Postosuchus (Walking With Dinosaurs by Toyway)

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Review and photographs by Indohyus, edited by Suspsy

Walking With Dinosaurs introduced the general public to a suite of extinct species that most people would never have heard of otherwise. Along with the dinosaurs themselves, it also covered several other ancient reptiles, including the review subject: Postosuchus, a Triassic relative of crocodilians that has been found in Arizona, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Texas. It featured in the first episode, having enough screen time (and causing enough controversy) to merit a figure in the Toyway line.

The figure itself is 2.3” high and 10.8” long, making it one of the shortest figures, and yet the longest at the same time. Go figure. The colour scheme is very close to the show, albeit with the tan swapped for a grey shade (something of a theme among these figures). As with the rest of the line, it does suffer from a stoic pose, though it does have an open maw, which gives it a slight improvement over some of its fellow figures.

In recent years, the debate over whether Postosuchus was a biped or quadruped has favoured the former owing to the short nature of the forelimbs and the similarity of its limbs and spine to theropod dinosaurs, which are (mostly) obligate bipeds. This figure is from the late 90s’ however, so it favours the quadruped stance. Thus this is an inaccuracy that can be forgiven (no one has yet bucked this trend in more modern lines either). All the other features are correct here: short forelimbs, correct number of digits, and an accurate skull and tail. I do feel that it is too skinny, and could do with a bit of bulking out, but otherwise it’s pretty accurate.

Overall, this is a really good figure. It certainly earned its spot at number 5 in the top 10 prehistoric ‘croc’ toys, and is worthwhile despite a few flaws. This is one of the harder figures to track down, and often sell for high prices on eBay, but is certainly worth the money. If you can find one, loose or as a set, for a reasonable price, get it. It won’t disappoint.