Giganotosaurus (2019 repaint by Schleich)

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Review and photos by Takama, edited by Dinotoyblog.

Roaring into today’s review is a figure that I never thought I would own. The Giganotosaurus you see in the photos is not a new sculpt by Schleich, but a repaint of their now retired World of History version from 2015. If you read my 2015 Spinosaurus review, you will know that I was very upset with Schleich for remaking a species already in their collection when they could have created new ones to make the line more diverse. Back then, Schleich did not give their models fact tags. Instead, the dinosaur toys were part of a line called World of History, which covered not only dinosaurs, but also the Knights Collection as well. It was a different time, it was a simpler time. Back then, Schleich did not attempt to keep their summer models a secret from the world, and instead showed off everything in one annual catalog. Anyways, the reason I did not want to buy this Giganotosaurus figure at the time was because I already owned the previous version from 2012. The only reason I own this model today is because in 2016, Schleich changed ownership, and sort of rebooted their dinosaur line. They simply called the collection ‘Schleich Dinosaurs’, and gave each new model a fact tag. It was these fact tags that made me decide to buy almost all of the models from 2016 to the present day, whether or not they were a species I already owned from the World of History line or as a repaint from that line.

Even though this version of the model was released recently this year, I will be talking about the sculpt as that is unchanged since the first colour version was released in 2015. To but it bluntly, it is an UGLY figure. To get the worst aspect of this figure out of the way let’s first look at the exposed fenestrae on the face. The worst of these is behind the eyes, as it is poked with very ugly holes. I am not sure what Schleich was thinking when they sculpted these features, but I’m sure they would give kids with trypophobia nightmares for weeks. To make matters worse, the new 2019 color scheme does not improve its appearance at all, due to the fleshy purple color. Sadly, this is not the only thing wrong with this figure. The other thing that really gets to me is the way the arms are sculpted. They look like nothing but skin and bone, and they lack the large claws that this animal had in life. It is almost as if Schleich did not bother to do any research for the model.

If there is anything praiseworthy about the figure then it would be the fact that the tail is beefier then most other theropod toys that came out at the time in 2015. However, it is contorted into a downward spiral, that would be impossible for the real animal to do. This was done to make the model in a tripod pose so the animal can have one of its feet slightly raised, about to take a step. To me, the pose makes no sense, this figure gives me the impression it is floating in the air as opposed to standing on the ground. The feet are around the same size of the 2012 version, so they could have done a horizontal pose instead. My guess is that they did not want the two figures to look similar, but remember, I was opposed to a new version of Giganotosaurus being released in the first place.

In terms of aesthetics and skin texture, the model is mostly decked with wrinkles, though they are very hard to see at a distance, giving the model a smooth look and feel. There is a row of spikes running down the entire length of the back, which may be artistic licence, but there is no evidence to suggest this animal had them. The oversized feet have scales that look like those found on a pangolin, and not like those normally found on a dinosaur figure. Unfortunatly, scales like these on theropod feet are now considered inaccurate, and the feet should be smooth-looking like that of a ostrich (see the new Wild Safari Carnotaurus, if you want a figure that gets it right).

Since I do not own the original colour version, I guess I’m left with no choice but to describe the colours of this version alone. The base color of the model is light brown, and the back has a striped pattern painted in black, and outlined with dirty white. The spikes on the back are painted black, and the head has the same ugly flesh-like color as their Barapasaurus. Other colors include white for the teeth and black for the claws, as well as a dark shiny maroon for the tongue.

For those who are concerned with such matters, the figure is seven and a half inches long and 6 inches high. Since the tail is curved so much I cannot get an accurate scale estimate, but i can say that the figure is way to big to be 1:40, or 1:35. The odd thing is that the fact tags that came with releases from the previous years seem to have been done away with for 2019, so this figure does not come with a tag. One last thing I wish to touch on is the articulated jaw, which on my specimen is partially loose, and will fly open with a downward shake of the figure.

Overall, this is an ugly and inaccurate figure that I cannot recommend to anyone who wishes to educate children about dinosaurs, nor people who collect dinosaurs for a hobby. The only people I can recommend this to is diehard Schleich fans. Despite my negative review, you can almost certainly buy one wherever Schleich dinosaurs are sold, including Amazon.com here and Ebay here.