Safari Ltd 2022 Hopes and Dreams

[suspsy]

I'd like to see Desmatosuchus or Smilosuchus.

I'm also gonna echo something that was said earlier in this thread: no more prehistoric figures that are predominantly yellow.

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

I'd like to see Desmatosuchus or Smilosuchus.

I'm also gonna echo something that was said earlier in this thread: no more prehistoric figures that are predominantly yellow.

Demastosuchus would be great. Safari is my favorite toy company, but I think they rely too heavily on orange and ochres in their color schemes. Duller and possibly darker would be a welcome change of pace.

[thedeadlymoose]

There should definitely by a Maiasaura available to buy that doesn't cost a fortune getting second hand.

And a feathered Cryolophosaurus, which I will sing for until it happens.

Yes to both of these.

I really, really want to see a feathered therizinosaur, any feathered ornithomimid, and any small feathered ornithopod.

[suspsy]

I really, really want to see a feathered therizinosaur, any feathered ornithomimid, and any small feathered ornithopod.

Falcarius would be a great choice given that it's probably the most completely known therizinosaur of them all.

[Reuben03]

and any small feathered ornithopod.

yes! a small fluffy nanosaurus with Walking with Dinosaurs inspired colours would be superb

[GojiraGuy1954]

Smilo is like the Woolly Mammoth. So many figures of it yet none of them are good

Um, I'd say the Safari one is pretty damned good. Same goes for the new Mojo Fun one.

Safari one is too skinny. Also I don't buy from Mojo after I got their blue Bary. Looked nothing like the pictures
(Also, no, it wasn't a bootleg. Got it from ED.)

[suspsy]

So is Safari going to do 2022 reveals next month?

[GojiraGuy1954]

So is Safari going to do 2022 reveals next month?

I'd hope so

[Dynomikegojira]

Centrosaurus is long overdue not counting the Beasts of the Mesozoic one.

[Sim]

I don't know what's going on with Safari's ceratopsids.  @Doug Watson said that before he made his first ceratopsid for Safari (Vagaceratops), Safari didn't want to make new ceratopsids as they hadn't been selling well.  If I'm remembering right Doug said he insisted enough and they finally allowed him to make the Vagaceratops.  It must have been the start of a change where ceratopsids sold well for Safari as they started making about one a year from 2012 to 2019.  Then they stopped, not making one for two years in a row now, and they've started retiring some of these excellent figures, first the Nasutoceratops, then the Einiosaurus and recently I was told by @Everything_Dinosaur that the Pachyrhinosaurus has been retired.  So I don't know if they've stopped selling well for some reason.  They are quite similar animals and maybe for parents and children the selections of dinosaurs bought would tend to be ones very different from each other, only picking one or two or three ceratopsids from what was available.  So Safari's ceratopsids might have been competing with each other for being bought.  I did feel that ceratopsids were being made too often, but I think two years has been a good amount of time for a break and it would be good to get a new ceratopsid from Safari now.  Personally I'd like the next Safari ceratopsid to be a chasmosaurine.  Safari has made more centrosaurines (5) than chasmosaurines (3).

While I'm here I'll list what I'd like from Safari:

Rhamphorhynchus - This is what I'd like the most from Safari.  There needs to be an accurate figure of Rhamphorhynchus.

Herrerasaurus - Would be a unique looking figure to expand Safari's Triassic range.

Cryolophosaurus - Feathered please.

Saurornithoides - A troodontid, please!  It would go well with Safari's Velociraptor and Citipati.

Plateosaurus - A bipedal sauropodomorph is missing from Safari's prehistoric animal line.  It would also be a much-needed addition to Safari's Triassic range, as if I'm not mistaken it only includes one herbivore currently (Shringasaurus).  Plateosaurus would add another herbivore with a unique appearance and high playability with its powerful hands.

Utahraptor - The world needs an accurate Utahraptor.

Utahceratops - A really cool looking chasmosaurine ceratopsid.

[SidB]

After month after month of the juggernaut called PNSO, it really is time for the new Safari reveals. I'm really anticipating what they might have in store for us, particularly sauropods and ornithischians. A mammal or two would be nice also. First, their quality of sculpt is so highly accurate, particularly the Watson ones, second, they are affordable and give excellent value for the money. I surely appreciate my stable of PNSO's, but the costs associated with their latest releases won't be sustainable indefinitely. Safari, on the other hand, represents sustainable value.

[thedeadlymoose]

I don't know what's going on with Safari's ceratopsids.  @Doug Watson said that before he made his first ceratopsid for Safari (Vagaceratops), Safari didn't want to make new ceratopsids as they hadn't been selling well.  If I'm remembering right Doug said he insisted enough and they finally allowed him to make the Vagaceratops.  It must have been the start of a change where ceratopsids sold well for Safari as they started making about one a year from 2012 to 2019.  Then they stopped, not making one for two years in a row now, and they've started retiring some of these excellent figures, first the Nasutoceratops, then the Einiosaurus and recently I was told by @Everything_Dinosaur that the Pachyrhinosaurus has been retired.  So I don't know if they've stopped selling well for some reason.  They are quite similar animals and maybe for parents and children the selections of dinosaurs bought would tend to be ones very different from each other, only picking one or two or three ceratopsids from what was available.  So Safari's ceratopsids might have been competing with each other for being bought.  I did feel that ceratopsids were being made too often, but I think two years has been a good amount of time for a break and it would be good to get a new ceratopsid from Safari now.  Personally I'd like the next Safari ceratopsid to be a chasmosaurine.  Safari has made more centrosaurines (5) than chasmosaurines (3).

While I'm here I'll list what I'd like from Safari:

Rhamphorhynchus - This is what I'd like the most from Safari.  There needs to be an accurate figure of Rhamphorhynchus.

Herrerasaurus - Would be a unique looking figure to expand Safari's Triassic range.

Cryolophosaurus - Feathered please.

Saurornithoides - A troodontid, please!  It would go well with Safari's Velociraptor and Citipati.

Plateosaurus - A bipedal sauropodomorph is missing from Safari's prehistoric animal line.  It would also be a much-needed addition to Safari's Triassic range, as if I'm not mistaken it only includes one herbivore currently (Shringasaurus).  Plateosaurus would add another herbivore with a unique appearance and high playability with its powerful hands.

Utahraptor - The world needs an accurate Utahraptor.

Utahceratops - A really cool looking chasmosaurine ceratopsid.

I would absolutely love a feathered Cryolophosaurus.

A Utahraptor would be excellent as well. And absolutely yes, any troodontid.

For me, the Safari ceratopsids can start to blend together into a browngrayyellow mass. I still love several of them, but it's in spite of the paint design. Like, I think the Einiosaurus sculpt is one of the all-time best ceratopsid sculpts ever, and I love the idea of the eyespots on the frill, but color/paint-wise it's not the most interesting to look at.

What I'd wish for instead, for new ceratopsids, are paint designs similar to the unreleased Battat repaints. Same for any large ornithopods. (Still dreaming of that Battat Ouranosaurus repaint...)

I think the existing Safari paint scheme has tended to work better for feathered figures. Like, you won't hear me complaining about the wonderful Deinocheirus. Or the feathered T-Rex (either version!) which was the first Rex I ever bought and still one of the best ever made IMO, accurate or not. The Safari Coelophysis is one of my favorite figures ever. Absolutely sublime, and the paint design works perfectly. Wishing for more figures like this one.

[SidB]

I really hope that the Safari renaissance that emerged during the last years of the Carnegie decline and final disappearance (2015) and bloomed afterwards isn't over. It's hard to gauge because of the recent issues of the factory move and covid-19 may be distortions that will have no long term impact. Much more disturbing to me is the retirement of 2-3 of their ceratopsian figures. one wonders if others fine and recent pieces will follow. Obviously this is sales driven, and collectors like us are only part of a larger market.

I also wonder what percent of collectors, as represented by the DTB/DTF, collect Safari figures. If only a relatively minor percent of us collect them, particularly the non-standard ones, what does that say for the general buying public, who have a hard time getting beyond the half dozen or so stereotypical dinosaurs. Of course I have no hard stats to ground these conjectures upon, but if you look at the number of votes on our DTB for given Safari figures, as I was checking out this morning, what's 25-80 out of 2000 members, anyways. It doesn't bode well for an enduring diversity of options. If we don't buy their offerings on a consistent basis, Safari will have to revert to the "standard" dinosaurs, IMO.

[Bread]

Before the 2021 reveals for the Safari lineup of the year, I was very excited and eager to purchase whatever was to be revealed. Then few other brands appeared out of no where (PNSO, Nanmu, etc...). As a result, I avoided purchasing their 2021 lineup, which I thought to be a little disappointing as there were no herbivores followed by therapods that were not really too high on my list of needs, maybe the Daspletosaurus?

Anyways, I am just hoping for some herbivores, mainly hadrosaurs or nodosaurids, to be in their 2022 lineup. A new ceratopsian would be nice. I think a smart move would be to even remake a Triceratops if there really is going to be a new Tyrannosaurus (if I my memory is correct as the most voted recommendation for Safari was a Tyrannosaurus).

[Bokisaurus]

I really hope that the Safari renaissance that emerged during the last years of the Carnegie decline and final disappearance (2015) and bloomed afterwards isn't over. It's hard to gauge because of the recent issues of the factory move and covid-19 may be distortions that will have no long term impact. Much more disturbing to me is the retirement of 2-3 of their ceratopsian figures. one wonders if others fine and recent pieces will follow. Obviously this is sales driven, and collectors like us are only part of a larger market.

I also wonder what percent of collectors, as represented by the DTB/DTF, collect Safari figures. If only a relatively minor percent of us collect them, particularly the non-standard ones, what does that say for the general buying public, who have a hard time getting beyond the half dozen or so stereotypical dinosaurs. Of course I have no hard stats to ground these conjectures upon, but if you look at the number of votes on our DTB for given Safari figures, as I was checking out this morning, what's 25-80 out of 2000 members, anyways. It doesn't bode well for an enduring diversity of options. If we don't buy their offerings on a consistent basis, Safari will have to revert to the "standard" dinosaurs, IMO.

Some good questions S @SidB  I feel it's too soon to know the extent of the impact of Covid on production, perhaps we shall find out soon when they start revealing figures for next year.

I'm not surprised by the retirement of many herbivores and ceratopsian, as we all know they don't sell well. CollectA is also retiring many of their figures even some of the newer one.
I do think the demand for non-theropods is low in terms of profit, and even lower for obscure species. In the business world, it's too expensive of a risk to invest that much $$$ on a figure that is not a guaranteed seller. The trend can be seen in almost all the major brands, even CollectA is slowing down on how many obscure ones they release.

As for keeping up diversity, i hope it continues and I think it will, just slower .
Just study PNSO's and CollectA's releases- you will see a pattern of releasing some obscure or known slow selling  species right alongside a hot "sell like pancakes one" in hope the latter 'sales will offset the former.

As for my hope for next year? A sauropod!
I didn't get any of this years figures because I wasn't excited by all of them, so hopefully a nice sauropod will be in the future.😃

[SidB]

I really hope that the Safari renaissance that emerged during the last years of the Carnegie decline and final disappearance (2015) and bloomed afterwards isn't over. It's hard to gauge because of the recent issues of the factory move and covid-19 may be distortions that will have no long term impact. Much more disturbing to me is the retirement of 2-3 of their ceratopsian figures. one wonders if others fine and recent pieces will follow. Obviously this is sales driven, and collectors like us are only part of a larger market.

I also wonder what percent of collectors, as represented by the DTB/DTF, collect Safari figures. If only a relatively minor percent of us collect them, particularly the non-standard ones, what does that say for the general buying public, who have a hard time getting beyond the half dozen or so stereotypical dinosaurs. Of course I have no hard stats to ground these conjectures upon, but if you look at the number of votes on our DTB for given Safari figures, as I was checking out this morning, what's 25-80 out of 2000 members, anyways. It doesn't bode well for an enduring diversity of options. If we don't buy their offerings on a consistent basis, Safari will have to revert to the "standard" dinosaurs, IMO.

Some good questions S @SidB  I feel it's too soon to know the extent of the impact of Covid on production, perhaps we shall find out soon when they start revealing figures for next year.

I'm not surprised by the retirement of many herbivores and ceratopsian, as we all know they don't sell well. CollectA is also retiring many of their figures even some of the newer one.
I do think the demand for non-theropods is low in terms of profit, and even lower for obscure species. In the business world, it's too expensive of a risk to invest that much $$$ on a figure that is not a guaranteed seller. The trend can be seen in almost all the major brands, even CollectA is slowing down on how many obscure ones they release.

As for keeping up diversity, i hope it continues and I think it will, just slower .
Just study PNSO's and CollectA's releases- you will see a pattern of releasing some obscure or known slow selling  species right alongside a hot "sell like pancakes one" in hope the latter 'sales will offset the former.

As for my hope for next year? A sauropod!
I didn't get any of this years figures because I wasn't excited by all of them, so hopefully a nice sauropod will be in the future.😃

Yes, the pattern of standard/obscure makes a lot of sense. Plus, there must be a certain desire on the manufacturer's part to do something different , now and then. It's  a wonder that as many Triassic  reptiles and Cenozoic mammals have been made as we've seen. The next couple of years will be interesting ... I'm hoping for the best. For me, my number one wish is a Safari Plateosaurus. It was the very first dinosaur that I ever got, out of a cereal box in days past.

[Sim]

Anyways, I am just hoping for some herbivores, mainly hadrosaurs or nodosaurids, to be in their 2022 lineup. A new ceratopsian would be nice. I think a smart move would be to even remake a Triceratops if there really is going to be a new Tyrannosaurus (if I my memory is correct as the most voted recommendation for Safari was a Tyrannosaurus).

Tyrannosaurus was the most voted for theropod (22 votes), but another genus got more votes than Tyrannosaurus, it was Ouranosaurus (27 votes)!  The Safari 2018 Triceratops is one of the best and most accurate figures of that genus so I can't imagine Safari remaking Triceratops.  What would they change?  In the past Safari has remade Tyrannosaurus without remaking Triceratops and I predict this will happen again in the relatively near future.


Regarding the idea that ceratopsians don't sell well, I'm not so sure that's always true.  If it was then why have Safari and CollectA made so many instead of more dromaeosaurids for example which do sell well?  It seems to me that ceratopsians have sold well at certain points in time, but perhaps it just got to a point where there was too many in a line and they ended up competing with each other for being bought.

[SidB]

Anyways, I am just hoping for some herbivores, mainly hadrosaurs or nodosaurids, to be in their 2022 lineup. A new ceratopsian would be nice. I think a smart move would be to even remake a Triceratops if there really is going to be a new Tyrannosaurus (if I my memory is correct as the most voted recommendation for Safari was a Tyrannosaurus).

Tyrannosaurus was the most voted for theropod (22 votes), but another genus got more votes than Tyrannosaurus, it was Ouranosaurus (27 votes)!  The Safari 2018 Triceratops is one of the best and most accurate figures of that genus so I can't imagine Safari remaking Triceratops.  What would they change?  In the past Safari has remade Tyrannosaurus without remaking Triceratops and I predict this will happen again in the relatively near future.


Regarding the idea that ceratopsians don't sell well, I'm not so sure that's always true.  If it was then why have Safari and CollectA made so many instead of more dromaeosaurids for example which do sell well?  It seems to me that ceratopsians have sold well at certain points in time, but perhaps it just got to a point where there was too many in a line and they ended up competing with each other for being bought.

As regards the BIG TWO, I agree that the current Safari Triceratops is "state of the art," no need to alter, but a new Doug Watson T-rex , lipped, little or no feathers, would be fitting and should sell quite well. They can use the profits to take a chance on one or two other riskier types, maybe a mammal included.

[Bread]

I should correct my statement for wanting a remake of Watson's Triceratops. The sculpt is beautiful, but I just think it lacks some colors on the body. So I should have stated the need for a repaint to make it more appealing. My apologies and thank you @Sim for the clarifications for vote count.

[SidB]

Yes, @Bread , a new color scheme
Would be both welcome and likely.