Kaiyodo - New for 2022

[Grimbeard]

The Dakotaraptor and Ornithomimus look really nice, especially considering their smaller size. Same goes for the entire lineup of the second set, I especially like the Megatherium and the Thylacosmilus and the Stellars Sea Cow has a very creative and unique pose and display diorama.

[Flaffy]

These are stunning.

One thing that I almost never see discussed is the evolution of the quality of figures by the same manufacturer over time. These are, to my eye, among, if not the, most beautiful of all Dinotales and certainly the megatherium and sea cow are the most elaborately rendered.

Looking back at early series, by comparison you could see that the line is being treated with more respect than originally, addressing them more artistically and scientifically. While the sculpture quality was always good, the paint on early figures especially was often amateurish, garish, and toylike.

These though, look like they could be displayed in a museum setting.

Also very happy to see this set especially due to the chosen subjects and after such a long wait, and with this great leap in evolution (Everyone see what I did??) I'm already looking forward to the next.

Same here! These are in my opinion some of the most beautiful Kaiyodo prehistorics out there!

I have a soft spot for proboscideans, so obviously my favourite out of the set is the Platybelodon. The exquisitely rendered musculature and underlying anatomy far surpasses the already great UHA Platybelodon. Probably could've given it a more regular-looking trunk than the outdated(?) flat reconstruction though.

The attention to detail on Thylacosmilus's extremely odd skull is worthy of praise too. The absence of upper incisors, along with those comically long canines are captured perfectly on the miniature. I love how the sculptor did not excessively reference felines, an unfortunate fate that many Thylacosmilus and Thylacoleo reconstructions suffer from. One notable issue though is the digitigrade stance of the figure, when the marsupial was likely plantigrade in real life.


Getting a bit tired of Megatherium figures being stuck in this exact same pose for years now, especially with the tongue sticking out. To my knowledge there's only a whopping two figures of Megatherium that aren't in this upright feeding posture (Schleich & that 3D puzzle). But when all's said and done, it's a classic posture for the genus, and a dead ringer for the Natural History Museum mount:

[Halichoeres]

Thanks for posting the photos, @Flaffy! Are the image links stable and can I use them in the first post?

They're hosted on Imgur, so yeah they should be. @Halichoeres

Excellent, thanks!

[Faelrin]

Might be old news by now, but digging this exhibit's sculpts that were had. Really wish they had made a figure of that gorgeous Tiktaalik, but the others are nice to see as well. Here's the google translated link: https://shikoku--aquarium-jp.translate.goog/news/archive/430/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Also here's some news posts regarding the Capsule Q Museum figures coming out later this year (again I put the links into google translate):

Cenozoic:

https://kaiyodo-co-jp.translate.goog/items/capsule/kdcc09/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Mesozoic:

https://kaiyodo-co-jp.translate.goog/items/capsule/cqm140/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

[Halichoeres]

@Faelrin yeah those sculpts are amazing, I wish they were production models! I'd love to have a Kaiyodo Tiktaalik, Beelzebufo, or Pontosaurus!

[Flaffy]

Since Kaiyodo's releasing the amazing Cenozoic set (first interesting thing they've done in quite a while now), I really hope we'll see more prehistorics that aren't dinosaurs from them.






Can't speak for the accuracy, but using the triangle-headed Mata Mata turtle as inspiration for integument is just genius, and results in one of the most unique interpretations of Diplocaulus I've seen.

[Psittacoraptor]

Might be old news by now, but digging this exhibit's sculpts that were had. Really wish they had made a figure of that gorgeous Tiktaalik, but the others are nice to see as well. Here's the google translated link: https://shikoku--aquarium-jp.translate.goog/news/archive/430/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Interesting that the Japanese to English translation translates to the German "Urvogel". I suppose that's Archaeopteryx, then? I love that Tiktaalik, it looks amazing. Seeing Kaiyodo stuff makes me a bit sad because the models are either not produced commercially or I can't purchase them from Europe anyway.

[Halichoeres]

 I wonder if the existence of the much smaller version of the Diplocaulus model portends an actual release. Probably just wishful thinking.

[brettnj]

Might be old news by now, but digging this exhibit's sculpts that were had. Really wish they had made a figure of that gorgeous Tiktaalik, but the others are nice to see as well. Here's the google translated link: https://shikoku--aquarium-jp.translate.goog/news/archive/430/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Interesting that the Japanese to English translation translates to the German "Urvogel". I suppose that's Archaeopteryx, then? I love that Tiktaalik, it looks amazing. Seeing Kaiyodo stuff makes me a bit sad because the models are either not produced commercially or I can't purchase them from Europe anyway.

I can get you virtually anything from Japan.

Please PM if interested.
Brett

[brettnj]

Hey.

The prehistoric and extinct animal set releases this month (And its companion dino set next...).

So far I have 38 orders for it, making this the most popular set I've sold in the 7 years I've been doing this.

Please PM if interested.

Thanks.
Brett

[brettnj]

Hey.

My source just informed me that contrary to what's been on the Kaiyodo site, both sets will be releasing this month.

Brett

[JimoAi]

In hand images of the dakotaraptor. Arm feathers couldve been longer but does it have lips or nah?

[Halichoeres]

I think it does have lips but at this scale it barely matters.

[dinofelid]

Anyone know the size of the Ornithomimus and Dakotaraptor, for scale purposes?

[Halichoeres]

D @dinofelid I don't have them in hand yet, but if they are similar in size to the Dinotales Struthiomimus and Deinonychus, then the Ornithomimus is probably between 1:35 and 1:40, and the Dakotaraptor is probably about 1:50 - 1:55. I'll post more precise estimates in my collection thread when mine arrive.

[JimoAi]

Here's the Dakotaraptor compared to kaiyodo's 1:35 scale artpla human I found on twitter

[dinofelid]

Even if it's a little too small to work as a Dakotaraptor at 1:35, at that scale maybe it could fit within the range of size estimates for Achillobator?

[stargatedalek]

We don't really have a solid grasp on Dakotaraptor's size anyway, we thought we did, but then part of it ended up being a turtle...

[JimoAi]

I was wondering if deinonychus works?

[Bread]

We don't really have a solid grasp on Dakotaraptor's size anyway, we thought we did, but then part of it ended up being a turtle...

I've heard about this. But wasn't it still an absolute massive raptor?