About PAPO Hermann`s tortoise

Quite unhappy like many of you that a well respected brand are quite content to so badly misrepresent a very well known small tortoise species that is so popular in the pet trade and then repaint this blindingly obvious giant tortoise from years previous a million times worse than originally planned in marketing photos. At least the original paint effort on the marketed hermanns design closely resembled the species... at that stage I was quite prepared to overlook the disproportionately long neck and thicker set limbs that make it clearly a giant tortoise. I think Papo are a fantastic figure manufacturer but on this occasion I feel cheated of my money on this purchase and reckon they should be ashamed and be compelled to refund people that bought the item on totally false pretences. The figure simply isn’t worth buying and does nothing to add to any collection where you want to build a species repertoire of closely related animals. This comes from one very disgruntled zoologist.

Please do not be unhappy , Matt !

I think it is a very nice variation of the original, - much nicer.
So never mind, if it is not the species they write

SUSANNE wrote:

Please do not be unhappy , Matt !

I think it is a very nice variation of the original, - much nicer.  
So never mind, if it is not the species they write

Yes, you should mind! They advertised a Hermann's tortoise. You paid for a Hermann's tortoise. You did not get a Hermann's tortoise. Matt has every right to be upset and feel cheated.

We all know Susanne and she is not surely defending Papo. She’s only trying to help Matt to not feel so unhappy. There is always a positive side and if someone is able of finding it, it is Susanne. She loves variations and figures with something to tell as you Blaine enjoy new species.
However, I think we should express to Papo, as much as possible, our disatisfation, they are not defintely acting in a fair way with this product but I already expressed it above.

So, since we all agree that this is definitely not a Hermann's, should we change the Animal Wiki description of this model?

Roger wrote:

We all know Susanne and she is not surely defending Papo. She’s only trying to help Matt to not feel so unhappy. There is always a positive side and if someone is able of finding it, it is Susanne. She loves variations and figures with something to tell as you Blaine enjoy new species.

spacelab wrote:

So, since we all agree that this is definitely not a Hermann's, should we change the Animal Wiki description of this model?

That’s a pertinent question. I’d love to know the opinion from you and other collectors about that. We’re not always being consistent in similar situations. Sometimes we keep the original name, sometimes we give the name of the species we identify, often we name the page as it is marketed but link it to the correct species page and it was already suggested that in similar cases we list the figure in both species pages. TAW more than a scientific page, it is a collectors guide. How would a Papo collector use the wiki to find this particular model?

Even painted like the advertising pics, this model can’t be a Hermann’s tortoise... Actually it looks like a bad Papo repainting and it seems It is now a very bad brand’s tradition.

I think we should let the TAW page as marketed and link it to both species page. As Roger said, it would be more useful for a collector.

Kikimalou wrote:

Even painted like the advertising pics, this model can’t be a Hermann’s tortoise... Actually it looks like a bad Papo repainting and it seems It is now a very bad brand’s tradition.

I think we should let the TAW page as marketed and link it to both species page. As Roger said, it would be more useful for a collector.

And there should be a note, that the animal was identified as another animal than the brand marketed it!

It is good to have your opinion.

I also received mine a few weeks ago and TOTALLY disappointed. Has anyone contacted Papo direct? I have a contact person who I am going to email and ask this very question....leave with me :-)

I have forwarded on the photos of my new and old tortoise to the Papo sales contact/friend I have and she also has the same model as me! She has forwarded on comments to Papo's design team direct. Let's see if newer better versions come out later this year! :-)

Numaan wrote:

I have forwarded on the photos of my new and old tortoise to the Papo sales contact/friend I have and she also has the same model as me! She has forwarded on comments to Papo's design team direct.  Let's see if newer better versions come out later this year! :-)

WONDERFUL !!!! Thankyou very much, Numaan

Let's hope they react ! Papo has changed paintwork often before, so perhaps they will do it again in this case

I also sent a message to Papo direct to their marketing and sales team on their website...just to ensure the message gets through ha! :-)

Ha !!

Even correctly painted this old "Galapagos" tortoise will never be a true Hermann's one. I can't be disappointed because I won't buy it.
Tomorrow Papo will repaint his Limousine cow in black and will tell us it is a Spanish fighting bull ?
A very bad story from a brand who made so many great toys.

Leaving aside any other motivation of the head of PAPO that has allowed this figure to be commercialized, I would say that it is a hoax for collectors, I base myself to say this:

They take the trouble to catalog photos with little resemblance to the figure they sell.

They change the name (more exotic and attractive especially for collectors)

And finally when the collectors have asked for explanations there is no answer.

Since this topic seems more about the mould than the Hermann's tortoise that virtually does not exist, I want to share how my old Papo tortoise is marked. Does anyone has one like this?

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]