Tyrannosaurus rex (Dinosauria by Wild Republic)

Reviews and photographs by ‘Resurrection of the dinosaurs’, edited by Dinotoyblog

60 fearsome teeth, each the size of a banana lining the jaws; two tiny fingers on each arm; a big head; and a long tail to balance the body? What dinosaur species is this? Every dinosaur fan will be able to answer this question: of course, it is the almighty Tyrannosaurus rex, everyone’s favourite dinosaur! [Well, mine is Stegosaurus :p – Ed.] But what makes this dinosaur so famous? There are many reasons. Due to its early discovery by Barnum Brown in 1905, T. rex has appeared in many dinosaur books. Every 20th century dinosaur fan will remembering seeing this dinosaur pictured engaged in a fight with Triceratops – a popular prehistoric scene. In addition to these vintage early 1900s dinosaur books, Tyrannosaurus has been made famous through its multiple appearances in prehistoric life documentaries, movies like Jurassic Park and Jurassic World, and games.

Tyrannosaurus rex is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur that lived in the Maastrichian age, approximately 65 million years ago. Its name means ‘Tyrant Lizard King’, and it is one of the best represented theropod dinosaurs of the group. It preyed on dinosaurs like Triceratops and Edmontosaurus, and had a very good sense of smell. It did not hesitate to fight its own species over territory and food – a fearsome dinosaur. Scientists’ depiction of this dinosaur has changed over the years, with some speculating that it possessed feathers, and others suggesting that it lost them in its adult form. It weighed 5,000 to 9,000 kg.

Wild Republic’s line has been available as individual figures, but were also packaged in two polythene bag sets. One set contains a Tyrannosaurus rex, Baryonyx (see review by Marc Vincent here), Stegosaurus and Pteranodon, while the other set contains a Diplodocus, feathered Velociraptor, Iguanodon and Triceratops. Wild Republic also make stuffed plush toys, and other dinosaurs. For example, there is also a dinosaur paint set from Wild Republic, which includes paints and brushes, and a monochrome sculpt that you can adorn with your own colour scheme.

The Tyrannosaurus rex is a little over 15 cm long. Accuracies are: on each arm there are two digits, there are the right amount of digits on each foot, including the hallux/intermost digit, and the hands are not pronated (they face each other). Now for the inaccuracies: the tail is too short and should be longer, the head could afford to be a little bit smaller and the teeth are too uniform. In the real T. rex and the teeth vary in size. Ideally I’d like to see the T. rex with feathers, but at that time, in 2004, I understand the reason for omitting them. On its belly, it is stamped “K&M Tyrannosaurus Rex 2004”. It is made from durable lightweight phthalate-free plastic. For a quite old figure, I must admit it is not bad. It is rather well detailed.

The colour scheme is interesting; the colouration for the head is black merged in purple on the crests/near the eyes which give a bloody red colour. The body is beige/cream colour with yellow stripes near the ribs, under the belly and tail, behind the legs/tendons, on the neck and on the lower jaw/mandible. The claws are individually painted black in the arms and feet. The eyes are very tiny and are yellow with a tiny black dot for the pupil. The paint job does ware off easily.

I do not know if this happens to yours if you have this figure, but mine cannot stand very well. It balances on its tail in a tripod pose and the legs can be bent to make it stand. It is normal though, because this figure is not that new. But I still love it. For details, there are scales all over the body, typically reptilian, and the nostrils are present. There are bird-like scales sculpted on the feet.​

​Overall, for a product of its time it is not bad. I am impressed with Wild Republic, and this small tyrant figure is worth the money if you want to get it. So, that’s it, my third review, I hope you enjoyed it.