The best figure of every species, according to Halichoeres

[Loon]

A lot of good stuff here. Happy you got the Zuul, I think hit the nail on the head about the paint. I think we tend to forget the cost of manufacturing these things sometimes, especially with how much that's been changed in the past few years.

[Halichoeres]

Thanks for visiting, everyone! I've updated the reference list on page 1; the character limit has shunted cnidarians and sponges to reply #4 with the plants and Cenozoic stuff.

Okay now that I finally have mine in hand, I am absolutely blown away with how she managed to paint all these so well. I mean I was impressed before, don't get me wrong, but these are smaller still then what I had initially thought! Love the colors on some of these as well, especially the purple Balacrinus.

Yeah, it was a monumental task and she executed it really skillfully. The effort would probably have blinded me. There are some that are more similar to each other than I'd prefer, but it's understandable that she'd want to do some in batches. In most cases, because of differences in scale or time period, they don't end up on the same shelf anyway, so it's not really a problem.

Never seen so many different extinct echinoderms in one place before. The game of life must be (in numbers if not space of course) be making a decent percentage of your collection now?

Ha, me neither except in a museum vault. And you're right, about one in every five figures in my collection is from this game now. But it supplies four out of every five echinoderms, and for several other animal phyla it also supplies a majority of the figures in my collection.

A lot of good stuff here. Happy you got the Zuul, I think hit the nail on the head about the paint. I think we tend to forget the cost of manufacturing these things sometimes, especially with how much that's been changed in the past few years.

Yeah, I hear so much griping about toy prices these days, but I think they're increasing in price more slowly than other goods. JW action figures are only about twice the price that I remember for similar figures 20 years ago. I guess people just notice the increase more because they aren't essential, and if you have the luxury of buying toys in the first place you are probably not also someone who notices the price of every item in your grocery cart. But labor in particular is expensive, and better paint=more labor. Safari's made a choice, and while it's not the choice I would have preferred they make (I'd prefer a higher price and better paint), given their target audience it's an understandable choice.

[Loon]

@Halichoeres you make a good point about the prices. I'm pretty quick to complain about price hikes when it comes to some other things I collect, but I feel like the price increases on Safari haven't been so shocking. Compared to a similar figure from a few years ago, like the Sauropelta, the Zuul is really only $3-$4 more.

[Halichoeres]

Panarthropods of the Cambrian! These are all from the Life: Evolution... game by Oammararak, released in 2021 (unpainted) and 2022 (painted).


Paucipodia
Scale: 1:4
Early Cambrian
The name means "few feet," and indeed it has fewer (nine pairs, the first short) than its likely relative Hallucigenia. It was probably segmented, but lacked sclerites (hardened chitin/sclerotin plates) of the type observed in some of its relatives.


Collinsium
Scale: 1:3
Early to Middle Cambrian
Another 'lobopodian,' this one covered with nasty spines. A bright color makes sense here, you might see some aposematism if these spines can carry something noxious. The anterior end is on the left; it should have nine pairs of walking appendages and about six pairs of smaller feeding appendages. The model has slightly too few, but they were small and fine, so I'm not too miffed they were simplified. Very cool little seafloor denizen.


CollectA's Redlichia was so lonely before the Life game.


Onychodictyon
Scale: 1:2 - 1:3
Early Cambrian
Another armored lobopod, this time with its mouth on the right. You'd want to watch your step walking around in the mud that formed the Burgess Shale. Not really discernible in this model, but the name means "claw net," maybe in reference to the many fine hairs that are evident on the clawed legs in fossils.


Microdictyon
Scale: 1:2 - 1:3
Early Cambrian
Sharp-eyed readers will have noticed that this one's name means "little net," and annoyingly there is also an animal called Onychomicrodictyon, but as far as I can tell it's only known from isolated pieces of armor. Microdictyon is represented by full specimens with armor in situ, so a good choice for a figure. No spines, just these little shoulder pads on every possible shoulder.


Diania
Scale: 1:2 - 1:3
Early Cambrian
A wildly different lobopodian, squishy but with nasty spines all over its legs, maybe for defense, maybe for food gathering, maybe both. Maybe it was like me and just liked popping kids' balloons.


Presumably if you're reading this thread, you already own Safari's Sidneyia and this is a useful size reference for you.


Sarotrocercus
Scale: 1:1
Middle Cambrian
The only one among these that isn't plausibly part of the lobopod grade. Once thought to be a pelagic backswimmer, it's now thought to have been more of a benthic animal. That said, horseshoe crabs swim on their backs, so it's still a live option for Sarotrocercus too. Anyway, that's what you're seeing here: all that pink is its little legs beating against the water!


It might not be a lopopodian, but Aysheaia lets it hang around anyway.

[Faelrin]

Love the colors on these ones, and such an interesting diverse group of animals. Is it correct that velvet worms are related to any of these (if not distantly so)? I see that they also fall within Panarthropoda, but I realize that's quite broad.

[Halichoeres]

Love the colors on these ones, and such an interesting diverse group of animals. Is it correct that velvet worms are related to any of these (if not distantly so)? I see that they also fall within Panarthropoda, but I realize that's quite broad.

Yeah, these have definitely brightened up my shelves! And you're right, Panarthropoda includes the velvet worms, along with the tardigrades and the arthropods proper. The lobopods are an informal assemblage of things that don't quite fit in any of the three phyla, but are probably close to their common origin. They're all ecdysozoans (meaning they shed their cuticle to grow/develop), and they all have segmented bodies with some kind of leglike appendages. Definitely a very diverse group--turns out 'wormlike but with sticky-outy bits for walking/swimming/grabbing' is a pretty successful body plan.

[Gothmog the Baryonyx]

Some more lovely unusual critters, the Sarotrocercus is really unusual in particular.
Only just noticed you had some of the new Safari Ltd in too, still looking forward to the Zuul.

[Lynx]

Halichoeres, what is your opinion on CollectAs new Triceratops offering?

[triceratops83]

It might not be a lopopodian, but Aysheaia lets it hang around anyway.

I keep coming back to look at this thing, it looks like it has hands. Like a rubber monster from a horror movie.

[Halichoeres]

Some more lovely unusual critters, the Sarotrocercus is really unusual in particular.
Only just noticed you had some of the new Safari Ltd in too, still looking forward to the Zuul.

Thank you!

Halichoeres, what is your opinion on CollectAs new Triceratops offering?

@Lynx sorry for the slow reply. I think the new CollectA Triceratops is really nice and a huge improvement over their previous Deluxe Trike, although I don't personally plan to get it. I'm estimating based on the dimensions listed on Everything Dinosaur's web site, but it appears to be at least 1:30 and maybe as large as 1:27 or so, which is much larger than I prefer for large animals like this. I also prefer unarticulated jaws; I'll overlook that if the rest of the sculpt is substantially better than other options, but I don't think this one is that far ahead of, say, Safari's. And finally, it has that little tuft of bristles over the hips, which is not a completely ridiculous speculation, but I still prefer my ceratopsids not to have them. I hope that helps!

I keep coming back to look at this thing, it looks like it has hands. Like a rubber monster from a horror movie.

Ain't it weird? Speaking of things with hands from horror movies, I drew this once after idly wondering why teddy bears don't have hands:


I believe I answered my own question.

[TooOldForDinosaurs]

I mean the drawing is very well done! Remembering the horrible 2019 half-men-half-CGI film remake of Cats by Tom Hooper, I feel like this would be the equivalent look for ted, the film teddybear. 

[triceratops83]

Ha! That's brilliant! Someone needs to mass produce this. Imagine waking up in the middle of the night and seeing THAT sitting on the end of the bed, reaching out for you.

[Halichoeres]

Ha ha, thanks, glad you guys enjoyed it!

Today, Gnathostomes of the Cretaceous!


Mattel Quilmesaurus (Jurassic World)
Scale: 1:25
Released: 2022
Campanian of South America
Kind of a strange choice, an obscure abelisauroid named after an all-but-exterminated indigenous tribe in what is now Argentina. Part of the reason I got into this hobby was that reading up on animals when I buy toys of them leads me to learn new things. The history of the Quilmes being wiped out by the Spaniards isn't one I expected, but I'm glad I know about them now.


Mattel Genyodectes (Jurassic World)
Scale: 1:30
Released: 2022
Aptian of South America
The scale is hard to work out for sure, but it's based on what I could find on the jaw fragments. Not the worst JW toy there is. There aren't a lot of Walmart stores where I live, just a handful of their compact, mostly toy-free "Neighborhood Market"-format locations. That's generally fine by me because I try to shop unionized grocery stores anyway. But one day after work I took the 40-minute bus ride to the edge of town and I was able to find both this and the Quilmesaurus, and the one (1) Lego minifigure I wanted from Series 23. A pretty successful run, especially since I've heard that some people have had a hard time finding these.


Mattel Dreadnoughtus (Jurassic World)
Scale: 1:16
Released: 2022
Campanian or Maastrichtian of South America
One of the better designs from the movies. It's now easily the longest and bulkiest figure I own. I think the neck is supposed to be able to move up and down, but mine resists that and I'm afraid I'll break it if I force it.


It dwarfs even the Definitely Dinosaurs Ultrasaurus!


And a very blurry photo of most of my Mattel JW collection. If I'm not mistaken, the Dreadnoughtus is the only one here based on a design in one of the movies.


Mattel Megaraptor (Jurassic World)
Scale: 1:20 - 1:25
Released: 2022
Turonian - Coniacian of South America
Every one of these Mattel figures is of an Argentinean dinosaur, kind of a weird coincidence. I rarely buy a Mattel figure if I already have a version of the same genus, but in this case the one I had was the Geoworld Megaraptor, which was essentially a naked dromaeosaur. This at least has some megaraptoran features, with the giant claws on the correct pair of limbs. So it duly replaces the Geoworld. Geoworld has probably had the hardest fall of any company in my collection, being cut by more than half because of replacement.


Ha ha ha, those feet.


Sbabam Onchopristis (Predatori Jurassiko)
Scale: 1:45 or so
Released: They've released a few in different colors, but I think this one was a 2022 edition
Albian - Maastrichtian
Finally, the most realistic new addition! This popped up on eBay and I went for it, always a sucker for fish. Ugly as all-get-out, as if a narwhal and a sawfish managed to hybridize.


While the Sbabam is technically the only toy version, the 3D-printed one by @Paleokhris is obviously still the best Onchopristis here. One of these days I need to paint it.

[Gwangi]

This update has me envious, I'm still looking for all four of the Mattel toys you posted. I guess I'll have to begrudgingly visit my local Walmart this weekend. I'm also not a Walmart fan, Mattel dinosaurs are the only reason I go as often as I do.

[triceratops83]

That Sbabm Onchopristis reminds me of a Robinson Crusoe cartoon I had as a kid, in which a Sawfish starts up his snout like a chainsaw. Sbabm really is an odd duck of a brand. Also, not being able to lift the Dreadnoughtus' neck must make it harder to display without taking up too much space.

[Strepsodus]

Out of 10, how accurate would each of those Mattel figures be?

[Faelrin]

To be honest I rarely bother with Walmart these days for my Jurassic needs, although I realize Target isn't much better, but at least it has what I'm looking for in stock much of the time. Honestly though this past year, I think I can count on one hand how much I visited either. Anyways lucky you finding both of those, and together, since yeah they have been turning up with quite a bit of irregularity. I think they might be the chase or shortpacked figures for both of those waves, which seems to have hit Walmart stores around the same time. I have a stinking suspicion it's because they ordered way too much of wave 1, just like back in 2018.

Yes the Dreadnoughtus neck should be able to move it up and down. Can't believe Mattel got to this one first, and all because it was in the film! Quite the impressively huge beast living up to the name as well.

And since you pointed it out, I now can't unsee those very long toes they gave the Megaraptor. I still think it's a nice figure though (and certainly quite a step up from that Geoworld one). Just wish the claws were painted. One could almost mistake it for a 2023 release, considering its painted (and with colored plastic) much the same way as many of those figures are (the new and improved Herrerasaurus, etc).

[Halichoeres]

Thanks for stopping by, everyone! Reference list on page 1 will be updated presently.

This update has me envious, I'm still looking for all four of the Mattel toys you posted. I guess I'll have to begrudgingly visit my local Walmart this weekend. I'm also not a Walmart fan, Mattel dinosaurs are the only reason I go as often as I do.

Happy hunting! I had no idea I had gotten so lucky myself until afterward; if I'd known that people were having a hard time finding them I might not have even made the trip, figuring it would be a waste of time.

That Sbabm Onchopristis reminds me of a Robinson Crusoe cartoon I had as a kid, in which a Sawfish starts up his snout like a chainsaw. Sbabm really is an odd duck of a brand. Also, not being able to lift the Dreadnoughtus' neck must make it harder to display without taking up too much space.

Ha ha, the chainsawfish sounds hilarious. You're right, the horizontal neck means there are few places I can put it. It is currently standing next to the bed in the guest room, but I'd prefer it be somewhere else. I'm not sure how to loosen up the neck but I think I have to try.

Out of 10, how accurate would each of those Mattel figures be?

Quantifying accuracy is really difficult. But if we say 10 is "no knowable errors," and 0 is "resembles a different animal separated by 100 million years of evolution," the I guess I'd go with:
Dreadnoughtus: 6
Megaraptor: 6
Quilmesaurus: 5
Genyodectes: 5
And the latter three are pretty fragmentary, so there's a fair amount of room for speculation. I dunno, these are higher marks than I'd give to most Mattel figures.

@Faelrin you might be right, I often find that there's just a glut of older product at retail, rather than any of the newer stuff. This happened to be a fruitful visit, though. So you generally have other people forward you the exclusives then?

Thanks for the confirmation on the Dreadnoughtus neck. I suspect that another company will make a Dreadnoughtus before too long; then I can offload this dog-sized hunk of plastic. But in the meantime, I don't mind Mattel having some of my money for taking the chance.

As for the claws on Megaraptor, Mattel does seem to be going super cheap on paint, I assume to keep from raising prices more.

[Bokisaurus]

Lots to catch up on!🤣
Always amused to see those JW models alongside the none ones🤣 I have seen some of those in store but never picked any up.

[Faelrin]

It depends on the availability near me. In total I got:

Spoiler

-2018 Fallen Kingdom Maisie & Tyrannosaurus (from friend in Germany)
-2018 Fallen Kingdom Attack Pack Dilophosaurus (from friend in Germany)
-2018 Battle Damage Lockwood Ultimate Battle set (from friend in Germany)
-2018 Destruct-A-Saurs Velociraptor w/ Microceratus (from @stargatedalek)
-2019 Battle Damage Plesiosaurus (from friend in Guatemala)
-2019 Battle Damage Pteranodon (I think from my friend in Germany?)
-2019 Battle Damage Herrerasaurus (from friend in Germany)
-2019 Battle Damage Monolophosaurus (from friend in Germany)
-2019 Battle Damage Proceratosaurus (from friend in Germany)
-2020 Amber Collection Delta (from friend in Germany, before they showed up here)

-2020 Camp Cretaceous Attack Pack Bumpy (from @triceratops83)
-2020 Camp Cretaceous Attack Pack Dimorphodon (from triceratops83 if I recall right?)
-2020 Camp Cretaceous Savage Strike Delta (from triceratops83)
-2020 Camp Cretaceous Savage Strike Echo (from triceratops83)
-2020 Camp Cretaceous Savage Strike Stygimoloch (from triceratops83)
-2020 Camp Cretaceous Carnotaurus Toro (from my friend in Guatemala as a Christmas gift actually)
-2020 Primal Attack Attack Pack Alioramus (from triceratops83)
-2020 Primal Attack Attack Pack Velociraptor (from triceratops83)
-2020 Primal Attack Savage Strike Dilophosaurus (from triceratops83)
-2020 Primal Attack Savage Strike Postosuchus (one from my friend in Germany, and one from triceratops83 I gave to my nieces)
-2020 Primal Attack Savage Strike Scutosaurus (from triceratops83)
-2020 Primal Attack Savage Strike Styracosaurus (from triceratops83)
-2020 Battle Damage Gasosaurus (from my friend in Germany)
-2021 Dino Escape Wild Pack Brachiosaurus (from my friend in Germany)
-2021 Dino Escape Wild Pack Shringasaurus (from my friend in Germany)
-2021 Dino Escape Fierce Force Tanystropheus (from Collect Jurassic)
-2022 Extreme Damage Genydectes (from D @Dino Scream3232)

[close]

Assuming I didn't forget anything. The rest in my collection I found myself. Granted that's only going for what I had with help with as far as the Mattel stuff goes. Thankfully with this year I really didn't have distribution issues (except that Genydectes), and some of those maybes on my wishlist (like the baby Nasutoceratops). This year I also broke my trend of being a species completionist which cut down on quite a bit of what I would have had on wishlist otherwise. Next year I suspect will be even lighter with it not being a film year. I only hope I don't have any trouble obtaining that Nothosaurus, Herrerasaurus, and Edaphosaurus however. The smaller figures have always been the ones to suffer from shoddy distribution, especially in my local stores. Granted the wave 1 stuff in each year seems to have the strongest releases (especially after the Jan toy reset, if not prior), but whatever follows typically does fall short.