Rubber Bug Collecting: Aranea

Spiders, I dare say, are more commonly cast in toy form than any other creature in the human consciousness. This is hardly surprising, as they are also the single most feared creature in the human consciousness. Why, I can't possibly tell you. It will always confound me how anyone can be unnerved by something so small and so terribly delicate, only the tiniest fraction of which carry a venom your body would even notice.

This tarantula is one of the oldest and most common of the more realistic spider molds. I have seen this in hundreds of colors and materials, often with a large suction cup molded to the underside.

Here we see an example of the "classic" spider toy; floppy, "hairy" textured legs and an elastic band for the toy to dangle from. These have been marketed since the very beginning of rubber toys as a practical joke to pull on the arachnophobic.

This spider-on-a-string is one of the few I own that isn't either flat or hollow, which makes it feel like an exceptional quality spider toy.

Another classic usually sold as a "joke" item, these tribble-bodied spiders are usually attached to a hand-held pump to make the toy "hop" along a flat surface.

These rubber spiders in rubber webs have been another common sight for generations. Most molds that I've seen closely resemble one of these two, they absolutely always have a sucker on the underside and I have yet to see one that doesn't glow in the dark. The less realistic, more mite-like spider on the left is my favorite. The second toy's pink discoloration is from long-term contact with orange Halloween toys.

Even larger, this beautifully colored garden spider is one of the most accurate here. The varying length of its appendages is a trait of many real-world orb weavers.

I don't remember where I got this big guy, but I like its stout shape and compact pose. I think I've had this since I was nearly a baby.

This monstrous-looking spider has a set of wheeled, spring-loaded "jaws" as its base. When the mouth is pressed closed, it springs back open and the toy speeds away on its wheels. I had these with various "scary" animals, but I'm not sure what happened to the rest of the set.

Sold under the name "Bug Factor," this finely detailed and well-painted arachnid is actually just an elaborate bottle of cherry-flavored candy ooze.

These sinister-looking long-legged spiders are sold in large bags with various other rubber creatures during the Halloween season, especially in drug stores such as walgreens.

Another spider that came filled with candy, it has a hard plastic body with jiggly legs and a suction-cup base, making it a cool decoration for the inside of a car.

Made of solid rubbber with no markings whatsoever, this fat and sturdy spider has a small hole on its abdomen that probably connected to a candy sucker.

A very nice-looking tarantula with a uniquely realistic pose among spide-toys. This came in a "venomous animals" set along with the much less accurate scorpion and centipede in my other galleries.

This giant glow-in-the-dark arachnid is of another very old, very common make that is never sold without an elastic band.

A charmingly crappy mold that often appears in vending machines. You can clearly judge the quality of a rubber spider by the stringiness of its appendages.

Very old, and very cool-looking despite having only six legs. It almost looks more like an Amblypigid than a true spider. It used to have an elastic string.

This grumpy looking spider is part of a series of wheeled, pull-back arthropods that can be seen in a few of my other categories.

I think this is the coolest spider in my collection. This large latex Halloween prop has beautifully detailed eyes and mouthparts with a nice bulk and sturdy pose. Really impressive when hooked to a wall or ceiling!

While not as lifelike as the previous Halloween spider, this one has a much greater leg span and a very study wire frame to pose any number of ways.

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