Leyster's Collection (updated 29/03/24)

[Leyster]

@Concavenator glad you're reconsidering it, it's a great figure

Binomial name: Sinemys gamera Brinkman & Peng 1993
Classification: Testudinata->Rhaptochelydia->Mesochelydia->Perichelydia->Sinemydidae
Time: Aptian-Albian (Early Cretaceous)
Formation: Luohandong Formation (present-day China)
Manifacturer and date of release: Kaiyodo, 2001
Sculptor: Goro Furuta
Scale: 1:5, lenght eyeballed from a museum specimen. I guess that, being so small, those spines are really useful!

[Halichoeres]

Kaiyodo's prehistoric turtles are such gems, I've always secretly hoped for a whole Capsule Q set of them, with Anomalochelys or Calcarichelys maybe.

[SRF]

I only just now noticed that you have added PNSOs Wilson to your collection. This is actually the first time I've seen a more recent copy of it. I purchased Wilson on release and the colors on the head of my copy are much lighter than on yours. Another example of how PNSO changes the colors on somewhat older releases.

Still a great figure though, nice to read that you're happy with it.

[SidB]

@Halichoeres it's a very interesting read, sans from some nitpickings I have, but still a very interesting popular book on extinct sharks. It has a lot of good skeletals, too, and it's illustrated by Beneteau, a great artist. If you understand French (I do a little cause I studied it in middle school, but it's not too different from italian and I studied latin at high school, so more or less I understand what's written, many thechnical terms are the same anyway).

Yeah the Dinotales are so great, I'm kinda sad they started doing the same species all over again instead of the diverse line they had at the begining




And now for something completely different, another birthday gift


Binomial name: Tyrannosaurus rex Osborn 1905
Classification: Dinosauria->Theropoda->Neotheropoda->Averostra->Tetanurae->Coelurosauria->Tyrannoraptora->Tyrannosauroidea->Tyrannosauridae->Tyrannosaurinae
Time: Maastrichtian (late Cretaceous)
Formation: Hell Creek Formation, Lance Formation, Frenchman Formation (present day USA and Canada)
Manifacturer and date of release: PNSO, 2020
Sculptor: somebody in the atelier of Zhao Chuang
Scale: 1:32 for AMNH 5027


Yes, yes, I know, another model of that incredibly overrated Laramidian theropod nobody cares bout. But AMNH 5027 is one of my favorite specimens (along with the holotype and Tufts-Love. I also like it's crouched pose and somewhat stupid expression, I don't like when Tyrannosaurus had to appear rearing and angry all the time... after all, a lot of dangerous animals we live with (bears, ie) have a totally not scary look (to the point that incredibly stupid accidents happen because people underestimate the danger they represent). I have a few issues with it, the exposed teeth (I'm not convinced at all by PNSO's arguments) and its oversized scales (I get the idea "let's show Tyrannosaurus' scales real size on a 1:32 model to show how they were shaped, but I would've preferred it to be smooth: Tyrannosaurus scales, if they're even scales to begin with, are incredibly small and basically invisible at that size...). Still, a very, very nice Tyrannosaurus.

Your reasons for getting this rex are ones with which I can concur. It is a fine piece, regardless of the teeth and scales, the best in my collection with the exception, IMO, of the legendary Battat cersions 1 and 2. Personally, what with PNSO's propensity to periodically produce new updates to 'Wilson, I suspect that it's only a matter of time before we get a new, updated version that addresses these issues, if they at all open to to tide of opinion favoring lips. The Rebor approach makes sense. Also, I have to admit that I like this new paint job on Rex better than mine  though I won't bother acquiring it - rather wait for a new lipped one.

[Concavenator]

@SRF I see what you mean. I searched for reviews of Wilson from the time it came out and there's some difference indeed. It's a bit frustrating, this kinda forces you to buy the figure asap. I'm interested in several PNSO, but who knows how will they be painted by the time I get around to buying them... I don't get them all at once because they're not the only company I collect.

[Leyster]

S @SidB @SRF @Concavenator thanks for stepping by, but I'm not that sure Wilson's a real new paintjob, I think it's more an artifact of lightning in the photography. Look ie. at the PNSO Acrocanthosaurus in @postsaurischian's thread, it's so much vibrant than others' pictures of it. Happy to be corrected tho.

[SRF]

L @Leyster I really do see some differences. Mainly the head on newer copies is much darker, while on the initial release the head was more the same color as the body. I think they've given Wilson a less complex color scheme on the head, matching the colors of Andrea more as well.

[Leyster]

@SRF oh well, nice to know. I admit that I prefer the darker head of Andrea, so good for me then!

[Leyster]

I'm back to collecting!

Binomial name: "Sinraptor" hepingensis (Gao, 1992)*
Classification: Dinosauria->Saurischia->Theropoda->Neotheropoda->Averostra->Tetanurae->Carnosauria->Allosauroidea->Metriacanthosauridae->Metriacanthosaurinae
Time: Oxfordian (Late Jurassic)
Formation: Shangshaximiao/Upper Shaximiao Formation (present day China)
Manifacturer and date of release: PNSO, 2022
Sculptor: somebody in the atelier of Zhao Chuang
Scale: 1:32 for ZDM 0024. It looks like 1:32 (and not the often advertised 1:35) is the new 1:40.

*curious about my use of quotation marks? It's a long story, explained in details in my review here.

[SidB]

Your review is an interesting read, L @Leyster , revealing the science and element of uncertainty behind this figure. I always appreciate these disclosures and that, in spite of 'issues', you always give credit where it is due.

[Leyster]

S @SidB thank you, glad you liked it!

[Halichoeres]

The comparison to the theropod from Skull Island really nails it for me. I find the head of this figure so off-putting that I've just hung on to the Vitae version and refused to buy the PNSO, even if it might be fashioned after a taxon that warrants a new genus.

[Leyster]

@Halichoeres  Even if I like the model, I admit I would've preferred it to have at least lips, which would've mitigated the Skull Island effect.


Binomial name: Deinotherium giganteum Kaup, 1929
Classification: Placentalia->Atlantogenata->Afrotheria->Paenungulata->Tethytheria->Proboscidea->Plesielephantiformes->Deinotheriidae->Deinotheriinae
Time: (Langhian?) Serravalian-Zanclean (Middle Miocene - Early Pliocene)
Formation: St. Stephan, Kohfidisch, Outcrop A, B, C (present day Austria); Hadjidimovo 2, Azmaka 1, 2, 4 (present day Bulgaria);    Sansan, Cucuron (present day France); El'dar, Udabno I, II (present day Georgia); Ravin de la Pluie, Halmyropotamos, Maronia, Gela, Agia Paraskevi (present day Greece); Rudabánya (present day Hungary); Shakhty (present day Kazakhstan); Cioburciu, Tarakliya, Chimishliya (present day Moldova); Birzavita II (present day Romania); Los Valles de Fuentiduenya, Barranc de Can Vila, Olesa de Montserrat-Viladecavalls (present day Spain); Kurtchuk-Tchekmedje, Yulafli, Pasalar (present day Turkey); Krivoy Rog, Novo-Yelizavetovka, Grebnicki, Tul'chino, Belka, Tanovka, Chernovo, Rakhanh Lesovyye, Timanovka, Likhtental', Kul'm (present day Ukraine)
Manifacturer and date of release: Eofauna, 2019
Sculptor: Shu-yu Hsu?
Scale: 1:36 for Eppelsheim specimen

[SidB]

For such a big animal, I find Eofauna's specimen far more elegant than CollectA's and Mojo's.

[Leyster]

S @SidB yes, deinotheres should be recognizable for their quite lanky build (for a 10 ton mammal) when compared to more derived proboscideans, too.

*well, there is that one D. thraceiensis which is quite weird in proportions, but I'm open to the idea of it being a chimera.

[Halichoeres]

I don't collect Cenozoic animals, but EoFauna's proboscideans test my resolve on that more than anything else on the market.

[Leyster]

@Halichoeres they do, right? And after the elephants, I need to have something keeping them company... thank manifacturers for NOT making many mammals in the scales I collect.


Binomial name: Plateosaurus trossigensis Fraas, 1913
Classification: Dinosauria->Sauropodomorpha->Plateosauria->Plateosauridae
Time: Norian-Rhaetian (Late Triassic)
Formation: Plateosaurus type site of the Löwenstein Formation (present-day Germany)
Manifacturer and date of release: Kaiyodo, 2004
Sculptor: Seiji Yamamoto
Scale: 1:40 for the smallest specimen.

Plateosaurus is maybe the dinosaur with the craziest size variation. We have specimens more than 9 meters long and specimens less than 5 meters long, and they're both adults. After some eyeballing from the Eofauna book, I decided that the Kaiyodo model was the right size for the smallest specimen, and I was happy I was proved correct when I measured it after acquiring it. Such a striking colour scheme, too:

[SidB]

That's a handsome specimen, though I'm probably influenced by WWD to visualize Plateosaurus as 'beefier'. We really need a new figure of this seminal animal.

[Halichoeres]

Nearly 20 years later, this is still the nicest Plateosaurus. That said, I have the Carnegie version on my shelf because I prefer to have the larger end of the size range represented.

[Leyster]

S @SidB agree on the new figure. Unsure of the WWD one, since Plateosaurus skeletals always show it as pretty stretched animal and Atuchin's (a paleoartist I know to be really really spot on on accuracy) illustration (you can see it scrolling the free preview here) shows a lithe animal, too.

@Halichoeres that's true for so many species Kaiyodo did  I have the Carnegie, too, but I find the lack of thumb claw quite off putting.



Binomial name: Acrocanthosaurus atokensis Stovall & Langston 1950
Classification: Dinosauria->Theropoda->Neotheropoda->Averostra->Tetanurae->Carnosauria->Allosauroidea->Allosauria->Carcharodontosauria->Carcharodontosauridae
Time: Aptian-Albian (Early Cretaceous)
Formation: Twin Mountains Formation, Antlers Formation, Cloverly Formation (present day USA)
Manifacturer and date of release: PNSO, 2022
Sculptor: somebody in the atelier of Zhao Chuang
Scale: 1:32 (again!) for NCSM 14345