Ouranosaurus (Jurassic World Dino-Escape, Roar Attack by Mattel)

With its tall neural spines similar to those of Spinosaurus, Ouranosaurus is one of the most unique and visually distinct species of ornithopods, and yet has remained relatively obscure. Many figures of the genus do exist with notable ones by Recur, CollectA, Schleich, and Starlux but they aren’t of particularly high quality or accuracy. PNSO has one too but it’s a mini. The best Ouranosaurus ever produced was by Battat back in 1996, it’s long retired, making it rare and expensive. But thanks to its appearance in the Jurassic World: Evolution video game, and Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, Ouranosaurus is now more popular than ever, so hopefully Safari, CollectA, or PNSO will take note and give this genus the modern depiction it deserves. For collectors of action figures however, we now have Mattel’s Ouranosaurus, new for 2021.

The Mattel Ouranosaurus is part of Mattel’s Dino-Escape, Roar Attack line. It’s a large figure, measuring 12” long and standing about 6” tall to the top of its hump. Like other Roar Attack figures it replaces the standard push button with a sliding button to engage its action feature. On this toy the button is placed directly on the right flank. It’s an eye sore to be sure but the ease in which it operates makes it very kid friendly. It has three stopping points and each one emits a unique roaring sound. Slide it once and the head and neck lift upwards, slide it again and it lifts even further, the third slide causes the head and neck to rapidly swing downward. Although the button has three stopping points it can also quickly slide back and forth, allowing you to set the pace at which the head lifts and drops.

The figure comes packaged with the tail unattached and I wish Mattel would do this with their theropods as it would allow for larger tails, but alas. Generally, I find Mattel’s quadrupeds less visually offensive than their bipeds and that’s the case here as well. Since the toy stands on all fours it doesn’t require the oversized legs and feet that Mattel’s theropods have. The tail is still proportionately short, but it has a bit more heft to it and so it still looks like a believable part of the animal’s anatomy. Overall, the Ouranosaurus is aesthetically one of Mattel’s better recent efforts, save for the sliding button which doesn’t bother me too much personally. If you want to display the toy, you’ll just have to position it with the left side visible.

Although I don’t really like to assess the accuracy of these toys, because we all know they aren’t accurate, I do want to give props to Mattel on this one. The head is low and elongated and displays the nasal protuberances created by the domed, unfused nasal bones that Ouranosaurus had. The elongated neural spines along the back are treated with a more hump-like appearance than the sail-like appearance we’re used to seeing on Dimetrodon or Spinosaurus and given the anatomy of Ouranosaurus this seems more likely than an actual sail. The spines are still visible under the skin on the toy, but the hump is thick and transitions into the body nicely.

It’s not all praise though. While the forelimbs are appropriately shorter than the hindlimbs, and the hindlimbs have the correct number of 3 toes, the digits on the manus are an absolute mess. Ouranosaurus should have digits similar to the related Iguanodon, with a thumb spike (albeit small), broad weight supporting digits 2, 3, and 4, and an elongated 5^th digit freely sticking out to the side. That is not the case here. This Ouranosaurus has SIX digits on each hand and none of them are doing what they’re supposed to be doing, there isn’t even a thumb spike. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall over at Mattel headquarters when this toy was planned out. Inaccurate hands and feet are standard for Mattel, but six digits is truly bizarre. Mattel likes to cut costs where they can, making such an oversight extra strange.

We’ll just have to laugh off the extra fingers on this toy because despite that major faux pa this is a really beautiful toy from Mattel. The detail work is some of the best I’ve seen from the company. The entire body is covered in fine, pebbly scales and wrinkled skin that gives the toy a pleasing texture. Jaw and facial musculature are sculpted around the face, loose skin folds run down the neck, ribs are slightly visible along the flanks, and the limbs are nicely muscled. The sliding button, although visually obnoxious, is also nicely detailed and so does blend in somewhat.

In addition to the action feature the toy also has articulation. The head can swivel about in different directions independent of the neck. The forelimbs can pivot out and around in every direction while the hindlimbs can pivot outwards slightly and rotate completely around. The tail, sculpted with a slight leftward and then rightward curve, can move back and forth, up and down, and rotate completely around. Unfortunately, the toy cannot stand bipedally, I tried, but its highly posable all the same and a lot of fun to play around with.

The paintjob is excellent and also represents one of Mattel’s better efforts this year with a lot of different colors at play. The body is dark green with a pale green underside and pale green chain-like pattern on the back. The snout is blue, with the area around the orbits and throat painted orange. I enjoy these color choices and patterns; they appear unique yet realistic and help bring out the details of the sculpt. The nails are all left unpainted, as usual, and I really wish the coloration on the hump extended down the tail. The orange on the throat does extend off the neck and onto the body though, which is surprising. The eyes are red, but the pupils aren’t painted so they’re the same color green as the figure’s base color.

The Mattel Ouranosaurus was one of my most anticipated Mattel toys for 2021 and finally having it in-hand I am not at all disappointed by it. The extra fingers and the sliding button are visually off-putting but not enough so to warrant skipping out on this toy. Additionally, I have no hesitation in declaring this the best Ouranosaurus toy that we’ve gotten in a long time, not that that’s a hard claim to make. Prior to this I didn’t have the genus represented in my collection, so I’m totally stoked to finally have one. The Mattel Ouranosaurus is just now hitting store shelves and is also available online, I was able to get mine on Amazon for retail price which is something I rarely do with Mattel toys. The Mattel Ouranosaurus retails for $15 but I would have happily paid $20.