The best figure of every species, according to Halichoeres

[bmathison1972]

I've been debating picking these up but I'm not sure if I vibe with their style.

I was kinda in the same camp. When they were first announced I liked the idea, but seeing them in these posts, they are not my style. If I was still exclusively an arthropod collector, I might consider some. But as a generalist now, I have to draw the line, and game pieces are out.

[Halichoeres]

I've been debating picking these up but I'm not sure if I vibe with their style.

I was kinda in the same camp. When they were first announced I liked the idea, but seeing them in these posts, they are not my style. If I was still exclusively an arthropod collector, I might consider some. But as a generalist now, I have to draw the line, and game pieces are out.

I get that. Game pieces are not my ideal format, but for the Silurian for example, there are literally only about 6 animals that have been made by mainstream figure manufacturers, ever. So the choice before me wasn't these vs. figures by Kaiyodo or Colorata or CollectA. The choice before me was these vs. nothing at all for vast stretches of the Paleozoic, and that choice was easy. If I collected modern figures, for example, in addition to prehistorics, maybe I'd have decided differently--but in that case, these might not exist because the Kickstarter would have failed!

[SBell]

I've been debating picking these up but I'm not sure if I vibe with their style.

I was kinda in the same camp. When they were first announced I liked the idea, but seeing them in these posts, they are not my style. If I was still exclusively an arthropod collector, I might consider some. But as a generalist now, I have to draw the line, and game pieces are out.

I get that. Game pieces are not my ideal format, but for the Silurian for example, there are literally only about 6 animals that have been made by mainstream figure manufacturers, ever. So the choice before me wasn't these vs. figures by Kaiyodo or Colorata or CollectA. The choice before me was these vs. nothing at all for vast stretches of the Paleozoic, and that choice was easy. If I collected modern figures, for example, in addition to prehistorics, maybe I'd have decided differently--but in that case, these might not exist because the Kickstarter would have failed!

Those of us that could only afford some of the figures (and game) salute your sacrifice. I personally love the little figures. Much easier on the shelves...

[Faelrin]

@Halichoeres I feel the same way as you. Not the ideal format, but better then nothing at all, especially when so many of these were sitting on my wishlist for so long, and would still be without these. They are also thankfully quite small, and were quite cheap that it made ordering literally a 100 of them easier then it could have been (though thanks to some of your help as well back then). Some of these I also wasn't as familiar with prior to these being revealed, like Dinomischus, which quickly became a must have.

Here's every genus included in the series that have other figures out there, sorted by period, most of which are retired now:

Spoiler

Ediacaran:
-Bradgatia (2023 Paleozoo)
-Charnia (2023 Paleozoo, older 3D printed Paleozoo)
-Charniodiscus (2013 Safari Ltd Cambrian Life Toob, 2004 Yujin/Takara Tomy)
-Dickinsonia (2023 Paleozoo, older 3D printed Paleozoo, 2000 Yowie Lost Kingdoms A)
-Eoandromeda (2023 Paleozoo)
-Fractofusus (2023 Paleozoo, 2019 Paleozoo)
-Funisia (2023 Paleozoo, older 3D printed Paleozoo)
-Kimberella (2023 Paleozoo, older 3D printed Palezooo, 2004 Yujin/Takara Tomy)
-Mawsonites (2001 Yowie Lost Kingdoms B)
-Parvancorina (2023 Paleozoo)
-Spriggina (2023 Palezoo, older 3D printed Palezoo)

[close]

Only Ediacaran finished for now. Need to make dinner, will add the rest in after. I'm sure the point stands even with just this small group though.
Edit: Eh, after making dinner and watching a film, I'd like to do the rest tomorrow I think.

[SBell]

If you take Paleozoo out, there's even fewer. Good thing Safari wasn't picky with what it meant by 'Cambrian' toob

[Halichoeres]

Saurischians of the Jurassic!


Mattel Piatnitzkysaurus
Scale: 1:15 - 1:18
Released: 2023
Lower Jurassic of South America
Etymology: Gr. "[geologist Alejandro Matveievich] Piatnitzky's lizard"
Thie figure you see here has essentially no connection to the actual animal, which was probably a very generic medium-sized theropod. In phylogenetic analyses I've seen it pop up as a basal tetanuran or an allosauroid, maybe a result of its fragmentary nature. Anyway, it almost surely didn't look like this, although the shards of braincase, maxilla, and dentary that we know of its head can't 100% rule it out. So the same 'can't prove a negative' special pleading that lets people argue for lipless theropods can be applied here!


Mattel Xuanhanosaurus
Scale: 1:15
Released: 2023
Middle Jurassic of Eurasia
Etymology: Gr. "Xuanhan [County in Sichuan] lizard"
An odd choice for feathers--if this has them, then so should most theropods. But it does have pretty big arms, which is almost the only thing we have from this animal, that and a handful of vertebrae. Mattel seems to be designing toys first and then drawing names out of a hat.


Wing Crown Anchisaurus
Scale: 1:5
Released: 2008?
Lower Jurassic of North America
Etymology: Gr. "near lizard"
This is the third Anchisaurus I've owned, and while it looks nothing like Anchisaurus, it at least looks less goofy than the previous two versions (one and two). There are many 'prosauropods' known from good remains, but nobody seems to want to make figures of them, except Gosnell/Wing Crown (which I still think are the same company).


Despite looking like an old-fashioned Brachiosaurus toy, it's stamped "Anchisaurus" on the belly. Who am I to argue with a toy maker?


Roughly to scale with CollectA's Sciurumimus.


Haolonggood Apatosaurus
Scale: 1:30 - 1:35
Released: 2023
Upper Jurassic of North America
Etymology: "deceiving lizard"
And finally, after inflicting the foregoing abominations on you, please enjoy one of the nicest figures I've gotten this year. The paint scheme reminds me of the old Bullyland version, although obviously much refined. I'd have been just as happy with the gray one, but hard choices have to be made sometimes! This replaces my Papo and Safari figures (I could never decide).

It deserves a couple more photos.






Remember that brief glorious moment when W-Dragon made actual dinosaurs? Anyway, I'm glad Haolonggood has come along to help fill the void.

[Stegotyranno420]

Wow, those Apatosaurus pictures were refreshing  Congratulations on such a hefty acquisition

[thomasw100]

Saurischians of the Jurassic!


Mattel Piatnitzkysaurus
Scale: 1:15 - 1:18
Released: 2023
Lower Jurassic of South America
Etymology: Gr. "[geologist Alejandro Matveievich] Piatnitzky's lizard"
Thie figure you see here has essentially no connection to the actual animal, which was probably a very generic medium-sized theropod. In phylogenetic analyses I've seen it pop up as a basal tetanuran or an allosauroid, maybe a result of its fragmentary nature. Anyway, it almost surely didn't look like this, although the shards of braincase, maxilla, and dentary that we know of its head can't 100% rule it out. So the same 'can't prove a negative' special pleading that lets people argue for lipless theropods can be applied here!


Mattel Xuanhanosaurus
Scale: 1:15
Released: 2023
Middle Jurassic of Eurasia
Etymology: Gr. "Xuanhan [County in Sichuan] lizard"
An odd choice for feathers--if this has them, then so should most theropods. But it does have pretty big arms, which is almost the only thing we have from this animal, that and a handful of vertebrae. Mattel seems to be designing toys first and then drawing names out of a hat.


Wing Crown Anchisaurus
Scale: 1:5
Released: 2008?
Lower Jurassic of North America
Etymology: Gr. "near lizard"
This is the third Anchisaurus I've owned, and while it looks nothing like Anchisaurus, it at least looks less goofy than the previous two versions (one and two). There are many 'prosauropods' known from good remains, but nobody seems to want to make figures of them, except Gosnell/Wing Crown (which I still think are the same company).


Despite looking like an old-fashioned Brachiosaurus toy, it's stamped "Anchisaurus" on the belly. Who am I to argue with a toy maker?


Roughly to scale with CollectA's Sciurumimus.


Haolonggood Apatosaurus
Scale: 1:30 - 1:35
Released: 2023
Upper Jurassic of North America
Etymology: "deceiving lizard"
And finally, after inflicting the foregoing abominations on you, please enjoy one of the nicest figures I've gotten this year. The paint scheme reminds me of the old Bullyland version, although obviously much refined. I'd have been just as happy with the gray one, but hard choices have to be made sometimes! This replaces my Papo and Safari figures (I could never decide).

It deserves a couple more photos.






Remember that brief glorious moment when W-Dragon made actual dinosaurs? Anyway, I'm glad Haolonggood has come along to help fill the void.

Nice pictures. I got the gray Apatosaurus from Haolonggood and I am fairly happy with him. I placed him next to the Lingwulong from PNSO and they match quite well. But now seeing the brown one next to the W-Dragon Giraffatitan makes me think if I should get the brown one as well. They look so nice along each other. And who knows if the recent small wave of medium to large sized sauropods from various maufacturers will continues. Good news in this is that Vampiredesign who has some strong connection to Haolonggod is active on this forum. So he / her will realize that people have nothing but praise for the Apatosaurus and would more than welcome more sauropods. And there are actually also smaller sauropod species that could get an overhaul. My good old Schleich Saltasaurus from the Replica Saurus line is nice, but already a bit outdated. There are many more such examples.

[TheCambrianCrusader]

That Apatosaurus sure is a beauty. Been having hard time choosing between the two verions

[Fembrogon]

I've mostly given up on Mattel figures, and figures like these affirm why (although the Zhuanhanosaurus seems decent). The Anchisaurus is intriguing if only for being one of those "how did someone in the company think to use THAT name?" instances that pop up sometimes in smaller, or no-name, brands.
The Apatosaurus looks stunning, though; I have the grey version on order myself, but the patterned version looks like it came out great. I hadn't thought of the Bullyland similarity!

[Concavenator]

I really thought that (supposedly) Anchisaurus was a Brachiosaurus upon seeing it! And after seeing the other two Anchisaurus figures you mention, what's with companies representing Anchisaurus as a brachiosaurid??

The Haolonggood Apatosaurus is fantastic. I find it odd it wasn't until now that we got a really good Apatosaurus figure considering how famous it is, but better late than never!

And the choice of Tianzhenosaurus is strange imo, it purportedly has good remains but since the description paper doesn't illustrate those, it's basically unknown how it looked. I think some other ankylosaurid like Scolosaurus or Saichania itself would've been a safer bet. Or the nodosaurid Edmontonia, why not?

Why choose when you can have both? 

[SidB]

I really thought that (supposedly) Anchisaurus was a Brachiosaurus upon seeing it! And after seeing the other two Anchisaurus figures you mention, what's with companies representing Anchisaurus as a brachiosaurid??

The Haolonggood Apatosaurus is fantastic. I find it odd it wasn't until now that we got a really good Apatosaurus figure considering how famous it is, but better late than never!

And the choice of Tianzhenosaurus is strange imo, it purportedly has good remains but since the description paper doesn't illustrate those, it's basically unknown how it looked. I think some other ankylosaurid like Scolosaurus or Saichania itself would've been a safer bet. Or the nodosaurid Edmontonia, why not?

Why choose when you can have both? 

It does seem remarkable to only get an Apatosaurus at this late date, though, of course, the rumor mill had suggested that Carnegie Safari would have had one for us in 2016, if the line had continued. Judging by the quality of their latest Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus figures, it would have been a good one.

[bmathison1972]

...Mattel seems to be designing toys first and then drawing names out of a hat.

Ha!

[Leyster]

Mattel seems to be designing toys first and then drawing names out of a hat.

I confess I think the same thing from time to time.

The Haolonggood Apatosaurus is really impressive!

[Halichoeres]

Thanks, everyone, for stopping by and commenting! I've now updated the reference list on page 1.

T @thomasw100 First, welcome to the forum! I agree that more small sauropods would be very welcome, like Brachytrachelopan or Saltasaurus as you mentioned (mine is the Carnegie but the Schleich is on roughly the same level).

The Anchisaurus is intriguing if only for being one of those "how did someone in the company think to use THAT name?" instances that pop up sometimes in smaller, or no-name, brands.

And they used it repeatedly! I've seen at least four Wing Crown/Gosnell products labeled "Anchisaurus," this is just the least goofy.

PS I like the new avatar!

I really thought that (supposedly) Anchisaurus was a Brachiosaurus upon seeing it! And after seeing the other two Anchisaurus figures you mention, what's with companies representing Anchisaurus as a brachiosaurid??

The Haolonggood Apatosaurus is fantastic. I find it odd it wasn't until now that we got a really good Apatosaurus figure considering how famous it is, but better late than never!

And the choice of Tianzhenosaurus is strange imo, it purportedly has good remains but since the description paper doesn't illustrate those, it's basically unknown how it looked. I think some other ankylosaurid like Scolosaurus or Saichania itself would've been a safer bet. Or the nodosaurid Edmontonia, why not?

Why choose when you can have both? 

On Anchisaurus, I think it's just the one company reusing it again and again.

While Haolonggood is fulfilling your wishes, quick, wish for some Paleozoic fish!

It does seem remarkable to only get an Apatosaurus at this late date, though, of course, the rumor mill had suggested that Carnegie Safari would have had one for us in 2016, if the line had continued. Judging by the quality of their latest Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus figures, it would have been a good one.

And a Stegosaurus! I'm sure they'd have both been glorious, it's really a shame. Although at least with Stegosaurus there have been several quite good versions made.

Mattel seems to be designing toys first and then drawing names out of a hat.

I confess I think the same thing from time to time.

Yeah, I and others have referred to it as theropod roulette.

That Apatosaurus sure is a beauty. Been having hard time choosing between the two verions

Well, luckily there is no wrong answer!

[Halichoeres]

Vertebrates of the Ordovician!


Paleozoic Pals Astraspis
Scale: about 2/3 life size
Released: 2022
Middle - Late Ordovician
Etymology: Gr. "star shield"
The Paleontological Research Institution (affiliated with The Museum of the Earth in Upstate New York) launched the Kickstarter campaign for this and a eurypterid shortly after the Life... campaign. I pledged for this partly as insurance, and partly just as a show of support for PRI making more fish plushes. I probably won't keep it now that I have the Oumcraft miniature in hand.


Maybe one of my friends' kids would like it.


Oumcraft Astraspis
Scale: 1:8
Released: 2022
The name comes from the geometrically complex scales all over its head. Absolutely gorgeous fossils. There's a similarly named placoderm called Asterolepis (I have a flat metal version), although I have to say this one takes the case for ornamentation.


Oumcraft Sacabambaspis
Scale: 1:10
Released: 2022
Middle - Late Ordovician
Etymology: Gr. "Sacabamba [Bolivia] shield"
Sacabambaspis has recently become mildly famous among paleo-enthusiasts who spend too much time on the Internet, which is great as far as I'm concerned. Its somewhat derpy face, with forward facing eyes above a mouth whose shape suggests a smile, calls for a larger figure than this one, I think. Also the name is really fun to say!


Oumcraft Promissum
Scale: 1:12
Released: 2022
Late Ordovician
Etymology: L. "promise"
The full name is Promissum pulchrum ("beautiful promise"; when it was first described it was thought to be the earliest land plant by a margin of tens of millions of years, presaging a greener world. It wasn't until after the discovery of Clydagnathus in Scotland that people took another look at Promissum and realized it was a fish. It's easily the largest conodont known from body fossils.


All of my Ordovician animals to roughly the same scale are also from Oumcraft, so as a scale bar, here's a relative from 90 million years in the future instead.

[Halichoeres]

A few amniotes, mostly Triassic.


Mattel Nothosaurus (Jurassic World)
Scale: 1:10
Released: 2023
Middle to Late Triassic
Etymology: Gr. "bastard/crossbred lizard"
Despite being the most interesting period of the Paleozoic from the perspective of morphological evolution, the Triassic gets mostly ignored by toy makers. Schleich made an absolutely cursed Nothosaurus not long ago, but this one is actually kind of okay? Anyway, pretty solid by the standards of a pop culture action figure. And rumor has it they'll be making a Poposaurus next year. Mattel is definitely not the company I'd have bet on to finally make a poposaur, but I'm all for it.


The toy has a pretty terrestrial stance, so I'm keeping it with my Triassic landlubbers, but it scales well with PNSO's Atopodentatus, too.


ToyMonster Herrerasaurus (Jurassic World Captivz)
Scale: 1:35 - 1:40*
Released: 2022
Late Triassic
Etymology: Gr. "[Victorino] Herrera's lizard"
I often see people wishing for a 1:35 Herrerasaurus, and maybe they really mean it, in which case they should direct their request to Kaiyodo, or Colorata, or maybe Takara Tomy. But I think what many people are really wishing for when they wish for "1:35 figures" is simply "large figures." For this little guy, my scale estimate is based on the head and body; the tail is too short, so if you included it you would get a different number. It's by no means a beautiful figure, but Triassic figures in this scale are very hard to come by.


Not that you can't put together a decent collection with some patience and luck.


And now a Cenozoic interloper:


PNSO Livyatan
Scale: 1:40
Released: 2021
Neogene (Late Miocene - Early Pliocene)
Etymology: Hebrew; a sea monster in the Tanakh whose name's origin is obscure
As I've explained before, I don't generally collect Cenozoic stuff, not because I have anything against it, but because with my interest in ecosystems, I worry that a Cenozoic collection would feel incomplete without the many modern animals that would have been around alongside things like Livyatan. Essentially I'm afraid of the slippery slope of a modern animal collection, which I have neither money nor space for. So when PNSO released this, I passed it up, although I bought most of the other excellent aquatic models they released that year. Viewing PNSO's trajectory since 2021, I came to the conclusion that I'm part of the problem: every time somebody passes up a good non-dinosaur model, they shape, in a tiny way, the incentives of manufacturers, resulting in a more boring, homogeneous prehistoric figure market. So this is my very small 'voting with my dollar' affirmation that PNSO should do a little more like they did in 2021, the best year so far for their core Prehistoric Life line. I've bought a handful of Cenozoic animals before, mostly from upstart companies as a show of support (Southland Replica's Diprotodon, EoFauna's Palaeoloxodon), and the mixed results of that leave me with no illusions about the actual impact of my purchase. Still, this is a pretty nice whale figure, and good on PNSO for venturing into the Cenozoic with this instead of the standard mammoth and sabertooth.


If I were going to have a modern animal collection--and I am absolutely not going to--it would start with aquatics. Also, I should have been a little more careful dusting off the styrofoam this was packaged in before photo day. Oops.

[bmathison1972]

Mmmmm Hmmmmmm

One species survives the K-Pg extinction event (Diprotodon). Then another (Palaeoloxodon). Then another (Livyatan). Next think you know, you are collecting large, articulated Bandai insect figures      . Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life... 

[Leyster]

B @bmathison1972 that's exactly what I was thinking. I started collecting modern animals because I wanted to give my dinosaurs a sense of scale with animals we're more familiar with. Then I saw the Kaiyodo ghost ratfish...
Anyway the PNSO Livyatan is really a beauty, I recently acquired one myself, too.

[Gwangi]

Haha, it's a slippery slope. When I started it was only dinosaurs, then it was only prehistoric reptiles, then it was only extinct animals. And then one day I decided I wanted a couple extant dinosaurs for my theropod shelf. And then another day I saw a couple nifty shark figures while dinosaur hunting and decided to collect sharks. Then I bought a box of toy animals on eBay for my daughter and ended up swiping a few that I liked. Long story short, I collect extant animals now. Thankfully they're generally cheaper than the extinct ones.