The best figure of every species, according to Halichoeres

[Concavenator]

@Halichoeres Hahah, I figured you'd be thinking something along those lines! Thank you for checking! 

It's odd the Safari figure's tooth count matches the FMNH skull, considering it's meant to represent D. torosus. Well, not a big deal.

[Halichoeres]

A few more Cretaceous dinosaurs:


Disga Stegoceras
Scale: 1:20 - 1:25
Campanian of North America
I only learned a couple of years ago that this figure even existed, and I'm pleased to have found it relatively quickly. It isn't the most attractive figure, but it's recognizable as a pachycephalosaur. This is a little nicer than the Transmutazors version and duly replaces it.


The head is painted differently on either side. One side suggests a character from Gumby, and the other suggests a relief of an Assyrian king. Funny how a few dashes of pigment give such different impressions. Also, the long straight neck puts me in mind of the losing fighter in Rock-em Sock-em Robots.


The Stegoceras is roughly to scale with PNSO's Pachycephalosaurus, which suggests one reason why there aren't better Stegoceras toys: it's too small an animal to sell in the 1:30 - 1:35 scale that PNSO and Haolonggood seem to be stuck on. Even the Pachy was a fudge, at closer to 1:25, and at that scale is one of the smaller figures in their Prehistoric Animal line.


Disga Brachyceratops (probably a juvenile of some other genus)
Scale: 1:20 - 1:25
Campanian of North America
I bought a new-in-package set of Disga dinosaurs a while back, and mistakenly thought the ceratopsian I got in that set was Brachyceratops, but it turns out to have been Microceratops/Microceratus. I started to suspect my mistake after seeing this mold, in a much more vibrant paint scheme, in Libraraptor's collection thread. I wasn't sure at first that this one was genuine because it was in a mixed lot with things that didn't match the paint jobs I expected, like Libraraptor's copy.


But the belly clearly has "DISGA" embossed on it, as do the bellies of the other figures. The plesiosaur's stamp is much abraded and very faint. Some kid really played with these, so they served their intended function.


This is the card back from the set that I bought (the package only contained four of the twelve).


These are the two Microceratops figures.


And here is the loose lot I just bought for the Stegoceras and Brachyceratops, arranged in the same configuration as the package illustration. No Diplodocus (although Libraraptor has that one too!), no Spinosaurus. That Pteranodon is absolutely frightful! And check out that incognito Tsintaosaurus.


Based on the card back from the package, I thought the Nodosaurus might also be worthy to add to my collection. The card picture doesn't show the tail tip, so imagine my surprise when this figure had a sort of club. The silver paint on a gray background also doesn't do it any favors. I'm still on the lookout for some other Disga figures, like a Teratosaurus in a similar format to these, and some very ugly remote-controlled figures of Gojirasaurus and Segnosaurus. But the Nodosaurus doesn't do it for me.

So instead:


DeAgostini Nodosaurus (Super Dinosaurs & Co.)
Scale: 1:20 - 1:25
Released: 2023
Cenomanian or Turonian of North America
This appears to be from a Japan-only release; I watch DeAgostini's Italian site for oddball creatures like their "Sea Dinosaurs & Co." line, and this never appeared there. The quality isn't as good as the 1990s figures that they marketed in Latin America, but it's better than the ones I've gotten from Italy. While I generally prefer solid figures to these rubbery ones, the Disga one is just too narrow-gauge and has too much of a club on its tail. So the DeAgostini replaces my TS Toys Nodosaurus, which was really just a repurposed WWD Polacanthus mold anyway. Nodosaurus was a stock dinosaur when I was a kid, but it's since been overshadowed by better-preserved relatives, which is fine by me, actually.


Manages to make the Dinosaur King Pawpawsaurus look classy.

The series the Nodosaurus came in had a couple of interesting figures that looked like they were designed more carefully than the typical Italian editions, like this Dryptosaurus:


And this Archaeopteryx:


Those are screen grabs from YAJ or Mercari, maybe, I can't remember which.

The only other one I bought, though, was:


DeAgostini Saurornithoides (Super Dinosaurs & Co.)
Scale: 1:10 - 1:12
Released: 2023
Campanian of Eurasia
Please forgive the blasphemous use to which I'm putting a PNSO stand. I have to say I was struck by what a good design this was. Obviously the quality of the toy isn't great, but this is recognizably a troodontid (or, I guess, one of the lither dromaeosaurids). After poking around a bit, I found that it owes a lot to a design by one Audrey M. Horn, who did a nice illustration for Wikipedia. I wonder if Horn knows this toy exists.


Although I almost always prefer a solid plastic figure to a brittle rubber one, the old Xidi/Happy Kin Saurornithoides is sufficiently cartoony and out-of-date that I gotta go with the DeAgostini. I was saying recently in another thread that more good troodontid toys are pretty much inevitable (I mean, even Mojö made a half decent Stenonychosaurus), and I think this buttresses my case.


I think this is every troodontid I own.


Mattel Orkoraptor (Jurassic World)
Scale: 1:18
Released: 2023
Campanian or Maastrichtian of South America
And finally, this somewhat homely entry from Mattel. It has a very weird distribution of plumage, bare on top but shaggy below. The fuzzy underside and the woodenly menacing pose make me think of a yeti for some reason.


Credit where credit is due, though, it's not a bad-looking noggin. The mouth closes over the teeth, and it stays closed until you open it with a button. So at rest, it is at rest, which is a refreshing change.

[ceratopsian]

I think you are unkind to the Pawpawsaurus.  She has a certain je ne sais quoi - and there is some nice colour gradation on those shoulder spikes!  Plus she looks a cheerful soul against the distinctly grumpy Nodosaurus.

[Concavenator]

Funny how all reconstructions of megaraptorids are essentially clones - a result of them having such scrappy remains.

That Dryptosaurus appears quite good for what it seems to be, conceptually it's very similar to the BotM... of course, no comparison about the execution. Which reminds me, I recall you preordered the BotM, didn't you?

About the Stegoceras, I don't see why it being a smaller animal should necessarily affect it being made into a figure. It simply could be made at a larger scale and that's it. It's not like dromaeosaurid figures typically available on the market are at 1:35 scale or close, anyways.

[Sim]

Oh my gosh, that Saurornithoides...  It's indeed recognisable as a troodontid and as a reconstruction it's surprisingly good.  But it's also not satisfying for those who want a good Saurornithoides figure.  I hope someone else makes a good figure of this animal, I want one very much!  I think you might have forgotten to change the Saurornithoides's location info.

[Faelrin]

Seeing a decent Saurornithoides from DeAgostini is shocking, even if its design was copied from paleoart.

The DeAgostini Nodosaurus reminds me of the Jurassic World Evolution 2 one. A lot of the maps its default coloration is a green back with orange or tan bottom. Only real difference is the JWE2 design was mostly based on Borealopelta.

[Halichoeres]

I think you are unkind to the Pawpawsaurus.  She has a certain je ne sais quoi - and there is some nice colour gradation on those shoulder spikes!  Plus she looks a cheerful soul against the distinctly grumpy Nodosaurus.

Ha ha, you may be right. A little cheer on the dinosaur shelf is always welcome. As for the grumpy Nodosaurus, it looks somewhat bloated, so might be experiencing some discomfort.

That Dryptosaurus appears quite good for what it seems to be, conceptually it's very similar to the BotM... of course, no comparison about the execution. Which reminds me, I recall you preordered the BotM, didn't you?

About the Stegoceras, I don't see why it being a smaller animal should necessarily affect it being made into a figure. It simply could be made at a larger scale and that's it. It's not like dromaeosaurid figures typically available on the market are at 1:35 scale or close, anyways.

I did order the BotM Dryptosaurus, yes. Should be here in a couple of weeks, along with several of its smaller relatives.

I agree that a smaller animal could be made into a figure, but Haolonggood, for example, expressly said that scale was a reason not to make Kentrosaurus. And PNSO has not made anything at a larger scale in a couple of years (not since Atopodentatus and Microraptor in 2020), and I think they're unlikely to make an exception for Stegoceras. In theory it could still be made by a company less concerned with scale, of course (Safari, CollectA), but generally pachycephalosaurs that weren't from Hell Creek seem to be almost completely ignored. There was one Prenocephale in 2002, and I think this Stegoceras is even older.

Oh my gosh, that Saurornithoides...  It's indeed recognisable as a troodontid and as a reconstruction it's surprisingly good.  But it's also not satisfying for those who want a good Saurornithoides figure.  I hope someone else makes a good figure of this animal, I want one very much!  I think you might have forgotten to change the Saurornithoides's location info.

Well certainly I don't expect this to satisfy troodontid fans, but I think it and the Mojo are an indication that they're on companies' radar. Thanks, fixed the location info...it is S. mongoliensis, after all 

Seeing a decent Saurornithoides from DeAgostini is shocking, even if its design was copied from paleoart.

The DeAgostini Nodosaurus reminds me of the Jurassic World Evolution 2 one. A lot of the maps its default coloration is a green back with orange or tan bottom. Only real difference is the JWE2 design was mostly based on Borealopelta.

Interesting, I hadn't seen the JWE2 version. It's a little bit rounder than I think it should be, which DeAgostini REALLY ran with. I would have liked more shoulder spikes as the JWE2 version has!

[Concavenator]

Haolonggood, for example, expressly said that scale was a reason not to make Kentrosaurus.

I know that's what they said, but in all honesty, that reasoning does not convince me. I could understand it if their figures were true to the 1:35 scale they're advertised at, but that's rarely case (the big majority of their figures are larger than 1:35). For example, Nasutoceratops was around the same length as Kentrosaurus yet they made it regardless (at a bigger scale).

[Halichoeres]

Haolonggood, for example, expressly said that scale was a reason not to make Kentrosaurus.

I know that's what they said, but in all honesty, that reasoning does not convince me. I could understand it if their figures were true to the 1:35 scale they're advertised at, but that's rarely case (the big majority of their figures are larger than 1:35). For example, Nasutoceratops was around the same length as Kentrosaurus yet they made it regardless (at a bigger scale).

Yeah, the Tianzhenosaurus is larger than 1:20, unless you regard it as a Saichania. Anyway, it would certainly be fine with me if HLG and PNSO would make more things at varying scale--or make them all 1:30 and embrace miniatures for smaller organisms--but overall it just seems like they're trying to stick with things that they can at least pretend are 1:35. And just to be clear, I don't think size is the only reason companies haven't made Stegoceras. Other things going against it are 1) not being a theropod, 2) not being the largest member of its group, and 3) possibly having a name too close to Stegosaurus. On the other hand, it is from the Cretaceous, which is almost the only period most companies care about!

[Sim]

Have you considered the CollectA Fukuisaurus?  It seems to be closer to your scale preference than either of the Favorite versions.

[Fembrogon]

DeAgostini does seem to have a few surprises up its sleeve - I came across the Dryptosaurus myself on Mercari recently, and I thought it looked really good for a rubber toy.
Troodontids may be inevitable, but it's still weird to me how few deinonychosaurs get produced these days, not counting JP/JW-branded toys. Troodon in particular was such a staple of dinosaur media a generation ago, that it's shocking how rarely the genus and its close relatives get picked for toys. For all the theropod bias in the industry, this group is a perplexing blind spot.

[crazy8wizard]

I've seen these DeAgostini dinosaurs around here a lot lately. Is the material stretchy and floppy or is it a more rigid rubber like you seen in Recur figures?

[SBell]

I've seen these DeAgostini dinosaurs around here a lot lately. Is the material stretchy and floppy or is it a more rigid rubber like you seen in Recur figures?

Floppy rubber with bead filling

[crazy8wizard]

Floppy rubber with bead filling

Gotcha, thanks. I had a big purple spider and countless frogs like that when I was a kid

[Halichoeres]

Have you considered the CollectA Fukuisaurus?  It seems to be closer to your scale preference than either of the Favorite versions.

I have in fact: https://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=3390.msg264812#msg264812. I secretly own all three, and I'd meant to look at them in detail to decide (measuring limb proportions and so forth), but with each residing on a separate shelf due to scale, I sort of forgot about it. This is a good reminder, thanks!

DeAgostini does seem to have a few surprises up its sleeve - I came across the Dryptosaurus myself on Mercari recently, and I thought it looked really good for a rubber toy.
Troodontids may be inevitable, but it's still weird to me how few deinonychosaurs get produced these days, not counting JP/JW-branded toys. Troodon in particular was such a staple of dinosaur media a generation ago, that it's shocking how rarely the genus and its close relatives get picked for toys. For all the theropod bias in the industry, this group is a perplexing blind spot.

Yeah, the theropod bias is mainly a handful of groups WITHIN Theropoda, rather than a uniform theropod bias. Allosauroids, tyrannosaurs, and spinosaurids are so abundant that I'm sort of annoyed whenever a new one is released, but most other groups I'm neutral or even excited about.

Floppy rubber with bead filling

Gotcha, thanks. I had a big purple spider and countless frogs like that when I was a kid

Yep, that's true for these, but DeAgostini is a huge publishing conglomerate and has made a lot of different things, so here's a quick primer of their prehistoric collectibles:

1990s: rubbery but solid figurines sold with magazines. E.g. Arrhinoceratops:


2000s: subsidiary Éditions Atlas made these tiny porcelain fèves for Epiphanie. E.g. Myllokunmingia


2010s: "Dinosaurs and Friends," hard plastic hollow dinosaurs, very cartoony, sold with children's books:
They're listed here, some with photos: https://toyanimalwiki.mywikis.wiki/wiki/Planeta_DeAgostini_Dinosaurs_%26_Friends
Fun fact: this line was the first with a Yi qi figure. Kaiyodo's came out a few months later.

2010s - current: "________ & Co." rubber blind bag figures. They're pretty shoddy and usually boring, but once in a while they make something kind of off the wall that I have to have. Examples include the Nodosaurus and Saurornithoides shown above, and this Pistosaurus:


Similar products are made by Diramix and Sbabam.

[TooOldForDinosaurs]

It's an adventure to scroll and read your thread. So many figures and species I've never heard or seen before!

And WOW, I don't know how I completely missed this beauty! Congrats on this stunner. Do you have a photo of the shelf display where it found it's home?

[Concavenator]

A smaller Stegouros would be tempting!

I bet it is!  I imagine you will be replacing the CollectA version?

[Halichoeres]

Thanks for your comments, @TooOldForDinosaurs and @Concavenator! Answers to your questions are at the bottom of this post.

More from the Cretaceous, mostly theropods.


Dryptosaurus
Scale: 1:15, but with high uncertainty
Released: 2023
Maastrichtian of North America
Etymology: Gr. "tearing lizard"
Unsurprisingly, the tyrannosaur Kickstarter was the one I threw the least money at, but I did pledge for several. I didn't have any from Wave 1, but Wave 2 had a few more to interest me. Dryptosaurus is more important for its place in the history of paleontology than for anything inherent about the animal: one of the first theropods known, and one of the few dinosaurs known from a landmass where most of the dinosaur-aged rocks have eroded into the sea. On the bright side, that erosion helped expose some Paleozoic rocks underneath. Anyway, this obviously replaces my Mattel Dryptosaurus.


I have very little at this scale that could plausibly have lived alongside Dryptosaurus, but choristoderes were more than likely around.


Creative Beast Teratophoneus
Scale: 1:18
Released: 2023
Campanian of North America
Etymology: Gr. "monstrous murderer"
Continues the proud tradition of giving tyrannosaurs names that make you roll your eyes. The scale estimate is for the more thoroughly described subadult specimens; an adult would be larger, but also have a deeper and heavier skull. I imagine they'd end up a bit less lanky, too.


Thinking better of taking on Kosmoceratops, it goes after Adocus instead.


Creative Beast Suskityrannus
Scale: 1:14
Released: 2023
Turonian of North America
Etymology: Gr./Zuni "coyote tyrant"
From the juniper shrublands of the Arizona/New Mexico plateau, a little fuzzy proto-tyrant. It's a very attractive figure; I love the paint scheme. It has the worst QC of this batch, though. The ball at the tip of the support rod fits very loosely into the base, so in this photo the figure is holding up the rod as much as the rod is holding up the figure. To quote Mitch Hedberg, "Who is the real hero?"


The jaw is attached somewhat poorly, leaving a sizeable gap when the mouth is closed. It's most obvious when backlit. This one will just have to live with its mouth open.


Zuniceratops responds aggressively to an interloper, while a little dromaeosaur tries to stay out of the way.


It's sort of on-brand to induce some whiplash in this thread, so with that in mind:


Zuru mosquito (Culicidae indet.)
Scale: about 5× life size
Etymology: L. "gnat"
I keep an eye on companies that make godawful novelty dinosaurs because sometimes they run out of stock dinosaurs and make something off-the-wall (e.g., the DinoFroz Icarosaurus or the Dino Magic Longisquama). When I learned Zuru had made this squashed mosquito I looked around on eBay and found someone offering it cheap by itself.

Anyway, definite mosquitoes are known from about the middle of the Cretaceous onwards, with three genera described from the Mesozoic. Priscoculex and Burmaculex are both from Myanmar amber, and Paleoculicis is from Canadian amber (which I didn't know about until I started looking into this). About 35 km from where I grew up in Arizona there's a record of another mosquito specimen from the Cretaceous, but as yet unnamed. Someone described a bunch of putative mosquitoes from the Jurassic of Germany (Solnhofen), but they've all been reinterpreted as other kinds of nematoceran flies, like chironomid midges. Speaking of nematoceran flies, I also learned while digging into this that the Chaoboridae (phantom midges) have larvae that look a lot like mosquitoes, but prey on them. They don't hunt with their mouths, like a dragonfly nymph, nor with their forelegs, like a water scorpion. Instead, they have raptorial (adapted for grabbing) antennae that they use to capture prey, which I think is unique among insects. I took a whole class on aquatic entomology in college and somehow didn't know that.

It's an adventure to scroll and read your thread. So many figures and species I've never heard or seen before!

And WOW, I don't know how I completely missed this beauty! Congrats on this stunner. Do you have a photo of the shelf display where it found it's home?

I'm glad you're enjoying the ride! Here's a photo of the Macropoma at home:

A smaller Stegouros would be tempting!

I bet it is!  I imagine you will be replacing the CollectA version?

That's a tough one. I think if they debuted simultaneously I would probably only choose the Safari, since it plays better with most of my collection in terms of scale. But since the Cretaceous portion of my 1:6 shelf is utterly dominated by dromaeosaurs, I kind of like having an herbivore to break it up a bit:

I might hang on to it until I inevitably start running low on space again. But I think in time I will only have one Stegouros.

[triceratops83]

I love how much of a completist you are to include things like a squished mosquito and the previously mentioned Anchisaurus that's obviously a Brachiosaurus. You really stick to your guns!

[ceratopsian]

Good for the belligerent Zuniceratops!  Nicely composed photo.