The best figure of every species, according to Halichoeres

[BlueKrono]

Ah, gotcha. I'm a big fan of his Gerrothorax, as you know. And there's that nifty Longisquama!

[Halichoeres]

Don't know if anyone else has mentioned it, but I like the backdrop you've been using for your photos. And you seem to pick the right colours to suit the figures in each pic.

Thank you! I try to pick them to show the figures to best effect.

Today, a couple of Paleozoic bilaterians:


ThinkArt Dunkleosteus (Like Hobby)
Scale: 1:30
Released: 2020
This striking placoderm, from a small Thai studio, is a hollow cast, surprisingly lightweight. I don't really need a new Dunkleosteus, but I bought this figure for three reasons. One, I saw some errors on an early prototype and pointed them out to the designer(s), and they incorporated the corrections; I felt a bit obliged as a result. Two, I always want to encourage people to make prehistoric fish (except Otodus, yawn). And three, I think reviewing it would give me a good occasion to talk about Dunkleosteus again on the blog. There are some really nice aspects to this figure, and it's a very pretty sculpt. But there are still some serious problems, like the fin anatomy and the texture. I'll talk about those in more detail when I review it. If you plan to order this one, make sure you request that it be packed carefully--I had to glue the two right fins back on after they broke in transit.




I don't think I'll keep the ThinkArt model. The Favorite Co version is still the reigning champ. It could be improved upon, but I'd honestly rather see about 200 other Paleozoic fish made first.


CollectA Orthoceras regulare
Scale: About life-size, though they could get a bit bigger than this.
Sculptor: Matthias Geiger
Released: 2020
Middle Ordovician
2020 was CollectA's year in my book, and the invertebrates were a big part of why. This is the second Ordovician animal from them (after the minuscule Cameroceras in the prehistoric marine box); I hope someday it has some company. Mine has a slightly curved tip, which is unfortunate, although I bet it could be corrected with some hot water. To the best of my knowledge, they got the anatomy right: ten equal-sized arms, a ventral siphuncle, and a small round hood. Great addition.


Making life difficult for some Ordovician trilobites. This is more than a third of my Ordovician collection, if you can believe it.

[Faelrin]

Some great additions there. And regards to the Ordovician stuff I can believe it, sadly. Honestly other then the Cambrian and Permian (and maybe the Devonian too but most of the representation is Dunkleosteus as can be seen above, so eh), the rest of the Paleozoic tends to be laid to the wayside. I'm sure once the miniatures from O @Oammararak's campaign ship it'll help address that (which I am still super excited for, not just for all the invertebrates, which are highly neglected as is, but all the fish as well).

[BlueKrono]

If you're looking for a buyer for the ThinkArt I know a guy...

[Halichoeres]

Some great additions there. And regards to the Ordovician stuff I can believe it, sadly. Honestly other then the Cambrian and Permian (and maybe the Devonian too but most of the representation is Dunkleosteus as can be seen above, so eh), the rest of the Paleozoic tends to be laid to the wayside. I'm sure once the miniatures from O @Oammararak's campaign ship it'll help address that (which I am still super excited for, not just for all the invertebrates, which are highly neglected as is, but all the fish as well).

Yeah, that's going to increase the Ordovician and Silurian by a factor of several!

If you're looking for a buyer for the ThinkArt I know a guy...

Hmm, is his name "Krue Blono?"

Osteichthyans of the Cretaceous! Because I add several dozen new figures to my collection per year, and most of what I buy isn't very different from what everyone else is buying, it would feel really spammy to update this thread for every new acquisition. Sometimes I have to wait a long time for enough Triassic or Paleozoic animals for an update. Not so for the Cretaceous; they just keep on coming.


Creative Beast Zuniceratops christopheri
Scale: 1:12-1:15
Released: 2020
Turonian of North America
I've always had a soft spot for Zuniceratops, as it was described while I was in high school, found a few hundred kilometers from where I grew up, and named after a tribe that has inhabited the region for thousands of years. I'm happy to have such a nice representation of it, finally. And I don't often look forward to theropods, but I'm actually stoked that there will soon be a Suskityrannus to accompany it. This is also one of the very few non-ceratopsids that Silva retained in his line. I would have loved to have Cerasinops, Udanoceratops, etc., but their absence stings less with this on my shelf. Replaces the Geoworld version.


The head and forequarters. The paint on the forelegs is not symmetric, which is slightly annoying.


These plants were in decline by the time of Zuniceratops, but good luck getting period-appropriate plant models for all your herbivores!


Creative Beast Chasmosaurus belli
Scale: 1:15-1:18
Released: 2020
Campanian of North America
Ceratopsians are funny in that companies recycle a couple of classic taxa (Triceratops, Styracosaurus, Pachyrhinosaurus) and jump on the bandwagon for newly described ones (Nasutoceratops, Diabloceratops, Regaliceratops), but largely ignore a bunch of mid-tier classics that we all recognize from the books we read as kids (Chasmosaurus, Anchiceratops, and, infamously, Centrosaurus). The BotM series helps rectify the imbalance a little bit. This is a very handsome figure. I might have chosen a different palette, but this one is more effective than I thought it would be. Replaces my DeAgostini Chasmosaurus.


The frill in anterior view. Chasmosaurus had a truly ridiculous noggin. Although ceratopsids are among the best-represented groups of dinosaurs, I don't get nearly as tired of them as some others, because they are genuinely strange animals (sure, their postcrania are not very remarkable, but gee whiz, those heads).


Kaiyodo Oviraptor for scale.


Creative Beast Monoclonius crassus
Scale: 1:20
Released: 2020
Campanian of North America
M. crassus is currently regarded as a nomen dubium, but of all the nomina dubia in dinosaur paleontology, this seems like one of the likeliest to re-emerge as a valid name. That said, this also works quite well as a 1:20-1:25 Centrosaurus. Replaces my grumpy-turtle Ausini Monoclonius.


I don't have the Dino-Riders nostalgia that many members do, but I do like this color.


The Campanian (just pretend the plants are something else).

And now that you've feasted your eyes on those beauties, I invite you to assault them with these ugly critters:


Sbabam Sinopterus (Dino Eggs Winter)
Scale: 1:7 (based on the skull)
Released: 2020
Aptian of Eurasia
This is my first experience with the super-absorbent polymer figures that you soak in water to expand. They, or the eggs that encase them, leave behind a horrible sludge that can't possibly be good for the environment if washed down the drain. I bought several of these because they purported to represent rarely done species, but their emergence from their eggs was very disappointing. This Sinopterus is the only one that bore even a passing resemblance to the correct clade. It's a highly inaccurate (yikes, those teeth!) but obvious pterosaur, and it even has crests both on top of and below the head, like a proper Sinopterus. For that reason, it replaces the alleged Sinopterus flying toy by Günther.


The other figures were not merely inaccurate, more like falsely advertised. I don't feel disappointed so much as deceived. This is sold as the mosasaur Platecarpus, but is obviously a dolphin.


This is sold as the pachycormid Protosphyraena, but is obviously a narwhal.


This is sold as the giant ichthyosaur Thalattoarchon, but is obviously a rorqual. You can also see an unsightly concretion on its tail, which is an adhesive that affixed it to its soluble egg. It's hard to remove without damaging the toy, but in this case isn't worth the effort anyway.


Sure, yeah, these all look super-prehistoric.


In the end, this is my entire Sbabam collection. By coincidence, they are to the same scale.

Still waiting on most of my PNSO figures. I was supposed to receive 4 separate parcels on Friday (not all PNSO), but only the BotM one has appeared (it arrived Saturday). The mail service here is in a bad way.

[Bokisaurus]

Cool new addition, that dunkle looks really nice, I like it.
Those BoTM ceratopsian are cool, but the more I look at them, the more I'm convinced to maybe only get 1, they are simply too big for my space😂

And those little ones are fascinating- I'm always amused by these obscure less than perfect figures you find 😂

[Shonisaurus]

@Halichoeres My congratulations on all your new acquisitions, especially BoTM's ceraptosides. The chasmosaurus outperforms its Collecta counterpart, however I don't really like the color tone of that slippery ceraptóside on the traditional toy market.

However, I like them better because of their color palette and the zuniceratops sculpture, that red tone on the steering wheel gives it an energetic image. The monoclonius is by far my favorite figure of all your new acquisitions. Halichoeres. I'm glad for you.

[Gothmog the Baryonyx]

Lovely acquisitions, those beautiful Ceratopsians especially the Zuniceratops, which I also got. I've been thinking about the Chasmosaurus. It is NY favourite Ceratopsid but I didn't wa t a figurr that large. How would you rate it?
Very erm interesting other things too.
Sorry to hear your PNSO have still not arrived yet.

[Lanthanotus]

That Sbabam Metoposaurus is a real nice figure. There was one on ebay last week but I refrained as I read it is 23 cm long, not nearly in scale with anything I could group it with.

[Flaffy]

I've noticed that some of the ceratopsian head sculpts are not quite alined properly, in terms of skull position and frill.

Do the final production samples of Zuniceratops and Chasmosaurus have asymmetrical head sculpts? When viewing the chasmosaurus directly from the front, the head seems to be is slightly off to the left. I wonder if this is an issue with the sculpt itself, or if the paint is causing the effect.

For the Zuniceratops, the horns seem to be leaning to the right, and the position of the jugals don't match up with each other.

Screenshot from Laura Legends

I guess this matches up with a specimen of the ceratopsian? But then that would mean fossil warping wasn't taken into account for the figure.

[Dinoxels]

@Flaffy The jugulars appear fine in terms of placement, not sure what you mean there. And if the horn is leaning slightly to the right that doesn't make it inaccurate. Ceratopsians are known to occasionally have very asymmetrical skulls, just do some research on Styracosaurus and see what I mean.
Unless of course you like your figures to match up 100% with a specific specimen.

[Flaffy]

@Flaffy The jugulars appear fine in terms of placement, not sure what you mean there. And if the horn is leaning slightly to the right that doesn't make it inaccurate. Ceratopsians are known to occasionally have very asymmetrical skulls, just do some research on Styracosaurus and see what I mean.
Unless of course you like your figures to match up 100% with a specific specimen.

I am well aware of ceratopsian asymmetry. On the other hand, warping and crushing during the fossilisation process is also a very common phenomenon. To my knowledge there have yet to be a "complete" Zuniceratops skull found. The fossils we do have are either broken (all of them) or crushed (the paratype). I don't think it's a fair comparison to make with Styracosaurus, which has more "complete" skull elements, a far larger sample size, and being a considerably more derived ceratopsian. And isn't Styracosaurus a bit of an outlier among ceratopsians with it's extreme variation and asymmetry?

As for the jugals, the right one seems to be in a higher position than the left on the figure.

And since David doesn't base his figures entirely on a specific specimen, it's odd to see so many features match up with the museum mount. Which lends me to believe that the asymmetry is not an intentional feature.

[Kapitaenosavrvs]

I've noticed that some of the ceratopsian head sculpts are not quite alined properly, in terms of skull position and frill.

Do the final production samples of Zuniceratops and Chasmosaurus have asymmetrical head sculpts? When viewing the chasmosaurus directly from the front, the head seems to be is slightly off to the left. I wonder if this is an issue with the sculpt itself, or if the paint is causing the effect.

For the Zuniceratops, the horns seem to be leaning to the right, and the position of the jugals don't match up with each other.

Screenshot from Laura Legends

I guess this matches up with a specimen of the ceratopsian? But then that would mean fossil warping wasn't taken into account for the figure.

Also, they are Handsculpted, so this was not done with mirroring and that stuff.  On first glance digital Models look very good, but i have 3D Printed Figures that have mirrored Heads and this looks... unnatural. Nature is not always like Crystals. But i know what you mean. I have that with the Heads of the BOTM Raptors. But in the End i think i just have to look for something not perfect, because in this modern world, were everything seems to be getting more "perfect" (oh no.), i guess we are expecting a Product to be "perfectly shaped" Maybe. Just an Idea. With old Figures, one was happy to have something accurate, now we seems to look for every small thing to have something to talk about   The Figures are getting better and better...

[Halichoeres]

Thanks for visiting, everyone!

Cool new addition, that dunkle looks really nice, I like it.
Those BoTM ceratopsian are cool, but the more I look at them, the more I'm convinced to maybe only get 1, they are simply too big for my space😂

And those little ones are fascinating- I'm always amused by these obscure less than perfect figures you find 😂

Yeah, the BotM figures are quite large, so I only went for taxa that I didn't have good figures of in the 1:25-1:50 range. I'm glad you enjoy the oddballs! I rationalize my pursuit of them in part by the exposure that these relatively obscure species will get when I highlight them.

Lovely acquisitions, those beautiful Ceratopsians especially the Zuniceratops, which I also got. I've been thinking about the Chasmosaurus. It is my favourite Ceratopsid but I didn't want a figure that large. How would you rate it?

@Gothmog the Baryonyx The Chasmosaurus is very good, but it is huge, even larger than its stated scale. It's maybe three times the length of the CollectA version. There isn't really any competition if you want the nicest, most up-to-date version, though there is of course the gorgeous but outdated Kaiyodo Dinoland figure for twice the price. Subjectively I'd rate it maybe 8.5 out of ten with one point off for the color scheme and half a point for being outside my preferred scale range for larger animals.

That Sbabam Metoposaurus is a real nice figure. There was one on ebay last week but I refrained as I read it is 23 cm long, not nearly in scale with anything I could group it with.

@Lanthanotus I have several Triassic animals in a similar scale but most are rare or ugly or both (Dawn of the Dinosaurs Promastodonsaurus, Dinosaur Train Peteinosaurus, Jasman Procompsognathus). It does go well with the Bullyland Protochirotherium! Maybe one day a major company will grace us with a good temnospondyl.

@Flaffy @Dinoxels I hadn't noticed any asymmetry on the head but I took a look after you posted your question and while I cannot see any mismatch in the jugals, the horns do have a slight bias to the animal's left.




It might be that the horns came off the mold aligned perfectly and then got distorted during handling, packaging, or shipping. For me, it's pretty easy to just look at it as fluctuating asymmetry of the kind that all bilaterian animals are prone to--we all know someone with eyes of a different height or with noses that point in a direction other than straight ahead.

I can't see any sculptural dissimilarity in the left and right halves of the Chasmosaurus head, but its frill pattern is a lot busier, which could obscure it.

Also, they are Handsculpted, so this was not done with mirroring and that stuff.  On first glance digital Models look very good, but i have 3D Printed Figures that have mirrored Heads and this looks... unnatural. Nature is not always like Crystals. But i know what you mean. I have that with the Heads of the BOTM Raptors. But in the End i think i just have to look for something not perfect, because in this modern world, were everything seems to be getting more "perfect" (oh no.), i guess we are expecting a Product to be "perfectly shaped" Maybe. Just an Idea. With old Figures, one was happy to have something accurate, now we seems to look for every small thing to have something to talk about   The Figures are getting better and better...

Yeah, especially for dinosaurs sensu stricto, one has to work a little harder these days to find fault with figures. This sort of irregularity is pretty easy for me to overlook. Now, as for the Sbabam Sinopterus...

[Eocarcharia]

What a contrast in quality between your new acquisitions. Seeing everyone's BOTM Ceratopsians in all their glory has finally made me cave and order some.

[Flaffy]

@Halichoeres Thanks for the frontal shot of the Zuniceratops!

I stand corrected on the jugals. They look fine given the clearer image.

[Halichoeres]

My 2020 in review:




I've never wrapped up a calendar year with so few of the year's releases in hand! A combination of a late spate of releases from PNSO and Vitae, combined with both pandemic-caused and pandemic-rationalized disruptions to shipping, means that a lot of my purchases disappeared in the post, are in transit, or are being patiently held by HLJ and other helpful persons awaiting a more opportune moment for dispatch. I'll update this collage when more of the black boxes can be filled in. Still, easy to see that CollectA won 2020 where my collection is concerned, followed by Safari and PNSO (tied).

I feel lucky to still be employed, and to have been able to work from home and reduce my own exposure and that of my loved ones. Most of the jobs I've had before this, in construction, retail, food service, animal husbandry, etc., wouldn't have given me the same luxury. Here's hoping for a safer, kinder 2021.

Updated 7 Jan 2022:






Ended up filling most of the holes!

[EmperorDinobot]

To the blue Dilophosaurus in the middle of the collage: Who hurt you?

[CityRaptor]

To the blue Dilophosaurus in the middle of the collage: Who hurt you?

The Dilophosaurus points at DeAgostini.
"THEY DID! They also claim that I'm a Dracovenator!"

[Halichoeres]

To the blue Dilophosaurus in the middle of the collage: Who hurt you?

The Dilophosaurus points at DeAgostini.
"THEY DID! They also claim that I'm a Dracovenator!"

That and the filarial worms. Like the Aucasaurus, it looks to have elephantiasis, as SidB pointed out earlier in the thread!


Stem-birds of the Jurassic!


Giochi Preziosi Jeholopterus (DinoFroz)
Scale: about 1:2? but it depends which bit you're measuring
Released: 2011
Middle to Upper Jurassic of Laurasia
This pterosaur was famously preserved with extensive pycnofibers (although apparently Martill and Unwin are raising objections to that interpretation in what strikes me as an extremely crank-y way). It definitely wasn't preserved with knobbly horns on its head. Technically this figure isn't labeled Jeholopterus, but "Kerajeholopterus," so I guess "horned Jehol wing." It's typical of the embellished last series of DinoFroz figures. A PNSO mini of this taxon would be just what the doctor ordered.


Rebor's dragonfly returns as scale bar.



Mattel Yingshanosaurus (Xtractaurs)
Scale: 1:25-1:30
Released: 2009
Upper Jurassic of Laurasia
This was part of the last wave of Xtractaurs, and as such appears to have been released in small numbers. It took something like four years watching eBay to track it down; and after B @brontosauruschuck reviewed the rest of the line for the blog, I was starting to doubt whether it had really been released at all. But finally a lot of the action figures popped up and I bought them all just to get this one. (If anybody wants some of the other figures in the line, I'm open to offers.)


I briefly scrupled at opening the package on such a rare toy, but honestly it's not like these are that sought after. The figure is obviously not highly accurate, being stylized and angular (also how brontosauruschuck describes them). But it's the only Yingshanosaurus toy I know of. Just watch, now that I have it, PNSO will make one (though again, I'd rather they prioritize Jeholopterus).

Speaking of PNSO, now that my recent orders are finally starting to trickle in, they've surpassed Favorite to become the 4th largest contributor to my collection.


PNSO Miragaia
Scale: 1:25-1:30
Released: 2020
Upper Jurassic of Laurasia
I was startled when I saw this figure revealed. It departs significantly from what is published on Miragaia, but based on the in-progress work of Francisco Pinto and those he has advised (such as Ashley Patch), this does seem to be what's coming down the pike. It's a very strange morphology for a thyreophoran, and having volunteered to review it for the blog, I find myself wishing more of the material were described in a peer-reviewed forum. But I'll make do. In any event, this is a really striking piece. I'm currently trying to decide whether to keep the absolutely beautiful but apparently outdated Carnegie version or replace it outright.


A sample of stegosaurs.


OK, just the good ones.


And just the Chinese ones.