The Little Shop That Could…

Hi there!

You’re currently reading the thoughts of Joe. Thanks for coming on the site by the way, and thanks again for showing enough interest to come to the news section, believe it or not, that interest matters to us.

So I thought I would take a minute to talk about where EXEtinct comes from and where we would like to go, and of course you are invited along for the journey - pretty sure that is what mailing lists and blogs are for!

I have always loved prehistoric life, nature and animals in general, but many of my interests were niche by comparison. I have never really felt myself drawn to overly popular species like tyrannosaurus (he says with a Kenner red rex sitting on a shelf in his workshop) and because of this, I feel I, perhaps like many others had to dig harder to learn about the species we were interested in and as a result tumbled down a rabbit hole of information and learning.

Many of those who have kept our passion alive have found ourselves in, or amongst the artistic community. Among the numerous artists on social media, the odds have worked in our favour and the niche fandoms behind certain species are more easily discovered. From here, in recent years have sprung the 3D printing and sculpting communities, and from there opportunity.

All it takes is the odd friendly message. For myself, it started with David at Nova Studios. It was when the majority of his content was available on Cults 3D, and seeing my favourite dinosaur, a carnotaurus I just had to give that a go. I did however notice upon downloading that a small error had created a rather amusing effect on the file. Unfortunately, the effect didn’t contribute positively to the 3D printing process and I reached out. David to his credit was fantastic. He made the change, refunded me for being helpful and asked to see progress as I went along, and ultimately used the images of my build to showcase the model. From there, we spoke and he mentioned he was producing a tylosaurus - having grown up in what was once the Western Interior Seaway, I had to have a crack at that. Through the builds, we stayed in contact, and Dave put it out there I could be making a living from this.

That suggestion stayed in my head, and when my wonderful wife said I should go for it, that is when EXEtinct was born. Of course, I wanted no part in the admin, so Dawn has very kindly set up a business and manages me. I just love the animals, the art, and making things for the people who enjoy the criminally under appreciated extinct animals of the past.

At the moment, our shop doesn’t offer an enormous variety. To be fair, there are others who do that, and they do a great job. We don’t have that in mind. We want to concentrate on the roads less travelled, focusing on species we know have fans out there…

We started with a jakapil. Dawn and I approached other artists for content (we love Dave but he has other clients and we’d keep him too busy!) but we needed to narrow it down - so we noticed Fabrizio at VFB Studios. Dawn saw the jakapil and loved how unique it was and fell in love. Fabrizio was amazing and came on board immediately. Agustin I had also known from a while back and I asked him if he wanted to come along. Another yes, and a dilophosaurus with feathers…so it could look like a cassowary.

We want to make a great auk, unitatherium….terror birds and Stellar’s sea cows. Gorgonopsids and preening raptors. All those poses you never see and the species you always wanted.

I also just wanted to take a minute and say thank you so much for everyone who purchases something. In the last few years the cost of living has hit everyone, and that custom is really appreciated. Likewise, it isn’t easy being an artist in this day and age where many expect AI to make everything at a moment’s notice. So thank you so much.

Thanks for reading, and we hope you’ll stick around. We plan to be in this for a while.