The 2013 KAIYODO mountain hares walkaround (Actually Japanese hares!)

KAIYODO made two mountain hares for 2013, one in summer coat an the other in winter coat. Despite the tail is brown on the summer hare, these models are really interesting in a very different style from the SCHLEICH one.

The mountain hare (Lepus timidus), also known as blue hare, tundra hare, variable hare, white hare, snow hare, alpine hare and Irish hare, is largely adapted to polar and mountainous habitats.
This species is distributed from Fennoscandia to eastern Siberia; there are isolated populations in the Alps, Ireland, Scotland, the Baltics, northeastern Poland and Hokkaidō.
It is a large species, though it is slightly smaller than the European hare. It grows to a length of 45–65 cm.
In summer, for all populations of mountain hares, the coat is various shades of brown. In preparation for winter most populations moult into a white (or largely white) pelage. The tail remains completely white all year round, distinguishing the mountain hare from the European hare (Lepus europaeus), which has a black upper side to the tail.
This species is active in the evening and at night, but during the breeding season it becomes more active during the day. Mountain hares tend to rest during the day in forms, scrapes or burrows in the snow or soil. Although typically a solitary species, occasionally groups of up to 70 individuals may gather in order to feed. The diet consists mainly of young heather, but grasses, rushes, sedges, bilberry and herbs are also eaten.

And now a few pics  

Ooh, I like these models! I like the standing pose. Well done!

They are beautyful, they look so real, - alert and ready to flee from predators !
You can almost see their noses twitching

A far, far shot from the cute Schleich one, - long live KAIYODO

Thankyou Christophe, for yet another fabulous walkaround

Isabeau, Susanne, thank you very much.

I'm very happy to have these two hares and to share some pics with my STS friends

Beautiful lovely and super cute!! I adore them! And Your photos of them too! Thank You for sharing Kiki

Great models and hooray for Kaiyodo!!!! :) (o)):

Fantastic that we have the luck of enjoying your walk arounds.
Your perfect pictures show how nicely sculpted is this hare, great proportions, wonderful pose, mainly because of the realistic way limbs are attached to body. Also it looks the head is narrower than the Schleich one what helps to give a more realistic head. Only a hsame that the detail of the white tail is missing on brown version once it is my favorite, maybe because we can see clearer the rich shape of the figure. This detail would be neglectable if it was not an important point to identify the species as you explained on your introduction.
What I wished really was that these great sculpts were not puzzles and were widely available like Schleich are.

They are both beautiful and you take such wonderful photos to share them with us. Thank you. I love them both.

Thank you Ana, Rogério, Taylor and Amy

@Roger: It si too bad for the tail detail. The Japanese manufacturer are nearly always very serious so I first searched for an endemic hare with such a pattern but I didn't find one. Maybe I missed something ?

Kikimalou wrote:

...
@Roger: It si too bad for the tail detail. The Japanese manufacturer are nearly always very serious so I first searched for an endemic hare with such a pattern but I didn't find one. Maybe I missed something ?

Kiki, thank You for the walkaround first :)
I believe Kaiyodo is right with tail colour as usual because this figure is the Japanese hare, NOT mountain hare:
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Some brown tail pics:
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It is a wonderful hare , thanks so much for this pics Kiki        

jarda wrote:

Kikimalou wrote:

...
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]: It si too bad for the tail detail. The Japanese manufacturer are nearly always very serious so I first searched for an endemic hare with such a pattern but I didn't find one. Maybe I missed something ?

Kiki, thank You for the walkaround first :)
I believe Kaiyodo is right with tail colour as usual because this figure is the Japanese hare, NOT mountain hare:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Some brown tail pics:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

i think you are right, better for me      

Ana wrote:

Beautiful lovely and super cute!! I adore them! And Your photos of them too! Thank You for sharing Kiki

(o)):

jarda wrote:

Kiki, thank You for the walkaround first :)
I believe Kaiyodo is right with tail colour as usual because this figure is the Japanese hare, NOT mountain hare:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Thank you very much Jarda You are a very useful fellow (o)):

I agree, it must be a Japanese hare... And KAIYODO is still a very serious company

Kikimalou wrote:

jarda wrote:

Kiki, thank You for the walkaround first :)
I believe Kaiyodo is right with tail colour as usual because this figure is the Japanese hare, NOT mountain hare:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Thank you very much Jarda You are a very useful fellow (o)):

I agree, it must be a Japanese hare... And KAIYODO is still a very serious company

It is nice indeed that we can discuss and share all these informations. Here goes an excelent example how fruitful is collecting in a community and the advantages of a brand being serious with their scientific researches. I confess I have a lot of dificulties identifying rabbits and hares. It was thanks to you that now I know which species they are. Again, a toy is only educational when these details are taken seriously, so, as I love to learn with toys and friends, I love this forum and that hobby.

Wonderful pictures and walkaround, Christophe! These new Kaiyodo figures are just marvelous!! Thank you for sharing!

Thank you Scott

The 2013 Kaiyodos are very good puzzles with the integrated lines

...Thanks Christophe for pics! (o)): (o)): (o)): (o)): (o)): I think it,s the best hares (very accurate!)

Sergey wrote:

...Thanks Christophe for pics! (o)): (o)): (o)): (o)): (o)): I think it,s the best hares (very accurate!)

You are right Sergey And I still can't understand why some modern occidental brands are still far from this Why children would prefer cute and big headed animals to this kind of beauty ? Even when I was a child, realism was important in my choices.

Beautiful pictures! Congrats Chris!

Thank you Ken