Safari Ltd., Toys Inspired by Nature

One of the first stops at the National Stationery Show on Sunday was Safari Ltd., which makes museum quality creative toys that range in size from the tiny (as pictured above) to the large.

Founded in 1980, Safari began as an educational toy company. The quality and detail of their replicas is stunning, each piece handpainted and life-like (and can be used as a teaching tool or just a great collectible). In the pic above is the panda, the hermit crab, and the T-rex (the hippo seems to have disappeared), all with details painted in such as the dinosaur's red tongue and the crab's black claw tips. In addition to real animal replicas, their fantasy dragons, mythical creatures, and fairy folk are also detailed and astounding.

The company supports a number of organizations that work in the field of conservation, animal protection, and ecologically sound business practices. All in all, Safari Ltd. has a really great product. I'm not sure where they retail, but I'm going to look for their replicas when I next visit the American Museum of Natural History.

Update: Found the hippo, the pic is a bit blurry but I think you can still see the detail. Next to it is a quarter, so you get an idea of how small this is yet so amazingly life-like. The pink mouth and white teeth are incredibly.

You can also follow Safari Ltd. on Twitter @SafariLtd.