Review by megaraptor1000, photos by dinotoyforum
Papo has produced some stunning, if inaccurate, toys in their short time in the model dinosaur industry. Today I will be reviewing one of their larger pieces, the Tyrannosaurus rex. I apologize in advance to Jurassic Park worshipers for bashing their little Rex, I don’t hate him, I am just a bit critical.
No information is needed on the dinosaur itself. It’s Tyrannosaurus rex! The villain from the first two Jurassic Park movies, and there lies the inspiration for this toy. As most dinosaur affiliates would recognize, it is clearly based on the Jurassic Park 3 Rex which was unceremoniously killed off in one of the early scenes of the movie. The Papo T. rex is an almost exact replica of the Jurassic Park dinosaur, even down to the overlarge feet, which aren’t necessary anyway because the figure is in the dreaded ‘tripod’ pose. Like all Papos, it has “Papo”, the manufacturing date (2005), Made In China, and CE stampted on it somewhere (in this one on the inside of the right thigh). The Papo ‘Rex’ fits in with most of the other Papos in that it is not to scale.
A close-up of the creature’s head show the bulbous bases of the lower jaw and the pyramidal ‘crests’ above the eyes, now considered by some experts to have actually existed. In my opinion, and I am no expert on this sort of thing, the head seems just a bit short to me. Another inaccuracy is the arms. They are too long and the palms face the chest. In a real Tyrannosaurus, it would have had to break it’s arms in at least three different places to get them like that.
Now we move onto the tail. There is no physical way a tyrannosaur could even contemplate bending it’s tail that far around. The tail is also too short, but not so short to be really annoying. My pet hate on this figure is the overlarge feet. They would be OK if they were supporting the body and it was horizontal, but that would be a heresy in an all-JP figure. And even though the movie version had them, they weren’t to this extent.
Now for the positives (is that a ‘hallelujah’ I can hear in the background from Jurassic Park toy aficionados?). The skin is wonderfully textured; there are nice wrinkles around the neck. The hind limbs and pelvic region exude power, the teeth are individually sculpted, and it even has the trace of an ear-hole. But, best of all, it is in the ever-famous ‘victory roar’ pose from the first Jurassic Park movie (even though it is the JP3 Tyrannosaur). All in all, and inaccuracies aside, this is a great and affordable ((currently $18.95 US at Amazon.com) replica that is recommended to anyone who loves Jurassic Park, Tyrannosaurus, or just dinosaurs in general.
Thanks to fellow dinosaur toy forum members kevin, horridus, sid and meso-cenozoic for helping me with some of the information.
Available from Amazon.com (here)
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I have to agree that the arms might be a bit too long, as if he has “shoulders”. On the plus side is the detailed painting and sculpting. The close up of his head is impressive, especially inside the mouth.
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when you say the heads a little sort, are you saying his head too small or not long enough?
inaccuracies, tripod pose, bent tail and all,I think this is the best T.Rex toy to date, those from safari are horrible.
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My desert island dinosaur figure 😎
Wow, I didn’t know one of my reviews would be so popular. Maybe I should review figures more often.
New reviews are always welcome!
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I love him because he’s right from the JP film. This is my top favourite, no matter how inaccurate it is.
The detail on this one is insane. I wish they would make a rex and a raptor that weren’t stupid tripods though!
I’d like them to do another T. rex, but not Jurassic Park style (much as I like it, it’s a movie monster) and not a tripod, in the style of their Allosaurus. It’d be snapped up I’m sure.
It seems to be modelled after a scene in the first Jurassic Park which happens in the visitor centre after Grant and the kids have been chased by raptors.
After dealing with the raptors, the Rex adopts almost this exact pose, squatting while roaring with an open mouth.
That’s mentioned in the review – the ‘victory roar’. Which I must take credit for pointing out. *trumpeting*
Woops. I don’t read 🙂
personally, I like this figure its nicely detailed, and resmbles the Tyrannosaurus Rex from the JP movies, but it looks as if it has no leg articulation, its still a good figure.
Personally, I don’t know why they didn’t fix this figure after figuring out how to makle a Theropod stand (see Papo Spinosaurus and Allosaurus).
Every time I see a photo of this TRex it makes me think that its taking a crap.
Thank goodness that I converted mine into a RUNNING pose.
The “villain” of the first two movies? “Hero”, surely?
And hooray, I got a credit!
Well congrats on that. Pity that not all of us have your patience/talent for that sort of thing.
Oops. Meant to reply to Al’s comment. Sorry.
Eh eh, at least you mentioned that the infamous “pyramidal hornlets” could have existed afterall ;D
(Oh, and one of those “hallelujah” you heard was me XD)