Fan Voted Raptor results are in, plus new stretch goal details!
almost 8 years ago – Fri, May 20, 2016 at 09:15:45 PM

Thank you all for your votes! They have been tallied and we have what I would call, a surprising turn of events- your Fan's Choice Raptor winner is- Dromaeosaurus albertensis in the American Kestrel colors!!

It was a really close call between Dromaeosaurus and Pyroraptor, Dromaeosaurus got the victory by only a couple of votes! Here's how the voting turned out:

Dromaeosaurus albertensis - 58 votes

Pyroraptor olympius- 56 votes

Saurornitholestes langstoni- 45 votes

Zhenyuanlong Suni- 15 votes

So that's how it breaks down. There's a chance I left out a couple of votes by accident if you posted somewhere other than the specified update thread, but nonetheless I think this is a pretty accurate representation of the overall results. So here's what happens now. Because the top two were SO CLOSE I will be adding BOTH the Dromaeosaurus and Pyroraptor variants to the campaign page today as add-ons to your pledge for the same price as the stretch goal raptors- $35US and $37 INT.

As for the other two, I believe there is enough interest to justify making the Saurornitholestes langstoni and the Zhenyuanlong suni variants as stretch goals. So these will be the next stretch goals, both to be $35US/ $37INT each as well;

#9- Saurornitholestes langstoni (roadrunner colors)- unlocked at $245,000

#10- Zhenyuanlong suni (helmeted hornbill colors)- unlocked at $255,000

And then.. we get into the accessory packs! I will be posting a comprehensive update on these later today, but for now here's how they will be listed:

#11- Wetlands Accessory Pack- featuring 6" Buitreraptor g.- unlocked at $265,000

#12- Desert Accessory Pack- featuring 6" Mononykus o.- unlocked at $275,000

#13- Forest Accessory Pack- featuring 6" Microraptor g.- unlocked at $285,000

#14 Mountain accessory pack- featuring 6" Troodon f (juvenile).- unlocked at $295,000

Once unlocked, these accessory packs will be available to add to your existing pledge for $30US or $35 INT. Again, I will be posting a much more detailed look at what is included later today.

And looking past those stretch goals, we have the two unpainted 'Build-your-own' Raptor sets.

#15 Build your own Raptor 1 (Velociraptor  body type)- unlocked at $305,000

#16 Build your own Raptor 2 (Atrociraptor body type)- unlocked at $315,000

Once unlocked, these sets will be available to add to your pledge for $40US or $45 INT

There will be more info  on the BYO Raptor sets in a few days.

And last but not least, there will be two more Jonathan Kuo related tiers listed within the next few days:

Exclusive Post card set no.2 (set of 7) (Adasaurus thru Linheraptor, plus V. osmolskae)- $15 (everyone)

2017 Beasts of the Mesozoic 2017 calendar featuring the art of Jonathan Kuo- $25 (everyone)

So that's all for now. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and I'll be on later with more on those accessory packs. Thanks everyone!

Saurornitholestes paint preview and new stretch goal packs announced!
almost 8 years ago – Fri, May 20, 2016 at 12:25:54 AM

We're down to the last week now- man this has gone by so fast!

Today I wanted to show you a preview of the painted Saurornitholestes prototype. Full unveiling on Saturday, but I thought you all might enjoy a sneak peek at what's ahead. My right-hand figure painter, Matt Holt, has done it again with this one. Take a look at these shots he took for me after he finished.

Another amazing paint job Matt! Looking forward to getting this in-hand tomorrow.

New stretch goals

And the other item for today is the announcement of the next stretch goals and what they will contain.

So first we have three accessory sets, all taking into consideration your suggestions and comments from before. These items are near final but are subject to change if needed. They are:

1/6th Wetland accessory pack

• swamp themed base with translucent water effect (can connect with existing bases)
• 5" Bambiraptor (shoulder and neck articulation)
• 2 fern clusters
• 1 horsetail cluster
• egg clutch w/ removable hatchling
• 1 long posing rod 3.5" (for jumping poses- posing rods are interchangeable with regular posing rods and bases)
• 2 base connector clips (straight and tilted)
• 1 pivoting figure clip

1/6th Desert accessory pack

• desert themed base with dino tracks (can connect with existing bases)
•  6" Mononychus (jaw and neck articulation)
• desert rock cluster
• protoceratops skull
• egg clutch w/ removable hatchling
• 1 long posing rod 3.5" (for jumping poses- posing rods are interchangeable with regular posing rods and bases)
• 2 base connector clips (straight and tilted)
• 1 pivoting figure clip

1/6th Forest accessory pack

• forest themed base with fallen leaves and small vegetation (can connect with existing bases)
• 5" Microraptor (shoulder and neck articulation)
• 1 fallen cycad tree trunk
• 5" Araucaria tree
• egg clutch w/ removable hatchling
• one long posing rod 3.5" (for jumping poses- posing rods are interchangeable with regular posing rods and bases)
• 2 base connector clips
• 1 pivoting figure clip

(note: a full protoceratops carcass would have been too big, so I only included a skull accessory)

And for those asking about unpainted raptor figures, I'll be presenting two 'build-your-own' raptor sets

Unpainted build-your own raptor sets:

Set one- Velociraptor body type

Set two- Atrociraptor body type

Each set will include:

• 1 main body (neck, arms, body, legs and feet)
• 1 base 1 posing rod
• 1 set of running toes 

Interchangeable parts:

• 6 heads
• 3 jaws
• 3 feather neck collars
•  body feather attachment
• 3 tails
• 1 back feather clip on
• 3 sets of different sized sickle toe claws
• 3 sets of different primary wings

So there you have it! Still working out the pricing on these, but I plan to have all of this worked out and up by the weekend with some design illustrations.

And also, thanks to all of your who have voted for the Fan's Choice raptor variant. You still have today to weigh in on which raptor you'd like to see given a variant. Check yesterday's update for details on that. I'll be tallying the votes around midnight EST tonight and announce the winner tomorrow!

Balaur sculpt update, Raptor Fan Vote, and new add-ons announced
almost 8 years ago – Thu, May 19, 2016 at 12:49:03 AM

A lot of things to get today so let's dive in!

First we have a look at the sculpting progress on the Balaur bondoc figure- here are the in-progress head and wings for now:

 I plan to wrap this up Saturday and have a painted version a few days afterward.

Now for the Fan Voted Raptor- we've been discussing a lot of ideas in the comments section lately and I've settled on four ideas for a fan voted variant raptor. No need to contribute any more new ideas at this point- the focus now is to choose from this list:

• Sauronitholestes langstoni /greater roadrunner(colors)
• Pyroraptor/ Varied Thrush (colors)
• Dromaesosaurus/ American Kestrel (colors)
• Zhenyuanlong/ Helmeted Hornbill (colors)

Sorry if your suggestion was left out, but I felt these were the strongest contenders. Please state your vote in the comments below and I'll announce the winner on Friday. Thanks so much to those who have helped with this so far!

And lastly- there have been many people asking about changing out raptors in thier pledge tiers, and while it's not possible to interchange the items within a tier, you can add-on anything you like to an existing tier. So I am making all three of the original raptors (Velociraptor m., Artociraptor, and Tsaagan) all avialble as add-ons to your pledge. The price for these is $40 for US backers and $43 for international backers. Hopefully that will help you create the 'raptor pack' you really want!

More info on the accessory packs tomorrow, but until then, let the voting begin for the final Beasts of the Mesozoic raptor!

Stretch goal #5 Acheroraptor temertyorum- packaging and art revealed!
almost 8 years ago – Tue, May 17, 2016 at 05:22:41 PM

I'm very happy to reveal to package layout and art for the fifth stretch goal raptor-Acheroraptor temertyorum!

These will be added to the page shortly as well as the first all-in tier for the 12 main raptors.

Also, addressing the remaining stretch goal ideas- I am currently working out the details for the accessory packs, I plan to do three: desert, marsh, and forest themed accessory packs. These will be at a lower price point than the figures, but I am still working that out. I plan to have the option up by the weekend.

And in regards to an additional raptor- I have decided to only do one more. A lot of fans have voiced their suggestions and the one that has come up many times within the past week is the Saurornitholestes langstoni in the road runner bird colors. I had planned to do a more thorough voting process, but if the majority of you already feel this would make for an appropriate fan's choice figure, I'd be more than happy to accommodate. Please weigh in with your opinion on this in the comments below.

And just so everyone knows- I am currently sculpting the new parts for the Balaur bondoc prototype and will be posting progress on that soon as well.

Thanks everyone!

Hi-Res raptor pics now on creative-beast.com and Beasts of the Mesozoic in the media!
almost 8 years ago – Mon, May 16, 2016 at 10:41:28 PM

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Man you guys have been busy- all eight of the stretch goal raptors are unlocked already! I know this update comes unusually late, but I wanted to take some time yesterday to update my website with some hi-res photos for you all since the photos here on Kickstarter are not all that big as some people have noted. I've now added more hi-res photos than you could want of each raptor, the package art, and the concept work. And also added is a cool new album I shot photos for, on the NECA dioramas by Stefan Folkins! Here's a sampling of how that went.

That was fun and I plan to do this again once more prototypes are completed. You can find all of the new photos and more in the Beasts of the Mesozoic section of my website here.

And great job everyone on unlocking the stretch goal raptor #8- Linheraptor! You guys are really getting it done! I'm currently putting together some accessory pack ideas based on your suggestions from the comments section. I'll have more on that soon and I also plan to add the 'all-in' tier with in the next 24 hours.

Also, I would like to know if you all would have interest in a fan-voted raptor variant, choosing one of the first five raptor figures as a base then voting on a new color scheme? Sound cool?

And I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge all of the tremendous support for this project by various people in the internet media. Here are some videos devoted fans have made to promote the Beasts of the Mesozoic:

BestInSlot https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWQXIexdsGM

Steven's Toy Reviews https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzFa-Mj8A8M

Scanova the Carnotaurus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR35Y2tcDr0

And in case you haven't seen it yet, I did an interview with UltimateToyCollector here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IW9IXfaaQAs

Also a few other great articles of note:

Becky Ferreira did a great little article here: http://motherboard.vice.com/read/scientifically-accurate-dino-toys

And this project got a mention on Nerdist , Mentalfloss, and GeekDad.

I've also done a couple of podcasts recently for Makers Paradise and Action Toy Art which should be up soon.

And last but not least, keep an eye on my thee favorite toy news websites (in no particular order) Figures.com, Toynewsi.com, and Toyark.com for updates and articles about Beasts of the Mesozoic.

I encourage you all to check out and share any of these links, or feel free to use the photos from my website to help promote this campaign and keep the momentum going. Just because we got this far doesn't mean we're done yet- there's still plenty of items and surprises in store! Please keep spreading the word and sharing these updates- let's make sure no one misses out!

Tomorrow you'll get a look a the package art for Archeroraptor!