Amargasaurus (CollectA)

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I have heard it said that good things come in small packages, and the 2008 CollectA‘s Amargasaurus is certainly a diminutive figure. This was CollectA’s first attempt at the highly distinguishable sauropod, before releasing a deluxe figure a few years later. Of course, this strange early cretaceous dicraeosaurid was small by sauropod standards reaching 10 meters (33 feet) long and approx the same height as a Savanna elephant.

Amargasaurus cazaui is an interesting and mysterious branch of sauropod evolution which makes it a great animal to be made into toy form. With this in mind, the question going forward is, how well did CollectA represent this creature?

This pocket sized figure stands 2.1 in (5.3 cm) high, and is 6.4 in (15.7cm) long. The pose is actually nice, with its head pointing toward the ground and curling back to the left side of its body. The body is rather straight; the left foot is digging into the ground, and the tail ends with a slight curve. The fossil remains of Amargasaurus head consist of a partial skull. When using the known material and reconstructions of the skull, then compare it to the toy, the head should be longer but smaller overall when scaled to the rest of the body. Since this is tiny figure, the head size is a nit-pick, but wait I have more. The mouth is full of gleaming one size fits all teeth, when in reality, it probably only had peg like teeth in the front of its mouth. As for the eyes, they bulge a little bit and have a slit pupil.

So, I’ll stop picking on its head, and start looking at the rest of the body. The tall naked spines are slightly curved and paired up two by two.  The spines begin right at the skull base with-out much of a gap. Amazingly they are sculpted separate and individual from each-other until the shoulder, where a sail connects the neural spines all the way to the tip of its tail. Looking at the known evidence, Amargasaurus had a double row of spikes go from the neck all the way down to the tail, with its height topping off at two feet, and as small as a few inches. Having a sail or not is debatable, but it is plausible.

The feet are sculpted with three front toes and four toes on the hind feet. Looking at the paint job, there appears to be five toes painted on the front feet. Was that intentional or sloppy painting, I don’t know. There is a large claw present on the first toe on each foot.

Texturally, I think it looks really nice. The neck is short which has nice muscle bulges and loose skin that looks natural. Along the rest of the body, there are appropriate muscle bulges, showing taut and slack muscles. Also present are plenty of appropriate skin folds and wrinkles. The colors are basically different shades of Orange and brown. The main body color is dark orange with brown spots on the upper legs and flanks. Underneath and the lower legs are in a light creamsicle color. The toes are painted brown and the neural spines and sail are orange and brown.

Overall Appraisal: This pint-sized figure is not the best effort put forth by CollectA, and has many anatomical errors. Compared to the Carnegie or Battat version, it isn’t even close to stacking up with those figures. Of course, this little toy has a personality, and personality goes a long way. This teeny toy can find a niche with some collectors due to its small size and charm. For collectors with limited room, this mini figure fit easily into most spaces. It is a tough tiny toy, so it is also a fine toy for kids to play-with. This figure is at best, average.

Available from Amazon.com here.