These were very much an impulse buy. I had been seeing them around Taobao for a little while, but then saw them on another international site and decided to take the plunge.
Set of 6 hognoses with wooden base: CN¥1,078 (5 x ¥168, 1 x ¥238)
Set of 3 kingsnakes: ¥504 (¥168 each)
I shipped them in a sizeable haul, so calculating shipping cost would not be entirely accurate.
Box
I wasn’t originally intending to write a review, so I ended up disposing of the boxes before taking photos. But seeing as these were a proxy order, I do have the proxy photos.
Front:
They came in cute little eggboxes, but the eggboxes weren’t very strong so they got a bit crushed in domestic transit and more crushed during international transit.
Each box fit two snakes:
Whilst cute, I wish the cardboard was more substantial or they included some bubble wrap to protect them.
I did keep one of the sleeves though:
Roly-poly, roly-poly… Here we can see a couple of the other lizards they do – fat-tailed geckos and chameleons. The maker is called “捣捣蛋”, which is pronounced “DaoDaoDan”, and translates to mischief/mischievous. So we have some roly-poly mischief-making snakes 😆.
Top of the sleeve:
Here we have the company logo – this creature looks cute, but they didn’t have any eggs of this li’l dude.
Bottom of the sleeve:
The QR code goes to DaoDaoDan’s Taobao store (https://shop103989064.taobao.com/). The text translates to “Mischief makes even a cold-hearted animal feel warm”. So a fitting tagline for mischievous cold-blooded animals.
Back of sleeve:
The line under “DaoDaoDan” translates to “Reptile series roly-poly toy”. Most of the rest of the text has English translations. That fat-tailed gecko looks very interested in reading about himself.
Base
The base is included for free if you order a set with 5+ items. Here are the 6 hognoses on their complementary base:
The wood pattern isn’t the best on this one, though the dark lines are more noticeable in the photo versus looking at it in real life.
Close-up of the logo:
The company logo is burned into the wood – looks cute. Some of the detail was lost on the Chinese letters though.
Top:
Yep, 6 slots for our 6 snakes – perfect. Not a particular fan of the over-dark grain texture.
Bottom:
Not too much to see here.
Not sure if I lost the base lottery a bit – I should imagine there’s some natural variation, but I think it would look nicer without the dark, contrasting grain. As a functional item, it does keep the snakes steady and they fit in the dimples well. And it does make them look extra-cute lined up like that.
Hognoses
Let’s take a closer look at one of the hognoses:
The snakes have a shiny gloss to them, and a decent amount of detail to their sculpt. I like the way the tail flops out of the egg. It also has the distinct “shovel nose” that hognoses have.
For the egg, I like the mottled texture it has been given. The matte finish contrasts nicely with the shiny snake. The irregular edge on the egg looks good too.
Sides:
D’aww. Definitely rocking those chibi proportions with its cheeky grin. Also liking the beady eye.
Back:
Here we can see the head stamp – all of the hognoses have pretty much the same headstamp. Whilst it is reminiscent of hognoses, I think it would’ve been nice to vary the headstamps more. The scale sculpt is nice – plenty of scaley texture back here.
Bottom:
The company logo is at the bottom, embossed into the egg. I like this subtle logo. There is also a weight in the base that ensures the snakes stand up, even when not on the stand.
Snakes on their flight:
Looking at the headstamps like this, there’s more variation than I thought, but not as much as hognoses may have. The limited edition at the right side does look a bit different from the others, but also looks a bit rushed in its paint. Aesthetically, I think the pastel one (#2 from the left) is my favourite, but I do enjoy #4’s outlined markings, but does feel much more of a fantasy colour scheme than the others.
All-in-all, they make for a cute set of snakes. I’d say they’re more of an “art toy” set than going for realism. I’d say they’re on the pricier side given the quality and size, so paying a premium for a small-run, niche product.
And here’s a bonus pic of one of them in an egg chair I had arrive in the same haul:
Kingsnakes
Unfortunately one of these didn’t make it. Looking back at the QC, I think it may have been broken during the domestic shipping leg:
Can see what looks like a split on the right-hand side. I did request the QC photo to be done like this as I was only checking I had the correct snakes included. I did originally select in-box inspection as I tend to prefer less handling of the goods. If I noticed this before I had them shipped out I would’ve requested a replacement. Ah well.
So let’s look at its good side:
He is a cute fella with a complementary pastel theme. I think the nostril could’ve done with a blob of dark-coloured paint. Maybe a very dark brown or black.
And now for the carnage:
Poor guy. But this shows how the egg carton packaging wasn’t sturdy enough to protect the goods. The outer shipping box got thrashed in the domestic shipping.
Innards:
Can see some of the broken shards plus a support. Looking carefully at an angle it is possible to see the weight at the bottom that keeps them upright, but couldn’t get a photo of it.
And now for the other two that didn’t break in transit:
I do like the sculpting on these – the scale details are on point. We also have the cheeky tail-out that the hognoses have. I also like the eyes with the blue outer and black middle. The white-and-black kingsnake is my least favourite – it does look this airbrushed in the promo photos, and was what kept me on the fence from ordering them. I think the black kingsnake is the best looking out of the kingsnake trio and could recommend this one.
Conclusion
Overall, I think the hognoses fit this form more than the kingsnakes, but the black kingsnake does look good and he’d likely end up with the middle tier hogs if ranked. I think they’re on the pricey side but don’t regret getting them. The packaging is fun, but think it could do with some improvement to protect the goods better – Chinese domestic shipping can be rough. Including some bubble wrap/EPE or using sturdier card I think would enhance survivability.
The wooden base is a nice bonus item – not essential, but useful if you want to display them together or want some more stability than just the “roly-poly” weight. It is fun to roll them about… but need to be careful doing that, lest they go the way of the poor pastel kingsnake.
In terms of recommending, I’d probably only recommend them to people who don’t mind paying a premium for chibi snakes in eggs. Granted, they are much cheaper Animal Planet’s snakes, but the Animal Planet ones are larger and much more detailed in their paint. If you’re going more for cutesy art toy, these snakes may be for you – just get good QC photos prior to international shipping to ensure they’re in one piece. I have ordered some more, and thinking of having them wrapped individually with thin EPE foam. And I’m having the regular inspection.