Argentinosaurus (Geoworld)

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Review and photographs by Indohyus, edited by Suspsy

Well, we’ve had the good, the bad, and now it’s time for the . . . okay. Once more I delve into Geoworld’s collection of dinos to see if we get a gem or a dud. This time, from the second expedition, we have Argentinosaurus. With very few figures having been made of this species, I was curious to see another take on it by a different company. Will this inspire other companies to do the same? Well, let’s see . . .

First, as always, let’s start with the source of irritation to most true paleontologists: the fact card. This does come with some good facts and figures for Argentinosaurus, with cards in multiple languages. The picture (and the figure, as they are very similar) doesn’t seem to be taken from any single paleoartist, but does seem to resemble Luis V. Rey’s drawing and, to an extent, the popular children’s TV show Dinosaur Train.

On to the figure! It measures 9.0” long and 3.9” high, making it a mid-sized figure at the odd scale of 1:130. Being one of the largest land animals ever, it seems odd for it to be on the smaller size. The pose is decent, perhaps eating from a tree with its tail languidly swishing behind. Most the body is covered in blue with patchy purple spots and beige underneath. It has an odd pink splodge on the bottom jaw, looking like it has failed to put its lipstick on right. At least it did its nails right (matching black, very nice!)

Accuracy for Argentinosaurus is difficult to gauge. The fossil evidence is fairly limited, consisting of vertebrae, ribs, and a few incomplete leg bones, so often other titanosaurs are used as blue prints to flesh out the final animal. From what is known, the figure isn’t bad (considering it’s Geoworld), with long, columnar legs, a long neck, and a fairly wide body. But the legs, belly, and neck feel a little too thin for such a big dinosaur. The bumps on its back are very much artistic licence, as no skin or osteoderms have been found for Argentinosaurus. It feels like it is based off Saltasaurus, a fellow titanosaur and another used as a template for a complete Argentinosaurus. It’s a bit odd, but some may like that.

While this is certainly better than the first expedition figure I brought, it still feels a bit generic by most sauropod standards. Without looking at the underbelly or seeing it out of packaging, you might easily mistake it for an Apatosaurus. It is one of the few Argentinosaurus figures on the market, so if you want a bit of variety, I do recommend it, at least until another company makes a model of it.

Well, those are the reviews for my first three Geoworld figures. Overall, I would say that this is a line that, while feeling very Chinasaur in certain areas, does have a few gems in the group, especially in the later lines. It is certainly a mixed bag, leaning towards the worst most of the time, especially compared to other companies. The plagiarism is also completely shameful and far too prevalent. They seem to have better models when they make fewer per line, as the first two produced 36 each, then 18 on the third, which shows in the poor quality of the early figures. Hopefully future lines of Geoworld will produce fewer figures at better quality, with less plagiarism, but who knows? Only time will tell.