Pachyrhinosaurus (CollectA)

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Pachyrhinosaurus was a ceratopsian dinosaur that lived during the Campanian age of the late Cretacious in what is now Canada.  It was the largest of the “thick nosed” ceratopsians and is recognized by the fact that its skull sports no nose horn, just a large lumpy mass of bone.  Some scientists believe that this would have been the attachment place for a huge horn made of light weight material like keratin that would have decomposed after the animal’s death.  Pachyrhinosaurus would have shared its world with many other dinosaurs such as Albertosaurus, Corythosaurus, Parasaurolophus and its relatives, Styracosaurus, Centrosaurus and Chasmosaurus to name a few.

CollectA has produced a rather nice rendition of Pachyrhinosaurus.  The thing that stands out the most about this figure, and likewise about the actual animal, is its head.  Where the bony lump would be they have put two stubby, thick horns.  If one were to look at the actual animal’s skull, it would become clear that the area encompassed by the bony mass is actually much more widespread than what has been sculpted on this model.  But one can always assume individual variation within a species.  Perhaps this guy has a stunted nose growth?  It also sports two horns jutting out from the center of its frill, two small horns pointing inwards on the top and two downwards curving horns on the sides.  These are all known features of actual Pachyrhinosaurus skulls.  Above each eye there is a tiny brow horn.  On all the actual specimens I have seen, there is only rough surface on this place like on the nose so I suppose there is nothing wrong with putting little horns there.  The body of the figure is less accurate, however.  The front legs should be shorter and also should be angled outwards more.  Ceratopsians at first were thought to be completely sprawling like lizards when they were first discovered.  Then they were believed to be completely upright like a rhinoceros during the late 80s.  Finally it was realized that the only way the arm bones actually fit was in a semi-erect posture.  This figure is fully erect.  The back legs are fine though.  The digits on the front feet should also be slightly more differentiated.

As far as detail goes this figure is actually quite nice.  Its hide is covered in very tiny extremely fine bumps and wrinkles that can really only be noticed when the figure is viewed close up or actually physically held in hand.  Every so often there is a larger bump here or there which really adds to the realism.  It seems like this dinosaur is famished and even a bit sickly.  The belly is awfully high up and the ribs and spine are also visible from under its skin.  Its face has a cute, almost baby look to it despite all the crazy horns sticking out all over the place.

The dinosaur sports a nice olive green as its main color with very light alternating bands of orange and dark green going down the back and tail. There is dark green on the face and orange around the frill.  The animal’s nose-horn is a reddish orange and the rest of its horns as well as its beak and claws are painted a bluish gray.  Its eyes are orange with black pupils.  I’m assuming these were also intended to be vertical slit pupils but the eyes are so tiny it’s really not noticeable.

All in all I think this figure is not bad but since the recent release of Papo’s awesome Pachyrhinosaurus figure, this guy has since taken second place.  It has its inaccuracies but it’s by no means a horrible figure, especially for those of us who love the ceratopsians.  It’s also in 1:40 scale and rather cheap in price.  It can be found anywhere other CollectA dinosaurs are sold.