CollectA--New for 2021

[bmathison1972]

The Dilophosaurus suffers from all the same issues of the Neovenator.
Those clown feet are glaringly bad and noticeable. The overly thin legs just further emphasises the oversized feet unfortunately.

To be honest I never minded how Carnegie did Theropods in a tripod stance. I'd much rather have the dinosaur depicted with proper proportions and anatomy, rather than forcing/over-exaggerating features for playability.

Hope that someone will finally do Dilophosaurus justice in the future. Still waiting for a definitive version of this iconic species.

I haven't added dinos to my collection for very long now, but I have to admit, CollectA's theropods have never appealed to me. They aren't bad, just not my style.

[GojiraGuy1954]

The Dilophosaurus suffers from all the same issues of the Neovenator.
Those clown feet are glaringly bad and noticeable. The overly thin legs just further emphasises the oversized feet unfortunately.

To be honest I never minded how Carnegie did Theropods in a tripod stance. I'd much rather have the dinosaur depicted with proper proportions and anatomy, rather than forcing/over-exaggerating features for playability.

Hope that someone will finally do Dilophosaurus justice in the future. Still waiting for a definitive version of this iconic species.

It's still the best option currently. All of the previous dilos used the old proportions and crest shape

[Carnoking]

Pretty cool to see CollectA gave their "updated" dilo a color scheme reminiscent of Michael Crichton's vision. Good mix of modern and classic. That being said, am I the only one not seeing the latest findings reflected? I guess the notch in the jaw is a little less noticeable and the crests are slightly larger and more uneven, but it still looks like a stereotypical dilophosaurus to me.
And that's before we even get to the glaring issue of the massive feet and twig legs. Wonder why CollectA walked away from bases this year, but it is disappointing that they decided to go with stiff poses and clown shoes instead to say the least.

[Bokisaurus]

Great we got a mammal this year, pretty cool one, and that invertebrate is awesome, really like the colors which is appropriate for an animal living in the deep.

I have to say, that Dilophosaurus is a downer.
I wonder if all the theropods this year is sculpted by a different person.
They just look very different from Mathias's style.
Maybe with the pandemic they had to recruit one or more sculptor to help so they would have enough new figures.
The two standard figures this year had oversized feet, but nothing like what we see in next year's.
Maybe in 2022 that Dilophosaurus will get a newer version.

What an impressive accomplishments for CollectA to be able to pull of this much awesome figures during this hard times😃

[suspsy]

I feel sorry for CollectA and Safari and Eofauna and all the other companies that have to deal with the issue of getting theropods to remain standing. If they don't stand up on their own, people complain. If they have bases, people complain. If they have oversized feet, people complain. And if they're in tripod stances, people complain.

It's a total no-win situation.

[stargatedalek]

CollectA in particular has a tendency to make particularly boring bland plastic slab bases, so I'm happy to see them avoiding bases.

[RaptorRex]

Clearly, the most compromisable solution would be to include detachable bases, but I don't know how much that would drive up production costs.

[Sarapaurolophus]

Clearly, the most compromisable solution would be to include detachable bases, but I don't know how much that would drive up production costs.

On my CollectA feathered Lythronax I removed the base and saw they already make the bases separately and merely glue the figure into the peg holes. Not glueing the figure in seems like substracting one step in production. But I don't want to act like I know how CollectA operates. It's just something I noticed on that figure.

[MLMjp]

The feet on that Dilophosaurus dont look as bad to me as some of you said. I really like how it turned out, specially the color scheme, it has brighter colors than the usual Collecta color schemes which I appreciate. And size is good.

Well, overall I think Collecta´s assortment this year is an improvement over last year. This time I am actually excited for the figures that I have interest in (Mamenchisaurus, Xiphactinus and Dilophosaurus), unlike last year.

[Turacoverdin]

I agree with @Carnoking ; while the crests are in accordance with the research, the overall proportions of the animal aren't, to my eye. Most noticeable (to say nothing of the feet) is the head. Dilophosaurus now has a larger skull proportional to its body, but CollectA's seems to be on the small side as in past reconstructions. It doesn't affect me, as I wouldn't have purchased this model anyway, but I can understand other's disappointment.

On a more positive note, that Doedicurus is fantastic. Unexpected but an absolute winner - judging only by the catalogue photo, the anatomy and morphology on display looks to be amongst the best of all CollectA's mammals thus far. Also, seems they referenced the six-banded armadillo for its appearance, which makes sense seeing as it's the basal-most euphractine.
Speaking of mammals, a new Paraceratherium would be most welcome. Though personally, my hope is that CollectA will begin producing more obscure genera, just as they have with their dinosaurs. Perhaps something that falls below the megafauna threshold for once haha.

Pravitoceras looks stunning. As for the prior reveals, until Doedicurus my favourite was the Pteranodon. I always love the deluxe pterosaurs and was pleased to see they'd jumped the usual biennial schedule. Shame about the arched torso but I like the pattern and colours of the Elasmosaurus, red flippers are an interesting aesthetic. I'm happy for those who've finally received a good Xiphactinus model after much anticipation, but I'm unsure if I'll end up with it.
It's quite the year for English theropods, three big names altogether when you consider Safari's Baryonyx. Though Collecta's offerings leave a little to be desired, with some modifications and new coats of paint I think both will be top-notch figures. They're certainly the best so far produced, of either genus.

Overall, a quality line-up, all things considered. Unfortunately, I likely won't be getting any of them upon release haha. My backlog's quite extensive and I promised myself not to expand the collection until I've finished all the painting/modelling projects I set out to do (plus other priorities). However, I look forward to seeing other collectors acquire them and to the reviews. Keen to see the Doedicurus in someone's hand especially.

[bmathison1972]

I feel sorry for CollectA and Safari and Eofauna and all the other companies that have to deal with the issue of getting theropods to remain standing. If they don't stand up on their own, people complain. If they have bases, people complain. If they have oversized feet, people complain. And if they're in tripod stances, people complain.

It's a total no-win situation.

I was going to say the EXACT SAME thing. Sad, really. Me, none of the three bother me really (overly large feet are my least favorite, but only if ungodly so).

[Carnoking]

I feel sorry for CollectA and Safari and Eofauna and all the other companies that have to deal with the issue of getting theropods to remain standing. If they don't stand up on their own, people complain. If they have bases, people complain. If they have oversized feet, people complain. And if they're in tripod stances, people complain.

It's a total no-win situation.

I think it's definitely a question of how well done any of those choices are. If they don't stand on their own but originally did, that's a sign that you just need to warp the feet or legs back into position. But if everyone's is tumbling over right out of the box after being advertised as a balanced model then that's a problem. Tripodal stances can still look great especially on some of the old Carnegie figures and even some of the new Papo offerings that use their lowered hands as a third point of contact, allowing for an active but sturdy pose. But again if they're sculpted in some cumbersome and awkward fashion just to get a third point of contact (the Papo Chilesaurus comes to mind) then yeah that's an example of a tripod stance done poorly.
I think bases are great, especially if they're well made. PNSO and Vitae have both made some great bases for their models, and CollectA's bases have been getting better and better as of late(more's the pity why they chose to walk away from them this year). I've actually been waiting for Papo to start doing bases for some of their figures so that they can get away from those awkward stances they've been relying on as of late. But a problem I've noticed with some of my PNSO figures is the plastic in the legs/ankles aren't strong enough to support the figure and then they start to droop on the base and the purpose is defeated.
I'll agree with bmathison1972 that big feet are easily my least favorite solution of the bunch, especially when the rest of the anatomy and proportions aren't tweaked along with them. Out of all the possible solutions (bases, tripods, or poses that require an original fix) big feet are the only choice that objectively change the look of the model in question.

[SidB]

I have a very large collection of theropods of all sorts from many brands and I can wholeheartedly agree with your comments. My least favorite solution is the infamous "clown feet." That said, slightly enlarged feet, especially if carefully blended into the sculpt, can ameliorate this approach. At first glance, I'm not certain that CollectA's Dilophosaurus has passed this test. Hopefully it looks better in hand.

[Shonisaurus]

By the way it has not been mentioned in everythingdinosaur if the dilophosaurus has a jointed jaw or not, so I suppose that said figure does not have it, for me that is a point in favor of Collecta. They are not a fan of jaws or other articulated or detachable body parts (for example detachable bases like Favorite). I know it does not have feet as one would want for a theropod, but honestly without the articulated jaw it makes me like and attract this figure.

[stargatedalek]

Mini Toob 3 is exciting! At first I was worried when I saw some new minis that were only in the blind bags, but it's great to see they are getting a box set release too. Guidraco and Oviraptor are particularly exciting for me. I hope mini versions of the other giant pterosaurs come along eventually. I've been putting off getting the other mini box sets but I'll probably get the marine set alongside this new one next year.

[Bernie Brontosaurus]

That Pteranodon is so cool!

[Sim]

It's disappointing that CollectA seems not to want to make dromaeosaurids and troodontids and instead release allosauroid after allosauroid.

[cooksonia]

Those aren't the Allosauroids you're looking for!

[Bernie Brontosaurus]

Megalosaurus isn't an allosauroid!

[Wandering]

Not sure how I feel about that Dilophosaurus... I don't like it but I can't really hate either.  I have no strong feelings on it either way.