Safari: New for 2017

[Halichoeres]

While waiting for more silhouettes, or actual photos, to appear, I browsed their other new offerings, and holy cow they're putting out so much stuff! One is a fairies and dragos Super Toob. Fairies and dragons mostly have wings, so I maintain that it is possible to produce a pterosaur Toob some day.

In the meantime, plenty of other eye candy!

[Rathalosaurus]

There is also a Psittacosaurus (at least it has its silhouette)

[Jose S.M.]

While waiting for more silhouettes, or actual photos, to appear, I browsed their other new offerings, and holy cow they're putting out so much stuff! One is a fairies and dragos Super Toob. Fairies and dragons mostly have wings, so I maintain that it is possible to produce a pterosaur Toob some day.

In the meantime, plenty of other eye candy!

I checked the other figures too, the extant animals at least, and there are a lot of those that look great for someone who collects them. I saw several genud that can be found where I live and the White tailed buck was elected Costa Rica's national mammal a decade or so ago.
Back in the dinosaur topic I want to see the Tyrannosaurs silhouette to see how it's actually posed!

[The Atroxious]

The Deinocheirus definitely looks like it has a more naturalistic posture than the CollectA model. I'm not sure I like the weirdly rounded look the wing feathers have, but I'll reserve final judgment for a more substantial preview.

The Velociraptor is looking like a definite must-have judging by the silhouette. I'm probably going to be repainting it, since I don't care too much for the default colors, but the model itself looks great so far.

I'm having mixed feelings about the Giganotosaurus. On the one hand, I'm kind of put off by how chubby it looks in the preview photo, but on the other hand, it looks appealingly graceful in the silhouette. This might be one of the figures I'll have to decide on when I look at it in person.

The harpy eagle and red-tailed hawk look amazing, and there's little doubt in my mind that I'll be tracking these guys down. Maybe the kookaburra as well.

[CMIPalaeo]

Browsing Safari's other fauna releases... this looks like a very exciting year! Lots of really great animals lined up, extinct and extant.

Just a question though - while some of these figures are bigger than WS dinosaurs typically are, they aren't too much bigger, are they? If the Diplodocus is 18" or the Tyrannosaurus 12" long, that's really not too much bigger than the Apatosaurus (which is about 15", isn't it?) and at least one of the older T. rex was nearly a foot, I believe?

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

I like what I'm seeing here! The colors on the para are unexpected but I like how it turned out. Not disappointed with the base as long as it isn't the same boring color as the CollectA bases, and it looks a lot more detailed from the silhouette.

Just a question though - while some of these figures are bigger than WS dinosaurs typically are, they aren't too much bigger, are they? If the Diplodocus is 18" or the Tyrannosaurus 12" long, that's really not too much bigger than the Apatosaurus (which is about 15", isn't it?) and at least one of the older T. rex was nearly a foot, I believe?

The Carnegie 10th anniversary rex is about that size to be in 1:40 scale, but the WS rexes were probably only around half that. Good to see it'll be decent-sized.

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

So excited to be getting a large Diplodocus!!! Yaaaaay!!! Now, if we could only get a Dreadnoughtus or some other giant titanosaur next year! So excited for the Einiosaurus too! Thanks for the centrosaur, Doug! (I'm gonna go ahead and assume the other new artist wouldn't dare step on your turf, there.) Depending on how well they jive together I'm thinking I might use the Safari Deinocheirus as a juvenile to the Collecta version.

[Concavenator]

SBell,I nailed it!A fantastic new ceratopsian (Einiosaurus) and a Deinocheirus 

[tanystropheus]

Einiosaurus is another ceratopsian that has been neglected by mainstream dinosaur companies.

Good point, Tany 

[amargasaurus cazaui]

The psittacosaurus appears to be bi pedal , quilled , have proper hand and finger reconstruction as well as neutral hands.......never been a general sale r
Reconstruction to offer all of that in one figure

[EarthboundEiniosaurus]

The day iv'e been waiting for has finally arrived! A major toy company is making an Einiosaurus, and Safari no less! Could it be that by the end of the year i'll have four of this amazing dinosaur? All I can say is, WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE 

Thanks,

EarthboundEiniosaurus

[stargatedalek]

Higher price tags are encouraging, can't wait to see just how big these are!

[spinosaurus1]

they seem to be pretty big

Microraptor : 7"W x 5.25"L

T.rex : 12"L x 5.25"H

Velociraptor : 8.5"L x 2.75"H

Psittacosaurus : 5.25"L x 1.75"H

Tylosaurus : 9.25"L x 1.5"H

Diplodocus : 18"L x 4.5"H

Einiosaurus : 6.25"L x 2.5"H

Cronosaurus : 13.5"L x 7.75"H

Quetzalcoatlas : 7.25"L x 8.75"H

Deinocheirus : 7.75"L x 3"H

Parasaurolophus : 7.75"L x 2.25"H

Giganotosuarus : 14.5"L x 4"H

Coelophysis : 7.25"L x 2.5"H

alot of them are over 7 inches in length with a few exceptions with a couple surpassing a foot. i honestly can't wait to get my hands on the giganotosaurus, tyrannosaurus, and velociraptor

[spinosaurus1]

the tyrannosaurus looks gorgeous!

[Gwangi]

I'm pretty excited about most of these releases. Finally, a properly feathered Velociraptor and Tyrannosaurus. Also, Einiosaurus and Coelopyhsis, two of my favorite dinosaurs that I've been dreaming of for years are FINALLY here.

[Sim]

Since hadrosaurs, especially lambeosaurines, are known for having distinctive-looking head crests, I wouldn't be interested in figures of species with a head crest that is incompletely known (Tsintaosaurus) or completely unknown (Magnapaulia).  For me, Parasaurolophus and things like Saurolophus and Lambeosaurus are therefore definitely better choices for figures.

The Velociraptor (pity is isn't a Deinonychus)I have doubts about if he did or didn't sculpt it.

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.

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?

Dromaeosaurids don't have beaks.  You might find it disappointing, but I'm very happy Safari made this updated Velociraptor.  It has a lot to offer as a toy from a company that says they make "educational toys" and "toys that teach".

Velociraptor is one of the most completely known both among dromaeosaurids and dinosaurs.  There is even a fossil which preserves a Velociraptor locked in combat with a Protoceratops!

Despite the Velociraptor in the Jurassic Park franchise being anatomically based on Deinonychus, they are representing Velociraptor.  In the Jurassic Park novel, the ones in the park are identified as Velociraptor mongoliensis.  On the Jurassic World website's Velociraptor page, Velociraptor is said to be from Mongolia.  There are also a number of instances in the JP franchise where Deinonychus appears as a separate species to the Velociraptor.  As a result of featuring so prominently in the Jurassic Park franchise, Velociraptor has become one of the best-known dinosaurs.  Velociraptor is also known to look almost like a bird not just due to phylogenetic bracketing, but also thanks to having quill knobs preserved.  I think this combination of things makes an accurate Velociraptor toy something that really shows, regardless of how much someone knows about dinosaurs,:
- how dinosaurs really are real animals, since it looks a lot like some animals alive today - birds.
- how closely related to birds some dinosaurs are, which can make some people more interested in birds.
- modern understanding of a particular dinosaur's appearance.
I actually think Velociraptor is the best species to achieve these things as a toy because of how widely recognizable and relatable it has become, and because it has direct fossil evidence in the form of quill knobs.

Velociraptor is a popular dinosaur which didn't have any toy version that's a plausible representation of it.  Many people have been wanting a very good, modern Velociraptor toy.

There are some other reasons why I'm happy Safari has made this new Velociraptor too.  Velociraptor being my favourite dinosaur is one of them.  But more importantly than that, I've liked Safari for a long time - some of my favourite dinosaur toys as a kid were the mini Safari figures by Greg Wenzel and Dan LoRusso (which included a featherless but accurate for the time Velociraptor by Greg) and this large Safari Velociraptor also by Greg Wenzel: http://dinotoyblog.com/2014/09/27/velociraptor-safari-ltd/  It's worth mentioning both of these Velociraptor toys by Greg don't have pronated hands.  Back then, these were considered plausible representations of Velociraptor.  Safari stood out to me as a company that cared about making prehistoric animal toys that looked a lot like the real animals rather than fantasy monsters.
Fast forward to 2008.  Dromaeosaurid fossils that preserved feathers have been known for over 7 years.  It became known in 2007 that Velociraptor has quill knobs.  The Carnegie Collection Microraptor was released in 2006.  Safari is still selling Greg's two Velociraptor figures (although I think both had different colour schemes at this point), as well as the featherless 2003 Carnegie Collection Velociraptor which was repainted in 2007.  Now they release a Velociraptor for their own Wild Safari line, and what?!  It's completely featherless!  And it has pronated hands!  That WS Velociraptor made me lose a lot of the admiration I had for Safari, who says they make "educational toys" and "toys that teach", especially since it was around for so long without a feathered one being made.  An accurately feathered WS dromaeosaurid would have made me like Safari more again.  But only an accurately feathered WS Velociraptor could allow me to trust, admire and like Safari as I did in the past, as it shows me they truly mean what they say since the one WS species they represented so inaccurately now is represented in WS with a plausible representation of it.

This post turned out long, I had a lot to say!  Due to most of what I've said in this post, I honestly believe Velociraptor is the best choice for a new Wild Safari figure.  I'm happy this new Wild Safari Velociraptor finally happened.  I can now like and admire Safari again.  Deinonychus would be a great Wild Safari figure, I hope Safari makes one in the near future!  Maybe if this new WS Velociraptor sells well, Safari will consider making a Deinonychus too.

[stargatedalek]

I'm slightly disappointed in the choice of Velociraptor not because I prefer any other species, but just because it's so distinctive it can only fill the role of itself or of species without skull material.

they seem to be pretty big

Microraptor : 7"W x 5.25"L

*snip*

Baah! I didn't think to check the product pages. Silly me.
On that note, super happy to hear I called it right and I have another giant Alligator to add to my collection.

Also, I didn't see a Microraptor, did I miss it or were you comparing them to the Carnegie?

[DinoLord]

I'm glad that Velociraptor was chosen. It's about nigh time we finally get a mass-produced figure where we can say, "There, now that's what it should look like based on modern evidence." The Carnegie and Papo versions were close but no cigar.

It's great to see another major company start using bases for theropods. I'm sure the sculptors are glad to not have to play physicist in addition to artist.

And Doug, my prior comment is very sincere. Safari dinosaurs were one of the big aspects of my childhood, so remain something special to me. Things that you grow up with tend to stick with you.

[Gwangi]

I have no complaints about the Velociraptor, I'm happy with just having a properly feathered dromaeosaur, FINALLY! It really seems like some of you really take these things for granted but I suppose I don't want to get into that debate.

[Kovu]

I have no complaints about the Velociraptor, I'm happy with just having a properly feathered dromaeosaur, FINALLY! It really seems like some of you really take these things for granted but I suppose I don't want to get into that debate.

I do wish we had a like button for this.

I can't wait for that Einiosaurus! Been waiting a long, long time for one of those!