CollectA New for 2016

[Georassic]

I understand that Beishanlong is known only from a few bones. Have more complete remains been found? One of my collecting quirks is, I usually avoid figures whose appearance is primarily inferred or speculative due to very limited remains, particularly headless specimens.
Unfortunately, those standards also eliminate this year's CollectA Mercuriceratops and Metriacanthosaurus. (Papo Kapro too.) But I'd love to have reason to convince myself otherwise on Beishanlong. 

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I think it's neat to get speculative pieces as they show the process of discovering a dinosaur's appearance.  In the end just about every piece we collect is speculative..even with complete skeletons.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/277/1679/191.full

The above is a link to the abstract regarding Beishanlong grandis,but make note there is also a link to download the entire paper FREE within the abstract.

As you can tell, it does offer scant remains, although compared to Collectas recent ceratopsian model  it is a virtual buffet.

Regarding this being a slam dunk model of the year, we still have little for Favorite and ten months is a long time. Safari or Collecta could easily toss out a suprise model ....As for the Battat discussion, while I wont compare any particular model of Dan's to this one, I will state when the votes start flying, the name Battat and Dan's name as well will make many votes appear just...well because ! Aside from and nevermind if a new company steps into the fray to take Carnegies former role.....it is a nice model for sure...but two months in and calling it a hands down winner is perhaps a bit.......premature

[suspsy]

Well, we shall see what happens. Who knows, you could be right. CollectA did cause one helluva to-do last year with the Spinosaurus trio coming out of left field, so perhaps later this year they'll whip out a Supreme-class Yi qi.

Has Safari ever produced a mid-year surprise before?

[amargasaurus cazaui]

trying to remember but werent the new safaris already availible in some areas before the end of the year? That might be a technicality, but I have learned the single fastest way in life to motivate anyone to do something is say...there is no way possible...lol. I give collecta fair props though, I will be getting this model, regardless

[Sim]

Which figure is best tends to be subjective and not objective, as there are always a number of good figures that appeal to different preferences and have different reasons for being good.  Saying, "I think it's the best figure of the year", is different from saying, "It's the best figure of the year", and I can't disagree with the former.

I wasn't going to say anything about it, but since there's a discussion about it now, in addition to the above, I will say: I'm not fond of the CollectA Beishanlong and I don't think it's the best figure of the year.  Seeing photos of the actual figure, I find it looks a bit weird.  I think it's due to the teeth and completely black eyes.  The fact that the head of Beishanlong is not known means the figure's head is made-up.  We have no idea what its head looked like, ornithomimosaur heads tend to look different, and Beishanlong's closest relatives Garudimimus and Deinocheirus both have heads different from each other and every other ornithomimosaur.  So for me, this is another reason I don't find the Beishanlong the best figure of the year.  It being on a permanent base is another reason.  I find the base doesn't look good too, the plants on it aren't even painted.  The base actually looked impressive in the pre-release picture.  It being an ornithomimosaur figure is commendable though.  I much prefer CollectA's Struthiomimus however (it's known from more complete remains, it doesn't have a feather crest, it has a feathered face, and I prefer its colour scheme).

We're not exactly sure what Battat will release this year though. If last year was any indication, there may be at least two waves in 2016, and if they include any of the new sculpts, well, personally I think the Pentaceratops, Europasaurus and Nasutoceratops could give the CollectA Beishanlong a run for its money.

They all look like great figures, but unless the final products have some insane new level of sculpting detail that isn't visible in the photos we've seen, they simply don't compare to the Beishanlong. They also don't compare to it in terms of novelty for that matter. You can easily toss out a basketball and hit any number of ceratopsian or sauropod figures, but ornithomimosaurs?

The Gigantoraptor would stand a better chance of competing with the Beishanlong than those three you listed.

I don't agree with the bolded parts.  I agree the Beishanlong is more novel though.  However, novelty as a result of making a species without enough fossil material to have a good idea of its appearance isn't something I like.  I think a 2016 Battat figure is most likely to be what I will find the best 2016 prehistoric animal figure.

[Kovu]

I don't agree with the bolded parts.  I agree the Beishanlong is more novel though.  However, novelty as a result of making a species without enough fossil material to have a good idea of its appearance isn't something I like. I think a 2016 Battat figure is most likely to be what I will find the best 2016 prehistoric animal figure.

Personally, I'm not a big a fan of the Beishanlong either. The eyes are my biggest issue... they look a bit demonic possession-y.
And I agree, one of the 2016 Battats is probably going to be the year's best for me. Especially if the Ouranosaurus or Maiasaura are released 

[Concavenator]

I'd agree with that sentiment if we were unaware as to what all the other companies had in store for us this year, but unless there are some surprises up a sleeve or two, I think people are within reason to call the Beishanlong the best of 2016. Opinions will vary, of course. I'm very keen to see more images of the Deinocheirus. And the Papo Feathered Velociraptor.

Seconded.For some reason,I think no other figure of this year looks as majestic and beautiful as the Beishanlong,it's beautiful and accurate( though it could've had primaries).
Though suspsy,thise two you mentioned are indeed promising.

[stargatedalek]

My only complaints with Beishanlong are it's teeth (WHY?!?!) and that it looked we were getting a nicer base than we did. The latter of which can easily be fixed assuming one foot isn't elevated above the other.

[Kovu]

Is the Lythronax available yet?
The more I look at that one and the Deinocheirus, the more I open up to CollectA... They could both benefit from a make-over paint-wise, but yeah, they look nice.

[suspsy]

I'd agree with that sentiment if we were unaware as to what all the other companies had in store for us this year, but unless there are some surprises up a sleeve or two, I think people are within reason to call the Beishanlong the best of 2016. Opinions will vary, of course. I'm very keen to see more images of the Deinocheirus. And the Papo Feathered Velociraptor.

Seconded.For some reason,I think no other figure of this year looks as majestic and beautiful as the Beishanlong,it's beautiful and accurate( though it could've had primaries).
Though suspsy,thise two you mentioned are indeed promising.

On further thought, I think it may end up being a toss-up between the Beishanlong and the Deinocheirus. If the latter were Deluxe-sized, then I'd probably side with it. Also . . .

My only complaints with Beishanlong are it's teeth (WHY?!?!) and that it looked we were getting a nicer base than we did. The latter of which can easily be fixed assuming one foot isn't elevated above the other.

The teeth are indeed puzzling. There are at least a couple of ornithomimosaurs known to possess teeth, but they're not part of the deinocheirid family.

[Yutyrannus]

Well, we shall see what happens. Who knows, you could be right. CollectA did cause one helluva to-do last year with the Spinosaurus trio coming out of left field, so perhaps later this year they'll whip out a Supreme-class Yi qi.

Has Safari ever produced a mid-year surprise before?

I think the Tyrannosaurus from a couple years back was announced in like March or something, but I'm not sure...

[SBell]

Well, we shall see what happens. Who knows, you could be right. CollectA did cause one helluva to-do last year with the Spinosaurus trio coming out of left field, so perhaps later this year they'll whip out a Supreme-class Yi qi.

Has Safari ever produced a mid-year surprise before?

I think the Tyrannosaurus from a couple years back was announced in like March or something, but I'm not sure...

That was a Carnegie figure though, and they did things their own way. Plus, I think it was actually a late reveal, and they had been delayed from revealing anything the previous Fall.

In general, Safari reveals and releases once a year, with a a few weeks between figures (unless a delay happens in production).

[suspsy]

I'm also really keen to see close-up photos of the Thalassomedon and the Andrewsarchus. It would be nice if just once CollectA made a female prehistoric mammal.

[suspsy]

It's been done for a number of years now. Adam just happens to have been occupied lately with the infinitely more important task of real life.

[suspsy]

Go right ahead and do it come December then. Just don't be surprised when the Beishanlong wins!

[Sim]

It could be very easy: just open a thread, and maybe make it a sticky, where everybody post a personal preference. Any user vote just once, so only the first post of the single user counts for the final result. Now it's a bit early, but I guess that around december could be an interesting thing to do.

We've done best figures of the year on this forum by listing all the options in a poll and then members would vote for a certain number of favourites.  You can see what was done for 2014 here: http://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=2003.0  That thread was started prematurely though, which was dealt with later in the thread.  I still agree with postsaurischian that I think it's best to start a poll for best figures of the year once that year has ended.

For 2015:  I suggest to start the poll on January, the 1st 2016 and to include each and every figure that has been released.

Yeah, I agree!

Dr Admin made a video for the figures that got most votes which can be seen in Reply #114: http://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=2003.msg81486#msg81486  In Reply #19 here, he asked if someone would like to set up a best of 2015 poll.  So, that's available to do now.

[Halichoeres]

Has there not been a best-of-2015 poll? Well, we certainly should rectify that!

[Kovu]

But then you have to sift through the conversation and keep a tally of which figure each person said. A poll is less of a hassle. And as far as I know, unless the poll is reset, I don't think people can change their vote. Someone who's been around longer than I have can verify/correct me on that though.

[alexeratops]

What is the big hype over the Beishanlong? Sure. Its a great looking figure. The feathers are awesome, the sculpt is great, but I don't understand why it is praised so much for being the best thing ever. Is it its strange species choice? Its placement in a non-well represented family? I just don't get it.