David Silvas New Kickstarter: Articulated Dinosaur TOYS

[Loon]

That's beautiful, toygasm. But, shouldn't the hands be facing more to the sides than straight forward? Guess it wouldn't be too hard to just rotate them at the wrist.

[Brontozaurus]

That's beautiful, toygasm. But, shouldn't the hands be facing more to the sides than straight forward? Guess it wouldn't be too hard to just rotate them at the wrist.

Yeah, they're probably just being sculpted that way, but since they look to be articulated at the wrist then how they're facing doesn't matter too much.

[terrorchicken]

yep, looks about Carnage/Resaurus sized. Looking good.

[Flaffy]

David confirmed that the Xenoceratops will be slightly bigger than the Hasbro Pachyrhinosaurus.
Things are not looking bright for my wallet.

[Halichoeres]

David confirmed that the Xenoceratops will be slightly bigger than the Hasbro Pachyrhinosaurus.
Things are not looking bright for my wallet.

Yep, this is going to hurt. Maybe I'll try to go around mowing lawns this summer.

[Dinoguy2]

So... did David think the scale bar on Wikipedia said 1m instead of 0.5m or something? How on earth did Machairaceratops end up so gargantuan?

And yeah, the hands are all wrong. You could rotate them but they'd look awkward and not really able to bear the weight of the animal, due to where the main "bend" is sculpted.

Correct hands:

[Faelrin]

Perhaps now would be the time to contact him in regards to that very thing, before things are finalized? I know very little about ceratopsian anatomy so someone else would be better off doing so.

Anyways, after looking at the new small/medium series images on the FB page, I think I can confirm that most of the figures I get will be of those. Styracosaurus, Regaliceratops, Einosaurus, Diabloceratops, and Chasmosaurus are some of those that I am interested in. For the large ones, the only species I'm currently interested in are Triceratops, Pachyrhinosaurus, and Pentaceratops. Depending on the color schemes, things could be changed around. I'll have to wait and see to know for sure, and the prices of these will also be a determining factor. Space is another factor I guess.

[Dinoguy2]

Perhaps now would be the time to contact him in regards to that very thing, before things are finalized? I know very little about ceratopsian anatomy so someone else would be better off doing so.

Anyways, after looking at the new small/medium series images on the FB page, I think I can confirm that most of the figures I get will be of those. Styracosaurus, Regaliceratops, Einosaurus, Diabloceratops, and Chasmosaurus are some of those that I am interested in. For the large ones, the only species I'm currently interested in are Triceratops, Pachyrhinosaurus, and Pentaceratops. Depending on the color schemes, things could be changed around. I'll have to wait and see to know for sure, and the prices of these will also be a determining factor. Space is another factor I guess.

David doesn't seem to be too keen on correcting things no matter how early in the process it is. I actually saw somebody else ask on a recent FB post if the Machairaceratops scale would be fixed and he said no. No reason why. I mean... Isn't it just a drawing at this point...?

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I haven't looked at it myself but two reasons I can think of,  one is the current scale somehow works for what he has in mind, maybe based on parts fitting other figures.  The other reason is for his response, sometimes you just have a bad day , stress and all gets to the best of us. 

[ItsTwentyBelow]

Perhaps he is tired of folks constantly trying to critique and instruct him on what to do? He hasn't even finished one ceratopsian and he has people already nitpicking!

In the end it's his project, not yours. He's not making them custom for any single person. Like with the raptor series, there will be some limitations to the spot-on accuracy. That is a given, but I'm sure we will get some pleasing results.

I'm curious if the raptor series is still due to start shipping in May? Last May it seemed like a world (or at least an orbit) away! Now we are so close! 

[Sim]

What I saw regarding changing the Machairoceratops's size was in the comments on this image: https://www.facebook.com/BeastSculptKit/photos/a.125819777433236.23596.113487525333128/1692844430730755/?type=3&theater

[stargatedalek]

Perhaps he is tired of folks constantly trying to critique and instruct him on what to do? He hasn't even finished one ceratopsian and he has people already nitpicking!

In the end it's his project, not yours. He's not making them custom for any single person. Like with the raptor series, there will be some limitations to the spot-on accuracy. That is a given, but I'm sure we will get some pleasing results.

He has said he wants them to be accurate, so it's entirely fair to point out potential issues. And on that note pointing out potential issues in early design phases is exactly when to do it, before anything is finished.

[Flaffy]

With a line so focused and marketed for it's accuracy, I think they should at least get the sizes and recent knowledge of the creatures being made right.
And like stargatedalek said this is the perfect time to suggest, change and fix things, before anything gets finalised and when it's "too late".

[Halichoeres]

I think Blade's onto something. I think the whole concept of lots of shared parts will make it really difficult to actually make these all precisely to scale. Whereas all the dromaeosaurids he chose for the first series are similar in size, if not necessarily proportions, he decided to do basically the entire Ceratopsidae plus a few more distant relatives. That might be incompatible with the goal of making them all to scale if they're to share parts and also have accurate proportions.

On the other hand, I agree that making suggestions on things like wrist orientation isn't beyond the pale, but tone matters and it's hard to imagine that some of the more relentless criticism doesn't start to nettle after awhile. David has been nothing but gracious and cordial in my own interactions with him, and I don't think his response to that comment on facebook was as dismissive as initially painted.

[Dinoguy2]

I think Blade's onto something. I think the whole concept of lots of shared parts will make it really difficult to actually make these all precisely to scale. Whereas all the dromaeosaurids he chose for the first series are similar in size, if not necessarily proportions, he decided to do basically the entire Ceratopsidae plus a few more distant relatives. That might be incompatible with the goal of making them all to scale if they're to share parts and also have accurate proportions.

On the other hand, I agree that making suggestions on things like wrist orientation isn't beyond the pale, but tone matters and it's hard to imagine that some of the more relentless criticism doesn't start to nettle after awhile. David has been nothing but gracious and cordial in my own interactions with him, and I don't think his response to that comment on facebook was as dismissive as initially painted.

If he doesn't want criticism (which I don't think is even the case, because he responded favorably to other critique comments), he shouldn't be marketing these as scientifically accurate. This is no different than the kind of criticism we regularly throw towards CollectA, Safari, etc.

I think the Machairasaurus size issue was just a goof. It's perfectly the right size if he thought the scale bar in the paper/Wikipedia was 1m instead of 50cm, because it's skull is about 2m long when it should be 1m. The hand issue is not common knowledge and almost all reconstructions get it wrong, so searching Google Images will create that mistake.

[ImADinosaurRARR]

David actually doesn't know if he'll have the Machairasaurus anymore. I asked him and this is what he said :3 :

Sorry to bother but, why are you making Machairoceratops so big? Wouldn't it be easier to put the pachy head on the tric and make the Machairoceratops smaller? One less model to make, right?(Also, thank you for answering all our questions. It must be tough having such a picky fanbase )

I have looked into this further actually. I recently reached out to paleontologist Michael Ryan about it, and he says that these remains have now been classified to belong to Diabloceratops, so yes you are correct about it being smaller. I'd say there is a good chance that the Machairoceratops figure won't be offered.

I also asked about the splayed front legs. I'm pretty sure he's going to change it. It's that or both positions will be possible:

I absolutely love this ! Quick question though. Shouldn't the arms be more splayed out? They seem to be too far under the body :/

Very possible. But as an action figure, this is an easy adjustment to make.

[Sim]

Thanks for that, ImADinosaurRARR!  I saw new comments under that image I linked to earlier, and someone said David had said he was making the Machairoceratops that size because "there were size estimates for Machairoceratops putting it at 6-8 m, only it turned out that they were bogus."

[tanystropheus]

What is the largest ceratopsian? Triceratops?

[AcroSauroTaurus]

What is the largest ceratopsian? Triceratops?

I believe Eotriceratops is the largest.

[Cloud the Dinosaur King]

What is the largest ceratopsian? Triceratops?

I believe Eotriceratops is the largest.

Eotriceratops was 28 feet long, T. horridus was 25 feet long and T. porsus was also 25 feet long.