Eofauna general discussion

[Flaffy]

Unpopular opinion, but am I the only one who's not seeing the appeal of the Eofauna Triceratops?

I feel like the paintjob (both in concept and execution) on this figure is worse than Eofauna's other offerings. The paint really detracts from the figure's overall presentation this time around, and "ruins" an otherwise good sculpt. A downgrade from the phenomenal Atlasaurus.

The blue sleeves on "Cryptic" are very distracting and cartoonish, I really don't understand why Eofauna thought this was a good idea, and decided to keep it on the final figure. Dunno why they decided on the last minute change from dark brown horns to a sloppily applied grey either.


The "Dominant" colour scheme on the other hand is just... bland.

[Gothmog the Baryonyx]

I know it's been a while but since it was brought up again, I decided earlier this year to count every valid non-avian theropod, sauropodomorph and ornithiscian. I will give rough numbers since I can't remember 1 of them off the top of my head and because a further 2 theropods and 3 sauropods have been named this year, I count 400ish non-avian theropods, 350ish ornithiscians, and 300ish sauropodomorphs. So anyone who thinks there are too many ornithiscians combined to fit in one book, well, there isn't. Especially since the theropod book included some avians, and non-dinosaurs, and sauropods included trees. There also around 400ish pterosaurs I believe.

[Carnoking]

@Flaffy
I think the greatest appeal of these figures lies in how unique they are from other triceratops models. The sculpts as a whole are gorgeously handled and fit right alongside the other Eofauna figures. I will agree though, the paint is the weakest aspect, but this is something Eofauna always seems to be hit and miss about. Their giganotosaurus has one of the most unappealing paint jobs on an otherwise gorgeous figure, while the atlasaurus has a color scheme that beautifully highlights its details. These ones certainly fall in between the two in my eyes, but I'm willing to forgive the shortcomings in coloration due to the sculpt and poses.

[Carnoking]

@Mattyonyx Share away!

[SRF]

^they do? what  makes them different from one another? They look the same to my untrained eyes (except for the speculative colors of course). 
I prefer the darker colored one, I like the blue on the other ones frill but not on the legs...

GojiraGuy1954 means that the Safari and Eofauna Triceratops are both based on different species. Namely Horridus (Safari) and an unnamed species (Eofauna).

[Duna]

Unpopular opinion, but am I the only one who's not seeing the appeal of the Eofauna Triceratops?

I feel like the paintjob (both in concept and execution) on this figure is worse than Eofauna's other offerings. The paint really detracts from the figure's overall presentation this time around, and "ruins" an otherwise good sculpt. A downgrade from the phenomenal Atlasaurus.

The blue sleeves on "Cryptic" are very distracting and cartoonish, I really don't understand why Eofauna thought this was a good idea, and decided to keep it on the final figure.

The "Dominant" colour scheme on the other hand is just... bland.

I don't think the colour scheme is "bland". It may be conservative as most figures in the market. Same for their giganotosaurus which is even more conservative. But they may be as plausible as most brownish paint schemes are, even more than tiger stripes, which we surely find "cooler".

The blue sleeves are not distracting, nor cartoonish for me. Maybe because I've been a reptile keeper for many years, and I know and can apreciate maybe more than others the diversity of colours in reptiles. I identified from the first glance the horny dragon inspiration for the PNSO pinacosaurus. Also the collared snake in the Atlasaurus neck. And the cryptic version of Eofauna triceratops reminds me a lot of the blue legs of the beautiful Agama mwanzae (Tanzanian flat headed lizard).

Dunno why they decided on the last minute change from dark brown horns to a sloppily applied grey either.

The dark brown in that picture is a shadow of the lighting. If you look closely from other light focus, the horns in the other two promotional pictures don't show dark brown horns, they have the grey coat applied on them. And not sloppily applied, as it's supposed not to cover the dark under color. But it looks in the real picture that the factory applied too much grey coat, but the dark brown is supposed to be shown under it, not cover it.

Thank you @Carnoking for your wonderful pictures and review.  Whether I like the paint scheme or not, one thing is obvious: the sculpture is a work of art. I can't stop looking at the legs and feet.

[Thialfi]

Thanks for the comprehensive analysis! I like these two more and more. Question because I simply have no clue: the horns look a big long compared to models I have seen in the past. It doesn't bother me, and perhaps it's perfectly realistic which would be my question: is it?

[SRF]

Thanks for the comprehensive analysis! I like these two more and more. Question because I simply have no clue: the horns look a big long compared to models I have seen in the past. It doesn't bother me, and perhaps it's perfectly realistic which would be my question: is it?

It is based on an unnamed Triceratops species. The specimen is known as "Yoshi's trike" and has the largest horns ever found on a Triceratops.

[Flaffy]

The blue sleeves are not distracting, nor cartoonish for me. Maybe because I've been a reptile keeper for many years, and I know and can apreciate maybe more than others the diversity of colours in reptiles. I identified from the first glance the horny dragon inspiration for the PNSO pinacosaurus. Also the collared snake in the Atlasaurus neck. And the cryptic version of Eofauna triceratops reminds me a lot of the blue legs of the beautiful Agama mwanzae (Tanzanian flat headed lizard).

@Duna
Now here's the big difference. You and I should both notice the striking red/pink body of the lizard complementing the blue legs and the entirety of the blue hindquarters.

On the Triceratops, the blue is localised on the extremities of it's limbs with no attempt at transitioning whatsoever. The conservative brown/light brown paint of the body clashes with the striking blue displays immensely. A good comparison would be the BotM Styracosaurus. Big bold colours are used for the figure, yet none of the colours feel particularly out of place. The striking colours don't just pop-up out of no where, the whole design of the paint scheme is cohesive. This shows that the issue with the Eofauna figure is more so the execution of the paint scheme, rather than the colour choices alone.


I'd rather Eofauna had gone for either a conservative approach only, or committed to a more extravagant one. This awkward midpoint we currently see on "Cryptic" is just a massive missed opportunity, and defeats the purpose of having alternate colour variants (where people who like conservative, traditional colours can choose "Dominant";  and those that prefer more flare would go for "Cryptic")

The dark brown in that picture is a shadow of the lighting. If you look closely from other light focus, the horns in the other two promotional pictures don't show dark brown horns, they have the grey coat applied on them. And not sloppily applied, as it's supposed not to cover the dark under color. But it looks in the real picture that the factory applied too much grey coat, but the dark brown is supposed to be shown under it, not cover it.

Ah I see. But here begs the question. After more careful inspection, the promotional images show that the grey coat on the horns should've been more akin to a "wash"/"dry-brush" effect, conveying weathering and bringing out the details of those large horns. But on the in-hand figure, this affect is most definitely not achieved. The grey paint is clearly the dominant colour of the horns, and absolutely overwhelmed the dark-brown paint underneath. Thus, I stand by my opinion that the horns on "Cryptic" are sloppily applied.

[Thialfi]

Thanks for the comprehensive analysis! I like these two more and more. Question because I simply have no clue: the horns look a big long compared to models I have seen in the past. It doesn't bother me, and perhaps it's perfectly realistic which would be my question: is it?

It is based on an unnamed Triceratops species. The specimen is known as "Yoshi's trike" and has the largest horns ever found on a Triceratops.

Ah, thank you so much, very useful information indeed. Having seen the fossil now it totally makes sense. It's this level of accuracy that I really love about EoFauna.



When comparing this to the EoFauna model, you can really see the fossil coming to life in Eofauna's representation. Very impressive.

[Mattyonyx]

I don't think the colour scheme is "bland". It may be conservative as most figures in the market. Same for their giganotosaurus which is even more conservative. But they may be as plausible as most brownish paint schemes are, even more than tiger stripes, which we surely find "cooler".

The blue sleeves are not distracting, nor cartoonish for me. Maybe because I've been a reptile keeper for many years, and I know and can apreciate maybe more than others the diversity of colours in reptiles. I identified from the first glance the horny dragon inspiration for the PNSO pinacosaurus. Also the collared snake in the Atlasaurus neck. And the cryptic version of Eofauna triceratops reminds me a lot of the blue legs of the beautiful Agama mwanzae (Tanzanian flat headed lizard).

Speaking of references, the "Cryptic" name itself could lead to Calluma crypticum, also known as cryptic chameleon or blue-legged chameleon.

[Duna]

@Mattyonyx yes of course, the beautiful "cryptic" ... I had at home a parsoni male from a friend for a week before handling him to his new owner and it was the most impressive reptile I've ever had. It was the size of a cat. 

In fact, in the real triceratops figure it's much better than in the promo picture because the blue is more subtle and you can see the under color as in the chameleon.

The dark brown in that picture is a shadow of the lighting. If you look closely from other light focus, the horns in the other two promotional pictures don't show dark brown horns, they have the grey coat applied on them. And not sloppily applied, as it's supposed not to cover the dark under color. But it looks in the real picture that the factory applied too much grey coat, but the dark brown is supposed to be shown under it, not cover it.

Ah I see. But here begs the question. After more careful inspection, the promotional images show that the grey coat on the horns should've been more akin to a "wash"/"dry-brush" effect, conveying weathering and bringing out the details of those large horns. But on the in-hand figure, this affect is most definitely not achieved. The grey paint is clearly the dominant colour of the horns, and absolutely overwhelmed the dark-brown paint underneath. Thus, I stand by my opinion that the horns on "Cryptic" are sloppily applied.

Yeah, I agree with that. I loved the dark horns in the dark head from the promo picture, with no such transition to the horns.

[terrorchicken]

It is based on an unnamed Triceratops species. The specimen is known as "Yoshi's trike" and has the largest horns ever found on a Triceratops.

^they do? what  makes them different from one another? They look the same to my untrained eyes (except for the speculative colors of course). 
I prefer the darker colored one, I like the blue on the other ones frill but not on the legs...

GojiraGuy1954 means that the Safari and Eofauna Triceratops are both based on different species. Namely Horridus (Safari) and an unnamed species (Eofauna).

oh so the difference is horn length? its hard to tell in the pics.

The blue sleeves are not distracting, nor cartoonish for me. Maybe because I've been a reptile keeper for many years, and I know and can apreciate maybe more than others the diversity of colours in reptiles. I identified from the first glance the horny dragon inspiration for the PNSO pinacosaurus. Also the collared snake in the Atlasaurus neck. And the cryptic version of Eofauna triceratops reminds me a lot of the blue legs of the beautiful Agama mwanzae (Tanzanian flat headed lizard).

yeah I was gonna post that the cryptic version reminded me of that blue legged lizard but i didn't know what it was called.

[stargatedalek]

The legs look much better and more appealing than they did in the promotional pictures! They look washed out and almost green in those pictures and not this nice vibrant blue.

[GojiraGuy1954]

Thanks for the comprehensive analysis! I like these two more and more. Question because I simply have no clue: the horns look a big long compared to models I have seen in the past. It doesn't bother me, and perhaps it's perfectly realistic which would be my question: is it?

Paleoartists usually forget to add keratin to horns and osteoderms of dinosaurs, but eofauna didn't.  That's why the horns are so long. Also, It's based on Yoshi's Trike, which has extremely long horns already.

[GojiraGuy1954]

I used to love dominant but hate cryptic. But now, my opinion has changed. Dominant just looks bland to me now. So I ordered the cryptic version from ED.

[PrimevalRaptor]

Figured (heh) this would fit best here:



Looks like we're getting a Diplodocus from EoFauna?
(Link to the post: https://www.facebook.com/Eofauna/posts/6264723543568495)

[Concavenator]

To be honest, I recently (about 2 weeks ago or so) asked Eofauna if there was any possibility of them releasing another figure this year. They told me that they were working on a model that perhaps would be released late this year or thereabouts, but I didn't want to say anything. Now that they have posted this, I can feel confident talking about this.

I personally anticipated their next figure was going to be a proboscidean or a theropod. As to why I thought this, they said they would be focusing on 4 groups: proboscideans, theropods, sauropods and ornithischians. And so far, the order has been:

Proboscidean (2017) ->Proboscidean (2018) -> Theropod (2019) -> Proboscidean (2019) ->
Sauropod (2019) -> Ornithischian (2021)

So I felt that since it was some time since they last made a proboscidean or a theropod they would make one of those next.

As to how I feel about them releasing a Diplodocus...well, I'm very glad they will be making another dinosaur next instead of another proboscidean. They sure have some magnificent ones, but I don't collect them (I only recently purchased their M.trogontherii as a representative of the group, but nothing more), so it would have been a skip on my part.

I would have preferred it if they had chosen to do another sauropod, simply because I already have the Carnegie Diplodocus , which, while outdated in some aspects, is a wonderful figure. But I won't be a hypocrite and straight say that I won't be getting it because I already have a Dippy. It's a similar case with the Giganotosaurus and the Triceratops, probably if I was asked: "Do you want an Eofauna Giganotosaurus?" I'd probably say no, that I'd prefer another species, but then, after seeing the figure and just how good it is, I would want it. I bet this has happened to many people here as well    So I'm much anticipating it. It will surely prove to be the most researched and accurate Diplodocus figure on the market. 
Great job, Eofauna!!

[Bread]

This definitely puts me into an interest for Eofauna. I do not really like nor see what people like in the Carnegie Diplodocus. Plus I am one of those who are not too big of a fan of Carnegie line, some figures not I think the line is overrated and nostalgic value is high (still some good figures in the line though bare in mind). Anyways.... I have high hopes for this figure, would go well with PNSO's Allosaurus! I also passed on Safari's Diplodocus as the colors kind of turned me away.

Edit: I still have yet to purchase their Trike and Atlasaurus. Somewhat behind on those....

[Stegotyranno420]

Kinda of wish it was more built and bulky
Like, way more