Remko's collection and customs - * Updated August 6th 2023 *

[Remko]

These also came in last week. The Papo adult and baby Triceratops. Basically the Jurassic Park Triceratops, including baby 'Ralph'.



My Triceratops collection.



And this arrived today. The tiny Kaiyodo Protoceratops. Also in app. 1/35th scale. Here it is compared to its bigger cousin, the Safari 2018 Triceratops.



Close up.



Last but not least, the Papo Therizinosaurus. According to my measurements it's app 1/35th scale (30 cm long from nose to tail). Here it is compared to the Rebor 1/35th Acrocanthosaurus.  The big carnosaur will probably think twice before attacking such a behemoth!

Just too bad that the claws are way to short (should be about 2,5 cm for the longest) and the three toed foot. Therizinosaurus had four toes on the ground.
If anybody has a suggestion to make the claws longer, I'm very interested to hear it!

[Remko]

Besides dinosaur toys I also have a fondness for plants. Especially weird ones, or those that, of course, existed around the time of dinosaurs.

I got this Equisetum a while ago. My Collecta Ichthyovenator likes it a lot. 



And this beautiful Araucaria araucana was added yesterday. I'm going to try and keep it small.



And in relation to an earlier reply...

[Shonisaurus]

Congratulations Remko for your new ichthyovenator of Collecta, after the spinosaurus of the same brand is the spinosaur that I like the most when it comes to Collecta.

On the other hand I congratulate you on your araucaria, your love of plants is a point in your favor. We sincerely attach great importance to moving animals and never (at least in my case) pay more detailed attention to vegetables such as trees and plants that represent the elemental scale within the food pyramid of any wildlife in the world and without them the animal world would be advocated for extinction.

[Remko]

You have a really nice collection, lots of ceratopsians, that's my thing 

Thanks! I have always had a love for Ceratopsians. Of all the dinosaur genera, these are among the weirdest. I received a bunch of mostly Ceratopsid 1:35th and 1:40th figures from Shapeways today,  but will post images of these tomorrow.

But this also came in today. I missed the book when it was first released in 2010, and if you do a Google Search for it now, the prices are outrages. From about € 100 euro for the ebook and from € 750 to € 4.000 euro's for the printed edition. That's  too expensive.
But luckily I found that the Black Hills Institute of Geology still had it for the comparatively very reasonable price of $ 110 US.
It's a beautiful volume and I look forward reading it. 

[Remko]

As promised, my new Shapeways 1/35th dinosaurs and Quetzalcoatlus.

Group shot.



Young bull Styracosaurs sizing eachother up.



Old bull Styracosaurus watching.

[Remko]

Two Chasmosaurus belli in mirror challenge.



Chasmosaurus russelli with young.



Pentaceratops sternbergii



Lirainosaurus being attacked by Concavenator. The little sauropod won't stand a change against this theropod.

[Remko]

Europasaurus holgeri pair.



Quetzalcoatlus northropi just watching the scene.



I used "oasis" to display the figures. You could say it's a large mudflat or something. This material is great to pose figures or just use to make footprints or even trackways. I need to see if I can find smaller pieces.

Anyone dare to guess which animals walked by? 

[Shonisaurus]

Those dinosaurs and in particular ceraptosido and the pterosaur quetzalcoatlus of Shapeways are wonderful. I understand that the future of the companies of prehistoric toy animals and especially dinosaurs will be 3D printers.

In the end any person if we have such a 3D printer in the future we can produce any kind of dinosaur or prehistoric animal.

Going to the issue I congratulate you Remko for these wonders of dinosaurs.

[Remko]

Some new additions to my collection. These are named "Diplodocus" on the bottom, but resemble Apatosaurus more. They were also advertised as Apatosaurus on ebay.

They are both soft figures from a Chinese company called "Gosnell". But despite that, they are remarkebly accurate. The forearms and hands have been modeled with just a single thumbclaw and proper horseshoe hands.

The neck of especially the larger figure also has the distinctive wide vertebrae of Apatosaurus. Only drawback is the stumpy tale of the larger figure. And of course the fact they are hollow soft figures. But other than that, they look pretty good in my 1:35th scale collection.

As for the size, the large figure is app. 78 cm long nose to tail. So it's one if the biggest sauropod figures available as far as I know.









Second, smaller, figure.







Together.



And finally the largest figure compared to EoFauna's Giganotosaurus. I think the large sauropod could be modified (or even used as) a large Titanosaurid as well.

[Libraraptor]

Actually those sauropods are pretty nice!

[Remko]

Actually those sauropods are pretty nice!

Yes thay are. It's always a gamble when getting stuff like this from ebay, but I'm quite happy with them.
They resemble our modern understanding of sauropods as warmblooded active land animals, instead of the usual overweight swampdwellers.

Sure, there are improvements, especially in the paintings of the eyes, but overall, they are a very nice addition to my collection.
And finally sauropod toys that are huge! You can actually display them easily with other bigger dinosaur figures in 1:40th or 1:35th scale. Most sauropod toys are just too small for that.

[MLMjp]

Wow those Sauropods look good, like, really good. Despite being "chinasaur toys"

To me the big one does resemble diplodocus, but the smaller one definitely looks more like an Apatosaurus.

[Remko]

Wow those Sauropods look good, like, really good. Despite being "chinasaur toys"

To me the big one does resemble diplodocus, but the smaller one definitely looks more like an Apatosaurus.

I agree the smaller one resembles Apatosaurus more. But both have the wide lower necks wit protruding vertebrae. Although both say "Diplodocus" on the bottom... 

I just keep the smaller one as an Apatosaurus, and the larger one will be an as yet to be named Titanosaurid. Especially with it's neck so far up, it lacks the characteristic hump of a Diplodocid dinosaur. It's long forearms also suggest they used another kind of Sauropod as inspiration.

[Remko]

I've been doing some additional measurements, and the sizes for the figures are as follows:

Smaller figure: App. 62 cm long over the spine (nose to tail). So just under 22 meters in 1:35th or almost 25 meters in 1:40th scale.

Larger figure: App. 86 cm long over the spine (nose to tail). About 30 meters in 1:35th scale or even almost 35 meters in 1:40th scale.
Shoulder height: 16,5 cm = 5.8 meters in 1:35th or 6.6 meters in 1:40th scale.
Hip height: 18 cm= 6.3 meters in 1:35th or 7.2 meters in 1:40th scale.

And that includes the rather stumpy tailtip, and the oversized head.

Because after looking a bit more at both figures, that's what became obvious. Both of their heads are too big. Even accounting for the size.

I think I'll modify the.larger animal into an Alamosaurus. Would be perfect along a T. rex, Triceratops and Ankylosaurus figures.

The smaller animal will just be an Apatosaurus.

Now, all I need to do is learn how to sculpt a sauropod head in 1:35th scale... 

[PhilSauria]

I have both of these and am quite happy that they are both on the large size, which I feel kinda befits a majestic sauropod, and more accurate than many of the sauropod figures out there - especially in regard to the feet.

The images of the larger one in some of the first listings had a more naturalistic paint job so it's unfortunate that did not carry though to the one that we ended up with but the smaller one has a terrible paint job. I am currently in the process of of giving the smaller one a complete makeover, almost done but it keeps being put on the back-burner for one reason or another (social commitments, work and ill health being the culprits).

The Mosasaurs listed with them at one time were listed elsewhere at a lower price but they seem to have sold out and don't look like coming back again any time soon and I don't feel like paying the prices that the listing that still has them is asking, which is a pity because they weren't too bad either.

There is a tendency to write off the Chinasaurs but there are some gems in there among all of the knockoffs and bootlegs or whatever we are supposed to call these things.

[Halichoeres]

Those sauropods aren't too bad. Good to have more information on them, thanks for sharing!

[Remko]

This already arrived a few weeks back. Haven't gotten around to build it though. I will modify it slightly, mainly by getting rid of the toes on the hands. Just keeping the thumb claw.

[Libraraptor]

A real classic!

[Remko]

I've sent a bunch of figures to Raúl Pedroche sometime late last year for painting and/or modifictation, and they came in last week.

Wow, this guys is a fantastic artist!!
I've seen many of his work online, but to see it in person, that's something else!!

Here's the first figure. It's the large Allosaurus / Saurophaganax from Shapeways.

Example:



Repainted figure:



This figure will be displayed together with EoFauna's Diplodocus on a small diorama.

[Remko]

I've been eyeing this figure for a while, and it finally came in today.

It's the 1/35th Sonidosaurus from Zee studios. It's a resin kit, but it needed very little prep work to put together. Needs to be painted, but don't know a color yet.

It's a bit pricey for it's size, at about € 92 inc. shipping, but a very nice and heavy figure nonetheless.



It comes with a nice base, depicting a dried river bed. It even has a small dead fish on it.



With PNSO's Therizinosaurus and an average 1.7 meter tall human figure.
Sonidosaurus is a small Titanosaur, probably related to Saltasaurus. And, well, Therizinosaurus is just a giant among giants.
But now I really need a Gigantoraptor, as it shared its habitat with that animal. As well as an Alectrosaurus.