Safari Ltd - New for 2022

[Concavenator]

CollectA also has a decent juvenile Tyrannosaurus!  If you want a good Gorgosaurus or Albertosaurus I'd recommend the BotM versions, they're both excellent!

Oh yeah, I forgot about it! It's decent, but the legs look weird and the tail appears to be too short. And I was well aware of those BotM figures, they're certainly top notch, but they are too big and expensive for me.

I like troodontids too, but I wouldn't get a Troodon figure as I despise the name due to how much damage it has done and due to it not representing a valid species.  I would love a figure of Saurornithoides or Stenonychosaurus though.

I mean, I probably wouldn't get it either, but at least I would consider it, it wouldn't be an inmediate pass as "Nanotyrannus". We are in a serious lack of troodontids, dromaeosaurids aren't very common either, but troodontids are even shadowed by dromaeosaurids.

[GojiraGuy1954]

CollectA also has a decent juvenile Tyrannosaurus!  If you want a good Gorgosaurus or Albertosaurus I'd recommend the BotM versions, they're both excellent!

Oh yeah, I forgot about it! It's decent, but the legs look weird and the tail appears to be too short. And I was well aware of those BotM figures, they're certainly top notch, but they are too big and expensive for me.

Do you have Papo's Gorgosaurus?

[Shane]

Yeah, I'm wondering if tomorrow we will see a new teaser or the new figure itself.

There will be a reveal today.

[Shane]

Addressing Shane's questioning on why the Safari figure is supposedly receiving different treatment compared to PNSO's offering:
The PNSO Nanotyrannus also received flack, and plenty of people pointed out that they should've just sold it as a juvenile Tyrannosauurs. However, possible explanations for why the criticism was less noticeable could be due to:
1) "Logan" being buried among the countless other figures PNSO was releasing/revealing every other week. Keeping conversations fresh and attention spans short.
2) Other criticisms like it's overly high price were also dominant in the thread, as a noticeable shift in pricing occurred around that period of time.

I do remember there being criticisms of PNSO's choice of genus, but (maybe it's perspective bias) I don't remember quite so much vitriol, or the air of "outrage" over the choice.

Either way, hope people enjoy today's reveal!

[SenSx]

I must say I hate how between PNSO's, this new Safari, and the upcoming BotM, there are more quality juvenile Tyrannosaurus figures than there are Albertosaurus or Gorgosaurus (and many more tyrannosaurs). This is a pass, but I'm looking forward to see what else is shown.

CollectA also has a decent juvenile Tyrannosaurus!  If you want a good Gorgosaurus or Albertosaurus I'd recommend the BotM versions, they're both excellent!

Yes they look so beautiful, such a shame it's not 1/35, I can make concessions on the scale but not for 1/18
And Papo's Gorgosaurus is the contrary, really tiny.

[Concavenator]

CollectA also has a decent juvenile Tyrannosaurus!  If you want a good Gorgosaurus or Albertosaurus I'd recommend the BotM versions, they're both excellent!

Oh yeah, I forgot about it! It's decent, but the legs look weird and the tail appears to be too short. And I was well aware of those BotM figures, they're certainly top notch, but they are too big and expensive for me.

Do you have Papo's Gorgosaurus?

I used to have it, but sold it afterwards. It's one of the best Papo figures, but I'm picky when it comes to accuracy and I think it can get better than that. Safari or anyone else surely could beat it imo.

[GojiraGuy1954]

[Dusty Wren]

Aw, I like the Zuul! Great detail on the body, and I think the face has a lot of character. The pose feels active without being overly exaggerated. Adding this one to my wishlist.

Here's SpinoDude's review, if you want to see it in action.

Link to SpinoDude's review

[Patrx]

Hey, what d'you know, a Zuul figure! First impressions are very positive and I will definitely be adding it to my collection.

[Gwangi]

Now, this is something to get excited about. I really like this one, a must-have and definitely the standout for me so far this year. 

[Thialfi]

Damn, this one is impressive! What a sculpt, this is a definite buy for me! Finally, a zuul model, and such a pretty one full of character and detail! 😍

[Gwangi]

Here's the link to Safari's site.

https://www.safariltd.com/collections/new-releases/products/dino-dana-zuul-toy-dinosaur-figure

[Concavenator]

Without a doubt the best Safari 2022 release in my book. Splendid figure of an amazing ankylosaur that was overshadowed by the even more amazingly preserved Borealopelta. I'm adding this to my wish-list. Awesome job Safari!

@suspsy your time has come.

[Dinoxels]

I also have a picture of the Zuul on my Instagram now 

[Halichoeres]

This is a choice I can get behind (although maybe not literally, I like my shins the way they are).

[Carnoking]

"There is no Dino Dana, only Zuul!"

Easily my favorite sculpt so far this year although not the biggest fan of those heavy greens. I get that it's a tie in toy though so I guess you gotta take the good with the bad. Still, out of what we've seen so far, this is easily the best in my eyes

[Stegotyranno420]

Love the sculpt of the Zuul But heavy greens dont really fit this kind of animal. In addition the eyes seem to big and cartoon-esque
The previous two figures just need a fresh repaint and that will fix things up.
If it somehow ends up in my local Michael's I will be sure to pick this one up.

[MLMjp]

Will I ever be on time when it comes to discussing new figure announcements? sigh...

I have nothing to say about the "Nanotyrannus" thing that hasn't been said already. Judging only the figure, sculpt is fine but the overall figure doesn't do it to me, because, even tho I favor scaly Tyrannosaurids, I also thing juveniles/smaller ones should have some partial feathering, so the fact that this one os 100% scaly...

I like the Zuul, obscure species despite being rather well preserved, not a priority but I would like to pick it up at some point.

[GojiraGuy1954]

That's what I get for making a prior judgement of what this figure would look like. This looks great, one of the best (non-eofauna) figures slated for this year

[Flaffy]

So that's where all the paint budget went

Glad to see an actually new dinosaur this time around. It's a lovely figure and a must have in any avid ankylosaur collector's collection. Features of the described elements (skull, tail) are captured nicely on the figure, and thankfully the sculpt isn't a 1:1 recreation of the distinctly Euoplocephalus-inspired Dino Dana design.

However, I'd to point out certain discrepancies to the accompanying promotional artwork when the genus was first made public.
Allegedly, the specimen is largely articulate, with osteoderms, keratin and skin remains preserved in situ. Now I don't think we have an official description of the Zuul mummy's body yet, but when that happens, I do wonder how well this figure will hold up to the fossil evidence. Particularly in osteoderm shape, count and placement.

The flank osteoderms are notably absent (Red dots: 9 on each side, so that makes a total of 18); or highly reduced in size. This may very well be an unfortunate consequence of having to match the sculpt with the Dino Dana character model, which as pointed out by @GojiraGuy1954 , isn't the best representation of Zuul. Another discrepancy would be the placement and density of limb armour/spikes (yellow outline). But again as the forelimbs have not been officially described to my knowledge, this is a small nit-pick; but still worth pointing out.


Unedited artwork


Dino Dana character model