Smilodon figurine accuracy

WOW !!!!

Beauuuutyful

smilodoncalifornicus wrote:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

This is the Paleocraft Smilodon Fatalis sculpting from 2009.  I have this kit and it is absolutely beautiful.  This sculpting is very scientifically accurate.

I agree with this one Very different and slender than the Mojo one

Kikimalou wrote:

smilodoncalifornicus wrote:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

This is the Paleocraft Smilodon Fatalis sculpting from 2009.  I have this kit and it is absolutely beautiful.  This sculpting is very scientifically accurate.

I agree with this one  Very different and slender than the Mojo one

I don't think this sculpting is very slender.  In real life, I don't think Smilodon was slender at all.
I believe Smilodon had HUGE neck, shoulder and forearm muscles and very large dew claws.   All these things aided this cat in wrestling it's prey to the ground and restraining it, so it could make a stabbing kill with those huge saber teeth.

Here is a YouTube video that will explain in detail how Smilodon was built like. This documentary is done by professional Paleontologists that study this animal in detail.:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I know we don't agree about Mojo smilodon

And I like very much the Paleocraft model, I only mean it is less bodybuilded than the Mojo.

Kikimalou wrote:

I know we don't agree about Mojo smilodon

And I like very much the Paleocraft model, I only mean it is less bodybuilded than the Mojo.

Yes, it might be a little less than the Mojo figure.  They are very close though.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
This is the Paleocraft Smilodon Fatalis from my collection. Sean Cooper built and painted this for me.

Is marvellous....is one treasure .

accuracy figure.

landrover wrote:

Is marvellous....is one treasure .

accuracy figure.

Thanks Fernando, it's a nice one.  Now this Smilodon sculpting is just awesome.  I think it follows very closely the style of Charles R Knight. I wish I knew who made it. I want it in my collection.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

beautiful

Paleontologist Meachen-Samuel’s findings on Smilodon’s arm bones:

"While Smilodon’s leg bones scaled to size, their arm bones were exceptionally thick for their length compared to modern cats."

"When I looked at the arm bones, Smilodon Fatalis was way out in left field," said Meachen-Samuels.
Sabertooth arm bones were not only much larger in diameter than other cats, they also had much thicker cortical bone, the dense outer layer that makes bones strong and stiff. Thicker cortical bone is consistent with the idea that Sabertooth forelimbs were under much greater stress than what modern cats are,  Meachen-Samuels explained. Just like weight-bearing exercise remodels our bones and improves bone density and muscle mass over time, the repeated strain of grappling with large prey resulted in much thicker and stronger arm bones in saber-toothed cats..”
"As muscles pull on bones, bones & muscle respond by getting stronger and larger," said Meachen-Samuels. "Because saber-toothed cats had thicker arm bones we believe they used their forelimbs for pulling down large prey and then restraining it."  This is not something modern cats do.



The above findings by this expert on Smilodon is more proof that this sabertooth cat was much stockier and had much greater muscle mass in its frontal areas than modern cats do.   This is just one of many reasons why I think almost all Smilodon figures are sculpted wrong by mainstream companies.

Most Sabertooth cat figures are sculpted just like modern cats with long teeth, and that is totally wrong, but here are three examples of mainstream figures that got it right:

Mojo Smilodon (2011)
Safari Carnegie Smilodon (1988)
Safari Missing Link Smilodon (1997)

It's not just Sabertooth's arm bones that were different from modern cats.  Smilodon also had much bigger shoulder and neck muscles than extant cats do with a shorter back, wider and flatter feet, and oversized dew claws. Also it’s limbs were relatively shorter than extant cat’s limbs.
Its safe to say, Smilodon's morphology was nothing like modern cats.

The Mojo Smilodon is still one of my favorites. I think it looks much better than most mainstream brands.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Paleontologist C.K. Brain points out,  Smilodon Fatalis had a greatly reduced coronoid process and therefore a disadvantageously weak bite.
The cat did, however, have an enlarged mastoid process, a muscle attachment at the base of the skull, which attaches to very large neck muscles.  According to C.K. Brain  Smilodon would use a "downward thrust of the head, powered by the huge neck muscles" to drive the large upper canines into the prey.

Even with the experts pointing out how massively built Smilodon was to do a specific job , the mainstream figures of this cat continue to be sculpted totally wrong.

Others have pointed out that there are so many Sabertooth figures made, that it’s hard to get excited about a new one.  But the thing is, most all of them are so terrible in scientific accuracy that  it’s like having no figure at all.  Based on this, there's only a couple figures of this animal made, the rest I don’t even take seriously because they are sculpted so awful ( example, 2017 Papo Smilodon - easily the most lousy, ridiculous Smilodon figure ever made).

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The awesome Safari Missing link Smilodon figure from 1997.  This is one of my favorite Sabertooth Cat figures.

Yes !!! That one is awesome

SUSANNE wrote:

Yes !!! That one is awesome

Yes, is awesome.

Safari’s Carnegie and Missing link figures of Smilodon were sculpted very similar to this magnificent rendition by Charles R Knight:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Now, the mainstream companies insist on sculpting Smilodon like this awful, ridiculous
mess with absolutely no scientific accuracy at all:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

If you were a whale fan like me, you would cry a lot to see all the bad illustrations and replicas that have been made of whales.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Luckily, things are changing right now, since 25 years. But bad whale représentations still roam around us.

Bowhead Whale wrote:

If you were a whale fan like me, you would cry a lot to see all the bad illustrations and replicas that have been made of whales.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Luckily, things are changing right now, since 25 years. But bad whale représentations still roam around us.

It's good to hear things are improving for the Whale figures.  I do however think that Smilodon figures are getting even worse.  Smilodon is one of the most poorly sculpted animal figures of all time.  There are so many figures out there , yet I believe almost 95% of them are not scientifically accurate.  Some are better than others, but most are still pretty bad.  

There are even quite a few that are ridiculous looking (examples: 2017 Papo, 2009 CollectA, Schleich, Favorite Co., 2013 Bullyland, to name just a few).

At least, Smilodoncalifornicus, there ARE figures made of your favorite animal! Even though they are not so good. How do you think I feel, as a Bowhead Whale freak, hardly ever seeing a bowhead whale figure made? I would love to see more bowhead whale figures out there. Even if they are not all too good.

Bowhead Whale wrote:

At least, Smilodoncalifornicus, there ARE figures made of your favorite animal! Even though they are not so good. How do you think I feel, as a Bowhead Whale freak, hardly ever seeing a bowhead whale figure made? I would love to see more bowhead whale figures out there. Even if they are not all too good.

Well, I do hope they start making Bowhead whale figures by some mainstream companies
for you.

smilodoncalifornicus wrote:

Bowhead Whale wrote:

At least, Smilodoncalifornicus, there ARE figures made of your favorite animal! Even though they are not so good. How do you think I feel, as a Bowhead Whale freak, hardly ever seeing a bowhead whale figure made? I would love to see more bowhead whale figures out there. Even if they are not all too good.

Well, I do hope they start making Bowhead whale figures by some mainstream companies
for you.

Thank you! Up to now, Larami made one, Safari ltd made one, Albert heijn made one, CollectA made one and I have two different Made in China models. That makes a total of six. Six different bowhead whale figures. Not bad, but not much.

Bowhead Whale wrote:

smilodoncalifornicus wrote:

Bowhead Whale wrote:

At least, Smilodoncalifornicus, there ARE figures made of your favorite animal! Even though they are not so good. How do you think I feel, as a Bowhead Whale freak, hardly ever seeing a bowhead whale figure made? I would love to see more bowhead whale figures out there. Even if they are not all too good.

Well, I do hope they start making Bowhead whale figures by some mainstream companies
for you.

Thank you! Up to now, Larami made one, Safari ltd made one, Albert heijn made one, CollectA made one and I have two different Made in China models. That makes a total of six. Six different bowhead whale figures. Not bad, but not much.

Your welcome.  That is true, 6 different sculpts of that animal is not much.  I have about the same amount of Smilodonts
in my collection, even though there is probably 70 plus or more made.   I only want ones that have scientific accuracy.
Even out of the 6 or so I have, they aren't superb, but decent.

Bowhead Whale wrote:

smilodoncalifornicus wrote:

Bowhead Whale wrote:

At least, Smilodoncalifornicus, there ARE figures made of your favorite animal! Even though they are not so good. How do you think I feel, as a Bowhead Whale freak, hardly ever seeing a bowhead whale figure made? I would love to see more bowhead whale figures out there. Even if they are not all too good.

Well, I do hope they start making Bowhead whale figures by some mainstream companies
for you.

Thank you! Up to now, Larami made one, Safari ltd made one, Albert heijn made one, CollectA made one and I have two different Made in China models. That makes a total of six. Six different bowhead whale figures. Not bad, but not much.

Seven! Kaiyodo made one for its Red Data series.

smilodoncalifornicus wrote:

Bowhead Whale wrote:

smilodoncalifornicus wrote:

Bowhead Whale wrote:

At least, Smilodoncalifornicus, there ARE figures made of your favorite animal! Even though they are not so good. How do you think I feel, as a Bowhead Whale freak, hardly ever seeing a bowhead whale figure made? I would love to see more bowhead whale figures out there. Even if they are not all too good.

Well, I do hope they start making Bowhead whale figures by some mainstream companies
for you.

Thank you! Up to now, Larami made one, Safari ltd made one, Albert heijn made one, CollectA made one and I have two different Made in China models. That makes a total of six. Six different bowhead whale figures. Not bad, but not much.

Your welcome.  That is true, 6 different sculpts of that animal is not much.  I have about the same amount of Smilodonts
in my collection, even though there is probably 70 plus or more made.   I only want ones that have scientific accuracy.
Even out of the 6 or so I have, they aren't superb, but decent.

Do you own the Playmobil Smilodon?