Safari Ltd: New for 2023

[Gwangi]

I don't normally collect fish, but I would definitely consider a paddlefish. It's such a delightfully weird-looking animal I'd like to think it would be a good seller, too.

Thinking of other fish, I think I'd enjoy seeing Safari's take on a wobbegong shark or a cookiecutter shark. If we're talking extant prehistoric creatures on a broader scale, how about a tuatara?

Check it out @Fembrogon, you called it!





https://www.safariltd.com/collections/new-releases/products/tuatara-toy-figure

[Flaffy]

I'm not familiar with Tuataras, do they really have these bobbleheads and short pudgy tails?

[Gwangi]

I'm not familiar with Tuataras, do they really have these bobbleheads and short pudgy tails?

A Google image search should give you an idea of what they look like. But...yes? Their heads are rather large, not sure I would call the tail short and pudgy though.

Anyway, I imagine this figure should be of interest to a few members here. Tuatara are not lizards and are the only surviving member of the order Rhynchocephalia which thrived during the Mesozoic and went extinct at the end of it.

[Flaffy]

I'm not familiar with Tuataras, do they really have these bobbleheads and short pudgy tails?

A Google image search should give you an idea of what they look like. But...yes? Their heads are rather large, not sure I would call the tail short and pudgy though.

Yes but the proportions on the figure feel even more exaggerated than in pictures I've seen of the real deal. Maybe it's Safari promo pics making the figure look off again, will wait for in-hand pics.

[Gwangi]

I'm not familiar with Tuataras, do they really have these bobbleheads and short pudgy tails?

A Google image search should give you an idea of what they look like. But...yes? Their heads are rather large, not sure I would call the tail short and pudgy though.

Yes but the proportions on the figure feel even more exaggerated than in pictures I've seen of the real deal. Maybe it's Safari promo pics making the figure look off again, will wait for in-hand pics.

Looks alright to me, especially the head size. Even if the tail is short it still looks to be within the realm of believable individual variation.

[Shane]

The tail is about 3.5 inches long (if you were to stretch it out, the figure's tail has a slight curve). That makes it about 40% of the overall figure's length. If you look at images on Google, this would seem to be in-line with most examples.

Older, larger examples might have longer, more tapering tails, but there are plenty of examples of stockier tails that remain thick throughout the entire length of the tail.

There is a lot of individual variation among Tuataras, but there is a fair amount of consistency on them having large heads and stocky tails, and I think the figure does a good job of capturing the animal's features.

[suspsy]

I do hope we get to see some modern animals that aren't part of the IC series. As I said before, I'd really like a male Asian elephant similar to the one that came in the Asian animals toob.

[Fembrogon]

Check it out @Fembrogon, you called it!

https://www.safariltd.com/collections/new-releases/products/tuatara-toy-figure

Awwww yeahhh!! Adding that to the alert list!
I admit, I'm surprised at how green it is; I'm more used to seeing tuataras in a sandy brown.
A quick image search shows me they do come in greens, too, however, so I'm not about to complain. Even if the proportions might appear slightly stylized, this figure looks very good!

[Saarlooswolfhound]

As every year, I hope for more wild canids. But I realize that hope is far flung.

I think the Tuatara is quite nice though! Oh so very tempting... the IC line has had some great additions the last few years.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Check it out @Fembrogon, you called it!

https://www.safariltd.com/collections/new-releases/products/tuatara-toy-figure

Awwww yeahhh!! Adding that to the alert list!
I admit, I'm surprised at how green it is; I'm more used to seeing tuataras in a sandy brown.
A quick image search shows me they do come in greens, too, however, so I'm not about to complain. Even if the proportions might appear slightly stylized, this figure looks very good!

I thought the same, every one I've seen has been brown.

[Shane]

Today's reveal is *technically* a dinosaur...

[Jose S.M.]

Today's reveal is *technically* a dinosaur...

Already saw it hahaha! It was this month that you told there were going to be multiple reveals or the next? I got it confused.

[Shane]

Already saw it hahaha! It was this month that you told there were going to be multiple reveals or the next? I got it confused.

This month. I think this is the last for now but I believe things will pick up again more towards the end of the month.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

I think the owl looks great! Can't wait to see it in hand.

[Gwangi]

For those interested I've posted in-hand pictures of the three new extant animals from Safari on this Animal Toy Forum thread. Leopard gecko, tuatara, and great grey owl. I got them as review samples and I'll be posting all 3 reviews for them on the Animal Toy Blog within the coming days.

https://animaltoyforum.com/index.php?topic=3124.msg36212;topicseen#new

[Concavenator]

I read this post by S @Shane some time ago and it got me thinking... I don't completely agree.

PNSO is a collector focused line, kids can't just go to a store and buy them. They're more expensive and their appeal is more limited, so they're less widely available. You have to seek PNSO figures out if you want them.

That's true for western countries, but in China there are actual physical PNSO stores, like this one:

Spoiler

Source: Paleofiguras (Facebook)

[close]

Most of us come from Western countries (me included), so I see why you thought PNSO didn't have physical stores, but if you lived in China (some members here do) you could walk into a PNSO store and buy some figures if you wish. If you were a kid too, I guess. Though admittedly I have no idea on laws regarding toys/figures' kid safety and such. I used to have the PNSO Tuojiangosaurus and that thing was as sharp as a knife, I would never in my right mind hand that toy to a kid, or other PNSO figures, for that matter. Clearly Safari seems to be more careful about that.

Some people continue to insist that Safari figures are "approaching" PNSO figures in terms of price, but the fact remains - a Safari Triceratops costs $12.50 USD on Safari's website, while a similar sized Triceratops is $60 USD from PNSO's Amazon store. I'm not saying PNSO figures aren't worth the cost, but there's no question that you're paying a premium for the additional detail.

Like the previous statement, that is true again, though only so for western countries. According to @Faras , who is a Chinese member, this is how much a Museum Line PNSO figure (the ones that, on standard, are priced 60 USD) costs in China:

Spoiler

Here in Spain, the Eofauna Diplodocus costs 28 € whilst the PNSO Pachycephalosaurus costs 37,25 €. So the situation looks to be the opposite.

@Concavenator In China, Diplodocus is 42€ (probably around 35-39€ during sales), while I got Torosaurus for 27€ (listing price is 35€). Taxes, exchange rates and shipping cost (it's a big factor for kickstarts, but probably not for ordinary releases as they are produced here) affects non Chinese companies in a similar fashion. Few complain about it on Baidu though as we got too used to "expensive western stuffs" (iirc exchange rate of CNY and Euro used to be 16:1).

27 € = 29,76 USD at this very moment. Which means the 60 USD price tag is very inflated.

[close]

And turns out Safari figures are more expensive in China, too:

Spoiler

@Carnoking Aye ColletA, BotM, Papo, Safari stuffs do cost more here:

CollectA feathered T. rex - $32
CollectA Iguanodon - $26
BotM  sub-adult Triceratops - $75
BoTM Triceratops - $147
Papo walking T. rex (brown) - $47
Safari Yutyrannus - $13.5
Safari Stegosaurus - $32

AFAIK all these brands have factories in China (makes me wonder why prices are higher...) so not much extra costs when international transportation fees went skyrocket, while PNSO has to pay import and transportation for every figure.

[close]

So in conclusion, I think the higher prices of PNSO is more a consequence of inflation than being aimed at different audiences. Regarding the official prices, not everyone cares about those:

Spoiler

Let's say I want to get the PNSO Torosaurus, which costs 60 USD. I have no trouble waiting for an AliExpress sale for it to be significantly cheaper. Plus if I manage to find a coupon or several and I can get it for even less. Same with the Haolonggood figures. The Ouranosaurus costs 28,99 USD on Amazon, but I can get it for less than 22 USD (20 €) on Aliexpress, if I wait for official AliExpress sales like the 11/11 one, maybe even less. So I'd choose the latter. Granted, I know the relevance of buying directly from a company, but I will only do so if it's financially reasonable. I buy PNSO directly from themselves because it's cheaper (here) but if ordering from a middleman cost the same, I would still buy directly from PNSO. Meanwhile with Safari stuff, I have to buy them through a middleman because ordering directly from Safari would cost a lot to ship to Spain.

[close]

I would posit that it's not that Safari figures have gotten "worse", it's that your tastes and preference has grown, as you grow. I can affirm that Safari figures are made with the same passion and care that they always have been.

Yeah, I don't think Safari figures are worse at all, actually, I'd say the opposite is true, they're getting better with every passing year, which is a natural thing because sculptors, like all artists, tend to get better as time goes on. For example, Safari's newest Utahraptor and Deinonychus have lips and feathered hand digits, so based on that I'd argue they're better figures than the 2017 Velociraptor. However, I think the Velociraptor is better painted than the Deinonychus (I have both and I display them next to each other). In general, I agree with the notion that older Safari figures have better paint application than newer ones, though I wouldn't say the difference is drastic. That said, I used to have some Carnegies, like the 2011 Carnotaurus and Cryolophosaurus (and the Miragaia that I still have) and they were exquisitely painted. Not sure if the "since Safari figures are aimed at children, they have to control the paint app" argument holds up because, weren't the Carnegie figures aimed at children too? Some figures like the 2017 Tyrannosaurus I consider to be superior in paint app compared to more recent Safari figures too. I will not ask for Haolonggood levels of paint coming from a Safari figure (although going by price I could get them at fairly similar price points), I'm just comparing them to previous Safari figures, to make the comparison fair. So all in all, if Safari improves paint app on their figures while being within the realm of possibility, that would be welcome indeed. That said, if they keep on releasing figures of species I'm interested in (like the new Utahraptor), I will still be buying them as Safari usually does a great job, regardless of a slightly fancier paintjob or not. In any case, any dinosaur genus outside of Tyrannosaurus, Giganotosaurus, Spinosaurus, Triceratops and Diplodocus is likely to not have many (if any) tries at a scientifically accurate figure, so Safari's attempts are obviously very welcome.

I'm not hating on Safari by any means, I love Safari and they're actually the most represented company in my modest collection. I'm just expressing my thoughts in a (hopefully) respectful way, and it's not like I hold the absolute truth, either. Also, thank you very much Safari for being the company who relatively pays the most attention and do the most justice to dromaeosaurids (hopefully there will be more coming down the line!).

I'm also excited to see new releases, hopefully there will be some prehistoric reveals this month.

[Shane]

One other thing about China is that one of the biggest costs of the items is eliminated - shipping. Items produced in China don't have to be loaded onto boats and shipped halfway around the world. So the Chinese market is sort of unique in that regard.

[Stegotyranno420]

@Concavenator I'm moving to China now haha

[Jose S.M.]

Safari just made some teases on Twitter. They said some of their influencers asked about next prehistoric reveal and that they told him they forgot the name but was a "brown weird rhino but with two horns on its head"...

[Flaffy]

Safari just made some teases on Twitter. They said some of their influencers asked about next prehistoric reveal and that they told him they forgot the name but was a "brown weird rhino but with two horns on its head"...

I'm hoping it's an Arsinoitherium remake.