Favorite Co. Ltd. Softmodels

[alexeratops]

Erm... does anyone know what dinosaur that is, other than Tamba Sauropod, or am I missing something?

It does not have a scientific name yet.

Oh, wow, a sculptor taking on an unnamed dinosaur! I've never seen that before!

[tanystropheus]

Erm... does anyone know what dinosaur that is, other than Tamba Sauropod, or am I missing something?

It does not have a scientific name yet.

Oh, wow, a sculptor taking on an unnamed dinosaur! I've never seen that before!

The Safari Pterosaur is another example.

[Daspletodave]

Well here he is, straight from Japan!

The Tamba sauropod is 1/40 scale. He measures 30 cm from the tip of his snout to the tip of his tail, almost the same length as the Favorite 2004 Brachiosaurus (which is 1/80 scale) although not as tall. The model is nicely painted, with a light gray underbelly, which transitions into gold, and then a light olive green for the upper body. Despite the small size of the head, all the features are clear- eyes, mouth, nostrils.
The dinosaur is not named on the packaging (at least not in English). Nor is there any printing on the belly of the model, just as with Tokugawa's other Favorite dinos - the Tarbosaurus and Saurolophus.
There is very little English on the package, which features a scale drawing by Takashi Oda of the Tamba sauropod's skeleton along with that of a human. On the front of the package is simply "Dinosaur Softmodel designed by Hirokazu Tokugawa 1/40". On the back are a few more details about the "Tamba Dragon" - it is identified as a Titanosauriform, 12 to 15 meters in size, from the Early Cretaceous 110 million years ago, and location - Japan.

[sauroid]

wow beautiful. too bad they made it glossy again...
(i dont mind gloss finish if they were aquatic animals)

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Cool ! Makes me wish I'd snagged the Tarbosaurus as well now.

[Spinosaurus Aegyptiacus]

It looks fantastic-great catch!

[Jetoar]

I like it  !

[Takama]

I like the Sauropod, but I cant get it cause its a darn Exclusive. Why cant favorite release new soft models regularly like a normal Company?

[Yutyrannus]

I like the Sauropod, but I cant get it cause its a darn Exclusive. Why cant favorite release new soft models regularly like a normal Company?

Same here.

[Daspletodave]

I guess Favorite's business model is different from the other dino toy makers. Like Safari (and Bullyland, Schliech, Papo, CollectA) , the Favorite Co. has a lot of different product lines. Whereas the Carnegie Museum Line is a prestige line for Safari, maybe the Dinosaur Softmodel line is really just a sidebar for Favorite. Maybe their main source of revenue comes from the other product lines.
Distribution also seems to be a problem. When the first release came out in 2004 they were everywhere. But when they released the orange Spinosaurus in 2010 it was really hard to get. I checked all the online dinosaur toy retailers and nobody had it. And almost all of them no longer carried the Favorite soft models or they had only a few of the original 14 models left in stock. I actually emailed the Favorite Company and they did respond - just a short message stating that they had no plans to distribute the Spinosaurus outside Japan at that time. About 2 years later I was able to order one from the UK.
The current 13 model set designed by Kazunari Araki is not that easy to find either. I ordered my set from AMI AMI in Japan. They need to improve their distribution network in North America. But then again I've read that Carnegie models are hard to get in Europe where Papo, Bullyland and Schleich dominate the market.
As for the exclusives, Favorite and Bullyland have both done some. Bullyland did the Protochirotherium, Procynosuchus, and Spinophorosaurus limited editions for various German museums. I think that Bullyland was actually commissioned by these museums to do those limited editions. I think the same thing happened with the Favorite Tarbosaurus, Saurolophus, and Tamba sauropod. I think Tamba City itself (and/or the Hyogo Museum of Nature) was the driving force behind the Tamba sauropod model.

[Bokisaurus]

Mine arrived, thanks to my Japanese contact It's still more expensive than the Tarbo or Saurolo, but worth it for me.
Anyway, it's a nice figure. Oddly, the paint has a metallic sheen to it, sort of like gold or silver! It's what gives the figure the glossy look!

I highly doubt that this figure will be widely available, if anything it could be rarer than the larger Tarbo and Saurolo, much more harder to acquire than those two, and they are already one of the harder ones to find

[dutchdinolover]

Boki,
Do you know were your Japanese contact bought the tambasaurus? I am in Japan for a few months and would love to buy one. 

Nice pics.

[Daspletodave]

If you are in Japan try the Hyogo Museum of Nature, or retailers in Tamba City near Osaka.

[EmperorDinobot]

What a beautiful dino. Oohh ooh I want that Saurolophus as well.

[stoneage]

   I just got all the new Favorite models.  I'm having trouble getting the Spinosaurus on the base.  Has anyone else had this problem?  I suppose once I get it stretched out enough it will work.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

I had trouble getting all my theropods to stand well on the bases.

[sauroid]

my Spino can stand without a base

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

my Spino can stand without a base

The new blue one ?  I'd like to see that..I tried everything and it would eventually topple even on the base.

[sauroid]

my Spino can stand without a base

The new blue one ?  I'd like to see that..I tried everything and it would eventually topple even on the base.

here Blade (the surface isnt even even)

[tyrantqueen]

That's a very skinny tail

Aside from that, it's cool. Did they get the upper jaw right?