If you like your dinosaurs well detailed, accurately sculpted, and shrink wrapped in true 1990’s fashion than look no further than Favorite’s latest take on some of our favorite classic dinosaurs. Favorite Co. Ltd. is a Japanese company formally known as Kinto. Their first series of dinosaurs consisted of a line of well-made and mostly accurate dinosaurs, all popular classics, none of them obscure. They then released a second set of dinosaurs, all of which were the same dinosaurs they already made. As it stands they now occasionally produce obscure dinosaurs but only in limited quantities’ as museum exclusives. What prehistoric animals they do mass produce are all non-dinosaurian and again, they typically stick to popular genera. It’s a strange business model for sure and I know I’m not the only one that laments the fact that they don’t produce more dinosaurs for the general populace. Since I’m generally unable to get a hold of their more interesting pieces like Saurolophus and Tarbosaurus I’m forced to buy yet another model of Allosaurus. In a world with endless Allosaurus choices, including the legendary Papo model, does this one have anything unique to offer that makes it stand out from the rest?
Well, since this model is sculpted by Kazunari Araki there are a few things you can expect right out the gate. Accuracy, detail, emaciated dinosaurs. Addressing the shrink wrapping is necessary these days. This is no longer the late 80’s and 90’s where people liked their dinosaurs as skinny as their super models. Heroin chic is out and we like our dinosaurs a little fuller bodied and healthier looking. It was the common look for dinosaurs of the time, popularized by artists like Gregory Paul, but in our modern world it seems there is no greater blasphemy than shrink wrapping dinosaurs. Personally, I still like the look; these are the dinosaur depictions I grew up with. You might even call them retro and as off putting as they are to some they’re not necessarily inaccurate. So while I may seem like I’m about to give this Allosaurus a negative review, I’m not. I did buy it after all and lord knows I don’t need to put another Allosaurus on my shelf without good reason.
Aside from the gaunt appearance the model is a well-made piece. It’s accurately proportioned and well researched. It comes with a detachable base which means it stands steady on two feet without being awkwardly posed or with the aid of large feet or wide hips. And that is perhaps its biggest selling point. The model stands just over 3” tall and is 8” long.
The color choices here are garish and toy like. I don’t mind it personally but it’s not very realistic. The Favorite Series 2 models are plagued by outlandish and unrealistic paint jobs, often with sloppy application. This is a shame because the models do actually look quite good. The Allosaurus is orange with dark orange stripes and a lighter shade of orange on the underside. You can almost imagine this predator living in a dry and sunny scrub-land type environment but even if the color choices worked the model is far too “shiny” to allow it to look believable. The latest Favorite models all have a glossy finish that only serves to make the model look more like a toy. It goes without saying that for those skilled enough, these models would be greatly improved with a custom paint job.
Color choice aside the detail work here is immediately noticeable. The dinosaur may be thin but as a result you can see a lot of the underlining musculature and anatomy. The scapula, rib cage, pubis bone and ilium are visible under the skin, accurately placed and proportioned. The legs are especially well muscled and athletic looking with the calf muscle in particular showing up prominently, again harkening back to Greg Paul’s dinosaur representations. The dinosaur is sculpted without a lot of fancy adornments or frills save for a line of osteoderms running along the back. Although not much artistic license is taken with the sculpture it does accurately show us the features we’ve come to associate with Allosaurus. That said, the thumb claw on this model matches the scale of the other claws when we know Allosaurus had thumb claws proportionately larger than the rest. The tail is also way too thin with no visible caudofemoralis muscle. But again, this is typical for 90’s style dinosaurs. The problem here is that this model was made in 2013.
And I guess that’s really the big issue here. In an era where toy companies are trying to make their dinosaurs more modern, more believable and taking artistic risks, something like this Allosaurus comes across as a little underwhelming. I can appreciate it because it is well made, and Allosaurus is one of my favorite theropods. There is no denying the sculptor has talent and Favorite makes some great products. I truly hope Favorite gives us some more daring sculpts of some more obscure dinosaurs but that doesn’t seem to be the direction they’re headed. Good thing then that we have so many other companies taking up the challenge. For fans of the genus or those already lacking a decent Allosaurus I recommend considering this model. The only real flaw here is the lack of more meat on the bones. Otherwise this is one of the better Allosaurus models to come out in recent memory.
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This is not series 2. It is series 3.
First I was also impressed by the dynamic of Papo, but I want now more an animal as a movie monster – so I prefer now the Allosaurus of Favorite. I see the differences between Series 1 and Series 2 with mixed advantages.* The Allosaurus of Series one is in fact not so thin and hungry. But this new one has a little more dynamic and not so big hands. The flexible stand allows small feet and not the cartoonish monster chicken-claws as so many theropods of today get. At all I like the proper resin desktop Allosaurus of Favorite even more. But for me this is the best mass production model. With the right paint-job it’s looking fantastic. I’m a big Allosaurus-fan too and so it’s a little disappointing, when the most companies create their Allosaurus-version very early and far from their later skills. You found the latest obscure species in a well sculpt but the basics are just poor attempts. Here it isn’t bad that Favorite update their lines with the ‘Big Fives’ of the Dinosauria.
*My favorites of theSeries 2 are the Allosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Stegosaurus and Spinosaurus – despite the new CollectA interpretation. The Parasaurolophus, Plesiosaurus are different but equal to Series 1. The Triceratops, Styracosaurus and Brachiosaurus look better in the first edition. And the new Fukuisaurus as museum special is one of the best Iguanodonts and far better as the most other representations of an Iguanodon in the market.
The hands of Allosaurus fragilis are big though: http://scotthartman.deviantart.com/art/Allosaur-comparison-173333349
Out of all the mass-produced Allosaurus figures the one I like most is actually… the Favorite soft model series 1 one. You mentioned the Stegosaurus is one of your favourites from series 2. The Stegosaurus is one of my favourite figures from series 1, while in series 2 it’s one of the figures I dislike most, along with the Velociraptor!
Don’t forget the otherwise impressive Spinosaurus that went from orange to blueberry…
I find both the series 1 and series 2 Spinosaurus impressive, but I don’t think it’s due to accuracy. For starters, every single jaw classified as belonging to Spinosaurus appears to have been ignored when making those two figures, including the lower jaw that was part of the first Spinosaurus specimen!
I wouldn’t mind seeing more blue dinosaurs…
Thanks for the advice to the silhouettes of Scott Hartman. If I compare both graphics the proportion of the hands are different. The smaller one has more fragile ones and I agree, the hands of the bigger species suits very well to the Allosaurus from series 1. Unfortunately I know this Allosaurus just from diverse pictures, so maybe I will follow your opinion if I can touch a real model. And I agree, the new Velociraptor instead of the older Deinonychus is clear regression.
Even though it is really thin, this is my favorite mass produced Allosaurus. I don’t have any of the Kaiyodo Allosaurus, so my thoughts could change.
I think you’ve covered all my disappointments with this figure and Favorite! Is it true the Favorite series 2 soft models are hollow?
“They then released a second set of dinosaurs, all of which were the same dinosaurs they already made.” Well, almost. Series 1 had Apatosaurus, Deinonychus and Pachycephalosaurus. Series 2 replaced those three with Velociraptor and a second Tyrannosaurus. So series 2 has two less species than series 1! With only a few exceptions I found series 1 superior to series 2.
No, they’re not hollow. At least not the four that I have. And yeah, I realized after the fact the differences between series 1 and 2. I also agree that most of the series 1 models are superior, especially the dromaeosaurs.
Thanks for confirming they aren’t hollow. I’d recently read a post on the forum that seemed to say they were, although it was ambiguous.
Favorite’s larger “Vinyl Models” are soft and hollow. They’re all the same species and pretty similar designs.
I thought they might be referring to the vinyl models, but some things they said seem to suggest they were talking about the series 2 soft models. If one searches for “hollow” in the Favorite Co. Ltd. Softmodels thread on the forum it will bring up several posts. The one from 2012 is the one I’m referring to. Another post that is brought up does say the series 2 soft models aren’t hollow though.
I can’t remember exactly when the series 2 soft models came out, but some of the posts on the first page of the aforementioned thread seem to show it was 2012.
Personally, I think this is figure is tied with the Papo figure for best Allosaurus on the market. I’d give it to Papo if it didn’t have pronated wrists as well as that awkward snake-like pose.
This is one of the better ones for sure but I think it’s a far cry from the Papo model. The wrists on the Papo are the only glaring mistake, maybe the feet are too large also. In the level of detail, craftsmanship, and overall lifelike execution it is a far superior model. Personally I find the posture dynamic and interesting to look at from all angles. I can’t say any of that for this, or really any other mass market Allosaurus model.
Feet, wrists, and like all of Papo’s theropods (except the Dilophosaurus), it has that angry, rage-filled expression which I find very off-putting.
Yes, I can see how the stylized face might be off putting. I don’t mind it personally but this one is a lot more neutral looking.