Safari Ltd: New for 2023

[Sim]

I've looked at it again and I think it is just a repaint of the old Safari Kentrosaurus.  It looks like the tail does unfortunately extend past the tail spikes and the tail is painted like the spikes again.  If it is just the repaint, I wonder if Safari could retool the mould before the figure releases and fix the tail spikes?  Haolonggood did that for their Ouranosaurus not long after that figure was released.  I would find it quite disappointing if in over 10 years Safari didn't feel the need to update their Kentrosaurus and just re-released it.

[GojiraGuy1954]

Why not rerelease a *good* sculpt like any of the ceratopsians they've retired appallingly prematurely over the years

[TheCambrianCrusader]

This is my Safari Kentrosaurus tail, taken at the closest angle I could get to the teaser shot. Allowing for some differences in the angle of the spines because the plastic is pliable, I think this is the same mold. The tail tip is erroneously painted as a spike. In both photos, you can see that the tip has ridges sculpted into it, which the spikes do not.

Hm looking at it now I think I agree. The angle of the shot made me think the thagomizers ended further but yeah now that I'm looking at it closer it does look really similar to the old one. Darn and I just hunted the old one down too

[Carnoking]

The old one has become a bit tricky to locate, no?

[SpartanSquat]

Well, its possible they will rerelease it, they did with the doedicurus, megatherium and smilodon. Cmon safari rerelease pachyrhino, einio and nasuto!

[TheCambrianCrusader]

The old one has become a bit tricky to locate, no?

It's not the rarest figure to track down, I managed to get one for a lil over 20 bucks a few months ago, but it has jumped up a lot in price for the most part and it isn't listed on ebay too frequently.

[Gwangi]

I also suspect that this stegosaur might be a repainted re-release. Despite its inaccuracies I like the Safari Kentrosaurus and am happy to have it but I'll be disappointed if they're releasing it again. The original was good in 2010 but it's time for a brand new and more accurate Kentrosaurus from someone.

Looks like I have five Kentrosaurus in my collection. Safari, Schleich, Tyco, Mattel, and Fame Master. I won't get a re-release of the Safari figure and a Kentrosaurus would have to be really good for me to bother with it at all.

[Shane]

Why not rerelease a *good* sculpt like any of the ceratopsians they've retired appallingly prematurely over the years

If enough people had bought them when they were in production, they wouldn't have been retired. Nothing gets retired out of spite. If they got retired it means they didn't sell enough to continue producing them. Where ceratopsians have been retired, it's been within the last three years, so it's pretty fresh to start considering bringing any of them back.

[Jose S.M.]

Why not rerelease a *good* sculpt like any of the ceratopsians they've retired appallingly prematurely over the years

If enough people had bought them when they were in production, they wouldn't have been retired. Nothing gets retired out of spite. If they got retired it means they didn't sell enough to continue producing them. Where ceratopsians have been retired, it's been within the last three years, so it's pretty fresh to start considering bringing any of them back.

Hopefully Safari still can consider bring new ceratopsids     yeah it's really sad the discontinued ceratopsids didn't sell that well since they are stellar sculpts, specially the Nasutoceratops but is understandable their retirement if they were causing loses.

[Shane]

Hopefully Safari still can consider bring new ceratopsids     yeah it's really sad the discontinued ceratopsids didn't sell that well since they are stellar sculpts, specially the Nasutoceratops but is understandable their retirement if they were causing loses.

Don't get me wrong, I love them all and have them all on my desk.

But unfortunately it can't just be me buying them.

[Concavenator]

S @Shane Out of curiosity, is there any way to be aware of which figures get retired each year? I would find that info important to know, to be honest.

[Shane]

S @Shane Out of curiosity, is there any way to be aware of which figures get retired each year? I would find that info important to know, to be honest.

During the pandemic years, retirements were mostly paused, but now they've been starting back up again.

It looks like the following are being retired this year: Psittacosaurus, Uintatherium, Deinocheirus, Diabloceratops, Citipati, Qianzhousaurus, Vagaceratops, Concavenator, Edmontosaurus, and Shringasaurus.

Before anyone piles on, please understand I do not make the final decisions on what gets retired.

[Concavenator]

Thank you for the notice, S @Shane ! A pity to see those going... Well, time to get the Qianzhousaurus and the Diabloceratops, then.

[Gwangi]

I wish companies were more transparent about what they were going to retire. There are a few on that list I still need to get. Thanks for the info S @Shane .

[Jose S.M.]

I didn't imagine Edmontosaurus would be retired so soon. Not to he pesimist but it doesn't look good for smaller ceratopsids and hadrosaurs in the future.

[Halichoeres]

My money is on the Kentrosaurus being repainted for the Dino Dana line, along the lines of those old baby dino molds: https://www.safariltd.com/products/dino-dana-triceratops-baby-with-egg

Thanks for the info on retirements, Shane. That list includes what I consider some of Safari's most interesting offerings, but sales are sales. I appreciate that Safari made them available for the short time they did, and I'm glad to have most of those in my collection. It's a bummer that so much of the buying public is utterly incurious.

[Gwangi]

Well I just ordered the Shringasaurus, glad I didn't miss that one. There are others on the list I would like to have but that's the only one I really NEED.

S @Shane are there any extant animals being retired too?

[Gwangi]

My money is on the Kentrosaurus being repainted for the Dino Dana line, along the lines of those old baby dino molds: https://www.safariltd.com/products/dino-dana-triceratops-baby-with-egg

Thanks for the info on retirements, Shane. That list includes what I consider some of Safari's most interesting offerings, but sales are sales. I appreciate that Safari made them available for the short time they did, and I'm glad to have most of those in my collection. It's a bummer that so much of the buying public is utterly incurious.

That Kentrosaurus being reused as a Dino Dana figure occurred to me too but the colors don't quite match the DD design. I still think that you're probably right though.

As for the buying public. It would help if they actually knew about these figures. I don't feel like Safari has a strong shelf presence. Few places carry Safari and those that do don't rotate the figures often. The Safari figures I see for sale are usually the same ones I've been seeing for 10 years now. Aside from the Vagaceratops I haven't seen any of those now retired figures for sale in a shop. And when I did see the Vagaceratops it was once about 10 years ago and I bought it. Have not seen it since.

[Bread]

As for the buying public. It would help if they actually knew about these figures. I don't feel like Safari has a strong shelf presence. Few places carry Safari and those that do don't rotate the figures often. The Safari figures I see for sale are usually the same ones I've been seeing for 10 years now. Aside from the Vagaceratops I haven't seen any of those now retired figures for sale in a shop. And when I did see the Vagaceratops it was once about 10 years ago and I bought it. Have not seen it since.

This exactly.

The newest Safari Ltd. prehistoric model I have seen on shelves was the 2017 Feathered Tyrannosaurus. Other than that, 10+ year old figures.

Of course I have no clue how difficult it is on Safari's end for distribution of new figures.

[Sim]

Thanks for saying what appears to be getting retired S @Shane.  It's sad to see them go, they are all excellent.  A few thoughts:

1. The retirement of Psittacosaurus, Diabloceratops and Vagaceratops leaves just Triceratops, Styracosaurus and Regaliceratops as ceratopsians Safari produces for their main line.  It's unfortunate ceratpsian variety is no longer well-represented.

2. Edmontosaurus gets a lot of attention, but I wonder if it's just a vocal minority that asks for it and it's actually quite unpopular?

I didn't imagine Edmontosaurus would be retired so soon. Not to he pesimist but it doesn't look good for smaller ceratopsids and hadrosaurs in the future.

It doesn't look good for ceratopsids in general.  I wonder if Safari will ever produce one again.  I don't know what to think about hadrosauromorphs.  Again, I feel their fans might be a vocal minority and they aren't very popular with the exception of Parasaurolophus.  In any case all of Safari's hadrosauromorphs except for Parasaurolophus are no longer in production it seems, it doesn't seem likely Safari will make any more.  All this makes me wonder what Safari will make in the future.