Stegosaurus (Conquering the Earth by Schleich)

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Review and photos by Takama, edited by Suspsy

Before I review this figure, there’s something that I want to lay out about the new figures from Schleich, as 2016 has been something of a confusing year with them. For one, the company now has a new owner who was once the CEO of Lego, and has since applied some things that he done with that company to Schleich. One of these is keeping the summer releases a secret for a while longer then the winter releases, whereas in the past, everything from the entire year was revealed all at once in the annual catalogue. This has caused some stores to unknowingly leak images of models ahead of time because they were used to the old way of showing everything off at the end of the previous years. When these models were leaked out, some other stores that have close connections with Schleich have refused to comment or downright asked you to keep the models a secret for the time being (this happened with me when I asked a certain British retailer about the Barapasaurus when I first discovered it).

Another thing that the new CEO has done is to rename the “World of History” line to simply “Schleich Dinosaurs.” Now I am told that this is not a new line, as models that were made before 2016 appear in the two catalogues for 2016. However, all of the new large dinosaur models released in 2016 (and in 2017) have been given informative display tags, which is something that they have not done since the Replicasaurus days from 1994 to 2010. Another thing that’s new with these releases is that they are sold with a tagline which will be different each year. The tagline for 2016’s models is the “The First Giants,” while the tagline for 2017 is confirmed to be “Conquering the Earth.”

This new Stegosaurus is the first 2017 model Schleich has released, and for now it’s only available at certain retailers. Instead of “The First Giants”, the tag says the aforementioned “Conquering the Earth”. In terms of accuracy, it is not that bad. Unlike the WoH model, this one’s tail is sculpted in a manner that suggests that it is held straight off the ground as opposed to in a downward slant. However, I can’t help but wonder if the plates are all too big or too close to each other. There are 17 plates sculpted on this model, which is the accurate number for this genus. The thagomizer is sculpted correctly, but it appears to be too big compared to the rest of the body. The toes on the front feet are also incorrect: only three claws should be visible on them. The neck lacks the animal’s signature armour.

In terms of detail, this model is not too bad, though with a different colour scheme, it could be Papo quality. For some reason, there are vine-like structures sculpted on the plates. What these are intended to be, I have no clue, but if anyone has a potential explanation, please say so in the comments. The one thing that sets this Stegosaurus apart from the WoH model, is the pose, which is inspired by the Kentrosaurus Schleich made in 2015. The model is not the same sculpt as the Kentrosaurus, but it is still apparent that they did not want to take the time to make something more unique. The colour scheme on this figure is simply dull. The main colour is yellow with black lines throughout, and the beak and claws are painted in a dirty white.

Overall, this is undoubtedly one of Schleich’s best Stegosaurus figures. It’s better then the WoH model and the very first Replicasaurus model from back in 1994. If you want this model, it is currently only available at select online stores. I got mine from H & H Winners’ Circle via Amazon. Rumour has it that it’s available at some physical stores already, but as far as I know, it’s an American exclusive until 2017, so if you’re from a different country than mine, you will have to wait until 2017.