Review and photos by Takama, edited by Suspsy
This Tyrannosaurus rex is one of two medium-sized models released in 2016 for Bullyland’s Museum Line, and this year they will be joined by a Triceratops and an Archaeopteryx. One thing I have noticed people complaining about is that it seems like Bullyland is regressing when it comes to the accuracy of their models, but honestly, I’m not too familiar with the line to determine if this is true or not. What I will say is that this T. rex is definitely not a masterpiece.
From nose to tail tip, the T. rex measures about 7″ long. It is sculpted in a dynamic, horizontal pose, and stands perfectly fine on its two feet thanks to its dewclaws. However, as you can clearly see, this model is not going to win any awards for being the most accurate T. rex ever made. In fact, it seems like a downgrade from the previous model made for the line. Like some of theropods that preceded it, this model has an articulated jaw, but unlike those on Papo and Schleich, the jaw is not well-integrated on the figure. As you can see, there is a big gap at the front of the face, and you can still see the inside when the mouth is closed to its limit.
Other problems with this figure include the arms being way too big and the wrists being pronated. Also I think the skull looks very derpy and not like that of the real thing. If you really want to get nitpicky and speculative, it can be argued that the model needs feathers as well, but it’s clearly too late to change that.
Really, this is less of a museum model, and more of a toy for children. The silly look of the face and the overly soft features make me less likely to treat it as a serious replica, despite the fact that the model does come with an info tag which gives out facts about the animal that I’m sure we are all familiar with. For example, it states that “T. rex was at the top of the food chain, and hunted hadrosaurs and Triceratops, although some experts believe it was primarily a scavenger.” The reason I bought it is simply because it has a charm to it, and I look forward to getting the Liopleurodon, and the two new models slated for 2017. If you’re a stickler for accuracy, there’s no reason to buy this. But if you really want a durable toy for your child to play with, then this will fit the bill nicely.
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What a shame. There are so many “amateur” sculptors that can so much better than this, you’d think it would be easy for them to find someone talented to work for them.
I believe it was 2015 when Bullyland sat out the dinosaur model year after their 2014 best-to-date offerings Lambeosaurus and Europasaurus.
I read somewhere the company had changed hands.
Their offerings for 2016 and 2017 are decidedly weak, painfully reminiscent of Schleich, which is to say toys for a presumably tried-and-true market, clearly not “collectors.”
I totally agree with the comments and with the Guest Reviews article. Now the dinosaurs are totally destined for children, it is assumed that they would not gain Bullyland revenue by selling such dinosaur figures and extinct animals and I understand that he has thrown the towel and saved some exceptions, he has focused on his characters figures of children’s films By the way they are very well made) and that they report them juicy benefits.
That does not mean that it has been a pity on the part of Bullyland that has been cleared in the realization of figures not only destined for a young public but for even greater collectors. From my point of view they made good figures without going further the Bullyland lambeosaurus which for me is a great figure, and apart from these the mastodonsaurus, deinotherium, liliensternus, arizonasaurus, parathyphorax and anchitherium among other buff figures.
Yes, Bullyland used to make some top notch figures, but this one is just ridiculous. It´s like in terms of quality they go the opposite way that CollectA went. CollectA started with models like this one and released far better figures every year. Bullyland have masterpieces like their Mastodonsaurus or Procynosuchus in their rows and now release crap like this.
By “some experts,” I assume it actually means “only Jack Horner, who has since admitted that he was just being a troll when he made the obligate scavenger claim.”