Following the split with Dinostoreus in the United States, the Japanese manufacturer Favorite (formerly known as Kinto) has developed several unique dinosaur collectibles. The most interesting of these can arguably be found in their desktop model line, which features detailed polyresin statues of popular species. Their first release for 2010 is a 1:40 scale Allosaurus, a well-known creature that stands apart from its desktop peers with a striking blue coloration.
His scale and size (24 centimeters long) should make him fairly compatible within most prehistoric collections. Like last year’s Spinosaurus, this model features a row of spikes running along the length of the back. Unfortunately, they are the greatest structural weakness in the statue; the good news is that they’re so small, you won’t notice any broken or missing spikes until you frantically scrutinize your model after reading this text. You’re welcome.
As before, the animal’s feet attach to a rocky and fairly uninteresting base, though one may contend this is the point. A more complicated base would certainly detract from the all-important Allosaurus, not to mention raise the already steep price of the model. The Jurassic king himself is actually quite slick. Muscles bulge around the legs, claws are long and sharp, and the pose is dynamic and exciting. The best thing about an attached base is that it allows theropods to stand on their own two feet, and this model certainly takes advantage of that. The prowling, almost lunging form is exciting, while the stark blue body is definitely distinctive.
Convention dictates that Allosaurus is somehow enhanced around the lacrimal crests, so there’s a nice splash of red to contrast sharply with the body’s hue. Such flashiness suggests the Allosaur is a male, assuming the artists gave any significant thought to the animal’s gender. A closer look at the skin texture reveals a nearly uniform pattern of circular scales. This probably should look more pebbly based other impressions of dinosaur skin, but the effect here is somewhat bizarre. It almost looks as though he was stabbed repeatedly with the end of a coffee stirrer.
Dinosaur enthusiasts will also be quick to point out the “gummy” appearance of the upper jaw, where the famous teeth are actually concealed beneath a fleshy lip. Chances are, this will be perceived as “too weird” by some prospective buyers, as it conceals one of the creature’s most famous attributes. Small teeth actually can be seen in the upper jaw from the right angle, but like those of the lower jaw, they are somewhat sloppily painted and very round. This was likely to reduce further breakage.
The model can be displayed with or without the wooden base, which features the signature brass nameplate. For an item of this price range, there are some potential problems to consider. Favorite has certainly been improving their models over the years, but when similar or even superior figures are being mass produced elsewhere – and for a fraction of the cost – Favorite will need to step up their game.
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[…] of the Tyrannosaurus from their resin ‘Desktop’ range, alongside Triceratops and Allosaurus. Once again, it is a huge improvement over its predecessor anatomically but is likely to strongly […]
I owned this for a couple of days before sending it back. No breakages, but the details were appalling. The lip looks unintentional as it’s higher on one side and the tip of it’s upper jaw has a beak like point which, again, looks like it could only be a mistake. The tail tip also looks broken even when it isn’t as it’s incredibly blunt. The hands are this guy’s best feature, along with the interesting blue colouration (which seems like a love or hate thing), though sloppy paint jobs on the claws annoyed me, especially the toes. It’s also very small for it’s price tag, and I only payed around 40GBP for mine.
Had it been half the price I payed, I’d have kept it and loved it. But it’s awful for the price.
I really dislike the lip things that the new Favorite theropods have.It ruins the impression of the figure, and doesn’t look much like a lip at all. The color on this one is a bit plain.
The “lip” looks less like a lip and more like they forgot to add teeth. It turns out that there is good evidence for extraoral structures in most dinosaurs, but given the length of theropod teeth, maybe not so much that they’d completely hide the dentition. Otherwise, this is a beautiful sculpt. I like the blue coloration–it really stands out!