Mantellisaurus – Drinking (CollectA)

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Review and photos by Bokisaurus, edited by Suspsy

In what would today be know as Europe, during the Early Cretaceous, vast floodplains dominate the landscape. Here, herds of dinosaurs can be seen going about their daily life. Near a waterhole, a mixed herd of dinosaurs has congregated to take advantage of the recent rainfalls that filled up the once dried up water source. The largest dinosaur here is the impressive Iguanodon. Underfoot, small families of Hypsilophodon dodge these giants foot as they scurry around searching for fallen leaves. Mixed in with the herd is another species, a much smaller species of iguanodont called Mantellisaurus.

Today we will take a look at this enigmatic and often overlooked relative of the famous Iguanodon. This figure is from CollectA, part of their 2018 lineup of impressive critters that spans the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic timelines. If you are like me, this is the first time you heard of the name Mantellisaurus. We all know how CollectA loves to give us obscure species, so the choice of this one is no surprise. What is surprising is that it was released the same year as their new Deluxe Iguanodon. This timing is calculated, of course, and part of CollectA’s strategy to shine the spotlight, although shared, on this obscure species.

Mantellisaurus is a small dinosaur, much smaller than Iguanodon. The first holotype fossil of this species was first discovered in 1914 by a fellow named Reginald Walter Hooley. He named it Iguanodon atherfieldensis after a village on the southwest shores of Isle of Wight in England three years after its discovery. The name was made official in 1925, two years after Reginald’s death. This name was used until 2007, when Gregory Paul erected a new genus. The name Mantellisaurus was chosen in honor of Gideon Mantell, the man who discovered and named Iguanodon. So, officially, the dinosaur formerly know as I. atherfieldensis is now known as Mantellisaurus (Mantell’s Lizard).

Mantellisaurus is a relatively small and lightly built iguanodont. Size estimates range from 7-8 meters or 22-26 feet, small when compared to Iguanodon which ranged between 10-13 meters or 32-42 feet! Beside the obvious size difference, it also differs from its larger cousin by having much shorter forelimbs relative to its overall body size. These proportions have lead many to believed that it was primarily a bipedal animal, only going on all fours when eating, drinking, standing still, or moving slowly.

With the Deluxe CollectA, WWD, and Safari Iguanodons.

CollectA has chosen to depict this model in a drinking pose, which is what it is called officially. One wonders if another pose was considered or even a pair of figures posed differently. This unique drinking pose is a welcome break from the typical standing pose. This little touch adds a whole new dimension to the figure as it shows off its lifestyle. Far too often when plant eaters are posed, they are either standing or walking. This pose also allows you to be creative in how you display or play with this figure.

The Mantellisaurus is part of CollectA’s Standard size line. It measures 6 inches long stretched out and stands 2.5 inches at the hips. This make it close to 1:40 scale, just like many of CollectA’s Standard figures. When I first saw photos of this one, I had a feeling that it was going to be this year’s underrated and overshadowed figures when compared to the rest of the lineup. Now that I have it, I can now truly appreciate how wonderful it really is. The sculpting is beautiful and very delicate-looking. I believe it is sculpted by the artist known as Matthias Geiger. His style is more delicate and his texturing more refined.

The Mantellisaurus‘ body is nicely proportioned, showing the shorter forelimbs and that distinctive thumb spikes. Both the back and front legs have the correct number of digits. The back legs are bent and you can see nice muscle definitions as well as skin folds. Both the forelimbs and back legs successfully show that they are bearing weight as the animal lowers its head to drink. The back is adorned with small spines that starts at the base of the neck and runs all the way down to the base of the tail. The head is beautifully sculpted as well. There are many details here, including skin folds and small skin/scales bumps. The ears are visible, and the head shows that unmistakable iguanodont shape. On the face, there is a white color band that runs from under the jaw, then goes partly up the cheeks and forehead as well as encircling the eyes (which are painted black). Then a red patch dominate the cheeks and part of the snout. The overall body color is a light olive green with a white underside. Rust-colored rings encircle the tail. As they move towards the body, these rings break up and form little patches that adorn the body all the way up the neck. A similar color is used for the stripes that starts in the inner thigh, radiating upwards towards the back in a fan-like fashion. Similar colored rings adorn the back and from legs. I personally like this color scheme; I find it unique and interesting in a tribal design way.
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Mantellisaurus is thought to have been closely related to Ouranosaurus.

So in closing, I really like this Mantellisaurus. Its unique pose makes it different and flexible in how you choose to display it. It fit in nicely with diorama scenes. There are figures that are instant successes, and there are those that, like wine, takes time to appreciate. This is one of the latter. The figure’s beauty can only truly be appreciated in person as it is hard to justify it with photos. Too much of its subtle and small details are often lost in photographs. I can highly recommitted this figure. It’s unique, nicely sculpted, accurate, and a nice addition to those underrated Hadrosauridea collection. Hope you enjoyed the review of this obscure figure. Thanks for reading, and until the next review, cheers!