CollectA New for 2016

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

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.

It's about 12" same as the Safari/Carnegie Elasmosaurus and the Invicta stretched out.  Those necks are LONG.. lol  " A snake strung through the body of a turtle." Always loved that description.

[SBell]

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.

It's about 12" same as the Safari/Carnegie Elasmosaurus and the Invicta stretched out.  Those necks are LONG.. lol  " A snake strung through the body of a turtle." Always loved that description.

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).

That's what 30 cm means, Blade--join us...come to the metric side...we have cake, and a nice base-10 system of conversions...!

[Roselaar]

I'm not sold on the Torvosaurus yet. It looks kinda... off. But for now I'm guessing it's the angle of the pic, its hands and face are not done any justice by it.

The Thalassomedon looks more impressive, though in this case too the angle sucks. I love the paint job, it reminds me of the little PlayVision Elasmosaurus. I'm assuming Thalassomedon has not been done before as a model?

[Viking Spawn]

I like the Torvosaurus!  It is different but looks much better than I thought it would. 

[Dinomike]

I personally like the Torvosaurus model a lot! I think the pose is very dynamic and I find the awesomebro spikes...well...awesome! It looks like there are are great deal of Torvosaurus illustrations with spikes online. At least a quick Google search reveals this. Might be were they got their inspiration from.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

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.

It's about 12" same as the Safari/Carnegie Elasmosaurus and the Invicta stretched out.  Those necks are LONG.. lol  " A snake strung through the body of a turtle." Always loved that description.

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).

That's what 30 cm means, Blade--join us...come to the metric side...we have cake, and a nice base-10 system of conversions...!

lol If I started speaking in Metric none of my friends here would be able to build anything.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Not a big deal but it looks like the Torvosaurus had some..inspiration from a popular source :




Maybe it's just me..but those spines/pose and color/pattern feels really close.

[John]

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/

I wonder if the apparent angle of forelimbs in the prototype model are due to distortion in the photo caused by CollectA having the camera up close to it?It seems odd to me (though not out of the realm of possibility) that they would make that mistake,yet get everything else right.I would like to see more angles of it.

[ChubbyTaco]

The torvosaurus's hands are not looking good .The hands mainly at fingers it is looking like the claws are directly coming from the arms without fingers.The fingers are too short and the arms are too broad.They could have made the arms a little thin at the middle of the lower arm and broader at the end and could have made the fingers a little long.Secondly the permanent base and the small feet.Hate permanent bases .But the posture is good.

[tanystropheus]

Not a big deal but it looks like the Torvosaurus had some..inspiration from a popular source :




Maybe it's just me..but those spines/pose and color/pattern feels really close.

I think they were inspired by their very own Saurophaganax:

http://dinotoyblog.com/dinotoyimages/new_for_2014/saurophaganax_collecta_2014.jpg

Overall, CollectA has a very strong showing for 2016. Hope the final products are on par with the stock photos.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Not a big deal but it looks like the Torvosaurus had some..inspiration from a popular source :

http://blog.everythingdinosaur.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Collect_Torvosaurus.jpg
http://www.oafe.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/150212g.jpg

Maybe it's just me..but those spines/pose and color/pattern feels really close.

I think they were inspired by their very own Saurophaganax:

http://dinotoyblog.com/dinotoyimages/new_for_2014/saurophaganax_collecta_2014.jpg

Overall, CollectA has a very strong showing for 2016. Hope the final products are on par with the stock photos.

lol that too!

I don't know..I need to see that head better. The base and pose are fine with me but it looks soft on detail or something. The only other Torvosaurus replica I have to compare is Shane's sculpt though.

[MLMjp]

I just have take a look at the Saurophaganax and Torvo and wow.. They have almost the same color scheme, even the same pattern in the face

[Bokisaurus]

Wow, nice additions! I love the Torvo, great dynamic pose! The marine reptile looks awesome, love the tail fluke, sets it apart from the rest.
Now I'm really sad no sauropod next year, I'm dying to see how one would like like with this new style.
It really looks like they have a new artist sculpt these new figures, with the exception of the hunting rex and ceratopsian, which looks like the same artist who did this year's figures.
So 2 more to go, hope they saved the best for last

[tanystropheus]

[...]

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.

Another nigh-extant mammal to add to the list!

P.S: Is that a baby chilling in the pouch or...something else?

[MLMjp]

So what is left it´s going to be a theropod and a prehistoric mammal right?

[Halichoeres]

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.

Good to know, thanks! At least it doesn't have the old-fashioned rattlesnake neck like most elasmosaurid figures...

[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.

Another nigh-extant mammal to add to the list!

P.S: Is that a baby chilling in the pouch or...something else?

Yes.
Is just like in this Joan Milelire sculpture.

[Dinoguy2]

Thalassomedon! One of my favorite mounts at the AMNH. Need to get this one. That and the nicely small 1:40 Struthiomimus. Will wait on some more reviews and pics for the others... I've been looking for a line dedicated to doing a decent amount of 1:40s since Carnegie stopped but Collecta has been hit or miss for me.

[Sim]

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.

You've missed the point.  Even if the 2 brow horn + 1 nose horn arrangement is typical for chasmosaurines, the shape and size of these horns can differ quite a lot between members of this group.  Does Mercuriceratops have very reduced brow horns like Chasmosaurus, Utahceratops or Vagaceratops?  Or long brow horns like Triceratops, Pentaceratops, Arrhinoceratops or Kosmoceratops?  No-one knows.  And, horns of similar lengths can still differ in appearance.  Compare those of Chasmosaurus belli, Chasmosaurus russelli, Utahceratops and Vagaceratops.  In the long horned species, the brown horns of Triceratops and Pentaceratops are forward-pointing, while in Kosmoceratops and Arrhinoceratops they're side-pointing.  And as I mentioned, the nose horn's size and shape differs between different chasmosaurines too.  Then there's also the great diversity in frills between different chasmosaurines.  The piece of frill that Mercuriceratops is known from already shows its frill is very different from any other chasmosaurine's, although it only shows what that part of the frill was like.  The rest of its frill's appearance isn't known.

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.

The bolded part is an assumption you have made, and I get the impression you and SBell have assumed this about other things I've said in this discussion as well.  That assumption is incorrect, and it lies with you, not me.  I've explained reasons why I think it's often better to avoid making figures of animals known from very incomplete remains because you've been objecting to what I've said, all the way back to when I just expressed surprise CollectA has made more fragmentary species.  I have never said, implied or thought CollectA is wrong and I'm right, or that CollectA will definitely improve by doing what I'd like to see from them.  I think sometimes it's possible for CollectA and other companies to improve from things people say.  I don't think things people say will DEFINITELY / ALWAYS help a company improve.  I think sometimes they might be helpful.  That's what I meant in that quoted part of my post above.  That quoted part of my post was actually referring to all the things people have said they would've preferred from CollectA in this thread, including things you and I have said.

I've spent a lot of time explaining to you why I think it can be good for CollectA and other companies to make species known from more complete remains, rather than ones known from very incomplete remains, e.g.: Reply #47 and Reply #228.  I thought it was obvious this is just my opinion on the matter.  It seems to me you're responding to my posts as if I had made them with the aim of helping CollectA improve, when I've actually made them to answer your objections to me being surprised at some of the species CollectA has chosen for their 2016 figures:

I am surprised CollectA is still regularly making figures of animals known from fragmentary remains after how things went with Deinocheirus.

Which was a perfectly reasonable interpretation at the time. And very well-received by fans to boot.

That post by me was a response to what amargasaurus said in Reply #34.

[terrorchicken]

I saw the thread title for the thylacine at the animal toy forum, and at first i read it as "thylacosmilus" and got REALLY EXCITED! then realized that I was thinking of the wrong extinct predatory marsupial. Bummer! Oh well, even though Ialready have the Mojo, this thyalcine is still really nice and Ill probably get it. Really like the new plesiosaur as well.