Rubber Bug Collecting: Scorpions
One of the animal kingdom's most hardened survivors, scorpions come immediately after
spiders and centipedes as classic "scary" animals, though few carry a medically significant
sting. Their ancient ancestors were ocean-dwellers, and grew upwards of seven feet in
length.
One of my largest rubber scorpions, and a very
reasonable imitation of an emperor scorpion.
With few exceptions, the largest and burliest
scorpions tend to carry the weakest stings,
relying on brute strength more than venom.
I'm not sure where I got this scorpion, but it's
very solid, made of a slightly tough plastic and
completely unpainted.
One of the wheeled, pull-back arthropod toys. Its
sinister, imaginative eyes are similar to those of
its counterpart on the spider page.
This colorful, devilish-looking scorpion was once
attached to a set of wheels, but the glue slowly
deteriorated. The face reminds somewhat of a
Japanese
oni.
This mold is currently one of the most common,
appearing in dollar-store bug bags, halloween
assortments and party favors in an array of
colors.
This scorpion came in a "venomous animal"
collection from a science gift shop, though like
many of these scorpions it is missing one pair of
legs. Not very scientific!
I've had this simplistic, very flat scorpion since I
was a small child. I like how the claws are just a
couple of flat teardrops.
My favorite scorpion for coloration alone, the
translucent yellow with brown highlighting
roughly matches the real-world "death stalker"
scorpion; a species with both the deadliest
venom and the most awesome name.
A real strange one. An 80's toy line called
"
Rocks, Bugs & Things" featured a "Scarepion"
character with a second, hidden face. This
squeaky rubber toy is a generic bootleg of that
figure, molded from its open position!
Another one I've had since early childhood, this
jiggly rubber scorpion once had an elastic string
through its body.
This awesome scorpion with pinching action
comes from the Playskool prehistoric creatures
toy line, and was given to me by someone cooler
than you! We can forgive its six legs...you look
into those eyes and tell him he's supposed to
have eight, I dare you.
Another really awesome-looking six legged
scorpion, I found this at a garage sale and have
no idea where it may have originated. I like its
gnarly textures!