Two years ago, I wrote about a line of dinosaur action figures called Beasts of the Mesozoic, being crowdfunded by Star Wars and NECA toy sculptor David Silva. His fondness for creating other people’s monsters in three-dimensional, playable form led him to wonder why there weren’t any really good, collector-quality posable dinosaurs available. Opting to create them himself, if there were enough fans as interested as he was, Silva set about to make the first series a line of ultra-detailed raptor variants, with the same basic body but slightly differing bases, color schemes, and extremities.

Well, the independent toy market is tough. Without massive corporate infrastructure in place, there are many variables that can go wrong, from tooling problems to factory miscommunications to shipping errors to factory shutdowns.

As Silva puts it in a recent Kickstarter update, “I apologize for my part in this delay, but I felt it best to wait a little longer and allow the factory to give us their best effort instead of putting undue pressure on them and receiving just ‘acceptable’ figures that were likely rushed. In this case, as throughout this project, quality has priority over time.” Looking at the final figures, we should all be able to agree that the wait was well worth it.

We were tipped off by MentalFloss that the first wave, including the stretch-goal nestlings, accessory kits, and unpainted build-your own figures are available to buy now for non-Kickstarter backers, with six more expected in May.

The raptors are 1/6 scale, designed to be posed next to 12-inch humanoid figures if you want scientific accuracy (or next to smaller counterparts if you’re in the market for cool giant monsters). The accessory packs alone make great diorama pieces, even if you care nothing about dinos. The next Kickstarter series, planned for this year (expect actual figures within two years after that), will be ceratopsians; due to the bigger size of triceratops et al, these will take format a 1/18th scale more appropriate for the company of Star Wars-type figures. Still, some of the raptors will be redone in the smaller scale for collectors who want them accurately side by side.

I’d say that in this case, the fact that David Silva could absolutely meant that he should. But let’s hear what all of you say in comments below.

Images: Creative Beast Studios

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