Extant arthropod figures thread

[brontodocus]

Jan 16, 2011 1:08:06 GMT bmathison1972 said:

Blaine here, creator of the Insecta Synthetica site. I have officially joined DTF (Finally). Nice to see this thread. I have almost all the replicas on this thread (except the flying beetles). I will post my extinct arthropods to the Collections pages soon.

Hi Blaine, great to see you joined here. I'm very much looking forward to your contributions.

[bmathison1972]

Thanks! I am excited to be here too! This has been a great thread so far, and one thing I really like about this forum is it definately has a more scientific angle than some of the other animal replica forums.

In addition to toy arthropods, I collect real ones too, specializing in the click beetles (Elateridae) of the Nearctic. By profession, I am a parasitologist

Nice to meet you all, look forward to interesting discussions.

[bmathison1972]

Since I am new here, I thought I would post a collection not yet shown. The Yujin figures are well represented, so I thought I would post the Creatures of the Waterside by F-toys.

The giant water bug, Lethocerus deyrollei, has been made at least three other times, twice by Kaiyodo (Aquatales and ChocoQ AnimalTales) and Yujin. The diving beetle, Cybister japonicus, has been made by Kaiyodo and Yujin. The freshwater crab, Geophelthusa dehaani, and Japanese crayfish, Cambaroides japonicus, have also been made by Yujin. The two waterscorpions, Ranatra chinensis and Laccotrephes japonennsis, seem to be unique choices and the only waterscorpions I have seen as toys/figures.

[a href=""][/a][/url]

[bmathison1972]

And here is another collection not yet shown here. These are a set of figures by ReMent. I am not too familiar with ReMent, I do not think they typically make animal figures. They are single pieces, made in Japan. Each also has a small magnet glued to the underside, so they can attach to metal objects. Most of the species have been done before by Yujin and/or Kaiyodo, but the cerambycid and swallowtail butterfly are interesting choices. There is a 'secret' figure too, which the eBay sets do not seem to include and I do not have. The silouette gives me the impression that the secret figure is a Dynastes sp.

This set can be bought on eBay.

A) cicada, Cryptotympana facialis
B) stag beetle, Prosopocoilus sp.
C) cerambycid, Anoplophora chinensis
D) swallowtail, Papilio xuthus
E) wasp, Vespa mandarina
F) grasshopper, Locusta migratoria
G) stag beetle, Dorcus hopei
H) mantid, Mantis religiosa
I) rhinoceros beetle, Alomyrhina dichotoma
J) dragonfly, Anotogaster sieboldii

[a href=""][/a][/url]

[postsaurischian]

Hey, these are nice sets - especially the Creatures of the Waterside. I've never heard of F-toys. Are thy doing any other animal sets?

Ah ....... and welcome to the forum !

[Himmapaan]

These are all so beautiful. I've been eyeing a set on eBay which I believe might be this latter one you posted.

[brontodocus]

Ah, very nice. I wonder if there is any chance to obtain the Creatures of the Waterside set anywhere, I've never seen one offered and have only seen the set on a japanese collector's site once before. Especially the Ranatra would be a figure I'd really want. By the way, the rhinoceros beetles I posted on page 1 (the ones where always two males are shown in each photo) are actually by F-toys, too. I'm not sure about the Re-Ment set, I've watched it since its release but I wasn't too impressed by it. At least I think that most species in the set are already excellently represented by Yujin.
More, please!

[bmathison1972]

Yowies! I will add images of my Cadbury Yowie arthropods here. Cadbury put out many figures, I probably do not have half of the Yowies. They are not the most realistic (some, like the Christmas beetle look almost nothing like the real thing). But, where else are you going to get such a good selection of Australian endemic species. Some represent the only members of the families I have seen.

There were two releases, one in Australia that were assembles like Japanese Gashapon figures, and one in the UK that were solid. With several species, the UK figures are actually more realistic. Here are what I have, to date:

Image A:
Katydid (Caedicia simplex); crusader bug (Mictis profana); scorpion (Urodacus armatus); hover fly (Melangyna viridiceps); hairy hermit crab (Dardanus megistos); black field cricket (Telegryllus commodus); crab spider (Diaea variabilis); golden stag beetle (Lamprima aurata).



Image B:
Purple-winged mantid (Tenodera australasiae); red-and-black tiger moth (Spilosoma glatignyi); Leichhardt's grasshopper (Petasida ephippigera); four-o-clock moth (Dysphania fenestrata); eastern plague grasshopper (Oedaleus australis); jewel shiels beetle (Temognatha murrayi); Christmas beetle (Anoplognathus punctulatus); emerald cuckoo wasp (Chrysis coerulans).



Image C:
Long-jawed orb-weaver spider (Deinopus subrufa); trapdoor spider (UK release, species unknown); fiddler crab (Uca vomeris, UK release); Oedalus australis (UK release); Temognatha murrayi (UK release); birdwing butterfly (Ornithoptera priamus).

[bmathison1972]

CollectA

Here are the CollectA arthopods. I have to admit, these are fine figures in terms of material, texture and paint. Most species are familiar and often made, but their quality is great.

There are some familiar species, like the praying mantis (Mantis religiosa), Mexican red-knee tarantula (Brachypelma smithi), Japanese rhinoceros beetle (Allomyrina dichotoma), golden-ringed dragonfly (Cordulegaster boltonii) and differential grasshopper (Melanoplus differentialis). The scorpion (Androctonus australis) is vey nice and the most interesting in terms of species choice is the small tortoiseshell butterfly (Aglais urticae). I do not think I have seen this European butterfly made before as a toy/figure.

[bmathison1972]

Science and Nature: Animals of Australia

Here is my collection from the Animals of Australia collection by Science and Nature (although I think the weta is made by someon else...). Outside of the Cadbury Yowies, this is the only other set I have seen that focuses on Australian species as a set (a couple species have been done before however).

There is black rock scorpion (Urodacus manicatus); giant weta (Deinacrida sp.); Australian redback spider (Latrodectus hasselti); huntsman spider (Holconia immanis); Sydney funnel-weaver (Atrax robustus).

[bmathison1972]

Nature's Wonders

I do not know much about Nature's Wonders. I bought most of these in Target department stores. Each figure comes with a code you enter in a website, and that gives you information on that organism. I know there is at least one more arthropod figure I do not have (the monarch butterfly). But I do have the following six.

There is the seven-spotten lady beetle (Coccinella septempunctata), a dragonfly which appears to be a darner in the genus, Anax. There is a wasp (Vepula sp.) and a tarantula (Brachypelma, probably B. smithi). And last are two interesting butterflies. I have not narrowed down the big blue one yet (it is not a Morpho sp.) and the one with the wings help upright appears to be one of the neotropical "eighty-eight" butterflies (Diaethria sp.). Thought and suggestions welcome.

Their quality is actually quite good.

[postsaurischian]

Great presentation, bmathison1972!
I like the wasp and the lady beetle from the Nature's Wonders set. Excellent!

[Radman]

Jan 18, 2011 20:32:14 GMT bmathison1972 said:

Nature's Wonders

I do not know much about Nature's Wonders. I bought most of these in Target department stores. Each figure comes with a code you enter in a website, and that gives you information on that organism. I know there is at least one more arthropod figure I do not have (the monarch butterfly). But I do have the following six.

There is the seven-spotten lady beetle (Coccinella septempunctata), a dragonfly which appears to be a darner in the genus, Anax. There is a wasp (Vepula sp.) and a tarantula (Brachypelma, probably B. smithi). And last are two interesting butterflies. I have not narrowed down the big blue one yet (it is not a Morpho sp.) and the one with the wings help upright appears to be one of the neotropical "eighty-eight" butterflies (Diaethria sp.). Thought and suggestions welcome.

Their quality is actually quite good.

The blue butterfly looks to be an African nymphalid Salamis temora, while the smaller one is a South American nymphalid Callicore texa. Nice models!

[zopteryx]

Where do you all get these lovely invertebrates (outside Japan)? Just Ebay?

[bmathison1972]

Jan 18, 2011 23:13:44 GMT Radman said:

Jan 18, 2011 20:32:14 GMT bmathison1972 said:

Nature's Wonders


The blue butterfly looks to be an African nymphalid Salamis temora, while the smaller one is a South American nymphalid Callicore texa. Nice models!

Thanks! I think your IDs are sound! I am more a coleopterist than a lepidopterists

[brontodocus]

These Nature's Wonders figures are gorgeous, too. Btw, the wasp does not look like a Vespula, the first segment of the gaster (the "abdomen") is anteriorly rounded and not truncate, it' could be a member of Polistinae, most likely a species of Polistes itself. The figures look as if they were larger than the normal gashapon figures.

There are only very few Yowies arthropods that I have:

Latrodectus katipo


Uca vomeris


Hemideina crassidens, Tree Weta


Opodiphthera (or Antherea) eucalypti, Emperor Gum Moth

[paleofreak]

My arthropod contribution. Not sure if it's extant.

[brontodocus]

;D
Incredible!

[bmathison1972]

Jan 19, 2011 12:28:02 GMT brontodocus said:

These Nature's Wonders figures are gorgeous, too. Btw, the wasp does not look like a Vespula, the first segment of the gaster (the "abdomen") is anteriorly rounded and not truncate, it' could be a member of Polistinae, most likely a species of Polistes itself. The figures look as if they were larger than the normal gashapon figures.

There are only very few Yowies arthropods that I have:

Funny, yesterday I received the Yowie series 2, which included the Yowies you just shown, in addition to Graphium sarpedon and Atrax robustus. So I have six more

[bmathison1972]

BTW, the Vespula ID was just a quick guess based on color. I did some more searching, and Polistes does look like a better match, probably the European Polistes dominula.

The Nature's Wonders are bigger, yes. More like CollectA in size, smaller than Safari.