Shark Mutant Pirate (Papo)

During the Golden Age of Piracy from the 1650s to the 1730s, merchant and treasure ships from the Caribbean Sea to the Indian Ocean were terrorized by the likes of Henry “Long Ben” Every, John “Calico Jack” Rackham, Edward “Blackbeard” Teach, and Bartholomew “Black Bart” Roberts among others. Yet every single one of those fearsome figures was in fact elected to his captaincy by his crew, and held only limited authority over them. Nearly all major decisions aboard a pirate ship were determined by popular vote, and an unliked, unfeared, or unsuccessful captain could easily be deposed and replaced with a new one from the crew. Only during battle did the captain assume total control. The one special privilege he was entitled to was a double share of whatever loot was seized. He was also permitted to lodge in the master’s cabin if his ship happened to have one. But even then, any other crew member could waltz into the cabin and help himself to the captain’s food and drink whenever he felt like it!

Sharks have long been associated with pirates due to their mutual reputation for bloodthirstiness and ruthlessness. So why not combine them into one terrifying form? Regard well this shark mutant pirate, made by Papo and generously provided to me by the most assuredly not scurvy folks at Happy Hen Toys!

The shark pirate stands slightly under 9 cm tall at the tip of his dorsal fin. He is posed in an unmistakably aggressive stance, leaning forward with his knees bent and his feet planted. His left arm is extended forward with the wrist bent and his right arm is raised and held out to the side. It looks as though he is engaged in a ferocious duel to the death. Alternatively, he is in the midst of threatening to run through a helpless victim unless they hand over all their treasure to him. Either way, it’s a cool pose and a stable one too.

The shark head is painted dark grey on top and light grey on bottom, with solid glossy black eyes and a snarling dark red mouth full of triangular white teeth. Though slightly stylised, it is clearly and not surprisingly intended to represent a great white shark. Unusually for a pirate captain, he wears no hat, but the back of his dorsal fin is pierced with three metallic gold rings. Gill slits are also visible on his neck. The rest of his body is decidedly humanoid in form, with five-fingered hands and no tail coming out of his rear end.

So how do I know that this individual is a captain among pirates, other than the fact that he’s a mighty shark? Well, he’s certainly dressed like one. He wears a periwinkle blue coat and trousers trimmed with bright blue and accessorised with metallic gold buttons and clasps. Beneath his coat is a ruffled white shirt and a dark brown and gold belt. A metallic gold knife sheath is visible on his left side. On his legs are thigh-high metallic dark grey, black, and brown boots.

This ensemble makes him look very sharp and regal indeed, although there are visible rips in his coat at the shoulders and down the back. But that’s what a rough life at sea will do to clothing, I reckon. This is the second version of this toy; the first one had cream and dark blue clothing with red ruffles, and had a lighter complexion. It’s hard to say which looks better, but I’m quite happy with this version.

The shark pirate is armed with two deadly melee weapons. Gripped in his left hand is a dark grey dagger with a white blade made from a shark’s tooth. A very large and jagged shark’s tooth at that. Judging from the size, it belonged to a Megalodon at some point.

The much larger weapon in his right hand is a cutlass with a dark grey and metallic gold grip and guard and a metallic grey and white blade. Said blade has cleverly been fashioned to resemble a shark, complete with gill slits and a small hole to represent the eyes. Both weapons are removable and can be held in either hand, but it takes a fair bit of effort and can damage the paint on the handles. Besides, I think they look better in their default configuration.

I’m a fan of both sharks and pirates, so this shark mutant pirate is right up my alley. Indeed, I would have gone quite crazy over this toy as a child, and I can easily envision my own children enjoying it as well. It’s well-sculpted and well-painted, boasts a pair of nifty weapons, and just looks plain cool. You can purchase this chondrichthyan corsair at Happy Hen Toys’ website. Thanks go out to them once again!