Despite the sad retirement of their long-respected and trend-setting Carnegie Collection this year, Safari Ltd have shown no signs of slowing down with their other major prehistoric animal line – Wild Safari. The company has five brand new for 2016 prehistoric animal sculpts in the pipeline: four dinosaurs and one marine reptile. Although slated for release next year, some are already available from Safari Ltd’s Amazon page here and will be available there in the coming months.
This year the Dinosaur Toy Blog was delighted to be invited to participate in Safari Ltd’s #GimmeNewSafari launch campaign surrounding these new releases. This saw Safari Ltd select several ‘influencers’ to receive a sneak peek of their new products, so we’ve been waiting for our surprise to arrive to give it the old walk-around photography and review treatment. Unfortunately, the ‘new’ figure we received isn’t technically new, but rather a re-issue of a 2005 figure already reviewed on the Dinosaur Toy Blog in 2009. So, we don’t have anything exclusive to offer our readers after all, but it was nice of Safari Ltd to think of us.
All of the truly new Safari Ltd figures will be reviewed here sooner or later, no doubt. So, let’s summarise what we have to look forward to:
Carcharodontosaurus – The giant African super-predator.
Masiakasaurus – The weirdly toothed small theropod dinosaur.
Iguanodon – An old favourite!
Shunosaurus – Club-tailed sauropod with an unusually short neck for a ‘long-necked’ dinosaur!
Plesiosuchus – The largest of the metriorhychid crocodiles (technically, crocodylomorphs). As a palaeontologist who specialises on marine reptiles it was a pleasure to be involved in the design process of this particular figure. In fact, it is the third Wild Safari marine reptile I’ve had the honour to assist with (so far!). So, although I’d have settled for any of the new dinosaurs, when my surprise package arrived from Safari Ltd this week I really had my fingers crossed that it would be this gem. Alas, it was none of the above! (A reissued mammal though – it hurts a little!)
Four very welcome re-releases of prehistoric mammal figures will accompany the brand new sculpts in 2016, as follows:
Woolly Mammoth baby
Doedicurus. Here’s a shot of our ‘sneak peek’ figure courtesy of Safari Ltd. Check out our review of the Doedicurus (Prehistoric Life by Safari Ltd) here.
Giant sloth
Ambelodon
Thanks to Safari Ltd for involving us in the launch and watch this space for the detailed reviews of the above new releases. We’ll just have to get in line like everybody else. You can find out more about Safari Ltd at their blog, here.
The figures will be available very soon, and some already are, from Safari Ltds’ Amazon page, here.
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I just received all of these figures from the dinosaur farm and i love them. Thank you for posting their pictures and descriptions.
I agree with Mr. Allouba about the “dip” your products have taken. There was a time when your products were true works of art that I felt proud to display. I remember your Giant Insects line, which I feel you desperately need to bring back from retirement. Although your products are more or less designed for children, never under-estimate that many adults collect your products as well and adults have more sophisticated tastes than a child who would be happy with a smiling Barney-like dinosaur toy, which sadly, your products are begining to resemble. America in general needs to re-establish pride in its products and why not start with the toys we make. For one thing, your toys are just way too small. I imagine this is done so as to gloss over significant details. Your Giant Insect line was some of the most fabuluos products your artists and sculptors created, but now it seems as if that level of pride and commitment is lacking. You have toys smaller than a child’s finger. This just tells me that your more interested in quantity and not quality. Take pride in your product again. These aren’t just toys you create, but each item should be a work of art and should be as close to representing the actual dinosaur/animal/insect as possible. An expample of this is that very few bugs walk on their bellies with their legs splayed out. I have every bit of faith and confidence that Safari LTD can become the kind of manufacturer of figurines it once was. It’s now 2016 and I would love to see some changes in the quality – and size – of your products.
I’m most impressed with the Shunosaurus and Iguanadon. The overall shape, texture, color and detail looks great. It is nice to see a new Ornithapod being made. Ornithapods where one of the most populous groups of dinosaurs and they seem underrepresented in most model lines. I’d also like to see some more Stegosaurids (not counting stegosaurus) and late Cretaceous Ankylosaurids.
I like both theropods. I think they’re kind of cute. But they they seem outclassed in comparison to CollectA’s new Acrocanthosaurus and Spinosaurus.
Excellent figures, arguably the most accurate toys of these species yet. Carcharodontosaurus is a must-have. The natural textures, skinfolds, and coloration make them appear quite lifelike.
The carcharontosaurus is awesome Doug Watson has done a magnificent job. The only downside I can find is that it will be less size than their extinct Safari peers such as giganotosaurus.
Having seen neither in person just yet, I think this Carcharodontosaurus looks miles ahead of CollectA’s. The feet and toes are less oversized, the hips appear to be less widened, and most importantly, the skull is less shrink-wrapped (although still a bit too much so). I agree with you on the pose, though, it’s dull. These newcomers all look like winners to me 🙂
I’m surprised at the first comment’s negativity (not a criticism, brother just not expecting it) but wow! Awesome lineup for 2016! If I had one complaint it would be “too much brown!”
Carcharodontosaurus is a check of the want list, a modern Iguanadon was sorely needed, and BOOM! Two obscure genera including a sauropod! Dinosaur shelf is going to be getting some interesting stuff in the coming year!
Bravo, Safari!
Many congratulations on having your expertise appreciated once again, and thanks for the detailed heads’ up, as well.
Good looking dinos, by and large. Safari is paying attention to details such as feet-to-scale, tails-off-the-ground, and visible ears.
I suspect (from a purely structural perspective, as in tails functioning as counterbalances) the Iguanodon and the theropods may have had heftier tail bases with the latter sporting straighter tails, but who really knows?
In any event, Safari seems to be upping the ante in their rivalry with CollectA. Look forward to seeing what the Brits are offering for 2016…
Cheers.
From my point of view the favourites are the masiakasaurus and iguanodon. On the other hand a greater finish for the carcharodontosarus, I would like to without that so stop being a good figure.
I never thought I’d say this, but Safari is really taking a dip in product quality. The paint jobs presented here are less than impressive, the theropods are AGAIN in that “looking-out-to-the-sunrise-and-calling-for-love” pose, and overall look terrible. After CollectA’s fantastic 1:40 Carcharodontosaurus, Safari has no excuse for producting a figure of similar quality in particular.