Not to be outdone by CollectA and Safari, Papo began releasing its own series of miniature prehistoric figures back in 2014. They then took things a step further by re-releasing these miniatures for individual sale with new colour schemes.
This Giganotosaurus is one such example. It was originally released in 2015 as part of a six figure set, in typically bland Papo-style colours. This new version is painted brick red with a grey-green underbelly, black claws, black and orange stripes, orange eyes, a full pink tongue, and white teeth. An appropriately fiery colour scheme for such a huge and ferocious theropod!
“Huge” is about the last adjective to describe this toy though. It stands only 5 cm tall and measures about 10 cm long. It is sculpted with its mouth wide open, which is always a good thing with theropods, but with its thick, heavy tail dragging on the ground. That is not so good. Clearly, Papo was more concerned with stability than accuracy.
With such a small retail toy, there’s no way you’re going to get the same level of sculpting detail as on a regular Papo dinosaur, but this Giganotosaurus isn’t too bad. The skin is covered in rounded scales and a row of triangular osteoderms runs down the spine. The tiny teeth are reasonably sharp and the thick limbs make this theropod look powerful in spite of its tininess.
While the Giganotosaurus‘ head is fairly accurate, and its wrists are non-pronated, its hind limbs have odd proportions, its feet are too big, and its tail is too short and stocky. One certainly hopes that, should Papo ever take a stab at a larger version of this mighty monster, it will score higher on the accuracy scale than this one.
Overall, I like this miniature Giganotosaurus in spite of its glaring faults. The bright colours are a welcome departure from Papo’s usual palette, and it’s fun to have dinosaur toys small enough to carry around in one’s pocket. Keep in mind though that it’s relatively pricey, just like all Papo toys nowadays.
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Very nice review! I applaud Papo for the effort as small figures can be hard to do accurately but unfortunately I really do not like this little guy. The head might be the one thing that looks ok but its not enough.
I like it overall, but it’s definitely not in the same league as the miniatures from CollectA and PNSO.