Safari Ltd.: New for 2018

[Dromaenychus]

The Hell Creek All Stars are complete!

Except for Edmontosaurus. The biggest dinosaur in hell creek but no one really cares about it.

I kinda forgot about it... I would love more ornithopods though.
Maybe with the current teeny tiny one being retired we'll get a properly scaled and accurate version next year? Maybe with a little cock's comb and everything?

[tyrantqueen]

When sculpting this piece along with accessing the latest papers on dimetrodon I consulted with Dr. Robert Reisz a leading expert on synapsids. He is also the one who has recently brought forward the theory that dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus had lips.
That is why my Dimetrodon has lips. The skeletal is based on Scott Hartman's latest interpretation and the posture is a semi high walk. For the external look I mostly used a recent interpretation supervised by Dr. Reisz the main difference being he brings the sail to the tips of the spines.
As for the skin I raised the question with Dr. Reisz that some feel it should be smooth based on other skin fossils of animals like Estemmenosuchus. As you should know there are no known integument fossils of any dimetrodon.
This was Dr. Reisz's answer to me: "AGAIN, I AGREE WITH THAT INTERPRETATION (scales). THAT IS THE DEFAULT RECONSTRUCTION IN THE ABSENCE OF ANY DIRECT EVIDENCE. THE INTERPRETATIONS OF ESTEMMENOSUCHUS ARE NOT RELEVANT TO DIMETRODON, SINCE PHYSIOLOGICALLY THEY ARE QUITE DIFFERENT, DIMETRODON BEING MORE LIKE A REPTILE, AND ESTEMMENOSUCHUS BEING MORE LIKE A MAMMAL."
Sorry for the all caps but that is how he answered me and I don't think he was yelling at the time.

I see, that makes sense. I wasn't sure one way or the other, I just pick up bits and pieces. Nothing wrong with being conservative when we don't know any better

That's a strange way to talk to someone, lol.

[Doug Watson]

That's a strange way to talk to someone, lol.

He inserted his answers into the body of my original text so I think he did all caps to differentiate his answers from my questions, other people do it by using a different coloured text. It is quicker than writing a whole new e-mail and trying to keep track of the questions which I can understand since these are busy people.

[MLMjp]

The Triceratops (prorsus?) portrays the animal very well.

Nope. It is good ol' T.horridus. T.prorsus had a bigger nose horn, and a smaller pair of horns. Plus the frill was smaller

[Sim]

Doug, I'm curious about why the osteoderms on the Wild Safari Ankylosaurus are painted brown only on top and not underneath?  Is it how you chose the osteoderm colouration to look, or could it be a painting error from the factory?

Now bring on a new Stegosaurus for 2019!

Yes!

Now, next year a new Allosaurus, Stegosaurus and Camarosaurus for some Jurassic love... Oh! And a feathered Deinonychus!

Deinonychus and Stegosaurus are the two animals I'd like the most from the Wild Safari line!  Doug Watson's Wild Safari 2017 Velociraptor and 2015 Sauropelta are so good, I'd love Doug to do Deinonychus and Stegosaurus as well.  I have no doubt he can make the best and satisfying toy versions of Deinonychus and Stegosaurus, just like he's done with Velociraptor for 2017 and Triceratops for 2018.  Doug's 2017 Velociraptor has actually made me start buying Wild Safari figures again after not having bought any since 2012.  Specimens of both Velociraptor and Deinonychus have provided such important things to science.  I would love to have a Deinonychus by Doug to go alongside the Velociraptor he made for this year.

[Doug Watson]

The Triceratops (prorsus?) portrays the animal very well.

Nope. It is good ol' T.horridus. T.prorsus had a bigger nose horn, and a smaller pair of horns. Plus the frill was smaller

T. horridus is correct.

[Doug Watson]

Doug, I'm curious about why the osteoderms on the Wild Safari Ankylosaurus are painted brown only on top and not underneath?  Is it how you chose the osteoderm colouration to look, or could it be a painting error from the factory?

Been so long I had to go back and check my images of my prototypes. That is how I painted them no other reason than why not.

[suspsy]

The Triceratops (prorsus?) portrays the animal very well.

Nope. It is good ol' T.horridus. T.prorsus had a bigger nose horn, and a smaller pair of horns. Plus the frill was smaller

T. horridus is correct.

Which is a slight disappointment to me, as just about every Triceratops figure ever made has been T. horridus. Poor T. prorsus needs love too, especially considering how many mounted specimens there are. The one here at the museum in Ottawa is prorsus.

That said, this figure will certainly be the definitive Triceratops in my collection. I'm curious, Doug: did you consider at any point adding spiky osteoderms in the manner of the restorations by Mark Witton, or was that too speculative in your view?

[tanystropheus]

Safari sent these over to me for my YouTube channel. They're really great figures. Safari's promo photos don't do them justice, this photo is closer to how they look irl. Two safari Ceratopsians this year?? Yay Doug Watson!

That photo makes Amargasaurus look actually good. Lack of lips is still weird but the face looks better than the promo photos.

I agree! It's all in the angle

It totally is. I was mentioning this earlier. This is even more true for the Amarga. Plus, toys and models generally look better in hand. The camera lens, in and of itself, does some image warping.

[tanystropheus]

Glad to see two ceratopsians from Safari this year, especially a non-JP Triceratops. Perhaps we will see the Styraco or Proto next year.

I'm also loving the fact that Safari is putting some serious effort into expanding the prehistoric mammal line. Doug Watson really makes these animals come alive again. The Hyaenodon and Megacerops will make great companion pieces to the Mojo versions. Hopefully, the Mastodon will be heralding a new line of exotic prehistoric elephants...

The Dimetrodon is a must have. Great attention to the sail. Not to sound greedy, but I think Doug Watson should do an Edaphosaurus, as well.

The new sauropod looks great, but I'm a bit conflicted about the color scheme. Maybe, it will grow on me.

[Doug Watson]

That said, this figure will certainly be the definitive Triceratops in my collection. I'm curious, Doug: did you consider at any point adding spiky osteoderms in the manner of the restorations by Mark Witton, or was that too speculative in your view?

To tell the truth to me T. prorsus can look a little derpy with that elongated snout so I chose the one with a more robust look.

I looked into all the theories on the nipples and I decided to steer away from conjecture and show what we actually know.

P.S. If I had made little spikes like that they would have been blunted by the factory for child safety.

[Doug Watson]

With the ankylosaurus officially confirmed I can say that my opinion of it has not change, is is a very nice representation of Ankylosaurus although the armor placement maybe a little bit inaccurate according to the proposed armor arrangement of the new study about ankylosaurus:
But it´s not Mr. Watson´s fault, the figure was made long before that paper was published. Still, probably the best Ankylosaurus figure to date.

Thought I would address this since I am back from a short vacation. There still has not been a specimen found of ankylosaurus with all the dorsal osteoderms fossilized in situ. In the new paper the authors clearly state that their arrangement is only a theory based on study of similar species and could also turn out to be incorrect. When I consulted with Dr Carpenter he adjusted the overall body width before the new study came out and mine is wider than his original interpretation that appears in the new paper. He also made some adjustments on the osteoderm arrangements. I haven't had a chance to ask him his thoughts on the new arrangement but I will when I get a chance. But again both his and the new arrangement are based on informed study and guesswork.

[Shonisaurus]

I would like to know which of these prehistoric creatures have been sculpted apart from the dimetrodon, daeodon and mastodon. For me, they are thirteen paleo-sculpture works destined more to collectors by far.   

My prehistoric contributions this year are: Mastodon, Daeodon, Uintatherium, Megacerops, Ankylosaurus, Regaliceratops, Triceratops, Dimetrodon

My non-prehistoric pieces this year are: Babirusa, Pygmy Hippo, Sumatran Rhino, Muskox, Bison, WW Florida Panther, WW Bison, WW Jaguar repaint (my sculpt) and they have re-issued my Flamingo.

I am also very interested in the Sumatran rhinoceros and the babirusa. I did not know you were making figures not only of dinosaurs.

And first of all Thanks for the information!

[Doug Watson]

Seems like Safari wants to compete with Collecta on the prehistoric mammals ground, but I think that all three new Safaris matching Collectas are kind of inferior. Very slightly I have to say, because I find Daeodon, Megacerops and Uintatherium all pretty nice, but if I have to pick a model of those genera I'd choose Collecta. On the other hand I think that I prefer this WS Regaliceratops to the Collecta version, I assume it'll be the same size of other Safari's ceratopsians, so bigger than Collecta's, and the colours and head sculpt look more interesting to me. Ankylosaurus is nice too, just not my thing. So far I think it's a fairly good year for Safari, Anzu is the peak while only Amargasaurus is subpar, in my opinion. Let's see that other sauropod now.

We did our first Prehistoric Mammal series in 2004 and at that time I had also suggested Mastodon, Daeodon, Uintatherium and Megacerops but after the second series came out Carnegie used a clause in their contract to keep us from doing any more otherwise all four of these would have come out along with the original nine pieces long before CollectA got in the game.

[Shonisaurus]

In short, I am very excited with the new figures of Safari far exceed all my expectations.

Each one is for me the best thing that has been done in dinosaurs as a whole. As for prehistoric mammals the mastodon is a superior figure, the daeodon surpasses its peers of Mojo and Collecta. It is more realistic.

The megacerops and the uintatherium are also exceptional are more scientific than those of Collecta (although I also like to rage equally). The macruchenia is more dynamic than the discontinued figure of Schleich, the hyaenodon for me is the best that has been done.

The sauropods I like especially for the size independently that I like the shunosaurus and nigersaurus. I think that small sauropods also deserve a large size. For me the size in the dinosaur figures is important in the sense that they are more detailed and for me more attractive.

I applaud Safari's decision to make a malawisaurus an unknown figure in the toy market. The same goes for the almost unknown anzu.

The triceratops of this year leaves on the podium Safari in terms of the best figure of triceratops and the same can say of the regaliceratops in my opinion and in my ignorance in terms of paleontology. The same can be said about the regaliceratops are the two very nice and fantastic of an absolute hyperrealism.

On the other hand the dimetrodon is the one that I liked most of all figures of that well-known pelicosaur to date.

And I can attest that the promotional figures, regardless of the fact that for me they are "out of series" photos, I have to admit that the figures look better physically. I have the mastodon (mammoth americanum) and the daeodon and I can affirm without a doubt that they are more beautiful and better finished than the originals. 

Summing up for the umpteenth time. A year of luxury for Safari.     My congratulations and thanks to all the Safari team and especially to Doug who apart from being a great sculptor of Safari is a contributor to the forum! 

[DinoToyForum]

Of this batch, I was consulted on the Anzu, Amargasaurus and Malawisaurus. It was an honour, as always. I didn't have any input on the scale or colouration of the models. One of these days I might ask Safari Ltd for permission to write an illustrated blog post about the process, I've been meaning to do so ever since I helped Doug with the Liopleurodon, years ago.

BTW, to answer a question from earlier in this thread, the Anzu was intentionally posed so that it is supported by one of its wings.

Once again, a wonderful lineup from Safari Ltd. We are being spoiled!

[Takama]

Of this batch, I was consulted on the Anzu, Amargasaurus and Malawisaurus. It was an honour, as always. I didn't have any input on the scale or colouration of the models. One of these days I might ask Safari Ltd for permission to write an illustrated blog post about the process, I've been meaning to do so ever since I helped Doug with the Liopleurodon, years ago.

BTW, to answer a question from earlier in this thread, the Anzu was intentionally posed so that it is supported by one of its wings.

Once again, a wonderful lineup from Safari Ltd. We are being spoiled!

DR Admin, can you tel me why the Malawisaurus looks less like the Skeletal by Scott Hartman?

[Faelrin]

I'm glad you decided to do what you did Doug with sculpting the Triceratops scale things. I think I like it better that way. I'm super glad they were taken into account too. I can't wait to get this one, since I've been wanting a Triceratops figure with those scale things for a while now.

I also third(?) the suggestion of Deinonychus. The only feathered ones I can think of are the Rebor ones, and even they aren't done quite right.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

So is this all of them?  I ask because i was waiting to order til all were released. 

[Concavenator]

@Doug : Did you consult for the Triceratops? I must say it looks somehow different than what I'm used to, but that may be because it is very accurate. I personally find it majestic, and that coloration makes it look more intimidating.