Safari: New for 2017

[Doug Watson]

Don't forget Jan Sovak. I haven't seen him do any recent paleoart, but his work was quite dynamic and vivid back in the 90s'.

Yes, but he is a Czech transplant and was already doing his art when he moved here. Edit: I just noticed he is 63 so maybe he was lucky enough to retire.

[Doug Watson]

Speaking of Canadian artists and I guess technically dinosaur artists, Suspsy did you hear that we lost bird artist John Crosby at the age of 91 on Monday. John was a friend and mentor that I had the honour of working with at CMN. He will be missed.

[suspsy]

No, I wasn't aware. Pity, but at least he lived to a ripe old age. Did he do any of the diorama backdrops in the old CMN bird gallery?

[Doug Watson]

No, I wasn't aware. Pity, but at least he lived to a ripe old age. Did he do any of the diorama backdrops in the old CMN bird gallery?

No John did illustration mainly. The one diorama background that he did that is still around is the Taylor Lake Diorama that shows life above and below the water.
I may be wrong but I believe all the large dioramas in the old bird all were done by Hugh Monohan. I am not sure who did the smaller ones like the Sage Grouse, I knew the name at one time but my memory is failing me. Clarence Tillenius did most of the mammal hall diorama backgrounds. The exceptions were done by Pat Halderson who did the beaver group, Pica and Grey Squirrel.

[suspsy]

Cool, thank you for that info. If I have one regret in life, it's that I assumed that those magnificent dioramas would always be there at the CMN. How I wish I had taken photos of each one when I had so many chances! 

And on the subject of birds, Doug (and getting back on topic), was your T. rex inspired by any particular extant species?

[Doug Watson]

Cool, thank you for that info. If I have one regret in life, it's that I assumed that those magnificent dioramas would always be there at the CMN. How I wish I had taken photos of each one when I had so many chances! 

And on the subject of birds, Doug (and getting back on topic), was your T. rex inspired by any particular extant species?

No extant species, I pulled the T rex colouration out of my arsenal. 

and to get us back off topic I just remembered who painted the 4 small dioramas in the old bird hall, it was James Perry Wilson who also worked at the Yale Peabody Museum. I have a horror story to share about this that I will detail in the CMN thread.

[suspsy]

Thanks! I adore a good horror story!

[DinoLord]

No extant species, I pulled the T rex colouration out of my arsenal. 

Interesting to hear. I'm a fan of the color scheme, as it's quite similar to my own mental conception of what colors T. rex had. I have a 1/20 Sega vinyl T. rex that I had Martin Garratt paint in similar colors two years ago and it has a similar pose too. I'll have to take a picture of the two together when the new T. rex comes out!

[Silvanusaurus]

No extant species, I pulled the T rex colouration out of my arsenal. 

Interesting to hear. I'm a fan of the color scheme, as it's quite similar to my own mental conception of what colors T. rex had. I have a 1/20 Sega vinyl T. rex that I had Martin Garratt paint in similar colors two years ago and it has a similar pose too. I'll have to take a picture of the two together when the new T. rex comes out!

I also happen to usually imagine T rex in these sorts of earthy reddish colours. Even if I do some custom painting with it, I'll probably just alter the existing scheme because it's so similar to my 'ideal' vision of a rex.

[Daspletotyrannus]

I sorta see my ideal Tyrannosaurus colored like Carnegie Corythosaurus.

[MLMjp]

No extant species, I pulled the T rex colouration out of my arsenal. 

Interesting to hear. I'm a fan of the color scheme, as it's quite similar to my own mental conception of what colors T. rex had. I have a 1/20 Sega vinyl T. rex that I had Martin Garratt paint in similar colors two years ago and it has a similar pose too. I'll have to take a picture of the two together when the new T. rex comes out!

I also happen to usually imagine T rex in these sorts of earthy reddish colours. Even if I do some custom painting with it, I'll probably just alter the existing scheme because it's so similar to my 'ideal' vision of a rex.

Glad to see that we share a very similar mental image of Tyrannosaurus rex guys. I also think of reds, browns and blacks when it comes to T.rex. It´s fantastic that Mr. Watson chose those colors, it makes the figure even more awesome

[ITdactyl]

I'll admit being wrong about that Rex... it's on the buy list now...

...plus that Diplodocus.... *thinking of how I'll import such a long thing....*

...the Quetzalcoatlus will be in the bag too... can't wait to have it in the Quetz shelf.

but that Deinocheirus... that sidelong glance.... it's silently saying: "BUY ME MORTAL!"

The import fees will kill me....

[Lanthanotus]

Just made some price/size comparisons and am wondering about some of the prices and the sizes provided on the Safari website. Well, the prices may partly relate to the popularitiy of the depicted species (for example T. rex aswell as Velociraptor seem comparably pricy to me) I wonder about some of the measurements. Sure, no scale is given, but at 3 inches high the Deinocheirus would be tiny (!) for a 12 m + beast, for example the CollectA stands 4.5 high with its flat base. It measures 7 inches in length though (total, not following the body line) while the Safari shall measure 7.75 which can only be along the body, can't it? Otherwise its proportions would be way off (or the 3 inch high measurement isn't correct, which is hopefully the case) and it would be of roughly the same size as the Velociraptor...

The Diplodocus seems to be of roughly same size as the Papo Apatosaurus and the Giganotosaurus will be a top dog (and shelf space killer) at 14,5 inches lenght.

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

Sure, no scale is given, but at 3 inches high the Deinocheirus would be tiny (!) for a 12 m + beast, for example the CollectA stands 4.5 high with its flat base. It measures 7 inches in length though (total, not following the body line) while the Safari shall measure 7.75 which can only be along the body, can't it? Otherwise its proportions would be way off (or the 3 inch high measurement isn't correct, which is hopefully the case) and it would be of roughly the same size as the Velociraptor...

Eyeballing it, it seems like the Collecta Deinocheirus is rearing somewhat, while the Safari version is in more of a resting or walking pose. This could account for the differences in both height and length when the angle is taken into account. Shipping size isn't the same as measuring along the body, so the two figures may actually be somewhat comparable.

[Jose S.M.]

I think it's a matter of pose too, in the CollectA one the head is higher than the hump, in the Safari the head and hump looks like they are on the same level.

[tanystropheus]

Now that I've seen everything,the ones that stand out the most to me are the Tylosaurus,Kronosaurus,Coelophysis and Einiosaurus. 

If the Diplo looks as good as the promotional, I would say that we have another winner!

I think you'll be happy to know this:
All of the models seen in the forest diorama pics on Safari's site are actually production samples (resin prototypes do not have the lettering stamped onto the bottom of them or the "CE" label which can be seen on many of them if you look carefully),so the Diplodocus will basically look like what you see in that picture.

That makes me very happy!
I will most likely get all of the new WS products, but I will start with the Diplo, Eini, T-rex and the Quetz. Also, need to pick up the Psittacosaurus - I have the CollectA version but this is more fledged out....I wonder if Safari Ltd. is planning on releasing a quilled Triceratops for 2018...

[amargasaurus cazaui]

I really hope not... Their ceratopsians are so well do e

[stargatedalek]

I really hope not... Their ceratopsians are so well do e

Exactly, a quilled Triceratops à la CollectA or Kaiyodo is not accurate. The raised projections on Triceratops scales are structurally more akin to thorny devil lizards.

[Faelrin]

On the topic, come to think of it, while I would like to see a Triceratops figure (and at some point, if not next year), that does take the skin impression into account, if there hasn't been anything published on it yet, should a figure depicting that impression be made? I'm just wondering what the implications are regarding that. I think it would make for a neat figure with detailing based on that impression, but would it be safe to call it accurate yet? 

[stargatedalek]

On the topic, come to think of it, while I would like to see a Triceratops figure (and at some point, if not next year), that does take the skin impression into account, if there hasn't been anything published on it yet, should a figure depicting that impression be made? I'm just wondering what the implications are regarding that. I think it would make for a neat figure with detailing based on that impression, but would it be safe to call it accurate yet?

As far as I can recall this photo is the best material to go on. Unfortunately there's no clear indication of whether or not these projections are damaged or worn down or if this is relatively close to their full size.