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Monthly Archives: January 2010

Triceratops (Carnegie Collection by Safari ltd)

Posted on January 24, 2010 by Griffin | 14 Comments

Review and photos by Griffin

Ever since it was discovered in the late 1800s, Triceratops has remained one of the most well known and iconic dinosaurs of all time. By this I mean it’s actually one of those dinosaur names that an average person with no interest in paleontology taken off of the street would know (A true honor only a select few kinds of dinosaurs have ever been able to claim). It was one of the last dinosaurs ever to be alive during the Maastrichtian at the tail end of the Cretaceous as well as being the largest of the Ceratopsian dinosaurs, measuring 26 to 30 feet from beak to tail. This model by Carnegie was part of its original lineup in 1988 but has been released over a few times since then. The one you see here is the latest from 2007.

Triceratops (Carnegie Collection by Safari ltd)

Many of Carnegie’s older dinosaurs have recently been re-released with new paintjobs (Allosaurus, Iguanodon, Stegosaurus to name a few). The funny thing about this one, however, is that it was replaced by a completely different sculpt of Triceratops several years ago that was seemingly more up to date. Then, for some reason the folks at Carnegie decided to bring the old one back for a third time, replacing its replacement (Confusing, I know). Honestly neither sculpt is completely accurate.

Triceratops (Carnegie Collection by Safari ltd)

The most impressive thing about this figure in my opinion is the positioning of the limbs and its pose. For a very long time, ceratopsians were always depicted in a sprawling, lizard-like pose, hinting at the assumption that they were sluggish, clumsy creatures. Carnegie, however, modeled their Trike in a very upright, active pose, very reminiscent of a large modern mammal. This is odd since some of their other models from the same time, like their Apatosaurus for instance, remain very old fashioned. I’m not complaining though.

Triceratops (Carnegie Collection by Safari ltd)

The head is nicely sculpted with a very sharp and angular look. When viewed face to face, a clear triangle can be drawn connecting each of the three horns. Unfortunately the head also seems a tiny bit too small in proportion to the rest of the body when I look at it. In addition, I also think the frill could afford to be larger. The last two things about this model I find inaccurate are both due to the age of the piece. The first is the mouth. Unlike modern reconstructions of ceratopsians with cheeks, this one clearly has a mouth that opens all the way back like a lizard’s and is made even more visible by the presence of red paint. It puzzles me that while applying a new paintjob, they chose to make this outdated feature stand out. The other problem with the figure is its feet. Not only are they crudely sculpted but they are columnar and elephant-like. It is now believed that ceratopsian digits were more splayed.

Triceratops (Carnegie Collection by Safari ltd)

The paint on this figure is very different from all the Carnegie triceratops before it, which sported a base color of gray. This one, however, is a rich golden brown color accented by chocolaty brown along the back, around the frill and on the face. The horns and beak are gray and the toenails are black. The eyes are painted dark, glossy black-brown which I really like. It looks like the eye of a buffalo or other large herbivorous mammal (which triceratops most likely would have behaved like in its day) rather than the cold yellow eye of a reptile.

All in all I would say this isn’t the best Triceratops model out there, but it’s still not bad, especially considering the sculpt is over 20 years old! If you are a ceratopsian lover like me, I say go for it. Like many of Carnegie’s dinosaurs it is 1:40 scale and can easily be obtained at any store or museum that already has Carnegies.

Available from Safari.com (here) and Amazon.com (here)

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Posted in Carnegie, ceratopsian, Safari Ltd

Tagged dinosaur, toy, Triceratops

Triceratops (Papo)

Posted on January 23, 2010 by Marc Vincent | 11 Comments

In my previous review of Papo’s Parasaurolophus, I pointed out that not all Papo’s pre-Allosaurus dinosaur figures were necessarily Jurassic Park copies – but this Triceratops definitely is. It will therefore be more appealing to JP fans than anyone else, but like all Papo figures it’s quite a nice piece in its own right. If we excuse the colour scheme.

The biggest Jurassic Park-giveaway are the horns, which, just as in the movies, are bizarrely covered with spidery cracks to the point where they resemble fossils. The beak has also been rendered this way, and all in a rather unpleasant grey. In life the horns would have had a much smoother appearance, more like the horns on animals alive today and in, well, pretty much every other restoration of Triceratops.

Other than this odd little nod to JP, there’s nothing very wrong with the head, which is of course where the eye is drawn to on a beast like this. The structure of the skull is visible under the skin, there are skin folds around the edge of the beak, and its cheeks look quite hollow, which corresponds well with recent research. The skin darkens to black around the eyes, which are white with brown irises, giving them a peculiarly human appearance.

One thing I’ve always liked about Papo’s dinosaurs (along with Kinto Favorite) is that they’re covered in scales, with no wrinkly or cross-hatching cop-out, so the details hold up on close inspection. This Triceratops is no exception, with scales of varying sizes all over the body, including rows of larger oval scales that stand out over the back and flanks – another feature probably inspired by JP.

Although retaining a characteristically stocky, herbivorous appearance, it’s not all podgy and shapeless by any means – the muscles controlling the powerful forelimbs in particular are very obvious. Another plus is that the feet are not elephantine or like those of sauropods. Ceratopsians did have clearly differentiated digits (by modern accounts) and these are made very obvious on this toy. (I can’t remember if the Jurassic Park version did or not – answers on a postcard! Or in the comment box.)

Of course it’s not completely accurate, but it’s another very good effort for a toy line that, as I’ve said before, purports to do nothing more than appeal to Jurassic Park-loving kids and sell by the truckload, and does not have the endorsement of a museum. However, this toy has one serious letdown – the aforementioned colour scheme, which is pretty nasty for a Papo dino. The entire creature is an almost uniform brown that one might charitably describe as, er, ‘chocolate’. There’s also a little grey on its underside, which clashes rather with details on the head. The overall effect is to make the figure very unattractive to look at, which is a real shame given the care and attention that obviously went into the sculpt, and the fact that Triceratops is a favourite dinosaur among many people, as well as being a dinosaur toy staple. I would urge Papo to consider this figure for a repainted re-release as they have done with their Velociraptor, as it’s crying out for a paintjob that isn’t so plain and ugly. Something more like their stock photo would be grand.

In all, a fine JP-inspired figure let down by an atrocious colour scheme that makes it look far too much like a giant, um, mound of…mud. Here’s hoping the pachyrhinosaur being released later this year sees Papo giving ceratopsians a little more painterly love.

(One final thing: apparently this toy has been painted differently in different countries. I bought mine from a UK stockist operating online; apparently in Spain they have been seen coloured green. Let me know if you have seen it looking more attractive than here!)

Available from Amazon.com (here)