Albertosaurus is the smaller cousin of T. rex and is rarely found in the form of a dinosaur toy. The Prehistoric Masterpiece Collection is produced by Japanese sculptors Araki and Shinzen; the figures are hand-painted and also included in this series is a Styracosaurus.
This figure was discontinued a few years ago, and I’m not sure how much longer they’ll be available, so you should probably order this right now! Simply put, this is a fantastic reproduction of Albertosaurus. It’s undoubtedly the best figure of this dinosaur that money can buy, and probably one of the most accurate theropods I have ever seen for such an affordable price ($15). At about 20″ long, it’s a sizable piece too, probably one of the largest in my collection, (not including JP T.rexes) and makes a fantastic shelf topper.
It may look like a solid plastic figure but it is actually a hollow vinyl construction, like the Galaxy Toys Great Dinosaurs line. As such, it is very lightweight (I’m glad it got here in one piece!) and there are a couple of seams showing, most notably around the tail and midsection, but take a few steps back and they melt into the extreme detailing on this figure.
There are only a couple minor problems that I should point out. First off, there is simply no way this figure could stand without the base, it’s too front-heavy. The figure is meant as a display piece only and luckily I don’t really mind the stand. The only other problem I had was that the right leg in my figure is a little too warped for the foot to fit into the peg on the base, but luckily it comes with a little metal rod to aid in support.
Review and photographs by ‘Itstwentybelow’
Available here ($).
Original review posted 04/11/07, updaded review by ‘Itstwentybelow’ posted 26/02/2008
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[…] their (retired) Prehistoric Masterpiece collection. Like the other in the set (an Albertosaurus, previously reviewed on the dinotoyblog), this model is an impressive 16 inches or so in length and constructed in vinyl. This size allows […]
Snagged the last one off Amazon today, sorry for those who couldn’t get this on time
Wow…That’s really amazing!
I have this only it is unpainted. Was not aware until more recently that there was a pre-painted variant available.
I hadn’t seen this one before! I think I’ll go buy one…like…now.