Review and photographs by Indohyus, edited by Suspsy
Outside of Dimetrodon and more recently, Dunkleosteus, toy companies rarely produce species from the Palaeozoic era. Maybe it’s due to them not being as large or as popular as dinosaurs. In any case, there are relatively few of the amazing and bizarre creatures from this huge expanse of time.
Enter Kaiyodo to put this right! As a creator of small capsule figures, they lend themselves well to the smaller species of this era, such as today’s subject: Hemicyclaspis, a jawless fish of the Ordivician of Europe and North America.
At 2.8” long and 1” wide, it is a very small figure, although this suits an animal that was only 5” long in life. In spite of this small size, Kaiyodo did not scrimp on the detail. The detailing is astonishing, with every scale and pit well-represented, helped by a fantastic paint scheme that is appropriately placed and coloured for a bottom-dwelling detritivore. This really is a gem of a figure. The pose is simple, but it works well here. With the anatomy of Hemicyclaspis, an extremely dynamic pose really isn’t possible.
Speaking of anatomy, this is an extremely accurate figure. The shovel-like head is there, with a very armoured look. The small pectoral fins are correct, along with the small dorsal fin and flattened tail. No complaints, all good.
All in all, this is a gorgeous little figure, well worth picking up. It is also the easiest of the two members of its family to get, as the only other figure from this group to be made, the Starlux Cephalaspis, has become very rare and rather expensive. eBay is your best bet for finding this figure, and it is well worth it.
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[…] my last review, I mentioned how Palaeozoic creatures are rarely produced in toy form. There is, however, a group […]
It is a gorgeous figure.
Mine is colored somewhat differently than yours, however.
It could be a colour variant. Kaiyodo often do various colours for their models.
What color is yours? Mine looks slightly different, but I think it might just be the light. This looks like it was taken outside in the late afternoon with a phone.