CollectA-New for 2015

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Collecta has also seemingly settled into a pattern of constantly making their larger theropods with shrink wrapped skulls....compare the Acro from this year to their large theropod from last year. Both have badly badly shrink wrapped skulls that look very out of place alongside the wide hips and obviously well fed body shape (Carcharodontosaurus )

Isn't the overly wide hips just a stability concession?

[Saurian]

 Rex have scary, soulless eyes like a shark and bright feathers like a bird  amazing combination I can not wait to touch it with my hands

[stargatedalek]

Collecta has also seemingly settled into a pattern of constantly making their larger theropods with shrink wrapped skulls....compare the Acro from this year to their large theropod from last year. Both have badly badly shrink wrapped skulls that look very out of place alongside the wide hips and obviously well fed body shape (Carcharodontosaurus )

Isn't the overly wide hips just a stability concession?

If they were done just for stability than thats a pretty convenient coincidence since its fairly realistic bulk

[Patrx]

Collecta has also seemingly settled into a pattern of constantly making their larger theropods with shrink wrapped skulls....compare the Acro from this year to their large theropod from last year. Both have badly badly shrink wrapped skulls that look very out of place alongside the wide hips and obviously well fed body shape (Carcharodontosaurus )

Too true, and unfortunately an issue that's kept me away from several recent, otherwise excellent CollectA releases. As with the dislocated rostral bones on some of their ceratopsians, just one bizarre little anatomic blunder throws off the whole thing for me.

[Gwangi]

Collecta has also seemingly settled into a pattern of constantly making their larger theropods with shrink wrapped skulls....compare the Acro from this year to their large theropod from last year. Both have badly badly shrink wrapped skulls that look very out of place alongside the wide hips and obviously well fed body shape (Carcharodontosaurus )

Too true, and unfortunately an issue that's kept me away from several recent, otherwise excellent CollectA releases. As with the dislocated rostral bones on some of their ceratopsians, just one bizarre little anatomic blunder throws off the whole thing for me.

Yeah, I can handle the shrink wrapped skull but the "dislocated rostral bone" just kills that particular model for me. I'm glad you know the anatomical terminology.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Collecta has also seemingly settled into a pattern of constantly making their larger theropods with shrink wrapped skulls....compare the Acro from this year to their large theropod from last year. Both have badly badly shrink wrapped skulls that look very out of place alongside the wide hips and obviously well fed body shape (Carcharodontosaurus )

Isn't the overly wide hips just a stability concession?

If they were done just for stability than thats a pretty convenient coincidence since its fairly realistic bulk

Maybe for some..but like the Icthyovenator..it's not that realistic at all from looking at spinosaur skeletons.  Thereopods in general have smaller hips though, it's one of their narrowest areas.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

Collecta has also seemingly settled into a pattern of constantly making their larger theropods with shrink wrapped skulls....compare the Acro from this year to their large theropod from last year. Both have badly badly shrink wrapped skulls that look very out of place alongside the wide hips and obviously well fed body shape (Carcharodontosaurus )

Isn't the overly wide hips just a stability concession?

Wether the intent is to disguise the stability issue, and make the dinosaur more stable or make it look well fed, the net effect is a fat , and by that, healthy looking dinosaur with an emaccitated face.This makes the entire figure appear unbalanced and thus poorly done. It just doesnt make sense for all of the skull bones to be visible and yet the dinosaur to appear stuffed and full. I had hoped it was a one time thing, but sadly the Acro appears to be almost identical....healthy and well fed looking dinosaur with a starved skull.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Collecta has also seemingly settled into a pattern of constantly making their larger theropods with shrink wrapped skulls....compare the Acro from this year to their large theropod from last year. Both have badly badly shrink wrapped skulls that look very out of place alongside the wide hips and obviously well fed body shape (Carcharodontosaurus )

Isn't the overly wide hips just a stability concession?

Wether the intent is to disguise the stability issue, and make the dinosaur more stable or make it look well fed, the net effect is a fat , and by that, healthy looking dinosaur with an emaccitated face.This makes the entire figure appear unbalanced and thus poorly done. It just doesnt make sense for all of the skull bones to be visible and yet the dinosaur to appear stuffed and full. I had hoped it was a one time thing, but sadly the Acro appears to be almost identical....healthy and well fed looking dinosaur with a starved skull.

From an artistic point of view I'd say they wanted to show as much detail as they could..I know when I started I outlined the skulls..to just round over all the shape of the skull seemed wrong to me. They might have thought the same. What they need to learn is they can keep those outlines with large scales and dermal bits without having to recess the flesh so much.

In regards to the hips again, they just look like the hip bones themselves are overly wide.
You can look at an overview of a theropod skeletal and see it : http://s6.postimg.cc/91329dztt/Allosaurus_Greg_Paul.png

[John]

I doubt that the wide hips of the Carcharodontosaurus are a stability concession.I think the reason it's so wide at the hips is because they are depicting the recent "fat tailed" look to the most extreme level that they can,even to the point of dislocating it's hip bones in the process.
If you look at the toy,you'll notice it's tail has an enormous caudofemoralis muscle.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I doubt that the wide hips of the Carcharodontosaurus are a stability concession.I think the reason it's so wide at the hips is because they are depicting the recent "fat tailed" look to the most extreme level that they can,even to the point of dislocating it's hip bones in the process.
If you look at the toy,you'll notice it's tail has an enormous caudofemoralis muscle.

True it certainly has. Of course I think that enlarged tail is also counter-balancing the figure.

[Pawnosuchus]

I have quite a few Collecta's in my collection and originally the appeal to me was in their willingness to do species no one else was doing. However in my humble opinion if you can wait long enough eventually someone else will do the same figure and do it better. Their failure to adhere to a consistent scale, increasing use of bases. and quality problems(soft rubber) have soured me on them. No Collecta's this year for me. For now 
I'll stick to Wild Safari, Battats,Papo's, and Carnegies. Just my personal preference.

[Daspletodave]

I have quite a few Collecta's in my collection and originally the appeal to me was in their willingness to do species no one else was doing. However in my humble opinion if you can wait long enough eventually someone else will do the same figure and do it better. Their failure to adhere to a consistent scale, increasing use of bases. and quality problems(soft rubber) have soured me on them. No Collecta's this year for me. For now 
I'll stick to Wild Safari, Battats,Papo's, and Carnegies. Just my personal preference.

Well said!
And consider this - you have two other Nasutoceratops to choose from, and Battat will be re-releasing their much better Acrocanthosaurus!
So you don't even have to wait that long - they'll ALL be out in 2015!

[suspsy]

What exactly is the issue with the ceratopsids' rostral bones? Can someone give me a brief explanation and perhaps an image comparison?

[Gwangi]

What exactly is the issue with the ceratopsids' rostral bones? Can someone give me a brief explanation and perhaps an image comparison?

It looks dis-articulated from the rest of the jaw, like it is moving up and down independently when it should be the lower jaw that's moving. It makes it look like the lower jaw is fixed in place, and the jaw is opening by way of the rostral bones. It's hinged in a place it shouldn't be.

CollectA Model.


Compare that to the open mouth of say...the Safari Triceratops.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

What exactly is the issue with the ceratopsids' rostral bones? Can someone give me a brief explanation and perhaps an image comparison?

It looks dis-articulated from the rest of the jaw, like it is moving up and down independently when it should be the lower jaw that's moving. It makes it look like the lower jaw is fixed in place, and the jaw is opening by way of the rostral bones. It's hinged in a place it shouldn't be.

CollectA Model.


Compare that to the open mouth of say...the Safari Triceratops.

Gwangi pegged this perfectly, and is right on target. Pretty much all ceratopsians, wether basal or derived share this common trait, a fused or fixed rostral , it is a defining trait for the genus.

[triceratops83]

The Xenoceratops had this problem as well.

[Meso-Cenozoic]

It's not just their Ceratopsians. Remember this guy...

The end of both his upper and lower jaws bend oddly upward and downward.

...originally the appeal to me was in their willingness to do species no one else was doing.

I mostly like their ambitious nature in this area too. But they can sometimes jump the gun and produce a figure of a newly discovered animal that has as of yet little fossil evidence to go by. So to compensate they use a bit too much creative license for my liking. My guess is the main reason they do this is to be the first out of the gate with a newbie, instead of waiting like everybody else for more evidence to build upon.

[triceratops83]

I still prefer Collecta's over zealous ambition over say, Mojo's bland chinasaur rehash. Even if Collecta's reconstructions veer off and crash (every ceratopsian quilled), at least they branched out and didn't just stay where a lot of dinosaur figures have remained since the early days.

[suspsy]

Thank you for the info, Gwangi.

I totally see the flaw, yet it honestly doesn't bother me enough to make me not want to get the figure. Pronated wrists are a much bigger pet peeve for me. To each their own.

And I really like the T. Rex with Struthiomimus (mine is the base version).

I love the fact that CollectA is willing to take creative risks. Even when a figure later turns out to be inaccurate (Agustinia, Deinocheirus), it doesn't take away from the fact that it was a neat sculpt.

[Sim]

Like The Carnegie Collection, I feel CollectA has a lot potential, a good deal of which isn't being fulfilled.  In CollectA's case, they're still making anatomical mistakes which have already been mentioned in this thread and aesthetic choices I find strange.  Like how so many of their figures now have completely black eyes.  Or their non marine reptiles having their cloacas painted brown - it's off-putting and not necessary.  The Pliosaurus has bumps around its eyes and mouth which don't seem to have a logical reason for being there and just make it look ugly.  This is what I find most surprising about CollectA - that they still manage to make ugly figures.  I also don't like the feather crests, which might work better if they were used less often.  I have no interest in figures attached to bases.  There's clearly a lot of skill and talent behind the CollectA figures.  If they can get over their problems I'm confident the results will be excellent!   

I wonder what their thinking was with the hinged jaws? In my opinion it detracts from quality of the figure, I've never been a fan of that feature

I agree.  I feel this way about other articulated points on a figure too.