Safari Ltd: New for 2023

[SidB]

Look at that Therizinosaurus!

Now this is the stuff! This is the first Safari figure that has managed to truly impress me in a long time. Takes me back to pre-pandemic years when Safari release some of their best.

IMO, that was their golden age, when they were rapidly moving to replace the gaps in their ranks with the departure of the Carnegie line. This one is a worthy companion of that epoch.

[Shane]

Hey everyone, just a quick pop-in here.

Doug's sculpt was in 1/35 scale. However, the final size for the figure is still being determined.

To make the figure cost effective the final figure may not be as large. I can't confirm the final size yet, but didn't want everyone to get their hopes up just to be disappointed.

[SidB]

If its substantially less, e.g. less than 1/40, I'd be terribly disappointed. Why was 1/35 just fine in the past, but not any more? HLG has been downsizing their recent figures (for example the Edmontonia to 1/38), but that's still in the ballpark. A Therizinosaurus at 1/45  or smaller, like the old Safari Deinocheirus,seems to me to be a terrific waste of an opportunity. The feathered rex and the trike, stego etc, are all examples of what Safari has done extremely well, so a matching Theri would be superb.

[ceratopsian]

Thanks for the heads up, S @Shane. If it ends up very small, that would certainly affect my decision on purchase. I'll curb my enthusiasm till the economics are sorted out!

[Sim]

I generally agree with S @SidB.  I think Safari knows best, but if you would like my opinion...  I think making the Therizinosaurus smaller than 1:35 is a bad idea and is more likely to result in the figure being retired after a few years like what's happened to the Safari Deinocheirus, than for it to be a good seller like the Safari 2017 Tyrannosaurus.  If the Tyrannosaurus was smaller than 1:35 I think it would have sold less well.  Safari says it's their best-seller so why not give the Therizinosaurus a chance to sell similarly well.  Also, I don't understand why it could be a problem to make the Therizinosaurus 1:35, yet it was okay to make the WS Amargasaurus huge.  I think most of the time people would like larger animals as larger figures and smaller animals as smaller figures.

[Shane]

Why was 1/35 just fine in the past, but not any more?

The feathered rex and the trike, stego etc, are all examples of what Safari has done extremely well

Material costs have risen substantially in the past few years. The figures you mention specifically were released prior to a pretty substantial spike in material costs, and they're also arguably the three most well known dinosaurs of all time, making them a much less riskier prospect.

In any event, I can't really speak to the ins and outs, I'm just trying to prepare everyone before they get hyped for a massive figure that it's likely not going to be that big.

[Crackington]

I prefer smaller models and I'm sure I'm not the only collector with limited space and budget.

Ideally I'd love to see mini figures available for all the models - small is beautiful and allows you to get more 

[ceratopsian]

That's true. But I would want a line of minis for that to work for me, rather than the odd random mini.

I prefer smaller models and I'm sure I'm not the only collector with limited space and budget.

Ideally I'd love to see mini figures available for all the models - small is beautiful and allows you to get more 

[Lynx]

I am a bit disappointed about this news, especially since Safari models tend to be one of the few companies with largeish models at a good price. Regardless, this won't stop me from purchasing it, as I can easily just pretend it's a smaller therizinosaur genus!

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

It might be disappointing it won't be quite as large, but I think 1/40 would still be great if it doesn't get scaled down too much. That should put it on par with the Dinosaurs of China therizinosaurus and Battat Nanshiungosaurus. 1/40 has been an unofficial standard for toy dinosaur lines anyway. Hopefully it won't be any smaller than that-- I'd be fine paying more for a good figure, though

[Concavenator]

Thank you for letting us know, S @Shane !

I've been thinking about it and I actually plan to get the Therizinosaurus, after all. Its appearance may be inferred from other relatives, but I still think it's an interesting animal and one that deserves to be in anyone's collection. And Doug has done a brilliant job with it!

About its size - I don't care if it will be in 1:35 scale or not (for a fragmentary animal like this, scale is mostly up in the air anyways). I do agree with the notion that big animals should ideally be made big, smaller animals, ideally smaller, but... at the end of the day, I'm one of those collectors who don't really care about the scale of their figures. If it will really end up being a bit smaller than expected, that would actually be a bit convenient for me, since, if possible, I'd prefer a fragmentary animal not to take a loot of room in my display.

On another hand, I do find odd the HUGE size of that Amargasaurus... I get that it comes from a time when material costs weren't as high as the current, but I think Safari could have easily saved some material costs by making it smaller, and had it been smaller, it would probably have had a beneficial effect. There was no need to make the Amargasaurus that big, some people even passed on it due to its size - which would have been avoided by making it smaller.

Since the last Safari figure of the year has now been revealed, I am bringing this post back for a moment just in case anyone missed it:

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

[Stegotyranno420]

@Sim and the amargasaurus was the only sauropod out of all sauropods that shouldnt be so huge 
Nonetheless, I love this figure, congrats and thanks to Safari for making this

[Jose S.M.]

I agree that the Amargasaurus was too big. I also consider the Carnotaurus a bit oversized, I would prefer it a  bit smaller. Even the Styracosaurus could have been a bit smaller while I think others like Deinocheirus could have benefit of being larger.

I don't mind the Therizinosaurus being a bit smaller than we thought at first just hopefully not Deinocheirus small.

[SidB]

Hopefully not, agreed.

[Flaffy]

It'd be a damn shame if it was as small as the Deinocheirus, especially since the original sculpt was in 1:35.

That said, I'm assuming this means Safari ltd has technology to alter the scale of their products? This means that the original clay sculpts doesn't have to be sculpted at the intended scale, but can instead be digitally scaled up/down to suit the requirments of the final mass-produced product. I therefore wonder if it'd be beneficial to sculpt the models at a larger scale, so that there's simply more room to work-in subtle details; i.e. size of the sculpt itself will no longer be a constraint for detailwork.

Kayakasaurus's Stegouros is a good and relevant example. The original sculpt is life sized 1:1 , but the products offered are in noticeably smaller scales while retaining most if not all of the original details.

[Halichoeres]

It's very surprising that Safari would announce a new release without its final dimensions having been determined. If it's smaller than about 1:40 I probably won't get it. I would have 100% gotten literally any other therizinosaur genus, but I get I'm not who Safari is aiming at. Kids are going to recognize the name Therizinosaurus from JW, I'm sure it will kill.

Anyway, thanks for keeping us in the know, Shane. On balance, this year's lineup is a big improvement on 2021 and 2022. I'll be placing an order just as soon as that Estemmenosuchus is available.

[TheCambrianCrusader]

Honestly given that I already have the pnso figure if it ends up being closer to the safari Deinocheirus in size I wouldn't mind too much. That just means I get to save on space and money

[Halichoeres]

I prefer smaller models and I'm sure I'm not the only collector with limited space and budget.

Ideally I'd love to see mini figures available for all the models - small is beautiful and allows you to get more 

I generally like large figures for large animals and small figures for small animals, but I can appreciate the space constraint. Safari has made some great minis in the past. I've kind of given up on there being a new prehistoric Toob again, the last one having been released ten years ago and being discontinued already.

[SpartanSquat]

Weird it doesnt have a proper figure page in safari website

[Shane]

Estemmenosuchus is available on the Safari Ltd website:

https://www.safariltd.com/products/estemmenosuchus