Review and photos by Zim, edited by Suspsy
Otodus megalodon is probably one of the most well-recognized prehistoric animals of all time due to our fascination of giant versions of animals, in this case, sharks. Though it is frequently depicted as an oversized great white shark due to the resemblance between their teeth, many experts now agree that this is due to convergent evolution rather than a close relation. Great whites are actually more closely related to mako sharks than they are to Megalodon. The largest teeth of the latter are about 17.9 cm and have been found worldwide. This giant shark preyed on a wide variety of marine life including fish, turtles, sea birds, possibly cephalopods, other sharks and rays, and whales. It grew to an estimated maximum size of 15 metres for females and 12 metres for the smaller males, possibly more. It inhabited the world’s oceans for a reasonable amount of time: 23 to 3.6 mya and were at the top of the food chain, with only the megaraptorial sperm whale Livyatan and larger members of the species as rivals. How Megalodon went extinct remains a mystery. One of the most likely theories was that it had to compete with great white sharks and orcas for the declining food sources and being so big, it required more food than these smaller predators and due to it being unable to sustain itself, the Megalodon went extinct. Today, this giant shark is featured in many movies, books, TV shows, and several figures, notably from CollectA, Safari Ltd., PNSO, and the subject of this review, Favorite Co. Ltd. How does this representation of this giant shark hold up? Well, let’s find out!
This Megalodon measures 23.5 cm long from the tip of the snout to the top of the caudal fin, 10.3 cm wide at the tips of the pectoral fins, and 7.3 cm tall at the top of the dorsal fin, all of which puts the figure roughly in the 1:50 scale. It would be in a larger scale, but unlike other Megalodon figures or most shark figures in general, this one is a male due to the presence of claspers on its pelvic fins, which are accurately done to show that they are actually part of the pelvic fins. This figure is part of Favorite Co’s line of soft vinyl figures (although they are as hard as a rock, especially this Megalodon), alongside animals like the woolly mammoth, Smilodon, Archelon, and Cambrian creatures like Anomalocaris.
At first glance, this figure may look like a typical modern day great white shark, but there are some physical differences. First, the figure is very bulky compared to a great white. especially for males. The dorsal fin is also wider than on a typical great white, the gills are slightly smaller in proportion, and the snout looks blunter.
The color scheme also isn’t the typical gray of great whites; it is a more bluish color, accompanied with a white underbelly for countershading. The eyes are fully black as in many aquatic predators and are well applied on this figure. For some reason, the nostrils are painted black even though they are sculpted in. The caudal, pelvic, and pectoral fins are outlined with black tips, similar to some modern sharks.
The figure is sculpted with its mouth wide open and tail turned to the side, possibly taking a bite out of ones of the whales that shared its habitat. The teeth are nicely sculpted, though not individually sculpted. They are painted a slightly off white and the gums and interior of the mouth are painted a nice pale pink color.
The Megalodon also comes with a rocky base which attaches by a peg sculpted on the top of it. The base is optional, but it does leave a large intent on the shark’s belly.
Overall, I think this is a decent representation of O. megalodon in figure form. The large indent on the underside may seem off for some people, but since it’s located on the bottom, it’s not too noticeable. It’s well done for a Megalodon for the time it was made, especially when most people’s perspective of this shark was that it was a scaled up great white shark. This figure is still in production as it’s still on the Favourite Co. website and inexpensive to get within Japan (I paid ¥1026 for mine while there). Outside Japan, it can be relatively hard and expensive to obtain and your best bet is Mercari or Yahoo Auctions Japan. Favorite has another large vinyl one while PNSO has two renditions of this giant shark. CollectA (compared below) made one in 2020 and Safari Ltd. has one too. And unlike most other prehistoric animals, I personally think that there shouldn’t be another new Megalodon figure for a while at least.
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Having held the figure in hand, I’m quite impressed by how hefty the model is for its size! This is easily the most attractive Megalodon figure on the market for me.
Cool review and this figure deserves more attention. It’s on the way to my collection, so hopefully I’ll get it soon.
Nice figure and I sincerely understand that there should not be more megalodon figures, although I also have to say that for commercial reasons, because of the film made by Steven Spielberg I am afraid that there will be more figures of that species, and the same can be said of the tyrannosaurus or triceratops They are figures that sell very well among children and young people and even among experienced collectors like me.
I am afraid that there will be more figures of that fish although there are other much more interesting prehistoric ones that would deserve a worthy paleoartistic representation and unfortunately they will not have it at least in the coming years.
I think that may be the first time I’ve ever seen a shark figure, prehistoric or extant, that wasn’t a female. Cool!