Safari Ltd - new for 2015

[Doug Watson]

Really? That sounds puzzling. Can you share the reason(s) why Carnegie refused to allow megafauna?

To put it bluntly they didn't want the competition that is why they wanted to kill the WSD line as well.

[suspsy]

Huh. That doesn't exactly paint Carnegie in a pleasant light.

Doug, I'm not expecting anything, but I'm just gonna put it out there anyway: if you were to make an Arctodus or a Platybelodon for next year, I'd be the first in line to buy it!

[Doug Watson]

Huh. That doesn't exactly paint Carnegie in a pleasant light.

Doug, I'm not expecting anything, but I'm just gonna put it out there anyway: if you were to make an Arctodus or a Platybelodon for next year, I'd be the first in line to buy it!

It was frustrating all those years since I couldn't comment on the speculation plus there were so many mammals I wished I could do. Problem is there is not enough time in the year to do all the dinosaurs they want me to do plus the extant animals so I don't know when I may get to them. Who knows they may get another artist to do them as well.

[DinoLord]

Huh. That doesn't exactly paint Carnegie in a pleasant light.

Yeah, it makes you wonder. If they were so bent on limiting Safari's dinosaur production to the museum line, maybe they'll collaborate with another artist/company to finally get their own exclusive line.

Personally, I wouldn't mind some proboscid figures - the current Amebelodon is pretty awesome!

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

That's an interesting bit of info Doug, thanks for sharing it does shed a little light on a situation many of us have been curious about.  I'd personally like to see a Basilosaurus ( other than the mini one). The marine reptile toys seem like good sellers so that might be a good middle ground figure.

[Simon]

Got a question for Doug (couldn't find a recent Safari Topic that would be more relevant) - If Safari gave you the choice, what prehistoric animals do you most want to sculpt?

Well these days they have been giving me my choice and since we try to keep our upcoming pieces under wraps until they are officially revealed I can't really comment much. I do like doing the horned and armoured dinosaurs as you may have guessed but really I enjoy doing any dinosaur, I am living a childhood dream. In fact when I was playing with my Marx dinos back in the 60s I never dared to dream that I might be making dinosaurs for other kids some day.
I can say one thing now that the Carnegie agreement is over Safari is now able to produce prehistoric mammals again. It was a clause in the old contract that Carnegie invoked that killed my old prehistoric mammals line and prevented us from doing more. In the recent negotiations Carnegie even wanted Safari ltd to stop producing their own line of Wild Safari Dinosaurs and that was one of the final straws that ended the agreement. I am not promising mammals for 2016 or 2017 but at least now we have the option.

So, they either didn't like - or couldn't handle - the competition.  Just as I suspected.  Instead of trying to improve their own product they tried to hamstring their WS cousins who were "building a better mousetrap".

Well Doug, I realize you have some mixed feelings about all this due to your personal friendship with the former Carnegie sculptor, but I for one hope that WS will now take all restraints off of you and allow you to sculpt all manner, and size, of prehistoric beasties....

[Takama]

Doug I just hope that you can sculpt some of the species that were exclusive to the Carnegie Collection for the Wild Safari one. I would love to see you make a Concavenator, Giganotosaurus, Camerasaurus, and Diplodocus.   Also I don't really want you to make bigger models then whats in the line now, unless its part of a different line, or a Argentinosaurus .

I would also like to see more Threyophorans like Edmontinia, or Crichtonsaurus

[Doug Watson]

Well Doug, I realize you have some mixed feelings about all this due to your personal friendship with the former Carnegie sculptor, but I for one hope that WS will now take all restraints off of you and allow you to sculpt all manner, and size, of prehistoric beasties....

Actually I don't know Forest other than by reputation. I only stood up for her as a fellow artist. I have nothing but respect for what she did with the Carnegie line.
In reality Safari has never put any restraints on me when it comes to dinosaurs. Except for initially asking for larger feet on bipedal species but if you notice on my last few theropods I have been making the feet the correct size plus you will also notice none of my theropods have been tripods and they have never asked or told me to do tripods. My first tripod is the Archaeopteryx and that was my choice. They have also never told me to feather or unfeather I make that decision based on the latest information I can get my hands on. After 39 years of working for different employers/clients Safari Ltd has been the most appreciative of my work and after this much time I feel no need to suck up.

[ItsTwentyBelow]

That is very interesting to learn about the relationship between Safari and the Carnegie museum at the end. Unfortunate to know that there was so much disagreement and that Carnegie sought to controI too much.

I find it a bit petty that Carnegie just couldn't stand how Safari was showing them up every year with their own prehistoric line. I've always loved the Carnegie line but Safari's has been so much more impressive of late. Glad our friend Doug Watson will continue doing what he loves, with mammals in the mix hopefully!

[sauroid]

i just hope that Carnegie ifever they have a resurrection, wouldnt tie up with another company that does their own dinosaur/prehistoric line...

[Dinomike]

Just watched a review on Doug's Archaeopteryx on Youtube - I noticed the beautiful shades of purle on it, btw Now I really need to get this figure, it's beautiful and really believable! And, on top of that, I worked in a museum for a couple of weeks as a teenager and I got to dust a replica of a fossilized Archaeopteryx so I feel very nostalgic about this species.

[Zelan]

Is anyone aware of any stores that offers the safari dinos around Toronto? The only place I've seen around here that carries them is the crafts store Michael's, and they have a pretty limited selection. I prefer to buy these in a store where I can check them out for paint rubs and other flaws first.

[Doug Watson]

Is anyone aware of any stores that offers the safari dinos around Toronto? The only place I've seen around here that carries them is the crafts store Michael's, and they have a pretty limited selection. I prefer to buy these in a store where I can check them out for paint rubs and other flaws first.

I just checked the Safari Ltd web site and it seems the closest is Hobby & Toy Central in Burlington at 27 miles. They have two locations in Burlington, I checked their website and they have the dinosaurs listed but you might want to call ahead to be sure they have them in the store. Their other location is 31 miles from TO.
I had a meeting with Safari Ltd's CEO yesterday and he informed me that the Toronto Zoo is now carrying Safari Ltd so you could call their gift shop as well and see if they stock the dinosaurs. I have posted the info for Burlington's closest store below.

Hobby And Toy Central
Description:
Hobby And Toy Central Is Dedicated To Enthusiastic Fun For All Ages!
Address:
2455 Appleby Line Unit C1012
Burlington, Ontario
Ca
Distance:
27.2 Miles
Phone:
(905) 331-4500
Website:https://hobbyandtoycentral.com/

[amargasaurus cazaui]

If my hobby having figures signed catches on, going to have to pester Doug to make small flat areas on the underside to hold signatures.I was looking over the sauropelta and Nasutoceratops thinking, where would a person sign these? Every single inch of the animal is textured in some for on both!!

[tanystropheus]

Huh. That doesn't exactly paint Carnegie in a pleasant light.

Yeah, it makes you wonder. If they were so bent on limiting Safari's dinosaur production to the museum line, maybe they'll collaborate with another artist/company to finally get their own exclusive line.

Personally, I wouldn't mind some proboscid figures - the current Amebelodon is pretty awesome!

The WS Amebelodon is my personal favorite from Safari Ltd. prehistoric mammals range. I would love to see the many variations of proboscid figures.

[Doug Watson]

If my hobby having figures signed catches on, going to have to pester Doug to make small flat areas on the underside to hold signatures.I was looking over the sauropelta and Nasutoceratops thinking, where would a person sign these? Every single inch of the animal is textured in some for on both!!

One letter per scale.

[suspsy]

Thank you for that information, Doug, I just ordered a couple of coveted Carnegie toys!

Sadly, they don't stock CollectA. Boo.

[Doug Watson]

Thank you for that information, Doug, I just ordered a couple of coveted Carnegie toys!

Sadly, they don't stock CollectA. Boo.

That's what I say "CollectA Boo" 

[Zelan]

I just checked the Safari Ltd web site and it seems the closest is Hobby & Toy Central in Burlington at 27 miles. They have two locations in Burlington, I checked their website and they have the dinosaurs listed but you might want to call ahead to be sure they have them in the store. Their other location is 31 miles from TO.
I had a meeting with Safari Ltd's CEO yesterday and he informed me that the Toronto Zoo is now carrying Safari Ltd so you could call their gift shop as well and see if they stock the dinosaurs. I have posted the info for Burlington's closest store below.

Hobby And Toy Central
Description:
Hobby And Toy Central Is Dedicated To Enthusiastic Fun For All Ages!
Address:
2455 Appleby Line Unit C1012
Burlington, Ontario
Ca
Distance:
27.2 Miles
Phone:
(905) 331-4500
Website:https://hobbyandtoycentral.com/

Thanks Doug, I actually ordered some safari dinos from this very same store just a month or so ago. I was hoping there would be another retailer inside Toronto Burlington is nearly an hour's drive away from where I live. It was far enough that I just opted to order online and have them shipped rather than drive there and back. Some of their older pieces definitely were running low as I noticed a couple of figures were no longer listed as soon as I placed my order. It's good to know the zoo will carrying safari dinos now, I don't remember them having much dinos at all of any brand last time I visited.

[Doug Watson]

Thanks Doug, I actually ordered some safari dinos from this very same store just a month or so ago. I was hoping there would be another retailer inside Toronto Burlington is nearly an hour's drive away from where I live. It was far enough that I just opted to order online and have them shipped rather than drive there and back. Some of their older pieces definitely were running low as I noticed a couple of figures were no longer listed as soon as I placed my order. It's good to know the zoo will carrying safari dinos now, I don't remember them having much dinos at all of any brand last time I visited.

You are welcome. Actually I said the Zoo is carrying Safari but I wasn't sure if they have the dinosaurs but a quick phone call would settle that. Here in Ottawa we only have Michaels and the Museum of Nature that carry Safari but Safari ltd's ownership is determined to improve distribution in Canada so hopefully things will improve.