Safari’s take on the sinisterly horned ceratopsian from Utah is the second Diabloceratops figure of 2013, following Collecta’s pretty decent effort a few months prior. While it can be a bit dull when companies rush to produce figures of the same animal, they’re quite welcome to as long as we get toys of this calibre.
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Here we have another new release from Safari Ltd for 2013, the long-necked Elasmosaurus. I lent a small helping hand with the design of this figure, as I had done previously with Safari Ltd’s other recent plesiosaurian offering (Liopleurodon).
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Call me strange, but this is really my favorite new release for 2013. Only Safari Ltd. has the stones to tackle the often-overlooked hadrosaurine (or saurolophine, if you’re keeping up with the times) dinosaurs, with an excellent Edmontosaurus replica being foremost in recent memory.
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Although good Velociraptor toys are hard to come by, it’s easier to get hold of a half-decent Styracosaurus – meaning that Favorite (and Araki) had to try a little harder to impress with their Soft Model resculpt of the famous ceratopsian.Â
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Feathered dromaeosaurs are always welcome on the toy market, and especially feathered Velociraptor figures. Perhaps rather unsurprisingly – given that a certain 20-year-old film is raking in the cash yet again this year – the biggest dinosaur toy names (in the West, anyway) continue to peddle scandalously nude figures.
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Favorite’s ‘soft models’ have had a complete revamp this year, with an all-new series of sculpts by the renowned Kazunari Araki. With the exception of Pachycephalosaurus and Deinonychus (replaced by Velociraptor), every animal in the original series has an Araki counterpart, and the differences are quite striking and very interesting.
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Drum roll please! It’s competition time! This comes a little later in the year than usual, but I’m pleased to announce that The Dinosaur Toy Forum Diorama Contest 2013, sponsored by Safari Ltd, is now open! After our biggest ever turn out in 2012, we are now looking forward to seeing your dioramas for 2013!
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Guest review by Niroot Puttapipat (Himmapaan)
Diplodocids are largely represented in figure form by the ubiquitous Apatosaurus (or ‘generic-o-pod’, as a certain friend and esteemed colleague has it), with Diplodocus itself being relatively few in number. I greeted the news of the CollectA model with mixed feelings; glad that there is another to add to the list, but afraid, quite prejudicially, that it might disappoint.
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Now here’s a dinosaur figure that’s somehow evaded review year after year. The classic Stegosaurus model by Safari Ltd has gone through several incarnations since its original release in 1988-9. The Stegosaurus figure is one of the originals in the Carnegie Collection line up.
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Diabloceratops, thanks no doubt to its distinctive appearance, media exposure and – of course – that irresistible name, is proving to be quite popular with dinosaur toy manufacturers. This year, both Collecta and Safari are releasing a figure (the latter in their Wild Safari range), with Collecta’s being first out of the blocks.
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Perhaps surprisingly for an animal that was a staple of popular books on prehistoric life for decades (and made an appearance in Walking With Beasts), models of Gastornis are a little thin on the ground. Happily, Safari have stepped forward with this very decent effort – the first toy “Diatryma” in years.
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In 2013, Sideshow Collectibles released an extremely limited edition model featuring a baby Euoplocephalus. Of course, every Sideshow Dinosauria model is produced in limited quantities, and once they are sold out, they often fetch high prices at auction sites. So why all the fuss over this sweet little dinosaur?
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