Discovered on the Isle of Wight, UK, Neovenator was one of Europe’s deadliest dinosaurs, preying on the likes of Hypsilophodon and Iguanodon.
CollectA’s first stab at Neovenator was a Standard class toy, and from the photos I’ve seen, it was nothing to write home about. This second version, released in 2012, stands 10 cm tall and measures 27.5 cm long from nose to tail tip. This makes it considerably larger than its predecessor, though smaller than most other Deluxes. Its main colour is medium brown with light brown stripes and dark patches on the snout, orbits, limbs, cloaca, and back. The claws are very dark brown, the mouth is magenta with white teeth, the eyes are light brown, and there’s a red streak running down the brow ridges. A realistic colour scheme, though fairly conservative by CollectA standards.
The Neovenator‘s skin is well-sculpted with fairly large scales and wrinkles accentuating the muscles in its limbs and small triangular osteoderms running down the length of its spine. It is sculpted in a typical walking pose with its head gazing ominously to the left and the fingers on its properly positioned hands spread wide apart. Too wide apart, really, but it does show off the Neovenator‘s fearsome claws very effectively. You certainly wouldn’t want to be seized by those mitts! The toy stands nice and stable on its own two proportionate feet, always a pleasing thing for a dinosaur collector.
Although Neovenator is known only from incomplete fossil remains, CollectA has done a masterful job of basing this toy on the most up-to-date reconstructions. The head is similar to that of Allosaurus, but with a more parrot-like snout. The teeth are small but sharp, the arms are large and muscular, and the legs are built for speed. This is a predator that could chase down a victim, grip it firmly using the front claws, and then bite and cut through flesh.
2012 was something of a turning point for the quality of CollectA’s prehistoric toys and the Deluxe Neovenator is solid proof. This is a fine, ferocious, and fun rendition of a cool, relatively unfamiliar theropod. A worthy addition to anyone’s collection. Available from Amazon.com here
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Those fingers are really distracting.
Great review & pics as usual.
My only complaint with this baby is the scale. At 1/40 scale as claimed it is creeping toward 40′. The one partial skeleton found suggested the critter was closer to 25′ long. This model is sized more appropriately for a 1/40 scale Epanterias amplexus or Saurophaganax, its larger American cousins (both of which could in fact simply be quite large versions of the better known Allosaurus fragilis.)
Cheers.
Thanks!
The little Arthur human figures that come with Deluxe CollectAs are totally misleading—I’ve just been tossing them out. Fortunately, I’ve never been a huge stickler for scale.