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Mark Simmons @toysdream.bsky.social · 4h

Pretty minimal bug sightings, I regret to report. I saw a nice, floofy velvet ant in the Sierra Nevada a few weeks back, and I was wondering if I might see some in Moab, but no such luck.

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Mark Simmons @toysdream.bsky.social · 4h

We didn't get to Canyonlands at all, but we did scope out some of Arches on the ground, and we saw the white-tipped fins of the Fiery Furnace. It was all so fascinating and cool!

Mark Simmons @toysdream.bsky.social · 5h

Actually, let's skip back to a general overview of the Colorado Plateau, which spans Utah and the rest of the "Four Corners" states. I ended up buying a bunch of books on Utah's geology by Thomas H. Morris, Scott M. Ritter, et al, and here's a little bit of what I learned.

Moab travel journal 09/29/2025: Notes on the Colorado Plateau.

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Mark Simmons @toysdream.bsky.social · 5h

We didn't just look at life-sized dinosaur models while we were in Moab - naturally we had to visit some of its famous national and state parks. Here's a snippet of my travel journal with some info on Arches cribbed from the lavish visitor center.

Moab travel journal, 09/30/2025: An intro to Arches National Park, including a terrain map and details of all the groovy sedimentary rock layers.

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Mark Simmons @toysdream.bsky.social · 5h

And I haven't even posted all the geology pages. If you really, really like rocks, then I have good news for you. :-)

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Mark Simmons @toysdream.bsky.social · 6h

And Utah in general was gorgeous, with beautiful rocky landscapes and friendly people! For some reason we encountered a lot of local Goths and indie bookstores, which was heartening. :-)

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Mark Simmons @toysdream.bsky.social · 6h

We didn't get to do much track-inspection, but maybe next time. The trip gave me a new interest in ichnology! I was trying to explain to Julie why I have such affection for the early proto-dinosaurs, but maybe it's just that they're less familiar from pop culture. And they're just little guys.

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Reposted by Mark Simmons

Andrés L. Mignucci @andreslmignucci.bsky.social · Dec 13

More Denham Tracts. The most interesting thing about this list of fairies is that we don't know what a lot of the names on it refer to. The creatures that have known folklore behind them, I've drawn in warm colors. The names we can only speculate about, I've drawn in cool colors.

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Mark Simmons @toysdream.bsky.social · 22h

"Death Spa" is such a quality selection.

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Mark Simmons @toysdream.bsky.social · 1d

Aw yeah, this is exactly what our household needed right now!

The Boulet Brothers Dragula @bbdragula.bsky.social · 2d

Join us TONIGHT for the premiere of The Boulet Brothers Dragula Titans S2 only on Shudder and AMC+!

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Mark Simmons @toysdream.bsky.social · 1d

Special shout-out to @restingdinoface.bsky.social, whose Moab Giants endorsement made me choose it as a vacation destination, resulting in a lovely rock-obsessed week of national park exploration for me and Julie!

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Mark Simmons @toysdream.bsky.social · 1d

By now it was obvious I was only going to cover half the Moab Giants menagerie on this trip, never mind the small but info-packed museum. So here are a handful of Cretaceous types and a couple of notes on the general concept. (4/4)

Moab Giants sketches, 10/032025: Gallimimus, Utahraptor, Tyrannosaurus, and some notes on the science of dinosaur tracks.

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Mark Simmons @toysdream.bsky.social · 1d

Continuing the Jurassic portion of Moab Giants. These are some of my favorite dino flavors! The bipedal stegosaur surprised me, but I guess that's what the tracks must suggest. (3/4)

Moab Giants sketches, 10/032025: Diplodocus, Hesperosaurus, Gargoyleosaurus, Allosaurus.

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Mark Simmons @toysdream.bsky.social · 1d

A bit of a time skip here. I barely reached the Jurassic on my first visit, so I went back and resumed a few days later. (2/4)

Moab Giants sketches, 09/29/2025 and 10/03/2025: Scelidosaurus, Scutellosaurus, Diplodocus, Sarcosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Camptosaurus.

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Mark Simmons @toysdream.bsky.social · 1d

I'm back from Utah! The full trip journal runs to 24 pages, but here's an excerpt with just my drawings from the amazing Moab Giants attraction. Walking the trail in chronological order, we begin in the Triassic... (1/4)

Moab Giants sketches, 09/29/2025: Deinonychus, Camposaurus, Silesaurus, Isanosaurus, and Gojirasaurus.

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Mark Simmons @toysdream.bsky.social · 10d

And dino interlude part 3: Settling on a useful scale reference for envisioning the bigness of paleofauna. Now off to Moab! (3/3)

Dino Interlude, September 27, 2025. Elephants, buses, and horses as scale reference for envisioning dinosaur sizes.

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Mark Simmons @toysdream.bsky.social · 10d

Dino interlude part 2: Why drawing dinosaurs is different from drawing familiar four-legged mammals. (2/3)

Dino Interlude, September 27, 2025. A couple of rules of thumb for drawing four-legged mammals, and how dinosaurs wantonly ignore them.

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Mark Simmons @toysdream.bsky.social · 10d

Hola, todos! We're just about to take off to Moab, Utah. With any luck we'll be able to see some national parks pre-shutdown, but otherwise it's all about the Moab Giants. Here are some pre-trip thoughts on my summer of dinosaur study... (1/3)

Dino Interlude, September 27, 2025. What's the appeal of drawing dinosaurs?

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Mark Simmons @toysdream.bsky.social · 12d

It's hard to piece together the Acguy's origins - unlike all the machines Okawara drew in the second half, I've never seen a base Tomino sketch. It's possible Yaushiko just threw it together based on the unused Acg series designs Okawara was working on.

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Mark Simmons @toysdream.bsky.social · 12d

Oh, and speaking of Yasuhiko: As well as redrawing the Dom and Gogg for animation use, I've now confirmed that he cleaned up the final White Base model sheets, and I strongly suspect he created the Acguy as well. Truly an omnicompetent genius!

Dom animation model sheet by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko.

Gogg animation model sheet by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko.

White Base animation model sheet by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko.

Acguy model sheet, possibly by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko.

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Mark Simmons @toysdream.bsky.social · 12d

Plus a lot of detail about the early cancellation of the series, which will shortly be followed by notes on the effects of animation director Yasuhiko's forced withdrawal due to a medical emergency...

Katz, Letz, and Kikka in normal suits, by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko.

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Mark Simmons @toysdream.bsky.social · 12d

Speaking of model sheets, here are a few minor characters who made unexpected cameos in the recent spinoff series "Gundam GQuuuuuuX".

Model sheet for Mulligan by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko.

Model sheet for Cameron Bloom by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko.

Model sheet for Simus al Bakharov by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko.

Model sheet for Bergamino by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko.

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Mark Simmons @toysdream.bsky.social · 12d

I found some nice copies of Okawara's roughs for the unused Acg series, plus model sheets for a couple of them which were belatedly drawn in 1982 for the Gunpla releases.

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Mark Simmons @toysdream.bsky.social · 12d

Let's see, what other bits and pieces were in this update? I found photos of some of Tomino's original sketches on the Japanese Mandarake auction site... (Just FYI, here Tomino says Lalah is 16 years old.)

Original sketches for Acg series mobile suits by Yoshiyuki Tomino.

Original sketch for mobile armor Bigro by Yoshiyuki Tomino.

Original sketch for Lalah Sune by Yoshiyuki Tomino.

Original sketch for mobile armor Big-Zam by Yoshiyuki Tomino.

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Mark Simmons @toysdream.bsky.social · 13d

Almost done updating my First Gundam production history! I've overhauled the chunk covering eps 22-36, in which Director Tomino takes charge of the plot and begins ghost-designing all the mecha. I've also added lots more design sketches and production art.
www.gundamunofficial.com/production/f...

Color illustration of the "Acg series" from Kodansha's Mobile Suit Gundam III Story Book.

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