Safari Ltd 2023 Wishlist

[Thialfi]

First off, I hope to be able to get some 2022 stuff from Safari this year. Europe has been a barren wasteland as far as Safari's concerned in 2022.

I'll let them surprise me, I am open towards aaaanything. One little wish: a Dodo, perhaps? Okay, and something mammal, Cenozoic.

[Concavenator]

I can see why Safari would release a new Tyrannosaurus seeing their 2017 one is theoretically outdated, but that would be so boring in my opinion and a skip on my part. The upcoming Eofauna one has everything you would expect to see in a modern, up to date Tyrannosaurus: featherlessness, subtle scale detail, lips and reasonable bulk (without falling into the chonc temptation). The BotM is another top tier option, and it's also available in 1/35 scale which is a sad rarity among BotM stuff. If they're going to be making another tyrannosauroid, I'd much prefer a Gorgosaurus and a Dilong as they lack accurate non-action figures and they're quite important taxa on their own. Tyrannosaurus is, too, but another one feels just so boring at this point.

I would also like:

Maiasaura
Ouranosaurus
Brachylophosaurus
Asfaltovenator
Yi
Zhenyuanlong
Halszkaraptor
Anchiornis
Caihong
Ornitholestes
Anchiceratops
Pentaceratops

[Stegotyranno420]

I still do not understand why Feathered Tyrannosaurus is considered unrealistic. Unlikely yes, but feathers are not like fur, and can sometimes be used to cool off. Its a bit bizarre seeing people plucking feathers off coelurosaurs but feathering basal theropods like Cryolophosaurus or Dilophosaurus

[Sim]

My understanding is that filamentous feathers (the feathers of tyrannosauroids) would work much like hair.  Its also been argued that after a certain size feathers stop being helpful in insulation and can consequently be evolved away as they are no longer advantageous.  Tyrannosaurus is over the size limit where feathers are helpful.  Cryolophosaurus lived in a cold environment and would have benefited from feathers or fat for insulation.  Seeing as pycnofibers are indistinguishable from feathers it now seems almost certain they are feathers in which case the ancestor of Dilophosaurus and Cryolophosaurus would have had them.  I highly doubt Cryolophosaurus would have lost its feathers and I guess Dilophosaurus might not have too.

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

I think a new, bald, Safari tyrannosaurus would be great. My dream rex would be 1/40 scale, decently bulky, in a rearing pose with it's head high, and painted with darker shades of brown and gray. I think CM 9380 would be a good specimen to work from to start since it's always going to be Tyrannosaurus rex proper, and of course the link to the Carnegie.

[Concavenator]

@Stegotyranno420 feathers are not necessarily out of the question for derived tyrannosauroids, that's why I said that it's "theoretically" outdated. Apparently, most people took this paper as the absolute truth and that's not how science works. There are some issues with that paper which are discussed in this video:

Onto the actual topic, I imagine we will be seeing the news soon, based on what S @Shane said. Excited to see what's in store and I hope they continue to update the species from the Carnegie Collection, some of the remaining species I would find interesting like Maiasaura, Dilong, Plateosaurus or Corythosaurus.

[Sim]

I very much hope for a Plateosaurus.  It's the most obviously missing type of animal in Safari's prehistoric range.  Well, there is another obviously missing type of animal if you exclude toobs: a therizinosaur.  With PNSO's Therizinosaurus existing I imagine there's not much interest in Safari releasing the same species.  So are people interested in another therizinosaur species from Safari?

[Concavenator]

Yeah, the PNSO Therizinosaurus is very good so there's no need for another one, at least not until we have more material for it, if that ever happens.

I would like a Falcarius!  Imo it's the most interesting therizinosaur and it's known from quite a few specimens.

I wouldn't be surprised if they released a Beipiaosaurus since it was featured in the Carnegie Collection.

[Stegotyranno420]

My understanding is that filamentous feathers (the feathers of tyrannosauroids) would work much like hair.  Its also been argued that after a certain size feathers stop being helpful in insulation and can consequently be evolved away as they are no longer advantageous.  Tyrannosaurus is over the size limit where feathers are helpful.  Cryolophosaurus lived in a cold environment and would have benefited from feathers or fat for insulation.  Seeing as pycnofibers are indistinguishable from feathers it now seems almost certain they are feathers in which case the ancestor of Dilophosaurus and Cryolophosaurus would have had them.  I highly doubt Cryolophosaurus would have lost its feathers and I guess Dilophosaurus might not have too.

I think people often overestimate how cold Antarctica was in the Jurassic. It would have been colder than usual, but probably a temperate forest. In addition feathers or pycnofibers are necessarily ancectral to avemetatarsalia as the feathers show differences in form and similar features evolve independently. So to assume ancestral dinosaurs were feathered is about a 50/50 chance, maybe less. If Tyrannosaurus cant have feathers, why cannot Dilophosaurus or Cryolophosaurus. Sure they are lightweights in juxtaposition to Tyrannosaurus, but they are still large animals.

[Flaffy]

Whatever happaned to that half-tease for new reveals two weeks ago on Safari's twitter?

[SidB]

I very much hope for a Plateosaurus.  It's the most obviously missing type of animal in Safari's prehistoric range.  Well, there is another obviously missing type of animal if you exclude toobs: a therizinosaur.  With PNSO's Therizinosaurus existing I imagine there's not much interest in Safari releasing the same species.  So are people interested in another therizinosaur species from Safari?

I just received the old CollectA Plateosaurus for display in my diorama. After de-pronating the hands, it's on station now and will suffice, as it's okay ... but I would love to see Safari come up with a Plateosaurus successor to the old Carnegie Safari one, especially in 1/35 scale.

[Halichoeres]

I would buy a therizinosaur. Alxasaurus, Falcarius, or Nothronychus would all be welcome. The Carnegie Beipiaosaurus is already one of the nicest therizinosaur figures there is, so I'm not eager for a replacement.

[Sim]

I think a new, bald, Safari tyrannosaurus would be great. My dream rex would be 1/40 scale, decently bulky, in a rearing pose with it's head high, and painted with darker shades of brown and gray. I think CM 9380 would be a good specimen to work from to start since it's always going to be Tyrannosaurus rex proper, and of course the link to the Carnegie.

I would like a new Tyrannosaurus to be in 1:35 scale as Wild Safari dinosaurs have usually been in 1:35 scale for years now and it would be weird to have a Tyrannosaurus in a different scale to them, especially when pairing it with the 2018 Triceratops.  Also 1:35 is the smallest scale for Tyrannosaurus nowadays, companies seem to not like making it smaller.
I tend to not like rearing poses but I wouldn't mind a pose like the Safari Daspletosaurus or 2017 Tyrannosaurus.  Plus the 2014 Carnegie Tyrannosaurus is already a good rearing 1:40 Tyrannosaurus.  Dark brown and grey sounds good to me for its colouration.

I think people often overestimate how cold Antarctica was in the Jurassic. It would have been colder than usual, but probably a temperate forest. In addition feathers or pycnofibers are necessarily ancectral to avemetatarsalia as the feathers show differences in form and similar features evolve independently. So to assume ancestral dinosaurs were feathered is about a 50/50 chance, maybe less. If Tyrannosaurus cant have feathers, why cannot Dilophosaurus or Cryolophosaurus. Sure they are lightweights in juxtaposition to Tyrannosaurus, but they are still large animals.

Antarctica was a temperate forest when Cryolophosaurus inhabited it, and near the coast the temperatures would have dropped below freezing while inland it was even colder.  I can't imagine Cryolophosaurus living there without feathers or fat to insulate it.  Considering the slim build of Dilophosaurus and Cryolophosaurus and that they aren't very big I don't think they would be large enough to benefit from lacking feathers.  However I think it's possible like you suggest that feathers weren't ancestral to dinosaurs and Dilo and Cryo weren't at a stage where feathers were present in theropods.  In that case I'd expect Cryo to have fat to insulate it for the reason I explained previously.  I don't know the temperature ranges of Dilo's environment so I can't comment further on whether it would need insulation.
One last thing I would say is the possibility of Concavenator having feathers seems more likely now than ever and if it did have feathers that brings feathers one step closer to Dilo and Cryo.

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

@Sim 1/35 would definitely fit in better with the rest of Safari's newer offerings-- I'm just used to the standard 1/40 for this size range and didn't think too much about it when I posted earlier. As for the pose, I just think it would be cool to see something that references older depictions of dinosaurs, while still maintaining realism and accuracy to modern science. Especially now that we're back to a thicker, bulkier look. I've been going for that in some of the latest pieces in my art thread.

I also think Falcarius would be a great choice of therizinosaur. The North American therizinosaur species don't seem to get as much attention as the Asian ones do.

[Thialfi]

Safari just posted on their Twitter that their first dinosaur reveal for 2023 will be happening on the 27th of January.

[Sim]

Thanks for sharing that, Thialfi, I look forward to seeing the 2023 Safari figures!

I saw the Eofauna Tyrannosaurus on Facebook in a bigger and better quality image than the one in the Eofauna 2023 thread and I have to say I really don't like what I'm seeing.  The plus is I can see its eye, I couldn't in the Eofauna 2023 thread.  The negatives, for me, are that is has some weird structure halfway down its cheek, the integument on the head doesn't look well defined and the mouth tissue looks strange to me, and it makes it like the Tyrannosaurus is unhappy.  So, I still hope for a new Tyrannosaurus from Safari.  Although I would prefer a Rhamphorhynchus and Plateosaurus.

[Primeval12]

I AM SO READY!

[Stegotyranno420]

Antarctica was a temperate forest when Cryolophosaurus inhabited it, and near the coast the temperatures would have dropped below freezing while inland it was even colder.  I can't imagine Cryolophosaurus living there without feathers or fat to insulate it.  Considering the slim build of Dilophosaurus and Cryolophosaurus and that they aren't very big I don't think they would be large enough to benefit from lacking feathers.  However I think it's possible like you suggest that feathers weren't ancestral to dinosaurs and Dilo and Cryo weren't at a stage where feathers were present in theropods.  In that case I'd expect Cryo to have fat to insulate it for the reason I explained previously.  I don't know the temperature ranges of Dilo's environment so I can't comment further on whether it would need insulation.
One last thing I would say is the possibility of Concavenator having feathers seems more likely now than ever and if it did have feathers that brings feathers one step closer to Dilo and Cryo.

From what i remember from the new Dilophosaurus studies from 2020 reveal a larger, more robust animal. I would not be surprised if Cryolophosaurus would be a similar case. I think Cryolophosaurus having plenty of insulating fat would be likely, and it's possibly "hooked" jaw can suggest piscivory, so maybe it was similar to a wading predator. Of course I am speculating too much, but it is interesting to think of nonetheless
As for Concavenator, from what I have heard it was more akin to quil-like structures than usual coelurosaur feathers

[Sim]

Dilophosaurus's size hasn't changed, it's just become more robust.  As for Concavenator, the suggestion of simple quills I believe comes from the original description and doesn't have anything to support it rather than more developed feathers.  In addition, the underside of Concavenator's tail preserves a neat row of scales.  Why aren't scales preserved anywhere else on the tail?  Could it be because it was feathered there which didn't preserve?

[GojiraGuy1954]

Dilophosaurus's size hasn't changed, it's just become more robust.  As for Concavenator, the suggestion of simple quills I believe comes from the original description and doesn't have anything to support it rather than more developed feathers.  In addition, the underside of Concavenator's tail preserves a neat row of scales.  Why aren't scales preserved anywhere else on the tail?  Could it be because it was feathered there which didn't preserve?

Feathered Concavenator is aesthetic regardless so I choose to depict it as such