Takara Tomy Ania Snarling Lion Figure Walkaround

I finally got this figure today after quite some time fearing that it may have been lost in transit. I ordered it from Japan, so the wait time was already pretty long, only for it to spend several days stuck at a distribution center on the way to my house. Unfortunately, I can't really say it was worth the wait. I've been so excited to finally get this figure, but found myself disappointed upon opening the box. The stock photo makes it seem as if the head is turned fully to the side (not unlike the Schleich lion used in the side comparison) but it's actually facing forward, just like the other two male lions sold by Takara. I maneuvered it every way I could without breaking it, but could not for the life of me get it to the match the photo on the box. At the most it just kind of looks like it has a kink in its neck. The lion is nicely detailed, though the head being on a ball does make it look weird at certain angles. For the limited range of motion it gets I'd have just preferred it to just be fixed in place, rather than dealing with the detachment of the mane from the body. It's not a bad figure by any means, but the false advertisement has soured my opinion a bit.

I'll be posting a walkaround for the accompanying meerkat figure later.

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

Nice pictures, thanks

It has lovely anatomical detail and the head is beautiful! Considering it's slightly smaller too, I just love how they have kept it all in proportion!

Ania series is quite different from the traditional Gashapon style, those are more like Playmobil but obviously nicer. The way they photographed the figure to show on box is obviously to turn it more attractive to the consumer, in that way they can show the body and the face. Considering how terrible are some lion figures, I would say this model is pleasant enough .
I assume the meerkat does not have articulation.

Roger wrote:

Ania series is quite different from the traditional Gashapon style, those are more like Playmobil but obviously nicer. The way they photographed the figure to show on box is obviously to turn it more attractive to the consumer, in that way they can show the body and the face. Considering how terrible are some lion figures, I would say this model is pleasant enough .
I assume the meerkat does not have articulation.

My issue is that I'm not convinced that is the product in the photo. I think it's probably a prototype, because I tried multiple angles and positions and could not get the figure to match up. It leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth the same way as figures and plushies whose stock photos are much more detailed than the actual product. And no, the meerkat is not articulated. I'll post my walkaround of that later.

widukind wrote:

Nice pictures, thanks

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Bonnie wrote:

It has lovely anatomical detail and the head is beautiful! Considering it's slightly smaller too, I just love how they have kept it all in proportion!

It's certainly more in proportion than a lot of lion figures. So many of them have huge heads compared to their bodies.

Thank you for this interesting and great made it walkaround :)
It is nice to see this model, which I didn`t know.
It is a nice looking, small lion.
I like how they made the mane and also the expression of the face.
But it is strange that they made the nails visible , something which is only tipical for cheetahs.
And talking about cheetahs, I also have an interesting Takara Tomi model, waiting to be presented here. It is a new cheetah :)

costicuba wrote:

Thank you for this interesting and great made it walkaround :)
It is nice to see this model, which I didn`t know.
It is a nice looking, small lion.
I like how they made the mane and also the expression of the face.
But it is strange that they made the nails visible , something which is only tipical for cheetahs.
And talking about cheetahs, I also have an interesting Takara Tomi model, waiting to be presented here. It is a new cheetah :)

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Is the cheetah the snarling one? I thought about getting that one but was put off by the tiny head, and since Covid happened the shipping prices from Japan have skyrocketed, so I still haven't picked it up. Would love to see a turnaround to get a better idea of how it looks in real life.

VexVamp wrote:

Roger wrote:

Ania series is quite different from the traditional Gashapon style, those are more like Playmobil but obviously nicer. The way they photographed the figure to show on box is obviously to turn it more attractive to the consumer, in that way they can show the body and the face. Considering how terrible are some lion figures, I would say this model is pleasant enough .
I assume the meerkat does not have articulation.

My issue is that I'm not convinced that is the product in the photo. I think it's probably a prototype, because I tried multiple angles and positions and could not get the figure to match up. It leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth the same way as figures and plushies whose stock photos are much more detailed than the actual product. And no, the meerkat is not articulated. I'll post my walkaround of that later.

They can do easily a good photoshop with two pictures from slightly different angles but it is surely a prototype, these boxes need to be ready when the production starts. I opened a page on TAW where I will also put the meerkat as soon as you present it and instead of using all your pictures I am adding links to the corresponding topics. It is nice Kosta will present the mighty cheetah too.

Yes, that`s the cheetah I am talking about :)
I got mine from Aliexpress where the shipping is not much ( or often free ) .
I think the head of it is just the right size. And I like the model because of the nice pose , and good proportions. Only the tail is a bit short.
And maybe because the model is very small, they took off the nails from it and puted it on the lion
I will try to make a walkaround these days :)

costicuba wrote:

Yes, that`s the cheetah I am talking about :)
I got mine from Aliexpress where the shipping is not much ( or often free ) .
I think the head of it is just the right size. And I like the model because of the nice pose , and good proportions. Only the tail is a bit short.
And maybe because the model is very small, they took off the nails from it and puted it on the lion  
I will try to make a walkaround these days :)

You're our expert in nails and teeth.

It's a good looking lion!!