Woolly Mammoth (1997 Missing Links/United Exhibits by Safari Ltd.)

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Review and photos by Skinny Davenport, edited by Suspsy

This review is of a resin model my parents bought me at the Smithsonian back in 2000, my very first ever woolly mammoth toy! I remember clutching her lovingly in the cafeteria as we chowed down on pizza in the museum restaurant. I named her “Buttercup” that wonderful day.

Buttercup bears a striking resemblance to the pose and fur of “Ellie,” the 2017 Cuddlekin mammoth I also reviewed recently. The trunk is held up, the mouth is open, the shoulder hump is prominent, the ears are the same shape, the body proportions are similar, and the colours and type of fur are remarkably reminiscent. It’s almost like someone tried to make a plush version of this figure when Ellie was designed.

This figure is incredibly detailed, and is actually identical, save for colour, to a model I later saw in a mini faux diorama displayed in the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The proportions of the figure are awesome; a lot of dinosaur and prehistoric animal figures downplay the animals’ musculature, but Buttercup has very evident leg, back, and trunk muscles. The top surface of her trunk has pleats in it, showing the accordion-like rings of muscle. The ears are just right; their shape is perfect and they are neither too big nor too small. The eyes are beautifully painted, with hints of white irises, black pupils, and even a reflective white live spot just off-center in each pupil. Her open mouth, which appears to be smiling like an Asian elephant’s, has a well-detailed pink tongue and even white teeth apparent around it. The structure of the ridges around the eye sockets and the dome on the head are beautifully depicted, and the detailing of the fur is absolutely gorgeous. The fur appears to be multi-coloured, mostly dark brown but with some reddish accents and a few black spots thrown in. Even the little gray toenails are nicely shown, and the pose of the mammoth is extremely enticing, as though she has stopped mid-stride to turn her head and joyfully raised her trunk to trumpet her happiness. Just looking at her smile makes me smile, too. 🙂

The only negative thing about Buttercup’s sculpt is that I think her tail is a little on the short side. As far as construction goes, there is one negative point. I loved my toys like most children do as a kid and treated them with great care and gentleness. Still, Buttercup’s tusks came loose fairly early on and would not stay glued back in. Finally, years later, I replaced them with new plastic tusks from an old mammoth skeleton kit that had a number of lost pieces. This involved manually twisting a drill bit slowly with my finger to enlarge the holes in the tusk sockets to accommodate the new tusks, but it turned out very nice, and she looks good as new.

Sadly, this beautiful figure is no longer made, and your only hope of finding her is probably on eBay. I do not think the Carnegie woolly mammoth was as beautiful as Buttercup, however, I think the Wild Safari one comes pretty close.