Triceratops (1:18 Scale)(Beasts of the Mesozoic by Creative Beast Studio)

Review and images by Pliosaurking, edited by Suspsy

Hello everyone! Welcome to my first DTB review in which I’ll be covering the Beasts of the Mesozoic adult Triceratops horridus by Creative Beast Studio! Triceratops is one of the most iconic and recognizable dinosaurs of all time, and also one of a small number of dinosaurs that the general public can name off the top of their heads. It has been featured in numerous media, including films like One Million Years B.C, the Jurassic Park franchise, and the Land Before Time franchise, television shows like Dinosaur Revolution, When Dinosaurs Roamed America, and most recently the beautiful Prehistoric Planet, and countless books. It’s also commonly featured in paleoart and has no shortage of toys. It was one of the last and largest of the ceratopsians and lived in North America during the Maastrichtian stage of the Cretaceous period from 68 to 66 million years ago, coexisting with fellow dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus rex, Ankylosaurus, Pachycephalosaurus, Anzu, Edmontosaurus, and Dakotaraptor. It was first discovered near Denver, Colorado, by George Lyman Cannon in 1887 and was described by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1889. On to the review!

When I first heard of BotM, I had only been collecting dinosaurs for about a year or so and when the Ceratopsian Series Kickstarter was announced, I thought it sounded cool, but I never thought I would pick up many figures from the line mainly due to the price as well as me not really caring for articulation, with the Triceratops being one of those few. And unfortunately, I never did end up backing the line on Kickstarter. Well, what a fool I’ve been! This entire line is gorgeous, with this Triceratops being easily one of my favourites. It’s absolutely amazing! 

Now on to the packaging. This figure’s box is massive! It, along with the Torosaurus, has the largest box in the line thus far–until the even larger BotM Tyrannosaurus rex comes out.

The front of the box features the standard open window style packaging, with the series name in metallic red trim on top of the sleeve, and the species name located underneath the beautiful artwork. The artist is R.J. Palmer, and he did a wonderful job on it. As you can see, it depicts a Triceratops having brought down a T. rex. That one sure messed with the wrong Trike!  This artwork is found on the front and back of the box, and on the front of the collector’s card. The side closest to the sleeve has a white and black outline of the Triceratops, while the other sides have the logo and information about the line and product. The back of the box has the same info as the card on the sleeve and the Wave 3 checklist of all the genera available. 

There are also several additional items that come with this figure. First is an insert that depicts a landscape in the daytime with a pond in the front, two mountains in the background, and lots of pine trees covering the area.

There is also a piece of paper with directions about attaching the tail and heating up the joints. And there’s a collector’s card, which has the aforementioned package art on the front, and a picture of the model on the back along with some information about Triceratops. 

It reads as follows:

Triceratops horridus (three horned face)

Length: up to 9 meters (29.5) feet

Time period: Late Cretaceous 68 MYA

Named by: Othniel Charles Marsh 1889

One of the best known dinosaurs of all time, Triceratops was among the largest of the ceratopsians. Often viewed as defensive weapons, its frill and horns are now more associated with species identification, courtship and display.

And finally, there’s the interchangeable brow horns, of which there’s both a curved (sub-adult) set and a straight (adult) set. My Trike unfortunately came with three of the curved horns and only one straight horn, but thankfully I contacted David Silva and he sent me the other straight horn free of charge, For which I’m grateful. 

Now on to the figure itself, and it is massive! It is 18 inches long, 7 inches high and about 3 lbs in weight! Triceratops has been estimated to be between 26 to 30 feet long, so that puts a 27 foot individual right into the 1:18 scale. The Torosaurus is the only figure in the line that equals it in size, until the Tyrannosaur Series comes out, that is. It’s hard to fathom that the Rex is going to be even larger than this Trike! I still can’t get over how massive this thing is even though I’ve had it for half a year now! 

It’s also beautiful! This figure’s paint job is a masterpiece. The colour scheme is based on the lace monitor lizard with some artistic liberties taken, and it turned out great. The main colour is dark brown and black with red adorning the entire top of the body. The frill has blue and white streaks, as well as blue spots on the centre. There are yellow markings on both sides of the frill and to top it all off, black bordering all these colours. The sides are yellow and the underbelly is cream. Large blue and white spots go down the length of the body right to the base of the tail, where it then turns into banding. The claws are dark brown and the horns are blackish with a red dry brush on top. There are also many washes and dry brushes across the figure. Lastly, the eyes are orange with black pupils. 

Now, BotM is known for its bright and bold colour schemes, and while they are nice, some can look unrealistic and aren’t for everyone. I personally do like bright colours on dinosaurs, but I don’t like them looking unnatural. This Triceratops has a mix of bright colours and darker ones, resulting in a very pleasing and natural paint scheme. Overall, it’s one of my favourites in the series.

As for the sculpt, it’s also masterfully done. Scales of various shapes and sizes adore this figure, including the signature hexagonal scales and the larger hexagonal ones with the “nipple projections” in their centre. Meanwhile, the legs, feet, and part of the face are covered in small oval scales. 

At a first glance, the head may look like it was skimped over in terms of detail, but it’s actually covered in a keratinous covering. This keratin actually looks and feels bone-like, which is a nice touch. Personally, I would much rather scales than keratin, as I like the look more and it’s also inaccurate (more on this in just a moment). 

Speaking of accuracy, this Triceratops fares extremely well. The head is the right shape for T. horridus, with the snout being long and shallow as well as the nasal horn being rather short. The scales are the right shape and appropriately large. The feet are in the correct position and have the correct amount of digits, with there being five on the front feet with claws on three, and four clawed digits on the back feet. The body is very bulky and the tail is short. The only inaccuracy as far as I can tell, is the keratin on the head.

Now, there’s been some debate on whether Triceratops had scales on its frill or if it was just a keratinous sheath. However, a recent specimen was found to have scales on the frill, apparently putting this debate to rest. This specimen hasn’t been described in an official scientific paper yet, and it was also discovered well after David began sculpting the Trike, so I won’t hold it against the figure. 

Being a BotM figure, this Trike has no shortage of articulation, with 20 points in all. Firstly, the tongue can move up and down and left to right while the jaw can open and close. The legs, arms, head, tail, body, feet, neck, and hands are on ball joints, allowing up to 360 degree movement. The elbows, ankles, and knees are on hybrid hinge and swivel joints. Now, I usually don’t like heavily articulated figures, but BotM is the exception. The amount of poses you can get this guy into is staggering. 

I had a few of the smaller BotM ceratopsians, and wasn’t sure how the articulation would hold up on this big fella, but luckily, my doubts have been put to rest, as he has the best range of articulation out of all my figures thus far! The midsection is especially very easy to move and by far the best out of all my BotM figures. Now, before you play around with this Triceratops, or for that matter any BotM figure, you should loosen up the joints with a source of low heat such as a hair dryer or hot water in order to avoid breaking a joint. Overall, this figure has fantastic articulation.

Get ready for size comparisons now, ’cause I got quite a few!

In closing, the 1:18 BotM Triceratops is amazing, with the only issues being the sheer size (which is also a pro) and the price, as it is rather expensive and also takes up a huge amount of room. If these aren’t issues for you, then I highly recommend you pick up this figure, or for that matter any of the big ceratopsians. You won’t be disappointed!