Jurassic World (Various): New for 2022

[GojiraGuy1954]

[EmperorDinobot]

That Elaphrosaurus is a mistake.

[Gwangi]

The Nothosaurus is the only one that interests me here. Maybe the baby Brachiosaurus since I never got the prior variants. How Mattel decides which theropods to feather continues to confound me. I would have bought that Austroraptor if it had a decent coat of plumage.

[suspsy]

Mattel's current design philosophy appears to be omitting feathers from theropods that almost definitely had them and adding feathers to theropods that almost definitely didn't have them. 

Ah well, money saved.

[Dilopho]

The nothosaurus is a must have for me, it's a very cool looking figure and I really enjoyed its presence in CC

They should've also put one of the CC variant Dilophosaurs in this wave too, though.

[Nyr0r0saurus]

I've actually been hoping for an Elaphrosaurus figure, but I wish they would've avoided the old, generic theropod reconstruction in favor of a more modern, Limusaurus-like look

[EmperorDinobot]

Exactly, @Nyrorosaurus. Heck, it does not even look like the old school restorations. Being the resident noasaurid expert and nerd, this is kind of insulting. There is not a single proper noasaurid figure available, and there is a lot of literature and modern reconstructions out there to follow. Now it will be the only plastic Elaphrosaurus in existence. Ugh. I usually give these toys some manner of positivism, but this one has none.


I claim its review when it comes out. Speaking of which, I need to go back to studying. Only have 8 hours left.

[GojiraGuy1954]

[Flaffy]

Exactly, @Nyrorosaurus. Heck, it does not even look like the old school restorations. Being the resident noasaurid expert and nerd, this is kind of insulting. There is not a single proper noasaurid figure available, and there is a lot of literature and modern reconstructions out there to follow. Now it will be the only plastic Elaphrosaurus in existence. Ugh. I usually give these toys some manner of positivism, but this one has none.


I claim its review when it comes out. Speaking of which, I need to go back to studying. Only have 8 hours left.

There's Doug's Masiakasaurus.

[PrimevalRaptor]

The Elaphrosaurus feels like another "spin the wheel for what we'll name this theropod" situation, the Austroraptor would be cool if not for the lack of feathers (heck, why is there no proper toy of this guy otherwise? It's pretty iconic) and the Nothosaurus remains extremely high on my "to buy" list, both cause I've been waiting for more nothosaur toys for years and cause it looks pretty alright (and less...deflated than the Schleich one).

[dinodamage]

Having worked in toy design, I can only assume the concept artists are given a list of dinosaurs to render out under some kind of insane deadline, reference the first thing that looks cool off google, and go from there. Production schedules run fast, so after concept work is done it needs to get prototyped as quickly as possible (and with as many pre-existing assets as possible) so there's no concern with accuracy- just "how fast can we get this shipped."

So basically google image roulette by uniformed designer.

I wiiiish I could be excited about the variety of species but they beef it so hard on most of them, I'm pretty convinced they just want to get as many different species so collectors who already have 'enough' t-rexes/raptors/etc will have reason to keep buying their products lol. That said the Nothosaurus IS cute.

[Carnoking]

I don't dislike these figures from a technical standpoint, in fact I'd go so far as to say these new ferocious packs are better than any of the ones released to tie into Dominion but yeah, I do wish a little more thought was allowed to go into the design.

Also the new Indoraptor looks like a play on the grab n growl. Is is just me or does it have more paint? That would be welcome but why oh why did they have to shrink the tail when the mold already exists??

[Faelrin]

Figured one of these was Austroraptor. Kind of eh on that one. If this came out a few years ago, I may have jumped on it then, but now with feathers becoming canon, there's really no reason not to do that here. But then again the Pyroraptor wasn't handled quite right either (unless done on an older concept design). I agree that it seems most unfortunate that they are giving feathers to genera that probably didn't have them, and denying them to those that did.

The Elaphrosaurus is disappointing. Even the Masiakasaurus had more going for it, in terms of recognition. I mean I get we don't have the skull for this one (as far as I recall), but still. The Nothosaurus and baby Brachiosaurus are probably the only ones actually interesting me here, and the Nothosaurus I probably would have went for anyways, regardless of it being film (or more correctly show) canon now.

Granted more money saved on Mattel's offerings, means more I can grab from other brands, so not a loss at all to me. However with that said, I just hope at least the Legacy sets and Hammond Collection stuff is decent, like this year's releases.

The Indoraptor is an easy pass. Already got the original 3 from 2018 (Battle Damage, the highly articulated one, and the electronic Grab N Growl one). Not really sure why they felt the need to do this one anyways?

I think from what we know about so far, the Gigantspinosaurus, Nothosaurus, Diabloceratops, and Elasmosaurus are probably like the only mainline figures I'll pick up come next year. Maybe the Kronosaurus too, but I'm still disappointed it's on the small side, and the Eocarcharia to substitute for the lack of Yutyrannus in the line currently.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

The Indoraptor is an easy pass. Already got the original 3 from 2018 (Battle Damage, the highly articulated one, and the electronic Grab N Growl one). Not really sure why they felt the need to do this one anyways?

I have kids here at the park that still ask for it. So it has some sticking ability not as much as the indominus though..

[EmperorDinobot]

Exactly, @Nyrorosaurus. Heck, it does not even look like the old school restorations. Being the resident noasaurid expert and nerd, this is kind of insulting. There is not a single proper noasaurid figure available, and there is a lot of literature and modern reconstructions out there to follow. Now it will be the only plastic Elaphrosaurus in existence. Ugh. I usually give these toys some manner of positivism, but this one has none.


I claim its review when it comes out. Speaking of which, I need to go back to studying. Only have 8 hours left.

There's Doug's Masiakasaurus.

Not a fan. The skull is wrong.

[SpartanSquat]

Remember doug Masiaka was done in the past decade.

[suspsy]

The lack of feathers would be more forgivable if it weren't for the fact that the Elaphrosaurus really doesn't look anything like the most recent reconstructions of the animal beyond being a bipedal theropod. The head is wrong, the neck is wrong, and the legs are wrong. You could easily market the toy as Marshasaurus or Fukuiraptor or Deltadromeus and absolutely no one would be the wiser. It's the same problem that befalls the Dryptosaurus. Mattel really is becoming more sloppy.

[Giganotosaurus]

Yeah, Elasmosaurus is the only future release I'm interested in. Too many obscure species, IMO.

[BlueKrono]

I picked up the Ampelosaurus yesterday. It is truly hideous. A strong contender for Ugliest Dinosaur Toy of All Time, along with the nightmarish Schleich Barapasaurus. I love it.

[Gwangi]

I picked up the Ampelosaurus yesterday. It is truly hideous. A strong contender for Ugliest Dinosaur Toy of All Time, along with the nightmarish Schleich Barapasaurus. I love it.

I love that you ended that post with "I love it". I love it too, and the Barapasaurus.