Compsognathus (Jurassic Hunters by Geoworld)

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4 (10 votes)

Review and photos by Takama, edited by Suspsy

Over the years, many different dinosaurs have been made into toys and models by different companies, but it’s only recently that a creature that’s appeared in the media multiple times is finally getting the attention it deserves.Compsognathus has had a bit of resurgence on the dino toy market, with Schleich releasing two as a part of a playset and Rebor doing what they do best by pandering to those who love the scaly little whippersnappers that took down a little girl in the Lost World: Jurassic Park. Prior to this, the only serious Compsognathus toy that I could think of is this one by Geoworld (which just so happens to be the subject of today’s review).

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Compsognathus comes from a family of dinosaurs–coelurosauria–in which enough fossils have been found to conclude that it and its relatives were feathered to some degree (and there’s even one species that gave us enough clues to pinpoint the color of the feathers that covered it.) Unfortunately, no specimens of Compsognathus have been discovered as of yet with a hint of a feathery covering. This is enough to make some lay people think that it must not have had feathers and was therefore scaly, like the ones in the second and third JP films. It’s this kind of mentality that some companies love to pander to, and I’m sorry to say that Geoworld is one of them, despite their insistence on claiming that their products are museum quality.

The Geoworld Compsognathus would be a great little figure were it not for one thing. It was released in 2013 when remains of its feathery cousins had been known for quite a while. Looking over my Geoworld collection, it seems the company only puts feathers on the dinosaurs that are known to have had feathers from their fossils (phylogenetic bracketing be damned) and leaving those that don’t have feathers on their fossils completely naked and scaly. The only exceptions to this theory would be the Albertosaurus, which I think might be a fluke.

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Anyways, the Geoworld figure is scaly, but it at least look like the real creature to a lesser extent. The proportions seem to be almost correct (the tail should be longer) and the skull is faithful to the real creature. If there’s one thing (other than the lack of feathers) that could make this figure exceptional, then it would be the hands. As it stands, they are inaccurate due to the lack of a third claw. If one more digit was added to each of the hands, then this would be a good 1980s’ representation of the species. The colours on this model are not too bad either. The base color is yellow while the back is orange and a black line runs the length of the flanks and wraps around the tail. The feet are dirty and the claws are black.

Overall, this is one of Geoworld’s more decent efforts. It could be a lot worse, but it can also be better at the same time. All in all, it’s just a flawed replication of Compsognathus, but is perhaps the most accurate model you can buy as of this writing.

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