With their deadly jaws, great size, and powerful tails, mosasaurs were the marine equivalent of the tyrannosaurs during the Cretaceous Period. And the most fearsome mosasaur of them all was none other than Mosasaurus itself.
One of CollectA’s greatest strengths is their dedication to reflecting the latest paleontological discoveries in their products. Mosasaurs were long thought to swim in an undulating manner similar to that of eels and sea snakes. But in 2008, a particularly well-preserved fossil of a juvenile mosasaur revealed the outline of a fleshy, triangular fluke at the end of the tail. This indicates that mosasaurs propelled themselves swiftly through the water like sharks. Hence this Mosasaurus, released in 2014, features a fantastic tail fluke. To the best of my knowledge, it is the first figure to include this feature. The tail is made of relatively soft plastic, allowing one to simulate a swimming motion.
Like any good marine predator, the Mosasaurus is dark on top and pale underneath. More specifically, its main colour is blue-grey with an attractive pattern of faint white stripes and spots, similar to those on a whale shark. Its underside is cream, its beady eyes are black, its small teeth are pearly white, and the inside of its mouth is pink.
From snout to tail tip, this toy measures around 29 cm long, the same length as the Carnegie Tylosaurus. Mosasaurus, however, was far more robust than Tylosaurus, and the same can definitely be said for this bad boy. It looks like a real powerhouse, easily capable of outmuscling anything it chooses to attack.
The roof of the Mosasaurus‘ mouth features the distinctive pterygoid teeth that enabled it to better grip struggling prey. No forked tongue though, sadly. The tail and the flippers have faint grooves to indicate the bones beneath the tissue and there are some fine wrinkles patterns around the neck and along the flanks, but for the most part, this figure feels pretty smooth to the touch. A real 50-foot Mosasaurus would have felt scaly to the touch, but given the scale of this figure, we can certainly overlook that fact.
CollectA has hit yet another home run with this Mosasaurus. Great sculpting, attractive paint job, a scientifically accurate tail, and most importantly, fun to play with!
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[…] was one of the biggest and baddest mosasaurs, second only to Mosasaurus itself. Indeed, the largest mounted mosasaur skeleton in the world is the 13 metre long […]
[…] And now here’s a minute Mosasaurus. Actually, this one is the largest of the lot at 12 cm long. It is coloured dark grey with a pale yellow underbelly, white stripes on the body and spots on the tail, black eyes, a pink mouth, and white teeth. The body is smooth save for groves on the head and flippers and thick wrinkles around the neck and flanks. Still no forked tongue, but the pterygoid teeth are present in the upper jaw. Again, while the proportions are no doubt off, this wonderful toy looks positively adorable alongside its Deluxe momma! […]
[…] archaic version but it fails to capture the essence of the mighty marine squamate the way CollectA’s […]
I love the whale shark colors on this.
I would feel this is a very good figure if it had a better head! The eyes are just black and seem to be squinting, which to me looks ugly. I find the head’s colour doesn’t flow nicely with the rest of the body too.
I think the Mojo Tylosaurus was the first figure of a mosasaur with a tail fluke. My understanding is mosasaurs with a tail fluke also had stiff bodies and tail bases which allowed them to swim swiftly. I think the CollectA Mosasaurus is the first (and currently only) mosasaur toy to have both a tail fluke and the stiff body and tail base.
In the photos it looks like your Mosasaurus is swimming above a seafloor, Suspsy. 🙂
From my point of view and humble opinion is fine figure, but the only fault I put him is the muzzle must be narrower and the body must be more streamlined.