Say what you want about Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, you do have to admire that it brought so many obscure genera to the pop culture forefront. Because of that a lot of poorly represented dinosaurs have a chance at some fame which is only a good thing for those of us that collect dinosaur reproductions. Take for example the Sinoceratops, a recently discovered horned dinosaur noted for being the only known ceratopsid from Asia. Outside of paleo-circles it’s an obscure animal but JW:FK gave it a starring role, for whatever reason. Now we can expect Sinoceratops toys and models to start hitting the shelf, at least from Mattel right? Well…this is not the Sinoceratops you’re looking for.
The Mattel Sinoceratops has received a fair bit of buzz on the DTF because it really isn’t a Sinoceratops at all, it’s a Pachyrhinosaurus. For whatever reason there was some sort of miscommunication or last minute changes that forced Mattel to label the Pachyrhinosaurus they produced as a Sinoceratops, because the latter is what appeared in the film. I don’t know the details, nor do I know why they just didn’t label this for what it is and produce a proper Sinoceratops down the line, maybe they still will. What I do know is that people aren’t pleased about it and this mix up is likely to drive people nuts in much the same way that the Deinonychus/Velociraptor mix up has for the last 25 years.
Personally I don’t care about the mix up too much because the toy itself more than makes up for it. Out of the box you can call it what it is and as a Pachyrhinosaurus it’s pretty good. And it’s especially significant because a number of years ago Hasbro actually released a Pachyrhinosaurus that has now become difficult to acquire. It wasn’t bad, quite the contrary in fact. It was good, especially for Hasbro, but this one is better and certainly cheaper. Since this is a part of the awfully named “Roarivores” line it has a button that when pushed lifts the head up and down, and emits various grumble sounds.
This toy is in no way a proper substitute for a Sinoceratops (though some nice customizations do exist) but at least where the head is concerned it’s a pretty decent Pachyrhinosaurus. It appears to be based on Pachyrhinosaurus lakustai specifically, what with the particular distribution of horns on the head and frill that looks pretty spot on here.
Past the head however the body takes on a more generic dinosaur toy appearance. It’s passable as an action figure but to those well versed in ceratopsian anatomy there are some major flaws. The tail is too long, as per usual with ceratopsian toys. There are five weight bearing digits on the hindlimbs when there should be three with a smaller forth dew-claw. On the forelimbs there are five digits which is correct but two should be smaller and clawless.
Typical inaccuracies aside the body is nicely bulked up and textured, appearing strong and formidable. The head is especially well detailed with scales and knobs, and wrinkles around the nasal and eye openings. I’m quite fond of the paintjob too with the body being a dark, jungle green color with beige stripes along the back. Some beige coloring is painted on the face and frill too with a splash of orange on two larger eye-spots. The beak and horns are dark gray but unfortunately the toe nails and large knobby bosses on the head are not painted.
I realize that Pachy has received a lot of attention in recent years with all the major toy companies producing one of their own. For that reason I can understand the frustration of those wishing for a proper Sinoceratops. That said, this is still one of the most aesthetically pleasing toys in the Jurassic World lineup and I highly recommend it.
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Interesting. At least I have the small Takara one until Mattel gets this straightened out!
It was always supposed to be a Pachyrhinosaurus. At the last minute, Universal changed it to Sinoceratops in the movie. Mattel had already made the toy and there was only time to change the box.
David Silva (sculptor and creator of the Beasts of the Mesozoic action figures) sculpted the Pachyrhinosaurus for Hasbro’s Jurassic Park line. He actually mentioned in an interview somewhere that he wasn’t satisfied with it because of Hasbro’s demands to have it inaccurate (and his new Beasts of the Mesozoic one blows both of these out of the water). If I recall correctly from a comment back on the Beast of the Mesozoic kickstarter, when I questioned about these Hasbro figures, David said David Proctor (of Boss Fight Studio) did the Allosaurus for Hasbro, even though others usually give him credit for it as well. Sara Richard did the canceled Carnotaurus and Stegosaurus.
Anyways I do like this figure, although I hope a more film accurate Sinoceratops is made at some point. But this is a nice substitute since it has the color scheme (and I’m actually glad it doesn’t have the exposed fenestra of the one in the film, even if having them would be ‘accurate’ to that design). Legs and tail aside, this is a really dandy Pachyrhinosaurus though, and it’ll hold me over until Mattel makes a film accurate Sinoceratops, or until the Beasts of the Mesozoic one is made (if it the future kickstarter is funded, which is very likely).
Daaaaaamn,I see what you mean about the Hasbro Pachy.Didn’t see that coming.Happy to say I have both the Pachy and Allo sets.
Good review. It’s a pity Mattel didn’t just release this as Pachyrhinosaurus and then slap a new head on the body to make a Sinoceratops for 2019.