A Freaking Dream Come True

Plushie Tiktaalik

I finally get a huggable Tiktaalik.

For those you may be unfamiliar with this sweet, lovable face, I posted about Tiktaalik before on my blog back in 2015, which you can check out here. Since there's a whole post dedicated to why I love Tiktaalik so much, I won't eat up this post about how great he is.

I just tested the links on that post, and everything is still there and working, which is awesome. 

According to the email I got from Palaeo Plushies, my order should be at my door step between 5-7 business days, which is impressive considering he's coming from Scotland.

I'm also highly considering recording myself opening it, because I'm just too damn excited, but know that no one is going to super care.

BUT IMMA DO IT ANYWAY.

There might be a video uploaded later of me being a rabid fan girl about a stuffed, ancient fish. So, you know....be on the look out for that.

Toys, comics and dinosaur stuff

But first, lets talk about feathers

I wish all dinosaurs had feathers...
This is just too glorious.

     I love feathers on my dinosaurs. Not only because it makes them look fabulous, but it's also scientifically accurate and that needs to be more widely embraced.

     Alright, side-stepping the original reason why I started this post, which is to talk about awesome raptor toys and a trex comic that looks amazing, lets talk about feathers on dinosaurs. What's the deal? Why all of a sudden to raptors actually look like "a 6 foot turkey"?

     HERE'S SOME PALEONTOLOGY, MY FRIENDS.

     Let's start with the raptors, since that's a lot of people's favorite dinosaur, with good reason. They're fast, sleek, smart, and have sick as hell hook claws on their feet. They're like the deadly ninjas of the dinosaur kingdom, and who the hell doesn't like ninjas?

     Pirates, I guess.

     Anyway, one of the best evidence we have for certain dinosaurs, namely theropod dinosaurs, having feathers is this amazing fossil of Microraptor. The feather imprints are so perfect and clear, down to the tiny little fluffy feathers on it's face! How amazing is that? The fossilization of some feathers has been so fantastic, that a team from Yale discovered fossilized Melanosomes in the feathers which basically is what determines the pigment of the feathers. WHAAT.

Art by Jonathan Kuo

     So far they have been able to lock down darker colors, like browns and blacks, and the unique one for red. It's a growing theory that the feathered raptors were probably vibrant like that of modern birds, which just makes me very happy.

     As far as Tyrannosaurs go, let me introduce you to Yutryannus huali, an amazing feathered tyrannosaurus with an amazing fossil with feather imprints. I don't think it's widely accepted that they had long, luscious feathers like raptors did, but more fluffy, downy feathers. It's because of this find that the iconic T .rex is now suspected to have had feathers as well.

     Since feathers are evident in the fossil record with theropod dinosaurs, there's been some speculation that dinosaurs probably used them in the same ways as modern birds, or at least similar. Most likely these feathers were used for insulation, protection from the sun and probably mating and defense.
     Think about it. If you were a strapping tyrannosaur and needed to entice the ladies, don't you think a bright, vibrant coat of amazing, shiny feathers would show off how healthy and handsome you were? On the same note, if you came up to another fellow buck who needed to be put in his place, you could roar and fluff up to look bigger and scarier.

     Yeah, that sent the mouth breather running, huh?

     Now on to my original crap I wanted to post about....toys and comics!!

• What the post is actually about

     HOLD ON A DAMN SECOND
     Ok, before I get into the comic and toyline, I just did a search for "Feathered Raptors" to add more pictures into the blog post when I found this:

     Yeah, it's a fucking fully movable, feathered raptor mask. OH MY GOD. I can't find how to buy, but if it's anything like the other amazing masks I've seen like this on Etsy, it's probably like $600.
     BUT LOOK AT IT. HOLY SHIT.

     Ahem....anyway....

     Touching back on the topic of brightly colored raptors, the Beasts of the Mesozoic line from Creative Beast Studios is all about embracing the multicolored feather spectrum of their raptors. In a recent Facebook post, one of the lead designers talked about how they pulled inspiriting for the raptor's many different pallets from birds living today. I'll post that picture they put up, because it's amazing:

     Creative Beast Studios had an awesomely successful kickstarter back in May, and they were able to get fully funded! They're posable and painfully scientifically accurate, which makes me warm and tingly inside. These badboys are about $35-40 a piece, and are available for pre-order.
     I seriously don't know which one I like the best. They're all freaking amazing. I think they go up for grabs in...November? Someone give Alex a hint for me, please. XD

     Next up is a cool comic I found on the Twitter machine by Rextooth Studios. You can read the first part of the comic online at their site, and it looks like the first comic is available to get online for $16.95. The art is very good, but a little cartoony in it's style. The trex has feathers, which is awesome, and I love how Cobalt's eyes shine in the darkness when he hunts at night. While really cool, I'm not a huge fan of the style. I'm not really big into the aesthetics of American style comics, so I'm not jumping to get this one as much as I was Age of Reptiles.
     Still looks cool for any dinosaur fan. Not sure how bloody it gets, so maybe not for kids?

     I think I'm going to go crawl back into bed since I feel like crap today. Until then!

      - M

I must have it -- "Banjo"

Banjoooooo!

      Since part of my fandom for dinosaurs and ancient life is steeped in collecting toys, figures, coins, hats, stickers, what have you, I figured it was very necessary to make rambling about collections a staple in my blog.

      I have a embarrassing amount of dinosaur stuff on multiple wish lists that span most forms of online shopping known to man, ranging from the cute and ridiculous to the monstrous and amazing. I'll pick out my favorites and share them with you, because why the hell not?

      To kick this off with the bang, we'll go with a cool collectible toy exclusively from Australia's own Age of the Dinosaurs Museum in Winston Australia, the awesome Australovenator "Banjo".

What I assume the toy was modeled after.

      If you don't already know about this awesome dinosaur, it's one of the therapods of the Aussie outback, recently discovered and probably Australia's favorite dinosaur. This awesome predator has vicious hand claws and stands about 6 feet tall, 20 feet long.

      Despite how he looks, Banjo is actually a tyrannosaurid, not a raptor, and lives during the early Cretaceous about 95 MYO. Because of it's light frame, it's known as the "cheetah of it's time" according to it's Wiki page.

      I'll have to do a more detailed post about it later, because he's really neat.

BANJOOO!

      Because I'm a dork with a dinosaur toy obsession, I follow a dinosaur toy reviewer on YouTube called Jurassic Collectibles. He's a cool dude who gets to unbox new and not-yet-released dinosaur toys on his channel, which is something I would sell my soul for.

      I don't know if it's the combination of the fact that I love how it looks, painted, or if it's just the exclusiveness of Banjo that makes me want the toy so bad.

Also the name. It's probably the name.

   
 I do have a stegosaurus named Banjo, and my raptor in World of Warcraft was named Banjo, and Space Ghost's giant sea horse monster was named Banjo.

      It's a great name!!

      This figure goes for about $30 on the museum's website, and the shipping is a staggering $45. There is a CollectA figure of this dinosaur for about $10, but it doesn't nearly come close to how cool this model looks.

CollectaA version. Sad, right?

      I do have a friend with some Australian connections, but I don't know if there's a way to make that shipping less gag inducing.  The figure is awesome, but not $80 awesome.

      This is the first figure I've run into that has limitations on obtaining it. This is the age of the Internet, nothing is impossible to find! I'm sure I'll figure out some way of getting this beautiful creature at some point in my life.

      And no, I'm not going to Australia. That place has nightmare bugs.

      I think I'm going to make these posts normal set days of the week. Just different dinosaur/ancient life themed stuff I either have or want really, really bad.

      If you're thinking, "Oh, great. Thanks for showing me this. Now I want it and it's $80."
Then I love you and we should be friends.

      Also, you're welcome.

Things I simply *must* have.

They will be Mine. Oh yes...

I have a very real problem of falling down the rabbit hole of dinosaur themed shopping. It always starts so innocent...a seemingly harmless visit to a paleontology Facebook page or stopping in to visit r/dinosaurs on Reddit. I see something mildly interesting so I click....then follow that link...then another...and another...

Then suddenly I have an entire catalog of shit I must have in my life.

I decided the best way to cope with the fact that I have a crazy obsession with dinosaur themed anything, is to share and possibly infect others with this adorable virus. 

Since my list is very long, I've picked out some of my top favorites to share. It goes without saying that literally any Papo or Shielch dinosaur toy that's out there must be mine, so I'll skip posting a long list of all those that exist.

Instead, this is the more fun or truly amazing items I've come across during my late night Etsy and collector site binge-fests.

Sorry in advance for the expensive crap you're about to want. 

PS: I've saved the best one for last.

The List

1.) Inflatable T-rex costume ---- $100

How is this not the best one, you ask? Because this one is something that will eventually be mine in the future. I have a goal of owning this wondrous creation in 2016, either for A-Kon or for Halloween.

These awesome suits have become something of an Internet sensation, and I have yet to get sick of seeing them. People don these amazing costumes and do the most insane things, from ice skating, to pole dancing to competing in American Ninja Warrior. 

They're so incredibly doofy and cute that it's hard not to just adore the hell out of them. 

Plus, not only are they license from Jurassic World, they're WAY cheaper than the realistic Walking with Dinosaur style suits that cost well into the thousands.

It's the best of both worlds: silly and you get to be a dinosaur. This is kind of a life goal of mine, and what I've wanted to grow up as since I was five.

2.) DinoStoreus Skulls, Skeletons and Full Flesh Models ---- $44 - $350

I wanted to start with the basics: awesome collectible statues. I think these are something every dinosaur fan would want/need, and they are as pretty as they are reasonable in price. 

You've got a couple options when it comes to these guys: skull, full skeleton and fully fleshed models. They're perfect desk pieces and I've seen these in paleontologists offices. Honestly, I was trying to pick my favorites, but I'd really love any of these pieces. They're all SO cool.

3.)  Regaliceratops bust from BlueDino ---- $179

I think I've gushed about my love for this Ceratopsian in the past, but it's worth mentioning again how freaking cool it looks.

This bust is really gorgeous. It's hand sculpted and painted by the artist, and I would kill a man to have it in my grubby hands. It does have the option to come unpainted for a little cheaper, but I'm pretty sure I'd botch any type of paint job. I have zero skill in that department. It'd end up looking like a toddler scribbled on  very nice piece of art and I'd probably have to kill myself.

I'm a pro at pining for stunning works of art though. 

I love how detailed it is, especially the frill, and how he kept the red theme from Julius Csotonyi's painting. Simply amazing.

4.) Trilobite Plushie from PaleoGirl Crafts ---- $43

HOW ADORABLE IS THIS GUY??

I cannot get over how fluffy and sweet his little face is. Yes, ok...this isn't a dinosaur but good lord do I love Trilobites. 

As soon as this brilliant woman is taking commissions again, we're having a conversation about a Tiktaalic....

5.) These ridiculous as fuck dinosaur heels  ---- $260

Because I'm a lady with refined taste and class.

Plus, those are totally the same T-rex toys I have and their jaws open and close. That's just fancy.

6.) Custom Baby Raptor Sculpture ---- $70

This is so beyond cute. Not only can this sweet little dude look however you want, but he is all curled up like he's fresh from his egg. I want to snuggle him! 

It's always cool to see dinosaurs in different poses besides roaring, fighting or charging. Don't get me wrong, those are all awesome, but I do love seeing babies and sleeping dinosaurs too.

It makes them feel like real animals, which they were, and not mythical monster-beasts.

Either way, this guy is fantastic and I need an orange one in my life one day.

Side note, I wish they had feathers. :C

7.) Baby Raptor Blind Box by Rebor -- ~$5 for one or ~$40 for the full set

Two baby raptor things!? So neat, right?!

I don't think these guys are available stateside. The only place I could find them is at everythingdinosaur.com, and everything is in Euros. 

They're cute as hell little blind boxes that come in different colors. I really adore all of them and per Rebor style, always pretty and well detailed. I really hope they come across the pond and pop up at something local.

Looking at you, GameStop and ThinkGeek. Don't fail me.

8.)  Dimorphodon Judy and Punch by Rebor ---- ~$45

Yet another amazing find and correct...they're also not dinosaurs.

I KNOW, CALM DOWN.

But c'mon...these come as a pair and they have names. I love them so much, and I love that Judy is in flight while Punch looks up lovingly at her. I'm not usually big on the flying reptiles -- I mean, I do think they're really neat, but they've never been my top favorites. These little dudes are just too cool and they'd look so good in the collection.

I guess I should give pterosaurs more love.

I think most people will recognize those pterosaurs from Jurassic World as the "trex head flying dinosaur hybrid", to which I say, get the fuck off my blog you filthy peasant they're actually real animals and not hybrid.

I had a conversation with a coworker a couple months ago involving this creature, and it amazed me that he thought they were one of the genetic experiments. In looking up the information about it, because I'm not as well depth in pterosaurs, Dimorphodons are commonly searched for as "the trex flying dino from Jurassic World". 

To be fair, I only knew about them because I watch a lot of dinosaur documentaries and I remembered them from one of of the many that were on Netflix (grumble, grumble), so I'm not acting like I'm so snooty jerk.

Well...I kinda am. More people should watch dinosaur stuff, damnit!!

9.) Feathered T-rex toy from Collecta --- $25 (though I've seen it go for like $70)

That's right! Finally a feathered T-rex!! 

This toy just came out and my god I want it. You don't see not naked T-rex toys ever, so when this one hit the market, it started to sell out right away. 

I love the color pallet of this dinosaur and the feathers looks so cool. I'm glad to see model companies starting to embrace scientifically accurate dinosaurs these days. 

It warms my heart. 

10.) New Papo dinosaurs: Baryonyx and feathered Velociraptor ---- ~$26/each

MOAR FEATHERS!!

I just recently learned abut Baryonyx, and this dinosaur is so strangely cool looking that he's slowly becoming a new favorite. I'm also just tickled as hell about the raptor having feathers, because I'm yet again being a snobby asshole about things.

I really like the Papo line and I think they're going to stay at the top of my list. All of their toys are so incredibly detailed and often in the coolest poses. Very lifelike in the smallest details, and they pick the coolest dinosaurs to make toys out of. 

I only have the one Papo toy, my beloved Dimetrodon, and I always loved how his skin folds a little where his body is turning. 

It's the little thing that makes this toy company so damn good. That and they're fairly cheap and stateside, which is nice. 

Side note, the raptor isn't out yet, but the Baryonyx is. 

11.) Dinosaur Hair Clips from ThinkGeek --- $15

Because, again, I'm a lady with sophisticated class and taste. 

Cute, colorful, and sticking with the classics. You can't go wrong!

Plus, they'll go great with those freaking heels and the next item too.

12.) Double sided velociraptor necklace --- $22

Cause....cause orange and skeleton. :3

13.) T-rex shower head --- $20

Nothing says shower time quite like a roaring dinosaur skull vomiting steaming hot water at your face.

You can pick the color you want, which means it'll fit any theme for your bathroom and guys let's face it...can you really go back to your normal, not T-rex shower head now that you know this exists?

No. No you can't.

And the grand finale: 

14.) Raptor Body Pillow --- $50

Your wifu got nothing on my raptor. 

I need this guy to live next to my Souji Okita and I need to snuggle with it SO BAD. This is just too ridiculous not to have. I love that he's on the bed sheet background, I love that he's smiling, I love that he has feathers.

I just. Plain. Love it.

- M