Favorite Co. Ltd. - New for 2020

[Shonisaurus]

I think this pachycephalosaurus from Favorite Soft Model is superior in quality but honestly I like the 2004 version better for a reason it has no removable base and I am not a follower of removable bases. Anyway the sculpture of the new pachycephalosaurus and his painting are very nice, with that pale blue.

[ITdactyl]

Finally confirmed, 2020's 3rd dino release is Tarbosaurus.

Tarbosaurus Soft Model colored sample

The painted sample of Tarbosaurus, the largest carnivorous dinosaur in Asia, which is currently under development, has been released.
This was the first figure to be a standard product of Favorite.

Sometimes referred to as the Asian Tyrannosaurus, it is probably one of the highlights of the new line.

Because they are similar in size and shape, I arranged it together with Tyrannosaurus, to which it is often compared.

The base is bright yellow and the pattern is green.
It has a different scheme from Tyrannosaurus, which has dark colors.

If you look closer they are not too similar, so it's nice to compare each in your hands.
Look forward to it.
Scheduled to be released around summer

[Shonisaurus]

The new Favorite tarbosaurus figure with removable base looks good, but in my case I prefer the previous limited edition tarbosaurus version of Favorite, but it is a personal opinion. The size is standard from what I see, but the paint is nice on this tarbosaurus and the teeth are very detailed.

[Loon]

^This is the face of someone going into shock as their skin sinks into their skull.

[E.D.G.E. (PainterRex)]

It seems to me that the sculptor's non well-known sculpts end up looking better than the well-known taxon. The Pentaceratops, fukuiraptor, tambatitan (?), and so on are all rather well done and only show minimal shrinkwrapping. The Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, Tarbosaurus, Pachycephalosaurus on the other hand...

[Loon]

It seems to me that the sculptor's non well-known sculpts end up looking better than the well-known taxon. The Pentaceratops, fukuiraptor, tambatitan (?), and so on are all rather well done and only show minimal shrinkwrapping. The Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, Tarbosaurus, Pachycephalosaurus on the other hand...

I don't know if I'd call Tarbosaurus "well-known". I'd say it's about as well known as Pentaceratops.

But, you're right about all those sculpts. I really do not see the appeal, they make Papo figures look asthetically appealing.

[PhilSauria]

Well I'm gonna put myself out there and say that I like this sculptor's work and will be trying to find the new releases when they are available - not that they are that easy to source!, and when I have a job again to pay for them!!

[PrimevalRaptor]

I've always been a big fan of Favorite, but those last two ones really don't click for me, there's something about the colors that make them look a bit cheap (probably since they're rather vibrant, like Dollar Store toys).
And I mean the sculpt is still nice...but that shrinkwrapping. I vastly prefer the old Tarbosaurus.

[PhilSauria]

Yeah, I like the old Tarbosaurus but was never able to get hold of one so this new one going forward is my only option.

[postsaurischian]

 Many people are critizising Kazunari Araki's work, but everytime when Favorite offers new figures made by him they're sold out within hours .
And then about 6 months later a majority of DTF members is looking for them. I guess Brett can confirm this.

Looking at many of today's reptile and bird species I can say that there is natural "shrink wrapping" (as you call it).
I'm getting a bit tired of this discussion. It's a matter of interpretation and taste. I for myself will continue to collect all figures from the wonderful Favorite Collection.

....... The Pentaceratops, fukuiraptor, tambatitan (?), and so on are all rather well done and only show minimal shrinkwrapping. The Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, Tarbosaurus, Pachycephalosaurus on the other hand...

Tambatitanis was sculpted by Hirokazu Tokugawa. I also prefer his style. But this doesn't mean I don't like Araki's .

[ITdactyl]

I think putting the Standard series against the museum series is not a good comparison as they are targeted for different groups and have different production guidelines.

The museum line are meant to be vinyl replicas of the museum statues sculpted by Tokugawa-san (and some also by Araki-san), meant for serious collectors. Whereas the standard line are simplified versions of Araki-san's designs, meant for children. Even the color choices and simplified surface details have children in consideration (though Favorite acknowledges and appreciates the adult collectors of the Standard series, as they've shared in their blog posts).

On a personal note, while I like the sculpts (no preference between the 2 designers), I'm also not a fan of the vivid blues, greens and oranges used - so I usually end up repainting my figs.

*slightly off topic, I still want to know why Favorite converted Araki-san's longiceps sculpture into a sternbergi figure.

[MLMjp]

The Tarbosaurus looks decent enough but it looks small, unfortunately.

The Pachycephalosaurs is kinda ruined by that bright blue color. Also whats the deal right now with Pachycephalosaurus having cheek-less mouths? Saurian´s Pachy is also like that as well as other reconstructions I have seen recently, although the new Safari version does have cheeks. Is there evidence that supports cheek-less Pachy or is it speculation?

Personally I prefer them with cheeks, they look weird without them...And this figure shows it.

[Avian]

Safari's Pachy certainly looks better, in my opinion, but I'm not sure whether this can be attributed to the bright blue coloration or the absence of cheeks.

[SidB]

The Tarbosaurus looks decent enough but it looks small, unfortunately.

The Pachycephalosaurs is kinda ruined by that bright blue color. Also whats the deal right now with Pachycephalosaurus having cheek-less mouths? Saurian´s Pachy is also like that as well as other reconstructions I have seen recently, although the new Safari version does have cheeks. Is there evidence that supports cheek-less Pachy or is it speculation?

Personally I prefer them with cheeks, they look weird without them...And this figure shows it.

Re: the Tarbo: Favorite's T-rexes are in 1/50 scale, so the Tarbosaurus seems to follow this scale.

[stargatedalek]

Favorite is the only company I can think of that managed to shrink-wrap feathered animals through their feathers. The Diplodocus is alright but the others look like zombies with their skin and gums rotted off.

Yes we can call it an artistic choice, but it's also an artistic choice to depict Microraptor without feathers. Anything is artistically defensible and every design has it's time and place. Again just look at that Mosasaurus if you want evidence shrink-wrapping is a conscious choice that gets "added" to an animals design to make it meet a certain visual expectation, rather than being based on scientific merit.

The Tarbosaurus looks decent enough but it looks small, unfortunately.

The Pachycephalosaurs is kinda ruined by that bright blue color. Also whats the deal right now with Pachycephalosaurus having cheek-less mouths? Saurian´s Pachy is also like that as well as other reconstructions I have seen recently, although the new Safari version does have cheeks. Is there evidence that supports cheek-less Pachy or is it speculation?

Personally I prefer them with cheeks, they look weird without them...And this figure shows it.

I wouldn't even call it speculation, more like nostalgia catering, at least in the case of a certain video game.

[Sim]

[...]
Looking at many of today's reptile and bird species I can say that there is natural "shrink wrapping" (as you call it).
I'm getting a bit tired of this discussion. It's a matter of interpretation and taste.
[...]

Good post, @postsaurischian!  It's true that shrink wrapping can occur in nature, here are some examples from a post I made in the past:

There are extant reptiles that have some visible skull openings on their heads, for example:
- Visible fenestrae at the back of the head of the gharial: photo 1  photo 2
- Demarcated eye socket in the water monitor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bindenwaran-101.jpg
- Demarcated eye socket in the Nile monitor: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nile_monitor_lizard_(Varanus_niloticus)_head.jpg
I definitely think there's been dinosaur figures that are too shrink-wrapped to the point it's implausible.  However, slight shrink-wrapping can be within the range shown by extant animals.

Personally, I quite like this new Tarbosaurus and I prefer it to the old one.  It seems its dewclaw isn't painted though?

[SidB]

[...]
Looking at many of today's reptile and bird species I can say that there is natural "shrink wrapping" (as you call it).
I'm getting a bit tired of this discussion. It's a matter of interpretation and taste.
[...]

Good post, @postsaurischian!  It's true that shrink wrapping can occur in nature, here are some examples from a post I made in the past:

There are extant reptiles that have some visible skull openings on their heads, for example:
- Visible fenestrae at the back of the head of the gharial: photo 1  photo 2
- Demarcated eye socket in the water monitor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bindenwaran-101.jpg
- Demarcated eye socket in the Nile monitor: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nile_monitor_lizard_(Varanus_niloticus)_head.jpg
I definitely think there's been dinosaur figures that are too shrink-wrapped to the point it's implausible.  However, slight shrink-wrapping can be within the range shown by extant animals.

Personally, I quite like this new Tarbosaurus and I prefer it to the old one.  It seems its dewclaw isn't painted though?

Excellant point, @Sim , one needs to avoid extremes that are driven by philosophical or even psycho- perceptual polarizations that are not grounded in empirical reality. This issue is not absolutely an either/or choice. Their are gradations in between. Personally, I lean towards the well-fed look, as portrayed by Safari's output under Watson, for example, but it's quite okay to have a certain degree of "slight shrink wrapping," of course.

It's nice to have a range of ways of depicting various animals as reflecting that variation seen under various conditions seen in nature. Having said this, Favorite has been seen to overly rely on a "mean and lean" approach, particularly in the opus of Araki, who is undeniably a skilled paleoartist. He IS bringing a very specific "mindset" to his interpretations. Some have and will appreciate this approach. But it's no longer a mainstream one.

[Shonisaurus]

What postsaurischian comments is true both Kazunari Araki and Hirokazu Tokugawa are magnificent sculptors and paleoartists one hundred percent scientific and both are great in the world of sculpture not only of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals but of current animals such as the series of fish which fortunately I have on my shelves.

Here, among which I include myself, we criticize the work of Favorite Soft Model but we do not realize that it runs out in a short time and then to find a discontinued figure recently it costs as much as any vintage prehistoric animal. I like the art of Araki and Tokugawa in both versions of Favorite Dinosaurs and I will continue to collect those figures. It is an honor for me to have the Favorite Soft Model dinosaur and other prehistoric animals on my shelves.

[John]

I'm going to have to go for the Diplodocus when it comes out.

[Flaffy]

While I personally don't really care much for mild shrinkwrapping on the face as seen in Favorite Co. sculpts.
But I personally am not too fond of Araki's style for the standard line. Everything seems too gracile, without a sense of mass/bulk. These are extremely large creatures after all, but their sculpts just don't convey this to me.

On another note, the Tarbosaurus's lower jaw feels really thin.