Mathison Museum of Natural History

Looks like real

Species: Androctonus australis (Linnaeus, 1758) (yellow fat-tailed scorpion)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Takara Tomy A.R.T.S.
Series: Scorpions
Year of Release: 2012
Size/Scale: Base 5.0 cm long. Body length 5.2 cm for a scale of approximately 1:2
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon
Miscellaneous Notes: The figure sits loosely on its habitat-style base (although I have glued mine to its base to make a permanent diorama). The figure also comes with a flat, round, amber-colored base (not shown here) with the Latin name, Japanese name, and degree of toxicity.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Northern and northeastern Africa, Middle East, Central Asia
Habitat: Deserts
Diet: Insects and other arachnids
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Androctonus australis typically does not burrow into the sand, and is able to withstand severe desert windstorms due to the microsculpture of its exoskeleton.

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fine picture!

Amazingly realistic scorpion!

Wonderful creature and great to know how resilient they are.

Species: Homoderus mellyi Parry, 1862

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Sega
Series: Mushi King, standard series, small
Year of Release: unknown
Size/Scale: Body length (including mandibles) 4.4 cm, within scale 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: The Sega 'small standard series' were 10 sets of 10 figures each, for a total of 100 figures representing roughly 75 species of Lucanidae and dynastine Scarabaeidae. The dates of release are currently unknown to me (c. 2008). The figures were produced in conjunction with Bandai and came with Pokemon-style playing cards. At the time of this writing, I think I have all but two of the species. For a review of the sets, please see here.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Equatorial Africa, including Cameroon, DRC, Uganda
Habitat: Rainforests
Diet: Presumed larvae breed in decaying wood and/or human; adults attracted to sap flows
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: I had trouble finding information on the natural biology of this species. It is commercially bred in Cameroon for the collecting trade and are popular with breeders in terraria.

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Nice display!

Wonderful model, and I'm sure very rare too!

Species: Oncorhynchus keta (Walbaum, 1792) (chum salmon)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Yujin
Series: Freshwater Fish Pictorial Book 1
Year of Release: unknown
Size/Scale: Body length 7.0 cm long, for a scale of approximately 1:8-1:10
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Yujin released their Freshwater Fish collections at least twice (not including combined the box set); I believe this figure is from the first release. Minimal assembly is required and the figure is removable from its base. Other than the Yujin releases, the only figure of O. keta I am immediately aware of is by Colorata.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: North Pacific, from Sea of Japan north to Bering Sea in the west and Alaska to southern California in the east.
Habitat: Benthopelagic, migrating up freshwater rivers to spawn
Diet: Juveniles eat aquatic invertebrates; adults eat smaller fish
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: When eating undercooked or otherwise improperly prepared O. keta, humans are at risk of acquiring zoonotic helminth infections, including Dibothriocephalus nihonkaiensis and anisakid nematodes.

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A fantastic fish by Yujin, and I love how you have taken the photo of it underwater (I think that's right!)!

Bonnie wrote:

A fantastic fish by Yujin, and I love how you have taken the photo of it underwater (I think that's right!)!

It's a diorama that simulated under water; the figure stayed dry ;-)

A really stunning fish. Thanks for presenting it!

bmathison1972 wrote:

Bonnie wrote:

A fantastic fish by Yujin, and I love how you have taken the photo of it underwater (I think that's right!)!

It's a diorama that simulated under water; the figure stayed dry ;-)

Very interesting and a very clever idea! It looks beautiful!

nice fish figure

Species: Hister quadrimaculatus Linnaeus, 1758

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Wing Mau
Series: Insects
Year of Release: unknown
Size/Scale: Body length 4.2 cm for a scale of approximately 4:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique
Miscellaneous Notes: The Wing Mau Insects collection consists of 24 figures representing 23 species of beetles (there are two color variants of Adalia bipunctata). The figures have the Latin name printed on the underside. The figures seem to have been influenced by an Italian poster, Beetles, from 1992, as all the species are represented in that poster (including both variants of Adalia bipunctata) and have the same Latin names assigned to them (this poster hangs in my office; I've had it since 1995). Most of the species in this Wing Mau collection are unique as toys; I recently completed the set with help of STS forum member NMR_Okapi.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Europe
Habitat: Fields, forests, pastures; in dung, carrion, and rotting vegetation
Diet: Soft-bodied invertebrates.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Hister quadrimaculatus is attracted to decaying substrates and feeds on soft-bodied invertebrates that live therein, especially fly larvae. Female beetles lay their eggs in the same substrate and their larvae feed on fly eggs and pupae.

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Very beautiful salmon model and picture!

Beautiful Hister unique model too!

Oh, a Wing Mau catch

Lovely model!

Bonnie wrote:

bmathison1972 wrote:

Bonnie wrote:

A fantastic fish by Yujin, and I love how you have taken the photo of it underwater (I think that's right!)!

It's a diorama that simulated under water; the figure stayed dry ;-)

Very interesting and a very clever idea! It looks beautiful!

Indeed this way of showing fishes is incredibly charming

bmathison1972 wrote:

Species: Hister quadrimaculatus Linnaeus, 1758
Most of the species in this Wing Mau collection are unique as toys; I recently completed the set with help of STS forum member NMR_Okapi.

I think it is one of my favorite part of STS

Caracal wrote:

Very beautiful salmon model and picture!

Beautiful Hister unique model too!

The old Yujin series are gems, insects, frogs, turtles, fishes... GEMS !

Species: Alopias pelagicus Nakamura, 1935 (pelagic thresher shark)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Safari Ltd.
Series: Wild Safari Sealife
Year of Release: 2014
Size/Scale: Body length 17.0 cm for a scale of 1:17-1:20
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: Safari only marketed this figure at the genus level, but the general consensus among collectors is that it is intended to represent A. pelagicus (and I agree with that assessment). I was surprised how few thresher shark figures there are; I would have expected it to be a go-to species. On forum walkarounds and blog reviews, others have noted minor anatomical inaccuracies in this figure, including the lack of nostrils and the lack of a second dorsal fin.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Temperate, subtropical, and tropical Pacific Ocean
Habitat: Pelagic, at depths of 0-300 meters (usually 0-150 meters)
Diet: Fish
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Endangered
Miscellaneous Notes: The true distribution of A. pelagicus is not known, because of historic confusion with the common thresher shark, A. vulpinus.

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Interesting info, and a great model of this underrepresented species!

A beautiful shark! One of my favorite species.

A lovely shark