Apatosaurus Maquette

[Mongoleone]

Obvious seams on my Sideshow Pieces:

Tail connection on Alien Warrior Statue
Tail connection on Alien Resurrection Maquette
Lower jaw on Jurassic Park Dio
Wings and horn connection on Gandalf Vs Balrog
Even the TMNT hands which are hidden by wrist bands but are still pretty noticable when you look right at them.

You cant really fault them though. The only way to hide seams better is to make the connection points really sharp and overlap, but that would lead to easy chipping and breakage of the thin overlap bit.

Actually the only pieces I own that don't have obvious seams are Dinosauria ones. But that's because they are all one piece.

 

[Mongoleone]

I've been scrutinizing - well, admiring really - the high-res retailer photos,

Where do you find those? I hate the little photos Sideshow gives us.

I think this might be what Agent0028 is talking about:

That's pretty much definitely where the seam is, but I guess I wouldn't really call that a seam. It looks like they sealed it with epoxy and painted over it. And it has sort of a bump/ridge to it now. Definitely better than an obvious crack.

I'd be willing to bet absolutely nothing the body/neck/head are shipped as one solid piece and the tail is separate. Seems about right considering the overal length and their box dimension estimate.
Of course this is all pointless speculation, but isnt that what the internet is for?

 

[Agent0028]

That's not where the seam I thought I saw was, so it's definitely not a seam I looked at. Sometimes I like being wrong.

 

[dansdinosaurs]

Ah, I see it now. I don't feel like that really detracts from the piece, though.

The high-res retailer photos are on the secret underground bunker website that Sideshow has set up for only retailers to use. I sometimes peruse the galleries when I want to switch up my desktop wallpaper.

Edit:
The backstory's up! Sweet.

Tendrils of light creep across the horizon on this early morning. The female Apatosaurus is beckoned from slumber, rising above the ground and erecting herself upon massive legs. Slowly and dutifully, she marches out toward the open plain. She is pulled by the dawn like an obedient marionette, congregating with other Apatosaurs summoned by the retreat of night. She knows that to remain at rest during daylight means death. The many years of her life have harshly instilled this instinct.

A sensory reminder of the world's brutality encroaches upon her as the fetid odor of assembling predators fills her nasal cavity. Ambling across a bare escarpment, she cranes her massive neck back but sees nothing. She knows the hunters remain concealed just within the tree line, stalking the edges of the dense foliage and searching for any signs of weakness among the massive sauropods.

Yet, the female stands unafraid. She has lived far too long and grown far too large for any predator to capably assail during her waking hours. As a juvenile, her life among the trees was in constant peril; on many an occasion she witnessed her siblings seized and devoured by nimble Ceratosaurs. Even as a young adult, too immense for forest life and forced out onto the plains, she was ever vulnerable. Allosaurs hunt in the more open terrain, relentlessly hounding her kind and seeking any sign of weakness, vulnerability, or fear as license to begin the attack.

But she is fully mature now, strong and secure in her status as herd matriarch. She no longer feels fear. To her, the carnivores have become more nuisances than genuine threats. Her long tail trails behind her, dancing on the air like a wisp of vine. Its grace conceals its lethality, as one swift crack of the whip-like structure can acutely injure or even cripple even the most hearty and voracious of attackers. She strolls to the front of the herd, taking her place among the group on their journey to find suitable foraging ground. Her legs uproot and heavily replant while marching, unsteadying nearly all of the smaller creatures in sight. Diminutive mammals are rousted from their underground layers by the thunderous vibrations, sent scurrying into brush far away from the approaching Apatosaurs.

 

[Jeremy K9]

Ah, I see it now. I don't feel like that really detracts from the piece, though.

The high-res retailer photos are on the secret underground bunker website that Sideshow has set up for only retailers to use. I sometimes peruse the galleries when I want to switch up my desktop wallpaper.

Edit:
The backstory's up! Sweet.

Tendrils of light creep across the horizon on this early morning. The female Apatosaurus is beckoned from slumber, rising above the ground and erecting herself upon massive legs. Slowly and dutifully, she marches out toward the open plain. She is pulled by the dawn like an obedient marionette, congregating with other Apatosaurs summoned by the retreat of night. She knows that to remain at rest during daylight means death. The many years of her life have harshly instilled this instinct.

A sensory reminder of the world's brutality encroaches upon her as the fetid odor of assembling predators fills her nasal cavity. Ambling across a bare escarpment, she cranes her massive neck back but sees nothing. She knows the hunters remain concealed just within the tree line, stalking the edges of the dense foliage and searching for any signs of weakness among the massive sauropods.

Yet, the female stands unafraid. She has lived far too long and grown far too large for any predator to capably assail during her waking hours. As a juvenile, her life among the trees was in constant peril; on many an occasion she witnessed her siblings seized and devoured by nimble Ceratosaurs. Even as a young adult, too immense for forest life and forced out onto the plains, she was ever vulnerable. Allosaurs hunt in the more open terrain, relentlessly hounding her kind and seeking any sign of weakness, vulnerability, or fear as license to begin the attack.

But she is fully mature now, strong and secure in her status as herd matriarch. She no longer feels fear. To her, the carnivores have become more nuisances than genuine threats. Her long tail trails behind her, dancing on the air like a wisp of vine. Its grace conceals its lethality, as one swift crack of the whip-like structure can acutely injure or even cripple even the most hearty and voracious of attackers. She strolls to the front of the herd, taking her place among the group on their journey to find suitable foraging ground. Her legs uproot and heavily replant while marching, unsteadying nearly all of the smaller creatures in sight. Diminutive mammals are rousted from their underground layers by the thunderous vibrations, sent scurrying into brush far away from the approaching Apatosaurs.

That was great. It realy breathes life into the statue.

 

[Mongoleone]

Nice backstory mate. That last paragraph is especially cinematic.

 

[Dyscrasia]

I must say that Scar has done a truly awesome job providing a very vivid backstory

 

[Reinhardt]

Wow what a great backstory.

 

[Agent0028]

I liked that it was like "a normal day in the life" as opposed to the others which had some event or other play a strong role.

 

[Dyscrasia]

This thing is finally available for pre-order through local retailers, and luckly, the price isn't so absurd compared to previous pieces possibly due to improving currency... Anyways, it's slightly under $600 here. The Spino maquette was more than $800......

 

[toystales]

Doesn't SSC ship direct to Korea?

 

[Dyscrasia]

Yes, if orders are made directly from SSC. The problem is that direct orders also means directly dealing with the customs and post office which is a real pain in the ass. That's why I usually rely on local retailers since they deal with all those ordeals for their customers.

 

[toystales]

I get what you mean. Customs can be such a**es!!

 

[Mongoleone]

Anyways, it's slightly under $600 here.

Is that US?

 

[Mongoleone]

OOH! One more post and... up, there it is.

 

[Mightytrex]

The exclusive is sold out!

 

[dansdinosaurs]

Customs gives you the same problems even with small packages, like envelopes?

 

[Dyscrasia]

Flat rate envelopes are okay (usually)... But the bigger packages get, the harder they become to avoid customs regulations.

 

[Dyscrasia]

Wow, I really like(?) the current retailer I'm dealing with. I got a 30% discount, and I only have to pay around $400 to pre-order the Apatosaurus maquette (which is a really cheap price considering the original imported price. Actually, that's the amount of price it costs if I pre-order the statue directly from SSC but once it arrives in the customs after it's shipped, things start to get really ugly).

On an unrelated subject, the revoltech Alien Queen (which I was looking forward to) is available for pre-order here and it's only around $35, but since I already have the beautiful SS Alien Queen diorama and to save money for upcoming dinosauria pieces, I decided to give up on purchasing it and only focus on the dinosauria line...

 

[Scar]

Glad you guys like the backstory! I wanted to tailor it more to an ordinary day in the life of an extraordinary animal as opposed to some shocking, traumatic upheaval.

Also, sorry I haven't had much time to be on the boards recently. I'm constantly kept busy with work, night classes, and now I've been asked to serve on a library review board along with a couple other professional organizations which are eating up my free time. That and Sideshow occasionally throws me a bone, or a rather a whole animal, for backstories; I'm kept busy but Sideshow is easily the most pleasant of my responsibilities doing something I love - imbuing these statues with personality and making customers interested in the individual animal. Again very happy that you're all pleased with it! I feel I've been remiss with my Freak family over the past several months. It should go without saying, but feel free to drop me a message or e-mail at any given point in time to stay in touch. I try to check my inbox regularly even if I don't have a lot of time to post lately.