Walking with Dinosaurs 3D toys - new for 2013

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Yes there was an older line of figures made for the first WWD television series.

Yeah wish I could get some but the old WWD and Favorite dinosaur are just not readily available for me at reseller price.  Do you think the new WWD will be better than the old WWD?

If your referring to the figures honesty I have no idea since I don't think we've seen actual images of them yet.  The past WWD figures nice but pretty static in pose .

[leidy]

I bought a few of these.  I'll try to post some pics tomorrow.

Unfortunately, I would not describe them as good.  Certainly not by comparison to the original Toyway line.

I think the sculpts themselves were probably decent to excellent, possibly derived from the cg models, but the molding and overall quality is diabolical.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

That sounds disappointing. Perhaps there will be some larger and better figures later on.

[leidy]

I opened the rest of them, and they're not all as bad as my first impression.  They're blind-packed, so you don't know what you're getting.


I took some pictures, I'm going to try to see if I can upload them.  At the moment my computer won't recognise my SD card.


The bird-dinosaurs are actually terrific.  They're comparable to those from Safari's Feathered Dino tube. 

Some of these are well-worth having.  The Krentz-look is unmistakable, the proportions are very accurate and they all have lifelike poses.

The downside is a few don't stand, some paint issues, and the detailing and textures are pretty rough on others.

Yes there was an older line of figures made for the first WWD television series.

Yeah wish I could get some but the old WWD and Favorite dinosaur are just not readily available for me at reseller price.  Do you think the new WWD will be better than the old WWD?

If your referring to the figures honesty I have no idea since I don't think we've seen actual images of them yet.  The past WWD figures nice but pretty static in pose .

  The reason for the static poses of the Toyway WWD figures is because they were reproduced from the original clay maquettes scanned into the computer for the CG character models.  They were deliberately sculpted in neutral poses to allow them to be inputed and rigged without complications.

  What I like about that line is that you're getting something that was an authentic part of the series.  With this line, I suspect some of the figures were 3d printed from the on screen CG models, so there's some of that screen accuracy.  Some have traces of stratigrahic ridges like they were printed out, but others have the look of fresh sculpts.

[tyrantqueen]

I opened the rest of them, and they're not all as bad as my first impression.  They're blind-packed, so you don't know what you're getting.
I took some pictures, I'm going to try to see if I can upload them.  At the moment my computer won't recognise my SD card.


The bird-dinosaurs are actually terrific.  They're comparable to those from Safari's Feathered Dino tube.

Some of these are well-worth having.  The Krentz-look is unmistakable, the proportions are very accurate and they all have lifelike poses.

The downside is a few don't stand, some paint issues, and the detailing and textures are pretty rough on others.

Where did you get your toys from? I am kinda interested in the Gorgosaurus toy (because I like David Krentz's work) and I don't have any good Gorgo models. I liked the Gorgosaurus from WWD, the blue and black design is really pretty. If it's a nicely designed model, I am tempted to pick one up.

[leidy]

Where did you get your toys from? I am kinda interested in the Gorgosaurus toy (because I like David Krentz's work) and I don't have any good Gorgo models. I liked the Gorgosaurus from WWD, the blue and black design is really pretty. If it's a nicely designed model, I am tempted to pick one up.

That one is nice, reminiscent of previous Krentz gorgosaurs.  It's unmistakably Gorgosaurus, not just some random tyrant.

Here's the first pic and a review.

This is 'Scowler', the Pachyrhinosaurus.  That's a Field Museum Torosaurus by Safari for comparison.  You can see the difference in quality.  Safari achieved a high standard at this scale, with crisp reproduction, well-thought out colour scheme, and a paint job that brings out all the details.




In all cases you can pretty much say the opposite for Scowler, who apparently doesn't have much to smile about_*. The soft blurry textures of the plastic are contrasted by the sharpness of ugly mold lines running along the skull.   I'm not sure about the intention with the paint, but the crude dry-brushing on the back doesn't appear to have had the desired effect.

It's molded from a tan grey plastic that reminds me of some Marx knockoffs that I had as a kid.




That basically covers the negatives.  In every other respect it appears to be quite accurate.  The proportions, the posture seem very up-to-date and true to the fossils.  It of course has the correct amount of horns and digits. 

He has a bit of a humpbacked appearance and is more barrel-chested than the other Pachys in the set.  The leg muscles are more pronounced.  There's a certain aggression, and a strong sense of weight in the pose.  You can really feel the weight being carried by that right forearm.  There's a light hint of wrinkling around the joints.

You can see there was a lot of subtly in this model that's been somewhat crudely reproduced.


_{*not to suggest any dinosaurs have the facial muscles to do that.}

This was to test image uploading, I'm going to try and do a further mini-review of the others.  Had a few camera problems.

[Dan]

Despite the pathetic paint application, I would say David's skill preserves the basic sculptural quality here. He told me they really beefed up the Pachys beyond his original design, but I think these little figures could still have potential. I say we send a bunch to Martin Garratt, and see what happens.

[Bokisaurus]

not too bad really, where do you even find these figures to buy?

[tyrantqueen]

Looking at that Pachy, I can see that it strongly reminds me of the Favorite Styracosaurus.



But that paint job isn't exactly helping things either.

Would you be interested in selling some of these? I don't have an Argos in my local area (I'm in the sticks) so getting a hold of them would be hard for me.

[Seijun]

I love it! Cant wait to see the others. If anyone finds a place online that sells them and ships international, please let me know.

[leidy]

Despite the pathetic paint application, I would say David's skill preserves the basic sculptural quality here. He told me they really beefed up the Pachys beyond his original design, but I think these little figures could still have potential. I say we send a bunch to Martin Garratt, and see what happens.

In the case of the Pachycephalosaurs, I'd definitely agree.  A good paintjob could work wonders.  Did David mean they were beefed up for the toys, or for the movie?  When I look at some of the stills from the movie, I get the impression they've softened some of the features to make them more appealing as animated characters.  I think it could've benefited some of these models to exaggerate certain details for toy proportions.

I'm surprised people are impressed so far, I think everyone here probably has educated eyes, but for most people, by comparison to other figures, they really do feel a bit cheap.  Although Scowler is perhaps the worst of the lot.  They get better. 

Here's how they come:



I wish they'd put the same effort into the molding and painting as they did for the packaging.  There's twelve animals in total.  I just got what you see here.  The only ones I could compare were the 3-pach.  The one I picked had the best paint of any of them.   Naturally it's the luck of the draw with the sealed figures. 

A closer look:



As you can see, trying to mix these with the Toyway originals is a waste of time.  It's not merely a question of inferior paint application, it's a totally different scale.  Quite a different style as well. 



Another comparison, this time to ceratopsian toys.  Those other figures, whatever their shortcomings, are finished to quite a higher standard.   I was going throw in the Papo Pachy as well, but that didn't seem fair at all.  There's some nice blending on that Collecta Pachy, and the molding on these other figures captures much sharper texture detail.



But you can see the more toy-like poses and proportions of those figures.  The strong point of these new WWD figures is their lifelike poses.  I find Juniper and Patchi more impressive in this respect than Scowler.  There's a sense of movement to them.  Both appear to be very accurate in their locomotion.  There was a study into reconstructing the ceratopsian gait, and these look very much like phases out of that walk cycle.  You can see everything articulating.  They would probably match up pretty close to fossil footprint impressions.  That's the kind of difference that you won't get with most other figures. 

You can't see it in these pictures, but Patchi has a hole in his frill.  The features on this model are very soft and blurred out.  It doesn't have the same degree of wrinkling as the others.  It's all one colour plastic with some very slight colouring and dots for eyes.  No garish drybrush.  Unlike the other two, Patchi has a row of raised scales running along the centre of his back and over his hips. 

Juniper is peachy plastic with butter yellow frill paint and a more blended drybrush.  I'm guessing this is either the love interest or possibly the mother.  It definitely feels like a she.  The image on the card gives the impression of high cheekbones and eyeshadow.  But they've shown some restraint and held back on pouty lips and long eyelashes!  None of this was going to show up in the figure, so it need not concern us.  There is a certain delecacy to the features which I think does show up in the pictures here. 

What doesn't show up so well is the horizontal banding right through this figure.  I believe this to be a by-product of 3d printing. The drybrushing exaggerates this; the ridges catch all the paint. 

I gotta go to bed now.  I'll post the rest of what I have tomorrow and all will be revealed. 

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

They aren't terrible really..about the quality I was expecting for the size. Hopefully there will be larger more detailed figures as well.

[Yutyrannus]

Where can you order these?

[Trexroarr]

These may not have the best paint jobs around, but I do definitely want to pick some up! Where did you get them? Also, can you post some pics of the collectors cards, please? Thanks!

[Hermes888]

Can you show us the non-Pachyrhinosaurus figures? To be honest, the other three figures are the only ones I'm truly interested in.

[CityRaptor]

Well, they are small figures and probably rather cheap. It would be kinda unfair to compare something from a bling bag with larger figures. Unless it is stuff like Dinotales. Probably will pick some up as well if they are released in Germany or I can get them cheap on the net.

Also hoping for bigger, more detailed figures.

[Jetoar]

Ooooh in surprise bag  .

[SpartanSquat]

Well they could be worse. Seeing the photos of the back fromthe bag I saw: The pachyrhinosauurs characters, gorgosaurus, alexornis, another pachyrhinosaurus, edmontosaurus, alphadon, quetzalcoatlus, troodon, and 2 dinosaurs that are green and red in the left of the bag.
leidy could you post a clearly pic of the bag of mini dinosaurs or post all the mini dinos?

[CityRaptor]

Hmm, Alphadon you say? Would that be the first toy of a Mesozoic Mammal?

[tyrantqueen]

In the case of the Pachycephalosaurs, I'd definitely agree.  A good paintjob could work wonders.  Did David mean they were beefed up for the toys, or for the movie?  When I look at some of the stills from the movie, I get the impression they've softened some of the features to make them more appealing as animated characters.  I think it could've benefited some of these models to exaggerate certain details for toy proportions.

I'm surprised people are impressed so far, I think everyone here probably has educated eyes, but for most people, by comparison to other figures, they really do feel a bit cheap.  Although Scowler is perhaps the worst of the lot.  They get better. 

You mean Pachyrhinosaurs, right? I don't recall seeing any Pachycephosaurs in WWD...


Hmmm...seeing how they compare with bigger, more detailed figures, I think I'll pass on the ceratopsians. There are better figures of Pachys (Papo, and Aaron Doyle's Shapeways print) that are available. I don't like movie tie ins anyway.