Play Visions: listing of sets, animals and scientific names

WOW! Those frogs (o)):

SUSANNE wrote:

WOW! Those frogs (o)):

They are YUJIN... with PV trademark... And YUJIN paintings

jhudstone wrote:

SommoDracorex wrote:

I would sell my house for that Proboscis Monkey!

How much is your house worth?

It's close to the center and has also a large garden... I would say it worth more or less like the monkey

Kikimalou wrote:

SUSANNE wrote:

WOW! Those frogs (o)):

They are YUJIN... with PV trademark... And YUJIN paintings

Some of the PlayVisions paintings were entirely different - rendering entirely different species despite not changing the names on the figures. For instance, if memory serves me, the PV Malayan Horned Frog is painted green; Malayan Horned Frogs are never green, but the Solomon Islands Leaf Frog (Ceratobatrachus guentheri) does have a green phase, and is structurally similar enough to the Malayan Horned Frog that the PV figure is still accurate. So PV's figure, while being labeled "Asian Horned Frog" is actually a Solomon Islands Leaf Frog.

All my PV & Yujin Frog figures are in storage together right now, but I don't remember there being tremendous differences between the rest of them, except that Yujin's featured cleaner paint jobs. The Yujin set also featured species and figures that I don't ever remember PV releasing, like all the .75"(1.9cm) Tree Frogs & Poison Frogs - which were absolutely AWESOME in detail. PlayVisions, to my knowledge, never released those. There are also some larger figures in the Yujin set that I do not remember PV releasing (like the Yujin Japanese Brown Frog figure). Although, it does have the PV trademark on it, so I may be wrong (it wouldn't be the first time ).

The Pipa have also a very different painting in PV or YUJIN. I only have the YUJIN set but I saw from time to time pics of the PV. I also think the smaller YUJIN frogs are original... And they are really nice. The painting was also very different for the turtle sets, I think YJUIN were better painted and made also smaller models... Without talking about the fabulous second YUJIN set.

Kikimalou wrote:

The Pipa have also a very different painting in PV or YUJIN. I only have the YUJIN set but I saw from time to time pics of the PV. I also think the smaller YUJIN frogs are original... And they are really nice. The painting was also very different for the turtle sets, I think YJUIN were better painted and made also smaller models... Without talking about the fabulous second YUJIN set.

You may very well be right about the Pipa pipa figures being painted differently. I honestly haven't even looked at them in probably 2-3 years or more. They have been in storage forever. The Yujin's were sooooooo nice. I really miss that company. I know that Takara Tomy has released several sets of animals since they bought Yujin, but the quality has dropped, IMO. I still have no idea about the emphasis on the hunting trophy style figures. They're dreadful. But Yujin... those were the days. They did wonders with the PlayVisions Lizards as well, and you're right, I prefer the Yujin versions of the PV Turtles, too. I thought the Yujin Poison Dart Frogs - being so small - were brilliant! I wish they had included a few in the second Frogs Pictorial, but as you said, the 2nd set was out of sight!!! (o)):

Boah such a wonderful topic.

Beside the known branches (Schleich, Safari LTD, Papo) and the toob animals (safari, k&m), playvision is a brand that everyone of as has, but nobody has a whole collection :/

It would be so nice if someone could listen the group of animals with photos from this groups :O that would be so great
I´m so sad that the most playvisions can´t be found anymore there are such great and really rare species :O there are so much that I need :/ Sometimes I find some of them as in shops. Last year I found some in an durch zoo, but I need more

i don't like this thread: all these brilliant animals but PV didn't make a sheep.
if PV ever made a sheep, it would certainly be on my grail list. poor Sheepgirl, no PV sheep!

I would love to find some in a zoo , you must feel like a lucky gold digger

I hope Maia & Borges turns in a kind of Play Visions but with the concept of larger figures as they are doing today.
Last year we had a set of 8 waterfowls and they will continue with these series. Anyway, the usually little sizes, unusual species, relatively cheap and wide range, make PV very special indeed.

Mastiffcat wrote:

i don't like this thread: all these brilliant animals but PV didn't make a sheep.
if PV ever made a sheep, it would certainly be on my grail list. poor Sheepgirl, no PV sheep!

Carolynn, there is a list of farm animals on 1st page and there is listed a PV sheep!

Kikimalou wrote:

The Pipa have also a very different painting in PV or YUJIN. I only have the YUJIN set but I saw from time to time pics of the PV. I also think the smaller YUJIN frogs are original... And they are really nice. The painting was also very different for the turtle sets, I think YJUIN were better painted and made also smaller models... Without talking about the fabulous second YUJIN set.

Fascinating creature. I've ALMOST bought one on impulse several times in years past, but it would require a specialized setup aquarium that would not be inexpensive. Maybe someday soon, as when I was a child I dreamed about having some as pets.

Roger wrote:

Mastiffcat wrote:

i don't like this thread: all these brilliant animals but PV didn't make a sheep.
if PV ever made a sheep, it would certainly be on my grail list. poor Sheepgirl, no PV sheep!

Carolynn, there is a list of farm animals on 1st page and there is listed a PV sheep!

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! I forgot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And we have even seen them:
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Poor Sheepgirl needs to find her memory first, then she can set out to find this new grail:
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(but Sheepgirl cannot complain about grails right now, because this week she actually got her second most holiest grail, which she has been dreaming about for years. I will post photos this weekend. I'm still so happy i'm giddy. )


I had not known there was a relationship between PV and Yujin. That would explain the resemblance between this darling little PV sheep and the Yujin Zodiac sheep.

The insects are difficult to accurately ID, because I think the paint jobs are random colors for aesthetics and do not always represent real species. The grasshopper may be an adult painted grasshopper, Dactylotum bicolor. The treehopper may be the oak treehopper, Platycotis vittata.

Spiders (I have the following PV spiders; may not be complete):

black widow, Latrodectus mactans
red widow, Latrodectus bishopi
crab spider, Thomisus onustus
crab spider, Misumena sp.
crab spider C, NOS
purseweb spider, NOS (possible Sphodros rufipes)
Costa Rican zebra tarantula, Aphonopelma seemanni
tarantula, (possible Mexican red-knee, Brachypelma smithi)
spitting spider, Scytodes thoracica
raft spider, Dolomedes sp.
lynx spider, Peucetia viridans (or related)

Interestingly, both the black widow and red widow are labeled 'red widow'. Obviously, they used the same mold and only changed the colors

bmathison1972 wrote:

The insects are difficult to accurately ID, because I think the paint jobs are random colors for aesthetics and do not always represent real species. The grasshopper may be an adult painted grasshopper, Dactylotum bicolor. The treehopper may be the oak treehopper, Platycotis vittata.

Spiders (I have the following PV spiders; may not be complete):

black widow, Latrodectus mactans
red widow, Latrodectus bishopi
crab spider, Thomisus onustus
crab spider, Misumena sp.
crab spider C, NOS
purseweb spider, NOS (possible Sphodros rufipes)
Costa Rican zebra tarantula, Aphonopelma seemanni
tarantula, (possible Mexican red-knee, Brachypelma smithi)
spitting spider, Scytodes thoracica
raft spider, Dolomedes sp.
lynx spider, Peucetia viridans (or related)

Interestingly, both the black widow and red widow are labeled 'red widow'. Obviously, they used the same mold and only changed the colors

Hey man - how's it going? It's been a while. I miss your website, man. Now I have nowhere to reference my insect collection. I still have that set I mentioned awhile back. It's yours once I dig it out. Sorry it's taken so long. But I digress: I was looking at that grasshopper thinking perhaps D. bicolor, but I think the coloration matches pretty closely with Chromacris speciosa nymph:

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I think this is what they were intending to make. It would make an awesome D. bicolor as well, but the red highlights are placed pretty accurately (although PV went a little crazy with it) and the purple highlights, which can be seen better in the second picture, lead me to believe the figure is representing Chromacris speciosa. I'd prefer it be D. bicolor because I hate it when companies represent juvenile forms of insects. I don't know why. Just always have. Probably because the adults are so much cooler looking haha! What do you think? Does C. speciosa look good to you?

sphyrna18 wrote:

I think this is what they were intending to make. It would make an awesome D. bicolor as well, but the red highlights are placed pretty accurately (although PV went a little crazy with it) and the purple highlights, which can be seen better in the second picture, lead me to believe the figure is representing Chromacris speciosa. I'd prefer it be D. bicolor because I hate it when companies represent juvenile forms of insects. I don't know why. Just always have. Probably because the adults are so much cooler looking haha! What do you think? Does C. speciosa look good to you?

sure, looks fine to me. Besides, you're the orthopterist, I am the coleopterists :)

bmathison1972 wrote:

sure, looks fine to me. Besides, you're the orthopterist, I am the coleopterists :)

Haha. Yes you are. But, yeah, I take my orthops pretty seriously. I keeping getting schooled by David Ferguson on BugGuide because I keep misidentifying species of Melanoplus. Every time I'm wrong, I learn something, though, so it's all good. How's your Elaterid project coming? Speaking of: I was going to bug you about some beetle larvae I found various times over the summer that I'm pretty sure had to be A. oculatus, but I can never find the adults, which I hear are pretty cool. Again with my preference for the imago. Oh well. Hope everything's going well. I'll let this forum resume discussion of PV figures, and I'll email you soon

Thanks for all those fantastic detailled informations. I tried to correct the list in the first post. Hopefully I catched all the info you gave here. If you still find mistakes, tell, please.

Did I get this right - there are more than six PV spiders? I count eleven on your list.
Maybe they made even two sets of 6?
Oh please post a pictures - I'd love to see the crab spiders, those are my favs.

There isn't a Lioness in the Serengeti set, but a small male Lion

One question please for jhudstone or sphyrna18 - which other animals included the galapagos set?

Today i found a newcomer in my trading animal collection. I never realized before that the beluga whale has a small fin and so is a irrawaddy dolphin. Thank you Froggie

widukind wrote:

One question please for jhudstone or sphyrna18 - which other animals included the galapagos set?

Let's see, I might have to dig a bit through m collection to confirm, but I believe the set included:

Marine Iguana (Large and small)
Frigate Bird
Manta Ray
A shark (not sure what kind)
A Crab (Coconut or robber)
A sea turtle


Suprisingly, there was no tortoise as part of the collection. Not sure why.

jhudstone wrote:

widukind wrote:

One question please for jhudstone or sphyrna18 - which other animals included the galapagos set?

Let's see, I might have to dig a bit through m collection to confirm, but I believe the set included:

Marine Iguana (Large and small)
Frigate Bird
Manta Ray
A shark (not sure what kind)
A Crab (Coconut or robber)
A sea turtle


Suprisingly, there was no tortoise as part of the collection. Not sure why.

Thank you very much

The Galapagos crab is most likely the Sally Lightfoot (PV called it Scarlet Crab) - here together with the manta from the same set (I will make better pics, if wished):

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Therefore the Beluga in the Arctic Set is an Irrawaddy too?

I just won a Play Visions Proboscis Monkey on eBay!
Widu, are you that made the other offer, right?

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SommoDracorex wrote:

I just won a Play Visions Proboscis Monkey on eBay!
Widu, are you that made the other offer, right?

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You won- read your search topic. I bid that i can surprised you Big congrats