Safari ltd. 2012 figurines

I'm very disappointed with Safari's 2012' line-up. Here they have a great series in their Wildlife Wonders and they don't keep it going! Don't understand? The new Black Bear kind of fits in with them, but not to make more animals for the series, again, just don't understand! Another stupid corporate decision...

baltimore zoo wrote:

I'm very disappointed with Safari's 2012' line-up. Here they have a great series in their Wildlife Wonders and they don't keep it going! Don't understand? The new Black Bear kind of fits in with them, but not to make more animals for the series, again, just don't understand! Another stupid corporate decision...

The new Black Bear & the new Wolf are BOTH Wildlife Wonders additions, & they look pretty good to me. Do you mean no new species never before produced? BTW, both of the new WW figures are 1:10 scale, so at least they're to scale :)

Don't remember seeing Wildlife Wonders printed on the catalogue page/pics for the bear and the wolf.
But good to hear they are additions to the series! Just hope they keep adding animals for in my opinion their best series!

sphyrna18 wrote:

The Otters were added early in the MBA line, then were the first to be discontinued. I think I got the Sea Otters as stocking stuffers for Christmas one year, in like 1992 or 1993. Wasn't the Narwhal the last one introduced? The Giant Squid preceeded it by a year, I believe. It's interesting - just yesterday I was at the Smithsonian and they have a Giant Squid that was 11 meters long! And they noted that it is believed that it was not even the maximum size... It was amazingly ugly haha! Just a ghostly white now - the preservation process was not kind to it (it had actually shrunk by as much as 2 to 3 meters during initial preservation) - even so, it was enormous. I wish MBA would be updated with new figures - I remember when Kevin talked to Safari and they said 2012 was gonna be a big year for MBA - but with how bad the economy has been this year, it doesn't surprise me that Safari has cut back on releases for the upcoming year. I haven't seen many new 2011 figures in stores even this late in the year, so I'm sure they're hurting (just like most companies are right now). I'm sure that's what's going on with Schleich, too - the fantasy figures are where the money's right now, so we're seeing fewer new animal figures, and more emphasis on fantasy. Safari's focusing on the Dragons, which seem to sell well in stores around my area. In fact, Dragons seem to be outselling dinosaurs right now - likely an artifact of the popularity of movies and books like Harry Potter. It just would have been nice if Safari had been like, "yeah, we wanted to release new MBA figures, but we're gonna have to hold them til next year." Instead, it seems to me like they just denied any knowledge of having said 2012 would see new MBA releases.

Chad, Safari's sucks this year, period :).

bmathison1972 wrote:

sphyrna18 wrote:

The Otters were added early in the MBA line, then were the first to be discontinued. I think I got the Sea Otters as stocking stuffers for Christmas one year, in like 1992 or 1993. Wasn't the Narwhal the last one introduced? The Giant Squid preceeded it by a year, I believe. It's interesting - just yesterday I was at the Smithsonian and they have a Giant Squid that was 11 meters long! And they noted that it is believed that it was not even the maximum size... It was amazingly ugly haha! Just a ghostly white now - the preservation process was not kind to it (it had actually shrunk by as much as 2 to 3 meters during initial preservation) - even so, it was enormous. I wish MBA would be updated with new figures - I remember when Kevin talked to Safari and they said 2012 was gonna be a big year for MBA - but with how bad the economy has been this year, it doesn't surprise me that Safari has cut back on releases for the upcoming year. I haven't seen many new 2011 figures in stores even this late in the year, so I'm sure they're hurting (just like most companies are right now). I'm sure that's what's going on with Schleich, too - the fantasy figures are where the money's right now, so we're seeing fewer new animal figures, and more emphasis on fantasy. Safari's focusing on the Dragons, which seem to sell well in stores around my area. In fact, Dragons seem to be outselling dinosaurs right now - likely an artifact of the popularity of movies and books like Harry Potter. It just would have been nice if Safari had been like, "yeah, we wanted to release new MBA figures, but we're gonna have to hold them til next year." Instead, it seems to me like they just denied any knowledge of having said 2012 would see new MBA releases.

Chad, Safari's sucks this year, period :).

I definitely agree with you, Blaine. Especially disappointing is the crappy Butterfly TOOB - which we know will be just generic "tropical" butterflies, not actual species. & that appears to be the only TOOB w/ insects this year. And skulls?! Come on! I can buy skull replicas online that are way cooler than TOOB figures. The other figures they are releasing don't look bad, but what a sucka$$, paltry offering.

yeah, I saw the Butterflies Toob...I'm not a lepidopterist but the fact that nothing jumped out at me as something specific has me worried. Actually, if you look closely you can see there are four basic shapes, each with two different paint jobs. Sad.
Insects aside (as I understand it is an unusual specialty group), they're overall assortment of animals is pretty dismal. The only two of slight interest are the turtle life cycle and the barn owl. The 'Incredible Creatures' is a bunch of animal babies?!?!

Other than the two new Wildlife Wonders Black Bear and Wolf, WON"T be purchasing any of their other figures!

bmathison1972 wrote:

The 'Incredible Creatures' is a bunch of animal babies?!?!

Haha - I know, right? What's so Incredible about a bunch of animal babies? One would think that "Incredible Creatures" should actually be incredible! I'm usually all for the 1:1 scale animal figures, but not babies. It would be great if they had stuck with things like poison dart frogs and lizards. There are so many exotic animals, and they went with baby Cottontail and baby Chipmunk. It feels like a missed opportunity.

Some babies are incredible creatures, think for example in a koala joey that borns with only 2cm, blind, hairless and earless and is able to climb and find the teat of his mom! To fight to survive and turn in a wonderful adulte creature, as this joey there are many more incredible babies!

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The eastern cottontail bunny is by far the cutest little thing I have seen. I am excited for the wolf, barn owl, deer set, golden retriever family, and pretty much everything else. I like the life cycle turtle stage that are doing as well. Great job, Safari!

Wildheart wrote:

WS Prehistoric Life:
Acrocanthosaurus(pose similar to 2011 T-Rex)
Ceratosaurus
Dracorex
Vagaceratops

Carnegie:
Brachiosaurus

...So...

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...Christophe my friend! And what you think about new Brachiosaurus?

wow!! they are amazing!

Actually i am happy that Safari doesn't bring out to much news, so i can catch up with other years...

I like the sable very much, it looks great to me!
The black bear and wolf are very nice to, and i like the IC baby's to, although they are big, but i have already some of these huge fellows in my collection, so a few new ones don't hurt me!
Bearded dragons seem to be populair to, and i really will make a terrarium for them, so it will be a natural scene in a way of presenting them.
The barnowl was not a very original choice, and the way it is painted neither to, but ok, it is a new bird at least...

Sergey wrote:

...Christophe my friend! And what you think about new Brachiosaurus?

I think I will wait to see bigger pics of the real figurine.

Nothing seems wrong on the pics but they are small and lack details for such a huge model

Safari´s new Wildlife Wonders wolf 2012
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Hmmm, not bad but they could get at least 5 better ideas for WW animal

skysthelimit wrote:

Hmmm, not bad but they could get at least 5 better ideas for WW animal

I agree

Yes, sky' they could have made 5 BETTER animals than the black bear and the wolf...
1) Indian rhino (Larger version of their previous 11' Wildlife Series figure)
2) Cheetah
3) Chimpanzee (Adult male)
4) Baird's Tapir
5) Warthog

Thank goodness, they made the two WW fig's, perhaps they will read this and do these for next year...(So long to wait...)

I would second full grown male warthog or King cheetah

Sorry, but this wolf remember me the new Schleich polar bears!
I don't collect WW figures but I think they should make large animals like a water buffalo, Indian rhino, gaur, yak, bison, etc. :)

I was hoping for cape buffalo or wildebeest... this wolf is not interesting for me :/

I don't know about "more interesting", I mean, who am I to say which species are interesting & which aren't, but I think the wolf is a fine choice. They previously made a 1:10 scale wolf (6, actually) for the Vanishing Wild series. So it is nice to see a new one. And wolves are popular. Much more interesting, imo, than a warthog any day. WW figures are expensive, so they have to appeal to the masses. A Cheetah might, but wolves are definites. As per the black bear, it is smaller than the brown bear, & while would have liked an exotic species, the price point becomes an issue & I don't see Safari taking a risk with a lesser known species of black colored bear. Just my two cents, but wolves are more than interesting, & since a general trend indicates carnivores have wide appeal, a black bear seems logical. Besides, we're finally getting two figures in scale to one another. Why are we complaining at all?

sphyrna18 wrote:

...And wolves are popular. Much more interesting, imo, than a warthog any day...

That's your point of view, we all have one of those...

wolves ---> twillight ---> masses
I don't like brands that follow that kind of strategy.

Wildheart wrote:

wolves ---> twillight ---> masses
I don't like brands that follow that kind of strategy.

Interesting. I hadn't thought about that. Perhaps. I just figured they had good sales of their wolf figures in the Wild Safari line, hence they made one in their WW line. Looking over all the brands, they all have wolves as staples in their lines. I don't see it as any great leap for Safari to include one in this series. Wolf figures sell well, I would imagine, otherwise the other figure manufacturers wouldn't all make them. & while I would have liked to have seen something like an Indian Rhino in this series, I can see how wolves and bears are probably easier sales than 2 rhinos. It's one thing to sell 2 different rhinos at $6 -$7 each, it's a lot harder to sell 2 rhinos at $15 each. Even tho WW has a polar bear, a black bear is a different color, and that makes a world of difference from a sales point of view.

That aside, why all the hatin' on wolves? I like wolves. I think they desrve a place in the awesomely sculpted line that is WW.