Safari Ltd - new for 2019

[Concavenator]

Having in mind how famous these two dinosaurs are, it's rather surprising that these two new Safari figures are presumably the only serious attempts at representing these two in an accurate way in the whole toy market.

[The Prehistoric Traveler]

, so hats off to Mr. Watson on this beautiful piece.

Hey @Dan we are friends no need to be so formal you can call me Star-Lord 

Hello Mr. Watson,

Any chance of doing a big hominid for Safari?

[Killekor]

Wow! That Pteranodon looks absolutely magnificent! It's certainly one of the best pterosaur figures ever made!

At this point I want to see a Dsungaripterus or an Alanqa from Safari. I'm sure that they would be fabulous.

Killekor

[Shonisaurus]

Wow! That Pteranodon looks absolutely magnificent! It's certainly one of the best pterosaur figures ever made!

At this point I want to see a Dsungaripterus or an Alanqa from Safari. I'm sure that they would be fabulous.

Killekor

In my case I would opt for a safari dsungaripterus instead of the alanca. From the alanca only fragmentary remains of the body are known, the remains of more than acceptable remains of the dsungaripterus.

[Doug Watson]

Hello Mr. Watson,

Any chance of doing a big hominid for Safari?

I guess anything is possible, but don't know and couldn't tell anyway.

[indy1936]

Hi Doug,

Do you think Safari will ever release a 1:40 or 1:35 scale Brachiosaurus? I have various Brachiosaurs from Carnegie, Safari, Invicta but they are small or out of date. Would love to see a large one that is up to date and in scale with your 1:40 Camarasaurus. Otherwise may go with the Tamiya 1:35 to match the scale of the latest Safari Allosarus and Stegosaurus.

thanks!

[Doug Watson]

Hi Doug,

Do you think Safari will ever release a 1:40 or 1:35 scale Brachiosaurus? I have various Brachiosaurs from Carnegie, Safari, Invicta but they are small or out of date. Would love to see a large one that is up to date and in scale with your 1:40 Camarasaurus. Otherwise may go with the Tamiya 1:35 to match the scale of the latest Safari Allosarus and Stegosaurus.

thanks!

See my answer above to Dinoguy, I am not allowed to divulge Safari Ltd plans.

[Shonisaurus]

Whatever Mr. Doug does, I'm sure it will be spectacular, it does not matter if they are figures of classic prehistoric animals as if they are figures of dinosaurs or other obscure prehistoric animals. The dinosaurs and prehistoric animals of Doug in 2019 have all been some works of craftsmanship, and they are all awesome.

[Gothmog the Baryonyx]

Whatever Mr. Doug does, I'm sure it will be spectacular, it does not matter if they are figures of classic prehistoric animals as if they are figures of dinosaurs or other obscure prehistoric animals. The dinosaurs and prehistoric animals of Doug in 2019 have all been some works of craftsmanship, and they are all awesome.

Amen to that

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

Whatever Mr. Doug does, I'm sure it will be spectacular, it does not matter if they are figures of classic prehistoric animals as if they are figures of dinosaurs or other obscure prehistoric animals. The dinosaurs and prehistoric animals of Doug in 2019 have all been some works of craftsmanship, and they are all awesome.

Amen to that

Hear hear!

[Dino Scream3232]

After spending some time looking over all the new safari 2019s I think the pteranodon is my favorite. The sculpt and paint are fantastic. I think it's perfect!!! I said I my review I hope their are plans for a female pteranodon to go along with this fantastic male. https://youtu.be/g9GBOu-Hb4s

[Shonisaurus]

How I feel about urzeitshop starting to market the latest Safari news! The wait this year with regard to the news of Safari 2019 is getting endless, that Safari pteranodon is a nice and cool figure at the same time. That black and white color in the skull and that red-pink beak and that striking crest has me spellbound. Hopefully it will be commercialized soon in Europe. The wait is killing me, the same I can say about the stegosaurus and allosaurus of Safari 2019 and to a lesser extent of this year's Safari spinosaurus.

[tanystropheus]

The Pteranodon is gorgeous. I love the crest colors (superb blending)! It goes well with the Papo Tupux 

I agree with what everyone has been saying. The Stegosaurus is truly photogenic. I wouldn't be surprised if it wins a few awards down the line!

[PhilSauria]

Terrific images of a great figure. Not available here yet (no surprise!) but I'll be placing my order when these are. Thanks for posting.

[Doug Watson]

And, finally, the Spinosaurus. I sincerely don't know what to say about this one. When I discovered this brand, I really hoped for a modern Spinosaurus figure. I'd always think that they're version of this animal would have been fabulous, that it would have been one of the best dinosaur figures ever... But now I'm just terribly deluded. I've never saw a worst Spinosaurus figure. Even the CollectA mini it's better. The only positive thing about that model is it's pose, but the rest it's simply bad. The color scheme it's boring, the head doesn't look like a Spinosaurus one, and the cocodrillian scutes are a thing that I don't like in any dinosaur paleo art.
Sorry Doug but I really don't like your Spinosaurus.

Killekor

@Killekor  I had been meaning to address this comment about the head but got busy and forgot then I saw your post about a head of a "Spinosaurid"? you made out of crumpled foil so that reminded me. I won't comment on your other points since those are opinion and I don't comment on opinion but stating "the head doesn't look like a Spinosaurus one" reads as a statement of fact so I do take exception there.
When I sculpt something I base it off actual fossil reference so I am interested to know what reference you based your critique of my head on and just where you think I am wrong.

Here is my sculpted head


Here is the reconstructed skull from the 2014 NG mount based on the Ibrahim paper and the 2005 Dal Sasso et al paper.


Here is the illustration of the skull from the 2005 Dal Sasso et al paper.


Please tell me where I got it wrong? Maybe you could provide your reference?

P.S. Glad you like the pose I found a paper last night from 2018 by Rebecca J. Lakin*, Nicholas R. Longrich  "Juvenile spinosaurs (Theropoda: Spinosauridae) from the middle
Cretaceous of Morocco and implications for spinosaur ecology" I hadn't seen it until last night in fact it came out the same month that I was finishing up my piece for Safari Ltd. I was pleased to see the image below in the paper that depicts the Spinosaurus with the same rear leg position that I used. A position that was influenced by large crocodilians that propel themselves with their tails while the legs go along for rhe ride in a relaxed position. Not part of this discussion but I found it interesting since several people apparently couldn't grasp the concept.

[Doug Watson]

I pass a video of SpinoDude from the pteranodon of Safari 2019. It looks magnificent. The best pteranodon made to date.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhf12yQMJE0

I just wanted to correct one claim made on this review. In it SpinoDude states as fact that the beak should curve upwards, I have addressed this earlier here on the DTF when someone else made the same claim, this is incorrect according to my research and this is my second go round with Pteranodon longiceps, I did the life size models for the Canadian Museum Nature under the supervision of their scientists. My beak is based on the holotype skull that according to Mark Witton on his blog it is "the only Pteranodon specimen with can be objectively referred to the genus". It has a straight beak and is complete with intact upper and lower jaws. As far as I know the upward swept representation of Pteranodon beaks is based on material attributed to Geosternbergia (formerly Pteranodon sternbergi). He also critiques the posture of the arms well maybe he should check out some pteronodon reference since I didn't pull that out of my rear end either.
Is SpinoDude on this forum I would love to discuss this with him. I have tried to leave comments on YouTube before and for some reason they never show up. I really wish reviewers would put some research into the subject before making statements of fact that other people who also don't have the knowledge accept. If I was presumptuous enough to do an online review I would certainly do some research first.

[Patrx]

I really wish reviewers would put some research into the subject before making statements of fact that other people who also don't have the knowledge accept. If I was presumptuous enough to do an online review I would certainly do some research first.

Agreed! Especially in YouTube reviews; I feel like I hear a lot of folks speaking with more certainty and authority than is warranted. Even when adequate research is done, the language we use when talking about this sort of thing needs to be appropriate. Phrases like "as far as I can tell based on what I have read" or "current research suggests" go a long way, and it doesn't hurt to cite papers or even blogs where appropriate. This is an area where I feel written reviews like those on the Blog are able to excel, they can (and should) include references and links right in the text.

[The Prehistoric Traveler]

Hello Mr. watson,

I wonder on what specimin you based your allosaurus on. the guy in this review claims the propotions are wrong in many ways and thus it's not very accurate. A bit dissapointing to be honest.

https://youtu.be/DX7FBgRL2DM

[Jose S.M.]

I feel like lots of people have the idea that if it's not Tyrannosaurus all other theropods have to be very lean. I saw some videos of first impressions for the Safari lineup and it was a recurring theme that Allosaurus and Carnotaurus were too fat or bulky. These people seem to forget there can be individual variation and that have some bulk its often more likely than being all shrink wrapped.
This is going to sound like fanboyism but I've come to trust Doug when it comes to proportions, it's clear he does extensive research for his sculpts.

[Kikizilla101]

I feel like lots of people have the idea that if it's not Tyrannosaurus all other theropods have to be very lean. I saw some videos of first impressions for the Safari lineup and it was a recurring theme that Allosaurus and Carnotaurus were too fat or bulky. These people seem to forget there can be individual variation and that have some bulk its often more likely than being all shrink wrapped.
This is going to sound like fanboyism but I've come to trust Doug when it comes to proportions, it's clear he does extensive research for his sculpts.

Well in reference to my review, that does seem to be a topic of hot debate, and really the only "more questionable" inaccuracy with the Allosaurus that I brought up. However I am not one to assume that all dinosaurs are to be shrink wrapped or lacking in soft tissue, quite the opposite. In the case of Allosaurus however, when I talk about the "bulk", I am talking about the actual width of the animal, yes it could be done for a more lean look, but objectively speaking I was referring the the width of the animal's representation, and its not horribly off, I still enjoy the model. However, the Carnotaurus should never be represented in such a manor of bulk, width and scale, it goes completely against the body structure of the animal, which was very lightly built, lean and likely very fast. I don't intend to argue much over the Carnotaurus, that ship has sailed with me. Back to the Allosaurus, if you watch my review you see that I mention the head and neck proportions and the width of the chest, which are objective issues with Allosaurus, and do slightly increase the visual affect of a"bulky" Allosaurus. Now don't twist my words here, I still love the model, but I will stand by my critique that the animal shouldn't be portrayed quite as bulky as it is, its not super bad, its just a bit off.