Linheraptor ( Beast Of the Mesozoic: Raptor Series by Creative Beast Studio)

Review and photos by Bokisaurus

Hello dinofans, and welcome to another review. Sit back, grab a coffee, and hopefully enjoy the review.

Today, the vast Mongolian desert is a desolate and harsh environment. Breathtakingly beautiful, the landscape stretches as far as the eyes can see. Red sandstone cliffs glow in the afternoon light casting ghostly shadows in the sand.
Signs of ancient river beds abound, a reminder of its distant past.
The eerily enchanting landscape is today devoid of any signs of large animals, it is simply too harsh. But in its prehistoric past, it once hosted a wide range of large animals that would rival today’s Masai Mara.

If you travel back to the late Cretaceous, you will see a thriving community of animals, both large and small. Today, they are still here, but you have to look beneath the rocks.
Here fossils of these magnificent animals are entombed, frozen in time, some in exquisite details. Due to its remote location and vastness, discoveries are slow, but with improvement in travel, things are changing.

Back in the late Cretaceous, this region was alive and full of action. In the distance, you can see herds of hadrosaurs accompanied by smaller herbivores on their annual migration.
Here and there, towering sauropods dot the landscape like moving mountains.
And all around, small shapes dart in and out amount the dunes like ghost. From a distance, these figures looks like big birds, but as it turns out, they are not exactly.

These are the raptors, small and fast predatory bird-like dinosaurs that dominated the area. They came in different shapes and sizes, each occupying a different niche in the food chain.One of this is Linheraptor exquisitus, a member of the famous dromaeosauridae family that includes the famous Velociraptor. 

For today’s review we will take a look at the Beast of the Mesozoic’s take on this enigmatic animal. I’m sure most of you have heard or is familiar with the Beast of the Mesozoic and its Raptor Series by Creative Beast Studio (wow, that’s a lot of words for a title!). The series started way back in 2016 with a kickstarted campaign.The goal was to produce a wide range of dinosaur action figure that can be posed in multiple way.
It started with his raptor series, which proved to be successful that a second series, the ceratopsian series is currently in the works as you read.
The line is extensive with with many species of dromeosaurs, many unique in that no other company have produced them to-date.
The figures are large and sculpted at 1/6th scale.
The species names alone is enough to make your head spin. On top of that, there are also deluxe versions, as well as fan choice version ( different colors), and optional accessories set that also comes with some unique and different species as well and environment.
Raptor fans must either be in heaven or in financial hell (or both).

Now before we go further, I have some confessions to make. First, I’m not a fan of action/articulated dinosaur figures, I just don’t like how all the joints look. Secondly, Raptors are not my favorite group and I really don’t know much about them.

Now that thats out of the way, so why would I review such a figure then? Well, simple, really. Although I was indifferent to the line when it first came out, I was intrigued.I found it to be interesting and I figured this would be a great challenge for someone like me who knows little about the group.

Linheraptor, meaning Linhe hunter, was discovered in Mongolia’s Linhe district back in 2008 but only named in 2010. So far, it is only known from a single, but nearly complete and exquisitely preserved skeleton.

Like many in the dromaeosaurus family, it was a late Cretaceous animal that shared many of its physical characteristics with its relatives. As a whole, the family is one of the most common and diverse group of animal in the region.
Like many in its family, it was a bird-like dinosaur that roamed the vast area. They are not big animals, measurement estimated that it is just under 6 feet in length and weighing in at around 55 lbs. It was a fast and agile hunter that most likely preyed on the small ceratopsians and oviraptorids in the area.

Like all dromaeosaurids, it had a long elongated skull and a mouth full of sharp teeth. The neck is curved, lightly built body, and a very long tail.

The head on the figure is recognizable as that of a dromeosaurid and is beautifully sculpted. The head is fully feathered, leaving  only the snout bare.

With the figure boasting an impressive 26 points of articulation, even the tongue is articulated! The jaw of course can be closed or opened and luckily the joint here are smooth unlike the tongue which can be difficult to pull out and keep in one place. The eyes are blood red with black pupils for added effect, very raptor indeed!

There are 3 separate pieces that makes up the head and neck, each articulated separately. The first starts just behind the head. As it connects to the neck, a second articulated part makes up the majority of the neck, then as it connects to the body, the thirds begins.
These multi-points of articulation allows you to move the head/neck in various directions:side-to-side, downwards, upwards, and still allow slight angling of the head.

The feathering that starts on the face, which are short, starts getting longer as it reaches the back of the skull, and turns into longer strands as it travels down the neck towards the body. They vary in thickness, and in some areas it looks as if the animal is ruffling its feathers. Sculpting wise, the feathers in this part of the body looks like that of a ratite, more hair-like.

The body is very slender and here you can start to see shapes of what you typically call feathers, more scalloped shaped. These feathers are arranged in rows that almost forms a ring around the body. They come in various sizes, but short and close to the body unlike the longer, looser strands of the neck. Overall, the body feathering is nicely sculpted.
At 1/6th scale, the figure is large, measuring in around 12” inches long and 5” inches tall depending on how you pose the figure.

The entire arms are adorned with feathers of various shapes and sizes. Long feathers covers the outer side of the arms, while shorted feathers line the inner arms including the hands.

There are 4 separate parts, all articulated, that makes up the arms. This allows you to spread the wings/arms out, or fold them all the way in. I have to say, I was blown away by this feature and how beautiful the individual sculpting of feathers are.
Opening the arms and watching the feathers unfold is like opening one of those fancy folding fan

Dromaeosaurids are biped animals with long legs and a sharp enlarged claws on each foot. It is this enlarged claws on the foot that is very distinctive to the group and also earned them the raptor name.
The figure comes with 2 pairs of foot that you can switch out depending on how you pose your figure. The whole leg are made out of 4 pieces total that gives you great options on how you want to pose the figure. This is one area that, at least on mine, some of the joints becomes stiff and hard to move around.

On my figure, the legs tends to want to stay in a folded position just under the body. The articulation on the thigh in particular is so hard to move that I got scared trying fearing I may break the joint.
Feathering again comes in various shapes and sizes and covers the entire legs until it reaches the foot which is bare but with scales.

The long tail tail starts off at the base and is one separate piece.You attach it to the body by popping it in a socket at the base of the tail.
It is skinny but starts to widen until it reaches the tips where it widens out into a beautiful fan of feathers, all individually sculpted in great details.
The tail have a wire inside it. This allows flexibility and you can pose it curled or straight out.

The figure comes with a base as well as a clear plastic rod with two interchangeable heads to hold your figure. I found it challenging using the stand, it was hard to try and snap the one that was supposed to hold the figure like a clip. I didn’t force it since I was worried that doing so would result in paint scratches on the belly.
Still with lots of patience, you can balance the figure on one of the heads, the one that looks more like a bar.
So you won’t see any photos of my figure in mid-air, believe me I tried.

Now we come to the colors. When I first looked at the catalog of available species, I had a hard time making a decision. I can only afford one figure, so I had to make the right choice.

The Sauronitholestes was a close runner up, I really like the unusual head crest on this figure. One look at the photos, it is clear that the colors and color schemes  used on these figures are based on extant birds which is a good thing as the options are endless and fits the figures very well.

I’m very visual, and if you are familiar with my repaints as well as personal sculpts, you would know how much I love colors and bold designs and patters on a figure.
So little time before the sale ends, one figure with dazzling colors really caught my eyes, this figure.

The choice of a small bird, in this case the Bee-eater, would seem like an odd choice to base colors for an animal of this size and who lives in this type of environment, after all those bright reds, yellows, blues, and green just seems too much. But it worked really well for this figure, and it really won me over. This figure is perhaps one of the most colorful in the line. It looks as if a rainbow exploded on this figure.

The various shades of colors makes a wonderful iridescent splash all over the body. It’s hard to describe all of the colors, but blues and green tones dominate the figures.
The paint applications are nice, crisp, and very clean and blends in well together. Each of these colors can be found in all parts of the body, so it really ties in everything beautifully.
If you appreciate colors on your dinosaur figures like me, well this is definitely a figure that would impress and dazzle you!

In closing, despite having doubts and being indifferent initially, I have learned a lot and have come to truly appreciate the great artistic efforts put into creating these line of articulated figures.
They are truly impressive to look at and is one of a kind. I have also learned a lot about the diverse raptor group and have found a new appreciation.

The articulations are nicely blended and often obscured by feathering, so this really helps hide them, making it less intrusive. The problems joints are minor in my opinion especially if they are to be used a s a display time and not as toys. If handled roughly, I would think that some breakage would be inevitable, so do handle with care.

Price wise, its on the higher end ranging form @29.99 and upwards depending on the species, this cost me $39.99(free shipping), but in the end I found it worth the cost. It simply is a work of art, there is nothing else out there like it.
Even if this is my only figure from the Raptor series, I am glad that I did get one. The entire series is an ambitious one, and with a small operation, this is definitely something that is worth supporting.

It is hard for small operation artist to compete with larger companies these days, but with this unique and beautiful series, I think there is a good chance that it had hit a niche market that collectors are hungry for.
I wish David Silva and team, the artist responsible for this series, all the best and would be following this series and the upcoming ones very closely.

Well, we have come to then end of the review. I hope that I succeeded in giving this figure justice. Thanks for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the review and this unique figure. Until we meet again, take care and Cheers!