David Silva’s Cyberzoic Series

[Faelrin]

I would be curious to see what kind of characters he could whip up. I know the theme will probably be heavily inspired by Dino-Riders but instead I can't help be reminded by Ark as well (which now that I think about it, I wonder if that took some inspiration from that as well?), and the many hours I dumped into it. Would love a saddle and rider from my future Yutyrannus order, as that was one of my favorite animals and mounts in that game.

[stargatedalek]

https://www.facebook.com/groups/409343259490345/permalink/1273473216410674/

Human figures. Okay.

Meh. I collect six inch scale figures, and even if these were I'd much rather have additional armour pieces, especially alternate saddles for different common figure sizes, than human figures.

[CityRaptor]

Wouldn't six inch figures be out of scale?

[terrorchicken]

I really would have been fine with an all dragon line since it could've included different types of dragons from different mythologies(western dragon, amphithere, wyvern, loong etc.) But this is cool too.  Im going to assume the armor will be detachable and that there will be an option to purchase these without armor? I have like zero interest in armor.

[suspsy]

Yes, the armour is detachable.

David was planning a straight up dragon series awhile back, but perhaps the success of BotM convinced him to keep dinosaurs in the mix. Or maybe he was concerned that dragons alone wouldn't be enough for a successful Kickstarter. I like them myself, but I have no idea how popular they are with adult collectors.

[stargatedalek]

Wouldn't six inch figures be out of scale?

Six inch figures are 1:12. Most of the BOTM stuff is marketed as either 1:6 or 1:18 (12 inch and 3-3/4 inch scale), but many are quite a bit off from that and a few range closer to 1:12-1:15. Plus extinct genera are often known from very small samples of population size meaning that anything around 1:10-1:15 is reasonable speculation of individual variation to use as 1:12, or marginally smaller scales could represent subadult animals. Plus a lot of dinosaurs are similar enough in appearance to substitute as larger or smaller relatives.

And dragons are fantasy creatures so scale is entirely interpretable.

[GojiraGuy1954]

I really would have been fine with an all dragon line since it could've included different types of dragons from different mythologies(western dragon, amphithere, wyvern, loong etc.) But this is cool too.  Im going to assume the armor will be detachable and that there will be an option to purchase these without armor? I have like zero interest in armor.

|I hope he still goes along with a Dragons series so we can get an articulated Ghidorah lookalike

[suspsy]

A new interview with David Silva sheds more light on this series:

https://aiptcomics.com/2021/10/08/tyrannosaur-dinosaurs-beasts-of-the-mesozoic-toys-silva/?fbclid=IwAR0fqEvpdfmsuiWhSxRdGFjNWv3CvFFJYdEf6-fKlKVJQ_Ochh-Kte4hTKg

Cyberzoic is basically armored dinosaurs versus dragons. It also has human characters that pilot or ride the dinosaurs, but it's something that I want to be distinctive from Dino-Riders. I really like the concept of humans and dinosaurs in battle as a sci-fi element that also has a cool aesthetic.

I'm definitely working to make sure Cyberzoic is its own thing and not something people just see as a continuation of Dino-Riders. It's going to be very much a story about technology versus nature — how nature was here before us and it's going to be here when we're gone. No matter how smart we think we are, we need to work with nature and not fight against it. There are a lot of themes like that in the story, and it's a lot of things that are important to me. There's a lot that we can learn from the wildlife we observe. They also have a lot of advantages they have over us; we just happen to want different things than they do.

On the surface it sounds like a cool/kick ass idea, but there really is going to be a lot of thoughtful, layered storytelling.

So the dinosaurs will be the heroes, the dragons will be the villains, and the latter will not come with armour or human riders. Guess that evens the odds more.

It's going to be action figures, but they're going to come with comics. I'm actually in talks with somebody right now about producing them. Even though I'm a toy designer, this really is a case where I want the figures to serve the story and not the other way around.

I've had some of these characters in my head since I was in high school. The story has gone through several different evolutions, but now it kind of feels like everything's kind of coming together and it's ready to be told.

If you're familiar with some of my older work, I did a few model kits that were actually from the world of the Cyberzoic story. One was called Dragon versus Raptors, and it's a bunch of little Velociraptors attacking a dragon.

How cool is that to actually get to create toys of characters you made up yourself back when you were a kid? This project sounds like it's going to be a real labour of love.

Then there was another one, Dragolina Dinosaur Slayer, of a woman (who is going to be the main character) fighting off some Masiakasauruses.

And then and then there's the Arctic Dragon, which is one of the main dragon characters and is also going to be an action figure.

I look forward to seeing more information and concept artwork in the future. Particularly which other dinosaurs will be in the line.

[Faelrin]

Read the whole thing. I can't be more excited to see where he brings this project. Sounds like such a cool concept, and sounds like something in the works for years.

I like to see this is a continuation of an idea he's had since high school, and some of the sculpts he's done before are part of said world. Always thought that raptors vs dragons kit was such an awesome idea.

Really hope I can have my very own Arctic dragon do battle against the Yutyrannus or something in the future, never mind what else the future this line may hold (such as the Allosaurus). And good for him to at least consider possibly splitting the armor and humans from the dinosaurs, so folks won't pay more for something they aren't as interested in, since I know there's been folks here already expressing concerns on that.

I think this bit about the dragons is interesting too. I recall in at least one other previous interview, if not from speaking to him in person, that he wants his dragons to have natural designs. I think we can see that with the Arctic dragon.

So my approach to dragons is gonna be different than the traditional ones we usually see. They're going to be treated as real animals that have adapted to certain environments and have certain attributes to help them survive. I really want to take a more natural history approach to dragons, which is something I wanted to do way back when I first started working at McFarlane Toys.

[suspsy]

I wonder if there will actually be a fire-themed dragon in the series. As cool and classic as they are, the notion of breathing fire is anything but natural. Maybe it'll simply be a dragon adapted to living in a hot, volcanic region instead.

[Faelrin]

Don't know how plausible it was, but The Last Dragon/Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real mockumentary thing did a fresh take on it anyways. Been years since I last watched it but I think it was nice they at least emphasized the caloric toll it would it take to do such, if at all possible. Reign of Fire used spitting cobras and bombardier beetles as inspiration (which other films have since gone with).

I also wonder how he intends to plan out their phylogeny, particularly as he plans to re-use the BotM sculpts, and keeping things grounded based on the current evidence for the dinosaurs at least (and cost wise it just makes sense to share sculpts between lines anyways). Would be interesting to see a dragon based on Yi qi and Ambopteryx, as a what-if their lineage survived type thing, even if is a bit of a paleo-meme, if not a matter of convergent evolution, as I imagine they themselves would be far too small to be featured in an 1/18th scale line going forward. They have very interesting wings anyways.

[Eocarcharia]

I'll admit, when I first saw the teaser/announcement for this series, I thought it would be an easy skip for me. But the more I hear about it, the more intriguing it sounds.

[Faelrin]

Been days behind on sharing this update in both threads.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/creativebeast/beasts-of-the-mesozoic-tyrannosaur-series-action-figures/posts/3337815

Some concept art with the mystery animal revealed to be Dryptosaurus:





Even for early concept art I dig how that looks. Really can't wait to see where this line goes. Also not sure if this for BotM or Cyberzoic initially, but in the Jurassic Outpost interview David revealed sculptor Jake is working on a Utahraptor, so that may be another for the roster.


Edit: Maybe Deinonychus and Amargasaurus as well?

[Reuben03]

if we get tiny articulated raptors and i can take the armour off or something i'll be interested but otherwise not.
also i wonder if we'll get some aquatics... a mosasaur perhaps?

[Eocarcharia]

if we get tiny articulated raptors and i can take the armour off or something i'll be interested but otherwise not.

David had said recently that the dinosaurs would be available without armor for those that don't want it.

[stargatedalek]

if we get tiny articulated raptors and i can take the armour off or something i'll be interested but otherwise not.

David had said recently that the dinosaurs would be available without armor for those that don't want it.

Close, the armor is removable, but they are sold with it.

[BlueKrono]

I'd definitely buy an Amargasaurus or mosasaur... or any other marine critter.

[Reuben03]

thats awesome! im really inspired by david. he's literally finally gotten to the point where he's launching the line he's dreamed of since childhood. id love to do the same one day.

[Faelrin]

@Reuben03 Since you mentioned you are interested in tiny raptors, are you aware there are 1:18 versions of the BotM raptor series Velociraptor, Dromaeosaurus, and Linheraptor releasing sometime next year (as well as Protoceratops and Psittacosaurus)? Thought I'd let you know about those in case you are aren't.

Here's a quick pic of them (and a bit more info):
https://www.instagram.com/p/CRhBB9hLIvH/?utm_medium=copy_link

[Reuben03]

@Reuben03 Since you mentioned you are interested in tiny raptors, are you aware there are 1:18 versions of the BotM raptor series Velociraptor, Dromaeosaurus, and Linheraptor releasing sometime next year (as well as Protoceratops and Psittacosaurus)? Thought I'd let you know about those in case you are aren't.

Here's a quick pic of them (and a bit more info):
https://www.instagram.com/p/CRhBB9hLIvH/?utm_medium=copy_link

yes i am and i am super excited about it!!

it's no secret on this forum that i am unhealthily obsessed with tiny things. and i'm going through a huge velociraptor phase right now, super into it. so i can't wait to buy some.

the "gang of tiny nasty sinister dinosaurs" trope is my guilty pleasure, and i love the idea of having an army of mangy snarling hyena birds to gang up on a 1:18th action figure with. yes please!!!

hope david does some small coelophysoids in future or something like that.