Safari: New for 2017

[Takama]

my new theory is that This is another Reboot of the line.    The last one lasted from 2007-2016.     But it would be a shame to see the great models of 2015 and 2016 be excluded.    I hope they retire a number of models next year and give us new sculpts.

[tyrantqueen]

What if it's Forest Rogers? Doesn't look like her style though...

[The Atroxious]

I know lots of things...!

As for some other posts...nope, no particular new line. 'Just' WS Prehistoric World, same as last year's name (that line has changed names many times, but has remained thematically consistent at least!)

There are some obvious inspirations in many of the releases. A hint has already come out.

WS dinos never released a Diplodocus before . That was Carnegie.

My son and daughter are thrilled at what they saw. Therefore, therefore, Safari has reached their #1 target market. Also, dragons. SOOOO many dragons.

Big boom in production for Safari, huh? Sounds great. The Velociraptor and hawk are almost certain definites for me, and from what I can see the Giga is very enticing as well. Having loads of dragons also sounds amazing. I'm very particular about dragon toys, but I think Safari's golden dragon is one of the best, if not the best currently mass produced dragon figure, so I'm excited to see their latest lineup.

What I really want to see, however, is a Safari griffon vulture. Every other major animal toy company has made them in recent years. First was the gorgeous Schleich model, then came Mojo's version, followed by Papo, and most recently Bullyland. I was talking to someone about this not too long ago, and mentioned to him that all that's missing now is a Safari griffon vulture. Out of these companies, Safari usually makes the best figures in my opinion, so I've been keeping my fingers crossed that they will be producing one in the near future. Given that Safari seems to be getting ambitious with regards to variety, I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about the chances of a vulture in the lineup.

[Dobber]

Yeah....
For the most part i welcome new figures.
But the quality of Safari's painting is a put off.
Its too simple and sloppy considering what these figures cost.

lately it seems Safari has been on a slippery slope going down hill.
While CollectA, Papo, Rebor, heck even Schleich seems to be improving.
They need to up their quality if they wanna stay in the game.

I disagree. Wild Safari figures are neither as large nor as expensive as comparable CollectA figures so it's completely within reason the application will on average not be as good. Papo let alone REBOR are in a completely different price league from Wild Safari, a similarly sized Papo will typically cost over double a Wild Safari figure. And I for one would rather have a poorly applied but well designed paint scheme by Safari than a well applied boring and dirt coloured or JP ripoff from REBOR.

The V-raptor seems to have something that resembles the mane (?) of a mandarin duck.

I initially thought the same, but glancing at the skeletal I think that's just because we're so used to seeing Velociraptors thin neck on prominent display and this is actually closer to what most birds have on their necks.

That's what I was thinking too. It's what I love about this figure too. It looks so bird-like. I'm a little tired of the skinny necks many dinosaurs are always depicted with.

Chris

[The Atroxious]

That's what I was thinking too. It's what I love about this figure too. It looks so bird-like. I'm a little tired of the skinny necks many dinosaurs are always depicted with.

Chris

Personally speaking, I positively adore the skinny neck look. That's part of the reason my favorite birds are Gyps vultures, and why I also love therizinosaurs, anhingas, and ardeids. That said, this Velociraptor is one of the best depictions of thick feathers around a folded up neck. You can tell that the neck is long, but it's held in a tight S-curve, so the feathers obscure the structure. This alone makes the figure far better than the Papo offering. The neck on that figure was thin, with close-lying feathers, and it was altogether too short for a Velociraptor.

[SBell]

I know lots of things...!

As for some other posts...nope, no particular new line. 'Just' WS Prehistoric World, same as last year's name (that line has changed names many times, but has remained thematically consistent at least!)

There are some obvious inspirations in many of the releases. A hint has already come out.

WS dinos never released a Diplodocus before . That was Carnegie.

My son and daughter are thrilled at what they saw. Therefore, therefore, Safari has reached their #1 target market. Also, dragons. SOOOO many dragons.

Big boom in production for Safari, huh? Sounds great. The Velociraptor and hawk are almost certain definites for me, and from what I can see the Giga is very enticing as well. Having loads of dragons also sounds amazing. I'm very particular about dragon toys, but I think Safari's golden dragon is one of the best, if not the best currently mass produced dragon figure, so I'm excited to see their latest lineup.

What I really want to see, however, is a Safari griffon vulture. Every other major animal toy company has made them in recent years. First was the gorgeous Schleich model, then came Mojo's version, followed by Papo, and most recently Bullyland. I was talking to someone about this not too long ago, and mentioned to him that all that's missing now is a Safari griffon vulture. Out of these companies, Safari usually makes the best figures in my opinion, so I've been keeping my fingers crossed that they will be producing one in the near future. Given that Safari seems to be getting ambitious with regards to variety, I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about the chances of a vulture in the lineup.

I'll just burst your bubble on that one. But there are birds of prey which I can't recall being done before, if that helps!?

As for the skinny-neck dinos, well, you'll get yours too.

Finally, for scale--WS dinos has never worried about keeping the line to scale before, I don't think they're worried about it now, although there is some variation. But everyone's going to need a bigger boat...

Sorry, shelf. I just watched Jaws.

[Dobber]

That's what I was thinking too. It's what I love about this figure too. It looks so bird-like. I'm a little tired of the skinny necks many dinosaurs are always depicted with.

Chris

Personally speaking, I positively adore the skinny neck look. That's part of the reason my favorite birds are Gyps vultures, and why I also love therizinosaurs, anhingas, and ardeids. That said, this Velociraptor is one of the best depictions of thick feathers around a folded up neck. You can tell that the neck is long, but it's held in a tight S-curve, so the feathers obscure the structure. This alone makes the figure far better than the Papo offering. The neck on that figure was thin, with close-lying feathers, and it was altogether too short for a Velociraptor.

You are right. I should have been more specific, I agree it works well with certain species. It's just when some feathered species or groups like Dromaeosaurs are feathered they keep the super skinny neck. I like that this figure appears to be filling it out, like how many existing bird of prey species do.

Chris

[SBell]

That's what I was thinking too. It's what I love about this figure too. It looks so bird-like. I'm a little tired of the skinny necks many dinosaurs are always depicted with.

Chris

Personally speaking, I positively adore the skinny neck look. That's part of the reason my favorite birds are Gyps vultures, and why I also love therizinosaurs, anhingas, and ardeids. That said, this Velociraptor is one of the best depictions of thick feathers around a folded up neck. You can tell that the neck is long, but it's held in a tight S-curve, so the feathers obscure the structure. This alone makes the figure far better than the Papo offering. The neck on that figure was thin, with close-lying feathers, and it was altogether too short for a Velociraptor.

You are right. I should have been more specific, I agree it works well with certain species. It's just when some feathered species or groups like Dromaeosaurs are feathered they keep the super skinny neck. I like that this figure appears to be filling it out, like how many existing bird of prey species do.

Chris

Overall, the dinos this year look like pretty healthy, fat individuals. We may be passing over the 'shrink wrap' threshhold here. This year's line up definitely shows some growth (and, yes, some Carnegie inspiration).

[Silvanusaurus]

Personally I really like the Giganotosaurus colour scheme, it's just applied quite poorly, but I think the colours are quite refreshing, though I've always had a fondness for albino/very pale animals.
I'm not sure why CollectA is being used as a point of comparison in terms of paint application quality; I've only ever gotten the impression that their paint-work is the worst of all the major companies, in terms of poor colour choice and an overall look of 'cheapness'. The velociraptor and T rex at least, look miles ahead of anything they've produced. Admittedly I haven't actually purchased many figures from either though, so maybe it's different with them in hand. On that note, I need to get to buying some CollectA's and Safari's.

[Brontozaurus]

I'm a little disappointed that it's Velociraptor and not something like Deinonychus, but it's still absolutely gorgeous. And it gets the primary feathers right! Definitely picking that one up.

The Giga looks pretty sweet, and as a big fan of that particular genus it's another must-buy for me. I don't know what to think about the Diplodocus cause there's so little of it in the picture, but it looks nice enough.

If there's going to be 13 prehistorics from WS next year, I'll bet they'll be mostly remakes of toys that went down with the Carnegie line. A WS Spinosaurus ala Ibrahim et al. would be pretty cool.

@Silvanusaurus: I feel that it's more that CollectA have a variable level of quality when it comes to paint. I'm not quite a fan of the warpaint faces that a lot of their dinosaurs get. But then there's pieces like their Gastonia, Nasutoceratops, and Triceratops corpse which I feel are really high quality figures.

[Concavenator]

Yes,it is quite disappointing that it is a Velociraptor and not other droameosaur.From what we can see,it's perfect.Just not liking the green paint of the beak and hands,but that's it.Doug did you sculpt that dromaeosaur?

[Dobber]

I'm also waiting for some of the bigger "Raptors" like Deinonychus, Dakotaraptor, or Utahraptor. Kind of surprised more figures of those species haven't been made.

Chris

[postsaurischian]

13 prehistoric figures? I guess the remaining 7 figures are from a new toob . Oh, please let it be a smaller pterosaurs toob !

[MLMjp]

Yes,it is quite disappointing that it is a Velociraptor and not other droameosaur.From what we can see,it's perfect.Just not liking the green paint of the beak and hands,but that's it.Doug did you sculpt that dromaeosaur?

He can not tell us until Safari officially announces the new figures

[Flaffy]

Yes,it is quite disappointing that it is a Velociraptor and not other droameosaur.From what we can see,it's perfect.Just not liking the green paint of the beak and hands,but that's it.Doug did you sculpt that dromaeosaur?

I'm not really fond on the paint as well, but man that sculpt is pretty!

[SpartanSquat]

Wow many pages!
So@takama: 13 figures? Maybe you are right and the Giganotosaurus and Diplodocus are retools for a new brand or maybe for Great Dinos?
My thoughts:
Tyrannosaurus: Looks gorgeous! Finally a feathered Tyrannosaurus that I like it! My favourites are Saurian and TSL/Isle ones.
Mosasaur. I think I will wait to have better pics
Azhdarchid: Like Mosasaur.
Giganotosaurus and Diplodocus: The sculpt look plain and the paint...too much like Carnegie. Carnegie for me was a great house, but their last models I didnt like it, maybe the paint. And both look like a retool. Safari will retire some old models like triceratops, allosaurus or spinosaurus with a new look? Well the actual spinosaurus is 4 legged.

[stargatedalek]

But everyone's going to need a bigger boat...

Sorry, shelf. I just watched Jaws.

This is what I like to hear! Every company can make dinosaurs in 1:40th/1:35th, I want to see some genuine big marvels!

[DinoLord]

I want to see some genuine big marvels!

Same here. I can't really think of any newer figures that match the old classics like the first Carnegie Brachiosaurus in terms of heftiness and grandeur.

[Dilopho]

I was very surprised at how big the Carnegie Tyrannosaurus was! I want to get that feeling again...

[John]

Still 7 more to be revealed?And with the goal of regaining what was lost with the end of the Carnegie line?
I'm thinking that some likely candidates will be maybe some of these:
Allosaurus
Maiasaura
Styracosaurus
Carnotaurus
Spinosaurus
Dimetrodon
or
Parasaurolophus perhaps?