David Silva's Beasts of the Cenozoic and Eons mammoth Backerkit Sept 3rd

[stargatedalek]

I'm just worried it's all going to be saber toothed cats and giant bears. There are so many mammals to be done and I have almost zero interest in any of them. I'm worried there is an almost zero chance of things like elephant birds or terror birds, let alone the really interesting stuff like Pelagornis or poor little Meiolania.

I'd buy a whole flock if there were dodos.

[suspsy]

The woolly mammoth and Smilodon have already been confirmed as part of Cyberzoic, so they'll obviously be in this series. As for other BotC toys, I do think we need to be realistic and think about which genera are most likely to sell. Big, intimidating, and charismatic critters like Arctotherium, Arsinoetherium, and Megatherium are probably way more likely than Ambulocetus, Meiolania, Pelagornis, and Thylacosmilus. And as I noted before, anything bigger than the woolly mammoth is probably just not going to be feasible. So no Colombian mammoth, no Paraceratherium, no Palaeoloxodon namadicus, and no Livyatan.

[stargatedalek]

Not sure how the largest flying bird with giant saw teeth on its beak isn't big or intimidating. I would argue more (visually) intimidating than... a bear, but bigger... a hyena, but bigger... a big cat, but bigger... a boa, but bigger... a Komodo dragon, but bigger... a great white shark*, but bigger...

*Even though megalodon shouldn't really be depicted that way, but sadly it always is.

And there is obviously bias, as personally I find extinct mammals largely boring, but I still stand by Pelagornis being among the most interesting options. Plus it could share parts with Argentavis, a Haast eagle (speaking of animals with known colours, bright red and white giant eagle!), or even Leptoptilos.

[Faelrin]

It seems like there was quite a crowd over on instagram that commented about wanting a terror bird. So hopefully David will see all the interest it has over there. At the very least they might be the most likely birds to do in accordance to their popularity.

However unlikely it would be I also would love a Meiolania. It might be the reptile I want to see the most in all honesty, even though there might be more obvious picks (like the ever popular giant Titanoboa snake). As far as birds go, and after a terror bird, I really want a Haast's eagle. It boggles my mind the largest eagle discovered this far that preyed upon the giant moas, still has no (toy) figure other then the Yowies one. Argentavis (and other teratorns) Dinornis, Gastornis, Pelagornis, the dodo, and many more birds are on my wants list. I don't know how likely it is for any of them will be made, but I'll gladly go for them if they are. In any case it probably doesn't hurt to get our ideas out in such an early stage.

Ultimately who knows what all David has plans for currently with this line, and what all he might want to do in the future, and what may be in the range of possibility for him to do. Best we can do for now is cross our fingers and wait for more info. In any case I'll probably be satisfied and hopefully surprised with what he chooses to have made.

[GojiraGuy1954]

I don't have concerns that BOTC is going to overshadow BOTM or whatever, I'm just worried BOTC will have less diversity, that's it.

I recommend looking into cenozoic fauna. There is absolutely a large diversity of animals. If anything, I'd say David will be able to have a much greater variety of different species with this cenzoic line than BOTM.

I feel like the only reason why the Cenozoic is perceived as having a lack of diversity is because of the sheer lack of attention given to anything other than the Ice Age. (Along with a couple stragglers from Pleistocene South America)

Plenty of weirdos from the Eocene, Oligocene and Miocene just itching to be made into figures.

Pisco Formation has so much gold

[GojiraGuy1954]

with mammals, it will be striking patterns, rather than striking colours..   And if you think that sounds dull, well i would beg to differ.  Look at the giant anteater, cheetah, zebra,  tiger......perhaps they seem dull because they are so common and well known but for the patterns they wear to evolve on them the way they have is remarkable.   And there are scores of other examples of remarkable and interesting patterns evolving.   I am look forward to a line that doesn't have gaudy colours.  Many of my ceratopsians  I've repainted because i felt the colours were ridiculous....totally unrealistic and unlikely.  The tyrannosaur series, thankfully, looks better in that regard.

I've very keen on BOTC.....don't be mammal chauvinists, you guys.....lol.

Tigers are not dull in colour they are bright orange

[GojiraGuy1954]

I think they should do Kelenken, Brontornis and Psilopterus

[Sim]

I don't know if I'll get anything from this line.  I'm not attracted to extinct Cenozoic animals as I am to Mesozoic animals.  I just don't find the Cenozoic as interesting.  However, there are some extinct Cenozoic animals I do still find interesting.  If those are made into figures for this line they might get me to collect them.  And, they might also get me more interested in those animals.  After all, the BotM Dilophosaurus got me to like and want a dinosaur figure with partial feathering, something I never thought would happen.  BotC figures of animals I like might get me fully into them too.

The Cenozoic animals I'd be interested in in BotC are:
- Ambulocetus.  It's awesome, I'm surprised there isn't any figure of it by any company.
- Basilosaurus isis.  Basilosaurus cetoides would just be too big to be made in 1:18 scale.  Basilosaurus isis would be big too but a size that could work, I think.
- Kelenken.  I'm happy to read that terror birds are much requested, I hope Kelenken gets made for BotC.
- Boverisuchus.  Both species of it interest me.  It was previously known as Pristichampsus.
- Dorudon.  It would go well with Basilosaurus isis and would be a nice size.
- Champsosaurus laramiensis.  This is the species that survived the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event, so it could be made for both BotC and BotM.
- Champsosaurus gigas.  This is the largest species of its genus and it lived in the Cenozoic.

[Papi-Anon]

I've only gotten a pair of Balaurs and a pair of Atrociraptors from BotM. Aside from the Cyberzoic Allosaurus and the Dilophosaurus there aren't many non-avian dinosaurs I'm interested in for BotM. Maybe if he did an adult Stenonychosaurus/Troodon at 1:18 or 1:6 I'd buy a pair (admittedly I still need to buy the Mountain pack Troodon). Other than that I'm not likely to buy any other BotM dinos.

BotC however has all my attention. I've been a fan of mammoths for most of my life and would be over the moon for an articulated 1:18 wooly mammoth, or heck, even a 1:18 dwarf mammoth. I could see a ceratopsian-like wave of horse evolution series since it's one of the best-understood lineages in the fossil record, but realistically I think BotC will start with a few well-knowns from the Ice Age with other epochs sprinkled in to gauge interests. Nothing too obscure, but perhaps a brontothere, moeritherium, thylacoleo, and Gastornis would be in the first wave along side the wooly mammoth and smilodon. A smart move would be to space out the most popular in waves with lesser-known (though still charismatic) megafauna.

The biggest question for me is if Silvas does hominins in this line, or if he will group them into something separate (Before Man? The Other Humans? People of the Neogene?), and how he does it in terms of articulation and facial sculpts.

[suspsy]

I don't see David including hominins in the series. If he were to include any primates at all, I think Gigantopithecus would be the most likely candidate.

[Giganotosaurus]

Oooh, I hope he does release hominins! That would be something different!

[Eatmycar]

I'm kind of surprised hominins aren't more requested for this line. Obviously, David will have to deal with sculpting genitals and secondary sex characteristics on humans so that might concern him, but our ancestors are criminally underrepresented in the world of... well, anything.

I see lamentation that obscure elephants and big cats might be forgotten, but our own ancestors are something we've reduced to vulgar and horrible stereotypes. They were "stupid" or "brutes" or "savages" depending on who you ask.

I think Dave has the chance to put out something truly unique that no company has touched that will reach a wider audience than just dinosaur collectors.

[Faelrin]

I would absolutely buy figures of ancient humans, and earlier hominids. I think it would only work for BotC though. There have been some beautifully and tasteful done reconstructions done as of late by some artists, that I would love to see something like that adapted into an action figure.

[suspsy]

I remain skeptical that BotC will include hominins, however, if David proved me wrong, I would buy them. Multipacks might be the best format.

[Thialfi]

Let's gooooo

[Dusty Wren]

Huh. While I'm excited about the idea of a BotC Smilodon, that image makes it look like the mouth is going to be sculpted permanently open--hard to imagine the mouth being articulated if the skin is sculpted in that stretched position. I really hope that's not the case. All I want at this point is a Smilodon with a closed mouth.

On the other hand, I love Jun's work and I think his Smilodon ecorche is absolutely gorgeous. His ecorche has a swapable head (one with a closed mouth, one with an open mouth), so maybe that's what they're going for here?   

[Halichoeres]

Do we know what scale this is going to be in?

[Carnoking]

I believe David confirmed swapable heads instead of articulation, like REBOR's

[GojiraGuy1954]

Let's gooooo

Face looks a little Pantherine I think

[andrewsaurus rex]

Do we know what scale this is going to be in?

I'm pretty sure the Cenozoic series is going to be 1/18 like most of David's series and I assumed that Smilodon would be in that same scale.  The sculpt does look pretty detailed for 1/18.  It would be an odd choice to make it in a larger scale given Rebor''s recent release.  But maybe the BOTC series is going to be a mix of 1/6 and 1/18?