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Best!

Brett

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Am I Being Paranoid?

A few years ago a tpy company named Papo came out with this Allosaurus. Some people had asked me if I was involved. I was not, it just kind of looks like my designs and the designs of a paleo artist named Todd Marshal. I wrote it off to chance but it is possible I was an influence. No biggie.

I was on Amazon today and I saw this... also from Papo.Now the armor is different from what I do, but the feet and stuff look similar, even the head with the earrings looks familiar. Now it could be coincidence, but I'm wondering if someone from Papo is reading my blog. I find it odd that they would do a dinosaur similar to mine and then an anthro similar to mine... hmmmmm. I mean the Rhino looks a lot like mine, even the feet are the same. You can see more here.

Best,

Brett

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Brett!

Sometimes Papo figures are very similar to a popolar dinosaurs already seen. For example Papo's T.rex and Raptor are clearly inspired by Jurassic Park, but the Papo has not purchased a license to make this toys.
Sometimes they take inspiration from paleoartists. Look at this: http://www.dinosaurcollector.150m.com/papo_files/papo_oviraptor.jpg
And this: http://www.arizonaskiesmeteorites.com/Dinosaur_Fossils_For_Sale/T_rex_fossils_Tyrannosaurus_rex/Oviraptor/Oviraptor.jpg
The illustration belongs to Julius T. Csotonyi ...

I'm not sure, but probably the Papo's designers finds your Allosaurs illustration in the web, and they used it for make their toy. The colors of that model, instead, are similar to the Walking With Dinosaurs Allosaur.

Brett said...

Hi Darthsantuzzo,

Thanks for the info... But I think if they are going to do something so close they should get the OK from the artits they used. I thought it was just a random thing but now I'm not so sure. And the colors on the allosaurus are very similar to my original allosaurus:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ONkzeDc3sOM/Sd4haiwkh1I/AAAAAAAAAuE/DccfD--9_kc/s1600-h/Allosaurus_fragilis_by_demonpuppy.jpg

I'm not sure if Papo is a US company or not, but it might explain some things if it's not.

Best,

Brett

MuffinHunter said...

You should strengthen your case by showing us your crocodile, ram, rhino, and bird-man riding gryphon anthros (as per http://www.papo-france.com/Collection.asp?Page=1&nav=35). Not being facetious, just always ready to see more. :)

I think Papo is French, by the by.

Brett said...

Muffinhunter,

The Croc anthro I did was for Wildstorm's Kindred 2 I haven't done a newer one but it's on the web.

My Griffin was armored but I don't have a copy on this machine but once again it was on DA for awhile.

The Rhino should be on the blog.

It's not like I can sue them since they are changed some, at least 25 percent, but it's similar enough that if they did use my designs they should have asked. Of course it could be coincidence.

Best,

Brett

MuffinHunter said...

Damn, you've foiled my attempts at "inspiring" some new anthros by already having done them. :)

Anonymous said...

I saw these at Toy Fair NY last year, I thought the designs were pretty close, but of course all they had was salesman and no designers to talk to at the show. I do remember looking at the Papos dinosaurs and the Anthos and thinking "Holy Crap!" it is my books Freaks and Thunder Lizards made into toys! I even talked to Papos about possibly selling some of their Anthos or dinos in a combo set with my books at art stores. Nothing ever came of it.

Steve

Brett said...

Steve,

I guess they figured they already were ripping us off, why bother to pay for it;) But seriously, it might just be a coincidence.

Best,

Brett

Unknown said...

Hello Brett,
I do know this is an older post of yours, so sorry about that. But I will say that in terms of the anthro papo toys, I don't think they're ripping you off. I am very involved in the anthropomorphic animal fandom, and I have seen many artists draw anthros in the style of the papo toys, anatomy and all.

So no worries, I think its a coincidence.

Foxilized said...

Er, a coincidence?

Is it also a coincidence Papo did other dinosaurs "so similar" to Jurassic Park designs?Yep, I guess it was only coincidence.

Wait, is it also a coincidence the "similarities" in the armor of Papo's "lion warrior" and these figures from Mcfarlane toys?

http://th02.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2012/074/2/e/lion_warrior_papo_by_dark_ozarinstin-d4ssxqb.jpg

http://images.comiccollectorlive.com/covers/dc4/dc49e928-75c3-49a1-bccd-f3b960b845d6.jpg

http://i01.i.aliimg.com/wsphoto/v0/1921635201_1/Wholesale-5pcs-pack-PAPO-Magic-Myth-Action-Figure-Toys-The-Lion-Warrior-10CM-PVC-Action-Figure.jpg

http://www.urbanstash.com/product_image.php?imageid=1193


I guess we should be paranoid, right?

Bah.

Papo is using material as references, and rippoff what they need. Sorry but it's not a case of being paranoid, it's actually a case of being naive or simple if you cannot join the dots. Stop trying to be superior telling others to calm down. Sometimes men doesn't need to calm down, but to fight. Thank you.