CollectA: New for 2018

[stargatedalek]

I don't see the problem with the Dimetrodon colours, they did live in tropical swamps right? Or am I remembering wrong and it was more along the lines of marshes or temperate wetlands?

[spinosaurus1]

I don't see the problem with the Dimetrodon colours, they did live in tropical swamps right? Or am I remembering wrong and it was more along the lines of marshes or temperate wetlands?

it was more of a subtropical wetland prune to the occasional drought.

[suspsy]

I don't see the problem with the Dimetrodon colours, they did live in tropical swamps right? Or am I remembering wrong and it was more along the lines of marshes or temperate wetlands?

it was more of a subtropical wetland prune to the occasional drought.

An environment for which a camouflage pattern would still come in useful.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

I will be getting the Dimetrodon, I find the colors to my taste,moreso than the almost electric look of the new Safari piece....but truth is they could both be easily repainted and are nice scupts otherwise.

[Megalosaurus]

I'm in love with permian, so Ill get all dimetrodons (but the Schleich).
So excited to have a Estemmenosuchus too.

[Fenestra]

I'm in love with permian, so Ill get all dimetrodons (but the Schleich).
So excited to have a Estemmenosuchus too.

Do have the Schleich one already?
Or you're not getting it because you hate Schleich that much? Heh.
Just asking, because the model itself is not that bad actually.

[Shonisaurus]

I'm in love with permian, so Ill get all dimetrodons (but the Schleich).
So excited to have a Estemmenosuchus too.

The Schleich dimetrodon model is a pretty good model within the Schleich parameters of that time. I think it has a certain similarity with Papo but it is not a bad figure. Everyone has their opinion that is respectable for me but in this case I understand that there are figures within the Schleich company that are not bad such as the pentaceratops, kentrosaurus and also the dimetrodon with the scientific inaccuracies that a dinosaur can have in this case toy.

Another thing unfortunately is the acrocanthosaurus of the same factory among other figures made by Schleich. I have seen it in the shop windows (in fact I bought it for my niece granddaughter) and I can assure you that this figure is not good, from the paleoartistic point of view but great for the children.

[spinosaurus1]

i honestly am the most excited for the iguanadon ceratosaurus tbh. from the looks of it, their a good candidate for being one of the best representations of the species in toy form. very little can be said about it besides little nitpicks scientifically speaking, but overall they're gorgeous figures and are overall must haves.

these two would likely be my first collecta figures i'm willing to pick up

[John]

i honestly am the most excited for the iguanadon ceratosaurus tbh. from the looks of it, their a good candidate for being one of the best representations of the species in toy form. very little can be said about it besides little nitpicks scientifically speaking, but overall they're gorgeous figures and are overall must haves.

these two would likely be my first collecta figures i'm willing to pick up

You will be happy to know that both of the ones you mention (Iguanodon and Ceratosaurus) are actually spot-on in the accuracy department when it comes to the sculpts.
They are my two favorites of this batch from CollectA too.

[Shonisaurus]

i honestly am the most excited for the iguanadon ceratosaurus tbh. from the looks of it, their a good candidate for being one of the best representations of the species in toy form. very little can be said about it besides little nitpicks scientifically speaking, but overall they're gorgeous figures and are overall must haves.

these two would likely be my first collecta figures i'm willing to pick up

You will be happy to know that both of the ones you mention (Iguanodon and Ceratosaurus) are actually spot-on in the accuracy department when it comes to the sculpts.
They are my two favorites of this batch from CollectA too.

The iguanodon and ceratosaurus are also my favorite figures of Collecta this year. I agree with both of you. 

[Halichoeres]

The color schemes on the Dimetrodon, as well as the Gigantspinosaurus from last year, are not impossible but they strike me as not very likely. You can find examples in nature of color patches that look more or less random, crossing body axes and rendering the overall pattern asymmetric, but they're the exception rather than the rule. The developmental processes that lead to pigment deposition strongly favor symmetry. It's possible to break that symmetry, but in most vertebrate lineages there's also a pretty strong inertia in favor of counter-shading because there are so many environments in which it's useful that it has been selected for in most lineages. So random color patches, even camouflage-y ones, always look a little weird to me. Like I said, they're not impossible, merely rare, so no need to pepper me with photos of African wild dogs or calico cats.

[stargatedalek]

The pattern is certainly odd, but I was mainly referring to the colours (people were complaining they were too bright, which struck me as silly). As for the patterns though, I will stress that asymmetrical patterns are fairly common on amphibians (particularly semi-aquatic salamanders) and it's not completely unreasonable to suggest convergence with Dimetrodon.

To my eye the reason the CollectA Dimetrodon patterns strike me as unnatural is because the splotches are each so incredibly large, not because of the pattern itself per-se.

[Halichoeres]

The pattern is certainly odd, but I was mainly referring to the colours (people were complaining they were too bright, which struck me as silly). As for the patterns though, I will stress that asymmetrical patterns are fairly common on amphibians (particularly semi-aquatic salamanders) and it's not completely unreasonable to suggest convergence with Dimetrodon.

To my eye the reason the CollectA Dimetrodon patterns strike me as unnatural is because the splotches are each so incredibly large, not because of the pattern itself per-se.

Well, to have convergence with Dimetrodon there should probably be some parallel ecological factor that drives them in the same direction. Things like salamanders need to be invisible in leaf litter and on stream bottoms, or they need to send an aposematic signal. Neither of those applies to Dimetrodon because there is no predator seeing them from above as far as anybody knows. Again, I'm not saying the pattern is impossible, but I don't find the handful of exceptions to counter-shading and symmetry very convincing. I agree with you that the weird streaky patches reaching from the torso up to the face look particularly unnatural, though.

[Shonisaurus]

By the way inside the theme of the dimetrodon Collecta seems to be based on paintings of the great book dinosaur art 2 by steve white.

[Megalosaurus]

I'm in love with permian, so Ill get all dimetrodons (but the Schleich).
So excited to have a Estemmenosuchus too.

Do have the Schleich one already?

Not yet.

Or you're not getting it because you hate Schleich that much? Heh.

I don't hate Schleich at all. I used to love their Replicasaurus line. I have a lot of their (not so recent) figures. And I'll get half of their 2018 ones (great year for them). Of course I'm excited for the Dinogorgon.

Just asking, because the model itself is not that bad actually.

OK. I'll give my reasons to you and Shonisaurus, keep reading please...

The Schleich dimetrodon model is a pretty good model within the Schleich parameters of that time. I think it has a certain similarity with Papo but it is not a bad figure. Everyone has their opinion that is respectable for me but in this case I understand that there are figures within the Schleich company that are not bad such as the pentaceratops, kentrosaurus and also the dimetrodon with the scientific inaccuracies that a dinosaur can have in this case toy.
[...]

Yes, I have the 2 figures you mentioned, and many more as you can read in my response to Fenestra.
As you stated, when Schleich produced their Dimetrodon I noticed that it was similar (but not as good) to the Papo one. Even the colors are similar. So I just decided between both, and of course, the Papo quality winned the battle. But in this case, the CollectA and Safari dimetrodons look enought different to me and have good quality of production. The CollectA one looks specially interesting to me. So I decided to get them both.
Who knows? may be I'll get the Schleich one too, its just the least attractive of the bunch to me at this moment.

I wish some of those companies decide to make a Edaphosaurus to acompany my dimetrodons. And a Ophiacodon too. And many many other permian animals please. 

[DinoToyForum]

The Ceratosaurus looks utterly gorgeous.

[Megalosaurus]

I like the Mantellisaurus pose.
I also collect Mammals so I love they made a Gomphotherium
I like the Brontosaurus and Mapusaurus.
But when I look at the Ceratosaurus face war paint... "Oh CollectA, you did it again..." "REPAINT PLEASE!". The figure is great.

[Bokisaurus]

I will be getting the Dimetrodon, I find the colors to my taste,moreso than the almost electric look of the new Safari piece....but truth is they could both be easily repainted and are nice scupts otherwise.

Agree, somehow I am more drawn to the colors of the CollectA version than the Safari. I think it looks so different from the many Dimetrodon figures already that it stands out more. As lovely as the Safari version is, the colors is still too much like many other figures of it out there.

[Shonisaurus]

I like the Mantellisaurus pose.
I also collect Mammals so I love they made a Gomphotherium
I like the Brontosaurus and Mapusaurus.
But when I look at the Ceratosaurus face war paint... "Oh CollectA, you did it again..." "REPAINT PLEASE!". The figure is great.

In this aspect I agree with you Collecta ceratosaurus is great but I understand that it spoils his war paint on his face, without ceasing to be one of my favorite figures of Collecta this year with the iguanodon and dimetrodon. But honestly I would prefer more conservative colors for the theropods of Collecta.

They are some of them out of series nowadays in the production of theropods in terms of quality but the Celtic war paintings metaphorically speaking spoil the sculpture to figures like this or the Collecta torvosaurus but at least in that figure their paintings were less pronounced.

I respect the Collecta company's philosophy regarding the painting of some of its figures but I would like them to have a little more conservative colors as it happens with the feathered tyrannosaurus rex (one of the best figurines of feathered tyrannosaurus toy). Honestly with more conservative colors to the theropods of Collecta figures much more outstanding than they are.

[John]

There is no way to have any idea what color Dimetrodon or Ceratosaurus were in life,so any arguments about their coloring in the CollectA models or any other prehistoric animal of any brand are moot.For all we know,the model makers may have gotten really close to the mark in coloration,especially when it comes to odd display structures.