on the keyboard          
But, phhhhhew, he didn't get any more cuffs than he has already     


Thankyou, dear friend ! This has been a wonderful topic, and I am sure I will visit again, - perhaps if I need to be cheered up