Concavenator’s Collection

[Halichoeres]

The Styracosaurus is really nice. I'm still debating whether to go for it or stick with PNSO.

I am kind of skeptical of Concavenator quills just because of its phylogenetic position. I agree with you that there are several really nice figures of the genus, and one bonus is that a collector can choose the one closest to their own evaluation of the ulnar evidence.

[SidB]

The Styracosaurus is really nice. I'm still debating whether to go for it or stick with PNSO.

I am kind of skeptical of Concavenator quills just because of its phylogenetic position. I agree with you that there are several really nice figures of the genus, and one bonus is that a collector can choose the one closest to their own evaluation of the ulnar evidence.

Perhaps we'll never know for sure - I too tend to take the approach Forest Rogers took with her fine Carnegie Safari Concavenator back in the waning days of the old Carnegie Collection. It received a lot of criticism for lacking quills, but that approach has me convinced most of the time, though I remain open to HLG's stance.

[Concavenator]

@Halichoeres Well, I replaced PNSO's with HLG's, so what can I say, I think it's a worthwhile replacement.  PNSO's is excellent, but so is HLG's, and HLG's would also scale better with quite a bit of your ceratopsids (HLG's Chasmosaurus, Diabloceratops, Kosmoceratops, Eofauna's and Safari's Triceratops, etc.). I even gained a little profit by replacing PNSO's Styracosaurus with HLG's.  I'm pretty content with the replacement, and it wasn't hard for me to let go of PNSO's, as good as it is. After seeing their tiny (but 1:35) Kosmoceratops and seeing the Styracosaurus (and Diabloceratops) featured on that 2024 teaser, I was certain I'd be replacing PNSO's Styracosaurus and Safari's Diabloceratops with HLG's, I was just waiting for those figures, with their corresponding measurements, to be announced. And when they did, it was a no brainer for me.

As for Concavenator having feathers, who knows... Sciurumimus is feathered and last I checked it was believed it may have been a megalosauroid. If so, feathers would've been more widespread among Theropoda than previously thought (Tianyulong and Kulindadromeus further proved feathers were more common in non-avian dinosaurs as a whole than previously believed). If there were feathered megalosauroids, I guess that feathered allosauroids wouldn't be out of the question. Not saying every megalosauroid or allosauroid was necessarily feathered, but that could've been the condition on some taxon here and there.

S @SidB It was noted on Concavenator's description that the ulnar bumps likely suggested the presence of some sort of structure being present. So as it currently stands, a depiction like HLG's (or Favorite's) should be considered more accurate than those who omit such a feature, like Carnegie's or Wild Safari's, at least when it comes to how the forearms are being depicted. It's fine if someone prefers the arms to not have any feathers/quills on them, but that would be an aesthetic preference.

[Concavenator]

Binomial name: Estemmenosuchus mirabilis (Chudinov, 1968)
Etymology: "Wondrous crowned crocodile" (Greek and Latin)
Classified as: Synapsida -> Eupelycosauria -> Sphenacodontia -> Sphenacodontoidea -> Therapsida -> Eutherapsida -> Dinocephalia -> Estemmenosuchidae
Period: Middle Permian (Wordian)
Fossils found in: Belebei Formation, present-day Russia (Eurasia)

Company: Safari Ltd.
Line: Wild Safari Prehistoric World
Sculptor: Doug Watson
Year of release: 2023

Review:

Spoiler

A synapsid that possesses an impressive set of ornaments on its skull. Despite its large fangs, it is believed to have been a herbivore (Dixon, 2010). Estemmenosuchus is one of the few non-mammal synapsids to have been found with associated integument (Greenfield, 2021). A description of integument belonging to Estemmenosuchus uralensis (Chudinov, 1960) suggests some of the structures found on it might represent the remains of dermal glands. If true, this would represent the earliest occurrence of glands in the fossil record (Chudinov 1968 & Greenfield 2021)

When I first learned about Estemmenosuchus, I found it to be quite the odd creature, and I thought I'd like to have a figure of it. However, I really did not like CollectA's at all, mainly because of its colors (easily one of my least favorite color schemes on any figure I've seen; CollectA is both responsible for some of the most unappealing color schemes as well as some of the most attractive ones in my book). I wasn't really expecting anybody else to make additional figures of this taxon, but Safari's was an unexpected-but-appreciated surprise. Glad to have snatched it up!



Next to Wonder Artistic Models' 1:25 humanoid for scale reference.



And for lack of a better comparison, here's the Estemmenosuchus next to other 1:25 critters.

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[SidB]

I'm pleasantly surprised that those teeth don't look as blunted as I thought that they might be.

[Flaffy]

Having the superior colour scheme aside, the Safari Estemennosuchus also has the ears in the correct location compared to CollectA's. The same error can be observed on their Lisowicia, but thankfully fixed on their Placerias.

I like having both figures because the CollectA at a larger scale shows the dentition better, which at Safari's size would be very difficult to accurately portray.

[Concavenator]

Collection list updated in post #1. Also, except for TNG's Sinosauropteryx, Safari's Microraptor and Kaiyodo's Yi, each post has been updated with comparisons between the figures and either Wonder Artistic Models' humanoids or CollectA's or Schleich's 1:40 scale human figures, in case anybody is curious about how big a certain species is when compared to a human being. Comparisons with other figures in a similar (or the same) scale are also provided. To see such comparisons, just press the "Spoiler" button on the review section and scroll down.

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S @SidB Don't know about other copies, but at least mine doesn't have particularly blunted teeth.

@Flaffy I'm no synapsid expert, but good to know that, aesthetics aside, Safari's is also more accurate.  I notice Safari's, unlike CollectA's, has lips too, so that's another bonus!

[Flaffy]

@Flaffy I'm no synapsid expert, but good to know that, aesthetics aside, Safari's is also more accurate.  I notice Safari's, unlike CollectA's, has lips too, so that's another bonus!

Ah yes! I forgot to mention that I find the way Doug handled the extra-oral tissue and musculature on his Estemmenosuchus sculpt much more convincing than Matthias's take. And I think he said somewhere that he intended the cheek protrusions and(?) horns to be covered in skin? So the CollectA gives a nice contrast for an alternative interpretation with keratinised integument.

[Halichoeres]

Hell yeah. This is why Safari and CollectA are among my favorite companies, because they're willing to take a chance on not-a-true-dinosaur, not-from-the-Cretaceous, not-convenient-in-1:35 animals like this.

[Concavenator]

Binomial name: Majungasaurus crenatissimus (Depéret, 1896)
Etymology: "Most notched Mahajanga lizard" (Indian/Malagasy and Latin)
Classified as: Dinosauria -> Theropoda -> Neotheropoda -> Averostra -> Ceratosauria -> Neoceratosauria -> Abelisauroidea -> Abelisauridae -> Majungasaurinae
Period: Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian)
Fossils found in: Maevarano Formation, present-day Madagascar (Africa)

Company: HAOLONGGOOD
Sculptor: ?
Based on: Majungasaurus crenatissimus skeletal by Scott Hartman
Variant: Deng Fei
Year of release: 2024

Review:

Spoiler

A derived abelisaurid, famous because of its proportionally short legs and its overall low-slung appearance, making it one of the most unusually-proportioned dinosaurs (Bruñen, 2019, Hartman, 2008). Majungasaurus is known from a relatively wealthy amount of material; several specimens belonging to different ontogenetic stages have been recovered (Krause et al., 2007). It is one of the most well-known abelisaurid theropods (Ratsimbaholison et al., 2016, Grillo & Delcourt, 2017).

It was in 2015 when I first became interested in Majungasaurus (wow, a decade ago, time flies!!). I knew it from before, but it wasn't until then that I grasped on how weird the animal is, and so, started appreciating it. Ever since I saw yoult's Majungasaurus paleoart, as well as Hartman's skeletal (which the aforementioned paleart closely resembles) the notion of such an oddly-proportioned theropod has lived rent free in my head, and I have to admit I have a soft spot for it.

HAOLONGGOOD's (as well Safari's and Vitae's) depiction appears to be based on Hartman's skeletal (and so are more akin to how we usually envision Majungasaurus to look like), whereas Wild Past's seems to be based on Franoys' skeletal, which depicts Majungasaurus without the extreme proportions we are used to seeing.

Been patiently waiting for Wild Past's since 2020. Last year we were told in February it would be released in 1-2 weeks time, which never happened. I recently asked Everything Dinosaur about it again, and their answer came off as very vague: they told me they still plan to eventually have it in stock but they don't know when. So, just as ED is clueless about when will that figure be released, I'm clueless too. So I decided to just go ahead and get HLG's, in order to at least secure myself a figure of this unique theropod for my collection.

Safari's is nice too, but passed on it because I was still waiting for Wild Past's. It's also larger than I'd prefer. HLG's certainly came off as a rather convenient release, what with all the uncertainty surrounding Wild Past's. It's definitely one of the finest theropods HLG has made yet. If Wild Past's ever releases their Majungasaurus, then I might consider replacing HLG's with it. But in the meantime, I am really happy with HLG's.



Next to Wonder Artistic Models' 1:30  humanoid for scale reference.



Alongside HLG's Concavenator.

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[SidB]

Good move, @Concavenator , in getting this Manjunga. After all, we're not getting any younger and who knows when and if Wild Past will pull the trigger on their release. I too didn't get the very fine Safari figure, again, because of its size. So, yes, I got the HLG also!

[Concavenator]

S @SidB So I see we basically applied the same logic. 

Considering last February we were told it would be released in 1-2 weeks, I do expect the figure to eventually be released. Clearly something had to go wrong, but as I understand it, the figure was almost ready, so I'm hopeful about its release.

Wouldn't be surprised if it could take a while though. And by "while" I mean a year (or years)? Guess we'll have to wait and see.

[Concavenator]

Binomial name: Suchomimus tenerensis (Sereno et al., 1998)
Etymology: "Ténéré [Desert] crocodile mimic" (Greek and Latin)
Classified as: Dinosauria -> Theropoda -> Neotheropoda -> Averostra -> Tetanurae -> Carnosauria -> Megalosauroidea -> Megalosauria -> Spinosauridae -> Baryonychinae -> Ceratosuchopsini
Period: Early Cretaceous (Barremian - Albian)
Fossils found in: Elrhaz Formation, present-day Niger (Africa)

Company: PNSO
Line: Prehistoric Animal Models
Sculptor: somebody from Zhao Chuang's atelier
Year of release: 2022

Review:

Spoiler

Suchomimus is currently the most complete spinosaurid (Fabbri et al., 2022). It is most notable for its extremely elongated and laterally compressed snout and its low sail over the hips. It is known from several partial specimens (Sereno et al., 1998).

Okay now, this is a dream come true. Suchomimus is one of my favorite dinosaurs, and I have been craving for a good Suchomimus figure since 2012. I was ecstatic when Safari revealed they had plans to release a Suchomimus figure. Now the figure was revealed, and it was OK. I liked it, and was meaning to get it, but never got around to getting it, and eventually kind of forgot it was a thing, because I considered it too small for my collection, and it was easily outshined by newer figures, not just from other companies, but also from Safari themselves.

When it comes to Suchomimus, no other remarkable figures of it were released between 2014 and 2022. And so the thought of: "will more figures of it ever be released?" started coming to my mind, also taking into consideration that Spinosaurus and Baryonyx overshadow it in popularity. I used to have this same thought with Deinonychus, Megaraptor and Yutyrannus as well.

Enter 2022. There were rumours suggesting PNSO was planning to release a Suchomimus, and naturally, and again, I was super excited. Then they announced that thing they called "Sinopliosaurus", and my (high) hype levels turned into (equally high) disappointment levels, because for some time I really thought that that thing was meant to be their Suchomimus. Thankfully that didn't end up being the case. I'm glad, because that "Sinopliosaurus" release felt like an evil prank to me.

Thinking about it now, PNSO was smart by releasing the so-called "Sinopliosaurus" prior to the Suchomimus, because I recall some people stating they were planning on getting it and using it as a stand-in for some other spinosaurid genus, with Suchomimus being one of them. Had they released the Suchomimus prior to the "Sinopliosaurus", I can't imagine many people being interested in the latter.

That PNSO "Sinopliosaurus" ->  Suchomimus sequence felt like PNSO saying:

"Here's our Suchom... Hah! Almost! OK, now for real, here's our Suchomimus"

What can I say, I'm super happy to finally have Suchomimus enter my collection, and one that's this good at that. Papo's was a pleasant surprise too, both because it is also a very good Suchomimus, and because it is so much better than any other Papo release. But I still think PNSO's is the better depiction of Suchomimus. So far as I can tell:

1. PNSO's Suchomimus has a short tongue, which is accurate, and it's not raised, which is also accurate. In Papo's, the tongue is too long and raised, which shouldn't be the case. Check Li et al., 2018 for more info.
2. PNSO's Suchomimus' neck appears to be in the position suggested by Schade et al. 2020, this is not true for Papo's.
3. Papo's Suchomimus appears to have a rounder body in section, not as laterally-compressed as PNSO's.

All things considered, PNSO's is a bit more accurate. Papo's is still a solid depiction, and I would've gladly gone for it if PNSO's wasn't a thing.

Aesthetically, I prefer PNSO's too, because Papo's, albeit still very nice (and interestingly, it's similar to previous Suchomimus paleoart of mine!), appears to have some croc inspiration, between the green color scheme and some spikes here and there. Regardless of Suchomimus meaning "crocodile mimic", I prefer spinosaurid depictions without any crocodilian references. Plus in my head canon, blue suits Suchomimus too (Dinosaur King influence at it again).



Next to Wonder Artistic Models' 1:30 humanoid for scale reference.

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[SidB]

Love those super-crisp images, @Concavenator .

[Halichoeres]

Glad that PNSO finally came through for you! Although of course they should also have included a fish.

[Concavenator]

S @SidB Glad you like!

@Halichoeres Hehe, no wonder you found Dino Hazard's Irritator so exciting, and I doubt it's because of the Irritator itself! 

[Concavenator]

Binomial name: Deinocheirus mirificus (Osmólska  & Roniewicz, 1970)
Etymology: "Wonderful, horrible hand" (Greek and Latin)
Classified as: Dinosauria -> Theropoda -> Neotheropoda -> Averostra -> Tetanurae -> Coelurosauria -> Tyrannoraptora -> Maniraptoromorpha -> Neocoelurosauria -> Maniraptoriformes -> Ornithomimosauria -> Deinocheiridae
Period: Late Cretaceous (Campanian - Maastrichtian)
Fossils found in: Nemegt Formation, present-day Mongolia (Asia)

Company: PNSO
Line: Prehistoric Animal Models
Sculptor: somebody from Zhao Chuang's atelier
Year of release: 2022

Review:

Spoiler

Deinocheirus is a large and unusual ornithomimosaurian. Initially, it was known exclusively from a pair of massive forelimbs (after which the genus is named). Later, additional remains were found, revealing the animal possessed a robust build, tall neural spines (which probably supported a hump in life) and an elongated snout, among other features (Lee et al., 2014, Hartman, 2015). Stomachal contents suggest Deinocheirus was most likely omnivorous (Lee et al., 2014).

Replaces CollectA's 2012 version. This has got to be the time that a new figure most improves a former one in my collection.

Back when CollectA released their first figure of the animal, Deinocheirus was a poor choice for a figure. It was fragmentary, but not one of those cases where a taxon, despite having scarce remains, still has an identity (like Cryolophosaurus, Spinosaurus, Jakapil, etc). It was a generic ornithomimid, just XXL sized. This changed during 2013/2014; more remains of Deinocheirus were found, revealing it was a very bizarre (albeit pretty well-known) creature. Which turned it into a great subject for a figure. Indeed, it didn't take too long until new figures of the animal, based on the aforementioned new material, started popping up. CollectA revisited their outdated Deinocheirus with 2 new models, in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Safari made one for 2017 too. And these are not the only ones, it's become a relatively famous and popular animal, probably as a result of being claimed "The Strangest Dinosaur of All" by the press when those additional remains were described (a title that's quite befitting!).

CollectA's original Deinocheirus was one of those pre-2014 giant generic ornithomimid depictions, and it got outdated. Out of the up-to-date depictions of the animal (which are most of them), PNSO's is my favorite. However, other Deinocheirus figures, by Safari, CollectA, etc, are great too. At this point Deinocheirus is very well-represented in figure form. Even more than other, traditionally more famous dinosaurs (Dilophosaurus and Apatosaurus come to mind)!  It's now so famous it overshadows all other ornithomimosaurs. It's not even an ornithomimid, and because of Deinocheirus, figures of members of the Ornithomimidae family are quite rare (even including good ol' Gallimimus). Deinocheirus certainly is a wonderful creature, but it would be welcome if ornithomimids received more attention than they currently do. They are elegant, graceful creatures, among which Gallimimus should be particularly popular, owing to its large size and appearance in JP.



Next to Wonder Artistic Models' 1:30 humanoid for scale reference.



Alongside HLG's Concavenator. A pair of feathered humped theropods.

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[Quiversaurus]

Nice photos and write ups, keep them coming! Bit of a breath of fresh air after all the negativity in the other threads...

The PNSO Suchomimus is also one of my favourite species in my collection. Never knew about that tongue though!

[Halichoeres]

This is probably my favorite PNSO theropod. Just stunning.

[Concavenator]

@Quiversaurus Thank you! And even though your collection is very small (and very high-quality too), there is some overlap in our collections, between the PNSO Suchomimus and Stegosaurus! 

@Halichoeres It's certainly a beauty. Wish PNSO tackled feathered species more often!