CollectA: New for 2018

[SidB]

No, actually like the Papo figures for the artistic style that they represent. I own virtually all of them and continue to acquire others. They are art pieces in their own right and have earned a place in the market. Not only that, but some of them are pretty accurate too. Where I have an issue is with companies that outright assert that their brand is educational. Mind you, that doesn't necessarily mean that I won't buy them. Take Schleich, for example. They certainly have a number of good figures, whether from the old Replicasaurus line or the current offerings. I have a rather complete collection of these too. I appreciate their "in-hand" feel and like their style on its own merits. HOWEVER, I draw the line when they assert that their entire line is educational, since it contains not a few really poor specimens, some horrible, in fact, like the old Ceratosaurus or the new Allosaurus, for example. You know the type. So I'm not condemning any particular line as a whole, especially the Papos, which are terrific in their own right, doubtlessly, taken as a whole, having the highest production values of any brand anyway near their price range. It's the educational claim that is an unnecessary marketing tool, in some instances (Schleich, for example).

[PhilSauria]

Agree with all that you've said there SidB, and as for my two cents worth; many items in my collection, and at a guess I'd say many others as well, would not pass any Museum Quality test but they are depictions of prehistoric animals that appeal on other levels. Eye of the beholder - as many a discussion in these pages quite clearly shows not everyone agrees with this or that interpretation of these animals from this or that company and will argue the merits as they see them. Fair enough; we have different views and tastes and there seems to be figures out there that cater for what most of us want to buy. I have been reading with interest the slight backlash that has been happening in regard to the new Collecta Iguanodon, after some initial high praise the detracters have begun to make themselves heard. Each to their own, as I said - eye of the beholder. But, for my money I am looking forward to having one in my possession at the end of next week (according to the tracking) and see it as a magnificent interpretation of this animal.

[Reptilia]

Papo uses the educational label too. It doesn't bother me, I think it's simply marketing and I wouldn't take such claim too literally. Things might be educational for children just in the sense that bring them to learn something in a general way, that those figurines should be 100% scientifically accurate to have an educational value is more a presumption of we adult, nerdy collectors.

[John]

I would love to see Papo get out of the way of the designing and let their sculptors do their thing.

I think Papo's sculptors, particularly Mr Seo, do their thing already. Maybe it's just that you don't like their style.

It was said in an interview by Mr Seo that Papo does require there to be a certain style to their dinosaurs so they stand out from the other lines.Whether I like that style or not,I really can't blame Papo for sticking with what obviously sells well for them.And the way I see it,more competition forces improvements from every line all around.

[Reptilia]

They've reached the goal then, their dinosaurs do stand out from the competitors. However I think Mr Seo has his distinctive style, when he doesn't have to make JP copies. He takes references from other media, but he definitely shapes things with his own touch.

[Shonisaurus]

Members of the forum I pass a facebook link related to the three-dimensional dinosaurs of bags for the blind of Collecta. Apart from that you can see the stemmenosuchus (it seems at first glance although it is one of the figures that look worse), dimetrodon, ceratosaurus (much better than promotional photos) and tyrannosaurus rex feathered (it looks quite stable). ). The link is minizoo. I pass it to you.

https://www.facebook.com/MiniZooToys/

[Reptilia]

The Ceratosaurus has quite a long tail, I like it. The perspective of the promotional image is a bit deceptive in that sense, I'm glad it turns out to be that long, it's consistent with the Torvosaurus. Unfortunately the Tyrannosaurus seems to have wide hips like the Carcharodontosaurus and Acrocanthosaurus, too bad cause it is probably the weakest model of Collecta's 2018 prehistoric line.

But is Minizoo already selling wave two figures?

[tanystropheus]

The Ceratosaurus has quite a long tail, I like it.

Are there any updated pictures of the Cerato?

[Reptilia]

You can see it in the video linked by Shonisaurus above, but no new pics as far as I know.

[Sim]

Man, let me tell you guys something - the Iguanodon - to ME - has always been the most "vanilla", plain, uninteresting dinosaur you could imagine. No claws (just one puny spike), no teeth, no plates, no 'thagomizer', no horns, no frills (hey a "no frills" dinosaur!  - but I disgress).

What you've said here is basically how I feel about Edmontosaurus, Shantungosaurus and Maiasaura, these also don't have a thumb spike.  Unlike what you've expressed though, Iguanodon is one of the few ornithopods I find interesting.  It's the hands that make it interesting to me.  Its thumb spike is the opposite of puny, being proportionally large (compare it to the smaller thumb spike of Mantellisaurus for instance), and its fifth finger was flexible which could have allowed Iguanodon to manipulate objects.

[suspsy]

Edmontosaurus has become a lot more interesting to me now that we know it had a fleshy comb on its head. I'd snap up a new version from CollectA or Safari in a heartbeat.

Shantungosaurus is cool mainly for its sheer size, but I also like the look of its massive lower jaw—it's kind of like an action movie star among hadrosaurs. Maiasaura has never much interested me though.

[Sim]

It's interesting to read your thoughts regarding those animals, suspsy.  I can see how the qualities you mentioned could make one find those animals appealing.  I'll add I find Corythosaurus as uninteresting as the previously mentioned hadrosaurs.  It appears the Hell Creek Edmontosaurus species might have lacked a crest, Dinoguy2 made some interesting points about this here: http://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=4144.20

[Archosauria]

I heard awhile back that CollectA's 2018 prehistoric offerings will not be distributed to North American suppliers.
It's really a shame. CollectA models are already pretty hard to come by, and 2018's offerings looked amazing.

[Shonisaurus]

It's interesting to read your thoughts regarding those animals, suspsy.  I can see how the qualities you mentioned could make one find those animals appealing.  I'll add I find Corythosaurus as uninteresting as the previously mentioned hadrosaurs.  It appears the Hell Creek Edmontosaurus species might have lacked a crest, Dinoguy2 made some interesting points about this here: http://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=4144.20

For me the one that would be interesting is the olorotitan. It is a somewhat rare species of hadrosaurid lambeosaurid.

[Sim]

A paper on the osteology of Olorotitan says its crest shape is assumed, since its crest is incompletely preserved and most of it "was displaced and completely crushed."  Since the shape of Olorotitan's crest isn't known, I think it's understandable that Olorotitan hasn't been made into a figure more often.

[IrritatorRaji]

Has anyone got more pics of the Mantellisaurus? Front, back, and top down view maybe?

[Shonisaurus]

For European DTF members, the Collecta dinosaurs are now available in the German shop.modellpferdeversand.de

I pass the link:

http://shop.modellpferdeversand.de/CollectA-Figuren/CollectA-Neuheiten-2018/CollectA-Neuheiten-2018-1-Halbjahr:::2_666_924.html

[RobinGoodfellow]

Collecta 2018 Wave 1 available at Urzeitshop (Germany):

https://www.urzeitshop.de/gb/63-CollectA

[Reptilia]

21,90 for the Dunkleosteus and 19,90 for the Iguanodon are very good prices, considering the beefy beasts those two are.

[Shonisaurus]

It is good news that they start selling in all the online stores in Europe, soon they will reach the physical stores. I hope that the Museum of Science Store (my store twenty-two years ago) will soon be commercialized. Now we will have to wait for the second part of Collecta just as interesting or even more, the ceratosaurus, dimetrodon, estemmenosuchus and although I know that many are in disagreement with the feathered tyrannosaurus of Collecta 2018.