Dinosaur Toy Forum Diorama Contest 2024 - Poll

[DinoToyForum]

It's time to vote – the Dinosaur Toy Forum Diorama Contest 2024 poll is now open!

Good luck to all 11 participants and many thanks to everyone who made the effort to take part.

The poll will run for 14 days and you can vote for your top three entries. Take your time when voting because once you've selected your dioramas, you can't change your vote later. Entrants can vote for themselves, but in the spirit of fair play I encourage you to cast all votes for the other entries you truly like the most. There's a strict forum rule limiting one forum account per person, to stop people cheating in polls by voting multiple times under different accounts. So, don't do that, I take it very seriously and will be looking out for it, even though there are no prizes at stake. Do not attempt to manipulate the results of the poll by directing friends and family to it – I would consider that a form of cheating as this is a diorama contest not a popularity contest. Anyone found cheating in this way will be disqualified. Votes will be anonymous to everyone except for the admins and I will be looking out for foul play.

The diorama makers will remain anonymous throughout the voting process so please don't give any hints, clues, or discuss which dioramas belong to whom. Also, please don't discuss which dioramas you voted for or which you think are the best until after the poll closes. Otherwise, general discussion about the entries is more than welcome.

I'll confirm the winners once the poll has closed.

The 'dinoramas' are as follows:

1. The Crossing


2. The Valley of Gwangi Remake


3. The Dry Season


4. Stand together!


5. David and Goliath


6. Coastal Carnage


7. Longhorns – this year's fashion


8. What! We're supposed to have feathers! I'm calling my agent!


9. Twisted Tango


10. First Snow


11. Foraging at Daybreak

[fgh46]

I choose (REDACTED - Admin).

Edited by Admin: FYI, quoted from above:

please don't discuss which dioramas you voted for or which you think are the best until after the poll closes. Otherwise, general discussion about the entries is more than welcome

[Gwangi]

Quality over quantity this year! It might take me a couple days to make my choices.

[DinoToyForum]

Quality over quantity this year! It might take me a couple days to make my choices.

I guess prizes are a big motivator for many people. Or maybe I didn't promote the contest as much this year.

[Primeval12]

OOO, nice job everyone! Agreed with the quality over quantity comment.

[Joliezac]

Wow I remember there being so many more entries in past years. These look very good though! I took some time to choose 3 that I liked best. All should be proud of their photos/dioramas, these are impressive!

[Federreptil]

Quality over quantity this year! It might take me a couple days to make my choices.

I guess prizes are a big motivator for many people. Or maybe I didn't promote the contest as much this year.

I cannot understand how much prizes should count for motivation when you can have a presentation forum for your thoughts and ideas here.
It took me almost 10 years to integrate the prizes from my first win in the 2013 competition into my collection. And the effort and sweat for the last post in 2023 are worth so much more than any material prize or gift. The competitive spirit and the honor of having created a good diorama are much more of a joy and a reward in themselves. That's why it's a shame that more members couldn't get this joy. 

Maybe a little more advertising would have been good. Last year, the additional email about the competition provided the decisive impetus. Unfortunately – and I accept some of the blame for this – the diorama topic in the forum is often less important compared to other topics without a competition.

[Gwangi]

Quality over quantity this year! It might take me a couple days to make my choices.

I guess prizes are a big motivator for many people. Or maybe I didn't promote the contest as much this year.

I never participated because of prizes, it was purely for the fun of it, I would never have won anyway. I didn't participate this year because I just didn't want to, my heart wasn't in it.   

[DefinitelyNOTDilo]

I must say, I am quite liking these entries! It's hard to pick, but ultimately I still feel that the work of @Federreptil has yet to be topped! If all goes according to plan, I should have a very... majestic entry for next year's contest.

[Brocc21]

Hard choices. Great work all around!

[Libraraptor]

Although there were only eleven entries this year, the choice was hard. But eventually I made it.

[Crackington]

Well done everyone- some great dioramas here!

I managed to get one in too, though was close to the wire!

I followed Dr Admin's advice and voted for other entries - tough choice!

[thomasw100]

Many nice contributions as usual. Very hard to vote. I had some plans to contribute something, but some important ingredient for that has been frozen at customs for 4 weeks now. So maybe next year.

[JPuggy]

Quality over quantity this year! It might take me a couple days to make my choices.

I guess prizes are a big motivator for many people. Or maybe I didn't promote the contest as much this year.

Honestly, I didn't even know there was a competition going on. If I did I would've definitely participated.

[Totoro]

Kudos to all artists that submitted.  You're all winners in my book. 

I'd like to suggest that perhaps next year (or even appended to this year's entries...nah probably too late for that) the artists might be allowed to provide some additional information, such as whether the figures/background were posed as-is, modified and posed, or actually created.  It's a personal thing, and I understand the decision not to go there if that's @DinoToyForum 's choice, but I'm always impressed by those who create things from scratch, and it'd be nice to know that info instead of having to try to infer it. 

[Justin_]

@Totoro, I think that could lead to voting for the construction method, rather than the result. I'm also more interested in scratchbuilt or modified figures and scenery, but I vote on the final presented images, and quality of photograph is a big factor for my choices.

[Totoro]

@Totoro, I think that could lead to voting for the construction method, rather than the result. I'm also more interested in scratchbuilt or modified figures and scenery, but I vote on the final presented images, and quality of photograph is a big factor for my choices.

Yeah, it could influence how some people vote. That would not necessarily be a bad thing.  Many may not care and would just vote for the best photo. Judging dioramas might be more nuanced.  After all, it's the diorama contest, not the dinosaur image contest. Anyway, just a thought.     

[DinoToyForum]

@Totoro, I think that could lead to voting for the construction method, rather than the result. I'm also more interested in scratchbuilt or modified figures and scenery, but I vote on the final presented images, and quality of photograph is a big factor for my choices.

Yeah, it could influence how some people vote. That would not necessarily be a bad thing.  Many may not care and would just vote for the best photo. Judging dioramas might be more nuanced.  After all, it's the diorama contest, not the dinosaur image contest. Anyway, just a thought.     

I think that sort of behind-the-scenes discussion is better after the contest.

After all, we generally wouldn't watch a 'The Making Of [movie]" documentary before watching the movie. It would spoil the 'magic'.

[Federreptil]

@Totoro, I think that could lead to voting for the construction method, rather than the result. I'm also more interested in scratchbuilt or modified figures and scenery, but I vote on the final presented images, and quality of photograph is a big factor for my choices.

Yeah, it could influence how some people vote. That would not necessarily be a bad thing.  Many may not care and would just vote for the best photo. Judging dioramas might be more nuanced.  After all, it's the diorama contest, not the dinosaur image contest. Anyway, just a thought.   

It should have become clear over the years that my personal interest lies in the built "classic" diorama.
However, I know the competition as an open stage in which several concepts and ideas have their place and their fans. The first difference is the search for the appropriate scenery in the great outdoors or the controlled setting in the home studio. Everything was always possible, including completely original creations, with figures and witty arrangements of obvious toys. Seen in this light, it is more of an ideas and photo competition than a model-building comparison. This is also shown by the fact that perfect mini dioramas that are not integrated into a coherent scenery have a harder time reaching the top ranks.
The rules have proven themselves over the last few years: there is only one photo and the entrants remain anonymous. This allows for greater diversity and prevents internal favoritism. Even if there are, of course, well-founded suspicions about some entries.
Of course, I am interested in being able to tell more about my diorama. About the conditions of its creation and considerations regarding personnel, scenery and staging. But I always make up for that after the decision and publish making-of pictures, variants and further information in the diorama section. There is a thread there that hopefully provides the desired background here and where questions can also be answered. Fortunately, other participants do that too. It is fantastic, for example, to see the effort Irimali puts in, and you even get perfect instructions there. It would be nice if more participants did the same.
But that's a fair way to get more information about the contributions. 

[Halichoeres]

Voted! Some very nice entries this year, even if there are fewer.