Stegosaurus has for some reason become a recent favorite of mine among the dinosaurs. It is such a bizarre dinosaur and I feel it is taken for granted due to its large presence in pop culture, that, and we’ve known about it since 1877. As a stegosaur alone it is quite bizarre, the only one with such exaggerated plates, but as a dinosaur it is one of the original show stoppers. As a toy the Stegosaurus is a staple of any toy line done many times over and when Favorite released re-sculpts of much of their original line this year, the Stegosaurus was included. So just how well does this take on the classic Stegosaurus hold up against the masses of other Stegosaurus toys out there?
Sculpted by Kazunari Araki this 1:40 scale model competes well with Favorite’s original. Those with an eye for accuracy will appreciate the bodily proportions and attention to detail sculpted here. The posture of Stegosaurus was truly interesting with short forelimbs requiring this animal to hold its head low to the ground and that spike-bearing tail high up in the air. The tail of this model is held high without any sagging and is a testament to how far we’ve come in reconstructing these animals. While the posture is not particularly dynamic this looks like a serious and confident animal that is fully aware of what that thagozimer is used for. The sturdy hind legs are supported by three blunt toes while the smaller forelimbs and hands make it easy to see this dinosaur as an occasional biped. The digits on the hand appear to be in the correct semi-circular arrangement and include all five toes, even the reduced ones. All 17 plates are present and correctly arranged with the largest positioned over the hips. The head is nicely sculpted if not a bit large but lacks the cheeks these animals were thought to have had. That decision probably had more to do with artistic license than anything else but it doesn’t look bad. The neck is properly sculpted with a bony armor on the underside. Overall this looks like an accurate Stegosaurus for the modern age, aside from the missing cheeks.
Aesthetically the dimensions and posture of the model make it pleasing to look at but the color choices probably could have been picked better. This Stegosaurus is painted like a toy with a lime green body and orange plates. The plates and spikes are darker orange towards the top with a paler tone where they meet the body. Similarly, the green body is painted with darker green stripes running down the sides. Underneath the body is a paler green. The throat plates are a pinkish color, the beak and toes brown and the eyes white. That said the color is pleasing to look at. This Stegosaurus looks like an animal in full display which certainly helps it stand out on the shelf. Unfortunately the paint application is sloppy in places, where the plates meet the body in particular. There are many spots on my model where green is seen on the plates and spikes and orange bleeds onto the body. Texturally however this Stegosaurus succeeds. Small and larger scales cover the body as do wrinkles in all the appropriate places. The sculpting on the musculature makes this look like an active animal in its prime.
Overall, I would have to say this model mostly succeeds. Sloppy paint application and questionable color choices might hold it back, as might the missing cheeks to people bent on accuracy. It should also be noted that given the soft material this dinosaur is made out of, the plates and spikes appear to bend easily. All in all, I quite like it. It really pops out and has a lot of charm to it. Despite its few shortcomings Araki has managed to sculpt an interesting and eye catching depiction of an animal we’ve all seen done before. This model was just released so should be easy to locate. Be careful of inflated prices on eBay however, a little searching can help you find this toy at a reasonable price.
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Very nice. I like the detail. This is a rare dinosaur but they did a great job bringing it to life.
It looks extremely ugly without cheeks… :/ I always find herbivorous dinosaurs without cheeks look bad. The head on this Stegosaurus also looks a bit too big.
When I found out Favorite was making a new prehistoric animal line I was expecting really great figures but it’s been a huge disappointment. This Stegosaurus and the Velociraptor were the most disappointing, they look so bad.
Good review though! 🙂
I like the Stegosaurus, even minus the cheeks (but you can get that impression from my review). The Velociraptor I don’t particularly care for, their older Deinonychus is much better.
Whether or not this animal actually had ‘cheeks’ is open to interpretation at the moment. It might have had lizardy ‘lips’ instead (as depicted here). I do like the idea of cheeks myself, though (for no particularly good reason).
Also, I agree on the colour scheme. This is one case in which I kinda prefer the old model.
I think if this one was given cheeks and a color scheme like the older model it would be a better figure than the older one but as it is I regard them as equals. I prefer the overall posture and alertness of this new model. Though the older one is very nice it has a sluggish look about it.
As for the cheeks, I know there is no proof that they actually had them but it seems like one of those things that would be a given. Same with the ceratopsians. I hate ceratopsian models with open, cheek-less mouths.