Spacelab's Collection FINAL PART.

OK, a flightless presentation if we compare with the previous but a very beautiful picture with really nice figures. I suppose a emu baby will join it. Song is also very good, I listened it twice and does it worth to investigate Dark Day? curiously, I have spent all the time thinking about the penguins video you presented before while listening this song, I think it goes nicely with penguins too.

Wonderful birds, I really love that kiwi as the texture looks so realistic and fluffy! The CollectA cassowary is beautifully made too, all these flightless birds look just like their real counterparts!

Thanks Andreas & Bonnie, I like the fluffy effect too!:)

Roger wrote:

OK, a flightless presentation if we compare with the previous but a very beautiful picture with really nice figures. I suppose a emu baby will join it. Song is also very good, I listened it twice and does it worth to investigate Dark Day? curiously, I have spent all the time thinking about the penguins video you presented before while listening this song, I think it goes nicely with penguins too.

You know I don't buy babies, I think the only one I ever bought intentionally was the Asian elephant. So no, this group will grow only if a Rhea sneaks in..

Dark Day was a short-lived music project of a New Yorker called Robin Crutchfield. Two albums from 1980 to 1982, minimal electronic sound, in the vein of the song I posted but usually with more lyrics. Obscure and artistic. I like them.  Sure it goes great with Penguins, they are flightless birds too, huh?
What's funny, is that after 3 decades I re-discovered him on facebook, he looks like Santa now and making some wooly spiral elves hats.. These:

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And he commented on these:
"My recent interest in circular crochet creating spiral hats brings my history in music full circle. Most of my music incorporates cyclical patterns of quarternotes, also called crotchet. The crochet hook was derived from the crook which preceded the crutch for standing, in a field, guarding sheep, that produced wool for looping through a hook to create a field of fabric (Crutchfield). There is some strange spiral logic in the cosmos after all."

I think you spoiled and unmuted my most minimalistic post Roger.  

I missed the crocodilians! Splendid crocs and ratites both! And music too of course.

A park near me has a couple leucistic gators, perhaps if you get a white one it can be also. Yes much more rare than the albinos. And they'd still have an impossible time in the wild.

spacelab wrote:

Thanks Andreas & Bonnie, I like the fluffy effect too!:)

Roger wrote:

OK, a flightless presentation if we compare with the previous but a very beautiful picture with really nice figures. I suppose a emu baby will join it. Song is also very good, I listened it twice and does it worth to investigate Dark Day? curiously, I have spent all the time thinking about the penguins video you presented before while listening this song, I think it goes nicely with penguins too.

You know I don't buy babies, I think the only one I ever bought intentionally was the Asian elephant. So no, this group will grow only if a Rhea sneaks in..

Dark Day was a short-lived music project of a New Yorker called Robin Crutchfield. Two albums from 1980 to 1982, minimal electronic sound, in the vein of the song I posted but usually with more lyrics. Obscure and artistic. I like them.  Sure it goes great with Penguins, they are flightless birds too, huh?
What's funny, is that after 3 decades I re-discovered him on facebook, he looks like Santa now and making some wooly spiral elves hats.. These:



And he commented on these:
"My recent interest in circular crochet creating spiral hats brings my history in music full circle. Most of my music incorporates cyclical patterns of quarternotes, also called crotchet. The crochet hook was derived from the crook which preceded the crutch for standing, in a field, guarding sheep, that produced wool for looping through a hook to create a field of fabric (Crutchfield). There is some strange spiral logic in the cosmos after all."

I think you spoiled and unmuted my most minimalistic post Roger.  

I love those weird connections but the fact is that everything is linked.
Yes, surely penguins are flightless birds and probably it brought them to my mind.
Who will make a decent rhea? Mojo will surely release an ostrich first. Papo just released emus, not something to expect on Schleich range but we never know but I guess Schleich will go for a kiwi. Maybe Safari or CollectA but Safari is clearly in economy mode and CollectA is now releasing more popular species. I can't complain, when I started collecting we only had ostriches, other species were only available through alternative brands and often not compatible in terms of size. We now even can discuss now which emu is the best when all 3 available are very good and the two cassowaries are superb models.

I missed a few posts those last months but I'm glad I am coming back with ostriches, kiwi and incredible hats

I've only just noticed what they've done with the back of that male ostrich's feet so he stands without a full sculpted base, I'm not sure if I like it or not - at first glance it looks like he gained an extra backward-facing toe, but I bet from the front it looks better than being on a base would.
The emu is my favourite, though - we have one at work and I'm just imagining the look on his face if I held out a mini emu on the palm of my hand for a comparison photo

Kikimalou wrote:

I missed a few posts those last months but I'm glad I am coming back with ostriches, kiwi and  incredible hats  

Good to see you're back, last time I saw you, was in the lions den and I was worried.. Yeah, the hats are the top of the cake!

George wrote:

I've only just noticed what they've done with the back of that male ostrich's feet.........  

Yes, this was the trick. Much better than a base, it doesn't show at all from the front view and the bird is very stable. The Southlands Emu is my favourite too and a photo like that would be much fun!

Part 22: Mustelids, Viverrids etc..

I'm not doing a taxonomic presentation, some mammals that I just wanted to fit in this part..

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photo 1 - L to R
Wolverine (Schleich 2011)
Black-footed Ferret (Yowies 2016)
Ermine (Mojo 2016)
Eurasian Badger (Collecta 2006)
Honey Badger (Mojo 2013)

photo 2 - L to R
Meerkat (Schleich 2007)
Meerkat's "almost" identical cousin (Schleich 2007)
African Civet(Collecta 2018)
Striped Skunk (Schleich 2012)
Striped Skunk (Collecta 2010)

photo 3 - L to R
Raccoon (Schleich 2010)
Eurasian Otter (Schleich 2013)
North American River Otter(Collecta 2006)
Red Panda (Collecta 2012)
Red Panda (Schleich 2020)


My daughter insisted that I should keep both Meerkats, because "they are not the same, they're just cousins and they look happier together" and I noticed she was right. In fact, these are variations of a great old model.  Paige sent me this Black-footed Ferret and without being a Yowies connoisseur, I believe it's one of their best models. See how nice it matches this "Big Brands" line-up.
I got the Mojo Honey Badger some months ago because surprisingly it was not glossy anymore... I guess Mojo fixed that ugly effect. I'm using the CollectA old Otter as a North American one. I believe it matches much better this subspecies and I would be interested to know if your view is different.  
Finally, I think CollectA needs new Red Panda and Skunks...

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The Dancing Did - Badger Boys (1982)
Another short-lived English post-punk band. They just released one album and some singles. It's interesting how they fitted their folk influences in their sound, they are definitely a "mysterious" band. I love their album artwork, no badgers in it, but a fantastic pencil painting, it shows in the video-still.
I'm not sure what a "Badger Boy" actually is, I can imagine though. Maybe an English member can enlighten me some more, I mean why this expression and if it is used in our time..




Now, let's move to a record artwork that is very special..

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Badger ‎- One Live Badger (1973)

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This is a very old progressive rock album, not exactly my collecting music subject, but since I had the rare chance to find the original UK version it was impossible to resist. The cover picture is really good and sure there are two badgers on it, so it fits my concept here. But what is even better, is to see what happens when you open the gatefold sleeve....

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A POP-UP GIANT BADGER IS REVEALED!!!  

One more view...

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...and I'm gone.

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One of my favorite groups of animals. The winter ermine is gorgeous in your photo!

I love this group, it has so many lovely models! I love the Mojo ermine, the white colour really makes it stand out! And the Schleich otter is wonderful too, very realistic! The pop up badger is great fun too!

Nice choice again

I have almost the same (but not the hermine because of its size)!

Caracal wrote:

I have almost the same (but not the hermine because of its size)!

I totally understand, I was hesitating too, but it looked so lovely in the store that I could not resist. I don't regret it at all!

Thank you all!

I also love these small mammals, I tend to have more than one representative of each species.
African civet, is the nicest of this batch, you don't have Schleich 2011 European badger or it would be a great competitor too. Your Mojo honey badger is particularly beautiful as well as the hermine.
I agree for red panda, I think nobody made a really fantastic one. Your kid is right about meerkats, they love to stand together and when there's no brothers, there are always cousins.
I find it interesting that you're using the CollectA otter as a North American river otter. The long neck contributes to it and it is good to remember that the first generation of CollectA woodlands models, despite being supposed to represent European species, their first generation of deers, were marketed as red deers but they are white-tailed deers instead, a North American subspecies. Thus, it won't be surprising if the otter was based on a North American river otter. They are not easy to tell, probably it deserved a dedicated discussion.

Badger boy... You are really a 80's music Wiki Kostas  Never heard about this brand and this song...
Looking at your post, I was thinking about a band from my town Lille, they called themselves "les Blaireaux" (the badgers).

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Caracal wrote:

I have almost the same (but not the hermine because of its size)!

I have "almost" the same too   Honey Badger (Mojo 2013), African Civet(Collecta 2018), Striped Skunk (Schleich 2012) and River Otter(Collecta 2006).

Indeed you have a different collection from mine and I'm always very pleased to discover your taste and choices, this allows me to take a step back on my own choices.  

Roger wrote:

I agree for red panda, I think nobody made a really fantastic one.

At that size, the only one that is not a miss is the Bullyland for me.

Kikimalou wrote:

Looking at your post, I was thinking about a band from my town Lille, they called themselves "les Blaireaux" (the badgers).

Haha, kudos for the sarcasm in their compilation album title "On Aurait Dû Changer De Nom".. I appreciate these kind of details. I don't know the band, I checked them, their style is what we categorize in the genre chanson, in a more contemporary vein. Amusing to me.
The only band I can remember from your hometown is Trisomie 21 (or T21 sometimes), I own most of their records. Nothing to do with badgers though..

Kikimalou wrote:

Roger wrote:

I agree for red panda, I think nobody made a really fantastic one.

At that size, the only one that is not a miss is the Bullyland for me.

Sure, that's my red panda too but this animal already deserves a figure that represents a step forward. It is almost unbelievable how all brands, except Bullyland, can't really make a good one. There are the Japanese but I've never had those in my hands.

I think the Schleich sculpt is very good. A better and more detailed paintjob could transform it in a great model I suppose. But I agree, a ready to buy superb model is still missing..

There is also Skip the Use

Thanks for making me discover the black-footed ferret from Yowies ! Before you started your thread, I was convinced that I would knew more or lass what you would be presenting, since we share similar tastes and talked quite a lot by PM. But your collection manages to surprise me.

It indeed matches greatly the major brands mustelids and this is an interesting endangered species. Yet, it's maybe a bit dark but that's just a detail.

Glad to know that I can order the honey badger pair now, the glossy effect bothered me a lot.

The Pop-up badger is funny, reminds me of the books for children I sell in my shop.

Part 23: Sirenia

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L to R
Dugong(Collecta 2016)
Manatee (Schleich 2021)

My 2 sirens. I didn't even shoot the photo properly, but this is rather an opportunistic post to revisit mythology and listen to a beautiful song.
It's somehow hard to understand why this name was chosen for these mammals, since they don't look like sirens, I don't think they have seductive voices or play the lyre and for sure they don't have wings...
Sirens existed in Greek mythology in variations, but they are mostly notorious for appearing in Homer's Odyssey as dangerous birds with enchanting voices and women heads. Like this:
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So, the person that chose the name for our awkward dugongs and manatees had to be a misogynist or a bird-hater...
..OR...
..believing wiki, there seems to be a legend of lonely sailors mistaken them for mermaids, but still mermaids are nothing like sirens, though I understand that a confusion like this might exist on people's mind. Sirens and Mermaids were "merged" in the Middle Ages in a much more "commercial" profile that was proper for the concept of the Arts of those times. Seduction.
And this leads us to the song:

This Mortal Coil - Song To the Siren (1983)

Well I'm as puzzled as a newborn child
I'm as riddled as the tide
Should I stand amid the breakers?
Or should I lie with death my bride?

This Mortal Coil is not a proper band, it's a collective of musicians from the 4AD label, led and curated by its boss. The song is a cover version of a Tim Buckley composition from 1970, but this version is and will be the best ever done. Performed by Robin Guthrie on guitar and atmosphere treatments and sung by Liz Fraser's haunting voice, both of the amazing Cocteau Twins. Words seem poor to describe the sentiments that an Art at its best can bring, like a fountain overflowing. A love song or a funeral song, it's up to the individual.

2 beautiful models I don't have!

Nice figures. Julie would like that