David Silva's Beasts of the Mesozoic: Ceratopsian Series - WAVE TWO SHIPPING!

[Shonisaurus]

My preferences in ceraptosides are all but I am very impressed with the medusaceratops and the same can be said of other figures such as BoTM protoceratops. Penalty that I can only buy one or two figures at most. They are all very beautiful but the price ... is the only negative of this collection, but for me it is understandable they are adult collection figures rather than children's toys.

[Flaffy]

13 days to go and not a single stretch goal has been unlocked. Worrying but understandable, as the prices this time around are much higher than last time. And not a lot of people can afford to dish out so much money for dinosaur figures in a single go.

[Agen Kolar]

13 days to go and not a single stretch goal has been unlocked. Worrying but understandable, as the prices this time around are much higher than last time. And not a lot of people can afford to dish out so much money for dinosaur figures in a single go.

Raptors have more broad appeal thanks to their significant roles in Jurassic Park, and at under $50 they sold very well. I wouldn't be surprised if only one or two stretch goals are unlocked, and honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if none of them are. I think David severely overestimated the desire for Ceratopsians at this price point. And he's created far too many options. And while everyone loves a Triceratops, it's nearly at the end of the stretch goal line. I really hope he can figure something out for the full scale Triceratops, as that piece absolutely deserves to see the light of day. Putting it at the end of the stretch goals was a huge mistake. While the Kickstarter was successfully funded, I would say his overall vision for this line has been a failure. (I will retract that statement if we see many stretch goals unlocked.)

I wonder if sometime after the Kickstarter David would consider doing a "pre-order" for certain larger figures, like Triceratops, Pachyrhinosaurus, Centrosaurus, etc. And if enough pre-orders are met, move forward with production. It would just be an absolute shame if his next series with Tyrannosaurus is made, but the T-Rex doesn't have his arch-nemesis to be posed with.

[suspsy]

13 days is still a long period of time. I think it's wiser to wait until there's something to genuinely worry about as opposed to something to potentially worry about.

That said, @Agen Kolar may well have a point about it being better to include the big Triceratops right from the start. When the tyrannosaurs finally get their turn, I'd love it if David included the big Tyrannosaurus rex (because I'm pretty sure there'll be a subadult version as well) in the Kickstarter. I wouldn't hesitate for a second to toss in a whooping big sum in order to get my hands on one.

Anyway, let's just wait and see what happens.

[Flaffy]

13 days to go and not a single stretch goal has been unlocked. Worrying but understandable, as the prices this time around are much higher than last time. And not a lot of people can afford to dish out so much money for dinosaur figures in a single go.

Raptors have more broad appeal thanks to their significant roles in Jurassic Park, and at under $50 they sold very well.

While yes I agree that raptors, and carnivores in general have a wider appeal. I still think that price is the main issue.
For example, if a person wanted to get every single product from the raptor series during the KS, they would 'only' need to pay ~$700 + shipping. (all 3 main campaign figures, KS exclusive, stretch goal raptors, fans choice raptors, environment packs, nestling packs, Build-your-raptor kits)

But if someone wanted everything from the ceratopsian KS, iirc it would cost ~$1700.
The Kickstarter also requires all funds to be paid upfront (as funds go directly into mass production immediately after the KS ends), something that is quite challenging for people who are planning to acquire many figures.

I think David severely overestimated the desire for Ceratopsians at this price point.

While there is still a large demand for ceratopsians, I agree that these prices are really, really high.
Most Kickstarters tend to go through a lull at the midpoint of the campaign. And usually starts to pick up steam during the final week/final few days. So hopefully by the last few days of the campaign, we'll see more stretch goals being unlocked.

I've said this before and I'll say it again. A 1/18th scale for derived ceratopsians is too big a scale.
For example, at 1/24th scale the figures would still be at a decent size, e.g. Zuniceratops would be at 5¾" rather than 8.5"; adult Triceratops would be 15" rather than 20".
A smaller size would result in lower, more affordable prices; and the figures would be much more space friendly.

[Agen Kolar]

13 days is still a long period of time. I think it's wiser to wait until there's something to genuinely worry about as opposed to something to potentially worry about.

It is, but reaching many or most of the stretch goals is fairly unrealistic and I think it's fair to say that. I do hope I'm wrong.

I will drastically be reducing my pledge in the last few moments or so of the campaign if the Pachyrhinosaurus is clearly out of reach, because most of my pledge is for the larger figures such as it, towards the end of the stretch goal lineup. I expect there's a good chance others will do the same.

[Flaffy]

13 days is still a long period of time. I think it's wiser to wait until there's something to genuinely worry about as opposed to something to potentially worry about.

It is, but reaching many or most of the stretch goals is fairly unrealistic and I think it's fair to say that. I do hope I'm wrong.

I wouldn't say it's unrealistic for all of the Wave 1 + some/most of the Wave 2 stretch goals to be unlocked. It's really Wave 3 I'm worried about.
As seen here, in the final few days of the raptor KS pledges soared. Quite a few stretch goals were unlocked in the final week iirc.

[Ravonium]

While I do have other, more important things to do, I nevertheless feel inclined to point out that, at least on here, the colour schemes for the first two stretch goals are amongst the worst received out of the entire line.

[Flaffy]

That said, @Agen Kolar may well have a point about it being better to include the big Triceratops right from the start.

I wonder what would've happened if the adult Triceratops, along with popular/more well-known species like Pachyrhinosaurus, Pentaceratops or Torosaurus where made available right from the start, or as early Wave 1 stretch goals.
Maybe it would've encouraged more pledges early on as those species are more sought after?

While I do have other, more important things to do, I nevertheless feel inclined to point out that, at least on here, the colour schemes for the first two stretch goals are amongst the worst received out of the entire line.

@Ravonium I definitely agree with the Protoceratops colour scheme being one of the weaker ones in this series.
The Chasmosaurus however, the package art colours are honestly fine, the lighter browns blends well with the rest of the colours. It's the final figure's harsh blacks, along with the blue around the neck and face that looks out of place that aren't really doing it for me.

[Agen Kolar]

While I do have other, more important things to do, I nevertheless feel inclined to point out that, at least on here, the colour schemes for the first two stretch goals are amongst the worst received out of the entire line.

I agree, I actually plan to repaint some of mine. Personally, I think the color schemes are a bit too far-fetched for large herbivores, who as prey animals would generally not be so brightly colored. It's like saying, "Hey, here I am, please eat me!"

I wonder what would've happened if the adult Triceratops, along with popular/more well-known species like Pachyrhinosaurus, Pentaceratops or Torosaurus where made available right from the start, or as early Wave 1 stretch goals.
Maybe it would've encouraged more pledges early on as those species are more sought after?

I think spreading them out instead of saving them for the end of Wave 2 and 3 would've absolutely had a positive impact.

Oof. Sorry guys. I don't mean to be a Negative Nancy. I am truly excited for the line and want it to be super successful. I just feel like David made some decisions that were detrimental to its success.

[suspsy]

@Faelrin  Great list, much better organized than mine! 

Gorgosaurus also coexisted with Albertaceratops, Avaceratops, Medusaceratops, and Spiclypeus in the Judith River Formation of Montana.

Good catch @suspsy .  I definitely missed that one, although it appears the Judith River Formation's tyrannosaur hasn't been proven to be Gorgosaurus, though that is the most likely suspect.  I'll include those taxa with the same asterisk as Daspletosaurus torosus, but minus Albertaceratops as those remains are apparently now considered Medusaceratops.

Which Gorgosaurus specimen are you referring to? Victoria Arbour and David Evans describe a Gorgosaurus found mere metres away from the Zuul type specimen in their book about the latter. A Gorgosaurus mount was even displayed in a confrontation with Zuul at the Royal Ontario Museum last year.

Well I admittedly don't have that book.  But Zuul's description (Arbour & Evans 2017) doesn't make any mention of it.  Currie 2003 assigned specimens (he doesn't give ID numbers) from the Judith River Frm to Gorgosaurus sp., but just in an off-handed remark.  Mallon et al. 2016 only mention fragmentary remains (primarily teeth) in their review of the Judith River fauna, as does Fiorillo 1991 in his work on a bone bed.  I wonder if the confusion comes from the fact the in the old days tyrannosaur teeth from this formation were placed in "Deinodon horridus" which is often considered synonymous with Gorgosaurus.  Curious to know more about the remains mentioned in Arbour and Evans's book though.

Based on the description and diagrams in the book, it's a disarticulated but relatively complete specimen. Don't know when it's going to be formally described or who's doing it, but Arbour and Evans state in no uncertain terms that Gorgosaurus was the dominant predator of the Judith River Formation.

Very cool!  I had assumed the mount next to Zuul was just for show, nice to know it's based on an actual specimen.  Sounds like they've got enough evidence to determine the genus then.  Do they specifically refer it to G. libratus?  If not I think it'd be prudent to leave the asterisk disclaimer.

Yes, they do indeed refer to it as G. libratus.

[Faelrin]

The Einosaurus package art has been updated. I think it's been a good improvement over the previous iteration of it. I particularly like the added stripes on the horn but I did point out that it would be slightly inconsistent with the prototype (unless that has been added onto it). I wasn't originally planning on getting this one, but lately I've been drawn to it, that is to say, if it gets funded (and I certainly hope so, because one of my all time favorites, the Regaliceratops is directly after it).

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/creativebeast/beasts-of-the-mesozoic-ceratopsian-series-action-figures/posts/2642691

[Halichoeres]

I'd been looking for data like this! Did a fan produce that? Based on that trajectory, I think that pessimism for the stretch goals is probably premature--those last two days appear to have brought in close to $70,000. Moreover, Silva seems pretty committed to producing the Triceratops regardless of whether it's unlocked in the Kickstarter. (Personally, it's the one I'm least interested in, but I realize lots of people want it.)

I agree with you in that I would have preferred this series be in 1/24. The price difference relative to the raptors would certainly have been smaller, and it would also fit in better with my existing collection. I imagine that's true for a lot of dinosaur collectors.

[ceratopsian]

...........

I agree with you in that I would have preferred this series be in 1/24. The price difference relative to the raptors would certainly have been smaller, and it would also fit in better with my existing collection. I imagine that's true for a lot of dinosaur collectors.

I would definitely have been inclined to buy more if they had been smaller.  I love ceratopsians, less keen on articulation.  But at a smaller size, I wouldn't have been able to resist quite a few of them.  (For me the driving factor is not cost but space.)

[ImADinosaurRARR]

https://www.backerkit.com/projects/creativebeast/beasts-of-the-mesozoic-ceratopsian-series-action-figures

I think that compering the past data to the current one gives us a more accurate prediction. Unlike the raptor series, there is no bump in traffic after the project was funded. Where probably only gonna fund wave one with protoceratops being reached a week form now.

I personally feel that one of the biggest downsides is the lack of kick starter exclusives. I have not backed this project yet because 1) I don't have the money and 2) the time and money it took to get my order from David took longer then it did to get it directly online from my country. As much as I feel bad about it, there's more incentive to buy everything after the fact then on the kickstarter. If there was a KS exclusive color scheme, I would be far more willing scratch something up. That's just me anyway.

[Ravonium]

@Ravonium I definitely agree with the Protoceratops colour scheme being one of the weaker ones in this series.
The Chasmosaurus however, the package art colours are honestly fine, the lighter browns blends well with the rest of the colours. It's the final figure's harsh blacks, along with the blue around the neck and face that looks out of place that aren't really doing it for me.

I was talking solely about the figure colour schemes in my previous post; as nice the package art is, I doubt it's a factor for most backers when choosing what figure to get.

[Flaffy]

@Ravonium I definitely agree with the Protoceratops colour scheme being one of the weaker ones in this series.
The Chasmosaurus however, the package art colours are honestly fine, the lighter browns blends well with the rest of the colours. It's the final figure's harsh blacks, along with the blue around the neck and face that looks out of place that aren't really doing it for me.

I was talking solely about the figure colour schemes in my previous post; as nice the package art is, I doubt it's a factor for most backers when choosing what figure to get.

I know. I'm just saying that if the figure's colour scheme was more true to the package art, it would've looked better and more natural.

[Flaffy]

I'd been looking for data like this! Did a fan produce that?

The graph was produced by Kicktraq, a neat site with graphs, projections, trends and trajectories.

[stegosauria]

https://www.backerkit.com/projects/creativebeast/beasts-of-the-mesozoic-ceratopsian-series-action-figures

I think that compering the past data to the current one gives us a more accurate prediction. Unlike the raptor series, there is no bump in traffic after the project was funded. Where probably only gonna fund wave one with protoceratops being reached a week form now.

I personally feel that one of the biggest downsides is the lack of kick starter exclusives. I have not backed this project yet because 1) I don't have the money and 2) the time and money it took to get my order from David took longer then it did to get it directly online from my country. As much as I feel bad about it, there's more incentive to buy everything after the fact then on the kickstarter. If there was a KS exclusive color scheme, I would be far more willing scratch something up. That's just me anyway.

But there is a Kickstarter exclusive figure- the Monoclonius. And about shipping- EverythingDinosaur will handle it for European backers. Probably it will be smooother than the raptors were because now every process is well known (considering to the raptors).

[ImADinosaurRARR]

But there is a Kickstarter exclusive figure- the Monoclonius.

Yeah, just saw that XD. Sorry for the confusion

And about shipping- EverythingDinosaur will handle it for European backers. Probably it will be smooother than the raptors were because now every process is well known (considering to the raptors).

That's good to here! I'll definitely be checking the KS again.