Monthly Archives: March 2010

Review and photos by Griffin.

Struthiomimus isn’t really the first dinosaur that comes to mind upon hearing the word “theropod”.  It has no giant mouth full of killer teeth.  It sports no set of shredding claws.  Instead, this quirky animal bears a striking resemblance to the modern day ostrich complete with long slender legs, swan-like neck and a tiny head with big round eyes and no teeth.  It lived towards the end of the Cretacious in what is now Canada and would have co-existed with such dinosaurs as Albertosaurus, Parasaurolophus and Styracosaurus.

This is one of those models that from a scientific standpoint isn’t so up to date but still manages to be a really awesome figure.  For inaccuracies the most glaring thing about it is the tripod stance.  It’s standing with the aid of its long tail which appears to be dragging on the ground behind it.  This could be due to the fact that its outdated or it could just be because it’s the only way the toy can stand up on its own (like much of Carnegie’s bipeds).  Either way it’s pretty safe to say the real animal would have balanced with the tail up off of the ground.  The other lesser inaccuracy that’s a little more controversial is the lack of feathers.  It is widely thought that the ornithomimids, along with many other related dinosaurs would have sported some kind of plumage on their bodies.  Again, this toy is from a time before the idea of feathered dinosaurs so I don’t hold anything against it.  Even so, no Struthimimus fossil shows any direct evidence of feathers so some could say the figure is fine the way it is in that regard also.

The figure has plenty of good features as well.  It’s beautifully proportioned for one thing. The neck is the right length complete with a head that is nice and small with big round eyes like the actual skull has.  Like all Tyco dinosaurs, the eyes themselves are not part of the sculpt but more like beads placed in which adds to the realism.  The arms and legs are the right lengths complete with the correct number of digits all of which are also the proper sizes.  I really like how the thighs seem to have a lot of muscle.  It gives the impression that despite the placement of the tail, this is a very athletic animal that could bolt off faster than an Olympic sprinter in the blink of an eye.  The figure has virtually no texture to its surface which for any other dinosaur I would consider a bad thing but for an ornithomimid, the smooth sleek feel works quite well.

The figure is a combination of three colors.  The head and the lower legs are a peachy tan color.  The lower part of the body is pale gray while the upper part and select other spots like the hands and feet are brown.  It’s a pretty safe color scheme.

Most of Tyco’s dinosaurs have some sort of action feature.  This one is extremely boring in that department.  The arms swivel.  That’s it.  Despite this I still think it’s a cool piece.  This is due mostly to the fact that ornithomimid figures are just so rare.  Of the few that I can think of off the top of my head, Tyco’s is one of the better ones.  Tyco dinosaurs are not for everyone.  Some people really have a tough time getting past the fact that they are no longer scientifically accurate.  If you aren’t one of those people and like things that are flavorful and in this case unusual, this is a piece for you.  My best recommendation on how to track down one of these would be on Ebay