Discount 4D: Tarantula Spider Anatomy Model

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List Price: $23.00
Sale Price: $18.99
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First I'll say that for its size this is relatively inexpensive. It's quite a large model and has many things it does right.

As far as Anatomy:

It highlights the spider brain, although it doesn't run the stomach through the brain and this is something incredibly critical to highlight for students about arthropods. Most of them have their stomachs going right through their brain! Also the intestine is far larger than shown in the model with a larger surface area. Another mistake is the fangs they are comically much larger than they would be in an actual spider. The eyes are also wonderfully correctly modeled as far the way they connect to the brain, However the way they're shaped and the arrangement on the spider is COMICALLY incorrect, in tarantulas they're clumped in several areas on the cephalothorax. The nerves in the legs are perplexingly modeled large and I think an opportunity was missed to highlight the fact that spiders actually move around with a hydraulic system inside their legs which would make a much better thing to show within the legs. The external features are very exaggerated and large almost as if you were looking at a cartoon of an actual spider as well.

Also, assume most of the information in the "manual" is incredibly terribly unreliable. The life cycle illustration is horrible, spiders DO NOT MATE THAT WAY. They don't have genitalia the same way we think of it! That guess what? section in the manual is very inaccurate facts such as but not limited to the little blurb about Goliath bird eaters being named bird eaters because they're large enough to eat them. It's as if someone decided to go "Hey, lets type in the phrase random spider facts into Google and quickly write this manual in an hour or two"

As far as Construction:

Man this thing is flimsy. The plastic bits snap in with a considerable amount of force required and the legs attach the same way. They have some weird puzzle arrangement where only certain legs fit in certain holes. However they are quite difficult to push in and even when they are fully pushed in they still are a little loose. The internal organs of the abdomen are also a nightmare to get in they don't exactly fit in all the precut holes the model provides. Well, they do just not when all of the organs are stacked as the instructions suggest. All three organs at once do not align or fit neatly with the holes the company made for them.

Obviously this isn't a professional model but for its price it's cheap and gets the job done. The stand is quite nice as well and overall it would be a fairly nice model for an educational environment.

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I own 25 tarantulas, and I was contacted to bring a few safe species into classrooms for presentations. I thought this 4D model would be helpful, especially considering that I own a Brachypelma smithi (Mexican red knee tarantula)--which this product is modeled after. I hoped I could show kids my spider, then use this model to explain her anatomy.

Being a tarantula hobbyist, I know a fair amount about tarantulas...enough to see some unfortunate mistakes. The formation of the eyes on the model is incorrect, and the underside of the model has no details at all. After putting the 4D tarantula model together, I checked out the enclosed information to read more about the different body parts. There are basic grammar errors, spelling mistakes (young are referred to as "Spider Lings,") etc... Probably the worst mistake was in the life cycle diagram, which you'd think would be basic information, right? The illustration for the reproduction part of the life cycle shows one spider mounted on top of another in a traditionally mammal-style posture. This is **not even close** to how tarantulas reproduce, and a simple 2-minute Google search would have revealed this. When basic information like this is presented incorrectly, I have little to no faith that the rest of the info is correct. :( Who would make a product like this without doing some basic research? It was quite a bummer.

While the model itself is "okay," it falls apart easily. And, like I said, the information is poor. I definitely wouldn't consider it "museum quality" like the description claims! I'd say that all and all $10 would be the most I'd recommend paying for this item.

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This is a LARGE (13" . . . think bigger than a sheet of notebook paper) model of a tarantula that is fully formed with detatchable organs and a "window" on the back so you can see through when it's all put together. If it says "33 organs," that must count each of the 8 legs separately because there is not much inside it. Organs include brain, heart, eyes, poison glands, digestive tubes, book lungs, ovaries and silk glands. Each organ is colored for identification (not realistically) and they nest together nicely inside so you can see how the body systems would be in place. It's a good model to show how inverterbrate anatomy is similar to mammal anatomy, with which kids are more familiar, but also how it is so different.

Unfortunately the legs do not stay in this thing -perhaps they could be glued in permanently, but ours constantly fall out so that it cannot even rest in one piece, it just falls apart. It is a good basic educational model for kids who want to see inside a tarantula, but it is not a toy that can walk around (good news for arachnophobe parents -that means it is NOT a toy that can sneak up on you!)

Honest reviews on 4D: Tarantula Spider Anatomy Model

This was better than I expected. The legs are shape coded so you can't install the wrong leg in the wrong hole. The instructions I would give a ** because they don't explain enough. It took me longer to figure out the plastic pieces fittings due to them not being very intuitive. But after I got it all put together, IT IS GREAT! The fit of the pieces is very tight and secure. The overall construction is *****.

I would recommend this to anyone, but I would also recommend that an adult assist younger children in the assembly.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for 4D: Tarantula Spider Anatomy Model

Was purchased as a christmas present for our child that is attending college to work in the animal field. Was pleasantly surprised at the size and detail of this model.