The best figure of every species, according to Halichoeres

[Faelrin]

That Astraspis plushies is one of my favorite from them. I absolutely can't get enough of those early jawed fishes (and why I got so many of those Life game ones too), and I love that there's finally an easily affordable mass produced one out there now. I mean they are adorable and definitely good plush material. I certainly would have loved to have had it when I was a kid, especially since I was fixated upon them ever since that one book I read when I was like 11 featured them in it.

I collect a few extant species, but very seldomly. I've gotten a handful of North American animals (mostly Safari Ltd, and to go alongside the Schleich wolf I bought at a local zoo years prior to my serious present day figure collecting), and some deep sea animals (Bullyland Nautilus, Safari Ltd and Takara Tomy Coelacanth, and Safari Ltd Deep Sea Creatures TOOB), which I may consider collecting more of in the future, like giant tube worm, cephalopods like the vampire squid, etc. Mostly invertebrates as one can see, which almost parallels my interest in Paleozoic marine animals too. Would certainly love stuff like the giant siphonophores, Magnapinna, and a lot of the other weird wonderful things out in the deep darkness. Like it blows my mind at times some of the weird stuff that lives out there, exists on the same planet and time as us. Granted there are some cases where an extant figure may be suitable enough to pass as an extinct one, such as if there were any comb jelly figures to work as the Cambrian period species, or there's related extinct ones, like the recently described Vampyrofugiens atramentum, a relative of the extant vampire squid.

As far as the extinct Cenozoic stuff I do collect, I mostly just focus on the species that appeal to me the most, or like whatever there really is, as far as plastic stuff goes, since there really isn't quite a lot (aside from mammoths and Smilodon). I'm still bugged I sat on the Southlands Thylacoleo, but we really do need a more updated one too. Kind of easy to limit to one figure per species, in some cases. In fact that reminds me, I am way behind on updating both my Cenozoic and Paleozoic list threads so I ought to work on those again this week. More so the former.

[Halichoeres]

Thanks for stopping by, everyone! I was behind on updating the reference list on page 1, but I think it's all caught up now.

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... 

You know, those Kaiyodo Revoltech and Bandai Dangomushi arthropods really are gorgeous, and I've been tempted by them before. I've often wished they'd make a eurypterid, trilobite, or Paleozoic insect in that format.

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.

I actually do have a few modern fishes, but I don't consider them a collection, just to avoid that completist impulse.

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.

Like you, where I'm at now already represents a bit of a slide. I started out only collecting vertebrates, and then as I learned more about paleontology it seemed obscene not to include arthropods, then molluscs, then plants, then everything that lived alongside them. And I branched out into more stylized or cartoonish figures by starting on Yowies, which in their older incarnation really straddled the line between realistic and goofy, and now I have things like plushes and blind bag rubber figures from Italy. Naturally I'd rather all those animals were made by the likes of Kaiyodo or PNSO...

That Astraspis plushies is one of my favorite from them. I absolutely can't get enough of those early jawed fishes (and why I got so many of those Life game ones too), and I love that there's finally an easily affordable mass produced one out there now. I mean they are adorable and definitely good plush material. I certainly would have loved to have had it when I was a kid, especially since I was fixated upon them ever since that one book I read when I was like 11 featured them in it.

I collect a few extant species, but very seldomly. I've gotten a handful of North American animals (mostly Safari Ltd, and to go alongside the Schleich wolf I bought at a local zoo years prior to my serious present day figure collecting), and some deep sea animals (Bullyland Nautilus, Safari Ltd and Takara Tomy Coelacanth, and Safari Ltd Deep Sea Creatures TOOB), which I may consider collecting more of in the future, like giant tube worm, cephalopods like the vampire squid, etc. Mostly invertebrates as one can see, which almost parallels my interest in Paleozoic marine animals too. Would certainly love stuff like the giant siphonophores, Magnapinna, and a lot of the other weird wonderful things out in the deep darkness. Like it blows my mind at times some of the weird stuff that lives out there, exists on the same planet and time as us. Granted there are some cases where an extant figure may be suitable enough to pass as an extinct one, such as if there were any comb jelly figures to work as the Cambrian period species, or there's related extinct ones, like the recently described Vampyrofugiens atramentum, a relative of the extant vampire squid.

As far as the extinct Cenozoic stuff I do collect, I mostly just focus on the species that appeal to me the most, or like whatever there really is, as far as plastic stuff goes, since there really isn't quite a lot (aside from mammoths and Smilodon). I'm still bugged I sat on the Southlands Thylacoleo, but we really do need a more updated one too. Kind of easy to limit to one figure per species, in some cases. In fact that reminds me, I am way behind on updating both my Cenozoic and Paleozoic list threads so I ought to work on those again this week. More so the former.

Agreed, jawless fishes are ideal plush fodder. Imagine a bunch of plush galeaspids, for example.

The deep sea really is mind-blowing. Imagine how weird it was in prehistory. We'll mostly never know because deep sea sediments are only rarely uplifted to become fossils accessible on the surface, instead being melted under continental margins.

As for your Cenozoic list, is it like mine, more Yowie than anything else?

[Faelrin]

I think it does at the moment, but I'm debating on revising it to cut out anything like past the Moas extinction. I think it also only focuses on mammals right now, and it would be ideal to open it up to the rest of the prehistoric Cenozoic fauna available. Like what was that time cap you suggested for reviews here? Was it pre or post Dodo? Something like that would probably be good to have here.

For whatever is excluded I think would be better to reserve that stuff for another guide, as there is still a bit more outside the plethora of Yowie figures, like some from Takara Tomy, etc, that would be of interest sharing.

[Halichoeres]

I think it does at the moment, but I'm debating on revising it to cut out anything like past the Moas extinction. I think it also only focuses on mammals right now, and it would be ideal to open it up to the rest of the prehistoric Cenozoic fauna available. Like what was that time cap you suggested for reviews here? Was it pre or post Dodo? Something like that would probably be good to have here.

For whatever is excluded I think would be better to reserve that stuff for another guide, as there is still a bit more outside the plethora of Yowie figures, like some from Takara Tomy, etc, that would be of interest sharing.

People who research modern extinctions often draw a line at 1500 CE, which coincides with a wave of extinctions, especially on islands, associated with European colonial expansion. It's a little bit of a Eurocentric boundary, because it implicitly classifies the extinctions caused by Austronesians arriving in Madagascar and New Zealand as 'pre-modern.' Anyway, that's the boundary I used for my reference list, and what I suggested for the ATB/DTB cutoff. That would exclude pretty much the entire Forgotten Friends line by Yowie, and the dodo, which went extinct around 1662. However, the Lost Kingdoms line, especially Series C, was really heavy on the Miocene and Pleistocene, so there's a lot of Yowie in the "Cenozoic mammal" section of my list.

[bmathison1972]

I always considered 'prehistoric' to mean what it says, 'pre-history' or before written languages of humans. This roughly corresponds to 5000 years before the present. This allows one to collect a lot of the Pleistocene and some Holocene animals (including prehistoric hominids), in addition to stuff before the K-Pg mass extinction.

[SBell]

I always considered 'prehistoric' to mean what it says, 'pre-history' or before written languages of humans. This roughly corresponds to 5000 years before the present. This allows one to collect a lot of the Pleistocene and some Holocene animals (including prehistoric hominids), in addition to stuff before the K-Pg mass extinction.

You could also use the geologist 'fossil' rule of thumb of 10000 years (so, just after the end of the Pleistocene (.
Anything between that and historical would be considered subfossil.
It also depends on the goals and personal benchmarks. A lot of people like to get modern animals that fit Pleistocene age (saiga being probably the best recent example).
But really, in the end, get what you need!

[Faelrin]

@Halichoeres Thanks that's what I was thinking of earlier, but couldn't recall the numbers. While human's extinction game was strong earlier then that, it really did start to pick up even worse after that I think.

I do think I will still work on a separate list for those recently extinct species, as it may still prove to be helpful to have, but again most of it is just Yowie to this day, with some exceptions here and there.

[Gothmog the Baryonyx]

I've been looking through the last few pages of your thread to catch up on your collection, especially admiring the new displays a few pages back. They look very good in your new display shelves/cabinet thingies. Several figures I had forgotten about too.

Lovely recent acquisitions too, the CollectA Koolasuchus and the PNSO cacophony of Carcharodontosaurs and all your little Palaeozooic GoL rarities. The Haolonggod Apatosaurus, is the star of the year for me though. I atually bought one of those ugly Jurassic World theropods too but its hidden away.
The plushy Astraspis is very cute.
I'm surprised to see a Livyatan but that is one of the best Cenozoic out there. The Eofauna Palaeoloxon remains my favourite Cenozoic figure though.

[Halichoeres]

I always considered 'prehistoric' to mean what it says, 'pre-history' or before written languages of humans. This roughly corresponds to 5000 years before the present. This allows one to collect a lot of the Pleistocene and some Holocene animals (including prehistoric hominids), in addition to stuff before the K-Pg mass extinction.

That's as good a cutoff as any if you're concerned with when things died, but I'm mainly concerned with what was alive at any given time, and 5000 years ago, essentially every living species was around. So that threshold unworkable for me if I want to avoid the temptation of a modern animal collection!

You could also use the geologist 'fossil' rule of thumb of 10000 years (so, just after the end of the Pleistocene (.
Anything between that and historical would be considered subfossil.
It also depends on the goals and personal benchmarks. A lot of people like to get modern animals that fit Pleistocene age (saiga being probably the best recent example).
But really, in the end, get what you need!

That works a little better, but would still mean I'm collecting an awful lot of modern stuff, given my interest in entire biotic communities!

@Halichoeres Thanks that's what I was thinking of earlier, but couldn't recall the numbers. While human's extinction game was strong earlier then that, it really did start to pick up even worse after that I think.

I do think I will still work on a separate list for those recently extinct species, as it may still prove to be helpful to have, but again most of it is just Yowie to this day, with some exceptions here and there.

Yeah, the 1500 mark works well for 'recently extinct,' which of course isn't quite the same as 'prehistoric.'

I've been looking through the last few pages of your thread to catch up on your collection, especially admiring the new displays a few pages back. They look very good in your new display shelves/cabinet thingies. Several figures I had forgotten about too.

Lovely recent acquisitions too, the CollectA Koolasuchus and the PNSO cacophony of Carcharodontosaurs and all your little Palaeozooic GoL rarities. The Haolonggod Apatosaurus, is the star of the year for me though. I atually bought one of those ugly Jurassic World theropods too but its hidden away.
The plushy Astraspis is very cute.
I'm surprised to see a Livyatan but that is one of the best Cenozoic out there. The Eofauna Palaeoloxon remains my favourite Cenozoic figure though.

The Haolonggood Apatosaurus is absolutely magnificent, I can see why it would be your highlight, especially given your long search for a good Apatosaurus figure. The EoFauna Palaeoloxodon is great, I agree, it's another of the very small handful of Cenozoic animals I've bought just because I thought its makers deserved money for it.

And now, metazoans of the Cambrian! These are all from the Life... game by Oammararak, influenced by the "Palaeopedia" Tumblr blog. The unpainted versions were released in 2021, and the painted ones in 2022.


Choia
Scale: 1:3 - 1:4
Middle Cambrian - Early Ordovician
Etymology: according to the Royal Ontario Museum, unknown, but perhaps after the very spiny cholla cactus
The flat, spiny, disc-shaped fossils of this sponge has been found in both Canada and Utah. But in 2007, some specimens from the Ordovician of Morocco showed that it wasn't a flat disk lying on the seafloor, it was a flat disk held up in the current on spindly spicules. That would have been hard to execute in this format, though. This animal is also available as a fairly affordable resin cast from Kamyk, although it too lacks the stalk.


Metaldetes
Scale: 1:8 for a large specimen
Early - Middle Cambrian
Etymology: I can't find documentation of this, but it looks Greek and my best guess is that it means something like "it grows above/beyond." I'm really not sure.
One of the archaeocyathids, which are primitive sponges or sponge-like animals. This one was generally shaped like a bowl or open vase, but occasionally branched, maybe a function of particular habitats. If I'd been thinking straight, I might have requested several of these. After all, when do you ever see just one sponge?


Pirania
Scale: 1:1
Middle Cambrian - Late Ordovician
Etymology: Walcott gives no etymology in what I believe is the work that names it, but the ROM says it is after Mount St. Piran in Alberta, Canada.
The sponge covered all over with spicules. Having once stepped on a cholla segment with bare feet, I actually think this one would have been more appropriately named after it. This figure is probably not spiny enough, but at this scale, I'm not going to fret about it. Like Choia, this sponge is available as a fairly affordable model from Kamyk.


My entire Porifera (sponge) collection.


Dinomischus
Scale: slightly larger than 1:1
Early - Middle Cambrian
Etymology: Gr. "stem goblet"
A goblet on a stem is a pretty good description. I disagree with Simon Conway Morris on some things, but he has my full support with this name. We have some idea what this looked like, but no firm idea what it was related to. It was first compared to an entoproct (sometimes called "hairy back worms"), but it's also been floated as a relative of echinoderms (like sea lilies) and ctenophores (comb-jellies). At any rate, a sessile filter feeder, and a cool addition to a Cambrian community.


Siphusauctum
Scale: 1:1
Middle Cambrian
Etymology: L. "enlarged cup"
This one is even more mysterious. It seems to have a complete gut, which means it's a bilaterian, but that's all we can be sure about. It's known from both Canada and Utah, but the more recently described Utah specimens don't seem to shed a lot of light on its relatives. So many mysteries left in the Cambrian.


I've got a pretty decent Cambrian seafloor going.


Echmatocrinus
Scale: 1:2 - 1:3
Middle Cambrian
Etymology: "holdfast lily"
Despite its name, it doesn't seem to be a crinoid. This is the most mysterious of them all; all anyone can agree on is that it's an animal. Maybe an echinoderm, maybe a coral, definitely sessile and heavily mineralized.


Thanks to CollectA for this Redlichia, which has proven to be an excellent scale bar.

[Faelrin]

Man I remember when I unboxed that spiky sponge and those spines were very sharp. Note to self, don't touch again lol.

I think I got a few others from above. I know I got Choia, and Dinomischus at least. I honestly found out about all of these thanks to these figures back when the kickstarter was live. I think Dinomischus is my favorite of the bunch, due to its amusing, and mysterious nature.

[BlueKrono]

Does this Saurozoic Warrior have a Choia as a kneepad?
https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/208845

[Halichoeres]

Man I remember when I unboxed that spiky sponge and those spines were very sharp. Note to self, don't touch again lol.

I think I got a few others from above. I know I got Choia, and Dinomischus at least. I honestly found out about all of these thanks to these figures back when the kickstarter was live. I think Dinomischus is my favorite of the bunch, due to its amusing, and mysterious nature.

Good choices! Sorry to hear the Pirania attacked you. I've been thinking about why it would need such serious spicules, maybe radiodonts? It would fit with the study you posted recently that suggested Anomalocaris couldn't crack trilobites.

Does this Saurozoic Warrior have a Choia as a kneepad?
https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/208845

Haha I'm not too proud to admit that I examined the Saurozoic action figures just in case one of them had an interesting animal accessory, but I did not clock that kneepad! Could be something like Choia, but to me it looks more like a softshell turtle carapace.

[BlueKrono]

Does this Saurozoic Warrior have a Choia as a kneepad?
https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Product/VariationDetails/208845

Haha I'm not too proud to admit that I examined the Saurozoic action figures just in case one of them had an interesting animal accessory, but I did not clock that kneepad! Could be something like Choia, but to me it looks more like a softshell turtle carapace.
[/quote]

Ah, I could see that. To me it registered close enough to 'turtle shell with spikes' that I had to go for it. But I see Choia at least as much now that I'm reminded of it.

[ceratopsian]

My entire foot curled at hearing of your mishap with a cholla!  And what a splendid group of mysteries.

[JohannesB]

I think it does at the moment, but I'm debating on revising it to cut out anything like past the Moas extinction. I think it also only focuses on mammals right now, and it would be ideal to open it up to the rest of the prehistoric Cenozoic fauna available. Like what was that time cap you suggested for reviews here? Was it pre or post Dodo? Something like that would probably be good to have here.

For whatever is excluded I think would be better to reserve that stuff for another guide, as there is still a bit more outside the plethora of Yowie figures, like some from Takara Tomy, etc, that would be of interest sharing.

People who research modern extinctions often draw a line at 1500 CE, which coincides with a wave of extinctions, especially on islands, associated with European colonial expansion. It's a little bit of a Eurocentric boundary, because it implicitly classifies the extinctions caused by Austronesians arriving in Madagascar and New Zealand as 'pre-modern.' Anyway, that's the boundary I used for my reference list, and what I suggested for the ATB/DTB cutoff. That would exclude pretty much the entire Forgotten Friends line by Yowie, and the dodo, which went extinct around 1662. However, the Lost Kingdoms line, especially Series C, was really heavy on the Miocene and Pleistocene, so there's a lot of Yowie in the "Cenozoic mammal" section of my list.

Interesting. Sorry to go out on a tangent here, but as an anthropologist and archaeologist who is also interested in (past) animal life forms, you gave me something to think about there. The end of the 15th century is a good place to draw the line. Possibly most memorably (in the worst possible sense) accented with the year 1492 AD (concerning the America's). From 1500 AD onwards, I the rate of expansion gained real momentum, which must indeed have caused waves of extinction (most tragically millions of First Nation/indigenous peoples). Anyway, I will have to read up on all of this.   

[Halichoeres]

Page 1 reference list updated, including the mysterious little Guanlingsaurus figure from a PNSO exhibit.

My entire foot curled at hearing of your mishap with a cholla!  And what a splendid group of mysteries.

My brother had it even worse. Once, going too fast down a hill on a bike, he braked hard at the bottom and launched himself over the handlebars into a patch of cholla. It took many hours to extract all the spines. Nobody should raise children in the desert!

Interesting. Sorry to go out on a tangent here, but as an anthropologist and archaeologist who is also interested in (past) animal life forms, you gave me something to think about there. The end of the 15th century is a good place to draw the line. Possibly most memorably (in the worst possible sense) accented with the year 1492 AD (concerning the America's). From 1500 AD onwards, I the rate of expansion gained real momentum, which must indeed have caused waves of extinction (most tragically millions of First Nation/indigenous peoples). Anyway, I will have to read up on all of this.   

No need to be sorry, tangents are welcome! It really does seem to be qualitatively different from other human-caused extinctions just because of its global extent. Sure, large mammal and bird extinctions followed the arrival of humans on every landmass. And sure, humans have been wiping each other out since there have been humans. But the sheer reach of the British, the Spanish, the Portuguese, the French, the Dutch, the Belgians...yes, lots of extinction, both biotic and cultural. Genetically I'm about about 40% (±10% because the markers are poorly characterized for consumer tests) indigenous American, but I have essentially no connection to the culture and I've only ever spoken European languages. And Australia and Tasmania, that was even more thorough.

[Halichoeres]

Ornithischians of the Cretaceous!


CollectA Stegouros
Scale: 1:6
Sculptor: Matthias Geiger
Released: 2023
Campanian of South America
Etymology: Gr. "roofed tail"
A CollectA Deluxe figure that is the scale it says it is, quite rare for them! I'll have more to say about this one when I review it for the blog. Overall I'm pretty happy with it.


There are very few herbivore figures that scale well with the BotM dromaeosaurs, so this might be a useful addition for people with lots of those.


Haolonggood Wuerhosaurus
Scale: 1:35
Released: 2023
Probably Aptian of Eurasia
Etymology: Gr. "Orku [also transliterated "Wuerhe Qu," Karamay, Xinjiang, China] lizard"
I wasn't necessarily hankering for a new Wuerhosaurus, being reasonably happy with the Vitae one, but this one is an improvement.


This batch brings my total number of Haolonggood figures to 6, and with the departure of the Wuerhosaurus, it drops my total number of Vitae figures to 6, so they're tied now. Too bad about Vitae, they had some amazing plans.


All my 1:35-1:40 stegosaurs.


Haolonggood Pachyrhinosaurus
Scale: 1:25
Released: 2023
Campanian - Maastrichtian of North America
Etymology: Gr. "thick-nosed lizard"
This is such a stunner. A lot of us, as we collect, assemble different kinds of museums. Some are museums of human history, reflecting changes in manufacturing techniques or scientific understanding over decades. Some are museums to our own youth, reacquiring lost playmates or buying the things we couldn't afford as kids. Some are art museums, focused on the craft and the beauty of paleo-art. If mine were such a collection, this would probably be my favorite Pachyrhinosaurus. But my collection is a natural history museum. I like my toys to be beautiful, but even more so I like them to represent the relevant animals to the extent possible. On that score, the Safari version still wins in my book.


As with the Ouranosaurus, I don't regret buying this. I'm glad to have held it in my hand and examined it. There's a quote that's often attributed to Mark Twain (although I'm not sure he actually said it): 'comparison is the death of joy.' I actually really enjoy comparing things--it's a big part of what evolutionary biologists do--but I get the feeling that it kind of offends a lot of people around here.


Anyway, comparing these two figures, there's the gorgeous paint work and the imposing countenance of the Haolonggood, and the faithful adherence to known anatomy of the Safari, from the skull, to the forefeet, to the tail. So the Safari version stays on my shelf. Maybe I'd have made an exception for a species other than P. lakustai.


Haolonggood Edmontonia
Scale: 1:35
Released: 2023
Maastrichtian of North America
Etymology: after Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
This is probably my favorite of the Haolonggood new releases. Ankylosaurs are difficult to reconstruct, and I think that leads to their being attempted less often than other groups. So I'm always extra excited to see one, and close to my preferred scale. The old CollectA one is also close to 1:35/1:40, but it's a bit homely.


This is somewhat plain on top...


...but more vibrant beneath. You can imagine a lot of behaviors that would match up with that combination.



Replaces the Battat Edmontonia, which had a good long run.


Some other nodosaurs in a similar scale. I wager you won't see this comparison photo elsewhere.


And some Horseshoe Canyon friends.

[Faelrin]

I'm not sure I understand the thing about comparisons offending folks here? I quite enjoy them. I also find them quite helpful, to see how the sculpts differ. Assuming it is pertaining to the figures themselves. I imagine if it's directly to the fossil material, well that's a different story and I can certainly see what you might mean in that case.

It's great how well the Safari Pachyrhninosaurus holds up though. Shame they retired it, and I still have yet to acquire one. That said the Haolonggood one is a welcome addition, even if the Safari one beats it in the accuracy department (I'm guessing because of the positioning of the horns on their frill?). I think I do prefer the pose on the Haolonggood one, but I find it a tie as far as colorations between the two brands options. I think both are nice, and I don't have a particular preference for one over the other.

[Leyster]

The Haolonggood Edmontonia is truly beautiful!

[Newt]

This is somewhat plain on top...


...but more vibrant beneath. You can imagine a lot of behaviors that would match up with that combination.

Okay, now I want to see a nodosaur displaying the unken reflex, or doing Sceloporus-style pushups.