Swift, maneuverable, and equipped with narrow jaws full of sharp teeth, Dolichorhynchops was a pitiless predator of Cretaceous fish. But size counted for a lot back then, and this short-necked plesiosaur would have been a delicious dinner for large sharks and even larger mosasaurs. Indeed, one mosasaur specimen discovered in 1918 had the remains of a Dolichorhynchops in its stomach!
At only 13 cm long, this 2012 toy is easily the smallest sea monster in the CollectA line. Its head is turned slightly to the left, its mouth is open, and its four flippers look tensed. It’s easy to envision this animal paddling swiftly through the ocean blue in a manner similar to a penguin or a sea lion, chasing hungrily after prey while simultaneously trying to avoid becoming prey!
The Dolichorhynchops‘ colour scheme is fairly bland compared to other CollectA figures: brownish-grey and tan with a white underbelly, black eyes, white teeth, a dull pink tongue, and brown shading around the cloaca. Certainly not what you’d call gorgeous, but satisfactory.
Like most sea monster figures, the Dolichorhynchops‘ skin is almost entirely smooth save for the faint outlines of bones in the flippers and supratemporal fenestra behind the eyes. The small teeth feel nice and rough and the profile and proportions appear to be scientifically accurate. One complaint I do have about this little fellow is that, aside from the tongue, the interior of the mouth is undetailed and unpainted. As well, the fenestra outlines look a bit crude. The toy would have looked better without them. The front flippers are probably angled a little too far forward than was possible in real life. And finally, the entire head is too large for a proper Doli.
Overall, the CollectA Dolichorhynchops is a well-sculpted, affordable, and adorable little toy. Given that most prehistoric sea monster toys are along the lines of giant elasmosaurs, mosasaurs, and pliosaurs, this is a welcome touch of variety.
Available from Amazon.com here.
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[…] CollectA’s 2009 Tylosaurus figure measures a mere 18.5 cm long, but that’s only due to the pose it’s sculpted in. It is turning sharply to the left with its fearsome jaws open, as though it were pursuing or cornering prey. As an apex predator in the Late Cretaceous sea, Tylosaurus would have been able to select dinner from a wide menu: fish, sharks, diving birds, pterosaurs, sea turtles, fellow mosasaurs, and plesiosaurs such as Dolichorhynchops. […]
[…] CollectA’s 2009 Tylosaurus figure measures a mere 18.5 cm long, but that’s only due to the pose it’s sculpted in. It is turning sharply to the left with its fearsome jaws open, as though it were pursuing or cornering prey. As an apex predator in the Late Cretaceous sea, Tylosaurus would have been able to select dinner from a wide menu: fish, sharks, diving birds, pterosaurs, sea turtles, other mosasaurs, and plesiosaurs such as Dolichorhynchops. […]
It is an amazing and beautiful figure, suitable for children and collectors, and I’m friends with miniature dinosaurs.
This is a great little figure, although I dimly remember it having been reviewed on this site in the past. The only comment I remember from that previous go was that the head was a bit disproportionately large for the body ( see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolichorhynchops .)
Love the bit of comedy in the “I’m having Doli for lunch” photo.
Cheers.
If there was another CollectA Doli review, it’s either been deleted or it was never tagged.
I don’t think there ever was one. It was probably a discussion on the forum, that rings bells.