The future for Battat

[tyrantqueen]

That was a pretty smart post Sim, I agree with what you're saying.

[sauroid]

is Greg Wenzel still alive?

[tyrantqueen]

is Greg Wenzel still alive?

I think so. If he'd passed away, we would've heard something.

[sauroid]

i hope he is still active as an artist. do you think there's a possibility that he'd take over as the sculptor for Battat Terra?

[tyrantqueen]

I know next to nothing about the guy, so I can't say. But if it's true that he's left the field, then I would say it's unlikely

[amargasaurus cazaui]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Wenzel


I know, I know, but keep reading till you get to the bottom ....

[tyrantqueen]

I think he illustrated this book:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Feathered-Dinosaurs-China-Gregory-Wenzel/dp/1570915628/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1443099210&sr=8-10&keywords=feathered+dinosaurs

[sauroid]

cool infos from both of you. too bad Greg Wenzel doesnt have a proper wikipedia article yet.

[Simon]

I really do hope that they will follow through on this labor of love that Dan Lorusso created for all of us, and release all of the repaints as well as the remaining new sculpts that Dan completed.

As someone pointed out earlier, that in itself will take them a few more years to do, so we really needn't worry about them extending the line with new sculpts at this point. 

We should all be grateful to Dan and contact Battat to express our hope that they will follow through on these releases not just for business reasons, but as a way to honor Dan's memory.

Dan's art will live for generations to come through the joy that these sculptures will give to collectors and - more importantly - to kids - for years to come. 

[John]

The future of the Battat line?I would hope to see the remaining new sculpts get released eventually.

[DinoLord]

Eloquently said, Simon. I definitely think as a community we need to follow up with Battat - it would be a shame if Dan's work in his final months was all for naught.

[Sim]

That was a pretty smart post Sim, I agree with what you're saying.

Thanks tyrantqueen!

Just something to consider about the future of the line Dan had reinvigorated. He once stated that Battat paid him 250 per MOS figure to redo the paint scheme...just a quick math figure but thats somewhere approaching 5 grand for work that was done and completed. I felt Dan wanted these models back out there and he did repaint them and accepted payment so I really assume they will be forthcoming. I have to believe that both Dan and Battat understood his health issues and had made plans for the worst case scenario.
   One of the last posts on his Facebook page before his passing was his grandson? I believe looking at his display of toys at Target. I do not see the family interferring with that legacy, he loved dinosaurs too much for them to do that to his memory.
   I think its an everyone wins situation, the family, Battat, and his fans. That is just me offering my thoughts however.

I think you're right about all those points amargasaurus. I imagine Battat paid Dan at least the same amount if not more for each of the new sculpts he did too.  So I too expect Battat to release all the currently unreleased dinosaur reissues and new sculpts Dan did.  I really hope they do!  So many people, kids and adults alike, will really enjoy them!  I know I'm planning to get them all!

[Appalachiosaurus]

Darn, that image got me tearing up.

About the future of the line? I don't really think it has a future. It will release all of the new sculpts and repaints and then retire itself early, or that's how I see it going down anyway. You can't really replace someone like Dan.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

You wouldnt have to go at it in the mentality of replacing Dan, I have said before that Battat should label these figures the Dan Larosso legacy series, and once it has run its course, they could hire a new artist to make another series.....We could never replace Dan and that is alright, there are a load of highly skilled sculptors out there in our own forum even...the name Forest Rogers also comes to mind.....

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

You wouldnt have to go at it in the mentality of replacing Dan, I have said before that Battat should label these figures the Dan Larosso legacy series, and once it has run its course, they could hire a new artist to make another series.....We could never replace Dan and that is alright, there are a load of highly skilled sculptors out there in our own forum even...the name Forest Rogers also comes to mind.....

Dan did have some help creating the original Battat line..

[Sim]

I think he illustrated this book:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Feathered-Dinosaurs-China-Gregory-Wenzel/dp/1570915628/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1443099210&sr=8-10&keywords=feathered+dinosaurs

It would be really great if Battat hired Greg Wenzel to make dinosaur figures for them again!  For those who don't know, half of the dinosaurs from the original Battat line were sculpted by Greg.  Dan LoRusso sculpted the other half.  Those dinosaurs in his 2004 book are so accurately feathered!  There's no doubt he could make excellent feathered dinosaur figures, something most toy lines still struggle to make today.  I'm sure he would do a great job if he retooled the Battat Gallimimus and Utahraptor to bring them up-to-date, two figures that he sculpted.  If Dan didn't manage to repaint the Battat Gallimimus and Utahraptor I wonder if Battat could get Greg to do it?  I've always liked the Battat Utahraptor's colour scheme, and I really like the colour scheme Greg gave that dromaeosaur on the cover of his book too.


I like some things about Forest Rogers' style.  I can't say I'd be happy for her to make new Battat dinosaurs if they would continue to be like they were in the Carnegie Collection though.  Forest is definitely a very good sculptor, including of prehistoric animals.  The level of accuracy of the Carnegie Collection, while definitely above average and above the level of most other toy lines, hasn't been as high as that of the Battat dinosaur line and some things seemed to be very difficult to get right in the Carnegie Collection, like enough muscle in a dinosaur's caudofemoralis, enough flesh on some parts of the dinosaur's limbs, and correct wings ( the incorrect wings on the Velociraptor and Caudipteryx are explained here, the Oviraptor's wings are incorrect too: http://dinogoss.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/youre-doing-it-wrong-protobird-toys.html ).  The type of tripod pose that kept being used for so many Carnegie Collection figures was a main reason I eventually stopped buying those figures.  I don't want that in the Battat line.

I've mentioned before that I dislike prehistoric toy lines giving most of their feathered dinosaurs feather crests, and looking at Carnegie's they all have small feather crests except for the Oviraptor presumably because it has a bony crest!  This is personal preference, of course.  Some artists seem to like giving all or almost all their feathered dinosaurs crests.  Most extant birds don't have crests though and I prefer the no feather crest look, so almost every feathered dinosaur figure having a feather crest is something I'm fed up of.  I also haven't liked most of the colour schemes of the Carnegie Collection figures.  The Battat dinosaur line is actually the only dinosaur toy line where I've really liked almost all the colour schemes of the figures.

The Battat dinosaur line is my favourite dinosaur toy line because of its high level of accuracy, understanding of dinosaurs as real animals which can clearly be seen in the figures, and style - both with regards to sculpting and colour schemes.  The only sculptors of prehistoric animal toys I've found have delivered all these things have been Dan LoRusso and Greg Wenzel.  Some of the figures in the Invicta dinosaur line have shown this combination of things too though, although they tend to be very outdated now.  I've seen some Shapeways dinosaur figures that have impressed me too.  I'd definitely be happy if Battat hired Greg Wenzel as their dinosaur sculptor again.  Some of this forum's Shapeways artists look like they might be good too.

These are just my thoughts, I don't mean to upset anyone.

[Daspletodave]

Somebody already posted in another thread that Greg Wenzel was out of the dino-sculpting business. People do move on to other things.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

True..but I could see him coming back for this if it was in his schedule and the money was good.

[Fembrogon]

I just wish we had an efficient way of communicating with Battat. I certainly hope the line goes on for a while, even after all of Dan LoRusso's sculpts have been (re-)issued, but of course we have no way of knowing at this point.

[bigbear]

I've been very lucky, in that a good friend of mine has been buying Battat dinosaurs for me in the States, so Ive got everything that has been released to date. (Reissued, that is...). Why these are not available in the UK, or elsewhere is beyond me! I've loved every figure I've received and hope the line continues. I really can't believe that Battat will just drop it all again at this stage? I dont know how well these sell through Target? I'm just grateful for what I've got so far. Long live Battat!