Vitae dinosaurs

[Flaffy]

Cheung Chung Tat has been developing these 2 figures:


Don't know about their current status though. Haven't been updates since November 2019.

[suspsy]

Cheung Chung Tat has been developing these 2 figures:


Don't know about their current status though. Haven't been updates since November 2019.

Did you read what @REBOR_STUDIO wrote? Vitae is kaput.

And in all brutal honesty, I don't consider it a major loss. Their stuff was good, but it wasn't any better than what Safari, PNSO, and CollectA offer. We're just fine without them.

Hopefully that sculptor finds a better employer.

[Flaffy]

Did you read what @REBOR_STUDIO wrote? Vitae is kaput.

Yeah, don't know if Cheung is releasing these 2 under the brand Vitae though. He's already invested ~$1400 usd into developing these 2.

[ItsTwentyBelow]

Did you read what @REBOR_STUDIO wrote? Vitae is kaput.

So? Why be so negative? The Vitae brand may be gone, and likely already was when that pic was taken in November. It's not like the sculptor no longer works in paleoart, though. Unless it's confirmed that work has stopped on those two sculpts, I think it's possible we could see them under a different brand sometime. They look nice! I wonder which taxa they represent?

I just received the Vitae Chilantaisaurus the other day, and am so impressed at the finish, and by how stable it stands on two well-proportioned feet. Awesome work, and other sculptors often don't nail that. Also have the Zhejiangosaurus, and there is just something about these figures that feels incredibly organic. I'll stay optimistic that we will see future releases by this sculptor in this scale.

[suspsy]

I'm never negative, I'm just an unflinching realist. Sure, it's always possible that these moulds might show how see the light of day, but a lot of people used to think the exact same thing about Dan LoRusso's unreleased sculpts.

In the mean time, I see no point in holding my breath.

[ItsTwentyBelow]

Can you really not see how the sculptor being deceased in that situation makes it entirely different from this one?

[ITdactyl]

Thanks for sharing that story @REBOR_STUDIO
'Glad to have a better understanding of what happened (or at least another perspective).

I've been eyeing that ebay listing (and the similar listing over at aliexpress)... noticed the lousy paintjob and the too good to be true price, and hesitated.  I really want the Zhejiangopterus and Wuerhosaurus, but I've already spent too much on those sculpts... ordering both twice, and losing all 4 figs in shipping/customs limbo.

And now I'm a cat on the fence, after hearing rebor_studio's story.  I want the sculpt... so, should I go for the readily available option made of cheap material(?) and deadly paint(?) that would help support an unsavory character(?)...

Don't mind me, just thinking out loud.
btw, thanks @Blade-of-the-Moon  for vouching for that particular "store/seller".

[stargatedalek]

I'm never negative, I'm just an unflinching realist. Sure, it's always possible that these moulds might show how see the light of day, but a lot of people used to think the exact same thing about Dan LoRusso's unreleased sculpts.

In the mean time, I see no point in holding my breath.

We can't exactly make a "mystery company, or maybe still Vitae but rebranded" thread, so I don't see the problem with continuing to use this one.

These models were produced long after the factory incident, only a few months ago. They may be a personal project or they may be sold under a new brand, we can't really say if this photo and date are all we have to go by.

I must say, the story of the gambling factory owner is incredibly dramatic, even if stranger things have happened. Seems to me equally likely he would do this simply out of lack of respect for his clients, abusing some sort of contract loophole to gain access to the molds for his own productions.

Plenty of companies have been screwed over by bad factories, plenty of companies have had bad factories sully their products. I don't see why this should be the end of Vitae anymore than it wasn't the end of REBOR.

As for the rumor of Cheung Chung Tat being a "political radical" (we all know what that means in the context of China right now), if it's true I say good on him, that's an incredibly brave stance to take! Just ask the NBA...

[suspsy]

Can you really not see how the sculptor being deceased in that situation makes it entirely different from this one?

Can you really not see that more than a dozen sculpts were 100% finished and already in the possession of Battat at the time of Dan's passing, but for whatever reason, they chose not to release them?

[Martwad]

Can you really not see how the sculptor being deceased in that situation makes it entirely different from this one?

Can you really not see that more than a dozen sculpts were 100% finished and already in the possession of Battat at the time of Dan's passing, but for whatever reason, they chose not to release them?

A good, possible reason is that they may not have had the legal right to distribute them.  The process toward production had been started, but not finalized due to his passing.

[stargatedalek]

Can you really not see how the sculptor being deceased in that situation makes it entirely different from this one?

Can you really not see that more than a dozen sculpts were 100% finished and already in the possession of Battat at the time of Dan's passing, but for whatever reason, they chose not to release them?

I really don't see what's so similar about the two events. It appears in this case that the sculptor is the one in sole possession of any unreleased items. Battat on the contrary found themselves without a sculptor, and decided to minimize production costs presumably fearing for the lines longevity.

There are also a host of other events that likely hurt the Battat Terra brand and that likely played an equally large if not larger role in their decision to scale back and eventually retire the line, such as a lukewarm reception, and distribution problems stemming from Target's failed expansion into Canada. For a new line to release entirely as an exclusive to one store, in its entire distribution range, when a large section of that range was just introducing that store was a huge mistake.

[suspsy]

Can you really not see how the sculptor being deceased in that situation makes it entirely different from this one?

Can you really not see that more than a dozen sculpts were 100% finished and already in the possession of Battat at the time of Dan's passing, but for whatever reason, they chose not to release them?

A good, possible reason is that they may not have had the legal right to distribute them.  The process toward production had been started, but not finalized due to his passing.

As I recall, Dan's widow stated that Battat was in full possession of the sculpts, and she didn't understand why they weren't releasing them. That suggests that they did indeed have the legal right to distribute them. Perhaps bad sales really are the reason behind the halt. Bottom line, it sounds as though Dan's passing had little or nothing to do with that unfortunate decision.

Anyway, I never claimed that the situations were identical; all I'm saying is that I'm personally not optimistic regarding the Vitae sculpts that have not been released. If they do come out somehow, somewhere in the future, then that's perfectly lovely.

[stargatedalek]

I will say, these two seem to be relatively far along in production, despite many previously announced models having no updates. That would certainly suggest that those earlier models may never be coming, potentially because they are associated with Vitae specifically, but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect these ones to be distributed in some fashion.

That fashion however could be anything. These might be small model kits for all we know.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

For 25.00 I can repaint it myself, it's still a great deal.

I don't think this store would sell knockoffs with the Vitae TM name on them.  The rest of the figures in the same auction are about right for the price which you wouldn't expect of a copy.   Actually getting all six for 50.00 is a better deal too btw.    I just went ahead and emailed them and asked about it. As soon as they get back to me I'll post their reply.

here is Lanatime's reply about my question :

New message from: la-na-time-shop Top Rated Seller(995Purple Star)
Hi Chris,
Sorry for our late response.
This Giganotosaurus does not have a base, we are not very clear about the details of painting, but the style should be different from the original version.

If any questions please feel free to contact us.

Best regards

[SidB]

Hopefully the implication could be drawn from this communication that the details of the original sculpt remain fully intact. That's my hope.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Hopefully the implication could be drawn from this communication that the details of the original sculpt remain fully intact. That's my hope.

That's what it sounds like..I guess if doesn't match the pics on the auction you can always get your money back. I don't see much an issue with at least trying it.

[SidB]

Hopefully the implication could be drawn from this communication that the details of the original sculpt remain fully intact. That's my hope.

That's what it sounds like..I guess if doesn't match the pics on the auction you can always get your money back. I don't see much an issue with at least trying it.

Honestly, I'll be satisfied if its 90 percent accurate. Anything more is gravy.

[Syndicate Bias]

Thanks for the information @REBOR_STUDIO ! It's really a sad story the one you told to us. If the owner of the fabric kept for himself the original molds of their does this mean that Vitae can't produce those models anymore with another fabric?

Anyways, I want to say that I'm really happy that you are present on the forum in this way! It's always interesting to know more about the stories of the various brands.

Killekor

Oh we know lots of juice stuff

Do you happen to know why Papo made that Giga in that pose? 😉

Also What a tragic thing for Vitae. I just found out today. I guess I'm glad I didn't get rid of my Giga.

[Loon]

I'll have to agree with @suspsy , vitae never struck me as drastically better than the "mainstream" stuff. Though, I still want to get those standard scale figures at some point, but maybe that's just me being a hog.

I would like to see that Therizinosaur come to the market somehow, as that group is woefully underrepresented in toy form.

[Leyster]

Cheung Chung Tat has been developing these 2 figures:


Don't know about their current status though. Haven't been updates since November 2019.

Did you read what @REBOR_STUDIO wrote? Vitae is kaput.

And in all brutal honesty, I don't consider it a major loss. Their stuff was good, but it wasn't any better than what Safari, PNSO, and CollectA offer. We're just fine without them.

Hopefully that sculptor finds a better employer.

Sorry, don't want to seem offensive, but I find this reasoning entirely wrong. Vitae was a brand that made some of the most accurate figures in a popular price, and figures of some species never represented by other brands. And they were sculted by an actual paleoartist, who knows the anatomy of the animals he represents better that various other sculptors employed by other brands (with all the respect for the aforementioned sculptors). But, even if this was not true, it would be anyway a great loss. By your same way of reasoning, we'll be fine if Collecta closes tomorrow. Who cares, we still have Safari that makes great figures. We'll be fine if Safari closes tomorrow. Who cares, we still have PNSO. We'll be fine if PNSO closes tomorrow, we still have... ops.
If Vitae really closed, these are really sad news.