Safari Ltd - new for 2014

[Hermes888]

*snip*
Looks like just the one Carnegie this year.

Dan said that.

Oh, must've missed that comment. What a real shame.

[tyrantqueen]

Personally, I find Carnegie's business strategy a bit...baffling. Their models are aimed at collectors, right? Surely they must be aware that the thing that most of us have been requesting is new sculpts of their old sauropods, among others. And yet they limit themselves to only one figure per year, and they picked the most overdone species (Tyrannosaurus rex)

I don't see why they couldn't have used Apatosaurus louisae for their anniversary figure, since it was named after Andrew Carnegie's wife (which I like, because she has the same first name as me ) and would tie in pretty nicely with the museum. Apatosaurus is nearly as iconic as T.rex as well, so it would have been a safe bet.

Oh well, maybe next year will be better.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

Personally, I find Carnegie's business strategy a bit...baffling. Their models are aimed at collectors, right? Surely they must be aware that the thing that most of us have been requesting is new sculpts of their old sauropods, among others. And yet they limit themselves to only one figure per year, and they picked the most overdone species (Tyrannosaurus rex)

I don't see why they couldn't have used Apatosaurus louisae for their anniversary figure, since it was named after Andrew Carnegie's wife (which I like, because she has the same first name as me ) and would tie in pretty nicely with the museum. Apatosaurus is nearly as iconic as T.rex as well, so it would have been a safe bet.

Oh well, maybe next year will be better.

I find myself in complete agreement with your comments. You get the feeling from how they handle their dinosaur line that it is more of a formality and not a key income source nor cause for concern with them. One would think they would ne more aggressive pursuing new sculpts and pieces to offer.

[Hermes888]

While I don't mind a Tyrannosaurus figure, I feel like they are playing it safe. It's going to sell well for sure, but it still feels kind of bland. I don't think many people with a casual interest in dino-toys would spring for a feathered T. rex, but that would have made it a lot more interesting and unique.

I guess that's what bothers me about the second Carnegie figure's absence this year. I can't really think of many affordable feathered figures, especially of popular dinosaurs like Velociraptor. Usually companies go with the Jurassic Park depiction, or claim accuracy by putting a few barely noticeable feathers on the arms and tail (I'm looking at you Schleich).

I'll most likely buy it, but it just looks too safe, even if it is well-made.
(The above statement also works for most of my opinions on Nintendo games)

[KeU]

Agreed.
I was so hoping for an Apatosaurus or Allosaurus.

Personally, I find Carnegie's business strategy a bit...baffling. Their models are aimed at collectors, right? Surely they must be aware that the thing that most of us have been requesting is new sculpts of their old sauropods, among others. And yet they limit themselves to only one figure per year, and they picked the most overdone species (Tyrannosaurus rex)

I don't see why they couldn't have used Apatosaurus louisae for their anniversary figure, since it was named after Andrew Carnegie's wife (which I like, because she has the same first name as me ) and would tie in pretty nicely with the museum. Apatosaurus is nearly as iconic as T.rex as well, so it would have been a safe bet.

Oh well, maybe next year will be better.

[Gwangi]

I was really looking forward to a well made feathered dinosaur from Carnegie. Partially because they are rare but also because some of the best that exist were made by Carnegie all the way back in 2006. Counting this upcoming year that is 8 years without a feathered dinosaur. I'm really disappointed in them these last few years. The theropods looks alright but uninspired. Same pose, same basic color scheme. I think the last good year for them was 2011. The Miragaia is still one of my favorite figures of all time. The Brachiosaurus was good and all but I feel cheated by the size, it really needed to be 1:40 like the older model and the previously made Diplodocus (another favorite). The Concavenator was a serious let down...same pose and a bad paint job. Carnegie is getting predictable with their poses and color schemes and frustrating with their lack of new pieces and failure to update the older models. I don't know Carnegie, 2014 is the year you were supposed to "wow" us with the 25th anniversary and all. The Tyrannosaurus is nice but it does not "wow" me.

[Megalosaurus]

Wow. Most of you have feather fever.
But remember toys are aimed for kids (even Carnegie), and most kids still see dinosaurs like we did in 80ts & 90ts, big SCALLY reptiles.
I agree that a fuzzy Velocyraptor will be a nice addition to Carnegie, but i prefer they do a not so overrepresented dinosaur.

[...]The theropods looks alright but uninspired. Same pose, same basic color scheme.[...]The Miragaia is still one of my favorite figures of all time. [...]The Concavenator was a serious let down...same pose and a bad paint job. [...]The Tyrannosaurus is nice but it does not "wow" me.

I agree with those points.

[Megalosaurus]

I believe Cryptozoology toob deserves to be in the first post of this thread as it has 2 hominids, a living fossil and a plesiosaurid. And of curse other cool guys.
Safari, please, do a second one!

[Gwangi]

Wow. Most of you have feather fever.
But remember toys are aimed for kids (even Carnegie), and most kids still see dinosaurs like we did in 80ts & 90ts, big SCALLY reptiles.
I agree that a fuzzy Velocyraptor will be a nice addition to Carnegie, but i prefer they do a not so overrepresented dinosaur.

[...]The theropods looks alright but uninspired. Same pose, same basic color scheme.[...]The Miragaia is still one of my favorite figures of all time. [...]The Concavenator was a serious let down...same pose and a bad paint job. [...]The Tyrannosaurus is nice but it does not "wow" me.

I agree with those points.

The fact that they're aimed at children is all the more reason to make them feathered. No reason these things cannot be both educational and fun. Besides, do we need another generation believing dinosaurs didn't have feathers? Science knew as much in the 1970s without the discoveries to back them up and even with the evidence we STILL get naked dinosaurs!

[Megalosaurus]

[...]The fact that they're aimed at children is all the more reason to make them feathered. No reason these things cannot be both educational and fun. Besides, do we need another generation believing dinosaurs didn't have feathers? Science knew as much in the 1970s without the discoveries to back them up and even with the evidence we STILL get naked dinosaurs!

Of course, you have a point, but i don't want to get offtopic again.
So, lets agree that Carnegie is slowing down and isn't making good choices (from our point of view).
I believe Monolopho will benefit from a more creative paint job.

For now i decide to get Pachy, Ammoni, and Crypt toob. I'll wait to see photos of the real mass produced T.Rex before decide to get it.

[Splonkadumpocus]

Since my earlier post on this subject was buried under tons of arguments over tripod poses, I'll say this again:

Safari retired their prehistoric mammal line recently because of some agreement where they're not allowed to produce prehistoric mammals for their Wild Safari line.

However, they're now releasing a set of prehistoric hominids. Does this mean the agreement is over?

[Hermes888]

I'm throwing this out there - Velociraptor is not over-represented at all. Name five affordable figures of a fully feathered Velociraptor.
What is actually over-represented is the Jurassic Park version, the scaly, human-sized "raptors" that look almost nothing like the actual Velociraptor.

And I don't care if people don't like feathers on their theropods, it's not something you can simply deny. What if Jurassic Park had stuck with the popular depiction of dinosaurs, and had shown them as sluggish beasts with their tails on the ground? It's time for a change in the popular view of dinosaurs, and I'm hoping that something like Walking With Dinosaurs 3D makes feathers more popular.

[CityRaptor]

Since my earlier post on this subject was buried under tons of arguments over tripod poses, I'll say this again:

Safari retired their prehistoric mammal line recently because of some agreement where they're not allowed to produce prehistoric mammals for their Wild Safari line.

However, they're now releasing a set of prehistoric hominids. Does this mean the agreement is over?

Probably. Why was it there to begin with?

[Raptoress]

Really like the pachyrhinosaurus, being a ceratopsian nut. Not too keen on the suchomimus, though. The head looks good, but I don't like the colour scheme. Reminds me of a cheap Chinasaur and the texture looks like it was just stamped repeatedly with a texture stamp. It appears to be a good sculpt, though.

[Takama]

Really like the pachyrhinosaurus, being a ceratopsian nut. Not too keen on the suchomimus, though. The head looks good, but I don't like the colour scheme. Reminds me of a cheap Chinasaur and the texture looks like it was just stamped repeatedly with a texture stamp. It appears to be a good sculpt, though.

Just so you know. There is no Texture stamping on any of the Wild Safari models

[Simon]

Then how does WS get that skin scale detail? 

Of course WS dinos are texture stamped as the final step in the sculpting process. 

[tyrantqueen]

Oh dear, let's not get into this again

[Takama]

Oh dear, let's not get into this again

Yes, Tyrant Queen already got into this debate, and it propted the Sculptor of Safaris pieces to become a member of this blog.

Hello Doug Watson here,
I am the Safari Ltd sculptor in question. I enjoy ready most of the bloggers comments good or bad when it comes to my pieces in fact some of the criticism is helpful when it points out an anatomical mistake that I have made but for a long time now Tyrantqueen you have been going on and on about me using texture stamps. With the images of the 2014 pieces due out soon I thought I would clear this up so you don't have to make the same mistake again. I did not use a texture stamp on any of the pieces that you have highlighted.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

..and that's that. No debate.

[fleshanthos]

Have a link to the original discussion? Sounds intriguing.