Among mahetao (麻核桃), the Hamotou (蛤蟆頭, “Toad Head”) is probably the best-known toad-shaped variety, with a form that closely resembles an actual toad.

Interestingly, toad-shaped forms are actually quite common among the less widely collected tiehetao/iron walnut (鐵核桃), where the wart-like bumps tend to be even more pronounced.

The two have very different characters and aesthetics. Which one do you prefer?

I'm honestly shocked at how easy these were to prep. The dark black Dimen background made the hoarfrost super obvious, and the smooth Toadshead shells made it very easy to remove with just a stiff nylon brush. The very few small areas of remaining pulp were also very easy to distinguish, as they were almost silver-grey. CapybaraLabs also does an outstanding job cleaning their pairs, so i'm sure that helped!

They also polished up to a nice shine remarkably quick, only a couple hours. I switched between the much stiffer nylon brush (1 hour constant brushing and rotating the walnut) and my super soft nylon brush (30 minutes brushing and rotating the walnut) and after maybe 5 hours total they seemed pretty much finished!

The prepping also brought out super subtle, absolutely gorgeous deep maroon colors on the base and ridges of both walnuts, which my camera does't do justice.

I'm so excited to see how these further develope over the months and years!

Arrival day: 11 august

Progress: 29 august

My favourite is Wild Wolf, like a lot playing with it, size and shape are perfect.

Or should I do more?

(First time doing this)

Ive spent almost two weeks on these black walnuts and they are definitely starting to smooth out and also put on a different color.

I glued some green quartz in to give it some extra specialness.

The more I brush I notice some white lines and I’ve got some cracks and chips from dropping a lot this so really good practice before getting an official pair of wenwan walnuts. I also split one of the walnuts when I first started by dropping it on the ground luckily I had backups for this event. 😂

Followed the suggestions from this Sub so I am taking my Nuts out on an Adventure while waiting for my second pair :D

My Nuts have never been happier

Recently discovered this variety of walnuts and immediately fell in love with their plump pumpkin like appearance so I had to get myself a pair. Quite fitting too as we are entering the Fall season 🙂‍↔️

Seen so many Nanjiangshi posts lately so figured I should finally get around to posting mine

They’re about 2 months old, though I don’t handle them often, mostly brushing since the pattern is stubborn to clean

Minimal play, minimal brushing. I've been mostly wearing these and rubbing my facial oils. They coloured in super nice! There are a few stubborn beads that are refusing to catch up with the rest but, they'll come around.

One of the most sought-after varieties of Nanjiang Stone. I’m really happy to have acquired this pair from a fellow collector! They’ve already been rolled for about a year.

After one month of consistent play I am starting to notice some changes! I don’t think the difference is as drastic as some have shown but I’ll continue to be patient! I just bought two more pairs today as a treat for sticking with this for a month. I am enjoying the process and it’s been very therapeutic during a hard time in my life. :)

These walnuts are absolutely stunning in person. I'm so happy with the quality of the shell, the deep coloration, and the nicely paired size of these walnuts!

My first Dimen pair, as well as my first pair of Toadheads. I'm super excited to start rolling these, but immediately after I took these pictures I bagged them back up and stuck them in a closet to acclimate. I definitely don't want to do anything to mess up this beautiful pair!

First walnuts that i've purchased from CapybaraLabs, but the combination of super fast shipping and amazing packaging, as well as an actually quite nice complimentary brush, will definitely make this the first of many pairs I will end up buying from their shop!

I'll definitely post a few more pictures of these after I finish the (minimal amount) prep on this pair, as well as some pictures at the 1 week mark to show them off after they hopefully start getting a bit of shine!

Hi! I have a stupid question, but how long after I receive a pair can they safely sit without attention? I am getting conflicting answers when I Google so thought coming here would be helpful. Thank you so much!

The toads turned into delicious caramel

I bought these off etsy for about $18~ usd after tax and I’ve been having a lot if fun with them but after asking chat gpt about them i am bot certain they are real. All help is appreciated.

Today i went hiking with my gf and i found a small walnut tree with some low hanging fruit, they were very small. If you have any insight if these are thick walled enough for wenwan purposes? Here is a quarter for reference

Apple Orchard. They're now beginning to look like withered leaves. 🍂🍁

When I'm not playing with them, they mostly stay in a ziplock plastic with a desiccant pouch

Feels different playing with this one compared to my apple orchard. Nice to have difference in sensation on hand. More reason to buy more variety.

Toads are my favorite variety currently. I have two other pair coming in the next couple weeks that are not Toads and I am very excited for them.

Show me your walnuts please as I want to learn about all different varieties.

New pair of nanjiang stones (?) i got from taobao! Look sm better in person vs the listing! Got these for about $7!!

I am curious to know what walnut shapes/textures are the most valuable. I have a growing collection of both starter and more premium pairs now and am curious to know what walnuts end up being the priciest nowadays