Available on Amazon here.
Back in January 2008, the Dinosaur Toy Blog announced the unveiling of Papo’s latest addition to their dinosaur line (here). Well, it’s finally for sale so I’ve had the opportunity to review the figure in more detail and provide some detailed photographs. Long story short – the figure is amazing – I can’t take my eyes off it.
The new Allosaurus is similar to the existing Papo sculpts in a number of aspects: the detail is immense, the colouring is vivid but natural, the pose is fluid and dynamic, and the lower jaw is poseable. However, the Allosaurus also stands out from all of the other dinosaurs in the series because it is not been based on the dinosaurs portrayed in the Jurassic Park movies. This figure on the other hand, represents a dinosaur not even portrayed in Jurassic Park and is an original sculpt strongly reminiscent of the work of palaeoartist Todd Marshall.
The jaws don’t open amazingly wide but the detail inside the mouth is stunning. Here is the head in side view, open and closed:
There are some speculative details in this sculpt, notable are the protruding scales (not feathers) on the top of the neck and on parts of the back. In addition, all of the scales on the back are large and raised so the Allosaurus has a bumpy and decorative hide – this toughened appearance gives way to smoother skin on the sides and underside. I personally like this sort of detail, dinosaur figures are always open to a degree of artistic licence but such touches are usually beneficial in terms of the aesthetics of the model and in this case add a realistic feel to the animal; many dinosaur figures are often quite conservative in this regard.
There are further such details as pronounced knuckles in the fingers, clear protrusions corresponding to the pubis and ilium, stretched skin where the leg meets the body, muscular ridges corresponding to the hips and shoulder blades, individually sculpted teeth, the claw on the first finger is enlarged as it should be (most Allosaurus figures overlook this feature), a finely sculpted hallux toe, the list just oes on.
The legs and arms are muscular (perhaps a little too strongly developed in the feet) and the animal is taking a long stride, the tail is long and held high so that the figure balances perfectly on two feet. However, in my figure is prone to falling over unless the surface is perfectly horizontal. The arms are pulled back towards the body – the left hand almost touches the left knee. The figure is 26cm long so it is smaller than the Papo Spinosaurus – it is roughly to scale with the other papo theropods.
The claws are black and the teeth are white, while the skin is covered in a mottled pattern of greys and greens with some orange highlights. The eye ridges are typical of this genus and are beautifully highlighted with orange and capped with ornamental scales. The eyes are yellow with black pupils.
In all honesty, this is probably the best mass-produced dinosaur figure currently available (possibly ever) and redeems Papo for all of the erroneous details in some of their other figures. Papo is raising the standard in museum quality dinosaur toys, lets hope that the other companies such as Schleich, Bullyland and Safari Ltd will keep up…
Available on Amazon here.
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I cannot understand how this Papo Allosaurus is so popular. To me it is one of the least scientifically accurate Allosaurus figures made. I think it looks like some kind of fantasy dragon creature. I will stick with my Bullyland Allosaurus
Look at the date of the review – 2008. See the context. Also, the reviewer is talking about art, not just accuracy. Hence the popularity.
[…] are still a little ‘Jurassic Park-ish’. Their new Allosaurus strongly resembles the Papo version of this dinosaur, although it is smaller. My first real surprise upon handling the figure was the fact that its made […]
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Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Those hands are pronated, aren’t they?
tsk tsk, they do appear to be.
[…] you’re a Papo fan, you may recognise the similarity in sculpt to their earlier Allosaurus model. The sculpt does feel similar, but this is most likely due to both models sharing the same […]
[…] monsters. It’s really not as bad as it could have been, but nor is it up there with the Papo Allosaurus (which I maintain is still the best widely available dinosaur toy). I find it difficult to dislike […]
I think use it as a Saurophaganx
[…] hard to find, and it’s a generic allosaurid rather than a specific species. In a world where the Papo Allosaurus exists and is easier to obtain, you’re better off with one of those than this little model. But […]
[…] monsters. It’s really not as bad as it could have been, but nor is it up there with the Papo Allosaurus (which I maintain is still the best widely available dinosaur toy). I find it difficult to dislike […]
Of all the dinosaur models I have seen the Papo Allosaurus just blows me away. This is a museum quality piece. I question whether the spines on the back are accurate but there is no denying it makes this guy look super cool.
Curiosamente la figura que poseo también tiene tendencia a caerse.La verdad es que es una figura espectacular (quizá demasiado)con todas las virtudes de la marca Papo (textura de la piel y musculatura muy bien detallada,postura muy dinámica),y algún defectillo que otro,pero no tan garrafales como en otras figuras de la marca.Se nota que debe estar basada en la obra de algún paleoartista.Sinceramente creo que a dÃa de hoy es la mejor versión de Allosaurus que se ha hecho hasta ahora.
Take a look at Dans dinosaurs! at the new papo anky!;)
Es un lujo este animal amén del Spinosaurus. Papo se ha puesto desde el primer momento las pilas.
This thing is the best dinosaur model I own. The detail is just terrific.
Allosaurus wasn’t a lizard.
No, not even poetically.
What a superb attempt, that Papo allosaurus. Just think that during the Late Jurassic, such terrifying bipedal lizards walked the Earth. Looking at that model, our minds can wander back to that era and visualise a live allosaurus attacking and dismembering a hapless diplodocus juvenile.
Well done, Papo. We, dinosaur enthusiasts hope to see more superb sculpts of Permian and Triassic reptiles in the future, besides dinosaurs. Like the fearsome Anteosaurus, Postosuchus and Dimetrodon to name a few. Congratulations!
[…] monsters. It’s really not as bad as it could have been, but nor is it up there with the Papo Allosaurus (which I maintain is still the best widely available dinosaur toy). I find it difficult to dislike […]
Very nice. Cool Al figure too. 🙂
i just got my spino 2day from wonderlandmodels.com and i think its awesome i paid £14.69 including shipping and i was wondering where i cud get an allosaurus from for rpughly same price??
Good incisive review. Thx!
I just got 2 of the Papo Allos, one for a friend & one for me, & they reinforce something I noticed beginning with Papo Spino. Finishes on these seem to have become less consistent since around the time of Papo T Rex — which is beautifully & clearly cast/painted. However, my Spino seems considerably less well painted & finished, & NYC Summer humidity causes him to become slightly tacky to the touch (unlike T Rex). One of the Allos I just got has quite a good paint job, but the second is of lesser quality akin to my Spino, detailed areas like teeth & eyes aren’t spot on & the body patterns are heavier-handed. (So far, though, he hasn’t gotten tacky!)
The T Rex is fairly old by now, & I have a feeling Papo has taken their business to a different, probably more economical, Chinese factory. In any case, their sculpts are so good that I would not be averse to having unpainted (or simple monocolored) renditions of these figures. They are so good that I was moved to ask Tony McVey if he had sculpted them. He said no, so I wonder who we can thank. Spino & Allo pretty clearly seem to come from the same hand.
Very nice. I still prefer the Spinosaurus or the T-Rex though.
Wow,wow,wow,wow,wow…I’ll get it,no matter what!! 😀
I want this one. Too bad about the falling over, but I’ll live with it.
A 26 cm figure is equivalent to a 10.4 m dinosaur at 1:40 scale, so it seems reasonably compatible with most dinosaur replicas. 🙂
[…] Allosaurus (Papo) (new for 2008) Filed under: Papo, theropod — Tags: allosaurus, dinosaur, Papo, toy — dinosaurcollector @ 4:56 pm EDIT – JULY 2008- The first Papo Allosaurus are now available here (seller has more in stock) And full review now here […]