Papo - New for 2015

[kreativtek]

I love the Apatosaurus, its neck is nice and baggy. It almost reminds me of this:

Putting aside Papo figures for a moment, do you really think that sauropods could've looked like this? I understand that neck skin can be loose and saggy, but not to such extent that the animals would look ridiculous. Very few things in biology do not have a specific purpose and I do not understand what would the dinosaurs use that extra skin for. It would only slow them down (especially on a windy day), not to mention limited visibility and maneuverability. Moreover, that saggy skin would be an invitation for predators that could bite or grab it with their claws and bring the animal down.

I am no expert, but such vision simply does not look very real to me. Is there something I am missing here?

I forgot to ask, when the mini dinosaurs will be release?

No idea, but larger figures are expected to be released in spring. Possibly the timeframe will be similar.

[Lusotitan]

I love the Apatosaurus, its neck is nice and baggy. It almost reminds me of this:

Putting aside Papo figures for a moment, do you really think that sauropods could've looked like this? I understand that neck skin can be loose and saggy, but not to such extent that the animals would look ridiculous. Very few things in biology do not have a specific purpose and I do not understand what would the dinosaurs use that extra skin for. It would only slow them down (especially on a windy day), not to mention limited visibility and maneuverability. Moreover, that saggy skin would be an invitation for predators that could bite or grab it with their claws and bring the animal down.

I am no expert, but such vision simply does not look very real to me. Is there something I am missing here?

Sexual selection.

[Daspletodave]

I love the Apatosaurus, its neck is nice and baggy. It almost reminds me of this:

Putting aside Papo figures for a moment, do you really think that sauropods could've looked like this? I understand that neck skin can be loose and saggy, but not to such extent that the animals would look ridiculous. Very few things in biology do not have a specific purpose and I do not understand what would the dinosaurs use that extra skin for. It would only slow them down (especially on a windy day), not to mention limited visibility and maneuverability. Moreover, that saggy skin would be an invitation for predators that could bite or grab it with their claws and bring the animal down.

I am no expert, but such vision simply does not look very real to me. Is there something I am missing here?

Sexual selection.

Gross. Reminds me of Fat Bastard at the end of Goldmember (Austin Powers) with all that loose baggy skin.
Most ridiculous dinosaur ever!

[stargatedalek]

I love the Apatosaurus, its neck is nice and baggy. It almost reminds me of this:

Putting aside Papo figures for a moment, do you really think that sauropods could've looked like this? I understand that neck skin can be loose and saggy, but not to such extent that the animals would look ridiculous. Very few things in biology do not have a specific purpose and I do not understand what would the dinosaurs use that extra skin for. It would only slow them down (especially on a windy day), not to mention limited visibility and maneuverability. Moreover, that saggy skin would be an invitation for predators that could bite or grab it with their claws and bring the animal down.

I am no expert, but such vision simply does not look very real to me. Is there something I am missing here?

I can think of a number of different ways such a structure could be useful, even vital, to the sauropod. Just because YOU think something "looks weird" doesn't make it inaccurate. This is something I notice often and it bothers me to no end, nature (extinct or otherwise) does not bend to the whims of what you think "looks cool" or what you think "makes sense" nature will do as it does whether you like it or nor. As for "very few things in biology do not have a specific purpose", pardon my language but I'm going to call bull**** on that, in fact I'm going to give you a challenge, if you can explain to me in depth why a peacocks tail has spots instead of stripes I'll admit that sauropod is inaccurate, have fun.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I love the Apatosaurus, its neck is nice and baggy. It almost reminds me of this:

Putting aside Papo figures for a moment, do you really think that sauropods could've looked like this? I understand that neck skin can be loose and saggy, but not to such extent that the animals would look ridiculous. Very few things in biology do not have a specific purpose and I do not understand what would the dinosaurs use that extra skin for. It would only slow them down (especially on a windy day), not to mention limited visibility and maneuverability. Moreover, that saggy skin would be an invitation for predators that could bite or grab it with their claws and bring the animal down.

I am no expert, but such vision simply does not look very real to me. Is there something I am missing here?

I can think of a number of different ways such a structure could be useful, even vital, to the sauropod. Just because YOU think something "looks weird" doesn't make it inaccurate. This is something I notice often and it bothers me to no end, nature (extinct or otherwise) does not bend to the whims of what you think "looks cool" or what you think "makes sense" nature will do as it does whether you like it or nor. As for "very few things in biology do not have a specific purpose", pardon my language but I'm going to call bull**** on that, in fact I'm going to give you a challenge, if you can explain to me in depth why a peacocks tail has spots instead of stripes I'll admit that sauropod is inaccurate, have fun.

stargatedalek, you need to calm down. Nothing in kreativtek's reply was confrontational , merely stating their opinions. Yours however is very aggressive. Please watch that.

[tyrantqueen]

Reminds me of an elephant's ears somewhat. It's not outside the realms of possibility. It's actually quite conservative compared to some things I've seen.

[stargatedalek]

I apologize kreativtek, it seems I read more into that than I should have. I'm going to leave my post because in terms of the general attitude I'd like to leave my point. I was really talking about the attitude of "but that doesn't look cool" in general but it ended up being more of a direct response which was bad of me.

[kreativtek]

I apologize kreativtek, it seems I read more into that than I should have. I'm going to leave my post because in terms of the general attitude I'd like to leave my point. I was really talking about the attitude of "but that doesn't look cool" in general but it ended up being more of a direct response which was bad of me.

You do not need to apologize, I understand your point of view. People who posses actual knowledge often disagree with those who only rely on their personal beliefs and intuition. Note that I never said that the illustration doesn't make sense because the saggy skin looks weird. It was rather its function - or lack thereof - that made me wonder if sauropods really could've looked like that. Could you please tell me how such ear-like patches of skin around the neck could be vital to a dinosaur?

As for your challenge, I gladly accept it. At the moment one cannot really can for sure why animals are coloured the way they are, but the most probable explanation has a lot to do with basic rules of perception and cognitivity. Recent study shows that female peacocks pay more attention to male tail size, rather than ornamentation. However, when they look at it from the distance, they seem to only look at the eyespots. That is where perception comes in. Depending on perspective and viewing angle, round shapes are perceived differently from, say, stripes. They catch the eye and tend to focus the attention for longer. They also seem more approachable, which is the reason why round shapes are often used in graphic design and advertising.
Another reason why peacocks have eyespots on their tails comes from the animal's innate behaviour. Stripes and spots are mostly associated with predators and therefore with danger.

Blade-of-the-Moon, thank you for defending the serenity in the forums. I believe stargatedalek and I have it under control.

[stargatedalek]

My hat goes off to you Kreativtek. That was such a wonderful and insightful explanation!

Tyrantqueen made a comparison to elephant ears, which is what I imagine is the most likely purpose such flaps could serve, heat dispersal. A large animals like an elephant or a sauropod could be at risk of overheating without such structures to cool the blood. Sauropods being even larger than elephants (in some cases that is) would be at even greater risk of overheating without some specialized adaptations for such. You mentioned they would make tempting targets for predators, I would offer that it could simultaneously act as a display intimidation, making the animal appear larger and bulkier, and if an attack did occur it could distract the focus away from the sauropods throat. As for vision its hard to say, they seem to start below the eyes which I would think would place them entirely out of the line of sight, but I can't see the eyes on the illustration so I can't say. If it was loose enough it might not impede movement, but if it did that could indeed be problematic, (especially for those sauropods that have more maneuverable necks). Its definitely a speculative design, with its good and bad points (I think its an ingenious way around the heat issue), but I don't think its inaccurate per-se given the lack of large skin impressions for sauropods (and the sadly low probably of such a fossil existing).

[Lusotitan]

I love the Apatosaurus, its neck is nice and baggy. It almost reminds me of this:

Putting aside Papo figures for a moment, do you really think that sauropods could've looked like this? I understand that neck skin can be loose and saggy, but not to such extent that the animals would look ridiculous. Very few things in biology do not have a specific purpose and I do not understand what would the dinosaurs use that extra skin for. It would only slow them down (especially on a windy day), not to mention limited visibility and maneuverability. Moreover, that saggy skin would be an invitation for predators that could bite or grab it with their claws and bring the animal down.

I am no expert, but such vision simply does not look very real to me. Is there something I am missing here?

Sexual selection.

Gross. Reminds me of Fat Bastard at the end of Goldmember (Austin Powers) with all that loose baggy skin.
Most ridiculous dinosaur ever!

I actually think it looks quite majestic.

I basically agree with stargatedalek's post immediately before mine.

And as far as everything having a use, mutations are inherently random. It's the selection that's technically not, with passing on genes (although, random factors or ones unrelated to these flaps could also kill it - and most likely would). So, if having a bit of skin or a thicker neck (how this would've arisen originally) might've helped select a mate. Or, again might have helped cool it down.

[Roselaar]

Appears the Apatosaurus is definitely gonna be one of the bigger Papo dinosaur figures, judging from that catalogue. I know it's not in scale, but it's printed over two pages in a kind of in-your-face way, it may as well be shouting 'this is a big figure' (unlike the other new addition, Tupuxuara). It's also not labeled as a juvenile (unlike the Pachycephalosaurus).

[Concavenator]

The Apatosaurus is absolutely majestic.Can't believe Papo has done this!It's maginificent.I love it,and I'm going to pick one up as soon as I see it in my local shop.I assume it's gonna be a pretty long figure.Everything Dinosaur said it wasn't going to be as big as the Brachiosaurus,but we'll see.The term big is very relative in this case.An Apatosaurus would be much longer than a Brachiosaurus while the latter would be much taller.So,the Apatosaurus should be as long,if not a little longer.I think it's an error with the information by Everyhing Dinosaur.It looks like an adult one.I think Papo didn't want to give it an overly big size like the case of the Brachiosaurus.So we'll see what happens.I'm definetely going to buy this one,it looks badass,unlike the Brachio.I think it'll be a fantastic seller because of our requests 

The Tupuxuara looks pretty good,although the lack of pycnofibers is a pity  (Realize the Schleich Anhanguera has pycnofibers  ).Anyways,it's very exciting.The choice of making a Tupuxuara is unusual for Papo.I think they just wanted to make a new pterosaur and looked the Sideshow catalog...and found a Tupuxuara  I love the pose on the model,and I'm happy that companies are beginning to pose their pterosaur models in a standing stance (this one looks more like walking),because it takes lesser space.My Schleich Quetzalcoatlus is so big that I have to rest it in the wall of my shelf.

Also,for those who say that 2 models in a year is too few,well,that's partly true,but note that one of the two new models is a sauropod and a big one.Besides,ED mentioned that we might,just mught get mlre 2015 models.Okay,not really plausible,but we always have that possibililty!
I'm getting thise two!

[suspsy]

That saggy baggy Apatosaurus looks like it came off the pages of All Yesterdays----which I highly recommend to anyone who hasn't read it. And it's why I prefer CollectA product over Papo. The latter is way ahead in terms of sculpted detail, but I find their dinosaurs too conservative and dull. Give me feathers, feathers, and more feathers!

[Meso-Cenozoic]

About the size of the figures, I don't think we can go by the pics in their catalog. I agree with Blade, the Plesiosaurus, and for that matter, the Tupuxuara, just look too big compared to the sauropods.



It also states in their catalog, "Appearance may vary from pictures."

BTW, kreativtek, how did you get such a sharp larger image from the catalog? When I used their zoom, the images got blurrier! I couldn't even sharpen the screen cap in photoshop very well, at least not anywhere near your quality. Nice job! Can you post the other new minis like that?

[tyrantqueen]

The blue of the Tupux's crest really stands out in that shot.

[kreativtek]

About the size of the figures, I don't think we can go by the pics in their catalog. I agree with Blade, the Plesiosaurus, and for that matter, the Tupuxuara, just look too big compared to the sauropods.



It also states in their catalog, "Appearance may vary from pictures."

I think it is no coincidence that Apatosaurus and Brachiosaurus were put on the same page. Their heads and feet are very similar in size, which suggests that the picture represents their actual appearance.

BTW, kreativtek, how did you get such a sharp larger image from the catalog? When I used their zoom, the images got blurrier! I couldn't even sharpen the screen cap in photoshop very well, at least not anywhere near your quality. Nice job! Can you post the other new minis like that?

Here are all the other new Minis. I downloaded the catalog and extracted images in Illustrator.

[Centrosaur86]

I hope you are right Kreativtek !! 

[CityRaptor]

Looking at the Minis, I don't think the third Theropod is another T.rex. Looks more like a Carnotaurus.

[sauroid]

the minis look too crude, like mud clay figures.

[tanystropheus]

About the size of the figures, I don't think we can go by the pics in their catalog. I agree with Blade, the Plesiosaurus, and for that matter, the Tupuxuara, just look too big compared to the sauropods.



It also states in their catalog, "Appearance may vary from pictures."

I think it is no coincidence that Apatosaurus and Brachiosaurus were put on the same page. Their heads and feet are very similar in size, which suggests that the picture represents their actual appearance.

I really hope so, especially since Papo is releasing only 2 models in the first half of the year (March for Europe and May for U.S?). I really don't see any point in having the Papo Apato span 2 pages worth...it must be big... there are certainly ways that Papo can sell large sauropods for cheap (e.g. hollow plastic similar to Schleich's Apatosaurus).

It is more or less confirmed that a Papo Giganotosaurus release is being planned in the near future. My estimate...Sept 2015.