Review and photos by Indohyus, edited by Suspsy
Island isolation can have some amazing results in terms of evolution. Insular dwarfism for some organisms, gigantism for others, or simply some of the oddest creatures that can be conceived. Today’s review subject is an example of the latter, Macrauchenia, a liptotern from South America, which was an island continent during most of the Cenozoic era. There are relatively few figures of this odd creature around, and this is the most recent one, courtesy of Safari Ltd.
Let’s start on this figure. It is 4.5” wide and 3.7” high, making it smaller than the Schleich version, but it is well in scale with certain other Safari figures. I really like the paint scheme on this figure, as the dark tan is well broken up by white and black, creating great patterns on the head and limbs. The eyes pop with the use of shiny black as opposed to matte black. Even the teeth are painted accurately, and the sculpting on them is impeccable. The fur is done exceptionally well and the stance is simple, but effective. This animal is striding proudly across the prehistoric plains of Paraguay.
Now for accuracy. Being a new figure from Safari, you know that it should be pretty good. The body certainly is, with the long neck, short tail, and thin limbs captured brilliantly. The head is fantastic, the shape is correct, the trunk is the right shape (we assume), and even the teeth match fairly well to the fossil (did I mention I love they included the teeth?). I feel it could have been a little bulkier and the nails could be trimmed back a bit, but these are minor nitpicks overall.
Safari has done a phenomenal job on this figure. The sculpting is amazing, the paint scheme is great, and it is reasonably inexpensive to buy. It’s quite easy to find both on eBay and various toy sites, and I highly recommend that you do. This Macrauchenia is well worth getting.
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The figure is nearly exact to 2001’s Walking with Prehistoric Beasts version so the figure looks a tad too llama like and less like the actual skeleton. But, still a beautifully sculpted and painted figure that really should be included in anyone’s collection. There is an Amazon review with a nice photograph for anyone still undecided.
I like them as they say in the article about all the details. It is a great figure, that is something rigid. But for me he is an outstanding and bigger figure than I thought he was.
I am very happy that Safari has turned this year to make animal figures of the Cenozoic era and has also begun to make more animals from the Paleozoic era such as the great dimetrodon. I am impressed by his figures are all extraordinary.