The best figure of every species, according to Halichoeres

[Bokisaurus]

Impressive as always!
That Dicraeosaurus is pushing it for me as far as price and availability. As much as I love it I couldn't find one for a reasonable price, I just can't shell out more than $100 with shipping for it😢

[Gothmog the Baryonyx]

@Halichoeres I was not thinking of inaccuracies, and I think it's possible that the "toes" being painted that way happened much in the same way as one of Doug Watson's Ceratopsids, I forget which, and the factory painter just assumed.
I was more along the lines of them putting a CE mark on the figure possibly without it getting checked properly. But it is possible that that didn't happen. Will have to wait and see.
And now Connor is in hand I do see the Simpsons thing with the mouth fully closed, same with Wilson and Chaunzi as well really.

How big are those little Mattel figures as well, been thinking about the Mussaurus and Herrerasaurus for my Triassic shelf?

[Leyster]

@Halichoeres
I was more along the lines of them putting a CE mark on the figure possibly without it getting checked properly. But it is possible that that didn't happen. Will have to wait and see.

Sorry, nothing personal or against you, but do you have some actual proof of this? There is a tendency on DTF to make assumptions that will remain on the net after years and years, even when disproved (see the whole Vitae lead thing), doing nothing but damage the brand. V @vampiredesign you work in association with GR toys, as far as I understood, do you have any information on this?

PS: congrats to @Halichoeres for all the recent acquisition, they're amazing (well, most of them. The others are... interesting  )

[Gothmog the Baryonyx]

Well L @Leyster,  @Everything_Dinosaur have been trying to get the model tested so they can import some stock

[Concavenator]

@Halichoeres Congratulations! Especially, the Dicraeosaurus and Torvosaurus are awesome. I also like PNSO's Torvosaurus more than CollectA's, but if I were you (and if I had space, of course) I would keep the CollectA, as not only it's a decent figure but, as you say, represent a different species. It's not like megalosaurids are abundant in the figure market anyways.

[Sim]

As far as I'm aware those cheaper Vitae figures having lead paint hasn't been disproved, it was just proved that they were legit Vitae figures.  I think there's less reason to believe they have lead paint though since REBOR got other details of their story wrong.

[Leyster]

As far as I'm aware those cheaper Vitae figures having lead paint hasn't been disproved, it was just proved that they were legit Vitae figures.  I think there's less reason to believe they have lead paint though since REBOR got other details of their story wrong.

It was confirmed by Cheung Chung Tat himself, and they have legit CE mark, so they cannot contain lead. Plus at the beginning Vitaes were sold by european stores too, they couldn't have sold them if they contained lead.

[Halichoeres]

Impressive as always!
That Dicraeosaurus is pushing it for me as far as price and availability. As much as I love it I couldn't find one for a reasonable price, I just can't shell out more than $100 with shipping for it😢

B @Bokisaurus for what it's worth, I was able to get it for around $55 including shipping from LaNaTime. But it's definitely on the higher end.

Halichoeres Congratulations! Especially, the Dicraeosaurus and Torvosaurus are awesome. I also like PNSO's Torvosaurus more than CollectA's, but if I were you (and if I had space, of course) I would keep the CollectA, as not only it's a decent figure but, as you say, represent a different species. It's not like megalosaurids are abundant in the figure market anyways.

I'll take that under advisement 

@Gothmog the Baryonyx Oh I wasn't aware of any CE testing issue, that's interesting. Being averse to persistent noise and strong odors, I keep my apartment scrupulously free of pets and children, so I'm not personally concerned about the sorts of things that a safety test would catch.

As far as I'm aware those cheaper Vitae figures having lead paint hasn't been disproved, it was just proved that they were legit Vitae figures.  I think there's less reason to believe they have lead paint though since REBOR got other details of their story wrong.

I tend to agree with this. Rebor is as unreliable a source as this hobby has.

As far as I'm aware those cheaper Vitae figures having lead paint hasn't been disproved, it was just proved that they were legit Vitae figures.  I think there's less reason to believe they have lead paint though since REBOR got other details of their story wrong.

It was confirmed by Cheung Chung Tat himself, and they have legit CE mark, so they cannot contain lead. Plus at the beginning Vitaes were sold by european stores too, they couldn't have sold them if they contained lead.

That does seem to suggest an absence of lead. But I own figures made of lead entirely on purpose, I just make a point of washing my hands after handling them. And with no children or pets around, I have only myself to poison.
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While I'm waiting for the Life... game miniatures, my one recent Paleozoic acquisition:


PNSO Dunkleosteus ("Zaha")
Scale: 1:25 - 1:30 for the absolute largest inferognathal that has been described; about 1:20 for more complete large individuals
Sculptor: Zhao Chuang or someone in his workshop
Released: 2021
Upper Devonian
It was probably inevitable that PNSO would try their hand at the best-known Paleozoic fish, and they did a pretty decent job. Its proportions are a little bit wonky, but that's kind of par for the course for PNSO, especially their aquatics. The color scheme is attractive, and the way the armor looks like an integrated part of the organism is top-notch. They've avoided the pitfall of leaving all the anterior plates completely exposed, but they've also avoided the pitfall of giving it orca lips. The angle of the lower jaw suggests they haven't taken the Meckel's cartilage into consideration, and the jaw hinge mechanism has left no room for gills. There's some pink behind the head that could suggest gill tissue, but it might just be meant to indicate muscle. I'm not personally a big fan of articulated figures, but if you're going to articulate the jaw, it's cool that they did both.


The large scale means it works well with Kaiyodo's stem-ratfish Cladoselache. The eyes have odd markings on them, which could be mistaken at a glance for getting the eyeballs inside out, but their position and number suggest simple pigment markings of a kind which are reasonably common in fish.


It's an elegant sculpt, although the Favorite version continues to be the most biomechanically well-thought-out Dunkleosteus toy.


As the Mojö version is replaced, its pale green color is reinterpreted as putrefaction as it falls to the seafloor, to be scavenged by its conspecifics.

[SidB]

B @Bokisaurus , to echo @Halichoeres ' comment, I too got a Dicraeosaurus at a relatively affordable price from La-na-time shop, so this may still be available for you.
@Halichoeres , I like that appropriate dark humor as regards the 'fate' of your Mojo Dunk; re-cycling then and now, so to speak.

[Gwangi]

I haven't gotten a Dunkleosteus since the Safari figure but I quite like this one. Will probably get it eventually. For some reason I like the Mojo one too, more than those by CollectA and Schleich anyway. For Mojo in particular it's a borderline masterpiece.

[Shonisaurus]

My congratulations on your PNSO dunkleosteus and I also congratulate you on your photos. I honestly do not know if it is more scientific or not but from my personal opinion it is much more perfect and beautiful than its Mojo and Favorite counterparts shown in the photographs.

That bright gray enraptured me.

[Ravonium]

Nice figures and pictures as always Hali. It is interesting that, even after a few years, no company's efforts have quite superseded Favorite's Dunkleosteus (even if this new PNSO one seems to be the closest yet to doing so).

Also only just learned that Cladoselache (and after further reading, Stethacanthus as well) is more closely related to chimaeras than to sharks; apparently this has been known for a relatively long time and yet I've overlooked it until today.

While I'm waiting for the Life... game miniatures, my one recent Paleozoic acquisition:

Wait, you haven't received them yet?

[Halichoeres]

@Gothmog the Baryonyx I missed your previous question, sorry! I don't have Mattel's Herrerasaurus, but the Mussaurus and Gasosaurus are both around 18 - 19 cm in total length. The Herrerasaurus is roughly in the same neighborhood based on ones I've seen in stores.

@Halichoeres , I like that appropriate dark humor as regards the 'fate' of your Mojo Dunk; re-cycling then and now, so to speak.

Thanks  a fitting end to the last Mojo model in my collection (but who knows, they might surprise me in 2022).

I haven't gotten a Dunkleosteus since the Safari figure but I quite like this one. Will probably get it eventually. For some reason I like the Mojo one too, more than those by CollectA and Schleich anyway. For Mojo in particular it's a borderline masterpiece.

I agree, it's quite good for Mojo! Definitely better than the CollectA and Schleich versions. I guess I'm glad that CollectA cut their teeth on Dunkleosteus, when it comes to fish. I think it made their Xiphactinus better than it might have been.

My congratulations on your PNSO dunkleosteus and I also congratulate you on your photos. I honestly do not know if it is more scientific or not but from my personal opinion it is much more perfect and beautiful than its Mojo and Favorite counterparts shown in the photographs.

That bright gray enraptured me.

Thanks, Shoni. The sheen on it is really attractive and lifelike. They did a nice job in that department.

Nice figures and pictures as always Hali. It is interesting that, even after a few years, no company's efforts have quite superseded Favorite's Dunkleosteus (even if this new PNSO one seems to be the closest yet to doing so).

Also only just learned that Cladoselache (and after further reading, Stethacanthus as well) is more closely related to chimaeras than to sharks; apparently this has been known for a relatively long time and yet I've overlooked it until today.

Yeah, it's surprising how few of the Paleozoic 'sharks' we all know and love are true sharks! It's one of those things, though, where I rarely feel like it's worth the effort to correct people. I think using 'shark' in a broad sense to refer to chondrichthyans is mostly fine in non-technical writing.

While I'm waiting for the Life... game miniatures, my one recent Paleozoic acquisition:

Wait, you haven't received them yet?

No, unfortunately. I pledged for the full set, fully painted, which means I'm not just waiting for the pieces to be cast, but also painted, which is a lot of labor on Suchimonsri's part. Adding to that, she specifically prioritized EU customers over the summer because of the new VAT, which I sort of understand although it rankles just a bit that I will probably be the very last backer to see fulfillment.

[UK]

Great items and photographs as always. I wish my limited skills could overcome the poor camera phone.

[Gothmog the Baryonyx]

Oh, that's a little bigger than I had hoped, but I am holding off until I see what Safari & CollectA have for next year anyway. I wonder if CollectA will release an Ubirajjara?

[Bokisaurus]

And the news Dunk queen arrives! Lovely, this figure really looks so alive despite some shortcomings .

[Grimbeard]

This definitely add points for the PNSO Dunkleosteus on my list. I'm currently looking to expand/build up my paleozoic collection and since Favorite/Kaiydoo may have the best paleozoic  models, they are scarely avaiable here, so I'm was wavering between the Safari and the PNSO. Expecially the texuture and shiny finish look great.

Your thread in general is a great source to look for the greatest possible option for specific generas, appriciate your afford quite a lot.

[Halichoeres]

Great items and photographs as always. I wish my limited skills could overcome the poor camera phone.

Thank you!

Oh, that's a little bigger than I had hoped, but I am holding off until I see what Safari & CollectA have for next year anyway. I wonder if CollectA will release an Ubirajjara?

Yeah, turns out I've overestimated the scale on most of my Dunks. I think all the ones by major companies are closer to 1:30 than 1:40. CollectA might make an Ubirajara, although I'm not clear on the status of the name now that the paper has been retracted.

And the news Dunk queen arrives! Lovely, this figure really looks so alive despite some shortcomings .

Yeah, it really does!

This definitely add points for the PNSO Dunkleosteus on my list. I'm currently looking to expand/build up my paleozoic collection and since Favorite/Kaiydoo may have the best paleozoic  models, they are scarely avaiable here, so I'm was wavering between the Safari and the PNSO. Expecially the texuture and shiny finish look great.

Your thread in general is a great source to look for the greatest possible option for specific generas, appriciate your afford quite a lot.

Yeah, thanks to favorable shipping agreements, it's reasonably easy to get Japanese products here, but it's definitely a different story in Europe. With that in mind, both Safari and PNSO are great options. Thank you for the kind words, I'm always gratified to learn that someone has found my thread useful.

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Some Cretaceous bilaterians, mostly fish!


CollectA Xiphactinus
Scale: 1:30 - 1:35
Sculptor: Matthias Geiger
Released: 2021
Albian - Maastrichtian
I don't have much to add to Gwangi's great review of this figure except that they have probably made the cleithrum too rounded and broad. That's really picking nits, though. I'm very glad this exists, and I hope it's successful. CollectA is a little less consistent with accuracy than Safari, for example, but I'm always going to have a soft spot for them because they take risks like this.


After several years of searching, I managed to get the FaunaCasts Xiphactinus right around the time the CollectA version was announced. So for now I have a Xiphactinus school, which is bad news for everyone else on the shelf, although I doubt they actually fed much on ammonites. In time I'll probably sell or trade the FaunaCasts version.


Kanna Dinosaur Centre coelacanth, cf. Axelrodichthys lavocati
Scale: 1:55 for a moderately large specimen
Released: 2021
Albian - Maastrichtian
This figure is an accessory to the new Kanna swimming Spinosaurus. Because their 2016 Spino figure came with a little fish expressly labeled Lepidotes, I was cautiously optimistic that Kanna might have actually referred to some fossil material for this diorama piece. Now that I have it in hand, I don't think they did. This figure is sort of a generic coelacanth, but to the best of my knowledge the only species definitely known from the Kem Kem beds is Axelrodichthys (formerly Mawsonia) lavocati, which is highly distinctive, with a head profile quite a bit different from this. This could work for some marine coelacanths, but this is supposed to be a riverbed or at best deltaic environment.


Kanna Dinosaur Centre holostean, cf. Adrianaichthys
Scale: 1:55
Cenomanian
This could be a reasonable stand-in for something like Adrianaichthys. The scales are too large, but the overall proportions aren't too bad. Of course, I have no clue if that's what Kanna intended.


Teleostei incertae sedis
Scale:
These little fish don't fit anything I know from the Kem Kem. If you know something I don't, do let me know! They're not elongate enough to be Dastilbe or Spinocaudichthys, and they're too small to be Palaeonotopterus. Probably also the wrong shape for the latter, although hard to be sure since it's only known from the anterior ~25% of the body. My guess is that Kanna's sculptor didn't have anything particular in mind when sculpting these. They could as easily be minnows as herrings as tiny semionotiforms. One of these broke in shipping, unfortunately, but I guess we could just pretend that somebody took a nip out of it. Maybe I should add a dollop of red paint.


In the long tradition of painstaking spinosaurid figures accompanied by fish that are complete afterthoughts, here's the whole tableau (sans superfluous theropod). I might keep the diorama base, where these somewhat mysterious fishes can coexist with the even-more-inaccurate Onchopristis from DamToys.


3DTech Productions (Hibou Coop) Aquilolamna milarcae
Scale: 1:7 - 1:9
Released: 2021
Turonian
Now for something much nicer! This is a digital model printed in PLA and hand-painted. For customers outside the EU, they only offer the digital file, but forum member @Duna very kindly ordered one and forwarded it to me. Despite the ethical morass surrounding the holotype of Aquilolamna, it's a beautiful and strange animal, and it's cool to see a model of it so soon. And just as a side note, I was reminded recently why I don't normally watch YouTube figure reviews when I heard one pronounce "Hibou Coop" to rhyme with "stoop." Maybe I'm crazy here, but surely it's "CO-ahp," as in, short for "cooperative."



The paint job is really nice and thoughtfully done. Spectacular figure (and this one is clearly a male).


With some more accurate Axelrodichthys than the one above, albeit a different species.


CollectA Pravitoceras
Scale: 1:2 - 1:3
Sculptor: Matthias Geiger
Released: 2021
Campanian
And finally, a non-fish, though maybe if they were around today we would consider ammonites shellfish. This is a really fun figure, and a great addition to CollectA's invertebrate lineup. The coloration isn't quite as reminiscent of candy as I'd feared when I saw the first promo images, although it is pretty vibrant. Honestly, it wouldn't look out of place on a reef, where animals get away with all kinds of insane patterns.


It scales nicely with some of my Kaiyodo ammonites.

[SBell]

How does one get the files from hibou coop? I could probably get access to a printer if I have the file!

[Shonisaurus]

How lucky you have the xiphactinus and prabitoceras from Collecta, mine are still waiting in my store. Thanks for sharing the photos.