A great dinosaur figure is a figure I can´t take my eyes off.
A great dinosaur figure is a figure I want to hold in my hand again and again, just to enjoy how it feels. The texture of the skin, ist detail, the spikes, the pose: Everything has to appeal to me surpassingly.
A great dinosaur figure can both be played with and at the same time claim an outstanding position on a collector´s shelf .
If it furthermore represents a strange and uncommon species, well, so much the better!
Schleich Animantarx is such a figure. It is one of their best prehistoric figure releases ever. The cases of good Schleich figures have been heaping up over the last three or so years, although they had many flops as well. But noone can deny the charme their Pentaceratops reveals , and their latest version of Spinosaurs easily outplays their other versions and can even keep up to the latest CollectA and Safari versions.
And as I always say on the forum, I give credit where credit is due.
I have to admit that I always used to underestimate Ankylosaur figures. Too boring seemed the overall anatomy of Ankylosaurs. But already Papo Ankylosaurus showed: It´s all a matter of posture. And a matter of the attitude the sculptor took as a basis fort he sculpt.
With Schleich, I can´t help but thinking either they have differently gifted sculptors. Or they have got one sculptor only who is bipolar.
Somehow or other, this sculpt is a success. As Papo did with their Ankylosaurus, Schleich interrupted the pattern of illustrating Ankylosaurs as sluggish, round tons on four legs.
Animantarx , meaning ‘living citadel’, is a genus of nodosaurid ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of western North America. Like other nodosaurs, it would have been a slow-moving quadrupedal herbivore covered in heavy armor scutes, but without a tail club. The skull measures approximately 25 cm (10 inches) in length, suggesting the animal as a whole was no more than 3 meters (10 feet) long.
To my knowledge, this is ist only representation as a figure. The figure itself is about 13,5 cm long and has a shoulder height of approximately 4,5 cm, while the highest spike rises 5 cm and the tip oft he clubless tail even 7,7 cm. It´s made of the Schleich plastic which feels different from the material of any other company. Each company seems to have their own blend. I don´t find the word for Schleich´s blend; maybe “clumsy ” or “heavy” describes it best.
It is scientifically correct as far as I can see. All the spikes are at the right places and the knuckles cover its back. But the number of the digits and the positions of the inner ones on both front and hind legs could be problematic. I could not tell by looking at skeleton pictures on the web, but probably an expert can help out in the comment section. However, this would not cloud the overall impression of this figure.
If I had to write about downers, I would hint at the figure´s relatively uninspired colour-scheme and the lack of a cloaca opening.
I especially appreciate the armor plate, the vivid pose and the all black eyes, making the figure look very vivid and even cute to a certain extend. The muzzle is widely open, showing a glossy tongue.
It looks like the little sister of the Papo Ankylosaurus, which is to be regarded as a compliment. And be assured, the figure looks better in reality than on pictures.
Here, in short, is my conclusion: Schleich Animantarx is one oft he best Ankylosaur figures out there. Again, we have a toy that joins the hopefully growing gang of pleasant Schleich dinosaur figure releases.
From me, it gets five out of five stars.
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És mi van ha éppen menekül?
Amúgy szerintem könnyen az elmúlt 10 év legjobb Schleich figurája.
Megvan!
i have some mixed feelings about this figure. Overall it’s good but the very blunt shoulder spikes and overly stubby tail I don’t like.
As to the pose; I may get two of the figures and pose them as a couple of males posturing for dominance.
I have always been anti Schleich. I have one Schleich figure, the Utahraptor, which is hidden in a drawer because it’s not hat bad. Having said that, I like this figure . I can see the tail in this position while reproducing or laying eggs perhaps. I also get a little tired of reviewers who get all their Safari LTD figures free, heaping praise on every figure released, no matter how average they are, and rarely giving credit to their competition. Hey may want to put a disclaimer beside their reviews. Signed, Six million dollar saurus
For what it’s worth, I think all or nearly all the Safari figures reviewed on the blog have been purchased by the reviewers. CollectA, PNSO, and Recur have all sent copies to reviewers for consideration, however.
This may not be the best pose for egg laying. Egg laying would most likely involve squatting at the back, not elevating the hips….want to minimize the dropping distance for the eggs.
However the pose could be used for intraspecific combat, as I suggested above, or perhaps spraying urine or feces (both of which would come from the cloaca) to mark territory….although that is more of a mammal thing.
Defending a nest from small predators would be another good use for the pose.
I hope this won’t sound harsh. If you feel the posture of this figure and the Papo Ankylosaurus is needed to make an ankylosaur figure interesting, then it might just be that you don’t really like ankylosaurs. That tail flung up posture of the Schleich Animantarx and Papo Ankylosaurus is absurd and doesn’t make sense. At least in the Ankylosaurus it’s also impossible due to how in ankylosaurids the last half of the tail is formed of connected bones that render it stiff – that’s what forms the “handle” of their tail club.
The way the tail is flung up in the Schleich Animantarx and Papo Ankylosaurus makes them look like they’re crazy. If you’re looking for more believable dynamic postures in ankylosaur figures, I’d suggest the Wild Safari Ankylosaurus, Battat Euoplocephalus or CollectA Gastonia. I find calmer poses work just as well on ankylosaur figures, for example: Wild Safari Sauropelta, Carnegie Ankylosaurus. Personally, I find the overall anatomy of ankylosaurs quite interesting. I like how well protected they were and how they had less to worry about as a result. I certainly don’t need them to be portrayed as crazy creatures to find them interesting.
I also think the tails in the air look silly, I prefer a more natural pose. The raised tail makes it look like it is in a fight, like how certain people imagine dinosaurs to be in perpetual combat, whereas all dinosaurs, to me, look better when presented as the animals they are.
Saurian’s Ankylosaurus has five fingers (three with claws) and three toes (all clawed). Their Denversaurus has five fingers (three with claws) and four toes (all clawed). As such, I think the general rule is that ankylosaurids have five fingers (three with claws) and three toes (all clawed), while nodosaurs (like this Animantarx) have five fingers three with claws) and four toes (all clawed).
Am I in the twilight zone right now? Why does this thing have 4.5 stars? What does the reviewer say it’s one of the greatest Ankylosaur figures of all time? What is happening? Are our standards for Schleich this low? All I see here is a descent little figure with oversize extremities, a stubby tail, and some painfully average detail and paint work.
Am I legitimately missing something? because I don’t think I can imagine a more unremarkable Dinosaur figure than this thing right here.
Schleich’s animantarx is almost perfect. The only objection that the figure presents me with is that it has eyes and a slightly childish expression of the head, that is, the sculpture is good but the only problem that I find in that figure is the head is the only thing that from my honest point of view I can not find a realistic view, it seems like the head and I say it with all my love for the sculptor, but I have to be honest with the Walt Disney Valley Enchanted movie. Otherwise an excellent figure and I have put four stars.
I personally have the same opinion. What a nice figure of a nodosaur. Now, let’s see a review on the CollectA Borealopelta.