Adasaurus (Beasts of the Mesozoic: Raptor Series by Creative Beast Studio)

Review and photos by EmperorDinobot, edited by Suspsy

Hello, my fellow dinosaur collectors! Today we shall be looking at the Beasts of the Mesozoic Adasaurus mongoliensis, aka the evil spirit lizard from Mongolia! If you are reading this, you probably already know the whole story behind Creative Beast Studios and the production of this exciting line of figures. The DinoToyBlog has plenty of reviews now, so please refer to those, or even my previous review for the whole story. 

I never imagined myself owning a “scientifically accurate” Adasaurus figure. I already own one, which I believe was made by the Planeta DeAgostini dinosaur figure line, but I may be wrong about that. In any case, I’m excited that it adds to my repertoire of unique dinosaur species list.

Here’s some pictures of the standard BOTM packaging, showcasing Jonathan Kuo’s art on the front and back sides of the sleeve, and a checklist of all the other raptors.

The description reads:

Adasaurus mongoliensis (Ada’s demon lizard)
Length: 1.8m (6ft) long
Location: Mongolia
Time Period: 75 million years ago
Habitat: desert, woodlands with seasonal rain
Distinguishing characteristics: With its tall skull, short toe claws and robust build, some believe that Adasaurus is more closely related to birds than dinosaurs.

The description may be accurate. It sort of reminds me of Atrociraptor with the short toe claws. The more I look at this animal’s remains, the more I am convinced this is less of a velociraptorine and more of a bird. Anywho, here it is with the cardboard insert, which features a mountainous region.

Once again, the base mold is always the same but sporting different paint, and comes with clear rods and holders with ball joints. The more and more of these raptor kits I open, the more I’m convinced they’re all the same, except they are not. Every raptor has a different head and different parts which mix and match from a gallery of pieces. However, most raptors are unique not just in the mixing and matching of parts. I expected Adasaurus‘ body plan to be nearly identical to the Velociraptor, but I was wrong. Aside from the head, all of the parts are completely different from the Velociraptor‘s mold.

If manipulated right, these figures can make some really cool poses, such as Adasaurus shown above scratching its face.

The alternative toe parts are great for doing running or sitting poses.
One of my favorite things about BOTM’s dinosaurs is the coloration, and the details that go onto each mold. Adasaurus‘ coloration is based on the ornate hawk-eagle, and it’s great camouflage for desert environments.

Like all BOTM raptors, this one sports 26 points of articulation. Adasaurus, being a desert dwelling raptor, matches finely with Mononykus‘ environment pack. Mononykus and Adasaurus may have lived during the same time period, but definitely not Protoceratops or Velociraptor, which are older.

Once again, if you love the BOTM figures as I do, Adasaurus is a worthy addition to your collection. As I noted before, I kept wondering why they made little known raptors and the answer is this: they all scale properly. The whole line is made of raptors that were around two meters long, and Adasaurus was almost exactly that length! This toy also really works well with the few fossils that we have on this genus.

I hope you enjoyed this review and leave a comment!