Albertosaurus (Jurassic World: Massive Biters by Mattel)

Repaints have been a mainstay of every single Jurassic Park and Jurassic World toyline since the very beginning, but retools are much less common. Probably the most famous and popular retool is the 2009 Tyrannosaurus rex by Hasbro that was created using Kenner’s Lost World Bull from more than a decade earlier. And one of the most recent retools from Mattel is the Massive Biters Albertosaurus. Albertosaurus is among the best known tyrannosaurids, with over 30 fossil specimens, and at ten metres in length and four tons in weight, it may well have been the second largest one in North America after You Know Who. 😉

Mattel’s first Albertosaurus toy was released in 2019 as part of the Battle Damage series. A repaint decked out in light blue and yellow was subsequently released in early 2020. And later that same year, the Massive Biters version began showing up in stores (albeit probably not nearly as many stores as fans would like!). Now, I’m not going to bother talking about the sculpting or the accuracy of this toy, as my friend Gwangi already did an excellent job of that in his review of the 2019 version. Instead, I shall focus on what is new about it.

Let us first discuss the colours. This tyrannosaurid is decked out in pea green with sandy yellow for the lower jaw and airbrushed on the throat and chest. Flat orange is streaked on both sides of the head, neck, and torso. The eyes are yellow, the inside of the mouth is dark pink, the teeth are white, and the hind claws are dark brown. I like this colour scheme a lot more than the one on the second Battle Damage Albertosaurus, but it’s more of a tossup when compared to the first version.

Gone are the large wound gimmick on the right side of the rib cage and the slashes on the right thigh. Indeed, there are no visible signs of injury on this beast to speak of. The legs still rotate at the hips and ankles, but the arms now boast universal joints in the shoulders as opposed to mere rotating ones. And the lower jaw, neck, and tail are a whole new story.

Yes, the Albertosaurus now boasts the exact same gimmick as its relative the Tarbosaurus. Pressing the large button on the tail causes the lower jaw to open and close and twisting the tail itself from side to side causes the head and neck to turn in unison. It’s not as elaborate as the motion range on the much larger Epic Roarin’ T. rex or the Control n’ Conquer Carnotaurus, but it’s still pretty fun, especially when you twist and press on the tail rapidly. This Albertosaurus is chomping and chattering up a storm!

As with all the Mattel toys I’ve reviewed for the blog, I find the Massive Biters Albertosaurus to be quite a lot of fun and definitely something young dinosaur fans in particular will enjoy playing with. Indeed, of the three Alberta lizard toys that Mattel has released so far, I definitely feel that this one is the best.