CollectA New for 2016

[tyrantqueen]

The Torvosaurus is...different. I'm not sure if I like it or not. It does very much resemble an iguana.

The Thalassomedon is gorgeous. I hope it's big. I wonder what Dr. Admin thinks of it? I hope he reviews it.

[Sim]

Thalassomedon! Awesome Check out that tail fluke!

That allosaur looks very green iguana-ish 

Did... Patrx just call Torvosaurus an allosaur?! 


Pre-release pictures can only show a limited amount, but, like John, so far for me the standouts in the CollectA 2016 figures are the Struthiomimus and Thalassomedon.  Is the Thalassomedon the first plesiosauroid figure with a tail fin?  It's great to finally see one with this!  I hadn't noticed it has the WWD Cryptoclidus's colour scheme as I'd forgotten what it was like!

Well, Torvosaurus finally has a toy version!  Unfortunately, I find it disappointing in almost every way possible.  Again it has all-black eyes, and a cloaca painted a different colour.  I've looked at photos of bird and reptile cloacas and they aren't usually a different colour, so why is CollectA making their prehistoric reptiles cloacas a different colour?  From the photos of the 2016 CollectA figures up till today it looked like CollectA might've stopped making the cloacas a different colour.  Apparently not...

Another thing I find disappointing about the Torvosaurus is those larger spines on its back, which to me make it look more like a life-sized model of a small bipedal lizard than a small scale model of a giant apex predator.  If it's in 1:40 scale as Everything Dinosaur says, those larger spines look like they would be over 60cm long!

I know there are people who are happy with the species choice for the Torvosaurus figure.  The species chosen is another disappointment for me though.  I agree with Anthony Beeson that North American dinosaurs tend to dominate, and I also think its good to make dinosaurs from other parts of the world better known.  With Torvosaurus though, the North American Torvosaurus tanneri is one of the more completely known megalosaurids (and yet it's never been made into a toy), while Torvosaurus gurneyi is the opposite: http://scotthartman.deviantart.com/art/Megalosaur-interrupted-439085496  Torvosaurus tanneri... still disregarded by toy companies...

Did CollectA abandon the Articulated Jaws for Deluxe Theropods?

No, in their blog post Everything Dinosaur said the CollectA Torvosaurus has an articulated lower jaw.

[alexeratops]

Torvosaurus: Probably going to get it, some of the spines seem unnecessary, but still looks like a good model.
Thalassomedon: To the general public, it won't be discernible from other elasmosaurs, but the paint job seems realistic and the sculpting too. The mouth seems a bit too open, but that's forgivable.

Final Grade: 8/10

[Rathalosaurus]

The Torvosaurus is nice. I might get it.

[Polihierax]

Beishanlong and Lythronax are my favourites! They are gorgeous!   

[Sim]

The Thalassomedon is gorgeous. I hope it's big.

In their blog post, Everything Dinosaur says this about its size: "The model measures thirty centimetres in length and when measured from the top of that deep body, the model is just over three and a half centimetres high."  I look forward to seeing better pictures of it.

[MLMjp]

I was really hipped for a Torvosaurus and now that its here.....

It´s good, but i don't think the spikes work on him, the colorations reminds me of the 2014 Saurophaganax, I would have prefer a different color and a different pose, a more horizontal one like a lot of pictures you see when you google for Torvosaurus. Also the head looks a bit small, but It´s probably because of perspective. No comment about the base... It´s at 1:40 so that´s a good thing.
Sometimes I think I am too nitpicky and other times I can pass everything regarding a figure.

Thalassomedon looks fantastic. And it´s at 1:40. No complains about it.

[Shonisaurus]

The preserved remains of Torvosaurus are very incomplete.

Moreover the thalassomedon seems fresh. Anyway this year ... too many theropods by Collecta.

I wish new dinosaurs but full paleontógicamente speaking, examples Arrhinoceratops, centrosaurus, monoclonius, einosaurus, deluxe Chasmosaurus, gallimimus new Shunosaurus or deluxe, and even a deluxe tarbosaurus was better than the first Torvosaurus entire skeleton is preserved.

[Patrx]

Did... Patrx just call Torvosaurus an allosaur?! 

Oh dear, it seems I did! I got it mixed up with Saurophaganax, I think  Sometimes those big, generic non-coelurosaurs blur together in my head.

[Shonisaurus]

Certainly not said anything about the thylacine by Collecta this coming year. Send to shame figure Mojo. And it is female.


I hope this is not the "prehistoric mammal.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Did... Patrx just call Torvosaurus an allosaur?! 

Oh dear, it seems I did! I got it mixed up with Saurophaganax, I think  Sometimes those big, generic non-coelurosaurs blur together in my head.

It does look pretty similar at first glance I agree.

[SBell]

The Torvosaurus is...different. I'm not sure if I like it or not. It does very much resemble an iguana.

The Thalassomedon is gorgeous. I hope it's big. I wonder what Dr. Admin thinks of it? I hope he reviews it.

It is a deluxe figure--and my info says it is 30cm long. So, decent size (bigger than the Attenborosaurus or Hydrotherosaurus).

Certainly not said anything about the thylacine by Collecta this coming year. Send to shame figure Mojo. And it is female.


I hope this is not the "prehistoric mammal.

From what I can tell, it is not--I get sent pics of the Prehistoric figures, and this wasn't one.

For the record, though:

The preserved remains of Torvosaurus are very incomplete.

Moreover the thalassomedon seems fresh. Anyway this year ... too many theropods by Collecta.

I wish new dinosaurs but full paleontógicamente speaking, examples Arrhinoceratops, centrosaurus, monoclonius, einosaurus, deluxe Chasmosaurus, gallimimus new Shunosaurus or deluxe, and even a deluxe tarbosaurus was better than the first Torvosaurus entire skeleton is preserved.

Would an entire season of 4 or 5 ceratopsians really be any more fun than a bunch of theropods?

And we are already getting 2 ornithomimosauroids form CollectA this year--why would a third (Gallimimus) be welcome this year?

Also, let's not get into this 'incomplete specimen' discussion again. It turns out, every dinosaur fossil is incomplete to some extent.

[DinoToyForum]

My first impression is that the Thalassomedon looks good. The proportions and shape look right, the speculative tail fin is a nice addition that fits with evidence for other plesiosaurs, the mouth could indeed probably that wide (but there are no studies I'm aware of that demonstrate it but there's n reason why not), and I like the colour scheme a lot. My only criticism is that the forelimb is angled too far forwards. The same applies to the CollectA Liopleurodon and Dolichorhynchops - I don't know why CollectA do that. I called them on it, in the kindest possible way, in my review of their Liopleurodon in 2008: http://dinotoyblog.com/2008/11/03/liopleurodon-collecta-procon/

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

Did... Patrx just call Torvosaurus an allosaur?! 

Oh dear, it seems I did! I got it mixed up with Saurophaganax, I think  Sometimes those big, generic non-coelurosaurs blur together in my head.

It does look pretty similar at first glance I agree.

Is Torvosaurus not an allosauroid?

[Halichoeres]

Stoked for the Thalassomedon! Maybe the forelimbs are pulling it along the seafloor...

[MLMjp]

Did... Patrx just call Torvosaurus an allosaur?! 

Oh dear, it seems I did! I got it mixed up with Saurophaganax, I think  Sometimes those big, generic non-coelurosaurs blur together in my head.

It does look pretty similar at first glance I agree.

Is Torvosaurus not an allosauroid?

It´s a megalosauroid

[DinoToyForum]

Stoked for the Thalassomedon! Maybe the forelimbs are pulling it along the seafloor...

Carpenter (2010) estimated the ranges of motion for the limbs of Thalassomedon (http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1660/062.113.0201?journalCode=tkas). For horizontal range of motion in the forelimb he gives a neutral angle of -15 degrees (from a line drawn perpendicular to the long axis of the body), and a range of motion just +10 degrees (anterior) and -5 degrees (posterior) relative to the neutral angle (total horizontal range of motion = 15 degrees). I think this is an overly conservative estimate (more cartilage would mean greater mobility), but still, the forelimb couldn't extend forward as depicted in the model.

[Shonisaurus]

The thalassomedon gets out and is a 1:40 scale.
It is quite large. Since then Collecta is perhaps today the company does best prehistoric marine reptiles with Safari.

[suspsy]

It sounds like you're saying that's all there really is to the CollectA Mercuriceratops being speculative?  The horns of chasmosaurines can look very different, compare the ones of Triceratops, Vagaceratops and Kosmoceratops for example.  Only a bit of Mercuriceratops's frill is known.  Frill shape and ornamentation differs greatly between different chasmosaurines, so no-one knows what most of Mercuriceratops's frill looks like.

I can easily toss that purely conjectural argument right back at you by pointing out that there are plenty of chasmosaurines with three horned configurations: Pentaceratops, Mojoceratops, Anchiceratops, Arrhinoceratops, etc. A quick Google search for Mercuriceratops also reveals that many other artists have opted to give it three horns. Because in the absence of further fossil evidence, it's a perfectly reasonable assumption.

Something can be a personal desire and something that can help a company improve at the same time.  It's not always like this, but it can be sometimes.

To be perfectly blunt, Sim, I really don't see how your personal grievance about the Mercuriceratops, the Deinocheirus (and again it must be pointed out that that toy was received VERY positively when it was released), or any other speculative dinosaur figures can be construed as helping CollectA to improve. You don't like speculative toys and that's perfectly okay. You'll save yourself money and shelf space in the process. And you acknowledge that not everyone feels the same way, and that is good. But statements like the one quoted above clearly imply that you think you're right and CollectA is wrong, and that's where I take issue.

On that note, however, I am hereby bowing out of this exchange, as I see neither interest nor benefit in continuing. I'd rather focus my energy in this thread on positive things.

[Megalosaurus]

[...]

Certainly not said anything about the thylacine by Collecta this coming year. Send to shame figure Mojo. And it is female.
I hope this is not the "prehistoric mammal.

From what I can tell, it is not--I get sent pics of the Prehistoric figures, and this wasn't one.
For the record, though:

[...]

I haven't seen that pic before.
Now I'm dying to get that thylacine! Hope it scales with the mojo male.