Ankylosaurus (Natural History Museum by Toyway)

Photographs and review by Indohyus, edited by Suspsy

Ankylosaurus seems to capture the imagination of children and adults alike, mainly due to its morphology. Often described as a walking tank, its osteoderms provided a most impressive defence, not to mention the power behind its solid bone club, which could instantly smash the bones of even the most ruthless predators. No surprise then that it has had many toys over the years. The one I’m reviewing today is from the London Natural History Museum’s dinosaur collection.

This is a decent-sized figure, fitting in with most major dinosaur lines at 8.1” long and 2.9” high. The pose is fairly simple, though it seems that it has a slight lean to it (though this could just be mine). This feels like an easygoing Ankylosaurus, eating ferns and just minding its own business, making a change from ankylosaurs often being in a defensive posture. The colours are a blend of greens mixed with light browns for the osteoderms. The skin texture is very well done, and this is a very well-moulded figure overall.

Now to accuracy. Generally, it’s pretty good. The tail club is the right shape, the osteoderms have the correct shape and placement, the body is squat, and the limbs are the correct length. There are only two real flaws: the lack of neck armour (instead just adding more osteoderms) and the shape of the head. The head of an Ankylosaurus is a lot more rounded, not the lengthy skull of this incarnation. Looks more like a cow (therefore, I now dub this model Daisy!).

Overall, Daisy is quite a lovely figure, her front half notwithstanding. Any kid would be able to spend a good amount of time playing merrily with it, and I think it would charm the odd adult collector too. If you have the chance to pick up a copy of the figure, definitely give it a chance.