crazy8wizard's weirdest collection update (9-17-2024)

[Crackington]

Great photos @crazy8wizard - that Ornithocheirus could just be flexing it's wing muscles though, or recuperating after being caught in a storm? Lovely model which I wasn't aware of before, so thanks for sharing.

[Halichoeres]

That's a cool assortment. I have most of those too, you have excellent taste.  A couple of years back the identity of that pterosaur was briefly a mystery here on the forum, although we sorted it out after a  week or two.

[Fembrogon]

You've got a marvellous assortment! I can sympathize with the spacing/arrangement frustrations, although they do kind of look cool all exploding out together.

I do believe I've seen some of your repaints elsewhere; they look stunning!

[crazy8wizard]

Hey everyone I'm back with some more recent finds that I'm really excited to share, so sit back because this one is going to be a longer one.
Starting out here's a full shot of all the non-mini figures I've found recently. (Not included BOTM Suskityrannus and Papo Chilesaurus. I forgot to include them)


Plus one big pile of minis (I've been lucky with mini lots recently). I know a lot of people here don't collect minis to keep a consistent scale but I adore mini figures. I love being able to have a small creature in my pocket or on my desk. They're fun. (not pictured, PNSO Majungasaurus and Mattel Mosasaurus. I forgot to include them.)


Below is my personal thoughts on these figures.

Spoiler

You may be asking yourself who this little blue critter is and it's my very own custom Corosaurus alcovensis, made from a PNSO mini Keichousaurus. Until proven otherwise, I think I may be the first and only person to own a figure of Corosaurus.


From Safari, the beautiful Majungasaurus and Estemmenosuchus. The Estemmenosuchus is really great as a chunky little therapsid and I appreciate how much it really does resemble a mammal. I might repaint this one though since I'm not huge on the bright orange. The Majungasaurus is an absolute treat to hold because the texture of all the bumpy little feature scales.


From Kid Galaxy, "Scaphonyx" and Riojasaurus. Two kind of ugly but also pretty neat figures of genera that don't have much else. The Riojasaurus is pretty neat, ignoring the odd proportions. The only thing that bugs me is how wide the head is, so this one will be displayed in profile view. The Scaphonyx, meanwhile, is odd. A frankenstein's monster of half rhynchosaur, half dicynodont so in the forseable future, this one is getting surgery to make it look more like a rhynchosaur. I plan to make it into a Beesiiwo.


Knockoff AAA Archaeotherium(?)/ WWB Entelodont. I have no idea who made this figure. It's a copy of the AAA entelodont but I wasn't aware that not only did the AAA version have a larger counterpart, but a copy! The paint on this one is hideous so it's absolutely getting repainted with the Walking with Beasts color scheme. Given the thin skull and slightly less robust shape I'm going to use it as Archaeotherium (my favorite Paleogene animal!) I would really like to find the large AAA entelodont though


From Starlux is the Cynognathus and Mastodonsaurus. I've been searching for this Cynognathus for some time, although it isn't particularly hard to find. Strangely Cyngognathus is a genus that companies made all the time in the late 20th century but after about the 1980s that love for Cynognathus dried up for whatever reason. I like this one as it's the only one that looks like a true mammal ancestor, rather than a weird toothy lizard monster with a big head. The Mastodonsaurus is one I wasn't actively looking for but stumbled upon. It's not the prettiest figure but until I manage to get my hands on the coveted Bullyland Mastodonsaurus, this will work as a general representation of Triassic Temnospondyl.


One new, and one I forgot to include last time, and both from the Ischigualasto formation. With great thanks for @Halichoeres an Exaeretodon mini. Sure, it's just the skeleton but I'm just thrilled to own a figure from the difficult to find Dawn of the Dinosaurs capsule series. Along with it is one that despite being re-released recently, I had a crazy difficult time tracking down: the Toymonster Int Captivz series Herrerasaurus. I've made my opinions on mini figures clear, so I'm excited to own a miniature of one of my favorite dinosaurs that isn't terribly ugly (looking at you, Mattel minis). I did find a Dawn of the Dinosaurs Frenguellisaurus online recently but I've been having issues wit the company I ordered it from so I might not be receiving that one.

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And just for fun, since I've been more actively hunting them, here's my collection of Triassic figures.

[Faelrin]

I had no idea the Toyway Postosuchus was about the size of the Safari Ltd one. Still one I'd like to hunt for in the future. Great collection of creatures from that period. I got a little bit of those, mostly Mattel and Safari, and a few of the PNSO ones, and the Kaiyodo Lystrosaurus as well.

[crazy8wizard]

I had no idea the Toyway Postosuchus was about the size of the Safari Ltd one.

Aha but this is not the toyway model! It's actually the Schleich Postosuchus that I repainted with the WWD color scheme since their skulls are so similar. I'm glad that I did a good enough job painting that it looked official though!

[Faelrin]

Been a while since I saw what the Toyway figure looked like, so yeah it totally fooled me, lol. Excellent job with it though.

[Crackington]

Agree with Faelrin, what a great figure, looks much more dynamic than the Toyway too!

Your collection of Triassic beasties is excellent. Great to see old and new together including those marvellous Starlux!

[Halichoeres]

Glad the Exaeretodon made it safely! The Triassic is my favorite period of the Mesozoic, always nice to see it well represented in a collection.

[crazy8wizard]

Hey everyone! I'm super excited to say that my days of having my entire prehistoric model collection on a crowded table are no more, and I have moved my figures into a metal shelf, with each figure organized by formation and (rough) time period.

It is still a little crowded in the Maastrichtian section, but I can work that out if and when I collect some more cenozoic figures.
Top shelf is Precambrian and Paleozoic through the early Permian. (yes, it's a bit too barren, but I'm hunting for some new ones)

Next shelf is late Permian (for Beaufort Group consistency), Triassic, and early Jurassic.

Following that is middle Jurassic, late Jurassic, and early Cretaceous.

And the last shelf is late Cretaceous to Cenozoic. (working on that too)

The organization is subject to change and I may get some risers or bring back the plastic display boxes but nonetheless, I am pleased to finally have enough space to make a more organized collection.

[TooOldForDinosaurs]

Very nice display and fabulous collection! Very diverse I'm wondering. What is that big Ophthalmosaurus figure on the far left in the back on the middle jurassic shelf? (With the open mouth)

[Crackington]

Yes, very nice collection with some great figures! Is that a Bullyland Mastodontosaurus on the second shelf?

I agree that experimenting with risers might help with the overall view and bring figures more to the fore. I find "Pizza plinths" can help with fliers and swimmers in particular (good to re-purpose plastic waste too).

[crazy8wizard]

What is that big Ophthalmosaurus figure on the far left in the back on the middle jurassic shelf? (With the open mouth)

That would be the Recur Ophthalmosaurus. It's a big, squishy vinyl figure with some sort of stuffing inside. It's far from being the most accurate Ophthalmosaurus but it's very squeezy and nice to have in your hands so it's one I like a lot. The same company made the big teal Dunkleosteus on the first shelf too.

[crazy8wizard]

Yes, very nice collection with some great figures! Is that a Bullyland Mastodontosaurus on the second shelf?

Thank you! and haha, I wish I was fortunate enough to find the Bullyland Mastodonsaurus, I'm lucky enough to have a well loved Batrachotomus but not much else from the triassic line. I do have a Mastodonsaurus but it's from Starlux. Far from perfect, but good enough for now and it has a goofy little grin which I find charming even if its anatomy is lacking.

[Halichoeres]

Glad to see they can all breathe now! And that the Paleozoic is on top where it belongs 

That Recur Dunkleosteus isn't too bad considering what some of their dinosaurs look like.

[crazy8wizard]

Glad to see they can all breathe now! And that the Paleozoic is on top where it belongs 

That Recur Dunkleosteus isn't too bad considering what some of their dinosaurs look like.

That squishy vinyl style they use just works better with streamlined fishlike forms! I've been considering getting the basilosaurus for the same reason.

[crazy8wizard]

Hey there folks, I'm back with another collection update and some interesting new models (not all are figures though!). Let's get right into it with the full lineup

As you can see, this update contains quite a bit more plush than you may be used to seeing, but I quite like plush, not to mention that two of these are practically holy grails for me. A couple others here I'm skipping a review for since they don't have much of an interesting story

My thoughts on these new models have been posted below. I have a lot to say because I skipped the October update, hah.

Spoiler

Starting off with what I'm most excited about, TWO waling with dinosaurs beanbag plushies. I had quite the journey getting the Ophthalmosaurus. Originally I saw it on ebay but lost the bid at the last second. Then, I saw another one but it was too pricey for me. Then I saw the first one I missed relisted but what a time to learn that my bank apparently no longer converts to GBP, so I lost that one again. Fortunately, I saw the exact listing reposted here about a week later from @TooOldForDinosaurs so at least it's in a good home with a fellow Ophthalmosaurus fan. Finally, I saw this listing that also included the Leaellynasaura and had some help from @Primeval12 getting it here to the Sundance Formation, so thanks for that. Ramblings aside, this is a really neat plush. The top is super soft and the belly has an interesting texture. The inside of the mouth has a weird scratchy fabric which I'm not a fan of, but it's a small surface area so I can avoid it easily. The Leaellynasaura has a weirdly clumpy texture to give it the impression of scales. Both of these are great, and while they aren't the toyway models I've been hunting for, they're still really neat representations of two genera that are rare in figure form and extraordinarily rare in plush form.

Next we have this lovely Pteranodon from the Jurassic World Live Show and Exhibition. I did not attend either of these two events, but I was looking for a poseable Pteranodon plush to go with my FMNH Quetzalcoatlus and Little Softs Dearc. (I unfortunately missed when Palaeoplushies released the pteranodons this year) It's not accurate like the Palaeoplushies model, but it works for me. I just like being able to pose it.

Here's a really interesting one: A plush T. rex from Aurora made for the Boston Museum of Science. You'll notice that it looks practically identical (as far as figure to plush translation goes) to its Battat counterpart. Unfortunately, I don't have the original paint scheme that this one is clearly drawing from, what with the yellow exclamation point stripes, red keratinous bosses, and purple tongue. If Greg Wenzel didn't directly collaborate on this, then they definitely based it off his work for brand synergy.

It took me way longer than I care to admit to finally grab the Collecta Edaphosaurus despite how much I love sail backed pelycosaurs. The museum I work at had them in the gift shop earlier this year but they sold out before I managed to get one. Fortunately, a local shop had them by the dozens.

The Bullyland Plateosaurus is one that I expected to like, but didn't realize how much I liked. It looked great when I saw it online but once I had it in hand I ended up really loving it. Sure, it's pretty far from accurate to the animal, but it's a double threat of figures I love to collect. It's both a Triassic animal AND a figure based directly off of a real world museum display. Also, it's considerably bigger than I had expected, which is good, Plateosaurus was no small animal. It's about 1/3rd longer than Collecta's offering, which was the only Plateosaurus I had at the time. I used to not like Plateosaurus much since it was one of three Triassic animals anyone would ever show anywhere, but I'm really starting to warm up to it!

Speaking of one of three Triassic animals, here's a really great one: Toyway Postosuchus! This is another one I hadn't realized how nice it was until I started taking a closer look. I noticed its tail is the appropriate length (which is longer than I expected) and weirdly enough, this seems to be the only non-mini figure of Postosuchus that's entirely Plantigrade. The only other plantigrade rauisuchian figure I've seen is the Dawn of the Dinosaurs Saurosuchus (which I'm still looking for to no avail). This figure is unfortunately one out of two merchandise options for New Blood, the other being a Coelophysis finger puppet I'm currently hunting for.

Here's a carry over from last time because I forgot to include it: Papo's Chilesaurus. This is the first ever non-avian dinosaur from Papo I own. I'll be completely honest, I don't much care for Papo dinosaurs. They're either hideously ugly, in a weird pose, oddly textured, or all 3. I like a few but not enough to own any until now. I bought this one more for the genus itself. I don't mind the sculpt details, but the forward leaning, pronated hand on the ground pose is irritating and it looks like it's falling over. I can't even prop it up with another figure to make it less quadrupedal (tripodal?) because it looks even more like it's falling, but not a slip and fall forward, more like Lucy pulling the football from Charlie Brown fall. Hm, come to think of it, that might make for a funny photoshoot.

Another one I forgot to include from last time: the Beasts of the Mesozoic Suskityrannus. This is one that I was excited about the moment I saw the concept art. I've been familiar with Suskityrannus, even as far back as when it was just called the "Zuni coelurosaur". I also adore the Osprey inspired color scheme, as Ospreys are some of my favorite birds.

This one is from a line that I am very eager to see more of: The Plannosaurus Mosasaurus! This figure is not only a snap together articulated model kit of Mosasaurus, but it has a full skeleton inside the model, which you can selectively remove to show inside as I've done here. Some of the other models in the line aren't as vacuous with the space between skin and skeleton, but Mosasaurs are beefy so I get it. You have to assemble the skeleton before you can assemble the life model, which I think is a really neat touch, and while the manual is in Japanese which I can't read, it features facts about Mosasaurus' anatomy such as its hand-like flippers and forked tongue. As soon as the Pteranodon Plannosaurus kit releases I'm going for it, because it comes with two versions: one in a standing pose, and the other in a flying pose.

Not Pictured: Wow Things Movie Mates Giganotosaurus, Mattel Ornithocheirus, Galoob Eudimorphodon and Brachiosaurus, Schleich Quetzalcoatlus, Bullyland Leptonectes (Forgot to include)

BONUS

My cat Heidi jumped onto the backdrop I take these photos on and demanded to participate. You can credit her for any of the little white cat hairs in the photos that I apparently didn't see until I had these all ready to post

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[Faelrin]

Amazing haul there. Also gotta love when our cats want to be included too.

[crazy8wizard]

Amazing haul there. Also gotta love when our cats want to be included too.

Heidi always wants to sniff the dinosaurs. She has been given the role of official prehistoric model sniffer

[Halichoeres]

When I had a cat, he liked to sniff things but also occasionally bite them. So I didn't let him sniff things most of the time.

Anyway, interesting batch of figures, congrats!