Alamosaurus (Haolonggood)

Review and photos by Torvosaurus, edited by Suspsy

Howdy from wonderful, windy Wyoming! Well, summer is long over, my list of honey-do’s from the wife is finally just about complete, and today I’m back behind the computer.  

Originally, my interest in dinosaur figures was in finding ones that scaled well with 28 mm gaming pieces, for roleplaying games and “war” games, such as Saurian Safari. I had received my degree in Zoology and had planned on pursuing it further into a paleontology career, but that time had long passed and gaming was my main reason for purchasing dinosaurs. There were only so many dinosaurs in metal and at the right scale, and plastic dinosaurs that scaled from 1/48 to 1/75 fit close enough to the 28mm (1/56) scale. Collecta and Safari Ltd. quickly became my steadfast suppliers for smaller dinosaurs. Over time, the interest became an interest in the dinosaurs as models themselves. Today, instead of reviewing a gaming piece, I’ll be reviewing Haolonggood’s Alamosaurus. This review is of the conservative-colored limited edition figure. Different colors will vary from the colors presented here, but the bauplan of the Alamosaurus will be the same.  

This figure is massive. It is approximately 30-1/4 inches (77 cm) long from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail, and weighs 4.5 pounds (2 kg). This is a 1/35 scale using an Alamosaurus of 89 feet (27 meters). The size of Alamosaurus varies depending on which remains are being used and which expert is calculating the size, so the scale will vary somewhat depending on which remains are used.  

No head of Alamosaurus has been discovered, so the head is based on those of other titanosaurs. The head is in a mouth-closed position pose, slightly angled to the right. The eyes are a pale, yellowish-white with distinct pupils. The figure has creases and impressions that mirror the shape of the skull when looked at closely, especially around the eyes. Slight indentations lead up and down from the jaws to accentuate the mouth, although they are not seen clearly on this color of the model, and its nostrils are close to the end of the rostrum. A small beak appears around the front of the mouth. The creases arching from the corner of the mouth accentuate it, showing that the mouth could be opened if desired. The ears are easily seen lower, behind the eye. A dark magenta color graces the top of the head. This  figure has a few smaller scales on the head which, along with the grooves and creases, provides a realistic view of a sauropods head. 

Small scales are modeled down the neck. The neck shows barely seen stripes, as if the sauropod had more pronounced coloration at a younger age that has since faded over time. The stripes fade from dark gray at the top to almost nothing on the sides. The neck is a uniform grayish-brown, fading into beige and then into a warm pink at the throat.  The throat itself shows the skin relaxing as if the neck is in a neutral pose. The curves of the relaxed skin are less prominent at the top of the throat and are most prominent at the base and sides of the lower throat region, where they unite with the rest of the body. The neck is quite thick and is approximately at a 60 degree angle from the ground, providing a realistic angle for the neck.   

The body is robust, with a nice girth for a giant herbivore. The body continues with the smaller scales and fading stripes until approximately a quarter of the distance into the body. The smaller scales give the body a nice texture, especially when combined with the irregular osteoderms. The osteoderms begin to appear at approximately a quarter of the way (from the neck) and the body becomes a darker grayish brown. At approximately three-quarters of the way down the body, the figure is darkest and the spiked osteoderms begin to appear.  

The spiked osteoderms are tallest at the base of the tail and slowly fade to non-spiked, smaller osteoderms near the end. When examined closely, the tail begins to show stripes once more at the base of the tail, extending to the end of the tail where the stripes are darker, but still emphasized. 

The osteoderms continue from the back down the sides and hind legs, becoming smaller as they fade into the smaller scales. The legs smoothly blend into the stomach with stretched skin. The belly is a subtle pink that blends well with the darker body, and the legs, neck, and tail blend smoothly into the belly with the loose folds of skin.  

The scapula is visible underneath the skin, but instead of appearing as “shrink-wrapped,” it provides an accent to the movement of the front legs. The ilium acts in the same way for the back legs. The legs are in the easy motion of a walking dinosaur, showing the musculature through the skin, but not in a way that is overly prominent. The front legs have semi-circular feet, with no nails. The spike found in other sauropods is lacking, which is typical in most titanosaurs but not known one way or the other in Alamosaurus. The back feet each have three nails arched slightly outward. 

Of course, a comparison of sizes with other dinosaurs is needed.