Review and Photographs by Quentin Brendel (aka Pachyrhinosaurus), edited by Suspsy
The Deluxe Stegosaurus was the first of the few CollectA dinosaurs to enter my collection and it’s still one of my favourite. It originally attracted my attention since it was the only figure out at the time that had exactly seventeen plates, laterally-pointed thagomizer spikes, and throat armour. Ironically it appears as though the former two are no longer considered correct now, but I was impressed at the time.
In length, this figure measures 9.5″ long straight from snout to tail. Without doing the math, this looks like 1:40 scale to me (since 1 inch = approx. 1 metre), which is the standard scale for most dinosaur figures. The Stegosaurus is in a slow walking pose with its head tilted to the right and its mouth open, perhaps calling to another dinosaur or letting out a passive bellow. The angle of the head and curvature of the neck work well with the dermal armor, almost as though it’s showing off to the other figures which lack this feature. The tail is slung high and stiffly held so that the dorsal surface is nearly level with the body. As noted earlier, this figure’s back is adorned with no less than seventeen bony plates from neck to tail. These are amber in colour with black airbrushing. The body is gray, with the high areas leaning towards blue-green. This darkens at the top to the colour of the lower areas. The underside is white, once again airbrushed. The white continues down the interior of the legs where the claws appear to be the same colour as the darker parts of the body. The mouth interior is a solid light pink and the eyes have a touch of the amber colour of the plates.
The skin is textured with individual scales defined in the model as well as a series of small bumps on the darker areas near the plates. There are markings on the thagomizer spikes which look like they were meant to be scales, though in four years of owning this figure it took me until now to notice them. In addition, there are very reptilian-looking ripples on the underside of the body and tail, as well as the legs.
The CollectA Stegosaurus was put out a few years before the “Sophie” specimen was published and so doesn’t reflect the most recent understanding of the animal. According to the new fossils, Stegosaurus should have a longer neck and a lower-hung tail than in the figure. It’s thought that the very end of the tail where the thagomizer is should be pointed downwards. The torso of this figure has a longer relative length, which is more of a trend in newer models. Also due to recent finds, it is now known that Stegosaurus had nineteen dorsal plates instead of the more traditional seventeen. The hands have five digits, each with a claw. If I remember correctly, only the innermost two digits should have claws. I believe the feet are correct with three on each.
Overall, this could very well be the best Stegosaurus on the market for accuracy. There tends to be a lack of accurate figures of more popular species since most companies put them out first, and don’t often replace them once they’ve improved. The CollectA Stegosaurus is stamped 2009 and is still in production, as well as a smaller version and even a carcass which are painted to match this one. You can easily find it on eBay here and Amazon here .
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I like that you photographed the toy in front of a thagomizer spike. Very clever and appropriate.
Thanks. I had this on my shelf an figured it would be a lot more interesting than my usual background.
This Stegosaurus figurine appears to represent a male stegosaurus if you want to know, and you know why? First of all, the stegosaurus is trying to make a loud vocal call for its mate.
[have a look at the throat armour] and its brightly coloured scales are used to impress a female. Sure with these, the male stegosaurus is sure to win/conquest the female’s heart and seduct her to his charm and accept to mate with it].[Also have a look how modern male animals like Paradise birds do to seduct a female or have to battle to death to gain a harem of females.] Does this figure represents a stegosaurus STENOPS or a stegosaurus ARMATUS? I love how CollectA has tried to feature all of these in this figure. For me, it is second, put after the Papo Stegosaurus. Although the Papo stegosaurus is innacurate, the detailings on it are lovely. Whether a prehistoric figure is accurate or innacurate, the rules that count is that love and motivation has been put in the designing, sculpting and painting process and not an ugly, rough work figure.
Very rich-detailed review, like this figure, LOL 😀
Sincerely, Indominus Rex.
That’s hard to tell, but I think it’s S. stenops since it lacks the “Hershey Kiss”-shaped plates more indicative of S. ungulatus. (S. armatus is not considered valid.)
I congratulate Quentin for your review, on the other hand the head of stegosaurus looks immense with respect to his body and what was actually that animal. A head much smaller than an adult horse.
I agree with you, the brain of a stegosaurus was not more bigger than a walnut compared to the animal’s formidable weight. Two Dinosaurs’ heads that I know is no more bigger than a horse’s is the
Stegosaurus and Diplodocus’ heads; these two dinosaur’s head’s size was nothing compared to their titanic, giant, lumbering and formidable body size and weight.
True, the head is disproportionate and that unfortunately I have observed in many thyrophores and specifically in the family of stegosauroids.