Arsinoitherium was a large herbivorous denizen of swamps and rainforests during the late Eocene and early Oligocene eras. Despite its resemblance to a rhinoceros, it was more closely related to elephants, hyraxes, and sirenians.
Released by CollectA in 2014, this Arsinoitherium toy measures just about 18.5 cm long from the tips of its horns to the end of its tail. Medium grey is the main colour with copper fur on its neck, shoulders, and tail, beige toenails, black eyes, a pink mouth, and off white teeth.
This is one tough-looking beastie. The beefy body is very similar to a rhino’s, but the legs are more like an elephant’s, complete with five toes on each foot. The two gigantic front horns on the head look like they could inflict some major damage. The sculpting between the hind limbs clearly shows that this individual is a male (seriously, CollectA, how about a female mammal for a change?). His head is lowered, his mouth is open, and his tail is raised. He could be facing off against a rival male or a would-be predator, but he could just as easily be grazing placidly on succulent greens while swatting away flies with his tail.
As with all of CollectA’s recent product, the detailing on this one is second to none. The head features small pointed ears, grooves running down the four horns, flaring nostrils, and large, fleshy lips. The body has mostly a rough and wrinkled texture, but the fuzzy neck and shoulders and the large tail tuft are unusual features. Most artistic restorations of Arsinoitherium have had little to no hair on the body. But really, who is to say for certain? A smaller nitpick is that the muzzle on the toy looks to be slightly wider than the real thing.
Overall, the CollectA Arsinoitherium is an excellent representation of a very intriguing and relatively obscure prehistoric beast. Highly recommended.
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For me it is one of my favorite figures of prehistoric mammals. Depart the conservative Convention of modeling this toy as a mere Rhinoceros giving you a layer of hair.