Re: Dino models

[Flyinggoat@aol.com]

   If you don't mind me talking about the dinosaur merchandise I love to
collect, can I mention a few choice ones here, and see if any other
collectors have an opinion of them?
   If so, have you picked up any of the new TAMIYA series?  They're all
1/35th scale, so they're in scale with each other.  they aren't as pricey as
the vinyl and resin kits (except the brachiosaur, which is 3 ft tall), and
they aren't too bad, sculpture-wise.  They're also available at most hobby
stores, and don't have to be hunted for like the Kaiyodo models.
   My opinion of them (I have every single one in the series so far) is that
they've gone to a lot of trouble to cater to the modeller's love of detail,
with fish or turtles or even little archies running or flying through the
diorama.  They have the best plants in any prehistoric diorama I have ever
seen, and the dinosaurs are fairly contemporary and even come with the
option, many of them , for multiple poses, BUT I wish they had made the
dinosaurs slightly more slender.  I feel the sculptor is very good, only he
likes very robust dinosaurs, and I prefer them more gracile.  His
parasaurolophus is down-right chunky! (fat-cheeked).  It comes with different
crests so you can build male or female, but I still wish they could be more
slender.  It's more of a style thing than a mis-representation.
   The HORIZON series of Original Dinosaurs (not taken from Jurassic Park) is
also nice, but pricey (like most vinyl kits).  I talked with the owner of
Horizon last year at hte San Diego Comicbook Convention, and he says they
don't sell well, so they may be discontinued.   The sculptor is from the Stan
Winston studios, and he also worked on the Jurassic Park models, so the
detail is excellent.  The Elasmosaur even has barnacles growing on his
flippers!  The T Rex isn't quite as nice as the Jurassic Park one, but that
just means it's second-best.  The Stegosaur has the alternating plates and
looks a lot like the Cserkas one in Global Dinosaurs.
   They are MILES above the old AURORA prehistoric scenes, though.  Which
Revell-Germany seems to be re-releasing.  The old 'barfing allosaur' is my
favorite in BAD dino models.  Does anybody else remember this series?

Betty Cunningham(Flyinggoat@aol.com)
(who still isn't connected in any way with any of these companies)