The best figure of every species, according to Halichoeres

[BlueKrono]

Oh noes on the fall! I think we've all had heart-stopping moments like that. Your description of the brittleness of this plastic is perfect. I only have one, but I'm sure you can guess which one it is.

[UK]

Oh noes on the fall! I think we've all had heart-stopping moments like that. Your description of the brittleness of this plastic is perfect. I only have one, but I'm sure you can guess which one it is.

Any prizes for guessing correctly? 

[Halichoeres]

Oh noes on the fall! I think we've all had heart-stopping moments like that. Your description of the brittleness of this plastic is perfect. I only have one, but I'm sure you can guess which one it is.

HMM I WONDER

And now, new Devonian gnathostomes:


CollectA Dunkleosteus
Scale: 1:30
Sculptor: Matthias Geiger
Released: 2018
Because Dunkleosteus is only known from dermal armor and a handful of girdle elements, length estimates are really unreliable. So I base scale estimates on the maximum width of the head. If CollectA was aiming for 1:40 based on total length, then they made it too skinny. This is a great looking toy, though. I still slightly prefer the Favorite, for its lunate tail and for its sleek lines. This one has detail that seems to exist just for the sake of detail. For example, all these tubercles all over the body are impressive from a technical standpoint, but I don't really see what they're doing for the animal except generating turbulence, and hence drag. The tail is mildly heterocercal, which is an improvement on the Schleich and Safari versions, biomechanically speaking. I like that the nuchal gap (between the head shield and the thoracic shield) is wrinkly, showing that there is a hinge there. The jaw articulation looks pretty good when the mouth is closed, but Dunkleosteus didn't open its mouth by just lowering its mandible; it also actively lifted the head at that nuchal joint, and pulled the suborbital plate laterally. It looks odd to me to have the lower jaw open while those other elements are stationary, though this problem is much worse on the Schleich version. Anyway, I'm pretty happy with this figure on balance; it has a good amount of skin, and the detail on the head in particular looks great, like the streaky paint on the bony oral plates that suggests self-sharpening wear.


Kaiyodo's Cladoselache is less appreciative of these details.


Compared with Colorata's Dunkleosteus, which is already en route to another DTF member.


TST Advance Dipnorhynchus (Shyaruru Palette)
Scale: about 2/3× life size
Lungfishes have a 400 million year history, with all kinds of interesting morphologies, but I'm not aware of a single plastic version. If Southlands Replicas made some, I'd give them so much money. But for now I'm stuck with this enormous (60 cm) plush thing which looks rather distressingly like an Airedale.


TST Advance Elginerpeton (Shyaruru Palette)
Scale: 1:3
Stem-tetrapods have gotten more attention from toy and model companies, but this is still the only Elginerpeton. Funny that the only fuzzy toys in my collection represent animals that weren't fuzzy in life. This one at least isn't such an over-the-top pile as the material that the Dipnorhynchus is made of. 

And now some Cambrian bilaterians:


TST Advance Vetulicola (Shyaruru Palette)
Scale: 3× life size
Vetulicola gives its name to the clade Vetulicolia, a group of strange Cambrian animals that are probably stem-tunicates; i.e., they are more closely related to salps, sea squirts, and larvaceans than to proper vertebrates on the one hand or lancelets on the other. As with lungfish, no stem- or crown-group tunicate is available in plastic, though seems like a good bet that someone will eventually make one, given that every few years somebody makes a Cambrian set. For now, this will do.


TST Advance Pomatrum (=Xidazoon, Shyaruru Palette)
Scale: 3× life size
TST Advance has not one, but two plush vetulicolians! Nice to have them in scale with one another. The genus Xidazoon is regarded as a junior synonym of Pomatrum, at least for now, but the toy is labeled Xidazoon, maybe because it's a cooler name. With this shipment, I consider my TST Advance collection to be complete, and I can't wait for it to be depleted by replacements when other companies re-make these taxa realistically and at smaller scales. But just how many weird taxa has TST Advance made? So many that they're tied with Schleich and Starlux for 10th place out of the 77 companies that contribute to my collection.


Cog Ltd Aysheaia
Scale: about 1.3× life size
This is the last Cog Ltd figure I was looking for, a generous surprise from Bokisaurus. Thanks, Ashley! Great addition to my Cambrian fauna, and my only lobopod! I keep forgetting to pick up the Favorite Hallucigenia.

[Reptilia]

Hands down you provided the best picture so far of this great figure.

[Roselaar]

Dunk looks better than I expected!

[Lanthanotus]

Dunk looks better than I expected!

Indeed,... I might ending getting one of these, though collecting fish is not high on my list

[Shonisaurus]

Dunkleosteus Collecta is perhaps one of the best figures of that emblematic Devonian prehistoric fish although in this case I could not say which is the best figure since Favorite, Safari and Schleich are also formidable, in my case this figure maybe because of the novelty and its huge size compared to the rest of PVC figures is the one that interests me, without underestimating the other figures that are very nice and very cool. 

[SBell]

That Dunkleosteus looks pretty good, I wasn't sure if I'd need it...but maybe now I will.

As for lungfish...to be fair there are many Neoceratodus models made! And at least one each of Lepidosiren and Protopterus!

But for prehistoric ones...oddly no. It's surprising that the original Yowies didn't even include one...

[Halichoeres]

Hands down you provided the best picture so far of this great figure.

Thank you, that's very kind.

That Dunkleosteus looks pretty good, I wasn't sure if I'd need it...but maybe now I will.

As for lungfish...to be fair there are many Neoceratodus models made! And at least one each of Lepidosiren and Protopterus!

But for prehistoric ones...oddly no. It's surprising that the original Yowies didn't even include one...

Yep, and I have some of those. But I'd really like a Soederberghia.

As for the Dunk, it's an improvement on the Schleich for sure, so I'm going to sell/trade that one. Now my Dunk triumvirate consists of the Safari, Favorite, and CollectA. The Safari's open mouth does a really good job of conveying that the jaw opens in multiple directions, and it's still by far my favorite color scheme.

[bmathison1972]

Cog Ltd Aysheaia
Scale: about 1.3× life size
This is the last Cog Ltd figure I was looking for, a generous surprise from Bokisaurus. Thanks, Ashley! Great addition to my Cambrian fauna, and my only lobopod! I keep forgetting to pick up the Favorite Hallucigenia.

Now that you got the Cog Ltd Aysheaia, the next one you come across is mine! ;-)

[Halichoeres]

Cog Ltd Aysheaia
Scale: about 1.3× life size
This is the last Cog Ltd figure I was looking for, a generous surprise from Bokisaurus. Thanks, Ashley! Great addition to my Cambrian fauna, and my only lobopod! I keep forgetting to pick up the Favorite Hallucigenia.

Now that you got the Cog Ltd Aysheaia, the next one you come across is mine! ;-)

I'll definitely keep an eye out for you! This one was a complete surprise.

[Bokisaurus]

Cog Ltd Aysheaia
Scale: about 1.3× life size
This is the last Cog Ltd figure I was looking for, a generous surprise from Bokisaurus. Thanks, Ashley! Great addition to my Cambrian fauna, and my only lobopod! I keep forgetting to pick up the Favorite Hallucigenia.

Now that you got the Cog Ltd Aysheaia, the next one you come across is mine! ;-)

I'll definitely keep an eye out for you! This one was a complete surprise.

Glad you like him What an odd little critter

[Halichoeres]

Time for the third annual update to the collection thread! I started collecting in late February, 2015, with four Papo dinosaurs. The collection has grown a bit since then. Current stats:

546 pieces
495 taxa
315 members of the bird stem-group
76 known brands from 14 countries

Top 5 brands, comprising over half my collection:
Safari: 98
CollectA: 81
Kaiyodo: 62
Favorite: 29
Yowie: 25 (solely due to their wonderful penchant for oddball taxa!)
(more complete stats at my Flickr page)

I moved at the end of December for a temporary (1 year) job, and I left the majority of my collections in storage (figures as well as books). I also left behind my largest bookcases, and I have a smaller office, so now I have a fairly limited display area. Most of what I brought with me was aquatic creatures, so here's what they look like now, along with a few items I've received since the move:


Larger than life


Roughly life size


Roughly 1:2-1:5


Roughly 1:2-1:5


Roughly 1:6-1:13


Roughly 1:15-1:30. This shelf probably has the coolest, rarest pieces, although, like most of them, it has a couple of goofy ones as well.


Roughly 1:30-1:45


Smaller than 1:45 (the Leedsichthys is only about 1:85)


Roughly 1:6-1:10


Roughly 1:10-1:16


Roughly 1:30


Roughly 1:40

Some of the photos aren't up to snuff, but the lighting in this apartment is pretty bad! (And I'm not a skilled enough photographer to adequately compensate.)

[Shonisaurus]

Halichoeres have a very large collection, by the way I see that you have Cambrian animals from the Ontario Museum of Canada in your collection, given the impossibility to get them in my country because they do not ship them from Canada,    if you are interested in a commercial store to sell some day figure of said Museum you know where you have a safe buyer.

Unfortunately I contacted a member of the forum who promised me that he would get me these figures but unfortunately I have not heard from him again. 

As regards the figures that you have are the best companies of prehistoric animals in the world, I have a fixation on the iguanodon and the mapusaurus of Collecta, of which every day I am more convinced that they are some outstanding figures on the iguanodon . 

On the other hand I enjoy in general with your prehistoric marine creatures I have fortunately some of those figures especially I emphasize the shichisaurus of Scheich whose figure sige thrilling me and that which have happened since its production more than thirteen years approximately I think it was made in 2005 or 2006 It is a pity that Schleich abandoned the Humbold line whose figures were many of them very good and of an impressive quality.

Well, finally I congratulate you Halichoeres for your beautiful collection apart from that quite detailed and as post data I understand that the photographs are very good and do not seem at all dark. 

[ceratopsian]

Amazing to read that you have 76 different brands represented.  I don't think my stats would reach anywhere near that spread.

It must feel much more homely with (part of) your collection around you now.  I especially like the displays in the first two photos.

[Libraraptor]

I enjoy browsing your collection with my eyes so, so much! Excellent pieces, that Exaeretodon always makes me drool! I also see that my overcrowded shelves and cabinets don´t do the single pieces any justice. Your pieces can breathe and they look brilliant in These small groupings!
What a great Collection! And what the is that cool Dicynodont?!

[Halichoeres]

@ Shonisaurus: thanks very much!

Amazing to read that you have 76 different brands represented.  I don't think my stats would reach anywhere near that spread.

It must feel much more homely with (part of) your collection around you now.  I especially like the displays in the first two photos.

Well, you seem to only hang on to nice-looking figures. To get to 76, you have to let in a fair amount of dreck! Half of those companies I'd gladly see purged if respectable companies made the unique taxa.

It definitely does feel more like home now. Thanks for the comments!

I enjoy browsing your collection with my eyes so, so much! Excellent pieces, that Exaeretodon always makes me drool! I also see that my overcrowded shelves and cabinets don´t do the single pieces any justice. Your pieces can breathe and they look brilliant in These small groupings!
What a great Collection! And what the is that cool Dicynodont?!

Thanks very much! Though I miss my other figures, an advantage of only having part of my collection here is that, yes, they can breathe! My old shelves were somewhat overcrowded as well.

The dicynodont is a one-of-a-kind model sculpted and painted by forum member Mr Challenger. It represents Diictodon:

Probably my favorite piece.

[ceratopsian]

The dicynodont is so beautiful - I was glad to be reminded of it once more, like seeing an old friend!

[Jose S.M.]

That thing is too cute, if I had one I think I'll probably pet it like it was a living one.

[Faelrin]

That's quite an impressive and diverse collection you've got there. That Dicynodont is really lifelike, and honestly reminds me of those cute little critters in Walking with Monsters. Ditto on having that as a pet, if they still existed. Also that Tully Monster looks pretty rad. Wish there was more merchandise on that thing out there, but at least there's the next Paleozoic Pal kickstarter to look forward too, so I can finally get a chance at owning a representation of that weird creature.