Madagascar has always been an island of oddities. From giant lemurs to horned crocodiles, there are a lot of interesting species to see. The Mesozoic likewise has some interesting animals, such as the late Cretaceous Madagascan monster Majungasaurus, an Abelisaurid known for being cannibalistic. It was the king of Cretaceous Madagascar, the apex predator of it’s time and place. There are a few models out there, and it’s starting to build in popularity. This year sees the release of a new model via Schleich. Let’s see how they did!
This model has a fantastic sculpt, I do love the moulding on this figure. The pose is dynamic, roaring and moving to attack. The jaw can open and shut, exposing it’s tongue, which is overly red for my taste. It looks decent at some angles, such as head on, but often looks better with the jaws shut. The colour scheme is similar to a king snake, I feel like it works quite well here, especially the black around the eyes. It’s a decent size, measuring 9″ long and 6.5″ high, not bad for a mid sized theropod.
Now accuracy! This is a bit of a mix, often the way for Schleich. The feet are oversized, not uncommon among theropod models that want to avoid tripod poses or bases. Also oversized are the arms. Abelisaurids are famous for having arms smaller than Tyrannosaurs, but here they are on par, far too big, though having the right number of digits to it. The tail is dynamic, but I am not convinced it would be able to move like that. Aside from that, the model is good, the head and muscular neck being on point. Very mixed here.
While not the most accurate model, I do like the sculpt work and paint job. It’s main competition is the Jurassic World model, which does feel a little too cartoony in comparison, though more accurate. I leave it to those reading to decide which is better, but I am glad I got this one. It is available in shops and online, so easy to get, and I do feel worth giving a shot to.
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It may need some heavy customization, but I like the sculpt of the head and need a Majungansaurus badly since Vitae´s failed to become part of my collection.
It’s a pretty good figure, I was even thinking of getting it but I can’t get past the visible veins on the tail and the black wash on the teeth. Too bad. I hope Schleich will make better theropods in the future though, most of all I’d like them to make a new Velociraptor that’s based on the real animal.
The Mattel Majungasaurus is not more accurate than Schleich’s. It has a head that’s too small, a wonky jawline, the wrong number of fingers and weird spines sprouting from odd areas.
Nice review and article, honestly for me it is the best Schleich 2022 dinosaur, that is one of the reasons why I have made a pre-order as a priority compared to the rest of the Schleich 2022 figures.
Thanks to Schleich for making one of the rarest theropods in the fossil record and one of my favorite theropods. The color and the sculpture is great with a differential to the rest of the dinosaur figures and the prehistoric world of Schleich 2022.
I’m really on the fence with this one. I’m a fan of abelisaurs in general, but the long arms are disappointing and the coloration really reminds me of a clownfish more than a king snake.
It should be noted this colour scheme is stolen from the Dinosaur King Majungasaurus.
I honestly was going to, but the colouration and patterns are different enough to differentiate before I shout plagiarized.
I don’t know why people make such a fuss about such influences anyway. If I was an artist and my work inspired the painting of a toy/figure, I’d be excited and happy! It would mean someone thought highly enough about my work to influence theirs!
I would feel that way too, but this wasn’t lifted from a paleoartist, but from a large media franchise. One that had plenty of toys of its own. So I can’t imagine they would be very pleased.
that’s irrelevant. Someone was still commissioned (paid) to make that dinosaur that color scheme. An artist is an artist regardless of if it’s for a book or a media franchise
Well, I can’t speak for anyone else, but I would be pretty angry if somebody took ‘inspiration’ from my work in this way.
Hmmm. Not bad. I won’t be getting it, but not bad; a little better than I anticipated
Not great, but not bad either. It looks like Schleich did a solid job on on fine sculpt details and coloration; if only they had been so rigorous with overall proportions.