Super package from Susanne!!! 5th part, a vacuum cleaner and a childhood friend.

I often don't post my arrivals but it is quite unfair to all the people who gives me so many great figures.
This time I couldn't avoid since I received a super package from Susanne. It is so unbelievable that I will present in parts.
For now most of the birds of my wish list but next days I will show other more impressive gifts, among them horses, prehistoric animals and a little new subject I am starting.

I will begin with these two magpies. Don't get scared with my pictures, there are loads of good ones on forum.
The tall bird is the Science and Nature Australian magpie, it is not a magpie not even a corvid. It is a large songbird. The other model is the new Papo star, the European magpie. This new Chinese factory working with Papo is really doing a good job. Sculpts are very realistic and figures are correctly designed. I enjoy the fact they used a softer material for the tail. The legs are as delicate as possible and the figure stands correctly even without the help of the tail and not needing a base.

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

This pair of fishers is incredible. I wasn't expecting the kingfisher to be such a small figure. It is less challenging than most of the other models, in terms of sculpt the bill with the little fish is what really gives some animation to the figure. However, the painting is very interesting with all these colors and all these spots on the wings and the cap.
I was so excited about the African fish eagle and I was right. It is a fantastic model!  I really love this kind of figures. The Southlands wedge-tailed eagle hunting a snake or the Reisler golden eagle  hunting a fox are similar examples in my collection.

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

The Papo European spoonbill, another figure I wanted so much. It is a fact the species is similar to the black-faced spoonbill released by CollectA but this is the real iconic European bird.
Papo did not forget the bright tip of the bill or the black legs. The pose is quite graceful with the twisted neck and slightly turned head. Love also the feathers on nap.

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

To finish the first part, these two birds. The Bullyland great military macaw. A huge but impressive model. Incredible all the effort Bullyland dedicated to this figure and what an unusual species choice. It displays wonderfully and the way they worked the tail is fantastic! While Bullyland figures get larger, Papo figures get smaller.
One of them is this little but very beautiful hummingbird. What a clever painting this figurereceived!  

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

Next days I will present other even more impressive gifts Susanne included in this super package!

The Bullyland macaw is really splendid. I like too the spoonbill.

Hurray Susanne

Big, super Hurray for our wonderful Susanne !
I love all models here on part one , perfect choise !
Like Jean Luck sais : My wish have wings
And I am very excited to see what is in part two ( I know some of... )
And soon I will also sho a very similar ''Super package'' from Susanne

Superb additions! The Bullyland macaw is stunning!

Some very happy birds have found their new, great home

They could not have got a better caretaker

I love the birds. All are must haves

Thanks friends for welcoming my arrivals! Kosta, I am looking forward to see your super package too.

The biggest surprise gift of this super package was this PNSO Dinosaur. This invasion of gifts from Susanne started because I asked her help to obtain a prehistoric figure that I will show later.
I probably shared my dilemma about getting this one or my second EoFauna model and I decided for the Eofauna. though, I always wanted a PNSO dinosaur and Susanne apparently does not like dilemmas and included this model too.  
This choice is probably weird when there are so many options but this is a "Portuguese" dinosaur called Miragaia which is also the name of a Portuguese location. I also love the interpretation that was given to this model. The colors are also very attractive and very reminescent of the famous sunflower fields of the South of Portugal

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

It is not my first PNSO since I have the large fennec fox but it is my first PNSO dino and actually I have almost no dinosaurs in my collection.
Now I understand why these figures are sold in boxes, these plates  are really sharp  and they're not soft at  all! Also you need to be careful handling this figure because the tail spikes really hurt.
the pose and sculpting quality is phenomenal. If this is a good demonstration of PNSO dinosaurs, I a am absolutely impressed! If you want to see decent pictures of it, please [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Soon I will show more crazy arrivals!

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

Wow, these photos , show us, an espectacular model.

Nice pose and beautiful colors.

I have the macaw (well, everything in this page so far). The macaw really isn't that big. It appears bigger than it is because its wings and tail are flared out and it's on a base, but the body size is comparable to macaws by Papo and Mojo (maybe Safari too)

Ohh, dear ! Tell Rosanna that her old mum does not approve of her hurting people

Or perhaps she is just a little confused after the long travel ?

As we see in the below fantastic photo, she really is an unusually sweet dino

Roger wrote:

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

What a beautiful Miragaia. Can you show a close photo from it's face, please?

Thanks Everyone. Blaine, you might be right, I will check it later. Fernando, it is really beautiful, PNSO developers were really inspired. Susanne, actually it is quite cute but Rosana started wagging her tail of excitment since she knew she was in Portugal.

Tupolew Tu-154 wrote:

What a beautiful Miragaia. Can you show a close photo from it's face, please?

I hope it is what you want, ignore the background, it is a Jurassic corner in my house.

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

Wow - what a package! This is really an absolutely great gift! I think, it leaves you speechless when
you opened the package and unwrapped everything one by one. Beautiful figures, especially the birds
Big hurray for Susanne!!

It hasn't finished yet. I am showing these models gradually to be able of enjoying them with all the fun they deserve.
I think this guy is the guilty one since I asked Susanne's help to get the new Eofauna Konobelodon. My excitment with the straight-tusked elephant Kosta gave me, was so huge that I decided to get another Eofauna model!
My immpact with Eofauna was the most positive possible. I wanted one more Eofauna and I took so long to decid between the Deinotherium and the stepe Mammoth, that Eofauna announced a new proboscidian and a much more interesting species.
It is the Konobelodon and it is at the same scale as the straight-tusked elephant. For example, the mammoth was made in a smaller scale. Susanne didn't gave me a chance and she "forced" me to accept it as a gift too.
Replying to Yvette, I don't even know how to react to such an enormous gift box... ... I think the only way is to enjoy all these phenomenal figures and enjoy my luck for having such generous friends.

Here is my new beast! Another masterpiece from Eofauna and despite the somewhat similar pose, it does not present any kind of balance issues when compared with my other model.

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

Here a comparison. Oh God, I love so much these Eofauna models but I have to stop or I won't have a place to sleep.
The straight-tusked elephant is more massive and still my favorite of the whole series but this Konobelodon couldn't be better, it is just the fact that the other elephant is a more impressive creature what turns it more appealing to me.

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


I still have the best affordable horse figures in the world to show and a new vacuum cleaner and its little friend.

That konobeladon is just stunning! I can't express enough my joy for Eofauna models, they're just spectacular and so well-priced! I ordered the konobeladon and diplodocus 3 weeks ago but they aren't here yet

I love that elephant very, very much also

Awesome!!

Wonderful Miragaîa and Konobelodon! Big congratulations to have so good friends like Susanne or Kosta!

Susanne also included a few horses, of course. It was Susanne, a long time ago, who influenced me decisively to start collecting a few horses.
After seeing the beautiful presentations on forum, I was crazy to know these horses in real.
One was enough to satisfy my curiousity but I received nothing less than three.
I was undecided about Vincenzo, the bowing Andalusian horse, I love black and white/grey horses so, I was leaning towards the grey version but, without any doubts, the Perlino is a much more unusual color.
Susanne simplified it and included both.
I really like best the grey version and I will use one as an Andalusian and another as a Lusitano as George suggested. Lusitano will be the grey one.

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

The third model is the black Sharif, the most beautiful Arabian horse figure I've ever seen.

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

The sculpting quality of these models is irreprochable. They are sold by WIA, a store, I guess and they are pvc versions of Brigitte Eberl sculpts at 1:18 scale.
Eberl's sculpts are among the most fantastic, everybody knows it. though, what is absolutely surprising is the manufacturing quality. These figures are very difficult to translate to small affordable pvc pieces.
They are often retooled from the original clay sculpt for many different reasons.
Especially legs, look at this comparison with the similar concept Papo offered in 2006.
Most people, at the time, collected Schleich horses and on forum, only Susanne and rarely other collectors were paying atention to horses from other brands.
Susanne and I shared the love for this Papo Arabian, its artistic level is quite interesting but it really poses a huge problem. The legs are very thik with huge hooves. Legs are also posed in a very inelegant way. They're quite apart. We often think this is lack of ability or the sculptor doesn't know horse morphology at all. Though, this is a good example where we see clearly the figure was retooled especially to stand better in three legs and also to avoid getting easily with bent legs or even to break easily if a harder pvc formula was used.
The WIA model has very delicate and long legs with proportionate hooves, despite using a dense pvc material similar to Schleich or Papo. That is an eloquent demonstration of the manufacturing competence of REBOR since it is the company that prroduces these figures. I know better legs would not turn the Papo Arabian as good as the WIA model but I am sure they'd be much closer in quality.
Another extraordinary point is the mate finish of this Wia horse, it is not easy to get for a black horse with a smooth texture but REBOR did it!! and it seems the dappled version is also the best among these under 10 Euros horse models.
I know my text goes boring and long but please don't miss these horses, they're probably like Southlands figures and I am not sure they'll be easy to find in the future.

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

REBOR is also manufacturing to other brands but we don't know which ones because often these connections between companies are confidencial.
What I can tell is that the horses are marked Made in P.R.C. like the Papo birds and the plastic protections are similar to those we see on PNSO mdodels. though, it doesn't mean anything.

Here an extra picture with a Schleich horse, a special TWH Yvette helped me to find.

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

I wrote so much that I forgot to thank you all for your comments!

Joliezac wrote:

That konobeladon is just stunning! I can't express enough my joy for Eofauna models, they're just spectacular and so well-priced! I ordered the konobeladon and diplodocus 3 weeks ago but they aren't here yet

I hope your figures arrive soon. If you got them overseas, it is normal they take a long time.
I think we didn't have figures as good as Eofauna when STS started. At least if we talk about relatively affordable figures.

Delightful pictures and grey comparisons

Roger, you don't write too much ! I always learn something when you let your mind free like that. For instance I had no idea that Rebor made models for other compagnies

Absolutely wonderful horses!! Congratulations!!
I got me the new horses as well and I owned the black sharif too. Sadly I broke the front leg...

They are amazingly beautifully sculpted and painted horses! Real masterpieces. I am surprised that Sharif is made of the same PVC as Schleichs. Is it equally rubbery or harder?