Despite being one of the largest known carnivorous dinosaurs, and despite featuring prominently in an episode of the BBC’s Planet Dinosaur series, Mapusaurus seems to be far less popular than its close relatives Carcharodontosaurus and Giganotosaurus. Perhaps that’s due in part to its rather unassuming name: ‘earth lizard.’ Just doesn’t have the right bite to it!
CollectA’s 2012 Mapusaurus is a decent-sized monster at 26 cm long. It appears to be either in the midst of stalking some game, bending down to take a drink, or tearing flesh from a large carcass. Mapusaurus existed at the same time as the titanosaur Argentinosaurus, and it is quite likely that bloody battles occurred between these ancient giants.
The main colours on this toy is light green with grassy stripes and grey claws. The head is dark green with reddish-orange patches, yellow eyes, a pink mouth, and white teeth. A simple yet effective, realistic colour scheme. The toy stands rather well, although it falls over if you nudge the big tail.
As with most of CollectA’s 2012 assortment, the Mapusaurus has some fine sculpting to it. The skin is pebbled and wrinkly with small round osteoderms covering the back and a row of spikes running down the vertebrae. The underside is protected by thicker, larger scales. The hands are properly aligned and the huge skull has the proper shape and dimensions. The mouth is full of sharp teeth and the large brow ridges give the Mapusaurus a regal appearance. And unlike so many other carnosaur toys, this one boasts one very beefy tail indeed!
Unfortunately, this toy also suffers from the common afflictions of a shrink-wrapped skull and overly wide hips. It is my earnest hope that CollectA is moving past these shortcomings, as last year’s Feathered Tyrannosaurus rex and Spinosaurus toys boasted normal-sized hips. We’ll just have to see what this year’s theropods are like.
Overall, the CollectA Mapusaurus is not an incredible, must-have toy, but it’s decent and worth the money. Again, it’s not like there are many toys of this ferocious predator currently out there. And by the way, CollectA’s 2016 catalogue depicts the Mapusaurus mounted on a base, so if you prefer guaranteed stability, you may want to hold out for that version.
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[…] would be a backlash from some angry parents. Fortunately, no such backlash has happened (though the Mapusaurus released that year was not so lucky, as collectors were annoyed over the final product). After all, […]
As far as i know the only other toy Mapusaurus was made by Geoworld.
I remember the dissapointment when this guy first came out. It was a lot thinner in the promo pics, but I think I like the bulky one better anyways.
As do I.
Damn shame about this one. I’ve always been fascinated with Mapusaurus since it was discovered and announced in 2006.
I agree with you. Unfortunately the Mapusaurus is a very undervalued companies within the toy dinosaur. There is only this figure, which is a shame.
I particularly like one Mapusaurus Collecta deluxe.