Giant Centipede 1997 Safari Ltd Smithsonian Giant Insects

After browsing the forums for the past few days, I saw a few posts about the Smithsonian line of insects by Safari Ltd. in the late 1990s. I had very little recollection of the line at first, until I found a picture of the giant centipede--at $19.95, it was apparently the largest and most expensive figure in the line.
I had a vague memory of owning a giant centipede figure when I was younger--I showed the picture to my parents, and instantly they both remembered buying it for me at a museum when I was about 5 years old. I quickly raced to the garage, where I happened to have a large plastic bin marked "bugs", and as soon as I opened it I was greeted by this beauty :) I have quite a few figures in my collection (probably somewhere in the 1100+ range), and this is instantly my all-time favorite. I am so thrilled that I held on to this figure for the past 15 years, as it appears to be very rare today. So without further ado, I present you the Safari Ltd. Smithsonian Giant Centipede:

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A head-on view.

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A closeup of the head.

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Another view of the head.

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Left side.

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Right side.

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Top.

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Bottom.

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Back.

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Text on the bottom. It's a shame I don't still have the tag for this figure.

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And one last shot to show you how massive this figure is--that's a Collecta 1/40 scale man.

Hope you guys enjoy these pictures! :)

Charles

A very interesting figurine!! Congrats     

Huge congrats!

Oh, a Palaenthologic exercise at home! Fortunately it is not an arthopleura!
Safari is a brand full of misteries and good things that need urgently to be cleared to collectors community. We find web sources about Schleich everywhere and not about Safari what is a pitty. I hope the Toy Animal Wiki can solve it soon.
The figure is very nice and it shows that you were surely a boy with a very good taste.
Searching for Smithsonian, I've found these two topics on Sts: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] :study]

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schleich61 wrote:

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Of course, this is because Safari, Ltd., for some strange reason, doesn't seem to believe in making catalogs for its collectors, only wholesale and retail sellers (most toysellers I know, however, have never seen a Safari, Ltd. catalog).  Maybe this is slowly changing over the last few years - I hope so.

You're right Phil! :)
Everything in a Safari catalogue is designed without thinking in collectors. Even the year of the catalogue is sometimes hard to determine. There are contradictions between what is available in retailer catalogues and small catalogues. The numbering of the figures is completely bizarre turning very hard to find anything or to know what belongs to what. Different generations of figures have the same number and of course, it is not easy to find Safari catalogues where the brand is sold.
For example, CollectA catalogues are among the most comprehensive I know with lists of figures, a correct numbering, and clearly collectors oriented. :DThe brand is only not very online documented because it is somewhat young and commercially unexpressive when compared with Safari or Schleich.

Welcome here. I am one of the major safari ltd collectors on this forum. what do you collect specifically besides insects?  

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What a GIGANTIC, fantastic gem, you have there  

Yes ! Young collectors : HANG OP TO THEM !!!!
It makes my teeth grid, when I see youngsters throw all their nice toys out.
At least they should let a serious collector take a peek first  

THANKYOU ever so much for sharing, Charles  
I am sure we are several people who hive you an extra appause and wish you an extra wellcome here- again


PS : I have this leaf insect and a large monarch-caterpillar.
I just checked, - they are from that series, too. I never knew before  
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Does anyone know how many there are ?

They are soooooooo great susanne!
Huuuuuuuge,i mean HUGE congrats!

PeGe wrote:

They are soooooooo great susanne!
Huuuuuuuge,i mean HUGE congrats!

   

Susanne,
as for the Smithsonian insects, these are the ones I know for sure:
Lubber Grasshopper
Stag Beetle
Scarab Beetle
Giant Centipede
Bumble Bees (set of three)
Luna Moth
Blue Morpho Butterfly
Emperor Scorpion
Monarch Butterfly
Monarch Caterpillar
Moth Larvae
Leaf Insect
Darner Dragonfly
Black Widow Spider
Flea
Praying Mantis

With my entomophobia I wouldn't even touch them, I'm already scared by looking at the pictures...

Thankyou , Lance  

Uhh, Agata, that must be horrible to be scared of insects