Review and photos by Rugops. Edited by Plesiosauria.
Allosaurus is one the most popular dinosaurs ever. Because of this it has appeared in many different sculpts, one of them being this model from 1996. The body, neck, and head are made of rigid plastic, while the arms, lower legs, and tail are made of softer, slightly pliable plastic. The skin has wrinkles, and a series of small bumps run along the back of the model.
The arms are not very detailed and the hand has short round fingers with small claws. The hands lack the enlarged thumb claws that the real animal had. The feet are poorly detailed with very small toe claws, and the right leg is slightly bent inward. The end half of the tail curves downward to form an unfortunate tripod stance, although it can, with some coaxing, stand on its own two feet.
The head is the best part of the model, being fairly accurate and large. The crests are very pronounced, and painted in a milky red color that makes them stand out. Its teeth are nothing special, individual but very small, and there is a tongue roughly sculpted inside the mouth. There are four different little black holes that are ears and nostrils. On either side of the back of the head are to protrusions painted milky red like the crests. Yellow is the overall color on the Allosaur. The underside is tan, and the throat is brownish. There are light blue gray stripes and dots running down the back of the model.
Compared to the new Wild Safari Allosaurus the old one is much more heavily built, and not as streamlined, favoring the Walking With Dinosaur version in its proportions. Both versions are around the same overall length (about 16 cm). This figure is a lot of fun to look at, and I recommend it to anyone who likes Allosaurus.
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I had a miniature dino that looked exactly like this sculpt… and that alone makes me want to track this guy down to put with my other 90s Wild Safari dinos, wow! I love that paintjob, too. Such a cool retrosaur imo
This might have been my most favorite dinosaur toy for a time, as a little kid. Mine still stands proudly at the front of my shelf.
It certainty has charm.
Too bad they messed up on the lacrimal horns!
The old one was fine as a chunky kids’ toy, able to take the punishment at playtime, but the new one is a much better replica – one of the best on the market actually. (I’d like to add that I reviewed it here: http://www.dinotoyblog.com/2010/01/15/allosaurus-wild-safari-by-safari-ltd/
I must say though that the colour scheme on the old one was more interesting to look at, even if it’s a little unrealistic for a giant predator!