Return to the Crackington Formation

[Halichoeres]

Great stuff, @Crackington! I especially love the little aquatic area, and the pizza plinths are a very resourceful use of what would otherwise be landfill.

Been enjoying watching this thread, I knew you had a diverse collection. Refreshing to see since so many others are kind of same-same.

Wait, you don't like the race to be the first to showcase the newest PNSO, Safari, or CollectA release?

[Crackington]

Thanks for your kind words @Gwangi and @Halichoeres  and I am glad you picked up on the fun element of the collection. It's important to not be too precious about the models. It always brings a smile to my face when Mrs Crackington and my daughters add members of Homo Legolis or Homo Cluedois to the display 🙂

Great to hear from you too B @Bokisaurus - you have an amazing collection with brilliant photos, so I salute you. I like the way you focus on small groups of dinos and bring out their qualities gradually on your thread. Once I've "shown off" my main sites, I'll try and home in on (hopefully) interesting curios in the collection. Thanks 👍

[Lanthanotus]

The croc next to the Kaiyodo Dinotales Tylosaurus, that the Tamiya "Cretaceous small dinosaur set" one?

[Gwangi]

Great stuff, @Crackington! I especially love the little aquatic area, and the pizza plinths are a very resourceful use of what would otherwise be landfill.

Been enjoying watching this thread, I knew you had a diverse collection. Refreshing to see since so many others are kind of same-same.

Wait, you don't like the race to be the first to showcase the newest PNSO, Safari, or CollectA release?

@Halichoeres, nope, I'm a more casual collector. Although I get excited about the newer releases I'm never in a real hurry to get them. I'm not about to go broke trying to keep up with PNSO, it's not like they're limited releases or anything. And I'm not a completest either, I just get what I like.

[Shonisaurus]

Great stuff, @Crackington! I especially love the little aquatic area, and the pizza plinths are a very resourceful use of what would otherwise be landfill.

Been enjoying watching this thread, I knew you had a diverse collection. Refreshing to see since so many others are kind of same-same.

Wait, you don't like the race to be the first to showcase the newest PNSO, Safari, or CollectA release?

@Halichoeres, nope, I'm a more casual collector. Although I get excited about the newer releases I'm never in a real hurry to get them. I'm not about to go broke trying to keep up with PNSO, it's not like they're limited releases or anything. And I'm not a completest either, I just get what I like.

In my case the same thing happens to me. I really like the new figures of the various companies, but after the death of my parents I am budgeting and I cannot afford many luxuries or rather no luxury. If I buy I will make an accidental, calculated and most importantly highly selective purchase, I will prioritize those figures of dinosaurs and prehistoric animals that are unpublished in the toy dinosaur world and that are attractive and ideal figures for my collection, such as the itoy paraceratherium, Although in this case there was a precedent in my collection that of Collecta, honestly this figure, due to its smallness and sculptural finish, did not convince me.

I recommend you before buying a prehistoric animal figure or any other expense that you write it down in an Excel spreadsheet and ask yourself if it is worth spending it or if you prefer to wait a little longer, in my case it is working for me. It is a friend's advice, although if both you and the rest of the DTF members fortunately can afford that well-deserved hobby, ultimately, healthy pleasure and luxury, I applaud it because if I wanted to, I would do the same.

In my case I am saving to buy three figures that I like, such as the doedicurus from Collecta and the two gigantosaurus figures from Nanmu and the same ... with time I pre-ordered the two figures of abelisaurids from the Rebor movie. They are the five figures that I am focused on. I was about to be tempted by the Eofauna figures and let alone the W-Dragon figures and all the PNSO news from my last purchase the PNSO sauropelta, but I say to myself "it will be that no "and I stop the accelerator, because otherwise it is the ruin in my case.

[Crackington]

Hi @Lanthanotus yes that's right, it's the crocodile from the Mesozoic Creatures set by Tamiya. The others are spread around the cabinet, but I think I did the best paint job on this one.

@Gwangi and @Shonisaurus I agree with your comments about budgets, it's very important to stay within your means. I'm also not a completist and tend to get figures I like rather than worry about scale etc (as you can tell from the pictures).

I do have two PNSO figures, the Glyphoderma and the Confusciornis and while I appreciate their artistry and quality, I am a bit conflicted about them. The BBC World Service reported on the treatment of the Uyghur people recently and found a plastics factory where they were forced to live and were being treated as slave labour. Who knows whether the factory produced toys or our beloved dinos, but it did make me think about the ethics of buying from them, or indeed Western companies that use China for manufacture.

This is really difficult as pointed out in other threads - the ubiquity of Chinese goods across the spectrum makes a personal boycott very difficult and largely ineffectual. I also want to support the current palaeo artists, shops etc who rely on this global trade. However, as I've always liked the old figures, I'm finding myself buying them much more frequently now.

I wish we could be sure that PNSO, Safari and Collecta etc weren't using factories involved in this....

[Halichoeres]

I feel similarly conflicted. For whatever it's worth, a lot of dinosaur manufacturing (EoFauna, Safari) seems to be in the Guangzhou area (some of the figures specifically have that imprint), and while I suppose it's possible that Uyghurs would be shipped to the Pear River Delta to work in factories, I don't think it's very likely. All the same, it would be nice if we didn't have to even think about what atrocities we might be supporting with our hobby.

[Crackington]

Thanks @Halichoeres, it's reassuring that it's unlikely that Safari's etc factory partners are involved in the exploitation of the Uyghurs. I guess that this is something that we all need to be aware of and keep an eye on.

Anyway, following that small detour into existential hobby angst, I think it's time to show off the next shelf. This is the final shelf in Site A and features mainly critters after the dinosaurs -and yes I know, lots of Safaris and Collectas!  Enjoy:

[Halichoeres]

Ooh, that X-Plus Phorusrhacos! What a gem.

[Crackington]

Thanks @Halichoeres , it's a great figure, isn't it. You can also see the X-Plus Harryhausen Smilodon a few figures to the left of it. I rather like this model too, but find it odd that they didn't use the Charles Knight colour scheme which Harryhausen used in Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger.

Now for some more solidified oil, fashioned into prehistoric beast form. These next pictures are of Site B, the second place in our home which the wonderful Mrs Crackington agreed to home the collection. This is just outside the bathroom, so nice to look at on the way there during the day 🙂:




A close up of the bottom and a view of another Harryhausen link:



Bit higher up showing the mix of (mostly) old and new minis:



More soon!

[Halichoeres]

Out of curiosity, does your Inpro Heterodontosaurus have a missppelled belly? Mine says "HETERODONTDSAURUS"

[Crackington]

Well it took me 5 minutes and a magnifying glass to see it @Halichoeres, but yes it does indeed have that extra "d" before "saurus".  Inpro sure took a lot of care in making their models 😊.

I should also say that if anyone wants to see any of the models in more detail, feel free to give me a shout and I'll zoom in on them.

[Halichoeres]

Thanks for checking! Hopefully if someone ever makes Heterodontosaurus again, they'll spell it right!

[Shonisaurus]

Thanks for sharing those photos. I am honestly very favorably impressed by the "retro" figures of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. Nice collection.

[Libraraptor]

Neat little arrangements!  I love dinosaur figures accompanying me throughout my day,  being part of my home,  too!

[Crackington]

Glad you are appreciating the snaps folks, now time for some more. These ones show my prehistoric "library" - a couple of shelves in a book case, of course colonised by some beasties too!



Two views of the top shelf and larger books:




More soon!

[Halichoeres]

Great book selection! I have a few figures stored in front of my books as well, but I have to admit I find it slightly annoying to move them every time I want to retrieve a book.

[Shonisaurus]

@UK Nice collection of dinosaurs and nice collection of books, my complete congratulations.

[Crackington]

Thanks @Halichoeres and @Shonisaurus. Yes a bit of a pain moving figures to get at the books, but that does at least impose some healthy limitations!

And now for something completely similar..

Here is Site C, which you probably caught sight of earlier, as it's next to the main cabinet in our living room. This was actually a pretty cheap wall frame from Lidl, but is great for small figures and fossils:



I recently bought some tiny figures from Antediluvian Miniatures in Scotland, including Mary Anning and her dog. I'm planning on putting them in here once painted, so wil re-jig the contents then. More on these and an unexpected painting bonus soon....

[Halichoeres]

Curious about the little ceramic(?) figure in the square above the Parapuzosia. One of those fève figures?