The Great Dinosaurs collection is a series of large hollow figures produced by Safari Ltd. They are cheap for their size and overall the sculpting is of a high standard, in fact, most of the figures are superior in terms of posture to their more expensive Carnegie Collection museum range counterparts (also by Safari Ltd), at least the older Carnigie moulds anyway.
The 29cm long Stegosaurus presents many nice features. The mouth is wide open, as if the animal is roaring, and a tongue can be seen prodruding from deep inside the gullet. Stegosaur heads ae very small, which is perhaps the reason why most Stegosaurus figures have a simple sculpt with the mouth closed. The surface detail is nice: there is a row of bumps on each side of the back running from head to tail. The skin is generally very wrinkled, and there is no indication of scales as there should be. The lower surface of the neck is covered by a packed array of ossicles, a detail frequently overlooked in other Stegosaurus toys.
The colour scheme is vivid, mostly yellow with a deep red back and plates with more yellow decoration. The toe claws are highlighted in grey, the eyes in black. There are only 13 plates (Stegosaurus actually has 17), but their shape is accurate – all of the plates are completely vertical so they do not form a ‘V’ shape when seen from the front.
The posture is dynamic, the animal is facing to the right and the tail is swinging to the left – the forelegs are striding but the hind legs are not so the creature looks a bit uncomfortable, like it is defending itself rather than taking a stroll.
All of the figures in the Great Dinosaurs Collection have an unsightly join where the two hollow segments have been joined together. Despite the very wrinkled surface, this is still visible in the Stegosaurus. These figures are light and cheap, making them perfect for kids play, but they also present enough detail and accuracy to warrant shelf-space in any serious collection too.
This toy review was sponsored by Atomic Elephant
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Looks like mine. But mine is a made in China bootleg with sound. Cute, and of the same colors.
[…] has going for it is the large size of their figures and this one is no exception. [See also the Stegosaurus, Apatosaurus, and Triceratops reviewed in 2008 – Ed]. It measures 12” long and stands 6” high. […]