ANCESTORS Models - new for 2022

[Fembrogon]

2022 releases

Edmontosaurus annectens "Patrick"

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(render)




(mold)






(final)






(comparison shots)

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Giganotosaurus carolinii (TBA)

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Moros intrepidus (March)

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Tyrannosaurus rex (TBA)



Tyrannosaurus imperator (July)



Pyroraptor "Phelps" (April/May)
(painted & unpainted)

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Juvenile T. rex "Hank Jr"(May)
(painted & unpainted)

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Inlcudes 2nd part (left foreleg) of Velafrons coahuilensis

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Therizinosaurus "Kaiamunu" (TBA)
(painted & unpainted)

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Elite Collecton I - Tyrannosaurus rex "Hank" (TBA)

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I don't recall if this company has been addressed on the Forum before, but ANCESTORS officially came to my attention a few days ago and I thought it would be worth sharing. ANCESTORS appears to be a new independent company who is producing limited-edition prehistoric models, both accurate and stylized. They released a couple of models late last year, and a presale is currently going until the end of February for Edmontosaurus. The company's main page/contact is through instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/ancestors.models/

PRESALE❗❗
Officially the presale of the Ancestors Edmontosaurus annectens is open(It is worth mentioning that for this project to be carried out, a minimum of 10 pre-sales are needed, if the goal is not achieved, your money will be returned)
Line: Archosaur Collection
Species: Edmontosaurus annectens (Patrick)
Scale: 1/35 (35 cm long and 13 cm high)
N:002
Price:90 USD Presale:25 USD
Includes: Figure of Edmontosaurus annectens, First part Head of Velafrons coahuilensis with its respective file.
If you want one send me message

The artist(s) also owns a Facebook page, The Guanlong Store, which has also been sharing these updates:
https://www.facebook.com/THEGUANLONGSTORE/posts/319512390106306

Previous releases:

Sarcosuchus and Spinosaurus (the latter was apparently a museum set exclusive)

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(molds)




(final figures)

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Mosasaurus "Roxanne"

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(render)


(final model)

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JWD-styled Atrociraptor "Luna

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(final model)

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I must say, the line looks promising; the one downside I'm noticing so far is that the figures appear to be resin, instead of PVC.

[Mellow Stego]

That edmontosaurus is gorgeous!!

[BlueKrono]

For those of us who don't have Instagram is there any other way to contact them? Email or something?

[Fembrogon]

I'm not sure, sadly; I'll have to do some looking around and try messaging them about it.
*EDIT* They can be contacted through email or through The Guanlong Store on FB. I'll PM you, @BlueKrono.

I've also learned that the Edmont is made specifically of polymeric resin, which is supposedly similar to vinyl. Anybody here familiar with it?

[Carnoking]

Love the Edmontosaurus. Considered picking up CollectA's despite my qualms with it but that's right out the window now that this is an option!

[Flaffy]

Oh my that's a stunner. No reason why the 2022 CollectA Edmontosaurus couldn't achieve something like this when an indie artist can. Shame that it's resin though.
Is the price only for a unpainted resin kit? Or does it include paintwork and build-up fees as well?

[Fembrogon]

The model appears to come prebuilt and painted. I haven't seen any indications otherwise.
They also seem to be doing a "build-a-figure" concept with Velafrons coahuilensis, a hadrosaur I honestly hadn't even heard of before. The Edmont comes with the head and digital file, if I'm understanding correctly.

[Pliosaurking]

That model looks beautiful

[Fembrogon]

YouTube channel El SPINO RESEÑAS!!! did a podcast interview with the director (I couldn't make out his name right) of the ANCESTORS team a few days ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU0ZBNvkbic

I don't speak Spanish and I don't know how accurate the auto-translated closed-captions are: but here are some interesting points I think I gleaned:

• The ANCESTORS team consists of 7 people, with the director supervising the quality of the sculptors' and painters' work.
• Their first release, the Mosasaurus, was subject to a lot of controversy, including the price (25 USD presale, 67 USD sale); but the director doesn't wish to compromise quality of the product so they aren't planning to change their pricing methods at this time.
• Polymeric resin was chosen for material so that the model would be more warp-resistant.
• Edmontosaurus was chosen because 1: it hails from the director's favorite fossil formation (Hell Creek?) and 2: there were no other E. annectens figures on the market, to his knowledge.
• The final color scheme is, indeed, inspired by the Anatotitan from Walking with Dinosaurs; there were one or two other color schemes also considered.
• The name "Patrick" is a reference to The Mentalist, one of the director's favorite TV shows.
• This figure is part of the ANCESTORS Archosaur line, and includes the head piece for another figure of Velafrons. Subsequent releases will include more pieces, so that one can complete a new figure as their collection grows.
• It's possible an unpainted version of the Edmontosaurus could be released in the future.
• The Archosaur line is one of several lines, including the Marine Creatures line (started with the Mosasaurus). It sounds like they also want to do a third line related to synapsids/Cenozoic animals.
• A Pterosaur line might also be a possibility; the focus would be on smaller species, rendered with enough detail to feel the pycnofibres.
• If the presale is successful, shipments could hopefully go out before the end of February.
• A 1:35 scale Denversaurus is in the works (go to about 31:10 in the video).
• The upcoming Giganotosaurus is part of the Science Fiction line, which also includes the Atrociraptor (which sold out, but might be getting a second batch).
• Dakotaraptor or Velociraptor MIGHT be possibilities, but they need to figure out how to produce feathers without the models being too fragile.
• Theropods will almost certainly be released with (detachable) bases to ensure stability.
• Articulated jaws could be a possibility - more so for theropods, since it's easier to hide the joint in their jaw designs.

I welcome anyone with better hearing skills or Spanish fluency to watch the interview and correct/add any important points.

[BlueKrono]

Ooh, that Mosa was a steal at the preorder price. I just paid full price for it, but it's pretty unique and I'm looking forward to it.

[Fembrogon]

It's an interesting setup they seem to have. At full price I couldn't afford the Mosa or the Edmont, but the presale is an interesting way to balance costs and hopefully grow their consumer base. That's the impression I get, at least.

[Duna]

I welcome anyone with better hearing skills or Spanish fluency to watch the interview and correct/add any important points.

No problem! I'll add some things that were missing in the traslation but I'm surprised it's quite accurate.

His name is Angel Björn.
He's asked about the begining of the brand and he says that he started because when he bought figures, he wasn't 100% happy with them, for example he wants the t-rex with the tail to the other side, with lips ...
So he decided to to figures in two different lines, one scientifically accurate to fossils and other Science Fiction line accurate to films (Jurassic Park ...).

He has listened very carefully to the haters that didn't like the Mosasaurus, so to improve in the future. He doesn't want to lower the quality in order to lower the costs. He says that at that same time, PNSO tylosaurus was released and many people thought they were the same species and started comparing them.

He is happy the italians (probably Paleonerd) talk good about the figure. He likes to reveal the render of the figure first, so people can later wonder about the coloration.
They managed to finally hide the seam of the tail and are happy about it.

They want the line to be scientifically accurate to fossils and also like to include speculative tissues, as the head comb tissue they also think E. annectens had. Price is 1800 mexican pesos, it's a limited edition but he thinks number would be suficient for those who want it.
They need at least 10 presales for the Edmontosaurus to be done in figure.
He is thinking whether to sell the figure unpainted, too because some people seem to be interested.
When asked if he sees the Collecta Edmontosaurus as a rival to his figure, he just says no because they are different species and his figure follows accurate anatomical proportions. He also feels that the Collecta has a worse quality paint.
Presale is 500 mexican pesos.

They want also to do a line about Pliocene, Miocene animals (he talks about smilodon, mammooth), but I didn't hear about Cenozoic. They want to do small pterosaurs at 1:1 scale in a way you can "feel" the pycnofibers in a real way.

They decided to sculpt Denversaurus as a nodosaur to complete the Hell Creek formation. It wil come with the body of the Velafrons.
The atrociraptor sold out but will be done in a second batch if asked, with different colors, two interchangeable heads and a surprise figure.

He plans to complete Hell Creek Formation and then move on to the Mexican formation Cerro del Pueblo (where Tlatolophus was discovered, he plans to do that figure too).

He ends asking followers to support the edmontosaurus and the rest of the line so he can continue with the proyect and posibibly make a "fan choice" figure or similar.

You can ask for the figures here: https://www.facebook.com/THEGUANLONGSTORE/

Atrociraptor from the Science Fiction Line with interchangeable heads:

[BlueKrono]

Ooh, Tlatolophus is a fantastic idea. That will be exciting when he announces that one.

[Carnoking]

Am I misunderstanding something here? I was under the impression that the "presale" price was a down payment for the final cost?

[Duna]

Am I misunderstanding something here? I was under the impression that the "presale" price was a down payment for the final cost?

I'm not sure but he says you pay 500 pesos in the presale and then it will be discounted from the total price. Maybe it means the total price if you have bought in the presale is less than having not done so.

[Mattyonyx]

He is happy the italians (probably Paleonerd) talk good about the figure. He likes to reveal the render of the figure first, so people can later wonder about the coloration.
They managed to finally hide the seam of the tail and are happy about it.

Ahahahah I didn't know they mentioned us. Yes, we talked about it during a live talk about CollectA's Edmontosaurus and Triceratops because someone sent us the WIP render. Filippo Bertozzo, paleontologist and expert in ornithischians, was our guest, and we all liked it so much that a painted version was highly anticipated.

https://youtu.be/y_VE_A4MbQM?t=2384

[Duna]

He is happy the italians (probably Paleonerd) talk good about the figure. He likes to reveal the render of the figure first, so people can later wonder about the coloration.
They managed to finally hide the seam of the tail and are happy about it.

Ahahahah I didn't know they mentioned us. Yes, we talked about it during a live talk about CollectA's Edmontosaurus and Triceratops because someone sent us the WIP render. Filippo Bertozzo, paleontologist and expert in ornithischians, was our guest, and we all liked it so much that a painted version was highly anticipated.

https://youtu.be/y_VE_A4MbQM?t=2384

He seems to be proud and happy you talked about them. 

[Fembrogon]

Am I misunderstanding something here? I was under the impression that the "presale" price was a down payment for the final cost?

I've been messaging with them on instagram and I can confirm that the presale is both a down payment and a discount; so if you preorder the figure it's $65 instead of $90.

...Which, admittedly, is not how I understood the price at all initially... Of course shipping prices will also be included.

[Carnoking]

Am I misunderstanding something here? I was under the impression that the "presale" price was a down payment for the final cost?

I've been messaging with them on instagram and I can confirm that the presale is both a down payment and a discount; so if you preorder the figure it's $65 instead of $90.

...Which, admittedly, is not how I understood the price at all initially... Of course shipping prices will also be included.

Ah, I see now, thank you. I thought it was 25 dollars down, then it would be an additional 65 dollars+shipping when the time came, so I suppose this is good news!

[Shonisaurus]

By the way, what material is that edmontosaurus made of? It looks like PVC. Just to inform me, he is a highly interesting figure. They seem to be resin figures and I have not obtained information about the material in which these ANCESTORS models are made, this new line is promising. Like PNSO dinosaurs and prehistoric animals cost a lot for the high quality of those figures. This Italian company is going to give a lot to talk about.