Despite it being smaller and less grandeur in size when compared to its contemporaries Stegosaurus and Tuojiangosaurus , Kentrosaurus’s look is snazzy enough for the major dinosaur toy brands to show it some love from time to time. As with many of its fellow sterosaurids it had a small yet narrow skull that ended with a beak which would have been useful while sniping off plant stems and leaves. It also had a double row of small plates running down its back which transformed into spikes on the hips and continued down the tail. Along with the tail spikes there was a long spine on each shoulder.
If you don’t know and you are wondering, what is the Yowie toy brand? Well, they are a confectionery and publishing brand that originated from Australia and teamed up with confectionery giant Cadbury to make foil-wrapped character-shaped milk chocolate that came in a plastic egg. Within the capsule there was a multi-part collectable model which included animals from Australia and around the world. The Kentrosaurus is from 2002 series C, which had 30 figures and 6 limited edition dinosaurs.
About the toy: It is hard to follow up the ever impressive, spectacular, Arnold Schwarzenegger in feathers, Wild Safari Tyrannosaurus Rex review that proceeds this one. That figure is the epitiomy of grandeur and majesty of dinosaurs in toy form. Due to its size, the Yowie Kentrosaurus is not quite as majestic, and is easy to overlook, but lets not underestimate it. At a height of 1.1 in (2.79 cm) and a length of 3 in (7.62 cm) it is a small figure on par with the Kaiyodo figures. In the pictures for this review, I posed it with the Wild Safari Kentrosaurus (which is really small) just to show how small the figure really is. The figure comes in four parts, head/neck, tail, body and legs right and left sides. When put together, it leaves a little articulation in the head and tail, to be able to move them up and down slightly.
The head on this figure is really small and the neck is at an appropriate length. The body has a gut that sags and looks well fed. The legs are slightly bent which makes it look like it is ambling along at a slow pace, most likely foraging on nearby vegetation. The tail is raised with two spikes at its tail. The figure only has three colors on it. a light green for the body, legs, and head, creamy white for the underbelly, and an orange streak that runs from the head all the way to the tail. There is a small dot of black for the eyes. There is not a lot of texture on this toy, just some bumpy skin and lines on the plates.
As for the scientific accuracy, it is not perfect. The good news is, it does have a squat body with a small head, and a combination of plates and spikes along the back. Unfortunately it is missing the shoulder spike, the spikes on the back look like pegs, and the tail is way too short, but what do you expect from such a small figure that came with chocolate.
Playability: For kids in the 3-6 range it can be fun toy to play with. Older kids might like it as well if they are dinosaur fans. It is made from four separate pieces that snap together, which can fall apart if played with roughly. This might lead some parents to super glue it together to keep it from falling apart. The plastic is not super brittle but it can break if treated too roughly.
Overall: I personally like this little guy. I find this diminutive toy a fun, cute, little gem of a figure. Yes it lacks perfect accuracy, and the seam lines are visible, but that doesn’t mean it can’t find a place in your collection. Of course if you place on the shelf next to the Tyco Kentrosaurus, this little guy would look newly hatched. If you are interested to find this small, but wonderful figure (in my opinion), off to places like ebay you must go, as this figure has been retired for quite some time.
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Good review, as always. I’d argue that Kentrosaurus is the second most popular stegosaur. It’s certainly got more toys than Tuojiangosaurus!
Thanks. If we go off of toys made, absolutely Kentrosaurus is more popular. My comment with Tuojiangosarurus was actually meant in regards to its size, not popularity. I guess I needed a better transitional sentence. Thanks for pointing that out, I’ll see what I can do.