Mathison Museum of Natural History

Species: Parantica sita (Kollar, 1844) (chestnut tiger, larva)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Shine-G
Series: Lavae Moei
Year of Release: unknown
Size/Scale: Figure width 4.5 cm. Measured along midline, body length 6.0 cm for a scale of 1.5:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Rare
Miscellaneous Notes: The Larvae Moei collection consists of stylized larvae of lepidopterans (and one hymenopteran). They are also 'strap' figures, but the cord unscrews easily leaving a small, non-obtrusive hole. To my knowledge, this was the first figure of P. sita produced. Kaiyodo would later make a more realistic larva for their Capsule Q Museum line (2013) and Ikimon would make an acrylic mascot for their Science Techni Colour line (2017), the latter of which is merely a photograph of the butterfly embedded in acrylic (to my knowlegde, there are no PVC figures of an adult P. sita available yet).

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Himalayan Mountains in Central Asia; Southeast Asia to Malaysia; Japan
Habitat: Forests, rainforests
Diet: Larvae feed on plants in the family Apocynaceae (dogbanes, milkweeds); adults take nectar from flowers
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Like other danaine butterflies, the distasteful P. sita is mimicked by other butterfly species. Parantica sita is mimicked by the Aldania mimic (Aldania imitans), Cyclosia notabilis, the Circe (Hestina nama), and the tawny mime (Papilio agestor).

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beautiful model and display!

Another Shine-G mysterious figure

EDIT February 20, 2022: I have come to realize I had the identification of this figure wrong for year. It has been corrected to Ornithoptera euphorion.


Species: Ornithoptera euphorion (Gray, 1852) (Cairns birdwing)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Insect Lore
Series: Big Bunch-O Butterflies
Year of Release: 2013
Size/Scale: wingspan 6.0 cm for a scale approximately 1:2
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Uncommon to rare
Miscellaneous Notes: For the longest time on the forums, I had butterflies of this color pattern identified as something in the genus Euphaedra, assuming it was painted after the underside of a forester. However, after re-examining the Club Earth figure of O. euphorion, I realized this is probably just a highly stylized variation of that species. The CE figure has some subtle purple-pink on its forewings, but not nearly as exaggerated as on today's figure.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Coastal north Queensland, Australia
Habitat: Rainforests
Diet: Larvae feed on plants in the genera Aristolochia and Pararistolochia; adults are attracted to flowers
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Least Concern
Miscellaneous Notes: Ornithoptera euphorion is sexually dimorphic. Males are smaller (wingspans to 12.5 cm) and have green on the dorsal and ventral sides of the wings. The females are larger (wingspans to 15 cm) and lack the green.

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beautiful colours on this species and beautiful display!

Species: Dynastes neptunus (Quensel, 1817) (Neptune beetle)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Subarudo
Series: Forest Insects EX
Year of Release: 2006
Size/Scale: Body length (including horns) 12.5 cm, within scale 1:1
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Common
Miscellaneous Notes: This is our third look at this species in the Museum. This sculpt was originally used by Takara Tomy A.R.T.S. in 2004 (or earlier), and has been used by them since, as the two companies are linked and frequently shared sculpts. Assembly is required and the final product is articulated. This set had four 'standard' figures, each of which came with a piece of the 'chase' figure, a large D. hercules. One must collect all four to fully assemble the D. hercules figure.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela
Habitat: Rainforests
Diet: Larvae feed in rotting wood within treeholes of living trees, including Alchornea, Ocotea, and Urera; adults attracted to overripe fruit and sap flows.
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: Dynastes neptunus is one of the longest beetle species, with major males reaching a lengh of 16.0 cm (including horns). The related D. hercules is longer, however, at 18.8 cm.

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Wonderful model and picture!

Species: Danaus plexippus (Linnaeus, 1758) (monarch)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: US Toy
Series: Butterfly Collection
Year of Release: unknown
Size/Scale: Wingspan 8.5 cm for a scale of 1:1.2 (slightly under 1:1 for a small specimen)
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Common
Miscellaneous Notes: This is the fourth time we have seen D. plexippus in the Museum. Not surprising, considering it is the most commonly-made butterfly at the species level. This figure was part of a set I bought at a dollar store years ago, but I have seen them marketed by US Toy.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: North, Central, and South America, the Caribbean, the Azores, Canary Islands, North Africa, Australia, the Philippines, and South Pacific islands; rare stray to the United Kingdom
Habitat: Fields, forests, gardens, disturbed areas
Diet: Larvae feed on milkweeds in the family Apocynaceae, most commonly members of the genus Asclepias; adults take nectar from a variety of flowers
NatureServe Status (at time of posting): Apparently Secure
Miscellaneous Notes: In North America, D. plexippus forms a mimicry ring with the viceroy (Limenitis archippus). Because both species are believed to be distasteful to would-be predators, this is considered an example of Müllerian mimicry.

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beautiful species and display!

Another unknown brand for me

Species: Iconaster longimanus (Mobius, 1859) (icon star)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Play Visions
Series: Starfish
Year of Release: 1996
Size/Scale: Armspan 5.7 cm for a scale of 1:5.3
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Unique [see below]
Miscellaneous Notes: The Play Visions starfish were also released by an unknown (?) company that are just as good as the originals, at least in terms of the quality of the plastic and the paint jobs. The only difference is this other release doesn't have the common English name stamped on the underside, as Play Visions does with their figures. They are marked with 'S.H.' however, which could refer to the Hong Kong-based company, Shing Hing Toys. It is likely this second company worked with whoever originally produced the PV figures (assuming they didn't produce them themselves). Today's figure is one of those specifically marketed by Play Visions, but a couple that are likely to come up in the future are from this alternate set/company.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Indo-Pacific
Habitat: Coral reefs, usually on lower slopes at depths of 5-230 meters
Diet: Epilithic algae
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Not Evaluated
Miscellaneous Notes: There are multiple phenotypes of I. longimanus. The nominate form around Singapore and the Philippines has irregular brown checkering of the arms. The Play Visions figure shown here, on the other hand, appears to be painted after the Australian phenotype. It is currently unknown whether these phenotypic differences represent different species, or clinal variation across its range.

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A rare figure

When these sea stars were released, Shing Hing was operating already. We also don't know that set as being produced by Wing Mau so it is a possibility that I tend to think as quite plausible.
Shing Hing has two own brands, Wenno and Animal World, I believe these smaller figures marked 'S.H.' may be from the Animal World line.
Here is a set of Animal World Wetland figures made by Shing Hing. If anyone owns these and they're marked S.H:, the mistery is solved.

very beautiful picture!

Roger wrote:

When these sea stars were released, Shing Hing was operating already. We also don't know that set as being produced by Wing Mau so it is a possibility that I tend to think as quite plausible.
Shing Hing has two own brands, Wenno and Animal World, I believe these smaller figures marked 'S.H.' may be from the Animal World line.
Here is a set of Animal World Wetland figures made by Shing Hing. If anyone owns these and they're marked S.H:, the mistery is solved.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] - I have had some of the insects in that 'Wetlands' collection; they are cheap figures that show up in dollar stores. The more I look into it, Shing Hing figures tend to be very cheap chinamals, not what we come to expect from Play Visions. My guess is Shing Hing is not the producer of PV-like figures.

Species: Aldabrachelys gigantea (Schweigger, 1812) (Aldabra giant tortoise)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Colorata
Series: Endangered Species Reptile Box
Year of Release: 2004
Size/Scale: Figure length 7.3 cm. Carapace length 5.5 cm for a scale of 1:16-1:25
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: To my knowledge there are only two figures specifically marketed as A. gigantea, this figure and one in the original Primary Color Chelonia Book by Yujin. Interestingly however, the 2014 Galapagos tortoise by Papo appears to have been sculpted based on an Aldabra tortoise, as it possesses a nuchal scute, which is frequently present in Aldabra tortoises but never in Galapagos tortoises.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Various islands in the Seychelles, with the largest population on the Aldabra Atoll. Smaller populations live on Cerf, Moyenne, Silhouette, Cousin, Cousine, Bird, Denis, Amiarantes; also Changu Island, Tanzania.
Habitat: Scrub forests, mangrove swamps, coastal dunes and beaches, platins
Diet: Plants
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Vulnerable
Miscellaneous Notes: Like other tortoises, A. gigantea has a very long lifespan. They are often difficult to measure because they tend to outlive their human observers! "Jonathan" is an Aldabra giant tortoise that lives on Saint Helena in the Seychelles; he is believed to be 189 years old and possibly the oldest living tortoise. Jonathan lives on the grounds of the local governor, and is cared for by the government, possibly artificially extending his already naturally long life.

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A nice figure

Very realistic! I love the contrast between the shiny shell and more wrinkly feet!

I love it! I've never seen them as a model before. I worked with these guys for a summer (in a zoo, not in situ unfortunately) and they quickly became one of my favorites. This model reminds me of Patches, the female I worked with.

Intersting informations about the Aldabra Giant Tortoise. On TAW (Aldabra Giant Tortoise), we have listed some more figures. Although I don´t know who made the identification and why, especially for the Schleich figure.

Maybe there is some work to do, the same for the Galapagos Tortoise page

Really interesting information. I was never brave enough to try to guess the exact species of these giant tortoises, even the way they are listed on TAW have a poor participation from my part and I prefer to trust the identification provided by other editors.

bmathison1972 wrote:

Roger wrote:

When these sea stars were released, Shing Hing was operating already. We also don't know that set as being produced by Wing Mau so it is a possibility that I tend to think as quite plausible.
Shing Hing has two own brands, Wenno and Animal World, I believe these smaller figures marked 'S.H.' may be from the Animal World line.
Here is a set of Animal World Wetland figures made by Shing Hing. If anyone owns these and they're marked S.H:, the mistery is solved.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] - I have had some of the insects in that 'Wetlands' collection; they are cheap figures that show up in dollar stores. The more I look into it, Shing Hing figures tend to be very cheap chinamals, not what we come to expect from Play Visions. My guess is Shing Hing is not the producer of PV-like figures.

Hard to know, Shing Hing shows a wide variety of figures from large to small, from Chinamal to decent from solide to hollow, etc. Not being spectacular in any way, I own these squirrels from S.H. and they show a quality I would expect from Play Visions even if these designs were never used by the North American brand as far as we know.

Duck-Anch-Amun wrote:

Intersting informations about the Aldabra Giant Tortoise. On TAW (Aldabra Giant Tortoise), we have listed some more figures. Although I don´t know who made the identification and why, especially for the Schleich figure.

Maybe there is some work to do, the same for the Galapagos Tortoise page

My guess is most of those Aldabra tortoises on TAI are community-based and not what the manufacturer marketed them as...

Species: Perodictus potto (Müller, 1766) (potto)

About the Figure:
Manufacturer: Play Visions
Series: Lemurs & Prosimians
Year of Release: 1999
Size/Scale: Head-and-body length 4.5 cm for a scale of 1:6.6-1:8.6
Frequency of species in toy/figure form (at time of posting): Very rare
Miscellaneous Notes: This is probably one of the most sought-after figures in the one of the most sought-after sets by Play Visions. I got mine fairly recently in a large eBay lot.

About the Animal:
Geographic distribution: Equatorial West Africa
Habitat: Rainforests
Diet: Primarily fruit, also tree gums and insects
IUCN Status (at time of posting): Near Threatened
Miscellaneous Notes: Perodictus potto has few natural predators due to its nocturnal and arboreal habits. They are often hidden in dense vegetation and have the ability to remain motionless for long periods of time. They occasionally eaten by African palm civets, and less commonly by chimpanzees. They are also hunted by humans for bushmeat.

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