Hi
I've recently started collecting dinosaur figures based on one theme. I'm exclusively interested in collecting those ones which were based on old paleoart designs, concretely from artists like Charles Knight, Rudolph Zallinger and Zdeneck Burian.
So, I was wondering if some of these INVICTA figures couldn't have been inspired by some art of those. I would like to ask for you expert paleonthological eye
and your opinion in the researching i'm doing. Just see if you see the same.
See, I allways found very peculiar the fact that some of these figures are so old-fashioned designed, mixed with some other totally modern ones. For example, the Baryonix or the Muttaburrasaurus has straight tails, not touching the floor, 4 legged, etc...
Then some others like the Iguanodon, totally has the "old look", the kangaroo style which we already know isn't correct at all...
It's very obvious this Iguanodon from Invicta was made after some primitive artist's work, I think is possible the design came from the artist NEAVE PARKER:
Or by ZDENECK BURIAN (who if i'm not wrong, made his design copying Parker's):
What do you think?
Then the Stegosaurus:
to me looks absolutely like a CHARLES KNIGHT sculpture, check this out:
that's Kinght sculpting it:
The Tyrannosaurus isn't the modern look either, at all. The pose of the back, the tail, the head... that's all the old-fashioned design:
It comes surely from Charles Knight designs (first to design the Rex ever):
But also the fact that the INVICTA Rex has that kind of armour-like scaled skin reminds A LOT of "GWANGI". Point is, Ray Harryhausen modelled his Gwangi right after KNIGHT drawing (previous black and white pic).
Charles Knight also did this another painting of the Rex. To me, the INVICTA model looks like a mix of Gwangi and this second Knight design:
What do you think, paleoguys?
The Scelidosaurus is another clear example of not updated design. Just look at the position of the legs, just like a lizard. Dinosaurs didn't have the legs that way, but the first paleoartists painted them that way in order to relate them with modern reptiles. So, it's another proof that the Invicta modellers were based on primitive paleoart.
The possible artist I would say it came from is NAEVE PARKER (again):
I'm kind of pretty sure about this one.
The Woolly Mammooth,
well, I would say the inspiration came either from CHARLES KNIGHT:
or from ZDENECK BURIAN (who practically was re-designing Knight's):
About the Glyptodon,
I find it almost identical to this Charles Knight art:
The Icthyosaurus, yeah I know the design haven't really changed that much through the years (the "dolphin" design have existed almost since allways, and haven't change) but I dunno why I find some kind of 19th or early-20th-century feel on it... Maybe it's just me, though.
But this artwork was made by Charles Knight in 1914:
Any opinions, doctors?
Besides, here's another one that I have almost no doubt... The Diplodocus, totally the "old look":
that creature with the tail on the floor, and serpent-like... The design totally belongs to Charles Knight:
and Zdeneck Burian who also painted it, but copying Knight:
Finally the Triceratops, also another "old times" design with the flaccid tail that goes down when we already know the tail was straight and never touched the floor:
The most interesting thing in this Invicta figure was surely the armoured skin design... And I spend some time thingking "where the hell have I seen a design like that..." Then I remembered, it was in a painting by ZDENECK BURIAN:
I think the design is pretty close to the Invicta model.
Though, I would really really apreciate your sharped eye opinions and knowledge.
Cheers.
Chema.