Miniature Animal Figure Collection

[Great Argus]

And here, my TTT (three tapirs together):

Welcome to the Triple Tapir Club!
We both share good taste as our tapir trios are exactly the same! 'Tis a pity the Mountain Tapir has only been available as a pricey custom figure...

I think Modellpferdeversand and I planned to add it some day to my collection

An interesting site, poked around the antique sections and saw a few figures I didn't know existed! Also saw a large handful I've not seen for sale in ages!

but being from North America the shipping costs were excessive to me.

It's likewise the other way around, I've only had three figures come from Europe, the shipping and tariffs are obnoxious!
I've bought a lot of figures from Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Canada, one or two from Vietnam too, none are even close to ordering from Europe! I generally skip over figures listed as coming from Europe unless they're really unusual, not worth it otherwise.

 

[Great Argus]

An overdue update, as all of these arrived back in May and I hadn't gotten around to photographing them all yet.

Kaiyodo's Greater Painted-Snipe pair - a much appreciated arrival, I had ordered one in 2020 and to date it has never arrived.


Kitan Club Giant Salamander - technically a keychain but that's easy to remove and a very nice piece.


Papo's retired Gibbon - I stalled almost too long on picking up one of the good gibbons (Schleich and Papo) and they suddenly got rather rare and pricey. This one popped up in Spain for a decent price and so I decided to snag it.


A squad of Yujin Saltwater gachapons


The full set of the Yujin Saltwater I've got my hands on (plus an unrelated Japanese Spider Crab). Only four left to complete the set but unfortunately it's the rare four.



I've also dabbled in sculpting figures again - while I've sculpted nearly 40 currently only four are painted. The rest are waiting til I feel like painting again...

Northern Gannet - legs are a little too far forwards, but otherwise I quite like this one.


Storm's Stork


Harlequin Duck


Commerson's Dolphin - one I did previously but wasn't specially happy with, but this new one is a lot better. Unfortunately I had a hard time taking a photo that makes it look good - you'll just have to take my word that it looks far better in person!

 

[Kakapo]

Great figures! I love painted snipes with the reversed sexual dimorphism I have the same unbeatable Kitan giant salamander and also have the spider crab. As for gibbon, I found the Schleich's (very similar to Papo's sizewise) in a stationery for cheap so I've got it. The fishes and snipe would be just too large for my collecting tastes

 

[Marcus Burkhardt]

"Spirits of the forest", 2022

Acrystal, Aluminium, Acrylic- and oil paint

My favorite animal - As long I am looking for a chance to sell my soul in order to see this rare species alive, I decided to make some artwork about them.

I finished this little sculpture earlier this year. It was the first time for me to work with Acrystal. The horns are made from Aluminium. Being a sculptor now for more than 10 years, I thought painting the sculpure is the easiest part of it, but finding the right tone for greyish back of the animals was a challenge.

 

[Dassie rat]

I've only seen Jentink's duiker once - in the Berlin Tierpark in 1984.

 

[Kakapo]

They're waaay better than my own sculpt of same species. What scale they are made?
When I think in this species inmediately the words "Gladys Porter" is what jumps to my mind, and vice versa. What a shame that I'm not at time of see the last alive captive individual in the world, I didn't seen even taxidermy specimens at any natural history museum of the world, despite I've visited a lot of them.

 

[TinoPup]

"Spirits of the forest", 2022

Acrystal, Aluminium, Acrylic- and oil paint

My favorite animal - As long I am looking for a chance to sell my soul in order to see this rare species alive, I decided to make some artwork about them.

I finished this little sculpture earlier this year. It was the first time for me to work with Acrystal. The horns are made from Aluminium. Being a sculptor now for more than 10 years, I thought painting the sculpure is the easiest part of it, but finding the right tone for greyish back of the animals was a challenge.

Stunning work!

 

[Marcus Burkhardt]

I've only seen Jentink's duiker once - in the Berlin Tierpark in 1984.

The female You have seen was sent to Brownsville in 1989, one year before I was born. I am sure she was the female that gave birth to Taz in 1996, who was the last of them in a zoo and he passed away years before I became aware that a species called Jentink's duiker exists.

 

[Marcus Burkhardt]

They're waaay better than my own sculpt of same species. What scale they are made?
When I think in this species inmediately the words "Gladys Porter" is what jumps to my mind, and vice versa. What a shame that I'm not at time of see the last alive captive individual in the world, I didn't seen even taxidermy specimens at any natural history museum of the world, despite I've visited a lot of them.

Thanks for the praise. I hadn't the chance too, and now I have to wait what future brings to duiker enthusiasts. Having bad experience with duiker watching in East Africa (beside others I tried for Abbott's) but paid a lot of money taught me that searching for them in the wild is not an option, I would rather wait for them to appear again in captivity.
The whole sculpture is about 22 cm in diameter. Did You post photos of Your Jentink's sculptures?

 

[Marcus Burkhardt]

Stunning work!

Thanks!

 

[Marcus Burkhardt]

They're waaay better than my own sculpt of same species. What scale they are made?
When I think in this species inmediately the words "Gladys Porter" is what jumps to my mind, and vice versa. What a shame that I'm not at time of see the last alive captive individual in the world, I didn't seen even taxidermy specimens at any natural history museum of the world, despite I've visited a lot of them.

BTW; do You know mthe one at LC Bates Museum? Here ist the Facebook pot about it: Log in or sign up to view
If You want to see museum specimens the best way may be to ask for permission to go to the archives. I saw my first specimens (2 adult skins, and one possible young) a few weeks ago that way.

 

[Kakapo]

The whole sculpture is about 22 cm in diameter. Did You post photos of Your Jentink's sculptures?

Thanks, then they are really large figures. Yes, photos are posted earlier in this thread (see last post of Miniature Animal Figure Collection ) but images went corrupted since they were hosted in a place that recovered badly from a technical failure. I hope you have enough with these, if not, I can take new pics. I seriously tough in remade completely my sculpt giving it a bigger body and keeping the same head (too large in proportion to the body) since I learned after sculpting it that Jentinks duikers are waaaaaay larger than Zebra duikers, almost as big as yellow-backed ones, and now my Jentink's sculpt looks too small compared with the zebra duiker sculpt. However, breaking and redoing the figure is risky and complicated and I get used to the old sculpt.

Thanks for the advice to the museum. I doubt that if I visit America again I end just at Maine, it's impossible for normal people (not investigators) to be taken to the behind-the-scenes part (I would try that for an alive Jentink's in a zoo, but not for a taxidermy one) and anyway if they're just skins they're not enough for my photo archive. I just commented the part about museums only for emphasize the scarcity of the animal.

 

[Marcus Burkhardt]

Thanks, then they are really large figures. Yes, photos are posted earlier in this thread (see last post of Miniature Animal Figure Collection ) but images went corrupted since they were hosted in a place that recovered badly from a technical failure. I hope you have enough with these, if not, I can take new pics. I seriously tough in remade completely my sculpt giving it a bigger body and keeping the same head (too large in proportion to the body) since I learned after sculpting it that Jentinks duikers are waaaaaay larger than Zebra duikers, almost as big as yellow-backed ones, and now my Jentink's sculpt looks too small compared with the zebra duiker sculpt. However, breaking and redoing the figure is risky and complicated and I get used to the old sculpt.

Thanks for the advice to the museum. I doubt that if I visit America again I end just at Maine, it's impossible for normal people (not investigators) to be taken to the behind-the-scenes part (I would try that for an alive Jentink's in a zoo, but not for a taxidermy one) and anyway if they're just skins they're not enough for my photo archive. I just commented the part about museums only for emphasize the scarcity of the animal.

Ah nice, the photos are still okay. Yes the head is much too big, would be nice to see a completely new one if You don't want to enlarge the body of this figure. Regarding You said Jentink's duiker is almost as big as Yellow-backed, I would say Jentink's IS the lagerst of all duikers. Zoologist Vivian Wilson saw a male of Jetink's and a male of yellow-backed, both at age of one year, in one enclosure at Monrovia zoo around 1990 and recognized the Jentink's as the bigger one. Of course a low number of specimens for statistics and a final conclusion, but it would be hard to get more detailed information on this topic.

 

[Kakapo]

I readed somewhere that yellow-backed is the largest duiker species, that's why I said Jentink is "almost as big". Maybe the lack of a series of specimens didn't allow a proper size comparison.

 

[Marcus Burkhardt]

I readed somewhere that yellow-backed is the largest duiker species, that's why I said Jentink is "almost as big". Maybe the lack of a series of specimens didn't allow a proper size comparison.

I have read also several times that yellow backed is the biggest one. And yes You may be right with the number of specimens, but this makes the claim by Wilson even more counting and it is made by an eyewitness

 

[OkapiFan]

I currently have a Mako Shark, a Lemon Shark, an American Alligator, a Giant Desert Centipede, a Praying Mantis, and a Bullet Ant.

 

[Kakapo]

After very long pause, I acquired two more figures for my collection. I was visiting the Luxembourg natural history museum and saw these two Bullyland.

First one is the African elephant, Loxodonta africana.

And second one is the western roe deer, Capreolus capreolus.

 

[Great Argus]

It's likewise the other way around, I've only had three figures come from Europe, the shipping and tariffs are obnoxious!
I've bought a lot of figures from Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Canada, one or two from Vietnam too, none are even close to ordering from Europe! I generally skip over figures listed as coming from Europe unless they're really unusual, not worth it otherwise.

Of course, I say this and where does the next figure I buy come from? Europe!
Though as I stated about unusual figures, this one qualifies. Thanks to a tipoff from @TinoPup, I have procured a proper collector's item older than many Zoochatters! The collector-coveted Schleich Andean Condor has soared into my collection.

 

[Great Argus]

Had to pull everything for a raptor group pic.
Now if I could just get a Steller's Sea Eagle, Bateleur, Ornate Hawk-eagle, and Spectacled Owl...

 

[Kakapo]

Congrats for the elusive Schleich condor, a rare figure indeed, and very well done, especially considering its age. It doesn't looks like "vintage" actually.

Nice raptor panorama too. I think that sadly none bateleur figurine has been released by brands, but the other species you mention have figurines. Steller's sea eagle is indeed relatively easy to acquire because several Japanese brands released the species, as would be expectable. Mine is Colorata,but it doesn't scale well with your other raptors, except the California condor.