SidB's Collection Thread

[SidB]

Moving on to the 2013 (Kinto) Favorite releases, we see a quite different approach taken to design by Araki. As we've seen so far. Favorite "favors" conventional choices to the selection of their dinosaur releases in their main "soft" line, though that will change for the museum exclusives, which I'll show later. For now, the 2013's:

[TooOldForDinosaurs]

This shelf looks great! Really excited to see your museum exclusives! 

[SidB]

Those exclusives weren't the cheapest, but they are excellent - coming down the highway soon!

[SidB]

Moving on to the 2013 (Kinto) Favorite releases, we see a quite different approach taken to design by Araki. As we've seen so far. Favorite "favors" conventional choices to the selection of their dinosaur releases in their main "soft" line, though that will change for the museum exclusives, which I'll show later. For now, the 2013's:

First, Araki's interpretation of the rex, in unfeathered and feathered versions:

unfeathered


unfeathered color variant


unfeathered custom


feathered version


His Allosaurus. Note how slim it is over against Oda's 2004 one


The thinness, almost an emaciation, seen from the dorsal view. I think that this figure more than any cemented the stereotype of Araki's work.


Allosaurus color variant


Velociraptor, replaces the 2004 Deinonychus

[SidB]

Next batch of Favorite's 2013 releases:

Araki's trike. I've always thought this to be an unusual rendition, far too lean. Compare it to Odo's 2004 Triceratops. Perhaps Araki didn't account for the gastralia.


a variant


Stegosaurus


Stego variant


the beautiful and graceful Parasaurolophus


Araki's Styracosaurus - displays well with Odo's

[ceratopsian]

While I agree the Triceratops is too lean, I didn't think this group actually had gastralia?

That is an exhaustive collection of Favorites and must have taken some tracking down.

[SidB]

While I agree the Triceratops is too lean, I didn't think this group actually had gastralia?

That is an exhaustive collection of Favorites and must have taken some tracking down.

That's a good point, @ceratopsian . I made a hasty assumption. It just looks like something is missing, or that the legs are stilts.

[SidB]

While I agree the Triceratops is too lean, I didn't think this group actually had gastralia?

That is an exhaustive collection of Favorites and must have taken some tracking down.

That's a good point, @ceratopsian . I made a hasty assumption. It just looks like something is missing, or that the legs are stilts.

You're quite right, it seems that only basal heterodontisaurid orithischians in this group possessed gastralia. Learn something every day!

[ceratopsian]

I had made exactly the same assumption too until I learnt from a palaeontologist from the NHM a few years ago that "Sophie's" gastralia were not missing but simply never present. 

[SidB]

Now for the last third of the 2013's, all replacements for the 2004 releases, of course. Favorite's 'soft' line is very conservative.

The Pteranodon


A color variant


The excellent Ankylosaurus, replacing the 2004 one, which, though well-sculpted, was not this genus, but a chimera


The Brachiosaurus


Araki's lean and mean Spinosaurus, which because of its date can't reflect the latest findings for this genus


Spinosaurus color variant


The Plesiosaurus, which according to Dr. Admin's review, is closer to Cryptoclidus, actually

[SidB]

Taking a step back from the Favorite Companies plentiful offerings in 2013, I'll present these two from 2012. Sculpted in the 1/35 range by Hirokazu Tokugawa for the Osaka Museum of Natural History, we have their Tarbosaurus and, quite uniquely a Saurolophus, both of which you can check out here:

Tarbosaurus




Saurolophus






Together

[Skorpio V.]

I would love for another company to release a new Saurolophus! My favourite ornithopod by a longshot and it's only represented in the rarest offerings, this Favorite one, Kanna resin modles, and the Sega Dinosaur King toys.

[SidB]

I would love for another company to release a new Saurolophus! My favourite ornithopod by a longshot and it's only represented in the rarest offerings, this Favorite one, Kanna resin modles, and the Sega Dinosaur King toys.

Yes, after 11 years, a replacement seems overdue. Plus, this one certainly isn't easy to come by, nor is it inexpensive. It appears to be overshadowed by its relative, the Parasaurolophus.

[SidB]

In 2014, Favorite released these figures in or around the 1/40 scale mark - a boxed set of a Concavenator with a Pelicanimimus and also a Tambatitanis. The former two are by Kazunari Araki, the latter by Hirokazu Tokugawa:









The Pelicanimimus is an unique little figure. Like some of the Favorite figures with a plastic base, the concept was good, but the execution not so much, the base being ineffectual.
These pieces were soon followed later in the year with the Prehistoric Life Set, to be shown next on this thread.

[SidB]

Straddling the calendar years 2014-15, Favorite introduced the "Prehistoric Life Set", six of which I own and show here:

Archelon


Dunkleosteus


Dimetrodon


Otodus megalodon


Smilodon


Wooly Mammoth

[Halichoeres]

The Prehistoric Life line is my favorite from Favorite. I know not everybody loves Tokugawa's style, but I find it beautifully restrained and understated.

[SidB]

The Prehistoric Life line is my favorite from Favorite. I know not everybody loves Tokugawa's style, but I find it beautifully restrained and understated.

Quite! Now I probably need to track down the ones missing from my collection.

[SidB]

Continuing into 2015, the Favorite Company commissioned Araki to make these two iconic Japanese dinosaurs for the Fukui Prefectural Museum shop:

Fukuisaurus (1/20) and Fukuiraptor (1/25)




The distinctive Araki shrink-wrapping


The bases really do their job well with these figures

[TooOldForDinosaurs]

Despite the shrink-wrapping the Fukuisaurus is a very good looking figure! It's new to me and I like it a lot

[SidB]

Despite the shrink-wrapping the Fukuisaurus is a very good looking figure! It's new to me and I like it a lot

It caught my attention with its really good production values and its uniqueness (at that time, especially).The shrink-wrapping apparently still has its fans in the land of the rising sun, apparently, though I do believe that Araki has reduced the degree of this, as should be evident when I post images of his work five or so years later.