Mathison Museum of Natural History

I am starting a new (roughly) daily thread as part of a project to photodocument my collection of individual figures, and posting them secures a safe place for them online. Using a random number generator, I will select a new figure (not species). Each post will feature one figure, unless pairs (or more) were sold together within a set. Each post will have detailed information about the figure and the animal itself. Overtime, this thread will replace Bug of the Day and Synoptic Animal Collection.

How I calculate scale. Scale is calculated using a variety of features, often dependent on the pose the animal is in: body length, shoulder height, wingspan, etc. Sometimes figures are measured down the spine/midline using string (dental floss actually lol). Sometimes I may use features such as the length of a bird's beak or a dinosaur femur. Scales should be considered estimates. If anyone thinks a scale is off or I didn't do the math right, please speak up!

How I choose which figure is next. As mentioned earlier, I use a random number generator at random.org. I have a separate Excel file that has all my figures listed alphabetically by genus and species, regardless of higher taxon (e.g., bird, mammal, butterfly). The random number generator result is matched with the line in the Excel file. Once a figure is reviewed, it is deleted from the file, so it will not come up again (this also means that, until new figures are acquired, the database gets shorter which each post!).

Please comment all you want, but please do not post images on this thread; I want all images to be my own. Thanks.

To get us started:

Species: Platycerus acuticollis Kurosawa, 1969

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Capsule Q Museum - Japanese Stag Beetles
Year of Release: 2013
Size/Scale: body length 4.0 cm; scale 4:1 (total length of figure including appendages, 5.4 cm)
Frequency in toy/figure form: Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: Two figures of the same sculpt released in the same set: one blue, one green. Minimal assembly required.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Japan
Habitat: Soft rot in dead logs
Diet: Rotting wood (as larvae)
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A
Miscellaneous Notes: Several subspecies exist, possibly representing a species complex

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I really like this set up of showcasing your collection! I am sure this thread will keep going for a long time :)

I look very much forward to this ( every) day for years to come

Phantastic, a wonderful presentation.

I also am looking forward- great photo of the beetles!

very beautiful presentation!

Phantastic, a wonderful presentation.

Beautiful photo!

Species: Hystrix indica Kerr, 1792 (Indian crested porcupine)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: CollectA
Series: Wildlife
Year of Release: 2019
Size/Scale: 6.0 cm long; 5.5 cm tall. Scale approximately 1:20-1:26
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique or rare
Miscellaneous Notes: When this figure was first released, several people noted, and rightfully so, the colors are more reminscent of the Cape porcupine (H. africaeaustralis), although CollectA made it clear it was the Indian species. Porcupines are inherently difficult to capture in toy form. Several figures of Hystrix exist; depending on what species one chooses to assign would determine whether or not this is a unique figure.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Central and southwestern Asia, and most of the Indian subcontinent, barely ranging into China.
Habitat: Primarily rocky hillsides, shrublands, and grasslands, but also forests and disturbed areas.
Diet: Mainly plants, but also insects and small vertebrates
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Broad tolerance for habitats and a varied diet makes H. indica a successful species that is common throughout most of its range, even acheiving pest status in some areas inhabited by people.

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Blaine, what a great idea of cataloguing your collection on forum. I hope some other members follow your method.
Topics like these require permanent dedication and longevity will warranted. Good idea also of using the blog to houst your pictures, not many hosting services are better and more durable than blogs.
The information your are adding is almost encyclopedic and your pictures are very beautiful too.

I am sure you have many figures, so with one figure a day, I wonder how many years we can look forward to . And how many insects?

Perhaps an idea given that you say that you want to put your inventory safely online: If you are an editor on TAW, you get your own editor section on TAW where you can put photos and information from your own collection. Like what Rogério has done:
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It may be easier to organise your inventory that way. Problem is that we can't comment, but perhaps you could get the best of both worlds by posting here with a link to TAW.

I am assuming that TAW editors are allowed to do this. If not, I hope a more senior editor tells me off. And ignore the idea if you don't like it.

Species: Graptopsaltria nigrofuscata (Motschulsky, 1866) (large brown cicada, nymphs)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Kaiyodo
Series: Choco Q Animatales Series 10
Year of Release: 2005
Size/Scale: body length 3.7 cm, in the 1:1 scale range
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: While not commonly made, this is the most common species of cicada made by the Japanese companies. There were two figures of this sculpt released as variants in the same set; the one with the darker eyes is slightly more mature. These figures were recently featured in a Blogpost here. Being gashapon figures, there is some assembly required.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Much of East Asia, including China, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan
Habitat: Varied, but requires trees and soil conditions to support nymphal development
Diet: Juices from subterranean tree roots
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A
Miscellaneous Notes: Cicadas are known for their long subterranean development; Graptopsaltria nigrofuscata remains underground for six years before molting into an adult.

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rogerpgvg wrote:

I am sure you have many figures, so with one figure a day, I wonder how many years we can look forward to . And how many insects?

Perhaps an idea given that you say that you want to put your inventory safely online: If you are an editor on TAW, you get your own editor section on TAW where you can put photos and information from your own collection. Like what Rogério has done:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

It may be easier to organise your inventory that way. Problem is that we can't comment, but perhaps you could get the best of both worlds by posting here with a link to TAW.

I am assuming that TAW editors are allowed to do this. If not, I hope a more senior editor tells me off. And ignore the idea if you don't like it.

Tiermann is surely the best positioned person to reply to it.
About my user page, it reuses a good number of pictures that were already serving the Wiki. They're also resized to around 50k, for example, this picture from Andreas, is 2,4 mb. It means Andreas' picc is around 50 times "heavier" than any of mine and that gallery shows somewhat more than 100. In other words, all my pics take less space then 3 of those.
Blogs also have unlimited storage and often for free while the Wiki depends of an anual payment. If for any reason the payment is stopped, the access is lost.
Obviously I am not suggesting your idea is not good, I am just trying to share what I know.

Thoroughly enjoying this topic!

Species: Dicronorhina micans (Drury, 1773)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: 4D Master
Series: Bug & Creature World
Year of Release: unknown
Size/Scale: body length 6.0 cm, putting in the 1:1 scale range for a large specimen
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique or very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Being a puzzle figure, substantial assembly required (this figure comes in 19 pieces)

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Zaire
Habitat: Rainforests
Diet: Larvae live in soil and feed on decaying vegetation and other organic matter; adults are attracted to nectar, overripe fruit, and sap flows.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A
Miscellaneous Notes: This species is easy to rear and is popular with people in the beetle cultivation trade.

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Species: Lepisosteus osseus (Linnaeus, 1758) (longnose gar)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Replica Toy Fish Company
Series: 3 Inch Collection
Year of Release: Unknown (c. 2015)
Size/Scale: Figure 9.7 cm long, scale 1:7-1:18.5
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Replica Toy Fish made at least two versions of this species; this one, and a larger six-inch model

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Eastern and Central North America into Mexico
Habitat: Sluggish pools, backwaters and oxbows of medium to large rivers, and lakes; sometimes brackish water in coastal areas
Diet: Small fish, insects, and crustaceans
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: These large and primitive fish are popular game fish in North America

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Very Nice fish, and beautiful photo.

Oh, I've seen this species in Lausanne's aquarium in Switzerland

wonderful pictures!

Species: Hexarthrius mandibularis Deyrolle, 1881

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Sega
Series: Mushi King - Beetle Magnet
Year of Release: Unknown
Size/Scale: Body and mandible length 4.0 cm, making it 1:2.5-1:3 for a maximum male, depending on subspecies
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Common
Miscellaneous Notes: There are several series by Sega in the Mushi King line. This figure is from a set of small figures with a magnet on the ventral side. This species is somewhat of a standard among Japanese companies; it is one of nine in my collection so expect more in the future ;-).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Indonesia
Habitat: Rainforests
Diet: Larvae feed on rotting hardwoods; adults are attracted to tree sap.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): N/A
Miscellaneous Notes: There are two subspecies, H. m. mandibularis endemic to Kalimantan, Borneo, and H. m. sumatranus endemic to Sumatra.

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Really looking forward to following this! And of course for when you reach any member of the canid family!

Bonnie wrote:

Really looking forward to following this! And of course for when you reach any member of the canid family!

Hi [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] - I do have some canids, just one of each species really (although for the wolf I have gray wolf, Arctic wolf, dingo, and one domestic dog) - so, there will be dogs sometime. I use a random number generator, so I have no idea when ;-)

What an interesting idea, I had been following your Synoptic Collection for a while on Animal Toy Forum and learnt many species! And excited for the canids! Although until they come I am sure there will be many interesting species!