The Dinosaur Toy Blog

When I saw the Takara Tomy Tyrannosaurus on eBay, I was intrigued – had someone finally made a plastic T. rex that sported ‘protofeathers’? Naturally, I snapped one up and, of course, I received this Triceratops instead. Never mind…it’s still worthy of examination.

Tomy (as the company is known in the West) have produced a series of small figures, approximately Dinotales size, that (like Dinotales) require a little self-assembly, although unlike Dinotales the figures slot into ‘museum plinths’ for display. Unusually – for every dinosaur except T. rex, anyway – the animals’ specific as well as generic names are given. So, for once, we can be certain the animal modelled here is supposed to be Triceratops horridus rather than T. prorsus, and judge its merits as such. Hurrah.

For some reason, even the real cheap-arse end of the Japanese dinosaur toy market manages to produce figures that are remarkably anatomically correct. This Triceratops isn’t perfect, but the sculptor hasn’t made many of the most common mistakes that afflict models of this genus – for example, it correctly sports two reduced, clawless digits on each hand, a short tail, and a squarish, chasmosaurine frill. The head may be a little too large relative to the body, the chest area doesn’t appear to be deep enough and the feet are inaccurate, but overall it’s not bad.

More up for contention is the way the animal’s mouth has been restored – with lizardy ‘lips’ rather than the cheek tissue we are used to seeing. Really, it’s a matter of opinion as to which option is the more likely. I’ve always found Triceratops much more attractive with gorgeous, fulsome…cheeks, but even if you share my slightly worrying viewpoint the ‘lippy look’ detracts little from the sculpt. It does also mean that, upon close inspection, you can see miniscule teeth inside the mouth (which I must say I was pleasantly surprised about).

If anything does detract from the sculpt, then it’s probably the paintwork. The painting of some small details is a little bit fudged, and there are errant splashes of paint here and there. More importantly, though, the colour scheme is just plain boring – the figure is a pretty much uniform elephantine grey colour.  While I’m not suggesting that such a huge animal should be decked out for a carnival, a few extra shades on the flanks or coloured patterns on the frill wouldn’t have gone amiss.

All in all this is a figure I’ve warmed to since it turned up by mistake; the relative crudity of the paintwork (at least, when compared with the insanely immaculate and tiny detailing on the Dinotales models) can mask what is otherwise a quite well-executed sculpt. And it’s very cheap to boot. Worth a shot.

First things first – this is yet another “Ankylosaurus” model that is nothing of the sort, instead rather obviously being based on Euoplocephalus (would giving these figures the correct name really harm their commercial prospects that much?). It’s also Papo’s very latest dinosaur, released a few months ago and well overdue the Dinosaur Toy Blog treatment.

Papo’s legions of screaming fans (maybe) will be pleased to know that this figure continues the company’s tradition of preposterous detailing and immaculate paint schemes, the likes of which have often made other manufacturers’ efforts look plain embarrassing. A few may complain that it’s a little on the brown side, but it’s still one of the few dinosaur toys that one can use the word ‘sumptuous’ about with a straight face. Every fine detail – scutes and spikes, eyes, tongue – is painted flawlessly. In terms of aesthetics, Papo remain without peer at this price point, and the careful paintwork even puts some expensive resin models to shame.

The pose is an interesting one. Thanks mostly to their bulky, squat frame, the majority of ankylosaur figures tend to have fairly similar poses – just standing or walking with the tail swinging out to one side. However, Papo’s “Ankylosaurus” is posed crouching, as if to brace itself, with its tail swinging wildly up into the air. Such an inventive, exciting pose is definitely worthy of commendation, and really makes the toy stand out among its more static peers. Being frozen in such a pose may limit its playability for kids, but there’s no doubt that any dino-mad child (or man-child, ahem) would be thrilled to receive a figure like this anyway.

Anatomically there are certainly flaws, as usual, although this is far from being the most severely flawed figure in the Papo range (dare I mention the horrible Oviraptor again?). Apart from it being a Euoplocephalus rather than an Ankylosaurus, the head is too large for the body, and the tail rather too short. Most significantly though, the body fails to reflect the true nature of ankylosaur anatomy, that is to say incredibly wide-hipped and strange. The similarly mislabelled Favorite “Ankylosaurus“ shows how it should be done, even if it is not quite as lovely to look at.

Still – and speaking as someone who has gained a bit of a reputation for nitpicking – this is not a figure that should be passed up (or destroyed on sight, like the Oviraptor). In spite of the anatomical errors this is a beautifully made plastic dinosaur at a very reasonable price, and I highly recommend it. Now if only Papo would consult with palaeontologists when developing their figures – THEN we would have hands-down the best dinosaur toy range in the world. One can but dream…

Available from eBay stores here

A number of dinosaurs in the Wild Safari line have been subject to resculpts, but the most famous dinosaur of all is unique in having been revised twice. The iffy original was replaced by an abysmal Jurassic Park-esque affair back in 2006; it was almost reminiscent of the Papo T. rex, but with none of the high-quality detailing or copyright-infringing charm. This year Safari are back for one more try and – although flawed – the resulting toy is a huge improvement over its predecessors.

This toy caught people’s attention when it was first announced thanks to its bipedal stance, which remains quite unusual in Tyrannosaurus figures. The pose is indeed an uncommonly dynamic one, and the figure is very steady on its feet without any assistance; the feet also look less awkward than in the similarly-posed Favorite model. This has come at a cost, however, as the feet are also noticeably exaggerated in size. That said, it doesn’t detract from the model too much and the attractive stance is probably worth it. Unfortunately, the anatomical flaws don’t end there.

Tyrannosaurus‘ highly specialised mega-head is what often draws people’s attention (and with those arms, it’s hardly surprising). Here a respectable effort’s been made to make the head lifelike, with plenty of scaly detail and all facial features (nostrils, ears etc.) present and correct. However, the mandible appears to be dislocated, as muscles that should attach it to the cranium at the rear just aren’t there. The result is that the skull appears to have just been stuck on the end of the neck without too much thought as to how it would all work. (The eyes are too low down and large too, but I’m more willing to forgive them on that one. Being the lovely man that I am. At least the face is nicely symmetrical.)

As can be seen in the above picture, the arms – while not broken (HURRAH!) – are still far too long. It seems like everyone makes a big deal of T. rex‘s small arms without ever realising how comparatively piddly they actually were – although T. rex could totally have taken an abelisaur in an arm-wrestling contest (or indeed a human), describing its forelimbs as ‘highly atrophied’ is probably not hyperbole.

Still, and in spite of all this, the figure has a lot going for it. The low price is an important factor, but just as with its neo-Wild Safari contemporaries it’s a lovingly detailed and scaly figure, with some well-defined musculature (even if the shoulder area looks a bit bony), a barrel chest and a paint job that is, for the most part, nice and subtle as befits such a huge creature. While the overall paint application is praiseworthy it does seem that the guy who painted the teeth was retiring the next day, as in that area it is rather sloppy. At least it gives Tyrannosaurus the opportunity to star in the next ‘Got Milk?’ ad.

In the end, though, I’m disappointed that this figure didn’t live up to the standard set by the Wild Safari Allosaurus. And that’s not really fair – the Allosaurus is a truly exceptional figure, and given their track record it was unlikely that Safari would produce a T. rex to match it. This is a good figure in its own right, and given its bipedal stance and correctly-positioned arms it’s one of the best in the 1:50 – 1:30 scale range.

Available from eBay stores here

Review by Niroot ‘Himmapaan’ Puttapipat

The first reader to name more than three good hypsilophodontid figures gets a bean bun.

The scarcity of this family of dinosaurs in toy and model form is still a puzzle to me and something I’d long lamented. I can’t be alone in prizing neat, understated elegance over the populist vulgarity of teeth and claws, surely?

Thanks in large part to the BBC’s Walking With Dinosaurs (1999), the beautifully named Leaellynasaura amicagraphica (how could I omit such a wonderful species suffix?) has secured a fairly wide recognition; and Toyway’s figure, produced to accompany the series, is perhaps the best representation of this dinosaur and indeed of any hypsilophodont available.

The aquiline head, slender legs and other notable graceful characteristics are all present and admirably proportioned. I’ve been informed that all the Toyway figures in this series were modelled directly from the original digital prototypes created for the documentary. The drawback of this, of course, as with all the others in the series, is that it has resulted in this static and rather uninspiring ‘diagrammatic’ pose. The hands are unfortunately pronated; though as this was created during the tail-end of the nineties, I can forgive this very easily. Leaellynasaura also possessed particularly large eyes, so I might have preferred these to be larger in the figure, though one could argue that they do have a slightly heavy-lidded appearance here, thus concealing their full extent. Perhaps it is sleepy…

The most significant inaccuracy, however, is the tail, which in the actual Leaellynasaura comprised an astonishing 75% of the animal’s entire length. The tail (because I did my homework and am anxious to display it, so there) also lacked ossified tendons and could have been very flexible, and it has been suggested that the dinosaur might have been able to wrap its tail around its body for warmth during the long winters of its Antarctic habitat, not unlike modern arctic foxes and other long-tailed animals. If so, this would accord well with the idea that it might have been covered in some form of ‘dinofuzz’. However, as a conjectural feature, the latter’s absence in the figure couldn’t be deemed a real flaw, and the tail’s remarkable length was only recently affirmed in 2008, so its deficiency here is entirely forgivable.

The figure is painted in a subdued scheme of mottled dark brown with green stripes: a simplified version of the one used in the television series. It may not be terribly imaginative or vibrant, but, together with the dry-brush-like technique of the application, does lend much naturalism to the figure. That said, the unpainted areas of the figure’s fleshy brown material tends to give the whole the curious effect of having been played with a good deal — even one in mint condition. But this, too, is easily overlooked.

My only real and extremely minor complaint is the mask-like appearance caused by the distinct ‘separation’ at the back of the head where it meets the neck. When stared at long enough, this can over-emphasize the dome-like crown of the skull, so that the head begins to assume the aspect of a goblin-like creature — or perhaps even the infamous ‘Dinosauroid‘.

I ought perhaps to mention that my figure unfortunately does not stand unaided; though I’m aware that some lucky individuals do. Parthenope here (for that is her name; shush [fruitcake - Ed]) is supported by the ‘rock’, as you see.

I recall mentioning in my first review about a year ago (these reviews are tremendous tasks, you know) that ‘small but beautifully formed things have always held my particular regard’. At just under 14cm long and about 7cm tall, this Leaellynasaura is a small and beautifully formed figure of a small and beautifully formed dinosaur. If the tail poses a real concern for anyone, you may easily name it as another hypsilophodont of your choice (my flexibility in these matters alarms purists, but I am prepared to brave their consternation). Like other Walking with Dinosaurs figures, it has long been out of production, but does crop up on eBay now and again.

Niroot Puttapipat is a professional illustrator and all-round upstanding gentleman. Be sure to check out his DeviantArt page for additional dinosaurs and much, much more besides.