Recent Acquisitions

[Shonisaurus]

My latest arrivals: Safari's entire 2020 lineup, plus the Papo Dimetrodon and Polacanthus. With its retirement this year, I also decided to get 2 extra of Safari's Nasutoceratops before they're gone that I'll be repainting.

I congratulate you for your new acquisitions are beautiful one hundred percent. Safari figures is one of the brightest brands that exist today in the toy dinosaur market and Papo polacanthus sincerely dislikes me either. You have very good taste.

[Concavenator]

@Eocarcharia congrats for your new models! You're lucky to have the latest run of Nasutoceratops, the color scheme on the frill is much cooler. I have one of the earlier runs Nasuto and the coloration chosen for the frill is more boring than the new one, which is striking. However, it's a great model. And what else could I say about that Deinonychus? ❤️

[Eocarcharia]

Thanks everyone.

@Concavenator That's interesting, i wasn't aware there were paint variants of that figure.

[Concavenator]

@Eocarcharia yeah, you can look for the promo pics of when the figure was going to be released. You can also see the first variant in the blog's review.

BTW, why is everyone saying the Nasutoceratops is retired when it is available from Safari's website?

[Eocarcharia]

@Concavenator Oh, I see what you mean now.

And, it's still on their website, but under a "Final Sale", which I assume to mean it won't be restocked once it sells out.

[SidB]

Well done. By the way, interesting that you acquired that Carnegie T-rex - I have one too, but it received a lot of negative reaction, if you check out the DTB site. What's your assessment of this figure?

[Shonisaurus]

? @Stolpergeist I'm glad you've finally found the right Bullyland geosternbergia, but with abrasions but fortunately they don't affect your leaf. My congratulations on the Bullyland geosternbergia and the rest of the acquisitions.

The Carnegie tyrannosaurus 2014 was a giant step by Carnegie with respect to its previous figures although I like Doug Watson's Safari tyrannosaurus rex more.

[stargatedalek]

Ew I'm reading through some of the comments on the Dinosaur Toy Blog entry now and the hate Forest Rogers is receiving is honestly... well it's gross?
Her work is among the best this industry has ever seen.

And all that criticism regarding "boring poses" and such... did people really just forget that the Carnegie Collection was a toy line?
When I was a child I preferred neutral poses, when the animal figure was even just turning its head too much to one side like AAA's Elasmosaurus and Euoplocephalus it was hindering the playability for me.
When the toy is depicting a carnivorous animal it is also important that the jaws are open for play, especially when it comes to theropods.
I think this may also be part of the reason Safari Ltd. produced two versions of their Sue figure so at least one has the jaws open while the other was more unique.
A dinosaur in a resting pose as one of the commenters wished for makes a great display model that fits our taste as adults but for children it isn't as fun to play with that.
If you want a Tyrannosaurus in a resting pose with jaws closed save up for Galileo Hernandez's model on Shapeways instead of complaining over a children's toy.

The Carnegie line had been going for decades at that time, and there were no  theropods with closed mouths in it, not one. Even Citipati was head twisted to the side screeching at the full moon. CITIPATI!

People were justifiably sick of it at the time. It's not that those poses are inherently bad, it's that they became uninspired and repetitive. That rex was kind of the epitome of all the lackluster things about the Carnegie line, especially in its closing years. Frankly I think it deserves the harsh criticisms it received.

I'm calling hogwash on the "kids need the mouth open" bit. When I was a kid I cared about design and how neutral the pose was, the mouth being open or closed was a moot point. Modern animal toys aren't always made with their mouths constantly open. I was fine with snakes and lizards with closed mouths and dinosaurs would have been fine too.

@Shonisaurus Thank you, Doug Watson's feathered Tyrannosaurus is absolutely fantastic as well but for now I felt I'd rather get the retired figure as long as I can still have access and also the fact that the beautiful Wild Safari sculpt unfortunately doesn't match up with known skin impressions of the animal.

I know this isn't the place, but those skin impressions are highly isolated and tiny, a few centimeters across. Just because one paper says "these were definitely on the back, because we say so, no feathers allowed" doesn't make it so. And even assuming they were correct (and assuming that they really are scales, and not bumpy skin [as we conveniently see in most birds with exposed skin]) it's still possible Tyrannosaurus had patches of scales or bare skin that were covered by long feathers as ostriches do.

[Ikessauro]

I am quite happy with this little haul that finally arrived from Germany. Thanks to @postsaurischian for all the help, It was due to his assistance I manage to get some figures I really wanted for a long time. The Stegosaurs are favorites of mine, but the true gems of the lot are the Carnegie Baby Apatosaurus, German variant from 1988 and the quite rare Safari Ltd. Emerald Tree Boa.

[Shonisaurus]

@Ikessauro My congratulations on your new acquisitions. Honestly, the Bullyland allosaurus is a pretty good figure considering that already at that time many of the carnivorous theropod dinosaurs were made with their mouths open, it appears with their mouths closed, giving @stargatedalek absolutely right, we need prehistoric carnivorous animals with your mouth shut! I think it was the normal jaw posture of any animal species and for having saved when it will attack or rather to devour its prey.

Regarding the Bullyland stegosaurus even with the passage of time does not fail to impress me favorably, it was another advance of his time. Bullyland plesiosaurus is a figure that in my case I have in the green paint version.

I also mention the Carnegie Apatosaurus breeding that is a coveted figure in the dinosaur market of antique toys from my personal opinion.

On the other hand, Schleich's figures are pretty, especially that allosaurus in standard size that sincerely surpasses his counterpart in the Humbold Museum, on the other hand that Schleich stegosaurus far exceeds its predecessors.

Finally, the Bullyland snake is a very nice pity that it is not the titanoboa since in my case I bought it.

[Ikessauro]

@Ikessauro My congratulations on your new acquisitions. Honestly, the Bullyland allosaurus is a pretty good figure considering that already at that time many of the carnivorous theropod dinosaurs were made with their mouths open, it appears with their mouths closed, giving @stargatedalek absolutely right, we need prehistoric carnivorous animals with your mouth shut! I think it was the normal jaw posture of any animal species and for having saved when it will attack or rather to devour its prey.

Regarding the Bullyland stegosaurus even with the passage of time does not fail to impress me favorably, it was another advance of his time. Bullyland plesiosaurus is a figure that in my case I have in the green paint version.

I also mention the Carnegie Apatosaurus breeding that is a coveted figure in the dinosaur market of antique toys from my personal opinion.

On the other hand, Schleich's figures are pretty, especially that allosaurus in standard size that sincerely surpasses his counterpart in the Humbold Museum, on the other hand that Schleich stegosaurus far exceeds its predecessors.

Finally, the Bullyland snake is a very nice pity that it is not the titanoboa since in my case I bought it.

Thanks
I didn't know Bullyland made the Plesiosaur in green color. Can you share a picture of yours? The snake is actually from Safari Ltd. I really hope Rebor releases their Titanoboa, we need one for sure. Maybe another company will make one?

[Shonisaurus]

@Ikessauro Unfortunately I do not have a camera, the mobile phone I use is fourth or fifth generation and does not take photographs, I know it is a stingy mine but although it seems a lie I do not know how to take photographs and I do not have a camera that is the truth but I would gladly share the image of the Bullyland plesiosaurus of green color like the Bullyland ichythiosaurus that I have in blue, I don't have the version that Bullyland has reissued, I have it is the same in sculpture but in blue color that was also edited for a short time. But both versions of painting, of elasmosaurus and ichythiosaurus of Bullyland exist.

[Ikessauro]

@Ikessauro Unfortunately I do not have a camera, the mobile phone I use is fourth or fifth generation and does not take photographs, I know it is a stingy mine but although it seems a lie I do not know how to take photographs and I do not have a camera that is the truth but I would gladly share the image of the Bullyland plesiosaurus of green color like the Bullyland ichythiosaurus that I have in blue, I don't have the version that Bullyland has reissued, I have it is the same in sculpture but in blue color that was also edited for a short time. But both versions of painting, of elasmosaurus and ichythiosaurus of Bullyland exist.

No problem! I understand. I will look for pictures online and in other sources. I knew the icthyosaurus existed, but didn't remember seeing the green elasmosaurus. I will have to hunt them down for my collection  Thanks for telling me about it.

[Killekor]

Regarding the Carnegie figures I have to say that I really love the Carnegie collection.
Unfortunately I've discovered the Carnegie collection too late (end of 2015) and I could just get a few figures of this line, but I find them to be one of the best dinosaur toy lines of all
Repetitive poses? Maybe, but they doesn't disturb me at all. In my opinion the Carnegie figures are aesthetically exceptional and they have a special place in my collection.
So I don't agree too with the criticism to the Carnegie line.

Killekor

P.S. I'm not saying that I don't like the Wild Safari line, which i exceptional too ( @Doug Watson makes some wonderful figures) but it is exceptional in another way. I like both lines.

[Dinoguy2]

I am quite happy with this little haul that finally arrived from Germany. Thanks to @postsaurischian for all the help, It was due to his assistance I manage to get some figures I really wanted for a long time. The Stegosaurs are favorites of mine, but the true gems of the lot are the Carnegie Baby Apatosaurus, German variant from 1988 and the quite rare Safari Ltd. Emerald Tree Boa.

Niiiice!

The thing that mostly caught my eye though it you're light gray Allo, fourth Allo from the left on the shelf underneath. Unless it's the lighting I think this must be a variant I haven't seen before! (Unless it's a custom). Do you have more pics?

Also, you refer to your new Baby Apato as a German variant. I've always suspected that some of these early variants were due to differing productions or different factories in different countries. Are you just speculating or do you happen to have more info on how these were released?

[Ikessauro]

Niiiice!

The thing that mostly caught my eye though it you're light gray Allo, fourth Allo from the left on the shelf underneath. Unless it's the lighting I think this must be a variant I haven't seen before! (Unless it's a custom). Do you have more pics?

Also, you refer to your new Baby Apato as a German variant. I've always suspected that some of these early variants were due to differing productions or different factories in different countries. Are you just speculating or do you happen to have more info on how these were released?

About the Apato, I'm just speculating, based on it being bought from eBay Germany, so I assume it's different than other versions. The one you sold me, which I still don't have in hand, looks quite different.
All my Allos

I think you might be talking about this one. I'm not sure if it's a variant, I got it like this on a lot. It seems to have some sort of white-ish "dust??" particles on it, like if someone rubbed chalk over the toy. I confess, I haven't tried to clean it up, maybe with a little water on a clean cloth this stuff comes out? I will probably give it a shot later and see what happens. Either way I think it's color is different enough from the others for me to keep it.



This one is the same pictured in your website, I bought it from the eBay listing you got the photo from.

[Dinoguy2]

Niiiice!

The thing that mostly caught my eye though it you're light gray Allo, fourth Allo from the left on the shelf underneath. Unless it's the lighting I think this must be a variant I haven't seen before! (Unless it's a custom). Do you have more pics?

Also, you refer to your new Baby Apato as a German variant. I've always suspected that some of these early variants were due to differing productions or different factories in different countries. Are you just speculating or do you happen to have more info on how these were released?

About the Apato, I'm just speculating, based on it being bought from eBay Germany, so I assume it's different than other versions. The one you sold me, which I still don't have in hand, looks quite different.
All my Allos

I think you might be talking about this one. I'm not sure if it's a variant, I got it like this on a lot. It seems to have some sort of white-ish "dust??" particles on it, like if someone rubbed chalk over the toy. I confess, I haven't tried to clean it up, maybe with a little water on a clean cloth this stuff comes out? I will probably give it a shot later and see what happens. Either way I think it's color is different enough from the others for me to keep it.



This one is the same pictured in your website, I bought it from the eBay listing you got the photo from.

Thanks for the additional pics! White dust aside I'm thinking that might be a legit variant. It seems like it has additional dark green compared to the pea green and maroon versions?

It does seem like the Apato version in your pics (which is the "catalog version") shows up more in Germany, judging by the eBay thread. The black and brown Allo, which is also a catalog version, I've heard described as having only been released in Germany too, but I can't recall where. And there's also info saying Bullyland helped pick up the production slack for Safari in their early years of producing figures. Hopefully some day we can get more info. It's really weird that so many seemingly concurrent color and material variants exist for these.

[paintingdinos]

Got my hands on these really cool tabletop models from Antimatter Games (https://antimatter-games.com/):

An orthocone:


Xiphactinus:



And this funky sea dragon (not a dinosaur obliviously but kinda had a cool monstrous plesiosaur look so I picked it up):


They have some other cool stylized prehistoric critters that I'll hopefully pick up one day. I love when tabletop companies incorporate things like this into their setting, they always have such an interesting/fresh style to them.

[Ikessauro]

Got my hands on these really cool tabletop models from Antimatter Games (https://antimatter-games.com/):

An orthocone:


Xiphactinus:

Those are pretty good! Are they 3D prints?

[paintingdinos]

Those are pretty good! Are they 3D prints?

Resin casts from what I assume are cleaned up 3D prints. A lot of their models look like digital sculpts, and they also sell some STL files to print yourself. They have a nice looking kronosaurus that I hope they offer as a cast someday: https://antimatter-games.com/product/beast-of-kronos-stl/