Creative Beast CYBERZOIC Kickstarter

@cmoney Aren't the converting armors basically already full-on transforming robots? The one is both an armor set and a robot dog or whatever. Another one is a freakin' hover-tank.
Now, to be fair, I'm actually worried that trying to make armor sets for dinosaurs that also work as unique robots or vehicles is adding unnecessary complexity that's increasing the price more than it needs to be for 'dinosaur in armor.' But that's totally supposition and I could 100% be wrong about that.

I'm super torn now because I was SURE that I was going to get the Smilodon. But now we have the KS exclusive Dino-Riders homage Smilodon and if that gets unlocked (it totally will) I feel like I HAVE to have it. I love when companies do homages in their lines without making it a lame way to work around IP rights (4H).

I feel like I still like the color scheme on the original Smilodon better. But I like the human figure of the KS Exclusive better, and I like the -idea- of the homage probably more than just a random Smilodon, I think? I dunno man. I cannot buy both because that's just excessive and I don't need two. It is a bit of a bummer that the KS exclusive version is like a full $20 CAD more.

So I THINK, while still not fully decided, that I'm going for the KS exclusive Smilodon and the Deinonychus sets. Maybe 2 or even 3 of the latter because they'd look so good as a 'pack.' Right?
But I'm also scared because there's a lot of time left on this KS, and therefore lots of opportunity for David to show off something else that I absolutely must have. If a more traditional-looking dragon shows up... I am in trouble.

Ah, dang it; it doesn't look like the Helena set is able to be a la carted, she's the whole set or nothing.  All I want is the Rider as, frankly, the blue Smiley armor doesn't look as cool as the regular green set.  The art shows it with a lighter fur color as well.  Is that an artifact of the difference between a drawing and physical object or will the Smileys be painted different?

@adrienveidt They should be painted differently.

@KnightDamien
I suppose it's a matter of semantics whether or not the converting armor is a "full-on transforming robot", but it doesn't appear that David considers it to be.  He mentioned Transformers a lot, so I expect something more along those lines, an autonomous robot with a vehicle/animal mode of its own.  But we'll see.  Someday.  Hopefully.

@adrienveidt
The Kickstarter Smilodon is lighter-colored in homage to the original Dino Riders toy.  I believe David intends to show off the painted prototype as part of today's update, according to a recent comment on the campaign page.  And yeah, it's being sold as a box set only, the whole DR homage thing being exclusive to the Kickstarter.

The deco should be different, that's how it's gone with the Dino-Rider homages in the previous two kickstarters. (Different colors and stylized packaging — but no armor previously, of course). Both were great.

Or they were just lame ways to work around IP rights, if you're one of THOSE people ...

Well, shit.  I don't care about Dino Riders or homages thereof; I just want all the cool toys.  I guess I'll have to get the Helena set then add Dragolina and the green armor and just tolerate the lighter fur color.

Man, this is some BULLSHIT!!!

I feel fairly sure that the next dragon is going to be the last stretch goal for this thing, which is a bit of a bummer but the previous Kickstarters have gone all the way so hopefully this one will too.  For those who aren't aware, it's the green dragon you can see in the Smilodon artwork and the print that is available to order during the KS.  This guy:

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@cmoney I see. It'll be interesting to see how he incorporates actual Transformers-type figures into this. Not sure that's going to be something that'll appeal to me, though. I've never been a Transformers or Giant Robots kind of guy.
And yeah, that dragon is the one I've been afraid is going to pop up at some point in the KS. I like that one a lot more than the Arctic Dragon and even if my wallet will hate me for it, I'm not sure I can say no.

Maybe they'll be transforming mechs or something, who knows.  I'm just interested to see what they come up with.  This line has a lot potential to hit all sorts of areas of interest for me: animal action figures, extinct animals (not just dinos), robots, aliens, dragons ... but I try not to get too far ahead of myself. 🙂

That green dragon is definitely one that I would buy.  Shit, I better list some more stuff on ebay now...

I sort of wish that he had left the exclusive Smilodon as the first stretch goal.  I feel like it's not necessarily going to inspire a ton of new money once it's reached, and with there being $30 grand between goals it could possibly stall things out for a while.  If we'd already reached it and were going for all-new figures the rest of the campaign, maybe things would move faster.  Or maybe I'm projecting.  I just want that damned green dragon. 🙂

@cmoney There's totally the possibility for confirmation bias here. As a BIG Dino-Riders fan, I'm seeing plenty of 'hell yeah' style comments about the KS Exclusive. BUT, I might also be zeroing in on those without realizing it and not noticing how many people don't seem engaged.
But I'll say that, if anything, the price might be a hindrance. I'm sure there's perfectly reasonable logic to it - David seems like a great dude not looking to screw anyone - but having something that's basically identical to something else be fully 15 dollars more feels like a stretch. If lots of people are hardcore into the Dino-Riders homage, that extra 15 bucks per buy is going to drive numbers pretty well. But if that extra 15 bucks versus just buying the regular Smilodon ends up being a turn off, it could definitely stall things out.

Right now the average per day is 35k. Of course, that includes the initial first two or three day rush, and new backers popping in. That's going to slow down soon, I think, as everyone that cares about this probably knows about it by now. So it's going to pick up fewer backers per day from here out. Still, it's done so well that I can easily see it grabbing another 8-10k per day for the next few days (and I expect Helina will be unlocked by the end of the day/early tomorrow). If so... I'd say we're looking at the deinonychus being unlocked, even if Helina doesn't do huge numbers, within a week.

Then we'll be out of stretch goals and he'll have no choice but to unleash the dragon.

I believe this is intended to show what all the stretch goals will be for this campaign.  Some items have been split off for a separate campaign because he decided it was probably going to be too much, but these should be what we can expect for this one:

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And it is for sure entirely possible that I underestimate the interest in Dino Riders homages.  I in fact hope it is!  I had a few as a kid too, but they're not my main point of interest for this line.  I'm more interested in the scientific accuracy of the dinos and other real animals, and then the creature design of the non-dinos.

Ah looks like he's already posted the first photo of the DR Smilodon on twitter:

https://twitter.com/Beast_SculptKit/status/1711448634657563123

Second stretch goal reached, full gallery of prototype figure is in the latest update.  Lot of extra parts on these Smilodon figures: clawed and unclawed feet, two heads, the bristling mane on the back can be swapped out, and I guess they're going to make the ears on both heads swappable as well.