CollectA New for 2017

[Dinoguy2]

Perhaps not much back before baleen. They evolved from an otter-like mammal, and you don't see much spare meat on an otter.

Non-baleen whales don't resemble their skulls nearly as much as this (and pretty much all other) Basilosaurus reconstructions do. Even without a big melon, check out the lips and other soft tissue. No way the teeth would be as visible as they are in all these "monster" versions of Basilosaurus. Basilosaurus should look more like this:



It's a pretty advanced whale, after all. If you can tell where the neck and head begin or end, you're doing it wrong.

[Dilopho]

It's a pretty advanced whale, after all. If you can tell where the neck and head begin or end, you're doing it wrong.

While I too think Basilosaurus was more fatty than this figure, like the picture you posted, I actually don't think this model is too far off. At least the upper body where the chest is looks suitably fleshed-out. I agree with the skull, though. It would have probably had lips. However, I find myself liking it toothy! There's something about me that, while endorsing lips on theropods and big cheeks on ornithopods etc., finds toothy sea creatures...well, cool! Even though I know they're incorrect, I like them!
To me, sea creatures are terrifying. I can't swim, so maybe that effects it, but such an enormous creature, smoothly, seamlessly gliding through the endless abyss after prey really frightens me.

However, yes, it should have lips. Like this!



[P.S. They misspelled Basilosaurus.]

[BlueKrono]

Dinoguy2 - I agree with you on the lips for sure. I think the head would have looked kind of varanid in appearance - long and slim but with lips fully covering the teeth. The picture you posted is excellent, especially the head and neck, very streamlined as an aquatic animal should be. I just think the body could have been quite spare like an otter, and like this CollectA model.

Dilopho - I noticed that too! I have to keep myself from being too nit-picky on spelling so I don't come off the wrong way.

[stargatedalek]

When i get that excalibosaurus, I'm gonna name it Arthur, and no one will be able to stop me. 

I'm thinking Arturia, or maybe even just Saber.

Maybe it's because I've been exposed to them in detail since I was very young but I've always had a fondness for whales, pilot whales and orca in particular. So the classic depiction of Basilosaurus has always bothered me. I remember I think it was one of the Walking with Dinosaurs spin-offs that I first heard about it from, where they went over the history of how it was originally thought of as a reptile and depicted serpentine, and then went on to use an incredibly serpentine depiction themselves.

[Nanuqsaurus]

When i get that excalibosaurus, I'm gonna name it Arthur, and no one will be able to stop me. 

I'm thinking Arturia, or maybe even just Saber.

Maybe it's because I've been exposed to them in detail since I was very young but I've always had a fondness for whales, pilot whales and orca in particular. So the classic depiction of Basilosaurus has always bothered me. I remember I think it was one of the Walking with Dinosaurs spin-offs that I first heard about it from, where they went over the history of how it was originally thought of as a reptile and depicted serpentine, and then went on to use an incredibly serpentine depiction themselves.

You mean the one from Sea Monsters? I think that one looks pretty good actually.

[stargatedalek]

When i get that excalibosaurus, I'm gonna name it Arthur, and no one will be able to stop me. 

I'm thinking Arturia, or maybe even just Saber.

Maybe it's because I've been exposed to them in detail since I was very young but I've always had a fondness for whales, pilot whales and orca in particular. So the classic depiction of Basilosaurus has always bothered me. I remember I think it was one of the Walking with Dinosaurs spin-offs that I first heard about it from, where they went over the history of how it was originally thought of as a reptile and depicted serpentine, and then went on to use an incredibly serpentine depiction themselves.

You mean the one from Sea Monsters? I think that one looks pretty good actually.

Yes that's it, it's certainly not awful, but after they played up how it used to be thought of as a lithe reptile and was now known to be a whale it feels odd that theirs is so conservative.

[Sim]

My first thought when I saw the CollectA Basilosaurus was how strange its head looks.  It looks like it doesn't have lips.  Its head looks very shrink-wrapped.

[terrorchicken]

yeah now that I look at it again it looks very marine reptile-like...I prefer how it looks in the picture Dinoguy2 posted.

[tanystropheus]

I prefer PNSO's interpretation...the one that has a head that resembles that of a blind Amazon river dolphin. It's quite distinct. However, the CollectA version is pretty cool. I hope the head sculpt looks better in person. To be fair, I love all of CollectA's prehistoric marine animals. Excellent choice of obscure species. The Excalibur.

[Shadowknight1]

When i get that excalibosaurus, I'm gonna name it Arthur, and no one will be able to stop me. 

I'm thinking Arturia, or maybe even just Saber.

Maybe it's because I've been exposed to them in detail since I was very young but I've always had a fondness for whales, pilot whales and orca in particular. So the classic depiction of Basilosaurus has always bothered me. I remember I think it was one of the Walking with Dinosaurs spin-offs that I first heard about it from, where they went over the history of how it was originally thought of as a reptile and depicted serpentine, and then went on to use an incredibly serpentine depiction themselves.

HA!  I see what ya did there.

[Silvanusaurus]

The Basilosaurus doesn't have the same weight/power of the PNSO, which I still want to get, but I suppose it will be affordable enough to do a custom with in order to add more flesh.

[Jose S.M.]

When i get that excalibosaurus, I'm gonna name it Arthur, and no one will be able to stop me. 

I'm thinking Arturia, or maybe even just Saber.

Maybe it's because I've been exposed to them in detail since I was very young but I've always had a fondness for whales, pilot whales and orca in particular. So the classic depiction of Basilosaurus has always bothered me. I remember I think it was one of the Walking with Dinosaurs spin-offs that I first heard about it from, where they went over the history of how it was originally thought of as a reptile and depicted serpentine, and then went on to use an incredibly serpentine depiction themselves.

HA!  I see what ya did there.

Me too! Hehe

[Dinoguy2]

I prefer PNSO's interpretation...the one that has a head that resembles that of a blind Amazon river dolphin. It's quite distinct. However, the CollectA version is pretty cool. I hope the head sculpt looks better in person. To be fair, I love all of CollectA's prehistoric marine animals. Excellent choice of obscure species. The Excalibur.

I just looked at this version, and I love the PNSO interpretation of the face/jaws. But the back of the skull and neck are shrink wrapped beyond imagination. You should NOT be able to the the outline of the jaw or a distinct neck in a specialized marine animal! It makes no biological sense. I don't know why they didn't just base the neck on river dolphins too.

[Dilopho]

And you can call the Basilosaurus Basil. 

[Nanuqsaurus]

I prefer PNSO's interpretation...the one that has a head that resembles that of a blind Amazon river dolphin. It's quite distinct. However, the CollectA version is pretty cool. I hope the head sculpt looks better in person. To be fair, I love all of CollectA's prehistoric marine animals. Excellent choice of obscure species. The Excalibur.

I just looked at this version, and I love the PNSO interpretation of the face/jaws. But the back of the skull and neck are shrink wrapped beyond imagination. You should NOT be able to the the outline of the jaw or a distinct neck in a specialized marine animal! It makes no biological sense. I don't know why they didn't just base the neck on river dolphins too.

PNSO makes nice detailed figures, but they sure are the king of shrink wrapping. Look at some of their sauropods, they are starving.

[MLMjp]

PNSO makes nice detailed figures, but they sure are the king of shrink wrapping. Look at some of their sauropods, they are starving.

I think that title goes to Favorite co. 
The PNSO non-sauropods have a decent amount of mass, while every single Favorite soft model is skin-wrapped.

[Shonisaurus]

By the way if the basilosaurus Collecta is made on a 1:50 scale and measures 35 centimeters in length as much as the tyrannosaurus rex plumed from the same line.
With a 1:40 scale would be huge according to Collecta's scale.

What I did not explain how it was said that this year would become a megatherium and an arctodus simus, all the conjectures have been misunderstood unfortunately.

[stargatedalek]

PNSO makes nice detailed figures, but they sure are the king of shrink wrapping. Look at some of their sauropods, they are starving.

I think that title goes to Favorite co. 
The PNSO non-sauropods have a decent amount of mass, while every single Favorite soft model is skin-wrapped.

I think they're about equal in that regard actually. Most of the PNSO dinosaurs, not just the sauropods, are very shrunken, and nearly all of Favorite's dinosaurs are (the Velociraptor isn't particularly, but it doesn't have enough "body" to the feathers so in a sense that's still shrink-wrapping) but Favorite makes a lot of non-dinosaurs which are very well proportioned to even out the score.

[Halichoeres]

I'm sure the ones that are left are theropods. There has been few new dinosaurs so far, only 3 of I'm not wrong, and one it's repeated by Safari. But I'm happy for marine reptil lovers, Kronosaurus looks good and a new ichthyosaur! And also for the people who wanted a Basilosaurus  .
Can't wait to see the final releases.

5 are dinosaurs: Deinocheirus, Gigantspinosaurus, Einiosaurus, Regaliceratops, Styracosaurus.

I'm glad that this year is less theropod-intensive than last year! I just noticed, though, that the Excalibosaurus is only 13 cm long! That's so tiny! I have Colorata figures bigger than that. Kind of a bummer that it'll be so out of scale with my other marine reptiles, but it's not like there's a ton of Excalibosaurus figures to choose from, so I'll still get it.

Yes, 5 are dinosaurs but 2 are species previously made by CollectA, but in deluxe form, so only 3 of them are brand new species for them. Well styracosaurus really needed the update.
I'm very glad too that after last year that was mainly theropods they decided to mix it up.

Ah, I understand. My mistake!

PNSO makes nice detailed figures, but they sure are the king of shrink wrapping. Look at some of their sauropods, they are starving.

I think that title goes to Favorite co. 
The PNSO non-sauropods have a decent amount of mass, while every single Favorite soft model is skin-wrapped.

That's certainly true of their dinosaurs (Kazunari Araki sculpts). I think the Prehistoric Life models sculpted by Hirokazu Tokugawa are laudably fleshy, as stargatedalek points out.

[Bokisaurus]

Awesome new additions to next years lineup!
I love the Excalibosaurus, glad someone finally is making a figure of this unusual and very cool looking ichthyosaur!
Basilosaurus is long overdue and glad one is finally being released by CollectA. It's a nice looking figure.
Now, really excited to see what the last few figures are going to be- still hoping for a large sauropod