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Monthly Archives: August 2010

Afrovenator (CollectA) (New for 2010)

Posted on August 29, 2010 by cordylus | 2 Comments

Afrovenator - that’s one most people haven’t (and won’t) heard of. It almost makes me surprised that CollectA did one (but I guess if any of the mainstream dinosaur companies were to do one, it would be them).

Afrovenator itself was a megalosaur (or allosaur or spinosaur, does anybody even know?) from mid-jurassic Africa, who was about thirty feet long, and was presumably a pretty nasty fellow. This figure’s sculpt seems to be a passable restoration of him. The skull should be a little taller, and the teeth should be MUCH longer (the fangs on this guy were huge!). The nostrils should be a little higher up on the skull, and the postorbital fenestrae should be a little larger. Oh, and the way they hands are positioned is wrong (but really, you should know that). The sculpt does have some good points though; the scales are nicely sculpted and there’s nice ridges of spines on his back.

The coloration of this guy has to be my favorite part about him. It’s very subtle but very nice. Just a light tan on the belly with a darker olive green on top, with some darker blue green tiger stripes. I think this might be a male, due to the facial coloration, which is very bright orange. The eyes are a reddish brown, with slit pupils (this guy was nocturnal!). The claws are black, but the hallux toes’ claws aren’t painted at all.

Now, the pose. It looks ridiculously kinky, unless you have a puddle of water or a dinosaur carcass in front of it. If you have the rest of the CollectA 2010 set, be sure to not place your Tsintaosaurus behind him

All in all, if you can get past the common CollectA shortcomings which are present here, this is one to get. It’s only about $5, and at about 6 inches long this dinosaur is not too small nor too large. Reviewer recommended!

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Posted in CollectA, Procon, theropod

Tagged 2010 release, Afrovenator, dinosaur, toy

Parasaurolophus (Battat)(Boston Museum of Science)

Posted on August 27, 2010 by Dan | 8 Comments

Review by Dan Liebman, Photos by Mat Hockett

No dinosaur figure collection is complete without Parasaurolophus. While some may outclass her in a popularity contest, she is certainly the most well-known of all hadrosaurs. Her signature crest provides instant recognition, and this reconstruction for the Battat line includes a rarely-depicted stretch of skin running from the crest to the neck.

In recent years, paleontologists like Scott Sampson have contended that many of the exotic features so often found in dinosaurs were actually display structures. Indeed, many appear too fragile to be used in rigorous combat, so it is possible they were used to identify their species and attract mates.

The Battat dinosaurs are known for their flashy color schemes, but it’s plain to see that some extra attention was spent on the crest of this animal. It’s likely the artists also interpreted this as a showy structure, and collectors will no doubt nod feverishly at the suggestion that these figures were “ahead of their time.”

The golden body is lined with cyan along the back, a color which echoes across the entire length of the body and culminates at the head. A series of dark marks underscore the pattern from the ribcage, and continuing on to the anterior of the animal. Many companies seem to skimp on hadrosaurs, perhaps assuming their efforts should be focused on species that will sell better, but no effort seems to have been spared with this piece. Even the eyes are unusually intense for a hadrosaur replica.

Fortunately, the Parasaurolophus is only a moderately rare figure by Battat standards, so they tend to show up on eBay with some regularity. Prices can fluctuate of course, but this one rarely exceeds the $60 range. For any fan of the species, this is easily a must-have, and certainly one of the finest renditions of Parasaurolophus walkeri ever to be produced.