Everything Dinosaur in collaboration with our chums at CollectA announce the fourth and final batch of new CollectA prehistoric animal models for 2023. Two new prehistoric animal figures have been announced, both scale models, one a recently named dinosaur, the second the first replica of an ancient amphibian to be made by CollectA namely:

• CollectA Deluxe 1:20 scale Koolasuchus cleelandi – due to be available mid-2023.
• CollectA Deluxe 1:6 scale Stegouros elengassen – due to be available mid-2023.

New CollectA Prehistoric Animal Models

CollectA Deluxe Koolasuchus cleelandi

The Koolasuchus figure is the first prehistoric amphibian model to be made by CollectA. It was the last of its kind, surviving in the fast-flowing rivers of what was to become Australia some fifty million years after its closest relatives had become extinct. In the notes that accompanied the model photographs, reference is made to the Koolasuchus figure having paired tusks and tiny teeth embedded into the roof of its huge mouth, anatomical features found in other temnospondyls and presumed present in this ambush predator.

The tail is deep and broad, which would have helped propel this three to five-metre-long carnivore through the water. The tail looks to have a few nicks in it, very appropriate for a replica of a large, mature animal. The mottled green markings on the model would have helped to camouflage this amphibian as it lurked amongst the weeds waiting to catch its next meal. Those formidable, different-sized teeth look most impressive too.

CollectA Deluxe 1:6 Scale Stegouros

The final new for 2023 prehistoric animal figure to be announced is a replica of the bizarre, armoured dinosaur Stegouros (S. elengassen), which was formally, scientifically described in December 2021.

To read Everything Dinosaur’s blog post about Stegouros elengassen: New Armoured Dinosaur from Chile.

Roaming the southernmost parts of Chile in the Late Cretaceous, Stegouros demonstrates skull features that reflect a close affinity with the Ankylosauria, but the postcranial skeleton shows more primitive stegosaur-like characteristics.

The unique tail club, reminiscent of an Aztec warrior’s club (macuahuitl) is depicted along with the dermal armour and the skin texture looks amazing. The model has been posed as if it is about to swing its tail. The white flash over the eye reflects the view that facial markings could have been important visual signals to denote maturity and the health of an individual. The figure has a declared scale of 1/6th.

To view the range of CollectA Deluxe figures in stock at Everything Dinosaur: CollectA Deluxe Prehistoric Life Models.

Model Measurements

• CollectA Deluxe 1:20 scale Koolasuchus (Other Prehistoric Animals) – length 21.4 cm, height 4 cm (approximately).
• CollectA Deluxe 1:6 scale Stegouros (CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Deluxe) – length 30.5 cm, tail height 9.5 cm (approximately).

This exciting pair of Cretaceous prehistoric animal models should be available from Everything Dinosaur in the middle of 2023.

This concludes the new for 2023 CollectA prehistoric animal announcements.

To view Everything Dinosaur’s blog post about the first batch of new CollectA prehistoric animals for 2023 to be announced (Ceratosuchops, Hadrosaurus and Triceratops horridus – confronting: New CollectA Models for 2023 (Part 1).

To read our blog post about the second batch of new CollectA prehistoric animal figures for 2023: Ruyangosaurus, Brighstoneus and Anomalocaris: New CollectA Models for 2023 (Part 2).

To read our blog post about the third batch of new CollectA models (Shastasaurus and Mosasaurus): New CollectA Models for 2023 (Part 3).

To view the CollectA Prehistoric Life Model range: CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Popular/Prehistoric Life Models.

Everything Dinosaur in conjunction with our friends at CollectA announce the third batch of new CollectA models for 2023. Two new prehistoric animal figures, both marine reptiles, have been announced namely:

• CollectA Deluxe 1:40 scale Mosasaurus with an articulated jaw – due to be available early 2023.
• Shastasaurus (Age of Dinosaurs Popular) – due to be available early 2023.

New CollectA Models

CollectA Deluxe Mosasaurus 1:40 Scale

A new 1:40 scale figure of a Mosasaurus, a giant, predatory marine reptile from the Cretaceous that was more closely related to modern snakes and lizards than it was to archosaurs such as the Dinosauria. The model incorporates the latest scientific thinking and includes an asymmetrical caudal fin, with a nick in the top portion as if this Late Cretaceous marine reptile has been bitten by another mosasaur. Inside the beautifully painted, articulated jaw, pterygoid teeth have been incorporated into the roof of the mouth.

The CollectA Deluxe 1:40 scale Mosasaurus will be available from Everything Dinosaur, early next year (2023). This figure is the second Mosasaurus model to be introduced by CollectA, as a not to scale Mosasaurus replica was added to the Age of Dinosaurs Popular range back in 2014.

Articulated Lower Jaw

The new for 2023 marine reptile figure has a smooth, streamlined body, the skin texture has been carefully crafted and the front flippers give the impression of a powerful animal.

To view the range of CollectA Deluxe prehistoric life models in stock at Everything Dinosaur: CollectA Deluxe Prehistoric World Models and Figures.

CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Popular Shastasaurus

CollectA plan to introduce another marine reptile model next year (2023). It is a replica of the primitive ichthyosaur Shastasaurus, a large reptile, possibly gigantic that lived more than one hundred million years before the Mosasauridae evolved.

Shastasaurus was a big, whale-sized marine reptile from the Triassic. The replica has been given a striking black and white colour scheme reminiscent of the Killer Whale (Orca). These markings would have helped this giant hunter hide from its prey, the colour pattern making Shastasaurus less conspicuous from both above and below. The model has barnacles on its flippers and body, just like the barnacles associated with many large, extant cetaceans that swim in our oceans today. The asymmetrical tail fluke has also got a nick in it towards its apex.

The CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Popular Shastasaurus is due to be in stock at Everything Dinosaur in early 2023.

To view the range of not-to-scale CollectA prehistoric animal models and figures: CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Models and Figures.

Model Measurements

• CollectA Deluxe 1:40 scale Mosasaurus with articulated jaw – length 39 cm, height 5.3 cm, width across the front flippers 15 cm (estimate).
• CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Popular Shastasaurus – length 25 cm, height of tail fluke 3 cm, width across the front flippers 9 cm (estimate).

This pair of exciting marine reptile figures will be in stock at Everything Dinosaur in 2023.

To view Everything Dinosaur’s blog post about the first batch of new CollectA prehistoric animals for 2023 to be announced: New CollectA Models (Part 1).

To read our blog post about the second batch of new CollectA prehistoric animal figures for 2023: New CollectA Models (Part 2).

Everything Dinosaur in collaboration with CollectA announces the second batch of new CollectA models 2023. Three new prehistoric animal figures have been announced namely:

• Ruyangosaurus (1:100 scale Deluxe model) – due to be available early 2023.
• Brighstoneus (Age of Dinosaurs Popular) – due to be available in early 2023.
• Anomalocaris (CollectA Other Prehistoric Animals) – due to be available in early 2023.

New CollectA Models

CollectA Deluxe Ruyangosaurus (1:100 Scale)

The first CollectA Deluxe scale model to be announced for 2023 is this stunning replica of the enormous Chinese titanosaur Ruyangosaurus. Named and described in 2009 (Ruyangosaurus giganteus), this huge sauropod is estimated to have been around thirty metres long and to have weighed in excess of fifty tonnes. It is one of the largest dinosaurs known from Asia.

The CollectA Deluxe Ruyangosaurus has been given a grey, almost elephant-like colouration in recognition of the sheer size of this leviathan. The neck is thick, but the cervical vertebrae (neck bones) of these huge dinosaurs were quite delicate and there were numerous air sacs to help lighten the neck.

The skin texture is very detailed, and this herbivorous giant has been given rows of dermal armour (osteoderms), which are most prominent over its vulnerable hips. The CollectA Deluxe Ruyangosaurus will make an interesting partner to the mostly geologically older genus Mamenchisaurus, a model of which (CollectA Deluxe 1:100 Mamenchisaurus) was introduced by CollectA in 2021.

CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Brighstoneus

Hot on heels of the Ceratosuchops model announced last week, comes Brighstoneus an iguanodontid from the Isle of Wight that was, coincidently, formally named and described just a few weeks after Ceratosuchops in late 2021.

The reassessment of fossil bones found in 1978 close to the village of Brighstone on the south-western coast of the Isle of Wight, which had been thought to represent the genus Iguanodon, led to the naming of Brighstoneus (B. simmondsi).

Examination of the naris bone indicated that this dinosaur had a bulbous snout, and this feature has been incorporated into the new CollectA figure. The patterning on the model would have helped to camouflage this eight-metre-long herbivore and the white flash around the eye suggests that visual communication was very important to this animal that probably lived in herds.

This recently described dinosaur suggests that there are probably several different iguanodontids still awaiting discovery in the Wealden Group strata. It is great to see this model representing another member of the Wealden Group dinosaur biota added to the CollectA range.

CollectA Anomalocaris

The third in this trio of new CollectA models to be announced this week is a replica of the apex Cambrian predator Anomalocaris. This superb model of Anomalocaris canadensis from the famous Burgess Shale deposits of British Columbia joins a growing number of CollectA invertebrate models that represent iconic animals from the fossil record.

Anomalocaris is distantly related to extant crustaceans such as lobsters and shrimps. It is considered to be at the top of the earliest marine food chains because of its large body size, formidable grasping claws armed with sharp spikes and a ferocious-looking circular mouth positioned under the head. Once thought to measure more than a metre in length, most Burgess Shale specimens indicate a typical body length of thirty centimetres, still much bigger than virtually all of the other animals known from these Canadian Cambrian-aged deposits.

Model Measurements

• CollectA Deluxe Ruyangosaurus (1:100 scale) – length 40 cm, height of head 29.5 cm.
• CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Popular Brighstoneus – length 14.8 cm, height of head 4.8 cm.
• CollectA Anomalocaris (Other Prehistoric Animals) – length 13 cm, height 3 cm.

This trio of fantastic CollectA figures are scheduled to be in stock at Everything Dinosaur in the early part of 2023.

To view Everything Dinosaur’s blog post about the first batch of new CollectA prehistoric animals for 2023 to be announced: New CollectA Models for 2023 (Part 1).

We will post up more details about new for 2023 CollectA models next Friday and a brief video about these three CollectA figures will shortly be posted up on Everything Dinosaur’s YouTube channel.

Visit Everything Dinosaur on YouTube (please subscribe): Everything Dinosaur on YouTube.

The newly announced Ruyangosaurus in 1/100th scale is part of the CollectA Deluxe range of models. To view the other scale replicas in this series: CollectA Deluxe Prehistoric Life Models and Figures.

The Age of Dinosaurs Popular Brighstoneus and the stunning Anomalocaris model will be placed in the CollectA Prehistoric Life section of Everything Dinosaur’s website: CollectA Prehistoric Life Replicas.