David Silvas New Kickstarter: Articulated Dinosaur TOYS

[Minmiminime]

52 figures...wow. I wonder if, as these are definitely going to appeal to collectors, rather than have a large commercial toy market, we should suggest he takes a vote on which figures he should do, before he really gets going? I can just see this project stalling, or failing, or going to a fan vote in the end regardless. I can't shake the feeling it'll get mired in its own ambition

[Jose S.M.]

I know people like their big action figures but I think making them on a smaller scale in this case would guarantee their success more than at 1:18. Triceratops, Torosaurus, Pachyrhinosaurus and others are going to be too huge for the average public. And if Tyrannosaurs are next, some of those are algo going to be too big if made to fit the ceratopsians. I understand big size equals more articulation freedom but I still think the size is what  can slow the project down. Hopefully not, but that's what I think.

[Faelrin]

At 1:18th scale they'd be close to scale with the Kenner JP toys and 3 and 3/4 action figures I think, so yeah that makes me think these will be more expensive and more so then the deluxe raptors which are already around $35-$40, or $40-45 msrp, aside from the fact that ceratopsians are just more 'meatier' then dromaeosaurids, which would probably have them cost more, even if comparable in size. Although if these are not getting bases then that might help with prices a little bit. I think doing a genus or species vote is a good idea, so at least the fan favorites can have a shot at getting made, beyond say Xenoceratops, Zuniceratops, and Styracosaurus, if not too late for such a thing. I mean even though this raptor series line kickstarter was enough to get all the stretch goals, it just barely did at the time. Even with two kickstarters based on chasmosaurines and centrosaurines, I have to wonder how this will work with this many species. Like how many will be in the basis of the kickstarter and how many will be stretch goal targets? At the same time there might likely be more support for the next kickstarter since more are aware about these.

[Flaffy]

Even the Xenoceratops, one of the smaller of the large figures, is already larger than the JP Showdown Pachyrhinosaurus...
Never understood why David chose 1/18th scale. This line seems to be catered towards dedicated collectors rather than a large audience.

Public stars like Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus are going to be massive, and very very pricey. This would go 2 ways, either the general public are going to ignore all the other offerings and solely purchase a Triceratops/Tyrannosaurus, or they'll loose interest and not buy anything at all, since their favourite stars are so expensive.

[Halichoeres]

I'm going to try to find a way to afford about 30 of the ceratopsians. If they're are all really 1:18, a lot of them won't be much larger than some figures we already have in our collections. That's a similar scale to the Safari Vagaceratops and the Geoworld Zuniceratops, and it's not THAT much bigger than the Safari Einiosaurus. Centrosaurines were mostly kinda medium sized. It's true that the Pachyrhinosaurus figures will be huge, as well as some of the bigger chasmosaurines. Of course, if they end up being significantly bigger than 1:18, who knows.

If this were my dream toy line, they'd all be 1:40 except maybe the really small species, and they wouldn't have joints. But I'm happy to be getting such a variety of species that are rarely or never made. I probably won't buy the Triceratops or Styracosaurus or any other species that have been done well already.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I think we'll have to wait and see what the Kickstarter says,  depending on how well it does David might have to rethink some things.    I'm waiting to see a price tag, that alone will tell me what i can and can't do.  I'd love to make a display with all these but i fear it won't be feasible.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

I will be pursuing the more basal species, and the more obscure...for me it makes no sense to spend 40-50  dollars for an articulated triceratops when there are plenty of decent sculpts at shapeways and otherwise in close proximity pricewise for the larger and more common species. Does anyone have an entire species checklist as of now?

[Roselaar]

I'm crazy and single enough to just maybe buy them all... Hey, if you're gonna bankrupt yourself, you might as well do it on the coolest dinosaur toys ever!

[Jose S.M.]

I'm crazy and single enough to just maybe buy them all... Hey, if you're gonna bankrupt yourself, you might as well do it on the coolest dinosaur toys ever!

That's the spirit!  . I'm not going to miss this line out, I'm sure I will get a couple. Ceratopsians are my favorites after all, I can't afford to not have at least one of these 

[empire3569]

Even the Xenoceratops, one of the smaller of the large figures, is already larger than the JP Showdown Pachyrhinosaurus...
Never understood why David chose 1/18th scale. This line seems to be catered towards dedicated collectors rather than a large audience.

Public stars like Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus are going to be massive, and very very pricey. This would go 2 ways, either the general public are going to ignore all the other offerings and solely purchase a Triceratops/Tyrannosaurus, or they'll loose interest and not buy anything at all, since their favourite stars are so expensive.

I plan on only getting the Triceratops/T-rex; I'm not a huge fan of ceratopsians in general, and I like Tyrannosaurs however know they will be insanely expensive, thus getting only Triceratops and T-rex fills the role of not being incredibly expensive with multiple figures and not getting figures I don't want. I know the Tyrannosaur line is years off, but it they somehow were more affordable I may get a couple of them. I bought 3 raptors for reference

[Sim]

Thanks postsaurischian and Faelrin for your responses to the experience I shared recently.  I decided to have some time where I didn't get involved with anything Beasts of the Mesozoic related, except for reading this thread.  It's been good for me to do this, as Beasts of the Mesozoic had become time-consuming and a cause of stress for me, which really isn't how it ought to be.  In this time I've been able to achieve a number of things I needed to do and which are good for me.  I wouldn't have had time for them if I spent more time on Beasts of the Mesozoic, for example if I had tried to continue the private message with David about splitting my order, when it had become clear he wanted me to pay to do it, he didn't even offer an apology for me being forced to wait much longer or pay while those in the US received the same figures for free, or for having made it look like international orders would be split free of charge if a customs fee wouldn't be a problem, and instead offered me a second option which was the same as the first (having to pay for additional shipping to split my order) with the only difference being the accessory packs also having a higher price!

As I have mentioned before, I'm also a bit disappointed because of these two reasons. Being among the first backers to get the project started and being the very last to receive anything isn't nice and not in the sense of backing.

To me it's not so bad that I'm losing interest in the project, but I understand what you mean, Sim.

My consequence will be that I won't be backing any future projects anymore. I will be better off placing an order after having waited until everything's done in order to choose the best options.

Regarding the bolded part, well said!  And I understand what you've expressed in this post.

All that aside, and this is late, but I'm sorry to hear what's happened with you Sim. I don't know or understand all the details, but to have to wait this long, and now nothing. Honestly I'm a bit surprised at this outcome, since David has been helpful and supportive more then enough times for me. At least you were refunded, but I can only imagine how stressing this thing was. If I recall correctly you were also the one to make suggestions for the Microraptor tail and Buitreraptor mouth/teeth so they could be more accurate? Which thankfully did get corrected, since it I think its made for better figures in the end. Again I'm sorry to hear this has happened.

Thanks for your kind and understanding words, Faelrin.

For the Microraptor's tail, I was one of several people who brought to David's attention the accurate Microraptor tail fan when he had initially started sculpting it based on an outdated and inaccurate reconstruction.  As the sculpting on this figure progressed, I mentioned to David the two longest tail feathers looked like they might not be long enough.  They look right on the completed figure, so maybe this is an improvement that resulted from what I said.  I also informed David about Microraptor's alula which led to him including it on the figure.  For Buitreraptor, I made several suggestions that resulted in the figures teeth and mouth being improved.

I also brought up David's plan to only give lips to some of the raptor series figures, which resulted in him wanting to reconsider this and ask Kickstarter backers how they felt about it, with the result being lips on all of the species in the raptor series.  Whether this is seen as an improvement may depend on what an individual person thinks.  I personally think it is an improvement, it doesn't make sense to me that some of those species would have lips while others didn't, e.g. Velociraptor and Saurornitholestes lacking lips while Tsaagan and Atrociraptor have lips.

Even if I won't have any Beasts of the Mesozoic figures, I'm glad at least that some figures people will enjoy are better due to suggestions I made.

Also worth a mention is that I ended up snapping the peg off the log when I tried to get it into the Microraptor's foot. That's uh disappointing, since I did want him to 'perch' on the log, but at least there's still work around's with the posing rods and peg holes in the base(s).

I wonder if it might be worth letting David know about this, and asking him if he can send you a replacement log?

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Even the Xenoceratops, one of the smaller of the large figures, is already larger than the JP Showdown Pachyrhinosaurus...
Never understood why David chose 1/18th scale. This line seems to be catered towards dedicated collectors rather than a large audience.

Public stars like Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus are going to be massive, and very very pricey. This would go 2 ways, either the general public are going to ignore all the other offerings and solely purchase a Triceratops/Tyrannosaurus, or they'll loose interest and not buy anything at all, since their favourite stars are so expensive.

I plan on only getting the Triceratops/T-rex; I'm not a huge fan of ceratopsians in general, and I like Tyrannosaurs however know they will be insanely expensive, thus getting only Triceratops and T-rex fills the role of not being incredibly expensive with multiple figures and not getting figures I don't want. I know the Tyrannosaur line is years off, but it they somehow were more affordable I may get a couple of them. I bought 3 raptors for reference

Thinking back on his very first concepts..just wait til he gets to the sauropods...

[LeapingLaelaps]

For those wondering what ceratopsians are planned and what scale, etc, I've made an entire spreadsheet for this project: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gZ27drlxHjJTEoX8POx0QLa7uAsxDPE8dgklmHlpVMA/edit?usp=sharing

If you guys make a new thread just for the ceratopsian project feel free to include my spreadsheet in the post, I'll be updating it throughout the project

[amargasaurus cazaui]

For those wondering what ceratopsians are planned and what scale, etc, I've made an entire spreadsheet for this project: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gZ27drlxHjJTEoX8POx0QLa7uAsxDPE8dgklmHlpVMA/edit?usp=sharing

If you guys make a new thread just for the ceratopsian project feel free to include my spreadsheet in the post, I'll be updating it throughout the project

Every single model I selected...each and every one without fail...all of them are to be determined.......

[Abbinormally]

I'm so excited to see this project moving forward! From what I see, this line is likely going to take more time than the raptors did. The 1/6 ceratopsians look like they have very little in common as far as shared parts go and it's possible he will mix the sizes throughout the line since the other figure we've seen is zuniceratops who is much smaller. I honestly don't think we will see all the ones listed as figures. With a higher price point and so many dinosaurs, I really can't see us unlocking them all, I think David is just planning ahead in case funding goes beyond what was expected like the raptors. He created the accessory packs and babies on the fly to keep the funding going after all of the strech goals were reached. With 52 ceratopsian designs ready to go, he has essentially ensured that he won't have to scramble to come up with ideas if things go really well with the kickstarter.

That said, I really do hope he allows us to vote on the order of the dinosaurs for the stretch goals because I would be very disappointed if ones like protoceratops and psittacosaurus ended up not making the cut.

[stargatedalek]

For those wondering what ceratopsians are planned and what scale, etc, I've made an entire spreadsheet for this project: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gZ27drlxHjJTEoX8POx0QLa7uAsxDPE8dgklmHlpVMA/edit?usp=sharing

If you guys make a new thread just for the ceratopsian project feel free to include my spreadsheet in the post, I'll be updating it throughout the project

Every single model I selected...each and every one without fail...all of them are to be determined.......

Same here, and I have a feeling we're looking at the same four ones too.

I also brought up David's plan to only give lips to some of the raptor series figures, which resulted in him wanting to reconsider this and ask Kickstarter backers how they felt about it, with the result being lips on all of the species in the raptor series.  Whether this is seen as an improvement may depend on what an individual person thinks.  I personally think it is an improvement, it doesn't make sense to me that some of those species would have lips while others didn't, e.g. Velociraptor and Saurornitholestes lacking lips while Tsaagan and Atrociraptor have lips.

Even if I won't have any Beasts of the Mesozoic figures, I'm glad at least that some figures people will enjoy are better due to suggestions I made.

I very much so do appreciate that you did, as the only one I have ordered is the FC Saurornitholestes.

[Faelrin]

Glad to see you are (I think?) doing better Sim. Thank you for the input too on those things. Good to see I wasn't remembering incorrectly (at least for the most part). I do think them all having lips is better for consistency reasons, if not accuracy reasons. Honestly I kind of like lipped raptors thanks to JP oddly so. I did get the Velociraptor (and exclusive one), and the Fan's Choice Saurornitholestes, and just from the images I've seen over this long time, I do prefer them with the lips that were added.

I don't think the peg breaking off the log is a big concern for me, enough to desire a new one in any case, but perhaps I'll let him know. I did want to mention it here in case it could be a cause of concern for someone else, like as a head's up. Granted some of it was no doubt my fault since I was trying to put the peg in the Microraptor's foot in poor lighting, although I think part of it might have been paint in the Microraptor's foot that gave resistance. Perhaps another thing worth mentioning that has occurred to my Microraptor at least twice now, is that the right wing has fallen off. Granted the wings on my figure seemed kind of loose right out of the box on the first day I had it, so I suppose it isn't too much of a surprise, although a bit more so on the right wing. At least with these they can be fixed rather easily. I do think the weight of the wings might also have something to do with it.

Also I might as well share this bit from the comment I posted on the kickstarter a bit ago, but I don't expect anything to come of it, and honestly it'll be years before then anyways with the ceratopsians as the next focus:

I know this might depend on how the ceratopsian kickstarter does (well I hope), and is a long way off yet, but instead of doing just tyrannosaurids for the third series, maybe a mix of large to medium theropods? So possibly theropods like Allosaurus, Acrocanthosaurus, Baryonyx, Ceratosaurus, Cryolophosaurus, Carnotaurus, Carcharadonatosaurus, Dilophosaurus, Giganotosaurus, Gorgosaurus, Suchomimus, Spinosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, and Yutyrannus (as examples)? Granted I don't know how feasible any of this suggestion is.

Granted the reason I posted that is because I'm not really a huge fan of tyrannosaurids other then say Tyrannosaurus, Gorgosaurus, and Tarbosaurus, aside from a few others, plus it would mean seeing most of the other fan favorite theropods sooner, but again I don't know how feasible it is, and ultimately it is up to David to choose what to do for his toyline(s).

[Halichoeres]

Also I might as well share this bit from the comment I posted on the kickstarter a bit ago, but I don't expect anything to come of it, and honestly it'll be years before then anyways with the ceratopsians as the next focus:

I know this might depend on how the ceratopsian kickstarter does (well I hope), and is a long way off yet, but instead of doing just tyrannosaurids for the third series, maybe a mix of large to medium theropods? So possibly theropods like Allosaurus, Acrocanthosaurus, Baryonyx, Ceratosaurus, Cryolophosaurus, Carnotaurus, Carcharadonatosaurus, Dilophosaurus, Giganotosaurus, Gorgosaurus, Suchomimus, Spinosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, and Yutyrannus (as examples)? Granted I don't know how feasible any of this suggestion is.

Granted the reason I posted that is because I'm not really a huge fan of tyrannosaurids other then say Tyrannosaurus, Gorgosaurus, and Tarbosaurus, aside from a few others, plus it would mean seeing most of the other fan favorite theropods sooner, but again I don't know how feasible it is, and ultimately it is up to David to choose what to do for his toyline(s).

To be honest, this is kind of the opposite of what I'd like if there's going to be another theropod series after the ceratopsians. At least if he did all one clade (like tyrannosaurs), there's a chance of getting some odd ones like Alioramus or one of the proceratosaurids. The last thing I want is more of the same theropods every other company already makes. The only BotM figures I didn't buy were the Velociraptor and Microraptor for that reason. But I suppose "fan favorites" are fan favorites for a reason.

[Abbinormally]

I agree with both, while it would be amazing to have a tyrannosaurid specific line so we can see some species that don't have figures yet, I would be very sad if the project lost steam and we never got an Allosaurus or giganotosaurus. I guess I want to have my cake and eat it too. 

[Moodyraptor]

I intend to back the kickstarter just to support this line, but I won't be getting more than one or two at the most of the ceratopsians.  I just don't have the space for too many big models, and I'd rather save my shelf space and money for the tyrannosaurs.   I didn't realise he was intending to make all 52 models, I assumed he'd do a smaller core set and then the rest as stretch goals.