Mamenchisaurus (CollectA)

Famous for their long necks, even longer tails, and being one of the largest land animals ever to walk the earth, Sauropods are some of the most famous dinosaurs of all time. It is no surprise that some of these giants reached iconic status and are perennial favorites among toy figure companies. Like all animals, the group also came in all sizes and shapes, some even rivaling the stegosaurs in their spiky armor, but it is their long necks that inspires such wonder. One group of sauropods took this long neck to the extremes, the Mamenchisaurids.

Mamenchisaurus easily makes the top ten of the most well-known sauropods, in fact it was one of the first sauropod to be featured in toy form, first appearing in the iconic Invicta line in 1988 along with the more famous Brachiosaurus, Apatosaurus, and Diplodocus. It would be followed almost a decade later by a figure from Safari designed by Ely Kish. These two figures were both large and perfectly captured the consensus at that time regarding the animal’s neck orientation.

These two early figures also were polar opposites; the Invicta showed Mamenchisaurus with long neck held high and arched way back in a highly unlikely fashion. On the other end, Safari’s version had the neck so low, only a few feet off the ground that it’s hard to image how such orientation would be functional especially navigating obstacles such as trees. We now know that both were highly unlikely thanks to more fossil finds and advance in research, but of the two, the Invicta figure comes closest to what was possible

It would be a few decades again before Mamenchisaurus would capture the attention of toy manufacturers. In the last few years this renewed interest have given us new figures from Kaiyodo, PNSO, Geoworld, RECUR, Mojo, and the subject of today’s review CollectA, all releasing figures of this impressive animal. Looking at these new incarnation, one big difference between them and their earlier predecessors is how the neck is oriented. CollectA’s figure is part of their impressive 2021 lineup that once again took us back to Asia.

Mamenchisaurus is a genus of Late Jurassic sauropod from China that was first found in 1952 at a highway construction site. They were widespread and were the largest of their time, there is even some possible evidence that they may have even lived outside of China. Like many dinosaurs, there were a lot of confusion about how many species are there, suffering the dreaded “wastebasket” syndrome where fossil find, often very fragmentary, are assigned to the genus. Fortunately, some species are known from almost complete skeleton, while others are so fragmentary. So far, there are seven recognized species of Mamenchisaurus:  M. constructus ,M. youngi ,M. hochuanensis,M. sinocanadorum, M.anyuensis,M. jingyanensis ,M. yunnanensis.

This figure, as confirmed by CollectA, is based on M. hochuanensis one of the most complete species of mamenchisaurus. It was first discovered in 1972, the holotype consists of an almost complete and articulated vertebral column, however it was missing the skull and forelimbs. During its discovery it was the largest sauropod known from China.

In 2001 another specimen was discovered, described, and assigned to M. hochuanensis. This one was nearly complete and included the elusive skull preserved as well as other missing parts from the holotype. This is the specimen (ZDMO126) that had the four fused tail vertebra from the tip of its tail that have expanded neural arches and taller neural spines and was interpreted as some type of a tail club.  Tail club in sauropods are well documented in other Chinese species such as  Shunosaurus and Omeisaurus , but they are shaped differently than that of M. hochuanensis. This is the specimen that CollectA based their figure on and did a fantastic job in sculpting this unique tail feature in their model and you can really see the tall spines that forms the top of the club. 

Size estimate for the various species ranges from 65-85′ feet long and weighing in at around 12 tons. The fairly complete skull of some species has given us an idea of what the shape of the animal’s head may have looked like, and as it turns out it is boxier that how it was commonly depicted, more like Camarasaurus than that of Diplodocus.

The figure measures an impressive 21” inches long stretched out and 8.5 inches tall at the top of the head! It’s been a while since we saw a large sauropod figure from CollectA so it is exciting to get this one, to date, it ranks as the fourth largest sauropod from them and also the 16th. CollectA’s herd of long necks is the largest and most diverse of all the brand.Now, there is confusion as to what the scale of the figure really is. Officially, it is listed as deluxe 1:100 scale meaning it’s based on a really huge animal. However, M. hochuanensis which the model represent, although large is not the biggest in the group with an estimated length of about 69 – 72″ ft long.Based on this, the figure then falls at around the 1:35-ish scale range.

It is very possible that CollectA originally had in mind one of the largest species known such as M. sinocanadorum whose length was estimated to be around 85 ft when sculpting the figure, only to change at the last minute. Either way, at 1:35-ish scale, it fits perfectly with many other figures at that scale such as the one from PNSO.

CollectA  faithfully sculpted the head to match up to its skull reconstruction. The eyes are small and painted black, you can see fine wrinkles and scales around it. The nostrils are clearly visible just above the snout and is in the correct location and is nicely sculpted with little delicate skin folds surrounding it. The mouth is sculpted open, and you can see the full details inside it despite its small size. The teeth are small and individually sculpted and are present all along the jawline, an accurate portrayal that follows what we know of. As a bonus, the figure also appears to have lips, a rarity among sauropods .You can see plenty of small delicate details on the head like skin fold and scales.

The head is tilted slightly to the side; there is a single row of dorsal spines that starts small at the base of the skull and runs down the entire length of the back all the way down the tail. These spikes slowly increase in size as they travel down the long neck with the tallest ones found around the hip area.

The long neck is muscular as it should be; the neck of Mamenchisaurus and relatives are some of the longest of any animal but despite this, they are constructed lightly so that the animal is able to hold it up in a vertical position. This extremely long neck with some approaching half of the animal’s total body length with the tail and body making the other half. There are plenty of theory as to why these animals evolved such extremely long necks (it was suggested that the animal stayed in one placed and moved its long neck from side-to-side to eat).

CollectA sculpted the neck so beautifully with lots of musculature that are very well defined. The neck raises up from the shoulders in a graceful way as it slowly tilts sideways. This subtle yet fluid motion give a sense of movement and you can see muscles tense and tendons straining as it carries the weight. At the point where the neck slightly turns to the side, you can see beautiful details on the muscle that captures the movement of the flesh as it twists around but which, unfortunately, is hard to capture in film but easily seen in person. The neck is covered in small scales as well as round osteoderms of various shape and size.This model is one of the most graceful sauropods figures I have ever seen!

The shoulders of Mamenchisaurus are somewhat higher than the hips, not as high as those seen on Brachiosaurus, but enough to give them that distinctive giraffe-like posture. The body is robust and full of details. The musculature is well defined and beautifully sculpted to show where tensions are concentrated on the body. There are plenty of skin fold as well as stretched ones in areas that you would expect to see them such as the arms and belly/stomach regions which is really nice and adds realism and a sense of movement to the sculpt.

The legs are strong and once again you see muscles bulging out as it strains due to the animal’s weight. The front right leg is slightly raised, capturing the animal at mid-stride. The other legs are firmly planted on the ground; sauropods have similar way of locomotion to elephants in that they move in an ambling gait. This form of locomotion ensures that the animal’s huge body and weigh is always in contact with the ground and reduces the stress on the legs.

The entire body, from the neck all the way down the tail is covered in small and beautifully sculpted scales as well as round osteoderms/scutes of various shape and size. The larger scutes/osteoderms are ringed by very small scales that slowly radiate outwards in a circle.

The front foot has the correct crescent shape and only show the enlarged thumb claw. The back feet show the inner toes with nails and are oriented outwards as they should be, no elephant-like feet here. The nails are painted yellowish white. If you look under the foot, there are even small delicate details on the feet pads! The feet also have subtle yet effective details such as skin folds around the digits that convey weight.

The tail is about the right length and is muscular especially around the base, an area that sometimes done in a way that is under-muscled. You can see a kink at the base resulting in slight raised appearance although not as pronounced as what is seen on M. yougi.The tail has a nice movement to it as it gracefully sways to one side and at the tip, you can see the unique tail club beautifully sculpted.

CollectA has always been at the forefront of incorporating new finds and so it is no surprise to see CollectA incorporate this unique feature into their Mamenchisaurus model. You can see at the tip of the tail the flattened “club” which is nicely done and gives the model a unique look. The similarly sized PNSO Museum Line model also has this tail feature (same shape as this model) and the two really make a great pair for display. 

The color is slate-gray overall with some lighter parts on the underside of the neck and belly area. For their last few sauropods, CollectA has chosen a more subdued/conservative color palette and it works pretty well for a large size animal. There is a brownish wash on the dorsal part of the body that is so subtle and well blended. A very light tan wash was also applied on the entire body that really seeps into all of those delicate scale and skin details that really brings them out beautifully. There is an interesting thing going on with the colors, not sure if it was the paint, but there is a subtle change in tones when light hits it at different angle as you move the figure around, really fun to watch the changes.The dorsal spines are given an off-white color. There is no sloppy paint application on this figure that I can see even on the smallest details such as teeth and eyes. 

Mamenchisaurus is one of those classic dinosaurs that was long overdue for a more updated look, and CollectA really delivered on this one. It is easily one of the best sauropod figures and definitely their best to date.It’s size, although not gigantic, is easily appreciated and would be perfect for those who have space limitations like me.

Mamenchisaurus lived alongside and shared the landscape with various stegosauridae such as Chunkingosaurus, Gigantspinosaurus, and Tuojiangosaurus, the sauropods Shunosaurus and Omeisaurus, as well as the apex predator theropod Yangchuanosaurus. Most of these dinosaurs have toy figure representation making it easy to create a little display that showcase this unique and diverse fauna assemblage.

I highly recommend this exciting well-researched and accurate figure that incorporates the latest findings about this fascinating group of sauropods. The sculpting and number of details seen on this figure easily rivals some of the best sauropod figures from other brands and would surely be an eye-catching addition to any display. I am hopeful and and optimistic that CollectA will continue to produce beautiful sauropod figures and hoping to see them tackle more obscure ones, as well as revisit some of their earlier efforts from the Procon days.

That concludes this review, I hope you enjoyed it. And a huge thank you to CollectA for generously sending me this review copy, I am forever grateful. Until the next review, stay safe and healthy, cheers!