Koniminiatures' recent acquisitions

Thank you Tiermann and Scott! The bike, I fear, may well be beyond repair financially; buying a new, used one is likely to come cheaper. Makes me sad (and angry) - it was a very good bike, nigh new too.

The fish, Scott, are my favourites of the bunch as well. They are really well made!

Carola wrote:

I almost cried wathcing that... I hope the organisation made sure to stop it!  

I forgot to comment on this bit, Carola: I'm not sure if you are under the impression the horse-hitting and soring are things of the past now, but I'll reiterate they are not. No organisation, the US government included, has succeeded in ending that. The big lick people have lost some financial support due to social pressure from the outside world in the recent years, but their attitudes and practices appear effectively unchanged.

I really like your taste in figurines, although i fear the crippled carps for being a living nightmare-outcome of something once called "tradition".

As I mention above, I concur on your view of the goldfish, PeGe. I find the goldfish models as (or more..) grotesque as the big lick TWH horses I have (and create) models of in my collections. I'd love to find an equally accurate model of an unmutated Prussian carp to supplement the sad freak show I now have on my shelves to illustrate how far from the able, camouflaged, quick thing the fish have been made become.

Great load of additions Lea, those fish are exquisite! Even though I don't collect fish, I find myself wishing I had these!  

I hope you weren't injured in your bike accident, must have been terrifying!

Thanks for the comment, Harriet! I faintly remember a time when I, too, "didn't collect fish". I was indeed injured in that accident, but it mostly managed to incense rather than terrify. (I've been hit so many times now it fails to spook anymore. No, Finns cannot care to drive politely amid their vehicular weakers for a kind crap, and I find I cannot politely yield to their disregard either.)

koniminiatures wrote:

Yes, the "big lick", as it's called, is an abhorrent practice. As for the people torturing the horses, I doubt they're much different from your average joe. Likely they've just got different priorities and have (like most people, mind) learned from since they were young to not perceive of non-human animals as entities worthy of inclusion to any moral system, but rather as mere objects. There's big money and social regard to be attained in that particular horse-torturing business, too - like in most animal-torturing businesses around the world.

I see yes, you are right in that, but somehow the youngs then should be informed and given the view on animals as other than 'things'. Though I guess maybe a human has a natural urge for feeling empathy towards other living beings despite whatever they'we been told.. Or maybe that's just the mind of a romanticist..? ..

widukind wrote:

blackdanter wrote:

koniminiatures wrote:

Does anyone recognize this quaint, wee perhaps-Brachiosaurus? He came from Japan (from a seller who presumed the model's make Colorata, which I do have my doubts about) without any papers; is permanently attached to the bottle cap he stands on; and is marked only "Made in China" followed by a few Japanese letters. (If there are any Japanese speakers here who'd like to have a crack at those, I'd be happy to photograph the letters, too.) If anyone knows his origins, I'd be curious to know. He does have a slight Kazunari Araki feel to his physique, but I could be just hallucinating that.

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It's a Kaiyodo Series 1 Retro Classic bottle cap figure. They were all based on Knight and Zallinger art work. I think you're right, if my memory is correct, Kazunari Araki did do the sculpts for these.  

Know you more old japanese animal figurines:-)??????????

Well, I'm pretty sharp on Japanese dinosaurs as I've gathered a lot of research over the years and spoken to various folk at Kaiyodo (I had planned to put out a book). I used to put info on DTF but find that it gets pilaged so tend to hold back on info these days (just in case I get motivated to do the book again one day!). But I'm happy to ID stuff if I can.  

Carola wrote:

I see yes, you are right in that, but somehow the youngs then should be informed and given the view on animals as other than 'things'. Though I guess maybe a human has a natural urge for feeling empathy towards other living beings despite whatever they'we been told.. Or maybe that's just the mind of a romanticist..? ..

Carola, I quite agree youngsters ought to be taught to view other beings as entities of their own, of course. It's just not a very lucrative or effortless way of thought to promote. As for our having any natural urge towards empathy, I've grown a bit skeptical of the notion. People have a strong drive to think of people and to an extent other animals in terms of groups, I guess, wherein the in-group, "us", as it were, is fiercely defended and empathized with, and the outgroups, "them", are easily dealt with in an actively hostile manner and certainly without significant empathy (which could even be construed as an act of treason, in a way). Most people seem to view most other people, let alone different species, as members of different out-groups and treat them accordingly.

Well, onto my plasticky personal in-groups of the month.. Here's a batch that came in a day or two ago from a massive, long-outstanding trade I am utterly chuffed with (great big thanks to Deseo!). Included are also a few eBay finds, a Schleich Husky from Taos (thank you!), and a Safari Oviraptor from Saarlooswolfhound (thank you as well!).

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Mmm, it's dogs again. Who might have guessed? For a slightly more detailed view as well as information on their makes, please see the SUY dogs thread [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. The lone wolf not shown in the SUY is a Kaiyodo ChocoQ Animatales series 2 Japanese wolf 046 (Canis lupus hodophilax).

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Kaiyodos (finally got that giant rabbit!), a Britains 1970 Jersey cow 2152, and the Safari 2005 "female" earlier paint version Oviraptor.

A few individual shots:

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Kaiyodo UHA Dinotales series 5 096a Protoceratops pondering his fate with the series 6 104a Protoceratops skeleton. I never thought I'd find the fleshed-out version at a price I could afford.

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Kaiyodo  2005 Aquatales Enoshima Aquarium series 2 06 hatching Japanese swellshark (Cephaloscyllium umbratile).

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Waiphoon Bull terrier. The details on this one are amazingly good, from bunched-up fascia to cowlicks and ridges in the fur. The shark teeth give him a slightly demonic touch, though. (He can't actually levitate, mind, despite otherwise demonic appearances - I merely happened to photograph him on very uneven footing. It's a shame; I'd rather like a levitating, shark-toothed Bull terrier.)

Lea, beautiful pictures and descriptions! I never thought I would enjoy a skeleton but this protoceratops is full of life... I mean... .... full of bones!
I also enjoy the big dog shelf project!

Thank you, Rogério! The Protoceratops skeleton is indeed a very nice model. The Kaiyodo skeletals tend to be quite full of expression and movement, even if they are mere bare bones.

The dogs are nearly all headed for customisation eventually, but in the meanwhile they certainly do take up a shelf all on their own. I'm very lucky they cannot bark.

wow Lea, the new figures are gorgeous. you should get the rest of the dinotales figures from the series where the Protoceratops and Oviraptor came from. 

They are very nice, indeed. I'm slowly trawling through the entire Dinotales saga, picking out the ones that most please me. The fleshed-out Protocera and Oviraptor are both series 5 releases and the series is indeed a very fine one, but I doubt I'll ever go for trying to collect all of the figurines in it (or I hope I won't - oh, the expenditure!) - I'll just cherry-pick my way through it. :)

Wow, fantastic additions! The Kaiyodo newcomers are so beautiful :)

Wonderful newcomers, especially the Kaiyodos. Now i dont know if i will add the baby swell shark in my zoo or not.:-)

you should/must Andreas. it's an excellent figure!

lea another great catch      

koniminiatures wrote:

It's a shame; I'd rather like a levitating, shark-toothed Bull terrier.)

  

Congratulations Lea, that is an amazing haul

Thanks for the comments, everyone!

Widukind: I too do recommend that swellshark. It is a beautiful, well-engineered model. The composition of the coral may be a tad flat, but the model's finishwork, especially on the egg case, is very detailed. The translucent plastic has layered striations and mottling that shows beautifully as light passes through the figurine. The body of the hatching shark can also be seen dimly through the "collagen". I also appreciate the point in the shark's life cycle that they've chosen for the figurine; rather than an adult shark merely swimming along, we get to see the ornamental "devil's purse" and the way it clings by its tendrils to the coral environment as the hatchling struggles free of it.

...that shark! ..that Rabbit! ...Inspiring!

I see what you mean with the groupings, I can completely follow your thoughts :)
But away from the sad subjects...

Those are wonderful additions! The Dobermann looks absolutely handsome  I just love that noble shape. Despite that cutting the ears ( and tails - don't know what it's called in English) is bad, I think.. not sure why it's done to the dogs.... But it does look good with the pointy ears, I have to confess!  And since it's a replica... I guess it's ok.

Sawllshark is very interesting. Googled photos - and how fascinating it is!

And nice with a levitating demon dog, even though he's just doing tricks

koniminiatures wrote:

Thanks for the comments, everyone!

Widukind: I too do recommend that swellshark. It is a beautiful, well-engineered model. The composition of the coral may be a tad flat, but the model's finishwork, especially on the egg case, is very detailed. The translucent plastic has layered striations and mottling that shows beautifully as light passes through the figurine. The body of the hatching shark can also be seen dimly through the "collagen". I also appreciate the point in the shark's life cycle that they've chosen for the figurine; rather than an adult shark merely swimming along, we get to see the ornamental "devil's purse" and the way it clings by its tendrils to the coral environment as the hatchling struggles free of it.

Thank you   

No problem, Widukind! I should have more photos of the shark up on my website in the next week or two, if you need additional views before deciding.

Thank you for your comments, Carola! I agree the Dobermann is a handsome devil. I, too, find ear cropping and tail docking repugnant yet the resulting look oft quite pleasing. The mutilated "look" could, as I understand, be more or less achieved with relative ease in real dogs through sheer crossbreeding followed by a few generations of "back-breeding" to regain the overall appearance typical of the breed (I wish I could find the website.. it had a photographic timeline of one breeder's progress towards naturally pointy-eared Dobermanns, I think it was..). No cutting up of live animals would be necessary. Apparently breed purists find the idea abhorrent, though, and obviously outnumber - or outshout in any case - the relatively sane.

It's a pretty alien mindset when even cutting out a part of a live animal's spinal column for fashion is seen as preferable to mixing a bit of one freshly-invented 'breed' into another.

Great catches Lea   I love the hatching Japanese swellshark   Could you make a walkaround please ?  

Wonderful new additions Lea! I particularly love the Protoceratops and the Oviraptor by Kaiyodo. I just got that Oviraptor recently as well! Same color scheme too. I love it. Congratulations on so many wonderful finds!

Thank you for commenting my comment The discussion is very interesting. I know only very little of dog breeding, but the web you mention sounds interesting. I hope you remember it sometime