CollectA-New for 2015

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

As has become tradition, I have summarised all the new CollectA releases in a dinotoyblog entry: http://dinotoyblog.com/2015/01/17/upcoming-releases-from-collecta-new-for-2015/ 

You're still missing the picture of the smaller walking Spinosaurus figure:

It was probably overlooked..until I compared it and the Deluxe I thought it was the same figure.

[Yutyrannus]

As has become tradition, I have summarised all the new CollectA releases in a dinotoyblog entry: http://dinotoyblog.com/2015/01/17/upcoming-releases-from-collecta-new-for-2015/ 

You're still missing the picture of the smaller walking Spinosaurus figure:

It was probably overlooked..until I compared it and the Deluxe I thought it was the same figure.

Yeah, I figured it was just overlooked, I also thought it was the same figure until I looked more closely.

[DinoToyForum]

You are right, I thought that was the same figure, thanks for pointing it out! I'll update the post when I have a chance...

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I went ahead and added it to the first post.

I heard CollectA's first wave was pushed back til March..at least in the U.S. .

[Libraraptor]

All their -topses and sauropods which only seem to differ in their names bore me.
I find the Ichtyosaur giving birth very good, I also like the feathered T.rex and the Spinosaurus based on new research (I still don´t really believe). The pterosaur is decent, the mammals quite good. I´ll probably get myself the Ichtyosaur.

[DinoToyForum]

I went ahead and added it to the first post.

I heard CollectA's first wave was pushed back til March..at least in the U.S. .

Thanks for updating the first post, I noticed you have been doing so with dedicated regularity 

[EmperorDinobot]

I am extremely impressed with CollectA's efforts. I remember when they were a young, up and coming company around the time I joined this forum back in '07. They've come a long way. I wish I had space for all their wonderful dinosaurs.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I went ahead and added it to the first post.

I heard CollectA's first wave was pushed back til March..at least in the U.S. .

Thanks for updating the first post, I noticed you have been doing so with dedicated regularity 

Very welcome. I know how much that annoys some not to have everything in one place.

[Shadowknight1]

Just when I thought I was done getting Acrocanthosaurus figures...

Also, I know it's just me and that these are based on recent discoveries or whatever...but those Spinos are butt-ugly.

[Roselaar]

Also, I know it's just me and that these are based on recent discoveries or whatever...but those Spinos are butt-ugly.

You really think so? I think they're beautiful. Excellent sculpt and paint job. I think people just have to get over the saggier, less ferocious new look.

[Tallin]

Yup, it's the whole 'T rex can't have feathers he looks cooler scaley!' problem again...

I personally love the new look! It highlights just how diverse dinosaurs could be! I'm hoping that seeing more strange dinos like new Spino, therizinosaurus and Deinocheirus will make people want to embrace the new scientific findings and be less caught up on the idea of movie dinosaurs being the life-like ones...

[Shadowknight1]

Yup, it's the whole 'T rex can't have feathers he looks cooler scaley!' problem again...

I personally love the new look! It highlights just how diverse dinosaurs could be! I'm hoping that seeing more strange dinos like new Spino, therizinosaurus and Deinocheirus will make people want to embrace the new scientific findings and be less caught up on the idea of movie dinosaurs being the life-like ones...

Well, how did this new "look" for Spinosaurus come about?  Did they find a more complete skeleton at last?

[Tallin]

Two topics merged. 

---

I'm really digging the swimming pose. I'd go so far as to say I love it! 

I've not really weighed in much on the whole Spinosaurus new look thing, but it is clear that Hartman's blog continues to influence people's opinions. I spoke to Nizar Ibrahim about it, who is a friend, colleague (e.g http://plesiosauria.com/pdf/smith_and_ibrahim_2007.pdf), and the lead author of the study. I've been assured there are no scaling errors in the reconstruction, and that Hartman's critique is unfounded.

There are several factors that account for Hartman's confusion, but essentially, the main one is that femur is not oriented straight down in the skeletal reconstruction. Hartman measured a 2D image and based his conclusions on that, but in the 3D model the limb is pointing outwards and so it looks shorter from the side in 2D. I hope these CollectA models account for this too.

This was a weird creature indeed!

They found a skeleton that suggested that the front arms of the spinosaurus could have been load-bearing, and were quite muscular, so it was reasoned (to great detail in a scientific paper I think) that the animal could have been quadruped. There's plenty of info on it on the web I think.

[Concavenator]

Wow,that swimming Spino is gorgeous! I love it!Thank you again,CollectA! <3

[Shadowknight1]

Two topics merged. 

---

I'm really digging the swimming pose. I'd go so far as to say I love it! 

I've not really weighed in much on the whole Spinosaurus new look thing, but it is clear that Hartman's blog continues to influence people's opinions. I spoke to Nizar Ibrahim about it, who is a friend, colleague (e.g http://plesiosauria.com/pdf/smith_and_ibrahim_2007.pdf), and the lead author of the study. I've been assured there are no scaling errors in the reconstruction, and that Hartman's critique is unfounded.

There are several factors that account for Hartman's confusion, but essentially, the main one is that femur is not oriented straight down in the skeletal reconstruction. Hartman measured a 2D image and based his conclusions on that, but in the 3D model the limb is pointing outwards and so it looks shorter from the side in 2D. I hope these CollectA models account for this too.

This was a weird creature indeed!

They found a skeleton that suggested that the front arms of the spinosaurus could have been load-bearing, and were quite muscular, so it was reasoned (to great detail in a scientific paper I think) that the animal could have been quadruped. There's plenty of info on it on the web I think.

Hasn't that been a running theory since the discovery of Suchomimus?  What I mean is the gimpy stumps that used to be its legs.  Where did THOSE come from?

EDIT: Also...Spinosaurus couldn't pronate its hands, could it?  If not, how could it be a complete quadruped?

[suspsy]

Megatherium also couldn't pronate its hands. Perhaps Spinosaurus shuffled along on its forearms when it had to move about on land. Or perhaps its forelimbs evolved some kind of adaptation we aren't aware of yet. Here's the article from NG:

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/10/spinosaurus/mueller-text

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

If Spinosaurus was really like this, I'm guessing it didn't leave the water much. Maybe just to lay eggs?

[Yutyrannus]

If Spinosaurus was really like this, I'm guessing it didn't leave the water much. Maybe just to lay eggs?

My thoughts exactly .

[tyrantqueen]

EDIT: Also...Spinosaurus couldn't pronate its hands, could it?  If not, how could it be a complete quadruped?

It is possible that it could pronate its wrists. Perhaps it was an exception to the norm. Juvenile psittacosaurus were known to walk quadrupedally. There are several possibilities for locomotion for Spinosaurus but we don't have enough information yet to say for sure. I don't really put too much credence in the quadrupedal model for Spino but anything is possible.

[leidy]

I find the new model a bit clumsy and awkward looking.  Balance looks off, there isn't a natural flow to the pose, and the sail is about as shapeless as I've ever seen it.

The approved reconstruction showed it putting the weight on it's claws/knuckles, and even that was a bit controversial.

But the CollectA sail looks to be of similar shape compared to that second pic you posted and with this newest skeletal reconstruction by Ibrahim and Sereno...


And I'm not sure they're calling this an "approved reconstruction" quite yet. From what I understand, there are still two schools of thought on the shorter hind legs (if they were actually shorter at all).
That second pic you posted comes from a set of two types of reconstructions...


In the end, I like that CollectA gave one of these new looks a try. And the most bizarre one of the two! Even if this new thought is later debunked, it's still cool to have a figure that represents this period of Spino's evolution.
On the flip side though, I'm not overwhelmed by CollectA's aesthetic choices on this figure. But that's a personal opinion.

I don't dismiss them for giving it a try, I commend them for representing modern reinterpretation, I just don't applaud that particular figure. 

I refer to the 'approved reconstruction' in the sense that it was the art that accompanied the reveal of the new look, produced by David Bonadonna, specifically commissioned by one of the authors of that Spinosaurus study.  Bonadonna's work on Spinosaurus is essentially the official representation of how their research suggests Spinosaurus may have looked, and the example I posted is their interpretation of a quadrupedal pose, which is the obvious comparison to make to correspond to that of the Collecta.

I'm aware that Collecta's model attempts a similar sail to the new reconstruction, I just don't think it came out so well.

My criticism of the pose being awkward doesn't apply to the aquatic version.  I suspect the quad version may have been a modified version of the swimming sculpt (re-purposing a sculpt as Collecta are believed to do), which would explain why the pose seems more contrived.  If the model had been originally conceived for a four-legged pose, I expect they would've been able to achieve a more naturalistic result.

Conclusion?  This is the version to get: