Monthly Archives: December 2007

The Battat Acrocanthosaurus is almost impossible to find nowadays. But there’s a good reason for that: it’s a beautiful replica that puts to shame almost any other version.

Chronologically speaking, the Acrocanthosaurus is an appropiate choice for Battat. In 1996, the first reconstructed skeleton of this early Cretaceous theropod (known as ‘Fran’) was unveiled. The Battat version, dated 1996 too, is clearly based on that reconstruction.

The Acrocanthosaurus’ solid body is mostly dark green, with a black pattern on its back. The arms are completely black, too. The claws have a discreet tone of grey, while the eyes are fiery red. The mouth, however, has a very curious shade of purple.
Whether the Acrocanthosaurus was an Allosaurid or a Spinosaurid, nobody knows for sure, the debate rages still. But the Battat version does resemble a Spinosaurid because of its long snout. The teeth are delicate, just like the tongue and facial expression. The skin has the trademark Battat wrinkles, which makes it very realistic.

I think the strange sail is the notorious feature of this theropod. Battat’s version has its sail well hidden beneath the skin, which makes this replica unique (unlike Carnegie’s, whose sail is rather crude)

Perhaps the only bad thing about it is that the front part of the body is too massive, so it seems a bit disproportionate and it always falls on its snout without proper support. Even so, ‘Fran’ ranks high among my favourites. I really hope some other company re-releases the whole Battat set.

No longer in production, but sometimes become available from www.ebay.com

Review and photo by Tomhet