New Safari Ltd Toys (and How Best to Use Them!)

It’s that time again – Safari Ltd’s 2021 toys have been revealed! Time to take a look at what we’ve got coming in the pipeline for our SafariFans out there. In this blog, we’ll give a brief rundown of our newest educational toys for 2021, and different ways you can use them.

At Safari Ltd, we don’t call our products “Toys That Teach” for nothing. Our toys are for more than just playing with or displaying on a shelf, although they are perfectly good for doing both of those things. But they are also educational, learning toys, meant to allow kids to hone developmental skills, explore creatively and imaginatively, and learn about the world around them – all while engaging in play!

So without further ado, here’s what to expect:

Safari Ltd TOOBS

This year, Safari Ltd has multiple TOOB offerings in many different styles that are great for tons of playful and educational activities. Each TOOB features multiple mini-figurines centered around a specific theme, with a re-usable clear carry case that allows for easy storage and portability.

Our South American Animals TOOB (available Mid-December 2020) features eight animals native to the South American continent – a Harpy Eagle, a Boto (or Amazon River Dolphin), a Black Caiman, a Giant Anteater, a Capybara, a Three-Toed Sloth, an Arapaima, and a Jaguar. It’s a great set for helping to teach children about the unique birds, mammals, reptiles and fish native of this region. This set is full of interesting animals, including the Harpy Eagle (one of the largest and most powerful eagles in the world), the Arapaima (one of the largest freshwater fish alive today), the Capybara (the world’s largest living rodent) and much much more. This makes a great TOOB for teaching lessons about biology and geography.

Also available this year are two TOOBS with a fantasy element – the Dragons of the Elements TOOB and our Heroes & Monsters Designer TOOB (both available November 2020). Each TOOB features six unique figures. The Dragon TOOB, as its name implies, features dragons that represent different elements – ice, fire, water, plants, earth, and air. The Heroes & Monsters Designer TOOB, meanwhile, includes fantasy figurines traditionally associated with good and evil, including an Elven Archer, a Knight, a Sorcerer, a Barbarian, an Orc, and a Skeleton Soldier. These figures make great game pieces for tabletop and role-playing campaigns.

TOOBS are excellent and versatile toys, thanks to their small size and convenient carry case. Their reusable packaging makes them excellent travel toys, as they can go wherever your kids go. Since each TOOB has a focused theme, they’re great for learning activities such as matching games and sensory bins.

Safari Ltd Good Luck Minis

Good Luck Minis figurines are even smaller than our TOOB figures – they’re great little miniature toys for fans who love all things cute and tiny! Each Good Luck Mini is about an inch long, perfect for keeping close by in a pocket to bring you that extra little bit of good luck you’ve been needing!

For 2021, Safari Ltd has two new Good Luck Minis to add to the collection. The first is the legendary icon of cryptozoology himself – Bigfoot (available November 2020)! Despite this Pacific Northwest cryptid’s name, this mini-figure’s feet are quite small, but so is everything else! What this tiny toy lacks in size, however, it makes up for in detail. Recreating the iconic walking pose from the famous Paterson film, this little guy is covered with sculpted fur from the tip of its head to its namesake feet.

That’s not the only large creature rendered in a tiny pocket-size form. Our second Good Luck Mini figure for 2021 is the Komodo Dragon (available November 2020) – the largest living lizard, Komodo Dragons can grow up to ten feet long! This mini-figure is quite a bit smaller than that, but still features a ton of accurate details, including tiny scales and even a little forked tongue slipping between its lizardy lips!

Good Luck Minis are great for all kinds of things. In addition to being a pocket-sized friend that you can conveniently take anywhere, they’re also quite useful for everything from craft projects to educational activities. They’re great for DIY jewelry, making the perfect charms for earrings, necklaces and more. Their small size also makes them a great option for matching games, counting activities, sensory play, and other activities that help kids learn and develop while they play. They also make awesome giveaways and freebies for events and parties.

Safari Ltd Wildlife Figures

Wild Safari Wildlife, our flagship line of wildlife animal figurines, gets three new figures for 2021 – a new animal we’ve never done before, and two brand new updates of familiar favorites. Our new Plains Zebra (available Mid-December 2020) figure is a fantastic, all-new sculpt of this popular animal, with accurate paint detail recreating the animal’s distinctive striped pattern.

We are also introducing an all new Black Panther figurine (available January 2020). This figure has an updated sculpt that’s more accurate and detailed than our previous version of this melanistic leopard variation. Its paint has also been upgraded – instead of being solid black all over, this figure features some subtle shading to show that its spots are still visible against its dark coat.

The Maned Wolf (available November 2020) is a figure of an animal Safari Ltd has never tackled before. This elegant looking mammal has the longest legs of any member of the canid (dog) family in proportion to its body. It also has a distinctive ruff of hair on its neck that gives it its name. Both features are reflected on the accurate and detailed sculpt of our new Maned Wolf figure.

Wild Safari Wildlife figures are designed to be as scientifically accurate as possible, so that children can become acquainted with what these figures really look like with as they play with their animal toys in up-close, hands-on ways. They make great supplements to zoology and biology lessons, and can be used for matching activities, sensory play, and tons of other educational activities. They’re also great for DIY craft projects, and can be turned into ornaments or other useful and decorative items with relative ease.

Safari Ltd Dinosaur Toys - Prehistoric World

Safari Ltd’s prehistoric animal and dinosaur toys are always highly anticipated, and this year does not disappoint with three new meat-eating theropod figures. First up is the lesser known smaller cousin of one of the most recognizable dinos of all-time, Tyrannosaurus rex. Daspletosaurus (available January 2020) may look a lot like its more famous relative, but there are some notable differences. It was smaller than T-Rex, but bulkier and more heavily built. It also had proportionately longer arms. Scientists believe Daspletosaurus may be the direct ancestor of T-Rex.

The next two dinosaurs are both in the same family: Spinosauridae. These meat-eating dinosaurs had large claws and long snouts, perfect for snatching and chomping fish! Baryonyx (available Mid-December 2020) lived in what is now England, and its name means “Heavy Claw”. That refers to the first claw on each hand, which was enlarged and hooked so as to be well suited for grasping fish.

The next dinosaur is a creature with a long history of new discoveries that have drastically changed how we view it. Spinosaurus (available January 2020) was originally depicted as just a large, stereotypical meat-eating dinosaur, with its only unique feature being the large sail on its back. However, throughout the years newly discovered material showed that this dinosaur had a long, crocodile-shaped snout, and a number of features that made it uniquely adapted for life in and around the water.

The most recent discovery involved its tail. While the sail on its back has been known about for many years, it wasn’t until very recently that newly described material revealed that Spinosaurus had a large fin-like structure on its tail as well. This adds to the idea that Spinosaurus was a good swimmer, using its tail to help propel it through the water. Our latest Spinosaurus figure has been designed to reflect the most recent discoveries surrounding this ever-changing dinosaur.

Safari Ltd’s new dinosaur figures are great for playing with and displaying on shelves, and also excellent visual aids for learning about these animals of long ago in teaching lessons about prehistoric times. With Safari Ltd’s commitment to making the most accurate dinosaur toys we can, based on available scientific research, they are a great teaching tool to help kids learn while playing.

Safari Ltd Mythical Toys

While our Prehistoric World collection is dedicated to accurate and researched figurines, our Mythical Realms figures allow us to loosen up a bit and take more liberties with our designs. This collection frequently features creatures of mythology and folklore, but for 2021, we decided to try something a bit different.

This year brings two brand-new fantasy figurines: The Armored T-Rex (available Mid-December 2020) and Armored Triceratops (available Late November 2020)! These two dinosaurs are known to have faced off against each other in the Late Cretaceous Period around 66 million years ago, but never before have they been so uniquely geared up for battle. Putting a fantasy spin on these prehistoric beasts, each figure is outfitted with medieval style metallic armor to help them face each other in battle!

The Armored T-Rex even features a hinged jaw allowing for opening and closing, for extra play value and added display options.

Safari Ltd Dragon Figures

Finally, we come to our 2021 Safari Ltd Dragons collection. There’s only one figure to reveal at this time, but it’s a doozy. The Wolf Dragon (available November 2020) joins our figure ranks in 2021, and as its name implies, it combines many iconic features of wolves and dragons together for a unique and inspired figure. Posed in a predatory prowl, this figure is packed with awesome detail from its wolfish nose to the curled tip of its tail.

Safari Ltd Dragons make great display pieces in fantasy collections thanks to their substantial size, unique designs, and intricate detail. They can also be used for game pieces in tabletop campaigns. Or, they can just be used in plain old imaginative play.

And there you have it – Safari Ltd’s 2021 new releases. We realize that this year’s offerings are not quite as plentiful as previous years, but like just about everyone else this year, these have been unprecedented times at Safari Ltd, and we’ve had to adjust our release schedule accordingly.

But don’t worry – we’re not going anywhere. We’re committed to making educational, durable, and accurate toys that our fans love, so keep checking back to see what’s coming!