David Silva's Beasts of the Mesozoic Tyrannosaur Series

[Carnoking]

I'm sure price plays a big role in the "popularity" of those rexes as well. With the 1/35th scale rexes being a fraction of the cost of the 1/18th figures, I'm not surprised that one of them (and the special edition Kickstarter exclusive one at that) is the most popular item so far.

I'll also agree with Suspy that I'm a bit underwhelmed by the WWD variant now. David confirmed he "tweaked" the paint job but I can't help but prefer the original scheme that was posted. Of course, it could be a lighting thing but it just looks like it got a bit muddy after those initial photos were released.

As far as the Dino Riders offering goes, I don't doubt it's popularity but it definitely seems more niche than the other offerings. WWD is pretty universally known and celebrated but if you weren't around in the late 80s/early 90s, Dino Riders might not have been something you experienced (myself included). Because of that, I personally don't feel the "nostalgic pull" to get that particular figure, and I'm sure there are plenty of younger collectors who are sort of in the same boat. So it really comes down to if you like the colors on this one, and although I do, I'm not sure it's enough to throw another 200+ dollars at especially with the rest of the line to worry about.

That being said, I am one of the 61 "crazy people" to back all four initially, although I'm not sure I'll commit to the Dino Riders rex at this time.

[Lynx]

As someone who gets my figures beat up quite a bit (Whether it be younger siblings playing around with them or unstable shelves), I really do appreciate the simple color scheme of WWD as of right now. It'll be very easy to give a new coat of paint once the first few start to scrape off.
However, I am still a tad bit underwhelmed by the colors regardless of my situation. Maybe they'll look better in person? Overall I don't think it's too bad. If this were not limited edition, I likely would have bought the regular rex instead. As for the dino-riders rex, price was the main thing that kept me from buying it. I don't think it's too bad, just make some custom 'armor' for it and it'll be the perfect dino-riders tyrannosaurus rex.

[Lynx]

Also, Procerartosaurus is unlocked!

[Faelrin]

Edit: To chime to what other folks have been saying...

@Psittacoraptor That's a very good point that slipped my radar. There's a plethora of much more expensive ones, including the popular 1/18th scale T. rex figures, which unlike the previous campaign where it was dead last, this time it was front and center.

I also agree wi @Carnoking and @suspsy in a way. I don't think this current scheme is bad on the WWD, but I did prefer the original. Again I wonder if some lighting is at play here, as I think the light box method can be rather harsh at times (as has happened with some of Safari Ltd's promo pics in the past), versus usiing sunlight, or other interior lighting, such as when I was able to observe both the ceratopsians and raptor prototypes in person (I doubt I'll get to see these in person though, with covid this time around). I think his tweaks were intended to make it more accurate though, perhaps both to the film animal, and maybe even the Toyway toy.

I intend to get it however, as one, short of something cheaper like the Guanlong (which I also love), I can probably afford only this for the time being, and two WWD has very strong nostalgia appeal (although is it even that if I frequently still revisit it?), since I was a child when it first released, having been born in '91. If I was in a better position I'd probably shoot for the DR one, but I definitely don't have nostalgia for it (again born in '91), but I do realize it was a great toyline, and one of the first, if not the first with dinosaur action figures, instead of static figures, until Kenner's Jurassic Park line came along. There's also a certain charm the original figures hold with their bead eyes. Not something done since.


Proceratosaurus got funded. Just within a minute or so after I woke up and opened the campaign on my phone.

Worth mentioning in case anyone is interested, but pack 2 of the postcards is available to add-on only, and features artwork we haven't seen yet of the Suskityrannus and Alectrosaurus (which got the Leaping Laelaps treatment). This makes three of the artworks with callbacks of the previous series by featuring Pentaceratops, Diabloceratops, and now Zuniceratops as well, and considering I ordered all three of those, it makes me heavily tempted to get these all later on.



Update 8 is out and mentions such as well, in addition to giving us a chart with the color inspirations:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/creativebeast/beasts-of-the-mesozoic-tyrannosaur-series-action-figures/posts/3314800

[Lynx]

That's my favorite batch of postcards yet! Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you get all the postcards of that batch or just one per 11 dollars?
If I can only buy one, I'll get the Yutyrannus postcard.

[Faelrin]

@Lynx It's for the whole batch of 6 as shown there.

[suspsy]

That Suskityrannus art is freaking fantastic! I've long felt that tyrannosaurs, up to and including T. rex, would have happily consumed eggs whenever they got the chance. Great protein source. I can easily picture a T. rex chasing off hadrosaurs from their nests just to feast on the eggs.

[Bread]

I also had mixed feelings about the WWD rex as it seemed darker than it was originally shown in artwork and first prototype applications. My whole thing is, once I have it in hand and I dislike it, I can just sell it to another or trade for the regular rex.

Just a side note, I wouldn't repaint the WWD rex. I mean the choice is yours but others may not have been able to pledge to the kickstarter at the time, which then unabled them to purchase said figure. If anything, like I said, resell the WWD variant and purchase the regular rex. Especially with this being a made to order figure, the price or value will not decrease, even with it being opened. The choice is yours and collectors must respect that if you want to repaint it

[Lynx]

I also had mixed feelings about the WWD rex as it seemed darker than it was originally shown in artwork and first prototype applications. My whole thing is, once I have it in hand and I dislike it, I can just sell it to another or trade for the regular rex.

Just a side note, I wouldn't repaint the WWD rex. I mean the choice is yours but others may not have been able to pledge to the kickstarter at the time, which then unabled them to purchase said figure. If anything, like I said, resell the WWD variant and purchase the regular rex. Especially with this being a made to order figure, the price or value will not decrease, even with it being opened. The choice is yours and collectors must respect that if you want to repaint it

No worries! By "repaint" I meant putting paint over any spots where the paint job as scraped off. The simple color scheme means I can find paints that match it and make the figure look brand new after wear and tear. If this is a bit confusing, I can reword it 

[Psittacoraptor]

I got things mixed up, sorry. I thought the 1/35 was Dino Riders, but that's actually the WWD one? I'm not familiar with either source material, so I don't get a sense of nostalgia from those figures. That makes the regular rex an easy choice for me, though I won't get it for a while. Gorgosaurus, Yutyrannus and Dilong are my top priorities in this line.

[Over9K]

Interesting to me that they colored in the Daspletosaurus on the stretch chart, I was thinking the Alectrosaurus would be the next one colored in, with Das coming that next level down.

I'm guessing Gorgo will be the first figure in Wave3? That would split the latter waves with 7 figures each. That would really make Wave3 the Body 4 wave.

Regarding the Dino-Riders rex; I think the nostalgia is for the cartoon TV series mostly, and a little bit the toy packaging, where the T.rex was the green over tan colorway. The actual toy was a much darker grey/green over a light grey.

Of course the reason the cartoon and the packaging showed the rex being green/tan was because they were both based on the prototype for the toy. Both would have been finalized before the production of the actual toy, which for some reason was changed.

I really think most of the nostalgia comes from the cartoon, because the packaging would have mostly been forgotten minutes after opening the toy, and before the internet, other photos of the prototype were not readily available.

[CarnotaurusKing]

"Athletic Alectrosaurus" is a bit of a mouthful, but it's very nice art all the same.

[Over9K]

"Athletic Alectrosaurus" is a bit of a mouthful, but it's very nice art all the same.

Perhaps "Airborne Alectrosaurus" is more appropriate... you know, "Death From Above" and all?

[Gothmog the Baryonyx]

I think I will get both sets of postcards, I really like the art, and it doesn't take up much room. Wish I had bought the Ceratopsian postcards as well

[Concavenator]

I echo the appreciation for the artwork of this series. The postcards are absolutely gorgeous.

As far as the Dino Riders offering goes, I don't doubt it's popularity but it definitely seems more niche than the other offerings. WWD is pretty universally known and celebrated but if you weren't around in the late 80s/early 90s, Dino Riders might not have been something you experienced (myself included). Because of that, I personally don't feel the "nostalgic pull" to get that particular figure, and I'm sure there are plenty of younger collectors who are sort of in the same boat.

This. I didn't even know of the existence of Dino Riders, whereas I saw the WWD documentaries when I was a kid. So of course WWD is more familiar to me. Even despite me knowing and having seen WWD, if I simply don't like the colour scheme they used for the Tyrannosaurs, I wouldn't care for the figure, even with the nostalgia factor. But I actually think it's a good colour scheme.

For example, I used to see Dinosaur King when I was a kid. A DK inspired Tyrannosaurus could make me feel nostalgic, but I wouldn't care for it because I don't like the colours they gave to it.

"Athletic Alectrosaurus" is a bit of a mouthful, but it's very nice art all the same.

"Leaping Laelaps" but it's Alectrosaurus instead.

[Over9K]

I think I will get both sets of postcards, I really like the art, and it doesn't take up much room. Wish I had bought the Ceratopsian postcards as well

I think I'm going to add the second set when I add the Gorgosaurus... and I'm sure there will be a third set of postcards right around that time too...

[Faelrin]

I think I will get both sets of postcards, I really like the art, and it doesn't take up much room. Wish I had bought the Ceratopsian postcards as well

Seem to be in stock still here (along with the raptor ones as well from the looks of it): https://creative-beast.com/product-category/post-cards/

Edit: Update 9 is up, and we have some first look into the early wip of the Proceratosaurus sculpt:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/creativebeast/beasts-of-the-mesozoic-tyrannosaur-series-action-figures/posts/3314585

Some pics:

[Over9K]

Creative Beasts website won't take my address for shipping... tried two different browsers, and neither one would give me any shipping options, so I can't complete an order. Sent them a note, hopefully get a solution soon, I'd like to order those Ceratopsians postcards!

[Dusty Wren]

Love the look of the Proceratosaurus sculpt so far. This is one of the figures I'm considering for my pledge.

I'm curious about how the neck joints work on these small therapods. I don't have any of the BotM raptors, so can anyone tell me if they're capable of looking up or down? My ceratopsians all have a neck joint right behind their frills that lets them swivel their heads down (and up, to some extent, though the range of motion there is more limited), but the position of the top neck joint on the Proceratosaurus looks like it would only let the head swivel left or right.

[Bread]

I also had mixed feelings about the WWD rex as it seemed darker than it was originally shown in artwork and first prototype applications. My whole thing is, once I have it in hand and I dislike it, I can just sell it to another or trade for the regular rex.

Just a side note, I wouldn't repaint the WWD rex. I mean the choice is yours but others may not have been able to pledge to the kickstarter at the time, which then unabled them to purchase said figure. If anything, like I said, resell the WWD variant and purchase the regular rex. Especially with this being a made to order figure, the price or value will not decrease, even with it being opened. The choice is yours and collectors must respect that if you want to repaint it

No worries! By "repaint" I meant putting paint over any spots where the paint job as scraped off. The simple color scheme means I can find paints that match it and make the figure look brand new after wear and tear. If this is a bit confusing, I can reword it 

Oops, sorry for the misunderstanding. I reread what you said in your post. You did state you would add touch-ups to the figure and not a complete repaint. That is my fault. Don't need to reword, its an error on my end.

Still, I hope others consider collectors who were not able to purchase WWD or other exclusives before repainting them.