Sauropelta (Wild Safari by Safari Ltd)

4.8 (23 votes)

Between marauding packs of Deinonychus and the hulking Acrocanthosaurus, the nodosaurid Sauropelta lived in extremely dangerous times. Fortunately, the “lizard shield” was more than capable of defending itself.

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The 2015 Wild Safari Sauropelta measures 19 cm long from nose to tail tip. Its body is coloured sandy brown with grey for its beak, underbelly, claws, and the small scutes running along its sides. The larger scutes are grey with blackened tips and the teeny tiny eyes are light orange.

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This individual is sculpted in a walking pose with its head looking to the left and its tail swinging slightly to the right. One can almost hear the clicking of its spikes as they come together. There is an air of determination and purpose about it. This is an animal that knows danger is always afoot, that it must constantly be on alert, yet it presses on like a brave knight of old. If necessary, it will dish out as much punishment as it receives. Possibly more.

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The Sauropelta‘s back is completely covered by an intricate network of scutes. The ones over the front half of the animal are very bumpy while those over the hip region are smoother. The neck is protected by two rows of large, sharp spikes, with a giant pair jutting out from above the shoulders. Smaller spikes run along the animal’s sides, and in twin rows down the length of the tail. Although there is no bony club (as is the case with all nodosaurids), a blow from that prickly tail would still be quite painful. The legs and underbelly are unarmoured, but their sculpting is no less impressive, with countless scales and a few wrinkles for defining the musculature. The feet have the correct number of toes.

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In terms of appearance, accuracy, detail, and play value, the Wild Safari Sauropelta simply shines. This is one of the best ankylosaur toys I’ve ever come across. Get it if you can!

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Available from Amazon.com here.

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Comments 14

  • Ah, Mr. Sauropelta, really don’t know much about you or how you look like, since you look differently from one’s perspective to another’s. Still, despite your bland desert colors, you my friend, have tons of amazing details that I’m not even concerned about the trivial stuff like your feet or your head. In fact, your shoulder spikes remind me of my old favorite, Polacanthus. And so does your pebbly pelvic buckler, kinda like the WWD model. I’d settle for you though, you’re perfect the way you are.

  • Amazing figurine, definitely one of the best ankylosaurs out there in terms of detail. Shame they still got the feet wrong (too many claws, the front feet should have the two outer digits as clawless nubs)! Feet seem to be a major sticking point for artists doing dinosaurs, not just sauropods…

    • I asked that question directly to Ken Carpenter when I was sculpting it and it was his opinion that it had claws on all digits. That is a centrosaurus manus in your image by the way.

      • Most the pity good sir your work is hardly noticed without a proper paint scheme, without even a dark wash or dry brush to accent the details certainly was a missed opportunity. Do you have any input in choosing the colour pallet? Because this one could have benefited greatly from paint layering.

  • Definitely the best of Safari 2015, although the skull “knobs” may be a bit fanciful as in more Ankylosaur than Nodosaur. See: http://tolweb.org/Nodosauridae

    • The postorbital horn and jugal horn were based on personal correspondence with Ken Carpenter and an image of a partial skull he shared from the Yale collections that showed those elements as well as a restored skull from the AMNH.

  • What scale is it?

  • It is a Great Figure!

  • Unfortunately the negatively Sauropelta differs with respect to the prototype as the majority of the figures where dinosaurs Safari especially include coloration with much more favorable details.

    Yet the figure is magnificent and paleontological match fees from my humble point of view and that is why I gave the highest score.

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