With all that new JP, sorry, JW stuff around, let’s not forget that there’s plenty of retired figures not being reviewed yet. One of these is Bullyland’s Megatherium, released in 1998 and discontinued some years back. Despite representing a quite rare animal in the toy world, it probably wasn’t sold in big numbers, at least when one compares the chances spotting this on ebay or fleamarket sites with some other Bullyland figures as Stegosaurus or Tyrannosaurus. Given, Megatherium never was as popular as those and a sloth in general may not seem as a very exciting toy to parents and kids alike.
Megatherium was first discovered in Argentina in 1788. Several species of large growing ground sloths existed in South America back then, Megatherium was the biggest of them, growing up to 4 tons heavy and 6 metres in total length. It seems that the animal at least occasionally lived in small groups and lived in open grass and bush land, feeding on low and medium high browse.
Bullyland’s Megatherium is a hefty figure, standing 16 cm high and approx. 26 cm from the tip of tongue to the tail giving truth to the 1:24 scale that is printed on the belly of the figure. It is made from a soft, flexible PVC free plastic and comparably heavy for a Bullyland figure. The main color is a dark grayish brown, the paint is rubbed off, giving the claws and fur a natural depth. A blueish grey around the eyes, on tongue and belly make for some variation of the general drab and dark appearance. The eyes are dark orange with black pupils. Bullyland’s Megatherium stands on its hind legs (as most ground sloth figures), resting on the tail. The real animal was probably mainly moving around quadrupedal, but trackways show, that bipedal movement was possible for this animal.
Compared with the mounted skeleton of Megatherium several inaccuracies come to mind. The jaw is appropriately deep, but the snout seems too long. While the body widens towards the hips, the hips still seem too narrow and the hind legs seem a bit too long. This impression is fortified by the ribs visible through the short fur, overall the Megatherium looks too skinny despite its heft. Lastly the number of claws on the hind legs is incorrect. Megatherium had just one claw on each hind foot, not three as here.
My verdict: While Safari’s attempt may be more accurate, the Bullyland Megatherium is nevertheless a charming and impressive figure that makes for a great toy and a worthy addition to collectors of prehistoric mammals. How can you get one? As said above, it is retired for quite a while now and can be hard to track down. Best guess would be German ebay aswell as other fleamarket sites, from time to time Amazon retailers offer small numbers of retired Bullyland figures.
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Another great review, and images, of a very appealing (if not too accurate) figure from Bullyland. You really are a reviewing machine lately (I’d like to write more but it’s hard to find the time at the moment!) Yeah, I’d given up on finding one of these, much as I’d liked to have one, so here’s another thanks to you for your assistance in putting one on my shelves!
The megatherium of Bullyland, is for me one of the best figures of prehistoric toy mammals made by that company along with deinotherium, chalicotherium and megaloceros among other figures. I can assure you that its size is huge and despite its inaccuracies commented here is recommended for any collector interested in those figures.
To confirm your comments – this is indeed a rare find here in Canada. In fact, other than the Wooly Mammoth, I’ve never seen a Bullyland mammal available at a local fleamarket or the like. Also, as you said, its great to see the older sculpts get reviewed, just when one might think that they’re long forgotten.
Not too shabby!