The best figure of every species, according to Halichoeres

[Halichoeres]

I'm not into fish, but these look gorgeous.

Aren't they though? I'm very pleased.

I was operating using the 'endangered' part of the set's name, so Paddlefish fall into that far more than bowfin (despite the efforts of Outdoor Life magazine and poor fishery management). But both would be better.

Oh, yeah, in that case, paddlefish.

[Halichoeres]

A few more denizens of the Late Cretaceous. These are all around 1:5-1:7 scale.




Vivid's WWD Alphadon. The only metatherian in my collection. I love that it is the right scale to try to eat the hatchling Maiasaura. About 1:3-1:4.


Speaking of which--wow. This piece from Kaiyodo is a marvel of joinery. I generally don't care for baby dinosaur toys, but couldn't let this one go. About 1:4.


And finally Vivid's Alexornis. Won't stand without its plastic support, and looks a little crude, but I'm glad to have it because, like Alphadon, it's one of the few toys of the small animals that were kicking around underfoot (or, in this case, overhead) while [non-avian, for the pedants] dinosaurs were casting their very long shadows. About 1:7-1:8.

[Halichoeres]

Ornithischians of the Early Cretaceous (~1:40 scale):




CollectA Hypsilophodon. Adorable. About 1:30-1:35.


CollectA Koreaceratops. These and the Hypsilophodon family were made in 2012, so I guess CollectA isn't keen on making more like this. That's a shame because this is such a great way to sell and display little herbivores that usually get ignored. About 1:40-1:45.


CollectA Wuerhosaurus. It's a pretty unattractive toy, but not a lot of Wuerhosaurus figures out there. About 1:40.


Yowie Atlascopcosaurus. Yowie bipeds always stand well. Must be the harder plastic. About 1:35.


CollectA Muttaburrasaurus. I really hope the Australian Age of Dinosaurs line eventually produces a Muttaburrasaurus, because this one is only so-so. About 1:50.

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Jurassic Hunters Ouranosaurus. Honestly not too shabby, but I plan to get the forthcoming Battat. 1:40.


CollectA Tenontosaurus. Kudos for making it at all, but it is not CollectA's finest work. About 1:45-1:50.


CollectA Gastonia. Great model. Mine had a few spines bend in transport. About 1:35-1:40.

[Halichoeres]

This one arrived yesterday, just a few hours after the group shot. Fashionably late, and who has better right?

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Kaiyodo Fukuisaurus (Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum). About 1:35 scale and a beautiful little statue (this one probably doesn't qualify as a toy).


Looking a little out of place with all those older CollectA models.

[Halichoeres]

Theropods of the Early Cretaceous (± 1:40):


Spinosaurid heavy.

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Spinosaurus itself. Well, allegedly. I got this Papo incidentally in an eBay lot and I intend to replace it with the Carnegie. I also have the blue Favorite version somewhere, but I seem to have mislaid it. It's probably not meaningful to estimate scale on this one given how wrong it is even relative to the information available when it was released, but it is at least appropriately big (unlike the otherwise superior Favorite version). And it still looks cool, I ain't gonna front.


Carnegie Baryonyx. On the other hand, I'll probably replace this one with the Papo version, depending on how it turns out. 1:40.


CollectA Ichthyovenator. About 1:40.

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The fish in the Ichthyovenator's jaws. The paint missed the orbit somewhat. At first I thought this looked like an acanthomorph, which would have been mildly anachronistic. But maybe they were trying to portray a coelacanth. Or a bowfin, which is my favorite alternative--they had a basically global distribution during the Cretaceous, and they have that nice rounded caudal fin. Or I might be overthinking it entirely--I think to a lot of dinosaur people all fish look more or less alike.


Safari Suchomimus. Not bad. I've seen photos of the previous incarnation, and this is a marked improvement. About 1:40.


CollectA Irritator. I like the head on this one, although the hide looks a little like a dry lake bed for my taste. I'm fine with out-of-scale texturing on dinosaur figures, but it can be done more subtly than this. About 1:40-1:45.


CollectA Utahraptor. Pretty reasonable, although, like other maniraptoran figures, the feathering looks increasingly conservative with time. About 1:45.


Jurassic Hunters Altispinax (=Becklespinax). It's not great, but it's better than the CollectA, and nobody else is making one. I would probably like it more if it didn't look like it was painted with a highlighter pen. 1:40.

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By way of contrast, the really excellent Fukuiraptor by Kaiyodo (for the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum). Shame about the hands, but the detail on this guy is great. The tip of its tongue touches the roof of the mouth as though saying the "r" in its own name. About 1:30.

[Libraraptor]

Great new additions!

[Halichoeres]

Great new additions!

Thanks!

And now, some other stem birds of Early Cretaceous Gondwanan fragments (± 1:40):

Mostly sauropods.

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CollectA Agustinia. This is an animal that should probably not have had a toy made of it at all, but I can understand the impulse under the almost certainly mistaken assumption that it had these weird spines (in reality they were probably rib or hip fragments). For once I think CollectA is telling the truth about a model being about 1:40.

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Granted, the head of Agustinia is not known. But I'm not sure why one would then leap to this peculiar morphology. One of many questionable decisions that CollectA was making in 2007/2008.


This Carnegie Amargasaurus was released two years earlier and is miles better (1:35).


Safari Nigersaurus. One of the best sauropods on the market, full stop. But not for long, I hear. Sadly due to be discontinued. Let's hope whatever succeeds it is as good. About 1:30.


Kaiyodo Tapejara (or if you like, Tupandactylus, as the species T. imperator has been reassigned). Kaiyodo just makes made the best pterosaurs. About 1:45.

[joossa]

I'm surprised to hear about the Nigersaurus's scale. I thought the animal was larger. Excellent model nonetheless. It was my first sauropod model.
Your photography is very nice and crisp as always.

[Halichoeres]

I'm surprised to hear about the Nigersaurus's scale. I thought the animal was larger. Excellent model nonetheless. It was my first sauropod model.
Your photography is very nice and crisp as always.

Thanks, very kind! I was surprised at the Nigersaurus too--I measured it twice. But yes, it was a pretty small sauropod!

[SBell]

I'm surprised to hear about the Nigersaurus's scale. I thought the animal was larger. Excellent model nonetheless. It was my first sauropod model.
Your photography is very nice and crisp as always.

Thanks, very kind! I was surprised at the Nigersaurus too--I measured it twice. But yes, it was a pretty small sauropod!

You just need the enormous CollectA deluxe model. It's 1:20, so it makes it look enormous!

[Halichoeres]

You just need the enormous CollectA deluxe model. It's 1:20, so it makes it look enormous!

As it happens I just bought an eBay lot that contains it, but I will probably trade it away/ sell it. We'll see--maybe I'll feel differently once it's in my hot little hand.

[Halichoeres]

Theropods of the Early Cretaceous (± 1:10)


Look at all those feathers!


Carnegie Beipiaosaurus. Very nice sculpt, but lousy handling after painting. I ordered this brand new direct from Safari and they fulfilled it from some shop in Carbondale, Illinois. It came with paint wear in like 80 places, as though it had spent a few minutes in a rock tumbler. 1:10 [EDIT: this photo shows a replacement figure with substantially less paint wear.]


Carnegie Dilong. This one turned up much less abused. Also, the only non-maniraptoran in this group. 1:10.


Safari Sinornithosaurus (feathered dinos Toob). The combination of stance and paint job make this one look a lot like a monkey. 1:10.


Kaiyodo Sinosauropteryx. Very form-fitting plumage, but I like the paint work. About 1:15.

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Safari Microraptor (feathered dinos Toob). Adorable. It looks like Microraptor was some other color, but nobody knew that when this came out. About 1:15.


Safari Caudipteryx (feathered dinos Toob). One of the best from this Toob. About 1:13.

[Halichoeres]

Amniotes of the Early Cretaceous (± 1:10):


Couldn't get everyone in focus at once. This is probably the only group shot so far that is half Australian taxa!


Jurassic Hunters Hypsilophodon. Not bad apart from the fluorescent coloration, which I guess isn't impossible for a diapsid but is still jarring against everything else on the shelf. 1:10.


Toyway Leaellynasaura. Like other WWD models, it looks like it has paint wear even when it doesn't. Tail's too short and it won't stand up, but I still like it. About 1:8 if you correct for the short tail.


CollectA Minmi. Not bad, actually, but I suspect that AAoD will make one that will be better. About 1:13.


CollectA Ornithocheirus. The head sculpt is really nice. The extremities could be better but it's better than the dinosaurs CollectA was making around the same time. About 1:10.

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Schleich Anhanguera. The wings are probably great if you own a store: they're tucked in to minimize shelf space occupied, and I bet they're stackable, though I'm not going to buy multiples to test that. Doesn't look great displayed on my shelves, though. About 1:12.


Yowie Aussiedraco (Queensland Pterosaur), but at the time the Lost Kingdoms line was released, Aussiedraco had been tentatively assigned to Ornithocheirus, so the papers for the Queensland Pterosaur say "Ornithocheirus." Basically all large, toothed pterosaurs of the Early Cretaceous have spent some time as a species of Ornithocheirus (including maybe Anhanguera? Can't recall). About 1:9; incidentally, I always make scale calculations for pterosaurs based on the skulls, because the wings are so inconsistently proportioned.


Dino Horizons Pterodaustro, borrowing a stand from the Colorata Dsungaripterus. I really need to make some stands for my non-Colorata, non-Kaiyodo pterosaurs. About 1:10.


Yowie Kollikodon ("Hotcrossbunodon"). Known only from teeth and reconstructed as a giant chubby platypus, but I like having it for the Aussiedraco to harass. About 1:15.

[Halichoeres]

More amniotes of the Early Cretaceous! (± 1:5)

The two Carnegies resemble a pair of old school hiphop emcees. Tiny ones. "Jump, jump!"


Carnegie Caudipteryx. Not a tripod, but it could be if the tarsometatarsals start to sag. Gorgeous model. 1:5.


Carnegie Microraptor. Balances on its rear flight feathers and can be made to rock like a rocking chair, enhancing the emcee effect of course. I know that melanosome traces have been used to infer that existing Microraptor specimens were darker than this, but let's just pretend this was some other species of Microraptor...

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...because this plumage is very nicely rendered.  1:5.


Kaiyodo Sinemys, S. gamera to be precise, because it turns out other members of the genus don't have the weird posterolateral flange on the shell. Apparently the only turtle in my collection (how is that possible?), but I'm definitely going to get the Favorite Archelon. About 1:5.

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Yowie Nanantius (Dawn Bird). I know I live in a Golden Age of toy dinosaurs because I have not one, but two enantiornithine birds in my collection (the other is Alexornis). About 1:4.


Yowie Steropodon. Two enantiornithines AND two monotremes. I like the stripes. About 1:7.


And here they are in situ, with a couple of hand-carved wooden puzzles that I bought in Colombia.

[Ezikot]

I really love your collection!
Really nice photos
...and a lot of useful infos (especially about scales)!

[Halichoeres]

I really love your collection!
Really nice photos
...and a lot of useful infos (especially about scales)!

Thanks! Glad it could be useful. Figure I should add something, given that my collection doesn't really have anything people haven't seen before.

[SBell]

I really love your collection!
Really nice photos
...and a lot of useful infos (especially about scales)!

Thanks! Glad it could be useful. Figure I should add something, given that my collection doesn't really have anything people haven't seen before.

Interestingly, out of all of the information I maintain in my database for my collection (yes, it exists, and yes, it is huge and sprawling) I have no info on either sizes or scales. I could fix that, but now the situation is incredibly out of hand...!

[Halichoeres]

I really love your collection!
Really nice photos
...and a lot of useful infos (especially about scales)!

Thanks! Glad it could be useful. Figure I should add something, given that my collection doesn't really have anything people haven't seen before.

Interestingly, out of all of the information I maintain in my database for my collection (yes, it exists, and yes, it is huge and sprawling) I have no info on either sizes or scales. I could fix that, but now the situation is incredibly out of hand...!

That's funny that that's the missing thing. I'll admit I have a spreadsheet, but it's pretty simple: name, make, measurements, and time/place that the organism lived. With this thread, I guess now I have photos of most of them too.

[Halichoeres]

More archosaurs of the Cretaceous, all added more recently than the group shots that would otherwise have contained them:


All coincidentally within a few percent of 1:20.


Kabaya Deinonychus by none other than Kazunari Araki. The tail is a little short; when corrected for, this is 1:20. And the best Deinonychus out there.

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Anhanguera redux. On the ground, with their rostra in the air, they could be engaging in some courtship sparring, à la albatrosses. About 1:25-1:30.


Jurassic Hunters Falcarius. Courtesy of Fauna Figures, along with the rest of my Jurassic Hunters figures and a few of my newer CollectA models. A basal therizinosaur, it retains a lot of plesiomorphic theropod traits. This one's legs are still too long, though. The belly says it's 1:40, but that's a lie, it's almost exactly 1:20.


Jurassic Hunters Zuniceratops. The sculpting job is perfectly adequate, and the paint is a lot more subdued than many models in the line, but the eyes are...startling. 1:20.


Schleich Pentaceratops. This figure is just so close to being great. The head is flawless, but if you're going to make the feet such a prominent part of the pose, you gotta pay closer attention. For the feet alone, I'll probably replace this one with the upcoming Battat. About 1:25.


AAA Gallimimus. It doesn't stand without something to lean on, and it's a bit tacky to the touch, but this is the only feathered Gallimimus I have ever seen other than the tiny alpaca-esque model kit from Acheson, if I recall correctly. The only AAA in my collection, too. About 1:25.


Yowie Kakuru. Nobody has any idea what this animal looked like, because it's essentially a nomen nudum, but this was more than ten years ago and a goddamn candy company made a feathered theropod. I don't know what everyone else's excuses are *cough Papo Schleich cough*. Scale doesn't mean too much for an animal with such fragmentary remains, but it's probably around 1:25-1:30.


Yowie Fulgurotherium ("Fleet-footed Dinosaur" is the Yowie name), another highly dubious specimen, but we'll take what we can get from the Mesozoic of Australia. Same scale problems as Kakuru, but probably around 1:15-1:20.


Yowie Timimus. This one ought to have had feathers too, but I'm willing to give Yowies a lot of leeway. I like that it's painted like a cheetah. Slightly better fossils for this guy, so I'm more confident saying it's approximately 1:30.


Yowie Minmi. Possibly the best Yowie dinosaur. There are even little paint applications below each scute, although it does look a little like maybe the paint was supposed to be ON the scutes and a machine on the production line was miscalibrated. Or were these hand-painted? Seems improbable. About 1:20-1:25.

[Ezikot]

Nice again!
the zuniceratops doesn't look bad at all, i'll add it to my wish list.
Regarding the Penta: considering it a titanoceratops, what scale would it be?