Recent Acquisitions

[TooOldForDinosaurs]

@Duna Wow! What another fabulous acquisition. My congratulations and I'm very happy for you! I can't say though that I am not a little jealous as well 
The condition is truly staggering for how long this had to be laying around somewhere! I will have to go check out your collection thread for those other pictures

[ceratopsian]

My pleasure @Flaffy! What a beautiful job Martin made of the commission. Congratulations on such an exceptional piece.

[Roselaar]

Two more JW figures I found unexpectedly in my own proverbial backyard: 

[japfeif]

Another eBay box arrived:



I never owned any Larami toys as a kid myself, but I remember friends or family members owning some, so I do retain a touch of nostalgia for them. Obviously these aren't as nice as the Invictas they imitate, but as a complete boxed set I thought this would make a neat item for the collection (and maybe a decent future review piece?). I'll have to tidy it up first, though.

Awesome!!! Those boxed sets are easily the best dinosaur items that Larami put out, IMO. There were 3 boxes in the set, and each had at least one figure that was obviously "inspired" by the Invicta dinos. Some better than others....the Plesiosaur is almost identical to the Invicta one!

The 3 box sets were actually reissued later, with VERY slightly different artwork and some different paint jobs on the dinos (which could vary between sets). The one you have is actually from the second go-around. The first-issue Series 2 set (like you have) from the first issue looked like this:


You notice the box is just ever so slightly different, the main change was in the colors of the dinos.
But yes, the Larami sets are quite collectible and not that easy to find these days!!!
Good score!

[japfeif]

What a cool little masterpiece, @Flaffy congrats!  The patagium looks fantastic, indeed.

This Invicta painted ichthyosaurus arrived a few days ago, and I have to very thankful to J @japfeif that helped me to get it as I couldn't buy it directly from the US seller. He knows how much I wanted to get this figure, one of my only two painted figures missing. By the way, you can read a magnific chapter about Invicta figures (painted and unpainted and other interesting information) in his book More Dinosaurs Playsets and Figures. With lots of pictures, including the Invicta painted (which I loved to dream with - I browsed a lot of times those pages) but I thought I would never complete. And now only the blue whale left ...

The Invicta ichthyosaurus is one of the best figures in the collection along with the superb liopleurodon, and both of them look amazing in the monochrome plastic version. I must say that I like more the monochrome version of the Liopleurodon than the painted one, but in the case of the Ichthyosaurus I think the painted version looks very nice.
This figure is in very good condition and even has the original tag by Boley, as some Invicta painted figures were sold in US under the Nature World collection. More pictures in my collection thread.

Awesome find, Elena, and I was more than happy to help! Anytime you have trouble getting something sent from here to there, just give me a yell!

And the pianted Invictas are great, I've always considered them as the loose link between the "classic" hard plastic monochrome dino figures (Marx, MPC, and the rest of the crew) and the later PVC-ish factory painted museum pieces like Safari, CollectA, etc.

And thanks so much for yet another great plug for my book! It's very much appreciated (I may have to think about hiring you for my press agent!  )
Jeff

[Shonisaurus]

@Flaffy  My congratulations Martin Garratt performs aesthetic miracles in each figure and honestly, at first glance it seemed like a figure made of resin or a high-quality material, it has turned out great.

@Duna  reiterate my congratulations and what was said in your thread. It is one of the most beautiful figures of Invicta the ichthyosaurus along with the rest of marine animals of the same brand. You have made a very good purchase.

@Roselaar My congratulations on your new acquisitions, as always, the JP/JW figures from Mattel are welcome for any collector.

[Fembrogon]

Your Safari Psittacosaurus looks exquisite, @Flaffy; I've often heard about Martin Garratt's work and the photos never fail to impress.
I wonder if Safari ltd has ever considered doing "deluxe" variants of their figures? I could see collectors like us going for something like that if the price was right.

Congrats on that Ichthyosaurus, @Duna! That's an awesome find. The painted Invictas are definitely special, speaking even as someone fairly new to the vintage scene; and the Ichthyosaurus in particular looks like it made the transition from monochrome to multicolor beautifully.
I'm also interested that you mentioned Boley as the distributor; I've been doing a bit of research on Boley recently due to some of their current dino offerings, which consist mostly of various 3rd-party brands. I guess they've lost a little luster if they went from carrying Invicta models to knockoff toys.

Thanks for the additional info on the Larami set, J @japfeif; I'm in the process of writing a review for this set and sure enough, your 2nd Playsets book was one of my go-to references for background information. The color patterns were indeed the first thing I really noticed about this set; the box art still depicts the first-run figures, and they don't look nearly as nicely painted as these ones do!


...And, speaking of vintage and classic toys, etc, another package from eBay arrived this weekend - containing within a big, beautiful classic Carnegie Diplodocus, still in very good condition!



I've seen these models pop up fairly frequently for decent prices on eBay for a while, but I finally stopping dawdling and pulled the trigger on a listing I liked (it's missing the tag, but oh well). It feels a bit surreal to  finally have one of these giants in my home; I remember how far out of reach many of the bigger Carnegie models seemed when I was a kid, staring at them in awe in the museum shops.

[Shonisaurus]

Happy for you is a diplodocus made in a massive size that surpasses its Battat counterpart and other than that it is solid PVC.

[postsaurischian]

PNSO Tsintaosaurus - everything that has been written here is true:
Too expensive, too much unnecessary paper material, a questionable base, but .....
... the figure itself is oh so beautiful I had to bite the bullet. It can hardly get any better.

[Shonisaurus]

My congratulations, this tsintaosaurus like all PNSO figures is unbeatable by any toy dinosaur company, it is true that it is very expensive but in my case I do not regret buying it at all, it far exceeds its counterparts lambeosaurus and corythosaurus of the same company. Figure highly recommended but as you say very expensive. On the other hand, there is part of the paper in which it comes with that figure, certainly unnecessary, I see that it has empty postcard paper and honestly, I understand that they charge for the illustrations, but that the PNSO charges for papers without content of both illustrations and reading, it seems to me something that the PNSO should modify in its commercial position since it makes no sense to increase prices for small sheets of paper without content, as already mentioned.

[Roselaar]

Some novel additions, both new and second hand:





Can someone identify the white critter? It has sickle claws, so I think it's supposed to be a Raptor hatchling, though it looks more like a Hypsilophodon or something.

[Fembrogon]

I've definitely seen (and owned) various versions of that "Hypsilophoraptor" before, and at various scales, too. I don't recall the original brand, though.

[Duna]

Congrats @postsaurischian The lambeosaurus is a masterpiece I would like to have one day. 

Very nice adquisitions @Roselaar By the way I don't know the white "hypsiloraptor" but I like it a lot. Cool creature. Camp Cretaceous minis are getting scarce to collect nowadays.

[Duna]

By the way, time ago I decided I didn't like Papo running rex because I think it was too skinny ... but I saw this wonderful Papo running rainbow-purple tyrannosaurus in perfect condition and I decided to give it a try or resell it. But then having in hands ... oh, I'm was wrong! The colours are absolutely striking and very well applied/combined. The rainbow running rex has a corrected pose as it was the last version and it's more stable than the green one. And as a very rare limited version, definitely a must have for all Papo collectors (and who like rare figures like me).

I didn't know it was so shiny but it is. Very glossy.




And with its cousin the rainbow standing version. The colours are not striking but very likeable. My favourite part are the grey and black feet and the head.

[Fembrogon]

They look like a very nice pair together.

Another eBay package, another Carnegie today - this time it's the Saltasaurus. Once again, I've been seeing a lot of listings for this figure lately, so it was mostly a matter of time before I pulled the trigger on a price I liked. this one doesn't have a tag, either; but it looks to be in pristine condition otherwise!

[Gothmog the Baryonyx]

Congrats on your lovely acquisitions everyone, the Saltasaurus is one of those Carnegies that remains the definitive version of that animal as well. Still fond of that one.

My package from Everything Dinosaur arrived today a little saintlike...
As in hole-y
50 points to Gryffindor if you got that reference.
Luckily Everything Dinosaur packed this so well as usual, so no harm at all to what is inside.
PNSO Tsintaosaurus, Zhuchengtyrannus, Centrosaurus and Styracosaurus.
Will be opening the boxes on Friday probably.
A huge thanks to Everything Dinosaur again for another excellent service.





Also last week, I got my second dinosaur from this Sega, an Anchiceratops. It is larger than I was expecting. It was half the price of the Altirhinus as well, well the Altirhinus is a much nicer figure though.

[TooOldForDinosaurs]

They look like a very nice pair together.

Another eBay package, another Carnegie today - this time it's the Saltasaurus. Once again, I've been seeing a lot of listings for this figure lately, so it was mostly a matter of time before I pulled the trigger on a price I liked. this one doesn't have a tag, either; but it looks to be in pristine condition otherwise!

I like this little fella. Congrats on your acquisition. He really looks to be in great condition! Is yours also very rubbery and flexible - not at all like most of the other carnegie figures?

[TooOldForDinosaurs]

@Gothmog the Baryonyx Congrats on your acquisitions as well! Those are some great purchases. You definitely are no saint for that reference though if I got it right 

[Shonisaurus]

Congratulations to the rest of the DTF members who have acquired new figures for their respective collections.

@Gothmog the Baryonyx My congratulations. You have received a deluxe order of PNSO figures and of course the one from Sega. You have honestly chosen the best of PNSO figures, among which are the zhuchentyrannus and the tsintaosaurus. You are an extremely lucky person.

[Fembrogon]

I like this little fella. Congrats on your acquisition. He really looks to be in great condition! Is yours also very rubbery and flexible - not at all like most of the other carnegie figures?

Mine is pretty firm; I'd say it's about as rigid as the other Carnegie figures I currently have, if not even more so at the extremities than my classic Apatosaurus and Diplodocus. Perhaps the PVC quality was adjusted over the years?