Tyrannosaurus rex (Electronic Deluxe by Chap Mei)

Chap Mei is well known for producing cheap, slightly over-the-top dinosaur toys to be sold under a wide variety of labels. They can currently be found at Toys R Us as part of the Animal Planet toyline.

Here we have Chap Mei’s electronic Tyrannosaurus rex. This iconic beast stands around 17 cm tall and measures 27 cm long. It is posed in a classic attack stance with its small arms outreached and its deadly mouth open in a thunderous roar.

The main colours on this toy are black and blue-green with white markings on the throat and flanks, blood red on the back of the neck and the head, white teeth, translucent green eyes, and a translucent green tongue tipped with red. Looks sufficiently sinister and intimidating. The look is diminished, however, by the unpainted claws and the five screwholes on the toy’s right side. There are also some small slits on the left flank to allow for the sound gimmick, but they’re fairly well concealed.

As far as scientific inaccuracies go, this T. rex has them in spades. The fenestrae and brow ridges are exaggerated, the arms and feet are oversized, the wrists are pronated, and the tail is little more than a stump. And yet it’s still not as ugly as most of this year’s Jurassic World T. rexes.

The detailing on this toy is fairly good. The skin is wrinkled and pitted with thick scales on the back, belly, and feet. There are also are large osteoderms running down the neck and sides. The hips have a limited range of rotation, but there’s really no point given how the feet are sculpted. Pushing down on the forelimbs causes the lower jaw to close slightly, the eyes and tongue to light up, and a series of Godzilla-style roars to emanate. Time to attack!

Despite all its major anatomical flaws, there is no denying that this is a fun, freaky-looking T. rex, one that has plenty of personality and blends in fairly well with the JP line. I know I would have loved playing with this toy as a child. But it’s definitely not everyone’s cup of tea.