Safari Ltd.: New for 2018

[Takama]

It really is disappointing. I wonder why they didn't just make a miniature version of Doug's stellar Velociraptor from last year, instead of basing off the old, invalid one?

Scales Selll I guess.

[Neosodon]

It really is disappointing. I wonder why they didn't just make a miniature version of Doug's stellar Velociraptor from last year, instead of basing off the old, invalid one?

Scales Selll I guess.

Sculpting feathers that small would just be to hard I guess. That's why they have to make all their models so dang big.

[Reptilia]

Oh my, Safari failed! They minified the outdated Velociraptor instead of the feathered one! Come on guys, forgive them, it is just a mini. I wouldn't have expected that the first prehistoric figure to be revealed would have been one of the leaks, no... I bet the next we'll see will be the Daeodon? Do we know if they're going to reveal a group of figures each day or it'll be on a weekly basis, à la Collecta? Out of this first batch the only figure I find kind of interesting is the american desert hare.

[stargatedalek]

Sculpting feathers that small would just be to hard I guess. That's why they have to make all their models so dang big.

Most of the good luck minis are created by scaling down larger figures.

[Sim]

Sculpting feathers that small would just be to hard I guess. That's why they have to make all their models so dang big.

As can be seen here, Safari has made Good Luck Minis with feathers: https://www.safariltd.com/good-luck-minis-toys/  The Good Luck Mini jellyfish looks harder to produce than feathers, too.

Oh my, Safari failed! They minified the outdated Velociraptor instead of the feathered one! Come on guys, forgive them, it is just a mini.

Could you keep these kinds of belittling comments to yourself, please?

[Reptilia]

Oh my, Safari failed! They minified the outdated Velociraptor instead of the feathered one! Come on guys, forgive them, it is just a mini.

Could you keep these kinds of belittling comments to yourself, please?

Simply no.

[postsaurischian]

  I'm already loving the Mastodon a lot. It seems to be a masterpiece!

[tanystropheus]

I'm very disappointed Safari is making another featherless Velociraptor figure.  I expected better from Safari.  It's actually being marketed on this page where Safari says:

Feast your eyes on the newest toys from Safari Ltd.®! Here, you will find exciting additions to our collections, from TOOBS® to Good Luck Mini®'s, Dragons and more. Feel a blast from the past with our authentic dinosaurs or soar the skies with our colorful, new dragons. We are proud to showcase our Toys That Teach®, which inspire and spark imagination in everyone!

This new mini Velociraptor is essentially the opposite of the bolded parts in the quote above.  If they wanted to make a featherless Velociraptor, why not refer to it as what it is - an outdated reconstruction, instead of treating it like it's a valid reconstruction of the animal.  Well, at least now I think I understand what Safari is like.  They are interested in making prehistoric animal figures that are consistent with what is known of them, but sometimes they will make extremely incorrect prehistoric figures anyway if they think they will sell well.

The kind of situation with this new featherless Velociraptor figure is something I would've expected from Schleich, not Safari.

Yeah, Papo would have been butchered if they made the same mistake for their non-JP dinosaurs!

[PaleoMatt]

I don't know about you guys but I'm excited for Bernie the alligator. Will be picking him up lol

[tyrantqueen]

Could you keep these kinds of belittling comments to yourself, please?

I think he was being sarcastic in his reply. If not, it's not like he said anything super offensive anyway.

[ZoPteryx]

Really pleased with the mastodon, will pick one up asap!    The whale toob and Leopard Seal are also really impressive!

The mini Velociraptor is meh, but it's just a mini, so there's little reason to freak out about it. 

[Jose S.M.]

I don't know about you guys but I'm excited for Bernie the alligator. Will be picking him up lol

I love him! I think i will get him too just for fun.

[Patrx]

Keep it civil, please. Nobody's truly up in arms (wings?) over the mini Velociraptor, it just kind of reads as a strange choice from a company that's usually better about making educational stuff a priority.

The mastodon, by the way, looks marvelous, and I've already ordered mine Not sure I'll buy a "Bernie the Alligator", but I think it's a great idea and I'm a little surprised they didn't already have one in production.

[Sim]

Oh my, Safari failed! They minified the outdated Velociraptor instead of the feathered one! Come on guys, forgive them, it is just a mini.

Could you keep these kinds of belittling comments to yourself, please?

Simply no.

I see now that I gave too much significance to what you said regarding the mini.

[sauroid]

why is it called "Bernie" anyway?

[Doug Watson]

why is it called "Bernie" anyway?

Named after Bernard Rubel one of the founders of Safari Ltd.

[CityRaptor]

Probably could need a mate called Rosemarie ( named after his wife, the other founder ).

Let's see so far:
Bernie - hmm, a bit on the cartoony side, but then again, that's what it meant to be. Might pick one up or not.
Mammals ( all ) - well, not for me.
Harpy - Something is off about her. Really looks like the feathers and wings are clothes rather than parts of her body.
Alien Dragon - I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
Gnomes - meh.
Zombies - looks like a good gift for a Zombie Fan.  I guess the gravestone with Walker on it might be a Walking Dead reference.

And finally:
Velociraptor - well, that's unfortunate. At least it's one of the better scaly Velociraptors.

[PhilSauria]

I was always going to go for the Mastodon. Unless it's really bad I will always have a space for Mammoths and the like. Pity most of us here are now already so familiar with the figure that it is hardly a big 'reveal'. Now when one of the animals we've seen just a portion of is shown in full that will be worth getting excited about (depending on the end result of course!). Bring on the Sauropods and Ceratopsian.

[sauroid]

why is it called "Bernie" anyway?

Named after Bernard Rubel one of the founders of Safari Ltd.

thank you.

[bmathison1972]

The new whale toob looks amazing! Definitely an improvement over the previous counterparts which frankly were showing their age. Bryde's whale may even be a unique species (though I'm not sure).

Kaiyodo did a Bryde's whale in one of the Japan-centric Capsule Q sets in 2014 or 2015.